482-4418 Wednesday, January 5, 201T 50« Shalom Inemational holds first Mercy Service, PAGE 6B FEMA, state reject funding millponds By RITCHIE E. STARNES Editor Recent funding rejec tions have Ghowan County leaders scrambling to find alternate monies to pay for damaged millponds. County Manager Paul Parker informed the Board of County Commission A Holiday Gift ' v PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES Malynda Brickhouse, (l-r), and her two daughters, Quas-unique, 5, and Zia-lieya, 15, stand on the porch of their new house.The Tyler Lane house is part of the Habitat for Humanity program and was dedicated to the family on Dp*. 18. Family gets Habitat house before holidays Home marks Chowan’s 5th By RITCHIE E. STARNES Editor A single mother and her two daughters celebrated the holi day season with a wish come true after taking possession of the latest house courtesy of Habitat j| for Humanity - the family’s first home. Malynda Brickhouse, 34, and her daughters, ages 5 and 15, were presented the keys of their new 202 Tyler Lane house on Dec. 18, a week before Christmas, but Area welcomes New Year’s baby By REBECCA BUNCH Sfaff Writer A Perquimans County couple’s first child born at Chowan Hospital is also the New Year’s baby for 2011 in the Albemarle area. Melissa and Robert Stallings Jr. of Winfall welcomed their little girl, Everista Marie, into the world at 12:25 a.m. Melissa said the baby, who will be known sim ply as Eve, was named for her maternal great-grand mother. "We thought that she was ©2009 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved I i i I i Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 7-8:30 PM 2nd Floor. Public Safety Bldg. FREE Admission •' - ... J. ei*s at its Monday night meeting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency refused to pay any of its $120,000 estimated flood damages at Dillard’s and Bennett’s millponds, caused by the deluge from September’s Tropical Storm Nicole. Parker said FEMA reported that the plenty of time to add holiday decorations to the 960-square-foot, three bedroom house. “This was the best Christmas present that I ever had,” Brickhouse said. “Words couldn’t explain how happy I felt. I love it because it’s my own house.” Her girls were equally as ecstatic, smiles still beaming two weeks later. They were especially glad to be rid of having to use kerosene heaters for a source of warmth, par ticularly during Decem ber’s frigid temperatures. Their new house has central air conditioning and heat. •' REBECCA BUNCH/CHOWAN HERALD Baby New Year. Melissa and Robert Stallings Jr., of Winfall, are seen with their daughter, Everista Marie, who was bom at 12:25 a.m. Saturday at Chowan Hospital in Edenton. going to be a New Year’s Eve baby, but Eve took a little longer to come,” Me lissa, 26, said. ‘“We were damages did not qualify for agency funding. After next turning to the state’s Division of Water Quality and the Wildlife Association, both also re fused to allocate funding for the repairs, Parker said. Although the matter was scheduled for discus The Brickhouses previously lived in a substandard rental house for three years. Part of the application process requires their Habitat house candidates live in such quarters. Malynda acted quickly to become a candidate for the new home. She was one of three applicants pursuing the local Habi tat house, the ninth for the group and the fifth in Chowan County. “She is quite honestly one of the best applicants that we’ve ever had,” said Dick Vail, Habitat organizer. After applying about a year ago, Malynda sus just glad she waited and came this week instead of See BABY, 4A sion later in the meeting, Parker’s comments came earlier after four residents used the public comment section to express their concerns about the mill ponds and the perceived lack of effort to make time ly repairs. “The millponds are still there. They’re not going pected early on that she had been selected as the next Habitat recipient. “I thought I must have got the house because they kept calling me for information,” Malynda said. Habitat applicants are required to invest 250 hours of sweat equity into the project. “You got to do it all, paint, yard, floors” Mal ynda said. Vail added that Mal ynda more than fulfilled her obligation to qualify for the house. “She came there every night to help clean up.