Tyner soldier
awaits
deployment, Bt
482-4418
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Gunshot misses
pregnant woman
Teen sister shot in
road rage incident
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
An expecting mother en
route to the hospital nar
rowly escaped injury Sun
day evening when a bullet
pierced the family’s car,
striking her 17-year-old
sister, police say.
“The bullet went
through the car’s left rear
passenger door and lodged
in the . girl’s jeans,” said
Edenton Police Chief Jay
Fortenbery
I
Tree falls on Pembroke
PHOTO COURTESY BILL MILLER
A tree fell Sunday on Pembroke Hall, an 1850-built structure located at 121W. King St. in Edenton’s Historic
District. The home has seen rough days in the last few months, having suffered neglect from a previous owner and
falling victim to foreclosure in November.
V
State among 16 finalists for share of $4.35 billion grant
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
; Superintendent Allan
Smith said Friday that the
Edenton-Chowan school
system was “very pleased”
to learn that North Caro
lina is among the 16 final
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Accord
ing to the
victiin’s
father, who
asked that
his fam
ily not be
identified
for fear
of retali- Fortenberry
ation, the
bullet ricocheted off the
zipper of his daughter’s
hooded jacket before strik
ing her hip.
“When I heard the loud
noise, I thought a rock
had hit the car,” the father
See SHOOTING, 3A
ists for a Race to the
Top grant.
The grant is now
in its first phase ctf
funding. Phase 1 re
cipients will be an
nounced in April.
States not funded
during the first
phase are eligible
to seek funding
in June during phase 2
when additional monies
will become available. Fi
nalists for phase 2 will be
announced in August and
the selected states in Sep
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
A team of ghost busters descend
ed into town Friday afternoon in
search of paranormal activity in
side the historic jail and its keeper’s
former quarters.
The group, Carolina Association
of Paranormal Activity (CAPA),
armed with various gadgets spent
the night in both structures Friday
in an effort to monitor any electro
magnetic frequencies that might
suggest ghostly spirits.
The team of four young men and
two women from Rocky Mount
chose the locations because of their
steeped history, the jail dates back
to 1825 and the jail keeper’s house to
1905, and because the two sites were
likely consumed with suffering and
violence.
See GHOST, 3A
Smith
tember.
“Evidently the
state’s proposal
was effective to be
selected from 41
states and the Dis
trict of Columbia
that were vying
for these funds,”
Smith said.
Smith noted that
the local chapter ot the
North Carolina Associa
tion of Educators (NCAE)
and the Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education for
mally endorsed the state’s
efforts in submitting a pro
posal. '
"North Cardlina could
receive $400-million over
a four-year period in Race
to the Top dollars,” Smith
added. “If funded at this
level, Edenton-Chowan
Schools would be eligible
to receive approximately
$100,000 per year for each
of the four years.”
Forty states and the
District of Columbia sub
mitted applications for
the $4.35 billion grant pro
gram, which is being fund
Ghost busters probe old jail
STAFF PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES
Members of the Carolina Association Paranormal Activity enter the former residence
of Edenton-Chowan’sjail keeper, Friday. CAPA spent the night in the dwelling, and the
historic jail in pursuit of ghostly spirits. -
New business, costs
doom in-house child
support enforcement
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Economic development and
concerns of escalating costs
prompted the majority of
Chowan County commission
ers to privatize its child sup
port enforcement services, de
spite the director’s guarantees
that he could do better.
Pleas from Cliff Hardison,
director of the Department of
Social Services, fell on deaf
ears within the majority of
the Board of Commissioners.
Although Hardison guaran
teed that he could reduce costs
and . improve collections with
in child support enforcement
over the next year, the board
voted 4-3 on March 1 in favor
Candidate delinquent
on property taxes
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
A candidate for the Chowan
County Board of Commission
ers is delinquent on his prop
erty taxes by $5,108.75, accord
ing to tax records.
Ellis Lawrence, a recently
filed Democrat candidate for
District 3, acknowledged his
property tax delinquency on
some 20 parcels Monday. He
reconciled his due taxes later
in the day.
“I don’t see this as a prob
lem,” Lawrence said. “Com
pare the taxes that I pay with
what the average person pays,
ed by federal economic
stimulus dollars.
North Carolina has ap
plied for $470 million for
education and identified
four areas on which to
focus education reform.
Those include adopting
nationally benchmarked
standards and assess
ments, developing data
systems designed to mea
sure levels of success and
improve the quality of in
struction, supporting the
work of effective teachers
and other school leaders,
Goodwin Hardison
of privatization.
“They were telling us what
they think they can do and not
what they were doing,” said
Commissioner Kenny Good
win, referring to Hardison’s
promises of improvement.
Before commissioners vot
ed, Hardison told the board
See CHILD, 3A
I bet I pay as much as anybody
in Edenton.”
Lawrence said that he had
reached an agreement with the
tax department to pay $1,400
per month to catch up. But, he
said after the revelation that
he plans to pay off the delin
quent balance by Friday.
One of the issues Lawrence
cited as a reason for seeking
county office was the county’s
wayward spending and budget
issues.
He did not, however, blame
the economy on his tax de
linquency. Instead, Lawrence
See TAXES, 3A
and making low-perform
ing schools successful.
The other states still in
the running for Race to the
Top funding during phase
I are Colorado, Delaware,
Florida, Georgia, Illinois,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mas
sachusetts, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina,
Tennessee and the District
of Columbia.
According to a press re
lease issued March 4 by
See RACE, 3A
TUESDAY, MARCH 16™ham ****4.7m
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