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482-4418
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Patricia White with her life-sized, singing and dancing Santa. White raised $1,100 from friends and business as
sociates to provide Christmas cheer for families at the housing project where she used to live.
Homeowners insurance to
rise 6.5 percent in May ‘09
"Some people I know
are already having to
make the choice be
tween getting medicines
that they need and buy
ing food and other basic
necessities of life."
— Willie Mae Stallings
Local homeowners
could have been
charged 28.2%
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Chowan County hom
eowners will be paying 6.5
percent more for homeown
ers insurance in 2009.
That means a local hom
eowner with a frame house,
valued at $150,000 would be
paying $1,327 a year for cov
erage. Currently, that same
coverage would cost a hom
eowner $1,245 annually.
That didn’t exactly come
as welcome news to resi
dents of our community,
where many families are
struggling in the wake of
job layoffs.
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Willie Mae Stallings and
Larry Ambrose both said
they had friends and neigh
bors who were already hav
ing a hard time just surviv
ing.
“People are having to
reach way down already
to make ends meet,” said
Stallings.
“Some people I know are
already having to make
the choice between getting
medicines that they need
and buying food and other
basic necessities of life.”
And Ambrose pointed
out that people are already
having a hard time making
their mortgage payments
so they can stay in their
homes.
The higher rates for in
surance, he said, will only
make their lives more dif
ficult.
“You’ve got to have in
surance on your house,” he
said.
“It’s not like it’s some
thing you can get by with
out. Suppose there’s a fire,
or somebody gets injured
on your property?”
Paying claims
The new rates, part of
an agreement signed last
Thursday by N.C. Insur
ance Commissioner Jim
Long, will go into effect
Mayl. »
The agreement was
struck after the N.C. Rate
Bureau, which regulates
insurance costs in the
state, asked for an almost
20 percent overall state- i
""You've got to have
insurance on your house,
It's not like it's some
thing you can get by
without. Suppose there's
a fire ..."
— Larry Ambrose
wide increase for 2009.
In published reports,
Bureau General Manager
Raymond Evans said the
increase was necessary
because insurance compa
nies needed more money to
pay for claims.
He said that the rates ho
meowners have been pay
ing have been too low for
many years.
Under the Rate Bureau’s
original plan, Chowan
County homeowners could
have been charged 28.2 per
cent more to insure their
residences, or an addition
al $1,596 annually.
Several local insurance
offices said they had not yet
reviewed the changes so
were unable to comment.
Realigning counties
Chowan County is also
part of a new realignment
of severed insurance ter
ritories located along the
state’s coast that was ap
proved along with the rate
increase.
According to a news re
lease issued by Long’s of
fice, the realignment will
divide former Territory 43,
which included many of
the coastal counties, into
two separate territories
— 43 West and 43 East.
Under the realignment,
Chowan — along with.
Beaufort, Camden, Craven,
Jones, Pasquotank, Perqui
mans, Tyrrell and Wash
ington counties — will be
See INSURANCE, Page A2
< U RIS I MAS 1.V4
__
Father Ihornas M. Rukenbaker, Rector
5:30 pm Children* Service
10:30 pm Special Christmas Music 'x) J
11:00 pm Candlelight Communion
lllllliiili
Woman raises
$1,000 for families
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Patricia White remembers
what it was like when she didn’t
have a home of her own.
She said her life was changed
by the kindness of others, so
this Christmas she tried to re
pay that favor.
This week, White distributed
toys and presents, as well as gift
certificates for food and medi
cine, to children and elderly
tenants from the housing proj
ect she once lived in, thanks to
the generosity of her friends.
“I’d have to go back 11 years
to Christmas time when some
body did something for me.
That was this house,” White
said. “I had someone who
helped me, who looked out for
me and helped me to purchase
a home. So I just keep on going
everyday”
White doesn’t have a lot to
give, materially. She cleans
houses and offices for a living.
But she does remember what it
was like the day she found her
self without a place to live.
White and her children were
living with her 82-year-old
grandfather, George T. Ward,
helping out with his declining
years, when he died.
Just like that, her situation;
changed. With two children to
take care of, she found herself
headed back to public housing
for shelter.
“I knew I had to move back
out to the housing authority the
next day,” she said. “I moved
there to keep my kids in a place
where everybody wouldn’t be
See CHRISTMAS, Page A2 >
Children get toys and Christmas
cheer during “A Day With Santa”
Nearly 30 volun
teers show up to
help during event
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
About 350 local children
got a chance to visit with
Santa, receive some gifts
and feel a little Christmas
cheer during “A Day With
Santa.”
Edenton’s recreation
department sponsored the
program, Saturday. Rob
bie Laughton, the director,
said the program is, one of
the most rewarding things
his department gets to do
each year.
“I think for a lot of kids,
this is Christmas. Without
this program, there would
be a lot of kids with an
empty tree on Christmas
Day,” Laughton said.
The program gave kids
! a day of games, skits, food
and presents, all thanks
to the generosity of local
individuals, businesses,
churches and civic groups.
At the qnd of the pro
gram a drawing distribut
ed 25 bicycles to the kids.
The program was open
to the public. Anyone
could attend, but many,
kids were sponsored by
local social services agen
cies to receive special gifts
on the basis of need.
Laughton said this is the
. tenth year the department
has put the program on.
He said a core group of six
volunteers works to plan
the event as well as solicit
support from businesses
and other donors.
Gwen Brown, the pro
gram’s volunteer coordi
nator, said another 25 to 30
volunteers showed up to
help run the program Sat
urday.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church &
C St. John’s Episcopal Church
invite you to their Christmas Services
ie jmtii <\
Hirth
i U
PHOTOS BY VERNON FUESTON
Karen Ames hands a gift to a child at the ECRD's A Day with
Santa program.
Julian Barrows, left,, and Antonio Ames play checkers at the.
Day with Santa program. «
st.
Father Rob McSwain, Celebrant »
10:00 am Christmas Mo:
Holy Communion
-•. ^
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