Former
Edenton
officer wins
statewide
award - 3A
482-4418
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Vidant: ‘Pungo’ issues not plaguing local hospital
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Vidant Health officials
said this week that Vidant
Chowan Hospital is in sound
financial shape and is mov
ing forward with its $3.3 mil
lion remodeling project
’ Asked about Vidant
Chowan’s future in light of
1 last week’s announcement
that the Vidant Pungo Hos
pital in Beaufort County will
be closing over the next few
months, Vidant officials said
the situation at the Chowan
facility is veiy different and
the hospital here is set to
move forward with the capi
tal project in rehabilitation
services and outpatient spe
cialty clinics.
Jeffrey Sackrison, presi
dent of Vidant Chowan
Hospital, and Roger Rob
ertson, president of Vidant
(Community Hospitals, said
that while end-of-year finan
cial performance is difficult
to predict due to year-end
adjustments, both expect
Vidant Chowan Hospital
to end its fiscal year a few
weeks from now in the
black — in a “positive-to
budget” position.
“Chowan has a very
strong financial position,”
Robertson said, with a pa
tient volume that supports
the level of services offered
here.
That was not the case
with the Pungo facility, ac
cording to Robertson.
Robertson explained that
when Vidant took over Pun
go Hospital in 2011, Vidant
officials knew there were
problems with the bidding.
' But the full extent of those
problems was not under
stood until Vidant became
involved in day-to-day op
erations at Pungo.
“The building was in
worse condition than we
had anticipated,” Robertson
said
In addition, the patient
volume at Pungo was not
adequate to sustain the ex
isting level of service there
in the long term, Robertson
said.
Sackrison noted that Vi
dant Chowan Hospital has
awarded the contract on the
$3.3 million capital project
and mobilization by the con
tractor is expected around
Oct 7.
“We look forward to
continuing to provide the
health care services that are
See HOSPITAL, 6A .
| Summer
| school
I costs
I drop
i
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
f An innovative approach
to summer school at John
A. Holmes this year resulted
in a greater number of sub
jects being offered as well
as a cost savings to students
who signed up.
Holmes Assistant Prin
cipal Olinka Baker, who
served as principal of the
summer school for the
first time this summer, told
the school board during
its monthly meeting Mon
day night that the summer
school used a blended ap
proach this year that uti
lized the Apple-based Apex
Learning System as well as
„ the services of five part-time
staff at a cost of $7,380.47.
The cost per student, she
said, was $123.
“The Apex system is self
guided,” Baker said, “but
there were staff members
on hand to help the students
• ifnecessaiy.”
In comparison, last year’s
summer school utilized the
services of one full-time
staff person at $4,088. A
maximum of 10 students
were served at a per stu
dent cost that ranged from
$408 to $2,044 depending
on the number of students
See SCHOOL, 4A
Blackbeard Returns
awn mmaMmmmm&amasammm vmmm—a—
Sam Harding, 6, joins In on the metal cup as musical historian Simon Spalding plays a tune on the fiddle during the opening reception for
the Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit. Spalding explained to Harding and others in the audience that metal cups and other commonplace items
were sometimes used as percussion instruments by pirates and other sailors.
Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit opens
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
About three centuries after
Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s
Revenge went down near
Beaufort, artifacts from the ship
are making a splash once again in
a traveling exhibit that opened in
Edenton over the weekend. -
Thomas Tate, 13, of Coiiyock,
was one of the visitors who took
in the sights Saturday at the 1767
Chowan County Courthouse. The
exhibit is housed on the second
floor of the historic courthouse and
will be there through Oct. 16.
Saturday was the first full day
the exhibit was open to the public
here. An opening reception was
held Friday evening.
For Tate, who made the trip
from Currituck County with his sis
ter, Lauren Tate, 14, and his grand
mother, Cheryl Thte, found the ar
tifacts intriguing. He spent several
minutes viewing a glass case that
contains items such as a grinding
stone fragment, lead patch, lead
weight and straight pins.
See BLACKBEARD, 6A
Candidates address economic development issues
From staff reports
This week, candidates for
Edenton Town Council turn
to the topic of jobs and the
economy.
This series of “Ques
tion of the Week” items the
Chowan Herald is running
in advance of the Nov. 5
Municipal Election is in
tended to provide council
candidates an opportunity
to address a number of im
portant issues. In addition,
the newspaper also will be
interviewing candidates for
profile stories in each coun
cil race.
Those profile stories
are slated to run beginning
Sept. 25.
One-stop voting begins
Oct 17 and ends at 1 p.m.
See COUNCIL, 2A
All Rights Reserved
BOB QUINN
AT-LARGE SEAT
INCUMBENT
- There is no one easy
answer to this question.
Most people who know me
are aware of my opinion that
tourism and attracting retir
. ees represents Edenton’s
best short-term answer to
invigorating our economy.
Edenton has outstanding as
sets (One of America's Pret
tiest Town, its history and
its waterfront) that properly
: utilized can bring increased
: tourism. In 2012 Edenton
: Chowan County's tourism
; brought revenues of $18.13
: million to our county, jobs
; for 140 employees with a
; payroll of $2.58 million. Our
; tourism industry paid $1.12
: Million tax revenue to our
■ town-county. Tourism ranks
I See QUIJNN, 2A
NORMA SIMPSON
3RD WARD SEAT
INCUMBENT -
I think that there are a
number of ways the town can
help strengthen the local
economy and bring jobs to our
community.
It is important that we
continue to focus on tourism
and attracting retirees as a
key strategy for keeping the
local economy on a sound
foundation.
Among the assets the town
can take advantage of to keep
tourists and retirees coming
here are the waterfront and
promoting the town's historical
significance. Special events
such as the Biennial Pilgrim
age and the Christmas Candle
light Tour can also continue to
attract visitors to Edenton. .
Continuing to strengthen
See SIMPSON, 2A
ROSCOE
POOLE JR.
3RD WARD SEAT
I believe the council,
mayor and town manager
have in place a retail alli
ance with an agreement
between the industrial
association, Chamber
of Commerce, special,
committees, nonprofit
economic development
association, low-interest
loans and grants.
We must sell the region
first and your community
second. Retailers are not
looking for one location,
like an industrial prospect,
but want to expand in the
region with multiple out
lets for effective product
distribution.
Rural markets have a
great challenge recruiting
See POOLE, 2A
LORIANN
CURTIN
4TH WARD SEAT
This question really hits
home for me. I lost my
job over a year ago. In the
last decade this commu
nity has lost a lot of jobs.
We need to be able to
attract and keep new busi
ness and industry that will
provide jobs with com
petitive salaries. Eden
ton and Chowan must
continue working with the
State on incentives that
will bring industry back
to our region. We need
to offer new businesses
something they can’t get
anywhere else.
We also must educate
our prospective workers
on what to expect from
new industry and how
See CURTIN, 2A
ELTON L.
BOND JR. .
4TH WARD SEAT
Our town’s economy
was really hurt when we i
lost several of our blue
collar jobs like George
C. Moore, Dye Plant and ''
Pelikan to either other
states or to overseas,
companies. Since so many
towns are in the same ;
shape we are, that means
we have to compete for
business. The town has to
be ready to offer incen- . ?
tives to prospective busi
nesses who are thinking
about locating in Edenton.
We have to continue to ap
ply for grant money to use
for incentives along with
helping with the infrastruc
ture and use town labor ?
when possible. When
See BOND, 2A