482-4418
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
See Aces Roundup on Page 10A
Budget talks
hint of request
shortfalls
Schools, sheriff to
make adjustments
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Preliminary budget
talks suggest a number of
Chowan County depart
ments will again be forced
to cinch their fiscal belts
and pare down their needs
list.
Last Thursday the Board
of Commissioners held a
special budget session to
discuss the county budget
and determine how much
funding each department'
will likely get. Among
those expected to whittle
their funding plans are
Edenton-Chowan Schools
and the Sheriff’s Office.
Instead of the requested
$3.6 million funding, com
missioners have signaled
Masked
gunmen
rob Duck
Thru
From staff reports
Three suspects are being
sought in connection with
an armed robbery Thurs
day night at approximately
10:25 p.m. at the Duck Thru
convenience store at 218
Virginia Road in Edenton.
Edenton Police Chief
Jay Fortenbery described
the three suspects, caught
on a surveillance camera
at the store, as black males
between the ages of 16 and
26. He said they entered the
store wearing camouflage
bandanas over their faces,
heavy coats and gloves.
According to Fortenbery,
one of the robbery suspects
was armed with a pump
action shotgun, which he
pointed at a store clerk. The
suspects demanded money
from the clerk and fled the
scene in an unknown direc
tion, the police chief said,
taking with them an undis
closed amount of money
Fortenbery said that rob
beries of this type are rare
in the community. “We
have been lucky,” he said.
“We are just thankful that
no one was injured in this
incident.”
The Edenton Police De
partment is asking for the
public’s help in solving this
crime and a $1,000 reward is
being offered for informa
tion leading to the identity
and arrest of the individu
als responsible, Fortenbery
said.
Anyone with informa
tion is encouraged to con
tact the Edenton Police
Department at 482-5144 or
482-4444.
©2009 The Chowan Herald
AH Rights Reserved
they plan
to appro
priate $3.4
million, or
the' same
level as
last year,
toward
schools.
A 1 -
though
school
leaders ul
timately
determine
how the
system
will spend
the coun
ty’s alloca
tion, the-funding disparity
equals the system’s plans
to fund a $150,000 alterna
tive school at the Boys and
Girls Club for at-risk stu
dents and $55,000 annually
See SHORTFALLS, 3A
Inspirational leader
STAFF PHOTO BY THOMAS J. TURNEY
Edenton soccer player Whitney Holmes (center), is not playing this spring after undergoing brain surgery, but still comes to
practices and games to support her teammates and they stand behind her. Holmes had her operation last October after
suffering three concussions.
Brain surgery can’t stop Holmes
from being with her teammates
By CHIC RIEBEL
Sports Editor
After suffering three
concussions in two
different sports
last year, Whitney Hol
mes was cleared to play
soccer at Edenton back
in early March.
That was great news
for the two-year varsity
player. Holmes, a junior
defender, is totally con
sumed with the game.
“I’ve been playing
soccer since I was about
4 years old,” she said.
“I love playing whether
it’s school, camp or
just with a group of
Easy Does It
baa
PHOTO BY KIP SHAW
Worth Hare (center) discusses with his crew the final details of moving the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse above the
waters of Edenton Bay on Tuesday afternoon. For a complete wrap-up, see next week's edition of the Chowan Herald.
“Whitney is
just such an
; • inspiration
for us... She
has been
through so
much, yet
she's there
all the time
helping us.
Molly High
Aces' soccer player
V.. ' . . - ,‘ , if
friends.”
Despite the medi
cal clearance, Holmes
decided she would play
H it safe, rather than play
this season.
Instead of mixing it
up on the field, she is
regularly attending prac
4 tices and games while
working as a mentor to
teammates, helping Lady
Aces’ coach Alicia Cas
sidy-Quate in whatever
way possible and keeping
4 stats.
You might have made
the same decision if you
were six months removed
from brain surgery.
“To go out and sit
at practice and watch
games and listen to the
stories from my team
mates about the game the
next day is so hard,” said
Holmes, who underwent
a five-hour brain opera
tion last Oct. 5 at Duke
University Medical Cen
ter to alleviate headaches
and dizziness.
“But I’d rather sit out
the season than never
play again,” she said. “I
just thought it would be
better to be careful.”
While Holmes isn’t on
the playing field, she is
making plenty of
See HOLMES, 4A
Decision
2012
Early
voters
choosing
GOP
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editory
Monday marked the
busiest day so far for
early voting in Chowan
County where most are
choosing to cast ballots in
the Republican primary.
Inside
Power outage poses
early voting wrinkle
— 1B
Seventy-seven vot
ers took advantage of
one-stop voting Monday,
bringing the total to 437
with five days left for the
early opportunity. Chow
an is averaging 54 voters
daily since early voting
started April 19. It con
cludes 1 p.m. Saturday.
Chowan’s Board of
Elections does not antici
pate this year’s one-stop
numbers to eclipse the
981 casts in the 2008 pri
mary. Current numbers
are outpacing the 2010 . j
primary.
But the opportunity
is there for next week’s
primary to be as busy
here as 2008. At 10,611,
Chowan has more regis
tered voters today than in
the previous presidential '
election of 9,817.
While Democrats still
hold the majority of reg
istered voters at 5,758,
the number of Republi
cans and Unaffiliated are
growing at a faster clip.
There are 2,506
See ONE-STOP, 2A