482-4418
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Aces hit the gridiron - 7A
50*
Gov. Hopeful Tours
STAFF PHOTO BY THOMAS J. TURNEY
Edenton Mayor Roland Vaughan (left) and GOP candidate for governor Pat McCroiy stand in front of the Edenton Bay during
McCrary’s visit to Chowan County, Friday. •
McCrary: Private sector will save NC
GOP candidate wants to
rid politics from spending
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Republican gubernatorial candi
date Pat McCrory says North Car
olina’s government has lost hold
of its core objectives and replaced
them with politics.
Between campaign stumps
New
terms set
for online
gaming
Planning board
calls for moratorium
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
The Edenton Town
Council will next have to
decide whether to follow
the Planning Board’s pre
ferred recommendation to
issue a moratorium on a
text amendment allowing
electronic gaming, pend
ing a N.C. Supreme Court
Oiling.
'C At its July 9 meeting,
Hie town’s planning board
jiiade its recommendation
fb implement amoratorium
<fchile the Supreme Court
Osues a ruling about the
legality of electronic gam
ing. If the council votes to
allow the Internet sweep
stakes cafes, the planning
itoard also drafted a set of
recommended conditions
for the prospective estab
lishments.
;*« Three residents ad
jdressed the planning board
opposition to the sweep
stakes cafes.
Among those against
electronic gaming is
Penny Norman. Norman
<- See GAMING, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
Ail Rights Reserved
in Edenton on Friday, McCrory
stopped by the Chowan Herald to
answer questions on a wide range of
issues as he vies to defeat Democrat
Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton in November.
What’s clear is that McCrory con
siders North Carolina out of sync
with what made it a great state, but
not beyond repair provided future
decisions are based on facts and not
politics. He prefers that state gov
ernment give the private sector the
necessary infrastructure aacTthen
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Austin Bonnar, right, regional field director for the N.C. Republican Party, talks with GOP gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrary,
left, and Chowan County Commission Chairman Eddy Goodwin, Republican nominee for secretary of state.
Romney’s field rep eases into South
New Englander
boasts sweet tea
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Even his name hints
that he’s a product
of Generation Y.
If that’s not enough
to make him an unusual
transplant in Edenton,
add that he’s working on
behalf of the Republican
Party in northeast North
Carolina where regis
tered Democrats more
than double the GOP.
But, that’s OK because
Austin C. Bonnar is
accustomed to bucking
step aside.
“It’s the private sector that’s go
ing to get the state out of this reces
sion,” McCrory said. “What the gov
ernment needs to do is complement
them or get out of the way.”
A former Charlotte councilman
followed by a record serving seven
term mayor of Charlotte, McCrory
is making his second bid at becom
ing governor after narrowly losing
i See MCCRORY, 3A
partisan odds. It doesn’t
appear to be the first
time, or the last, that he’s
been an anomaly
“My whole family is
Democrat, coming from
Massachusetts,” Bonnar
said. “We never talk poli
tics at the dinner table.
But, we all do agree on
the (Boston) Red Sox.”
Bonnar is working as
a regional field director
for the N.C. Republican
Party, assigned to a 14
county area. Although
he pledges that he’s
working on behalf of all
GOP candidates, much of
Bonnar’s work is aimed
at getting presidential
hopeful Mitt Romney
elected in what is consid
ered a battleground state.
“We need to defeat
(President) Obama in
November, but we’re call
ing the area together for
the sake of all Republi
can candidates,” Bonnar
said.
At 23 years old, his
youthful face pales in
comparison to the sizable
challenge of recruiting
GOP votes in Democrat
territory.
“I didn’t realize the
job that it would be - the
political history, the
Democrat stronghold,”
Bonnar admits. "We’ve
got our work cut out for
us.”
Gunfire
rattles
neighbors
Police unable
to find shooter
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Shots fired in the East
Queen Street neighbor
hood on Thursday night
have left some residents
concerned for their safety
Edenton Police Chief
Jay Fortenbery said offi
cers on patrol responded
to the scene after hearing
as many as six shots fired
about 10 p.m. He said po
lice recovered # shell cas
ing for a 9 mm handgun
on the street but so far had
been unable to identify the
shooter. No one was in
jured in the incident.
Terri Fox, who lives in
the neighborhood, said the
shots fired that were “ex
tremely loud.”
“I actually thought some
body was knocking on my
door,” Fox said. “It’s really
disconcerting that there
would be gunshots fired on
our peaceful street.”
Fox said that she and her
husband had lived in their
home for about 4 % years
and up until about six
months ago had never had
Bonnar also realizes
that in addition to Repub
lican voters, the number
of unaffiliated voters has
risen dramatically, many
of whom were Demo
crats. That’s not counting
conservative Democrats.
Bonnar insists there are
more closet Republicans
around here that prefer
to keep quiet to avoid
persecution.
For now, Bonnar is
spearheading the collec
tion of polling data and
feeding that info to party
headquarters in Raleigh.
He prefers not to talk 1
about the data, fear of
See BONNAR, 3A
any problems.
“When we moved here
we were told that this was
a street where many peo
ple didn’t even lock their
doors,” Fox said.
Fox said that in recent
months,
however,
the cli
mate on
the street
had begun
to change.
She said
_ . . that there
Fortenbery had been
a drug bust and another
incident where shots were
fired.
Fortenbery confirmed
those incidents and said it
had caused an increase in
the number of times the
neighborhood was being
patrolled.
“We’ve had some com
plaints about drug activi
ty,” Fortenbery, “and we’ve
responded to that. We’re
doing extra patrols and
asking for the public’s help
in alerting us about any
thing suspicious that they
may see.”
But Fox said that she
would like to see the
See GUNSHOTS, 4A
Hopefuls
back
reform
Goodwin, Causey:
Coastal rates high
By CINDY BEAMON
The Daily Advance
The state’s insurance
system needs reform, say
both candidates seeking
to be the state’s watchdog
over the industry.
Incum
bent N.C.
Insurance
Commis
s i o n e r
Wayne
Goodwin,
seeking
a second
term, and
challenger
Mike Cau
sey agreed
last week
that higher
insurance
rates may
result if
the office
doesn’t
make some changes. Al
ready insurance compa
nies are pressing for the
state to raise the commis
sion’s ceiling on rates.
Goodwin, a Democrat,
said the office needs to of
fer those companies incen
tives, possibly tax breaks,
rather than raising the
state’s ceiling on rates.
Causey, a Republican,
said the state is in trouble
if it doesn’t attract more
insurance companies to
help spread the risk among
customers. He wants to
See INSURANCE, 4A
Goodwin
pi M-0*10-* oj
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