Wednesday, July 29, 2009
482-4418
Capstrat
answers
inquiry
Firm takes credit for
securing project fund
ing; details officials’
involvement
by Earline White
Managing Editor
An 11-page report detailing
the Raleigh-based communi
cations firm Capstrat, Inc.’s
four-year role with Edenton
Chowan Development Corpo
ration was released Monday.
It included a detailed timeline
in which the company alleg
edly worked to secure fund
ing for county projects.
“Our work resulted in a 44
to-1 return-on-investment for
the ECDC,” according to the
cover letter from Captstrat’s
chief executive officer Ken
Eudy.
“Former County manager
Cliff Copeland, discredited
though he may now be, knows
this. Edenton Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton, gun
shy though she may be, knows
this, too.”
In the letter, Eudy takes
credit for efforts leading to
the awarding of a USDA Ru
ral Development loan for the
public safety center, but cited
the type of loan incorrectly.
According to USDA offi
cials, that type of loan (a di
rect loan, not a loan guarantee
' as stated in the letter) secured
by Chowan County would not
•; have taken a lobbyist to seal.
•Eudy also lauds the compa
•; ny’s efforts in acquiring $1.5
' million for the instrument
landing system at the air
port.
Capstrat was paid nearly
$260,000 for its services,
. though county commission
ers and ECDC board members
said they had no knowledge
of the payments. Eudy said
he was surprised to learn that
Copeland was not authorized
to act on behalf of the ECDC.
“We operated with the un
derstanding that we were act
ing at the board’s direction
and with its authorization,”
Eudy said.
According to the state audi
tor’s office the county should
seek to recoup the money
spent with Capstrat.
Eudy concluded the letter
saying that Capstrat will not
be a pinata in the political
brawl taking place ... “we are
not your problem.”
ECDC chair Roland
Vaughan was unable to be
reached for comment.
Knighton, in response to
Capstrat’s report would say
only that she was writing a
letter to the county commis
sioners based on the report
and what she recollects.
INDEX
A News
Business..A4,5
Editorial...A6
Sports. A7
B Community News
Upcoming Events.B2
Celebrations.B3
Obituaries.B4,5
Buy/Sell/Trade.B6
Service Directory.B7
1
'
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©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
SUBMITTED
FBI are now looking for this suspect - a white male with a medium to
stocky build, between 57" and 6’ 2” with tattoos on both forearms.
YOUTH SPEND SUMMER REVAMPING HOMES
REBECCA BUNCH/THE CHOWAN HERALD
From left, Beth Eldridge of Winder, Ga.; Kayla Burrows of St. Petersburg, Fla.; Katie Kellaham of Kingstree, S.C.; and Brad
Stuba of Downers Grove, III. paint shutters to be placed on Tina Brooks’ Martin Luther King Avenue home Tuesday morn
ing. The WorkCamp group, consisting of about 400 adults and teen volunteers total, is providing free home repairs to ap
proximately 70 elderly, handicapped or lower-income families this week in Chowan, Pasquotank and Camden counties. The
initiative is being sponsored by the River City Community Development Corporation in Elizabeth City.
Saving a home. Martinique becomes the focus of restoration
By Rebecca Bunch
Stqff Writer
“Sarge” Russell is no strang
er to rescuing old houses.
Russell, who with his wife
Ellen, has a home in Stantons
burg, N.C. they bought from
Preservation North Carolina,
and restored, has been doing
that type of work for decades.
In recent days, he’s been
sharing the carpentry skills
honed over a lifetime to vol
unteer with a special PNC
project — shoring up Marti
nique, an 18th century Chow
an County home, so that it
can be saved and eventually
relocated by a new owner (see
related story on Martinique’s
history).
“My intent is to limit what
I do because if I don’t, I’ll
never get to go home,” he said
jokingly, wiping sweat from
his face:
But it’s easy to see he loves
what he’s doing. 4
Russell has spent several
days &t the site, measuring,
hammering and sawing piec
es of boards to nail in place
so that some of the walls
will hold together during the
move.
He has worked in the hot
sun with no air conditioning,
day after day, because he be
lieves that old homes deserve
a second chance to belong to
somebody who will appreci
ate and care for them.
And Claudia DeViney, who
manages multiple counties
for PNC from her office in
Edenton, said that’s what led
Sarge and Ellen, an architec
tural historian, to offer their
help.
“It’s funny how this all
came about," she said. “We
were talking on the phone one
day, and Sarge asked me what
I was working on.”
She told him about Mar
tinique, and asked if he’d be
interested in helping. To her
surprise and delight, he said
he would.
His expertise as a carpenter,
and willingness to volunteer,
has saved PNC thousands of
dollars on this project—mon
Police seek bank robber
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Thirty seconds.
That’s how long surveil
lance video shows it took a
man to rob Southern Bank in
downtown Edenton Wednes
day, July 15.
Edenton Police Chief Jay
Fortenbery said the man
walked into the bank just af
ter 1:42 p.m., a time when he
was the only customer.
He was casually dressed,
wearing green shorts and
a white T-shirt with a gold,
black and blue, wing-shaped
image on it that would have
allowed him not to attract too
much attention from pass
ersby as he walked up to the
bank and entered it.
Once inside the bank, the
man did not waste any time.
A surveillance camera shows
that he walked directly to a
teller’s window, reached un
der his T-shirt and pulled out
ey it did not have in its bud
get, DeViney said.
For Ellen Russell, the time
spent at Martinique has
given her the opportunity to
study items left behind at the
house — like a small rocking
horse, painted light blue and
adorned with darker blue
hearts and small white flow
ers that might be daisies.
Also resting on the floor
near an old brick fireplace
is a woman’s coat, made of
plush black material, with
long sleeves.
Both items rest atop stacks
of old boards that cover the
floor of a downstairs room.
“You can’t help wondering
about things like this,” said
Ellen Russell, gently finger
ing the rocking horse, “won
dering what child this be
longed to, wondering if they
still think about it.”
She then picks up yet an
other find, a small pair of old
fashioned sewing scissors.
That item, she said, fell from
See SAVING on Page 2A
a semi-automatic handgun he
had tucked inside the waist
band of his shorts.
He did not hand the teller a
note.
Instead, with his other
hand he placed a dark-colored
bag with white drawstring
ties on the counter to be filled
with money. The tellers at the
windows quickly complied.
As he waited, the man
glanced alertly behind him
several times as people walk
ing through the bank parking
lot crossed in front of a glass
door near where he was stand
ing. But they didn’t come in.
Once all the money was
inside the bank, the man
quickly closed it, replaced the
gun in the band of his shorts,
pulled his T-shirt down over
his shorts and exited the
bank
He did not leave behind a
note but Fortenbery said po
lice were able to lift partial
prints where his palms rested
.-■? The history of Martinique
______ .. I.
One of the most archi
tecturally and historically
significant houses in the Al
bemarle will be saved over
the next few weeks, thanks
to the efforts of leaders
in Chowan County and in.
Edenton.
The property, deeded by
Lord Granville in 1752, is
the only proprietary land
grant in Chowan County
still held by descendants of
the original owners. Seldom
ifo ■'■■■ nMJ
on the counter at a teller’s
window while he waited for
the money
“He obviously knew enough
not to put his hands down on
the counter,” Fortenbery said.
“Otherwise, we could possi
bly have lifted fingerprints”
to help identify him.
Once he left the bank,
Fortenbery said, officials
believe the robber calmly
walked around behind the
bank and over to Eden Street
where several witnesses have
reported seeing a man match
ing his description prior to
the robbery.
Police believe he was prob
ably returning to a vehicle
he had parked there, a 1980s
model Ford Bronco II with
out-of-state plates.
NOT A ROOKIE
Surveillance video also
gave officers a clear look at
See ROBBER on Page 2A
Walking around
Town approves plan to increase
walkability in Edenton on
Church, Court, Water streets
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
During a special meeting held Monday
night, the Edenton Town Council approved
details of a Pedestrian Master Plan de
signed for the community.
A $20,000 grant from the N.C. Dept, of
Transportation funded the study used to
develop the plan.
A key element of the plan will be con
necting places where people walk, said
Roger Henderson, of Raleigh-based Hen
derson Consulting.
That will include “closing missing gaps
in the downtown sidewalk network, con
necting adjacent neighborhoods to down
town,” and increasing the level of walk
ability around town, according to a draft
copy of the plan.
That plan was developed by the Town of
Edenton Planning Department, the Wood-.
en Company of Raleigh, and the N.C. Dept,
of Transportation’s Division of Bicycle
and Pedestrian Transportation in Raleigh.
Areas identified in Henderson’s remarks
to the council included East Church Street,
Court Street, and the Water Street/Oakum
Street neighborhood.
Henderson also recommended additional
signage in the vicinity of crosswalks along
’ Broad Street.
IN OTHER ACTION
«Heard a briefing on the One North Car
olina Fund Grant awarded to MiTek
• Agreed to move two other agenda items,
a recycling carts-related grant from the
N.C. Dept, of Environmental and Natural
Resources, and discussion of a proposed
four-way stop at two intersections in North
Edenton, to next month’s council meeting
for further consideration.
does a house of this age and
distinction become threat
ened. “Martinique” and
four outbuildings had to be
relocated.
The combined work of
members of the Edenton
Historical Commission, the
Edenton Foundation, the
Richard Dillard Dixon Fund
for the Stabilization of En
dangered Buildings, the
See HISTORY on Page 2A
■J ¥
. '~P'