482-4418
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
50«
Knighton announces new chief of police
From Staff Reports
Rocky Mount Police Sgt.
Jay Fortenbery is set to be
come the Town of Edenton’s
new police chief on Jan. 1.
Fortenbery will replace
Gregory Bonner who retired
after 10 years as Edenton’s
Police Chief and 35 years of
service to the town.
Knighton said that
Fortenbery’s 20 years of
law enforcement experience
along with his training and
educational background
State to take
$95,000 from
local schools
Shortfall due to
shrinking state tax
revenue
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Chowan County’s schools
will be forced to return over
$95,000 in money sent from
the state because a slow
ing economy is expected to
shrink anticipated tax rev
enues.
The state
has re
quired its
Department
of Public
Instruction
to return
$117 million
in funding Smith 4
to help bal
ance the shortfall. Of that
amount, $58 million will
come from local school sys
tems and charter schools
around the state.
That means Chowan’s
schools must return over
$95,000, or .75 percent of its
state funding.
Superintendent Allan
Smith said he plans to re
turn the money from three
budget line items.
A grant from the state for
low-wealth schools intended
to teach students about busi
ness and entrepreneurial
thinking will be returned
for $25,000.
Another $35,000 desig
nated for “non-instructional
support,” primarily money
used for clerical and custo
dial services, will also be
returned. Smith said he
anticipates no job cuts as a
result.
The remaining money
will come from state funds
allocated for the purchase
of textbooks.
Smith said he must still
find ways to replace that
money from local funds but
added that he does not see a
reduction in available text
books because of the cut.
State officials advised lo
cal school boards against
making cuts that will affect
classroom services or any
programs for students con
sidered at risk or having
special needs.
Specifically prohibited
were cuts in services re
quired by a student’s per
sonal education plan (PEP)
See SCHOOL, Page A2 >
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
should serve Edenton well.
“Rocky Mount’s police
department has an excel
lent reputation, and the ser
geants there are considered
the backbone of the depart
ment,” Knighton said.
Knighton said she was
looking for a seasoned law
enforcement officer, and
especially wanted someone
who had been a part of a de
partment larger than Eden
ton’s, in a community that
had been dealing with chal
lenges similar to Edenton’s.
All Decked Out
VERNON FUESTON
Da'marje Ferebee, a member of Edenton's Boy's and Girl's Club, hangs an ornament on the Barker House
Christmas tree Monday afternoon in preparation for the Christmas Candlelight Tour next weekend.
E. Goodwin selected as board chairman
New board of
commissioners take
oath of office Monday
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Chowan’s new board of com
missioners selected political
newcomer Edward E. Goodwin,
a Republican, as its chairman
during the board’s first meeting
since November’s elections.
The need to fashioh a balanced
budget in the face of new debt
payments and shrinking tax rev
enues was on everyone’s mind.
Emmett Winborne summed
up the challenges for many of
his colleagues as he addressed
his fellow commissioners and a
capacity crowd of over 70 in the
1767 Chowan’s historic court
house ballroom.
“We as a board have to ques
tion everything,” Winborne
School lunch prices expected to rise next year
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
School officials learned Mond
nay night that the school system
lost about $67,000 on its lunch
program last year.
Child Nutrition Program Di
rector Karen Tynch told board
members that she ejcpects to ask
them for an increase next year in
school lunch prices.
She did not specify how much.
She said the last increase,
which raised meals by 25 cents
each, occurred during the 2007-08
school year. Currently, students
——
wnrar
“Rocky
Mount has
been deal
ing with
many of
the same
issues we
have here
— young
people be- Fortenbery
ing attract
ed to gangs, increasing com
plaints about drug houses
and even a few complaints
from long time residents
about being afraid to sit out
said. “We have
to say no to those
things which are
not needed. And
you, the citizens,
have got to be our
eyes and ears.
Let us know how
you feel.” .
Two pressing Goodw,n
items were on the table for com
missioners as they tackled their
first items of business: open gov
ernment and fiscal restraint.
Kenny Goodwin proposed
changing all the commissions
meetings to 6 p.m., doing away
with morning sessions in the
hope of attracting better citizen
participation.
“There is an overflow crowd
here tonight and I hope it will
stay that way,” Goodwin said,
The motion was passed unani
mously.
Even the relatively mundane
are paying $1.75 per meal.
Ours is one of 94 amohg the 115
school systems in the state that
are continuing to lose money, she
said.
The situation is the result of
unfunded changes in nutrition
guidelines, rising costs for items
such as milk, mandated^salaries
for food service workers, and an
increase in the number of those
students receiving free and re
duced price meals.
There has also been a decrease
in the student population, she
said.
Tynch said that while the num
on their front porclies,” she
said.
Knighton is hopeful that
Fortenbery will bring the
tools and strategies the
Rocky Mount Police Depart
ment uses to successfully
address these concerns in
this community.
Knighton received over
60 applications for the posi
tion since it opened just a
few months ago.
Knighton recruited W. Al
den “Doc” Hoggard, III, re
tired director of the state’s
issue of demolishing a trailer
deemed unsafe by county build
ing inspectors was met with a
skeptical eye toward the bottom
line.
Commissioners questioned
whether the $5,000 cost would
be recouped from the land own
ers. They passed the demolition
order but issued it with a 60-day
stay.
The commissioners said they
hoped the stay would encourage
the owner to remove the struc
ture himself, saving the county
the cost of demolition.
But the real test for the com
mission lies ahead of it this
spring. That’s when state law
says it must present a balanced
budget that pays for $881,000 in
new annual debt payments cov
ering the construction costs for
the new public safety center and
library innovation.
ber of free and reduced price
meals being made available in
the local schools has jumped as
the economy has worsened, the
number of those purchasing
meals has dropped.
That number includes high
school students who are allowed
to eat lunch off-campus if they
wish.
Tynch said food costs in the
school system have increased, in
some cases, by up to 60 percent
over last year. Milk, for instance,
now costs the school system
See MEALS, Page A2 >
Law Enforcement Training
and Standards Division, to
help her evaluate and inter
view the candidates.
Hoggard also served for
18 years as a law enforce
ment officer and a former
town manager.
Fortenbery said his goal
has always been to be the
chief of a police department
in eastern North Carolina.
Fortenbery, 44, is married
to Mysi (Boykin) formerly
of Wilson, N.C.
The Eortenberys have
a son, Skye, who will be a
freshman at John A. Hol
mes High School.
The family enjoys boat
ing and fishing and is look
ing forward to making their
home in Edenton.
Sgt. Fortenbery earned an
associate degree in crimi
nal justice technology from
Nash Community College
in 2005 and a BA in justice
studies from Wesleyan Col
lege in 2007.
Chowan
re-rated to
reflect
economic
distress
County now rated as one of
40 most distressed counties :
in the state .
“We can certainly
use this as a posi
tive thing to help
... recruit industry,
create jobs and
retain jobs. ” - •
— Richard Bunch,
chamber director
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
At first glance, Monday’s announcement
by the state’s commerce department that
Chowan is now considered an economi
cally distressed county might seem to be
bad news.
But Richard Bunch, director of Eden
ton’s Chamber of Commerce, is excited.
“We can certainly use this as a positive
thing to help us in many ways, especially
to recruit industry, create jobs and retain
jobs,” Bunch said.
The re-designation of Chowan one
notch downward to the status of a tier-one
county places it at the bottom of a three
tier structure.
That structure rates counties based on
unemployment, median household in
come, population growth and property
values per capita.
The state reserves tier-one status for its
40 most economically distressed counties.
At stake when it comes to tier designa
tions are tax credits for companies that
create or bring in new jobs for the county.
The new designation means that Chow
an County businesses creating at least five
jobs are eligible for a $12,500 tax credit and
a 7 percent tax credit on eligible business
property purchased.
But business taxes are not the only area
in which the county may profit from the
state’s new designation.
A host of grants to local government
and non-profit organizations could stand
to benefit.
“It’s a ripple effect throughout the whole
system. We’ve been in the middle tier, it
seems like, forever,” Bunch said.
“When you drop to a tier-one, it means
your unemployment rates are not where
they need to be. Just about any type of
granting agency asks for your tier desig
nation.”
Bunch said both the county and town
governments could benefit when seeking
grant money.
He also said a host of non-profit agen
cies, from the arts council to the hospital
foundation, may see increased grant op
portunities.
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