482-4418
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
COMMUNITY Two
Holmes graduates
to attend military
'academies 1B
50c
Local pilot dies in fiery plane crash
2nd pilot suffers bums
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Chowan Herald
An Edenton pilot was killed
Monday night and another
critically injured when their
plane crashed and erupted into
Sen. not ready to ban offshore drilling
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr
says despite the BP
pipeline leak that’s
spewed millions of gallons
of oil into the Gulf of Mexi
co, he’s not ready to abandon
offshore drilling for oil.
Burr, interviewed in Eden
ton last Wednesday morn
ing, discussed a number of
heated issues, including'the
oil disaster in the Gulf of
Mexico, the national and
state economic outlook, the
recently adopted healthcare
bill, Wall Street, calls for
lifting the ban on Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell (DADT), as well as
election races and politics.
Offshore drilling
. Burr said he still supports
offshore drilling, provided
the extraction is done re
sponsibly
“Thirty percent of our
petroleum comes from the
Gulf,” Burr said. “For us to
write off offshore drilling
means our obligation to the
Middle East is a long-terip
economic and national de
fense issue.”
Burr said the nation’s
current focus should be
on stopping the leak and
completing the cleanup of
the environmental disaster
before debating the future of
offshore drilling.
Burr also expressed sup
port for the various gov
ernmental probes that are
Chowan jobless
rate at 10 percent
From staff reports
Chowan County’s unem
ployment rate continues to
drop, mirroring the rates
in other North Carolina
counties.
Statewide, unemploy
ment rates decreased in
99 out of 100 counties in
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
“They were simulating an engine problem just before the crash. ”
Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin, Chowan County
I '-"V
flames.
William Thomas Jordan,
69, perished in the 7:30 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Burr (middle), chats with Charlie (left) and Scott Creighton on the floor of the Colony Tire truck
tire retreading facility in Edenton during Burr’s visit to Edenton, Wednesday, June 2.
looking into what caused the
disaster and whether it could
have been prevented.
“It’s absolutely essential
for Us to understand what
went wrong,” Burr said. “I
can’t tell you today whether
a federal regulator turned
their back or a company cut
some corners they shouldn’t
have.”
According to the Associ
ated Press, government of
ficials estimate that the leak,
April, the most recent
month for which rates are
available.
For the month, local
rates fell to 10 percent
matching the state jobless
rate. In Chowan, the rate
was 10.7 in March.
“The positive news in the
April county data is that
there has been an increase
in the number of workers
employed throughout the
state,” said ESC Chairman
Lynn R. Holmes.
“At the same time, the
See RATE, 2A
fiery crash just northwest of
the plane’s takeoff runway at
Northeastern Regional Air
PHOTOS COURTESY JERRY CUMER
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., tours Jimbo’s Jumbos Edenton pro
cessing plant, Wednesday, June 2.
which started six weeks ago,
has now dumped anywhere
from 21 million to 45 million
gallons of oil into the gulf.
Meanwhile, BP’s latest ef
forts to plug the leak ran into
a snag and an oil slick from
the disaster began approach
ing the Florida panhandle.
Burr was in Edenton
Wednesday for tours of the
newly renovated Cupola
House and local employers
Colony Tire and Jimbo Jum
Butterfield answers to health vote
Residents OK
reform, oppose bill
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
EDENTON — U.S. Rep.
G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C.
encountered Chowan
County’s version of a
“tough crowd” during
what turned out to be a
confrontational town hall
discussion about health
care reform and Medicare
in Edenton Thursday
Butterfield, who voted
for the landmark health
care reform legislation in
March, was peppered with.
mostly hostile questions
port, according to Chowan
County Sheriff Dwayne Good
win. Joseph S. Konicki of Suf
bos. He also participated in
a radio interview conducted
by 103.7 WTIB-FM talk show
host and Chowan County na
tive Henry Hinton.
Economic outlook
Burr also addressed the
nation’s economic recession.
Despite a few bright spots,
the senator projects a slow
recovery until more
See BURR, 3A
and comments about the
new federal law by an au
dience of about 60 at the
Chowan County Senior
Center.
A number of question
ers reminded Butterfield
that national polls con
tinue to indicate that a
majority of Americans
— roughly 65 percent and
rising — do not support
folk, Va. suffered critical inju
ries, including burns from the
flames, Goodwin said. Konicki
was taken to a Norfolk Sentara
General, where a spokesper
son reported him to be in good
condition.
See PLANE, 2A
STAFF PHOTO BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
Edenton police return to a crime scene Mon
day after a man was shot four times Sunday
night at his 101W. Peterson St. duplex.
Edenton
man shot
four times
at his home
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
An Edenton man was shot four
times Sunday night after a man
forced his way into a duplex, accord
ing to police Chief Jay Fortenbery.
Michael Lamont Boston, 27, was
shot three times in the chest area
and once in the leg around 11 p.m.
at his residence located at 101W. Pe
terson Street, Fortenbery said. He
was taken to Pitt Memorial Hospital
in Greenville where he remains in
critical condition. The victim was
conscious and talking when medics
put him in the ambulance. Forten
berry said he was shot with a 9mm
handgun.
Police have no information on
the suspect who reportedly fled the
scene. It is not known whether the
shooter fled on foot or in a vehicle.
Fortenbery said the unknown sus
pect allegedly forced his way into
the duplex, however, the victim was
shot both inside and outside the
residence.
Residents who live nearby said
they heard an argument moments
before the shooting. There was a
single gunshot followed by two more
spaced shots, then a series of three
rapidly fired rounds, witnesses
said. The argument and shots oc
curred during the start of a heavy
rainstorm that was accompanied by
See SHOOTING, 2A
BRETT A. CLARK/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Congressman G.K.
Butterfield, D-N.C.,
visits the Chowan
County Senior Center
in Edenton, to
address concerns
about healthcare and
Medicare reform, Thursday.
the $940 billion health care
legislation, whose provi
sions include mandating
health care coverage for
an estimated 32 million
Americans who currently
lack it and prohibiting
health care insurers from
See HEALTH, 3A
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