Chowan County Fair
gets under way B1
Judge dismisses
schools’ lawsuit
Fired administrator vows to fight
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
A Superior Court
judge has dismissed
three lawsuits filed
against Edenton-Chow
an school officials by a
former administrator.
The former John A. Hol
mes assistant principal
vows to seek other legal
remedies.
Judge Jerry R. Tillett
dismissed Mary Lyons
Felton’s suits at a Sept.
13 hearing in Gates
County, a month after he
gave Felton more time to
retain an attorney Til
lett declined to rule on
the schools’ motion to
dismiss during an Aug.
16 hearing in Currituck
County, instead, allow
ing Felton time to retain
counsel.
She still had not hired
an attorney by the Sept.
13 hearing, prompting Tillett to grant the dismiss
als. Those dismissals include suits against Superin
tendent Allan Smith, the Board of Education, and
See LAWSUIT, 4A
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STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Books designated as banned from reading are seen on dis
play in the Garden of Readin’ at the Edenton Coffee House.
The used, bookstore is sporting yellow caution tape around a.
group of books banned across the United States.
Banned-book list
surprises readers
By REBECCA BUNCH
■ Staff Writer
The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer by Mark Twain.
Beach Music by Pat Con
foy. Leaves of Grass by
Walt Whitman. The Twi
light series by Stephanie
Myers.
These books, some con
sidered classic literature
and some produced in
more recent years, have
one important lirik. All of
them, and hundreds more,
,89076H44813
,0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
“The time,
energy\ and
resources
expended
responding to
these claims
— claims that
had no merit
— could have
been more
effectively
directed in
service to our
students. ”
Allan Smith
Superintendent,
Edenton-Chowan
Schools
appear on a list produced
by the American Library
Association of books
that have been banned
in the United States.
This week, the Shepa
rd-Pruden Library and
the Garden of Readin’
Used Bookstore housed
at the Edenton Coffee
House, are joining to
gether to try and educate
local readers on this im
portant issue.
Terri Fox, who owns
the bookstore, said she’s
had some surprised
customers once they’ve
started looking at her
posted list of books that
have been banned.
I
See BOOKS, 4A
Steamers to field 2011 team
Fund-raising
goal falls short
By CHIC RIEBEL
The Daily Advance
The Edenton Steam
ers were hoping for a big
crowd at Saturday’s benefit
concert by the Rocky Hock
Opry Band at Hicks Field.
They saw it as the last
push to help them raise
the $50,000 they said they
would need before the team
would commit to playing in
the Coastal Plain League
for the 2011 season.
But the concert didn’t
See STEAMERS, 4A
Woman indicted for ex’s murder
Trial set for Jan. 10
From staff reports
An Edenton woman and
her then-police officer boy
friend accused of killing
an Ahoskie man nearly
three years ago will both
stand trial Jan. 10 for first
degree murder, according
Wounded Marine, Purple Heart
STAFF PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES
Marine Bobby Brown (right) is saluted by Ben Reinhart (left) after Reinhart pinned Brown with the Purple Heart at Friday
night’s football game between Edenton and Bertie. N.C. Highway Patrolman Tom Griffin looks on. Brown was awarded the
medal for his injuries suffered in a grenade explosion while serving in Iraq. '
Study: County work forces grow
Civitas: Chowan gets ‘F’ for too many employees
By REGGIE PONDER
The Daily Advance
A newly released study
on county government
work force growth in North
Carolina over the past de
cade gives three area coun
ties “C” grades and a fourth
county a “D,” but blasts
Chowan Cbunty with an
“F” for expanding its work
force by more than 20 times
the county’s population
growth.
According to the study
by the conservative Civitas
Institute, Chowan’s govern
ment work force grew from
103 to 147 between 2000 and
2009, an increase of 42.7
to court records.
A trial date for Janet
Denise Harrell, 36, and
Raymond Christian Je
dele, 41, was set during a
hearing Friday morning
in Northampton County,
according to court records.
On Monday, Harrell was
indicted on first-degree
murder charges for the
“You have to take that somewhat
with a grain of salt. I think it’s a
: - little skewed because it was done
over a 10-year period. ”
Eddy Goodwin
Chairman, Chowan Board of Commissioners
percent. During the same
period, the county’s popu
lation grew from 14,526 to
14,818, only 2 percent.
Meanwhile, private sec
tor employment in Chowan
decreased 12.9 percent dur
ing those years. According
to the Civitas study, the
Oct. 4, 2007 fatal shooting
of her ex-husband Donald
Bradley Smithwick. Har
rell had been charged with
being an accessory after
the fact to Smithwick’s
kidnapping and robbery.
Jedele, a former police
officer in Hertford and
Kitty Hawk, was first ar
rested for Smithwick’s
number of private sector
jobs in Chowan as of July
2009 were 4,116 — down
from 4,728 in 2000.
Chowan Board of Com
missioners Chairman Eddy
Goodwin said Friday that
Chowan’s bad grade in the
report “doesn’t surprise
kidnapping and robbery
on the same day he went
missing and held in a Hert
ford County jail under a
$10 million bond. Just days
later, Jedele was charged
with Smithwick’s slaying.
Friday’s hearing re
vealed that Jedele will be
See MURDER, 4A
I
me at all” since it covers
the entire past decade.
But Goodwin said stud
ies such as the Civitas In
stitute analysis don’t place
enough emphasis on more
recent years. «
“You have to take that
somewhat with a grain of
salt,” he said. “I think it’s
a little skewed because it
was done over a 10-year pe
riod.”
Things are beginning to
turn around in Chowan, he
said..
“I’ve been the chairman
of the county commission
ers for two years and our
See STUDY, 6A
| “Battle of the Bands**'
Competition at 5 PM
John A. Holmes Athletic Complex
$7 per person | children age six and
under get in free
«V
Chicken &
BBQ plates
11 AM - 2 PM \l.
& 4 PM-7 PM
$8 per plate
4, Join the 7th Annual
[s^SK Peanut Run at 8 AM
/ reg. 7 AM, Queen-Anne
lmk Park, downtown Edenton