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EDENTON Nc 27932-1854
482-4418
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Aces
Roundup:
Get caught
up on the
latest sports
at Holmes
High School
— 7A
50*
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Schools, parents reach compromise
■ Bus drop-offs policy for
students to be adjusted
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Aparent’s request that the
school system re-examine
its policy about bus drop
offs for students has led to
I an adjustment in the policy.
At the school board’s
| Sept 9 monthly meeting
— delayed a week due
to the Labor Day holiday
— James Geramita, father
of a third grader in the
Edenton-Chowan school
system, asked that a new
policy limiting the number
of places a student could be
dropped off by a school bus
driver be reconsidered. The
policy, adopted this year, set
that limit at two drops per
student per week — school
and one other location.
Brad Bass, transporta
tion director for the school
system, said Friday that the
policy had been amended
to allow three stops per stu
dent to better accommodate
working parents. Those
primarily impacted by the
decision were elementary
school students who must
rely on the school system
or family members to get
where they need to go.
Bass said that the policy
has been tweaked so that a
three stop per student policy
would immediately go into
effect He said that parents
must choose a maximum
of three drop-off places and
that the schedule must re
main consistent for the rest
of the school year.
Geraxnita said that his
daughter takes dance les
sons/gymnastics and attends
art classes after school, and
attends daycare when she
is not taking after-school
classes. Until the change in
policy, he said, that sched
ule had been problem-free.
“We’ve had no problems
until this year,” Geramita
said, referring to the policy
change. “My wife and I both
work and we don’t get home
until 5 or 6 at night.”
The limited number of
stops a school bus could
make under the new policy,
he said, had created a huge
problem for the couple be
cause his wife must now
leave work for about half an
hour at a time to take their
daughter where she needs
to go.
Bass, who was at the
See COMPROMISE, 2A
Police
inspect
Steinburg
letter
■ Letter claims ex-ferry
worker was murdered'
From staff reports
The Edenton Police De
partment is investigating
an ominous letter that Rep.
Bob Steinburg received at
his home.
Stein
burg, R
Chowan,
told the
Daily Ad-,
vance in
Elizabeth
City that
he has re- STEINBURG
ceived a
letter from an anonymous
, source that he claims backs
r ' UfTfRe View that N.C. Ferry
f Division employee Daniel
Noe was murdered in 2005
to keep him from cooper
ating with state and federal
probes of the ferry division.
Investigators at the time
determined that Noe com
mitted suicide.
The letter, mailed to
Steinburg’s residence last
week, not only claims Noe
was murdered, but names
See LETTER, 4A
A little Taste of Edenton
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Kristen Castlglione, left, helps Belinda Flynn and her daughter Callle serve guests at the Taste of Edenton
event held Friday night at the downtown waterfront Flynn and her husband Patrick own the Edenton Coffee
House where live music is performed on Friday nights. See story from the event on IB.
'Common
core’views
widely
differ
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Some leading conserva
tives in Chowan County (\
say common core and new
essential standards are a
top-down reform being im
posed on states by federal
education officials, but lo
cal school officials describe
the common core as a grass
roots movement that started
with the states.
Chowan County Repub
lican Chairman James Ro
bison last week said Lt Gov.
Dan Forest, Gov. Pat McCro
ry and many state legislators
are very concerned about the
implementation of common
See ‘CORE’, 4A
Man suffers serious iryuries in farm accident
From staff reports
A Hobbsville - man suf
fered serious injuries in a
farm accident Monday.
The man, identified by
sources in the local farm
ing community and some
county authorities as a
resident of Hobbsville,
was repairing a combine
when a header fell on him,
according to local authori
ties. i
Chowan County Sher
iff Dwayne Goodwin said
he could not confirm the
identity of the man ii\jured
in the accident, but he said
the accident occurred on
a farm in the Tyner com'
m unity and that a forklift
had to be used to lift the
header off of the man.
The accident occurred
around 8:45 a.m., accord
ing to Goodwin.
The man injured in the
accident was treated by
local emergency medical
technicians at the scene
and then transported by
Nightingale helicopter to a
trauma center, according
to Goodwin.
The helicopter took the
man to Sentara Norfolk
General Hospital, accord
ing to unconfirmed re
ports.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
City Council candidates discuss new police station
From staff reports
The question of where to
locate a new police station is
the topic for discussion this
week among candidates for
Edenton Town Council.
The question for this
week: “Do you think the
town is doing enough to
get citizens’ input about
where the new police sta
tion should be located, and
how much weight do you
think that input should car
ry when the final decision is
made?”
11118 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
See QUESTION, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Do you think the town is doing enough to get citizens’ input about where the new police station should be located,
and how much weight do you think that input should carry when the final decision is made?
BOB QUINN
AT-LARGE SEAT
INCUMBENT
Yes, I do feel the town is
doing a very good job in giv
ing citizens the opportunity
to give their input as to the
location of the new police
station. As aii should be
aware we held a Neighbor
hood Redevelopment Com
munity Meeting on August
6 at COA Culinary School
meeting room. We had over
70 attendees, a broad and
diverse group of attendees.
Our consultants spoke giving
a full overview of the meeting
and its purpose. Attendees
were divided into several
groups and responded to
specific areas relating to
the location of the Police Sta
tion. The group understood
!•
See QUIJNN, 2A
NORMA SIMPSON
3RD WARD SEAT
INCUMBENT
I think that the town took a
step in the right direction with
the Neighborhood Redevelop
ment Community Meeting that
was held Aug. 6 at the COA
campus. There were over 70
people there, which I think is a
sign that people do care about
where the new police station is
located. It was clear from com
ments made by citizens that
they care a great deal about
their neighborhoods and how
the location will play into their
desire to keep the town safe.
Additional comments will be
received from the Stakehold
ers Committee that the mayor
named.
I think the town and the
council will certainly consider
the ideas put forth by these
two groups before a final deci
sion is made.
ROSCOE
POOLE JR.
3RD WARD SEAT
No, I do not. I know the
town is conducting discus
sions to get the citizens’
input about where the
new police station should
be located and as it now
stands, to me, the best
location is the vacant
lot on Oakum Street,
not because it is desig
nated as a crime area but
because the vacant lot is
large enough to support
the need for many years
compared to the time
and cost to acquire other
property with houses. I
believe if the study group
will get churches in town
involved it could carry a lot
of weight when the final
See POOLE, 2A ||
LORIANN
CURTIN
4TH WARD SEAT
Town Council has
appointed an 'Advisory
Group’ of citizens, which
I'm a member of, to work
with planners in determin
ing which criteria are im
portant for considering a
location. There has been
a public workshop for
citizen input, even though
there was no direct outlet
for individual ideas, I was
pleased to see so many
people from alj over town
in attendance.
Is it enough? Not re
ally. There seems to be a
predetermined preference
of location. One that in
volves purchasing and de
molishing privately owned
See CURTIN, 2A
ELTON L.
BOND JR.
4TH WARD SEAT
I am only aware of three
public meetings held so
far and a fourth meeting
scheduled for Sept. 26 to
get public input on where
the new jail should be lo
cated. The location of the
new jail is not only going -
to affect the people in the !
neighborhood it is put in
but it is going to have an “
effect on the entire town. I*
feel we should have gotterv
input from our businesses!
and from several different *
neighborhoods. After all, •
it is not going to be an
Oakum Street community
jail but a Town of Edenton
jail. I don't think there has
been enough input from
Center Hill
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