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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Busi
nesses
going
to the
dogs
— IB
50*
Review team ranks top 11 Golden LEAF projects
COA misses cut
on campus rehab
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
The list of 17 applicants
pursuing $2 million in
Golden LEAF Foundation
grant funds has been nar
rowed to 11.
Chowan County’s ap
pointed Community As
sistance Initiative review
team also, ranked the sub
mitted projects in an or
der of priority, based on
each proposal’s score. Col
lectively, the final list of
projects total $2.3 million,
down significantly from
the original request of $6.2
million. Golden LEAF will
next pare the list down to
what it believes will yield
the most effective results
in terms of economic de
velopment.
“There’s some pain yet
to come,” said Dan Ger
lach, Golden LEAF presi
dent. “Just
because
they’re
on the
list does
not mean
they’re go
ing to get
funding.”
It ap
pears certain that Eden
ton-Chowan Schools will
receive funding after two
of its applications secured
the review team’s top and
third ranking. The sys
Smith
tern’s $677,500 request to
fund its Learning Initia
tive that includes adding
technological learning
devices. The schools also
want to earmark $285,000
toward secondary STEM
(science, technology engi
neering, and mathematics)
curriculum.
“Both projects will en
hance the learning en
vironment and promote
the development of 21st
Century skills for middle
and high school students,”
said Superintendent Allan
Smith. “It is anticipated'
these projects will result in
even more students gradu
ating from John A. Holmes
High School with the skills
to be successful in what
ever endeavor they choose
to pursue.”
The bulk of the remain
ing projects align with ef
forts to rely on tourism as
the community’s economic
engine.
In most cases Golden
LEAF has kept its awarded
projects to a smaller num
ber, usually no more than
five.
“You don’t want the
grants to be so small you
can’t see any (economic)
movement,” Gerlach said.
“I don’t believe that’s
the case with this review
team.”
He added that he recog
nizes that Edenton-Chow
an’s overall plan integrates
various facets of tourism
See GOLDEN LEAF.3A
Property
revaluations
set to get
under way
DMV offices to collect
vehicular taxes
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor . ,
County property owners should
expect a visiting appraiser any
day now. '
Eight years since the last one,
it’s time for property revalua
tions to begin. Revaluations will
not go into effect until July 2014,
but the data gath
ering process
typically takes a
year to complete
and is set to be
gin anytime. The
last revaluation
occurred in 2006,
before the real
estate market col- Lamft
lapsed and the nation slumped
into a recession. As a result, the
last property revaluations were
based on robust sales.
Despite the distinctly different
real estate climates between the
revaluation periods, the next re
valuations will be based on true
sale transactions, or those with a
willing buyer and seller.
“We have to qualify the sales be
fore we begin,” said Clyde Kepley,
tax administrator. “You’re not get
ting a true value for a family sale.
And foreclosures are fire sales.”
County Manager Zee Lamb re
mains confident that this year’s
revaluation compared to the last
one will not be so dramatically
different that it results in a high
er tax rate from the existing 68.5
cents per $100 valuation. Chowan’s
taxed property value currently
stands at $1.26 billion.
“We assumed a 10 percent drop
in aggregate values,” Lamb said.
“Our sales rate is at 98 percent,
which suggests that our values
have gone up 1 to 2 percent. It
could end up as a break-even.
“Some properties will go up,
some down. All properties are dif
ferent,” Lamb added.
At this time Kepley preferred
See VALUES, 3A
STAFF PHOTOS BY REBECCA BUNCH
Roger Hathaway, an Edenton native who heads the Office of Education at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., spoke at the local Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration held at Swain Auditorium, Monday.
MLK Day reminds to keep others dreaming
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Keeping Martin Luther
King’s dream alive begins
by ensuring others fulfill
their dreams.
That was Roger Hathaway’s
message at Monday’s Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. celebration. Ha
thaway, an Edenton native who
heads the Office of Education
at the NASA Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Va. served
as the keynote speaker for the Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. celebra
tion at Swain Auditorium.
About 350 people attended
the presentation of “Living the
Dream for Freedom and Non
Violence.”
Hathaway, a former teacher,
spoke fondly of his days as a
student at D.F. Walker School
and some of the educators who
served as major influences on
his life.
“The path that I traveled was
because of the town where I lived
when I was a child,” Hathaway
said in speaking of his eventual
career with NASA.
He also recalled a visit made
to Edenton by Dr. King, on May
8,1966. Hathaway said that while
he did not attend, his father did
and the experience had a pro
found effect on his family.
“I was a sophomore in high
school and I will never forget the
look on my father’s face, and the
way he came home and shared
Dr. King’s words with us,” Ha
thaway said.
See MLK DAY, 7A
Audience members sing “We Shall Overcome" during the annual cel
ebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Police ID break-in suspect
From staff reports
Police have named a sus
pect in the break-in and
theft at the Chowan Agri
cultural Center.
Warrants have been is
sued for Robert Keith Bea
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved!
sley, 34,
on charg
es of fe
lonious
breaking
and en
t e r i n g,
accord
ing to _
Edenton Baaslay
Police Chief Jay Forten
bery Beasley is suspected
of breaking into the agri
cultural building where
he ransacked the offices
of the N.C. Cooperative
Extension before stealing /
a credit card on Jan. 13.
A security camera cap
tured a photo of Beasley
when he attempted to use
the stolen card at an au
tomated teller machine,
Fortenbery said. Beasley
has a criminal record,
including a charge in Oc
tober for breaking and
entering a coin machine
at the Wash House on Vir
ginia Road, Fortenbery
See SUSPECT, 2A
Agritourism is a farm’s cash cow
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
No longer are farms sole
ly dependent on crops and
livestock for as it’s only
revenue source, at least
they don’t have to be.
A combination of farm
ers and tourism leaders
converged Thursday in
Williamston to learn how
they could better work col
lectively in the interest of
See AGRITOURISM, 3A
STAFF PHOTO BY RITCHIE STARNES
John Wright, top left, of Sanctuary Vineyards, talks about his efforts
to transition a Currituck County farm into a multi-faceted destina
tion at an agritourism conference held in Williamston, Thursday. ■ 1
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