Cotton blossom found
482-4418
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
HEATHER UFSEV
The first cotton blossom of the year was reported by Ricky Toppin
of Rocky Hock. He found the bloom June 26. From left, Garland
Toppin, Ricky Toppin and Ricky Toppin, Jr. «
Chowan taps into reserve account
By Rebecca Bunch ; i
Staff Writer 4r
if i
Only two days into the new
budget year, Chowan County
was forced to dip into its re
serve funds during an emer
gency meeting to prevent the
county from being overdrawn
at the bank.
Chowan County Commis
sioners voted unanimously
to borrow $125,000 from the
county’s reserve funds to
cover the expense of federal
and state employee payroll
withholding taxes, and retire
ment benefits, for the month
of June.
County Manager Peter Ras
coe said the action was nec
essary because of a “keying
error” that county finance
officer Lisa Jones made, and
discovered, as the county
was closing out the month of
June.
That error left the county
effectively “out of cash,” said
Rascoe, and its bank account
would have been overdrawn
at 2 p.m. Thursday if the ac
tion had not been taken.
“These expenses and the
revenues to cover them were
budgeted, so it’s purely a cash
flow problem, and not one of
any type of budget oversight,”
Rascoe emphasized.
Commissioner Kenny Good
win suggested that the board
adopt a 90-day timetable for
repaying the funds, but in th§
end, the motiQn passed said
only that the funds would be
repaid as quickly as possible.
See BUDGET on Page 2
Fabulous Fourth = Family Food Fun
t
ore than 1,500 people gathered at,
Ivlin or near Edenton Bay for the an
nual Edenton-Chowan Optimist Fabulous
Fourth of July celebration.
The day's festivities kicked off with the
Edenton Tea Party Chapter of the National
Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution's reading of the Declaration
of Independence by Flarvey Binns on the
courthhouse green. A biographical sketch
of local historic figure Joseph Hewes was
given by Bob Adams,*
That afternoon, activities geared up at
Colonial Park. The (Marine Corps League
Edenton Unit raised; the flag. A reading of
names of those locals who are currently
serving abroad for our freedom struck.a cord
throughout the crowd.
Food, entertainment by
Steve Hardy's Original Beach
Party, arts, crafts and more
ran until dark when every
one stared into the sky for the
lighted display.
A fabulous time was had by
all.
photos by Earline White & Rebecca Bunch
Binns
J
Are students being prepared for a high-level science curriculum?
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer ; - ^
Questions about whether
students at Holmes High
School would benefit from
. a change in the science cur
riculum will have to wait for
another day.
School board members on
Monday night sent back the
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
list of recommendations that
had been compiled by the sci
ence faculty at the school, and
suggested the teachers take
another look at them.
The study was prompted by
concerns on the part of some
board members that students
are not being as well prepared
for post-high school studies as
they should be.
But teachers are concerned
about the whether some stu
dents could successfully com
plete chemistry classes.
Teacher Steve Karl, who
presented the recommenda
* tions on behalf of the Holmes
faculty, said their ideas were
based on a desire to help all
students achieve to their full
est potential.
He expressed concern that
students who signed up for a
chemistry class without the
proper foundation in related
science and math courses
could find it difficult to make
a passing grade.
“What we’re suggesting
would not cut anybody out,”
he said. “I think what we’re
trying to do is make sure
they’re ready.”
BEST OPTIONS
The report from Karl fol
lowed ongoing discussions
among school board mem
bers, particularly Gil Bur
roughs, a retired chemistry
and physics teacher, about
whether the current curricu
lum was meeting the needs
of students who, for example,
might not take honors chem
istry but would need to un
derstand the basics were they
to take EMT or other types of
medical training at a commu
nity college.
That led to a concern, ac
cording to Dr. Allan Smith,
superintendent of schools,
about whether the school sys
tem needed to restore physi
%
cal science or some other type
of similar course to give stu
dents a more solid foundation
before they entered a chemis
try class.
That requirement was elim
inated by the state some years
ago, Smith said.
COURSE OF STUDY
The teachers’ recommen
dations suggested two things
with regard to students strug
gling to pass higher-level sci
ence courses:
• If students have achieved
an acceptable level of compe
See EDUCATION on Pago 2
Council
seats up
for grabs
Filing period for Nov.
municipal election
ends Friday, July 17
Three Edenton Town Coun
cil seats are up for grabs this
November. As of press time,
only one of the three incum
bents had filed for re-election
in the upcoming municipal
election.
Councilman-at-large in
cumbent Jerry L. Parks,
third ward incumbent Phyl
lis Britton and fourth ward
incumbent Willis Privott are
up for re-election. All were
appointed to fill unexpired
terms after previous council
members’ resignations.
Parks was appointed in
1991; Britton in 2005; Privott
in 1980.
Privott filed for re-election
Tuesday.
The filing period opened
Friday, July 3 and will close
Friday, July 17.
So far only one resident
has filed to run in Novem
ber. Retired construction
worker George Grother, 65,
filed Monday for the at-large
seat. Grother has lived in the
area for nine years. He volun
teers at the Food Bank, with
Habitat for Humanity and is a
Book Buddy at Walker.
“There needs to be fresh
blood, a fresh approach,”
Grother said. He added that
the budget, housing and espe
cially jobs were areas that he
would like to concentrate on.
Absentee voting by mail
will be Oct. 2- Oct. 27. Regis
tration deadline is Friday,
Oct. 9. Early voting starts Oct.
15; ends Oct. 31.
County
hires new f
personnel 3
By Dee Langston i ;
Contributor - '
•
The Chowan County Board
of Commissioners named ‘ f
Deputy Sheriff Cordell Palm
er as the county’s new emer
gency management coordina
tor Monday night, during its
first meeting in the county’s
public safety center on West ■
Freemason Street. L
Palmer will take on some •: •
of the duties of Doug Belch, . -
the county’s former public . J
safety director, who retired
June 30 after 28 years with
the county. Belch served as
the county’s emergency man
agement coordinator and as
its fire marshal and employee i;-'
safety officer.
Palmer’s new position is -;
a collateral role, explained >
County Manager Peter Ras- *'
coe during a telephone inter
See PERSONNEL on Page 2