482-4418
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
VERNON FUESTON
A worker with Playworld Amusements sets up the kiddie motorcycle roundup Monday for the fair, which began yesterday.
Man pleads
guilty to
melon theft
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
County commission candi
date Dana Soles has received
a 45-day suspended sentence
after pleading guilty to mis
demeanor larceny in Chow
,an County District Court
yesterday.
Presiding Judge Eula Reid
ordered him
to serve 12
months un
Isupervised
probation.
Z He was or
dered to pay
*a $50' fine
and court
costs, plus $3
in restitution for the water
melon.
Z Soles was charged Aug. 29
Jwith felonious larceny after
Jaking a watermelon from a
local farmer’s field.
* Prosecutor David Hamgi
•agreed to the misdemeanor
i>lea that will still allow
-Soles to serve as a county
commissioner if elected in
November.
Z Soles, a Republican, has
filed to oppose Democrat
Emmett Winborne for a first
district seat on the commis
sion.
Soles, who said he was
planning to give the water
melon to a family down on
their luck, called his actions
"a mistake I’ll have to own
up to.”
After court, Soles said he
was relieved to have it be
hind him.
- “I just hope my communi
ty will forgive me,” he said.
The farmer who owned
the watermelon patch said
afterwards he had no hard
feelings toward Soles.
> “I’ve got no beef with
him,” the farmer said. “I
don’t know him personally.
We farmers just don’t like
people taking things from
our fields without asking us
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
FUN
61st annual Chowan County
Regional Fair combines old
favorites with new
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer - '
Sherri Volk looked relaxed this week
end as hundreds of exhibits poured into
the American Legion in preparation for
the Chowan County Fair.
Volk, who has served as exhibits co
ordinator for the last four or five years,
said her secret was simple.
“I just don’t get stressed out,” she said
as she paused yet again to direct the ac
tion. “I can’t say exactly why, I just don’t.
Maybe it’s because I do it for the fun!”
While she may not have been stressed,
there was plenty of excitement as vol
unteers signed in those entering items
in the fair.
Inside the front building, tables held
everything from cut flowers to baked
goods, needlework and photographs
prepared by those hoping to take home
a blue ribbon a day after judging ends.
Unusual sight
Much of the talk about the exhibits in
the front building centered on a replica
of an abandoned country house created
by Rich Miller of Edenton.
GAMES
Miller, who said he has won ribbons
at the fair in the past for drawings he’s
submitted, said he decided to try some
thing extra this year.
He begari working on his design last
October. Then pame November, ^filler
said, and he had to take his Work off the
table to make room for holiday meeds
and guests.
Work began again in earnest after
Mother’s Day, he said, determined to fin
ish his project before the fair.
The house — which features an open
back so folks can look inside — were
fashioned using bubble wrap, popsicle
sticks, toothpicks, clay and even a green
bean can. A mouse, corn, and a half-eat
en apple were fashioned from clay.
Roosters crow
Out in the Show Barn, Roger Spivey
and Eddie Sawyer were hard at work
helping to remove colorful roosters of
various breeds from their cages and put
them in pens where they will remain for
the duration of the fair.
The roosters, not too happy with the
arrangement, could be heard crowing
loudly each time anyone walked then
way
“Eddie’s the chicken expert,’’ said
Spivey, who supervises the livestock
See FAIR, Page A2 >
See C2 for more info on Fair, Cupola House 250th celebration
Local fishermen may get payoffs
ELECTION 2008
John Mitchener
Age: 67
Date of Birth: Sept. 30,1941
Political Offices Held:
12 years on the school board
(6 years as vice-chair, 4 as chair)
Occupation: Retired pharmacist
Party: Democrat
Mitchener
Keith Nixon
Age: 46
Date of Birth: March 26,1962
Political Offices Held: None
Occupation:. Self-employed, former
owner, manager of local paint store
Party: Republican
Candidates
run for
first term
Nixon
The race — two
non-incumbents
for an at large seat.
Citizens from all
districts may vote.
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Two non-incumbents will
face off for a single at-large
seat on the County Commis
sion this November with
neither candidate tainted
by the county’s financial
crisis.
The race between John
Mitchener and Keith Nixon
is the only one between a
Democrat and a Republican
where neither candidate
is currently serving on the
board.
With Mitchener and Nix
on competing for an at-large
seat, voters from all three
districts can cast a ballot in
the race.
Mitchener and Nixon ,
both said they planned to j
put their business experi
ence to work for the comity,
if elected.
Running experience
Keith Nixon, a Republi
can, is the former owner of
a paint distributorship in
Edenton. He is still self-em
ployed as a property man
ager.
John Mitchener is a re
tired pharmacist and devel
oper of several downtown
Edenton commercial prop
erties.
With an eye toward the
county’s financial woes,
both felt their life experienc
es suited them for tackling
Chowan’s budget crisis.
“I know how to look out
for financial issues,” Mitch
ener said. “I’ve learned
how to anticipate develop
ments and the importance
of a backup plan.
“In my business, I learned
the importance of the po
litical process as insurance
ISee CANDIDATES, Page A2 >
from tracking crab tags
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Local fishermen can get
up to $50 per tag retrieved
and win a chance at a $100
drawing.
The amount paid for a tag
depends on which of three
research programs gener
ated the tag.
Lurking in Chowan’s wa
ters, crabs sporting ordi
nary tags on their backs can
bring rewards of $5 each.
But the real money is
in finding specimens with
tags in the form of small
capsules attached to their
shells.
The capsules contain ra
dio transponders and can
earn a fisherman $50 per
tag.
Tracking the crabs
Mark Turano of Sea
Grant said the programs
all track the migration pat
terns of blue crabs.
He said researchers hope
to match patterns with
changes in temperature, sa
linity and rainfall.
Blue crabs migrate over
a considerable distance,
Turano said. Fishermen
in Currituck have captured
crabs from Maryland, and
crabs from the Albemarle
Sound routinely show up at
Oregon Inlet.
Turano said the data
would be matched with
older studies to look for dis
cernable patterns.
In the end, he hopes data
will give clues about spawn
ing habits and stock levels.
How to collect
Yellow tags measuring
0.25 X 1.5 inches are from a
program tracking mature
female blue crabs in the
Albemarle and Currituck*
Sounds.
Fishermen should contact
Kristina Bridges at (866)
737-6808 or (252) 441-5497 for
either a $5 reward or a hat.
Winners are also entered
in a $100 drawing.
Be prepared to give the
tag number, capture loca
tion and date, gear used and
whether the tag came from
a crab with a “sponge,”
packets of fertilized eggs
her abdomen.
$50 reward
Small, cylindrical black
tags resembling a battery
come from a program track
ing the movement of ma
ture female blue crabs in
the White Oak River.
The cylindrical tags are
tracking devices capable of
tracking both location and
depth.
Fishermen should con
tact Erika Millstein at (860)
803-1139 for a reward of $50.
Millstein will need the
tag number, date and ap
proximate capture location
including depth.
Red Rectangular or white
circular tags track the dis
tribution and movements
of spawning blue crabs in
non-tidal systems.
The crabs were released
in the Beaufort area.
Fishermen should con
tact Zack Darnell at (888)
988-CRAB (2722) for a $5 re
ward. Darnell will need to
know the tag number, cap
ture location (GPS if pos
sible) and date.
He will also need to know
the sponge color if present.
The research programs
are funded by the NC Gen
eral Assembly and adminis
tered by North Carolina Sea
Grant.
For more information, go
the Sea Grant’s Web site at
www.ncseagrant.org.
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