482-4418
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CALENDAR This week's
Calendar is on page 2A
COMING UP See
our annual Progress
edition in next week's
Chowan Herald ■ .
50«
Construction lags on subdivisions
Nearly 3,500 homes
yet to be built
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Planned subdivisions
I may not be moving ahead
as quickly as local officials
had hoped due to a slow re
; i covery in the economy
Bank
1 robber
i pleads
guilty
From staff reports
m
: A suspect in 11 armed
robberies, including the
July 2009 heist at Southern
Bank in Edenton, pleaded
guilty to all charges Thurs
day in federal court in Ten
nessee.
Chad
Schaffner,
38, of In
dianapo
lis, Ind.,
entered
the guilty
pleas
in U.S.
District
Court for
the Eastern District of
Tennessee in Greenville,
Tenn., according to a press
release issued by George
E.B. Holding, U.S. attorney
for the Eastern District of
North Carolina.
According to Holding,
Schaffner pleaded guilty
to nine bank robberies,
the armed heist of a credit
union and the robbery
of one retail store. The
' crimes were committed in
western and eastern North
Carolina, South Carolina,
western Kentucky, south
ern Indiana and southern
Illinois, according to the
release.
Schaffner is scheduled
to be sentenced for all of
the robberies on Dec. 8.
On July 6, Schaffner
brandished a gun and
robbed the Lumbee Guar
anty Bank in Fayetteviile.
Thirteen days later, he
robbed the Southern Bank
in Edenton, also with a
gun, the release states.
After a nationwide
manhunt, Schaffner was
arrested in Missouri.. He
admitted to all 11 of the
robberies, telling authori
ties that he began robbing
banks to support his drug
addiction.
* A federal grand jury in
the Eastern District of
North Carolina returned
9 criminal indictment
against Schaffner on Nov.
19. A month later, Hold
ing’s office consented to
. transfer the case to the fed
feral courts in Tennessee.
Schaffner
0
,©2009 The Chowan Herald
£ . All Rights Reserved
But of the seven an
nounced projects in town,
all remain active at this
point, town officials said.
Beechwood, Colonial Vil
lage, the Cotton Mill Devel
opment, Queens Landing,
Wharf Landing, Straw
berry Hill, and Pembroke
Pointe — all have obtained
the necessary permits.
Conditional use permits
f
are currently active for
four of the seven, meaning
some work has been done
at the sites. ‘
The others still maintain
“vested rights” to the prop
erty through 2011-2012.
And Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton said
the town is not reeling from
-any financial impact.
“The mayor and council’s
fiscal management policies
do not allow us to budget
or anticipate revenue from
future projects,” Knighton
said. “So, the fact that some
of the developments have
not moved forward does
not have a fiscal impact on
the town.”
Among those is Beech
wood, which announced
plans prior to the recession
to build 217 units in a resi
dential development. So far,
it has built none.
However, Knighton said,
the development has in
stalled water and sewer
and storm water improve
ments, as well as a privacy
fence. That construction
has allowed Beechwood a
spot on the “active” list of
local subdivisions.
STAFF PHOTOS BY BRETT A. CLARK
TOP: Rhonda Bates demonstrates a
technique known as vermicomposting
at the “Green Is Growing Fair" at D.F. Walker
Elementary School in Edenton, Saturday.
LEFT: Glenn Anderson, director of the Edenton
electric department, displays the efficiency
of compact fluorescent light bulbs versus
traditional household bulbs, Saturday’s green fair.
BOTTOM: Donald Murdoch (left) speaks to Clara
Smith at his Sandhills Solar and Wind booth
display, at Saturday’s green fair.
Knighton said that where
the impact has been deeply
felt in the community has
been in the area of con
struction jobs, both for lo
cal residents and those who
might have come seeking
employment.
“The economic slow
down has had a dramatic
See LAGS, 3A
County
tires of
VA clinic
delays
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
County leaders have
grown tired of repeated
delays about whether
Edenton-Chowan would
become home to a Veter
an Affairs clinic, instead
choosing to pursue other
options.
At a recent Board of
Commissioners meeting,
it unanimously voted to
instruct County Man
ager Peter Rascoe to seek
other potential tenants
or buyers of the building
that formerly housed Al
bemarle Mental Health.
The building has been
vacant since September.
“We have pushed and
pushed,” said Eddy Good
win, board
chairman.
“We need
to have a
fall back
in place.
' We can
put some
body in
that build
ing or urj- Goodwin
load it.”
Since November, U.S.
Department of Veteran
Affairs representatives
have promised a decision
as to where the clinic
would go. The agency
keeps postponing a deci
sion.
It remains clear that
commissioners prefer
to field a VA clinic, but
they’ve concluded that
the dormancy is hurting
the financially strapped
county.
“We’re not going to kill
it, but we’re going to start
pursuing other options,”
See CUNIC, 3A
Edenton-Chowan Schools
dropout rate increases
Other school area
districts take dip
By KRISTIN PITTS
Staff writer
With the exception of
the Edenton-Chowan
Schools, all area school
districts reported lower
dropout rates in 2008-09
than the year before.
Although Edenton
Chowan’s 5.19 percent
dropout rate doesn’t rank
among the state’s highest,
the N.C. Depart
ment of Public In
struction’s annual
dropout rate report
indicates the dis
trict has the state’s
third largest three
year rate increase.
“Any student who
drops out of school
is one too many,”
Edenton-Chowan Super
intendent Allan Smith
said, adding that for three
of the past four years, his
district’s dropout rate
has been below the state
average.
According to
dropout reports
from the past
four years, the
2008-09 school
year was the
first time in four
years that Eden
ton-Chowan
Schools’ drop
out rate was above the
state average. The state
average for 2008-09 was
4.27 percent, a decrease
See DROPOUT, 3A
Currituck tops in
school crime rate
Edenton-Chowan
second in region
From stuff reports
An internal effort by
faculty and staff to in
crease reporting helped
push Currituck County
Schools to the top of the
list of North Carolina
school districts with “re
portable acts” of crime
and violence in 2008-09.
The district’s results
are included in a study by
the N.C. Department of
Public Instruction, which
analyzes school crime and
violence. Each district’s
safety is assessed using
a school system’s report
able acts, which range
from possession of an
alcoholic beverage to as
sault on school personnel
to sexual offenses.
The study shows that
Currituck had 40.33 re
portable acts per 1,000
students — a steep jump
See RATES, 4A
im
f®
M FRIDAY, MARCH 26 American Legion Post 40
BBQ CHICKEN 11 AM~2PM&4~7PM 1317 W- QUEEN ST, EDENTON
PROFITS WILL ASSIST POST 40'S EFFORTS TO SUPPORT VETERAN AND YOUTH PROGRAMS IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
Tickets: Dixie Auto, Byruin Hardware, Griggs Lumber, Colony Tire, Westover Deli, Soda Shoppe, Post 40 & members or call 482-4057
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