482-4418
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
50*
Tyner crabber dies on Little River
From staff reports
A commercial fisher
man is believed to have
drowned Monday after ap
parently falling overboard
into the Little River near
the Pasquotank-Perqui
mans county border.
Chowan
covets new
legislative
district
From staff reports
Chowan County leader? have
joined efforts to create a new leg
islative district that would unite
Chowan with Perquimans, Gates,
' and Pasquotank counties.
Officials from those counties
have agreed to submit a letter to the
N.C. General Assembly Redistrict
[ ing Committee endorsing Gates
resident Earl Rountree, a former
member of the State Department
of Transportation, to combine the
four counties in a new electoral
district for the N.C. House of Rep
resentatives.
On May 18, Chowan Commission
Chairman Eddy Goodwin penned
such a letter, suggesting that unit
ing the four counties in the same
legislative district would be in their
best interests.
“We interact socially and eco
nomically with these other three
counties on a daily basis,” Good
win wrote. “These same counties
formed and support various other
political subdivisions that serve
the region, such as the College of
The Albemarle, Albemarle Com
mission, and Albemarle Regional
Health Services...We also share
many of the same regulatory con
cerns, mainly dealing with trans
portation, coastal environmental
issues, and coastal building and
property insurance issues."
Goodwin added that Chowan pre
fers to be included in state House
and Senate districts that are “com
prised of compact and contiguous ,
counties.”
Chowan’s response followed a
similar letter from Perquimans
leaders endorsing the same move
that appears to be gaining momen
tum.
The plan, if adopted, would alter
the districts currently represented
by three area Demoqats.
State Rep. Tim Spear, D-Washing
ton, who serves on the House Redis
tricting Committee, said it’s prema
ture to draw any conclusions.
“Right now we’re still just com
piling the information,” Spears
said.
■ \
See DISTRICT, 3A
Aces’ baseball loses after unexpected over-nighter
Rain delay forces
stay in Whiteville
By PAUL WHITE
Special to the Chowan Herald
The Edenton Aces were
willing to wait all night for
the rain to stop last Tues
day, and they promised to
all pitch in to get White
ville’s field ready for more
baseball.
But after spending about
90 minutes watching rain
flood the field and light
ning dance across the sky,
even Aces coach Justin
Roberson couldn’t object
6 "*8 9076b44813b"0
02009 fhe Chowan Herald
' All Rights Reserved ,
The body of Joseph
Franklin Richardson, 55,
of Tyner was found a short
distance from his boat by
other commercial fisher
men who became alarmed
when Richardson’s vessel
was spotted circling with
no one aboard, said Lt.
Turbines Spawn Sprout
PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES
Trevor Sherrick, owner of Calyber Boatworks, stands beside a mold that his company will produce for Sprout
Energy with whom he has partnered.
Boat builder produces company mold
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
As the Albemarle embrac
es the economic possi
bilities that accompany
the prospect of wind farms,
an Edenton boat builder has
partnered with a group set on
promoting renewable energy
A group of four has united
to form a company - Sprout
Energy - with an objective to
provide a medium that raises
awareness for renewable
energy In addition to a pro
, motional kiosk, Sprout also
serves as a data collection
hub for research. Collectively,
Sprout Energy creates nor
malized data while changing
perceptions about how people
think about clean energy
On Friday, the Sprout
group, birthed a year ago,
gathered at Calyber Boat
works in Edenton, where the
infant company’s kiosk will
be produced. Calyber’s owner
Trevor Sherrick has designed
an, outer shell that combines
art and technology while
housing Sprout’s software
and hardware.
See SPROUT, 2A
at around 8:30 p.m. when
the umpire suspended
play and announced the 2A
state tournament second
round game would resume
Wednesday.
Of course, that was easy
for him to say. For the
Aces, who now faced a five
hour trip to Edenton and a
five-hour return to resume
play, the suspension was
considerably more prob
lematic. The Aces led pow
erful Whiteville (20-2) 1-0
in the bottom of the second
inning when play was halt
ed, but suddenly, winning a
game was the least of their
concerns.
“If it was, say, three
hours away, we probably
would have come back,”
said Edenton athletic di
rector Bob Turner, who
had made the trip to White
ville. “But five hours up
-and five hours back the
next day? That’s too tAugh
Norman Watts of the N.C,
Wildlife Resources Com
mission.
The boat was found
about a half-mile west of
Symonds Creek and two
miles from where the Lit
tle River empties into the
Albemarle Sound.
on the kids.”
v, Whiteville coach Arnold
Richardson’s body
was found in that vicin
ity but nearer to the
Pasquotank side of the wa
terway, Watts said.
Richardson reportedly
was not wearing a person
al flotation device, he said.
A commercial fisherman
Harwood offered to let the
Aces sleep in his school’s
reported spotting Richard
son crabbing alone at the
site about 11:30 a.m., but
did not see Richardson
when he returned a short
time later.
Instead, he saw Rich
ardson’s boat circling
slowly with no one on
PHOTO COURTE
SY OF SPROUT
ENERGY
Sprout
Energy’s
kiosk is
designed
to collect
wind and
solar data
for research
analysis
while also
represent
ing a
symbol
for public
awareness
of renew
able energy.
Trevor Sher
rick of
Calyber
Boatworks
has part
nered with
Sprout and
will produce
the molds.
FILE PHOTO
Edenton baseball coach
Justin Roberson has nothing
but applause for the parents
who helped out the team af
ter it was stranded overnight
inWhiteville when a playoff
game was suspended by rain.
gym. But Turner said if
his team was going to stay,
they’d stay in a hotel. So
after getting approval from
his administration, the
Aces settled in at a nearby
budget motel.
They then walked across
the street to a waffle house
for their first meal in
hours. Meanwhile, the par
ents that had made the trip
began taking inventory.
Who needs deodorant?
How ‘bout toothpaste? Or
underwear?
The necessary items
were then purchased a lo
board, Watts said. Other
fishermen at the popular
crabbing site joined in
the search and reportedly
found Richardson floating
in the water about noon
before rescue personnel
arrived, Watts said.
See DROWNING, 2k
Gates
to build
$2.5M
project
Fed grant
covers sewer
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
GATESVILLE - U.S. Rep. G.K.
Butterfield (D-NC) announced
Thursday that Gates County
would be the recipient of what
many rural communities have
been going without - federal
funding for economic develop
ment.
Butterfield presented Gates
County officials with a check
replica marking the $900,000
allocation, courtesy of the US
Department of Commerce’s eco
nomic development arm, to help
fund the first phase of a $2.5 mil
lion commercial project - the
largest in Gates history.
After advising the crowd of
about 20 who attended the press
conference at Merchants Mill
pond State Park that northeast
ern North Carolina is too often
ignored of federal and state
infrastructure funding, the 1st
District congressman said ef
forts are afoot to help rural com
munities.
“The needs of rural communi
ties continue,” Butterfield said.
“You don’t have the tax base to
do anything. The only other
source is government funds.
We’re going to continue to invest
in rural infrastructure.”
Butterfield touted President
Barack Obama as understand
ing of the importance for invest
ing in rural communities that'
typically wield less political
influence than metropolitan ar
eas.
“Many of those in urban ar
eas have no idea of the challeng
es that exist in rural communi
ties,” Butterfield added.
Plans include for Gates Coun
ty to use the federal funds to
See GATES, 3A
cal Wal-Mart. It was just
one of the good deeds
turned in by this group of
parents, who also picked
up the tab for kids that
didn’t have money and
served as room chaperones
— one adult per three kids
— during their impromptu
hotel stay.
“I truly think we’ve got
the best parents in the
state,” Roberson said.
The folks at Whiteville
weren’t bad, either. The
following day, the school let
the Aces use their washing
machines to get their uni
forms ready for Round Two.
And when the Aces arrived
at the field at around noon'
— although the game was
at 5 p.m„ Checkout time at
the hotel was 11 a.m.—the
Whiteville athletic direc
tor greeted them with Sub
way sandwiches.