482-4418 Wednesday, December 16, 2009 50< See our collection of Christmas Parade photos - Page 8B Property sales bolster county finances One deal includes sale of 2.5 acres for $275K By RITCHIE E. STARNES Editor Two recent real estate deals should help bolster Chowan County’s fund balance. On Friday County Man Financial struggles reach pets By Rebecca Bunch Staff Writer Another ripple effect of the downtrodden economy can be found at local animal shelters where more pet owners are surrendering their animals because they can no longer afford to care for them. “kndwehave more (animals) t coming every day.” Ginny White Chowan animal control officer That’s the case at the Tri County Animal Shelter in Edenton where 638 dogs and 1,069 cats have been eutha nized between January and October. Tri-County Animal Shelter serves Chowan, Gates and Perquimans counties. In Chowan, the only county of the three required to record owner surrenders, 232 pets were turned in during the 10 month period. “These are people who’ve lost their homes after losing their jobs,” said Ginny White, an animal control officer who works at the shelter. “They’ve had to move in with family, or leave their houses and move into apartments where pets aren’t allowed.” As bleak as the numbers are, the situation was worse in 2008, when the economy nosedived, White said Overall, there were 3,099 animals taken to the shelter during 2008. Between Janu ary and Oct. 30 of this year, See PETS on Page 6A STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH The souring economy has led to an increase in the number of pet surrenders at area animal shel ters. As a result, more dogs and cats, like the ones pictured here at the Tri-County Animal Shelter, are being euthanized. 6 "8 9076 ©2009 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved ( ' • “Hopefully, by the endt of the fiscal year, the fund balance will be increasing because of these efforts. ” — Peter Rascoe, Chowan County Manager ager Peter Rascoe explained that two county transactions would help shore up the fund balance by the end of the fis cal year. Rascoe briefed the Board of Commissioners Dec. 7 about Here comes Santa Claus Santa rides aboard a fire truck during the Edentoit s Christmas parade, Saturday. Top right: A member ot the John A. Holmes high School marching band is seen marching in the parade with his band mates, Saturday. Bottom right: Spectators line the streets to watch the parade as it proceeds pass them. See more photos from the parade on page 8B. Christmas parade, Candlelight Tour headline holiday weeKena events An Old Fashion Christmas was the theme of Saturday’s parade and between the seasonal tem peratures and the assorted holiday floats, organizers deemed the week end a success. The annual Christmas Candlelight Tom* kicked off the weekend celebra tion with more than 1,300 visitors partaking in the event that gains in recognition with each passing year. Chowan to consider mental health options Staff Reports Chowan County officials will join the ranks of neighboring counties as they consider how to proceed with providing mental health care. Representatives from East Carolina Behav ioral Health will pitch its services to the Chow an County Board of Commissioners at next month’s meeting. Like all 10 of the counties that have been using the Albemarle Mental Health Center before an audit revealed the agency was in financial peril, Chowan has until July 1 to de cide who will provide the county mental health services. Costs will likely be as critical of an issue as the quality of services, particularly for a county still reeling from its own financial struggles. . * the land sales. The most prosperous deal was slated to close Thurs day (Dec. IQ). Chowan sold 2.5 acres of land on Virginia Road for $275,000. Located be side the Walgreen’s currently under construction,. Rascoe said the property, which had no debt service payment, is slated to be a medical office. “Hopefully, by the end of the fiscal year, the fund balance will be increasing because of “The number of visitors was close to what we had last year,” said Becky Winslow, organizer. “I’m amazed because I know how the economy is.” Winslow said she saw many of the same visitors this year as in the past. “People try to keep the tour on their calendar,” Winslow said. Folks from across the Carolinas and Virginia frequent the annual tour of Edenton’s historic district. Chowan had been paying $2 per capita for its mental health services, or $34,000. That’s twice as much as two years ago, but less than the amount of services received, said County Man ager Peter Rascoe. “We will be seeking to do the same thing,” Rascoe said Monday. "Hopefully, we’ll be paying the same this year.” Pasquotank County Manager Randy Keaton and Camden County Manager Randell Wood ruff both told county commissioners in their respective counties on Dec. 7 that ECBH appears to be the only practical choice for mental health services in the coming fiscal year. The state Division of Mental Health con •» % i • See OPyONS on Pago 9A .•at*'; these efforts,” Rascoe said. On Dec. 1, Chdvvan sold the Albemarle Learning Center to the Boys and Girls Club. The transaction includes 8 acres and a building. By sell ing the property, the county Winslow said tracking data indicates that visitors from Virginia appear to be the most represented. She theoriz es that visitors tend to make daylong trips. Parade goers stretched from Roses on Virginia Road through downtown along Broad Street. Spectators were treated to four high school march See PARADE on Page 9A Cost of power to remain unchanged By Rebecca Bunch Staff Writer Edenton residents will not experience a rate increase anytime soon. Electricities has no plans to raise the rates it charges Edenton and other munici pal members. No rate hikes is welcome news in a com munity where the jobless rate hovers just under 12 percent, said Mayor Roland Vaughan. “The town is pleased to see increased its general fund $32,095 while paying off two debts related to the site. “That was good news for the county because there are See SALES on Page 6A DA won’t pursue murder charges By DIANA MAZZELLA Staff Writer The Daily Advance The woman who was first charged with conspiring to kill her ex-husband will not face new charges. District Attorney Frank Parrish ruled there was in sufficient evidence to indict Dawn Teachey in connec tion with the 2005 shooting ; "7 of Thomas K. Harvin III, of ' 17 Edenton. - 7 Harvin Parrish On April 7,2005. Harvin was ambushed outside Teachey’s Camden County home by Stacey Bayles, a woman iden tified in court documents as Teachey’s girlfriend. According to law enforce ment officials, Bayles shot Harvin in the face with a .22 caliber handgun, but during their struggle, Harvin took the pistol away and shot Bay les. She later died. Parrish cleared Harvin of any wrongdoing in Bayles’ shooting. But the district at torney later charged Teachey with conspiring to kill her ex-husband. Parrish dismissed the charge, however, prior to the start of Teachey’s trial. Haryin later filed a civil lawsuit against Teachey, and in August, Superior Court Judge Jerry R. Tillett ruled in his favor, finding that Teachey acted as part of a civil conspiracy to murder her ex-husband. The judge awarded Harvin $126,000 in damages. Following the civil See CHARGES on Page 9A that the agency has been able '; to increase working capital - to a level where it is hoped that wholesale rates can re main stable for the next sev eral years,” Vaughan said. Electricities’ Chief Ex ecutive Officer Graham Edwards offered that assur ance during the Dec. 8 Town Council meeting. “Are you confident enough that we can plan our budget around that?” asked Coun cilman Willis Privott. , See POWER on -

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view