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Policeman
: arrested
for assault
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
An Edenton police offi
cer has been arrested for
assaulting two individu
als, apparently in the line
of duty, in September of
2006 and again in July of
2007.
Derrick Wayne Knox
was arrested by the State
Bureau of Investigation,
February 17 and charged
with assaulting two
men, DeShannon Kenta
Stepney and Thomas Al
len Dail, Jr..
Knox is charged with
assaulting Stepney with
his service weapon, in
flicting serious injury on
Sept. 24, 2006. A separate
complaint charges him
with assaulting and strik
ing Thomas Allen Dail, Jr.
with a taser, discharging
the weapon on July 13,
2007.
Knox, 38, a resident of
Windsor, was released af
ter posting an unsecured
$5,000 bond on the charges
related to the alleged as
sault on Stepney and a
second unsecured bond
for $500 on charges related
to Dail.
Knox was suspended
with pay on Feb. 12 while
the police department
conducts independent in
vestigations of charges
filed by the SBI.
Edenton Police Chief
Jay Fortenbery issued a
statement the same day
as Knox’s arrest saying,
“The Edenton Police De
partment is committed to
taking the steps necessary
to insure the integrity of
the department and the
safety of the community.
We take these charges and
any complaints regarding
officer conduct very seri
ously.”
Weather
slows Hwy.
32 project
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Adverse weather condi
tions are to blame for the
delay in completing the
widening of Hwy. 3i, of
ficials say.
But work at the site is
expected to resume soon.
, Bob Capehart, of the
NCDOT office in Edenton,
said weather that lead the
ground to be wet, then
freeze, then ‘thaw was
“just too bad” to allow
ground preparation and
paving at the site to con
tinue this winter.
Currently, Capehart
said, the project’s contrac
tor, Barnhill Contracting
of Tarboro, is expecting
to resume work at the site
after the first of April.
Paving at the site, Cape
hart said, is scheduled to
start again after the first
of June when the “rainy
season” has ended.
"Our intention is for
See HWY. 32, Page A2 >
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
a.
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Next Friday, when Ty Pennington
shows up to knock on an unsuspect
ing family’s door, he will be stand
ing at a home in Edenton.
Pennington, popular television
host of Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition, and his team, will be as
sisted by Edenton Builders, Inc. in
planning and building a new home
here in just one week.
Until then, fh'e identity of the
family receiving the home will re
main unknown.
What is known is that they were
one of five families considered.
John Norris, owner of Edenton
Home Builders, said in a news re
lease issued by the show that it was
“an honor” to be chosen to partici
pate as the builder.
In keeping with this season’s
theme"of “Heroes Helping Heroes,”
Norris said, “with the help of he
roes in the form of community
subcontractors, sponsors and vol
unteers, a special family will have a
new home, inside and out.
“We’re counting on community
volunteers to provide their time,
support and resources to help eh
sure the success of this life-chang
ing project,” he said.
A pep rally for volunteers and
subcontractors will take place this
Friday at 8 a.m. at the Edenton
United Methodist Church Family
Life Center, 225 Virginia Road.
Until then, individuals or com
panies can visit www.extremeeb
heroes.com for information on the
construction schedule, online dona
tions and other items of interest.
If you’re not able to volunteer, but
would like to donate money toward
the construction costs, please send
a check to “Edenton Builders Ex
treme Family”, c/o Edenton Build
ers, Inc., 307 S. Broad St., Edenton,
N.C.27932.
One hundred percent of dona
tions received from local residents
will be used for the project taking
place in Edenton.
A.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS ...
ll'Tsjr raw
VERNON FUESTON
Hope Downing, Arvilla Horton and Tim Phelps inside Downing's home on E. Fre
mason Street being built by Phelps' construction company. Downing and Horton
are the recipients of new custom-built homes from a Community Block Grant
received by the county from the state. ]
State provides two
families with new homes
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
Two Edenton women and their
families are receiving brand new,
custom-built homes through a
state program to rehabilitate low
and moderate-income housing.
The homes are being construct
ed after officials determined that
the buildings had deteriorated be
yond repair.
Construction on the homes will
cost the state $61,000 each and
will be deeded free and clear to
the families after they live in the
homes and make eight years of
mortgage payments.
Hope Downing and her hus
band had hoped to remodel their
home, which caught fire in 1999.
They did not have insurance on
the structure.
The family has been living in
the home without heat, a working
kitchen and inside doors for four
years now, hoping to fix up the
structure. . But when her husband
died, the project was suddenly be
yond her reach.
Arvilla Horton bought the home
she was renting when it was fore
closed on in 2000. At the time she
had high hopes of fixing the place
up and building sweat equity.
The men’s fellowship from her
church, Warren Grove Baptist,
had planned to help her with the
repairs.
But recently discovered dam
age and decay in the floor joists
meant the house just wasn’t
See GRANT, Page A2 >
County commissioners face budget challenges
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
As a summer deadline
looms large, Chowan’s
county commissioners will
be searching for ways to
balance their budget in the
face of falling revenues and
new debt to be serviced.
The commissioners must
present a balanced budget
by state law before June 1.
This year’s budget will be
the first adopted since the
county learned it had spent
its way through $20 million
in reserve funds over four
years.
That budget will have
to pass scrutiny from the
state’s Local Government
Commission, which will be
looking carefully at how the
commission plans its cash
flow and estimates expected
revenues.
The county’s previous
budgets ran consistently in
the red, borrowing money
from reserves to cover the
shortfall. Overly optimistic
revenue projections have
been widely blamed for the
deficits.
The county must also
meet the first payments on
$14.3 million in new debt for
construction of its public
safety center and library
expansion project.
Those new payments
have been renegotiated,
lengthening the loan period
and making interest-only
payments on several loans.
Even so, an additional
$633,000 in new payments
will be added, tripling the
amount it paid for debt ser
vice this year.
Another problem facing
the commissioners has yet
to be quantified. With the
nation’s economy in reces
sion, tax revenues are ex
pected to fall, but by how
much is anybody’s guess.
The county took in $17
million in taxes and other
revenues last year.
Among the revenue items
most sensitive to an econ
omy in recession are the
county’s local option sales
tax, which brought in $3.3
million last year, and its
land transfer tax, good for
$475,000.
Another sensitive item
could be $691,000 in permits
and fees, many of which are
affected by any slump in
building and construction.
The county’s biggest rev
enue item, $9 million in
property taxes, will not de
crease, at least on paper.
But the commissioners
are certainly watching the
collections rate on those
taxes as the recession con
tinues. Last year the coun
ty carried $181,000 in delin
quent property taxes and
charged $60,000 in property
tax penalties.
County commission
chairman Eddy Goodwin
See BUDGET, Page A2 >
Public comment period questioned by Town Council
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Should the Edenton Town Coun
cil open the floor for public discus
sion at the beginning, or the end, of
its meetings?
' That issue was discussed during
council’s monthly committee meet
ings Monday night, and will likely
come before the full council for ac
tion at next month’s meeting.
Currently, an opportunity for
public discussion occurs at the end
of each meeting.
However, some boards offer time
for the public to speak at the begin
ning, or the end, or both, as officials
pointed out.
Councilman Jerry Parks ob
served that having the discussion at
the beginning of the meeting would
allow citizens to speak before coun
cil acted on an issue in which they
might have a particular interest.
“I’m okay with having it (public
discussion) at the beginning,” said
Councilman Willis Privott, “but
I don’t know that we need to do it
twice.”
Currently, the only opportunity
for the public to speak before action
is taken by council at a meeting
comes if a public hearing is held.
In other action, council commit
tees discussed the need for devel
oping policies governing special
events held at the waterfront, as
well as ideas for making more boat
slips available there.
They also discussed selling a
parcel of land the town owns. That
property has an appraised value of
$16,000.
BURR VISITS EDENTON; DISCUSSES VA
CLINIC, STIMULUS PACKAGE AND OBAMA
, " '* :* ■ • ■ • ' ... ..
By vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
Senator Richard Burr paused on a whirl
wind tour through the region Wednesday,
attending a reception at the town’s munici
pal building and sitting down for a discus
sion about regional and national issues.
VA CLINIC COMING
Burr has been a big proponent.of bring
ing a veterans chnic to northeastern North
Carolina and is widely expected to play a
key role in choosing between the two most
likely locations for the facility,.Edenton and
Elizabeth City.
But Burr, said progress on the clinic is
at a standstill for the moment. He said the
president’s choice of General Erik Shin
seki as the new VA director bodes well for
the project.
“The VA is going through the process of
changing from one administration to the
next,” Burr said. “General Shinseki is sup
portive of a clinic in the northeast.”
Burr also said he believes that where the.
clinic is placed is critical to its success. He
said the clinic needs to be farther from Nor
folk and Tidewater Virginia rather than
closer.
If the clinic is placed too close to Virginia,
he said many North Carolina veterans will
bypass the facility, defeating its purpose.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
When asked about national events, Burr
said the country’s recent financial crisis
See BURR, Page A2 >
Artist Burton Jones, right, presents a picture of the Roanoke
River Lighthouse to Sen. Richard Burr, center, while Edenton
Historical Commission director Becky Winslow looks on.