Bye week helps Aces — 6B
482-4418
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Steinburg arrested, charged with assault
Incident occurred at
Hertford political forum
By PETER WILLIAMS
AND REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writers
Bob Steinburg, an Edenton resi
dent and Republican candidate
for state House, was arrested last
week for allegedly assaulting the
campaign manager of Democratic
challenger Bill Luton.
The misdemeanor criminal
summons signed by Magistrate
C.A. Woodard in
dicates probable
cause that Stein
burg “unlawfully
and willfully did
assault Russell
Haddad by grab
bing him on back
of the neck, try
ing to take a cam- Steinburg
era away from
him.”
Steinburg, 64, of Edenton, was
charged with simple physical as
sault and released, according to
Officer Terrence E. Farley of the
Hertford Police Department. The
* incident happened during a politi
cal forum at Perquimans County
High School in Hertford.
Steinburg said Monday that he
was having a private conversa
tion with Luton after the forum
ended, “trying to get him to focus
on the issues. I did admonish him
in a spirited way”
Steinburg said that he looked up
and saw that Haddad had walked
over and was taping their conver
sation with a camera phone.
“I said, ‘Look, I don’t want you
taping this, it’s a private con
versation,’” Steinburg said. He
said that Haddad put the camera
phone down briefly but then be
gan taping again as he and Luton
continued to talk. “I then said to
him, I asked you to stop. The third
time I asked him, I again said, this
is a private conversation.”
Steinburg said that he swatted
at the camera phone several times
to try and get it out of Haddad’s
hands. He said that at that point,
Haddad left the forum.
“I don’t recall grabbing at his
neck,” Steinburg said. “I do recall
trying to push the camera phone
away”
Steinburg said that about 20
minutes later he was still at the fo
rum talking with people when he
was approached by a Perquimans'
law enforcement officer and asked
to step outside so that they could
talk. It was at that point, Stein
burg said, that he learned Had
dad planned to file a complaint
and that he was being charged
in connection with the incident.
Steinburg said that reaction
to the incident had been posi
SeeSTEINBURG, 3A
Board
mulls
shorter
terms
> j
Members would
serve four years
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Edenton-Chowan
school board plans to dis-'
cuss a resolution at its
Nov. 5 meeting that could
lead to 4-year terms for
its members. Currently,
? board members serve 6
j year terms.
Should the school board
:f approve the resolution, the
( next step would be for the
resolution to be put before
the county commissioners
for a vote.
Once the commissioners
approved the resolution,
: a bill would have to be in
! troduced in the next legis
| lative session of the North
Carolina General Assem
| bly to make the change. The
bill would pass through
the education committee
prior to being voted on by
both members of the state
House and Senate.
Several members of the
school board expressed
support for the idea at
I their Oct. 1 board meeting
| on Monday night includ
ing outgoing board mem
ber Win Dale.
“I think the 6-year terms
discourage people from
| running for office,” Dale
said.
Dale recently announced
that he would not seek re
election after completing
his first six years on the
board. He said at the time
that he favored term limits
and wanted to give others
a chance to serve. •
Three board seats are
up for re-election this year
— the District 1 seat cur
rently held by Jean Bunch,
Ricky Browder’s District
2 seat, and the at-large
board seat being vacated
by Dale.
Dale noted that since
he announced he would
not seek re-election two
candidates had registered
to run for his seat but he
wondered aloud if anyone
would have challenged
him had he chosen to seek
See BOARD, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Fair Days
•<s8r—*"
-
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT A. CLARK
Jami Sanderlin and her daughter Alyssa, 5, play one of the games at the Chowan County Fair, Wednesday.
Thousands attend Chowan County fair
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETTA. CLARK
A spinning ride leaves colorful streaks while people ride at the
Chowan County Fair, Wednesday.
Numbers down
from years past
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Organizers say they
are pleased that
just over 13,600
people attended this
year’s Chowan County
Regional Fair.
But they acknowl
edge that in a good year
attendance is typically
much higher. Results
of the recession and the
community’s high unem
ployment continue to be
felt in the numbers.
“In a good year we will
have about 20,000 people
come to the fair,” said
Brenda Toppin, secretary
to the fair board.
This year paid atten
dance totaled 9,705 with
seniors and children who
were admitted free of
charge at special times
during the weeklong fair
accounted for another
3,900 visitors.
Toppin said that
weather also played a
role. Saturday’s rainfall
kept attendance down,
she said, which hurt
business.
“Friday and Saturday
are the days that re
ally make or break us,”
agreed her husband,
E.C., who is president
of the fair. “The rain on
Saturday really hurt us.”
He added that offering
$10 walk-around tickets
for those who wanted to
just enjoy the attractions
and educational exhibits
without riding any rides
had not drawn the re
sponse that fair officials
had hoped.
“For all the requests
we had to offer those,
I expected a lot more
people to take advantage
of that,” Toppin said.
See FAIR, 3A
Town of Edenton responds to developer’s suit
Court will not hear
case until next year
By PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
Town of Edenton contends own
ing rental property doesn’t dis
qualify an elected official from vot
ing on developments that provide
rental property
The town was responding last
week to a lawsuit by Evergreen
Construction. The company want
ed to build a 50-unit multi-family
housing complex on Coke Avenue.
At least four councilmen own
rental properties, but Sambo Dix
on and Bob Quinn were the most
vocal about questioning the proj
ect. Dixon has 25 rental proper
ties and Quinn has two. After the
project was rejected, Evergreen
sued the town and said Dixon and
Quinn should have refrained from
voting.
Tim Morgan, Evergreen vice
president, could not be reached
for comment. In a previous inter
view he compared the situation
to a new grocery store coming to
town and having representatives
from Food Lion and Lowes Food
sitting on the board that decides
the application.
Attorney Hood Ellis, who repre
sents the. town, said the two men
owned property prior to the Ever
green’s first application to develop
the land. Ellis maintains it was
clearly a matter of public record.
The town originally approved
a plan for 45 units, but later came
back with a plan for 50 on a larger
lot. The second request was denied
and the original building permit
has since expired.
Ellis said the next civil session
of Civil Superior Court in Chowan
County isn’t scheduled until some
time in 2013. ^
J‘-.y .•
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