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shepherd pruden library
106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC 27932-1854
Wednesday, January i j, tx,, .
School
board
backs
band
uniform
effort
— 4A
50*
Building may become a hotel once again
■ Developer looking at mixed
use with hotel, restaurant
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The developers who are look
ing at buying the former county
office building on King Street —
also known as the historic Hotel
Hinton — said last week they are
interested in restoring the building
for use as a hotel.
‘Strong
people
skills’
sought
■ Search for new schools
superintendent continues
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
School board members
heard the results of online
community and staff sur
veys describing qualities
they would value in a new
superintendent at their Jan.
6 monthly meeting.
In the process, school
board chair John Guard
said, the board also had the
opportunity to participate in
an impromptu brainstorm
ing session of its own to
identify characteristics it
thought were significant
When asked how the
board’s answers differed
from those included in the
surveys, Guard replied,
“There was not a big vari
ance in the answers.”
A total of 48 completed
community surveys and
102 completed staff surveys
were received, according
to Tanya Giovanni and Alli
son Schafer from the North
Carolina School Board As*
sociation, who assisted the
school board with its online
surveys.
According to the survey
results that were collected
between Nov. 21 and Jan. 2
• See SEARCH, 2A
MLK Day
event set
. s
for next
Monday
From staff reports
The community’s annual
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day Celebration will be held
Jan. 20 at noon at Swain Au
ditorium.
Sherrod *
Banks, an
attorney
who grew
up in Eden
ton and
practices
law in Dur
ham, will
be the event’s guest speaker.
Banks graduated from the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, cum laude,
in 1986 and received his
Juris Doctor Degree from
the UNC School Of Law in
BANKS
See EVENT, 2A
02009 The Chowan Herald
AU Rights Reserved
'v
Amit Gupta of Kill Devil Hills
based Saga Development said that
while the project is still in the due
diligence phase, the indications so
far are good.
“We feel good about it,” Gupta
said.
“But were taking it one step at
a time,” he added, explaining the
company is doing its due diligence
to be sure the renovation of the
budding as a hotel is something
that would work for the town and
would make sense financially for
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Guitarist EZ Malone plays a blues-infused version of “How Great Thou Art.” See story on page 4B.
Hospitals advise community about flu precautions
From staff reports ,'i!
Vidant Health and Vidant Chow
an Hospital recognize that this is
peak flu season and request the
community’s help in protecting pa
tients.
Signs are posted throughout the
hospital asking community mem
bers to avoid visiting patients If
they are feeling sick.
Hospital officials said they un
derstand there are some extreme
the company.
County officials announced
•last year that they had found a
developer interested in buying the
county’s former governmental of
fice building, which originally was
built as a hotel in 1926.
The buyer is nearing the fend of
the due diligence period.
The developer is eyeing the
budding for a possible restoration
as a hotel, with a restaurant a^so
part of the mix.
“We’re looking at a mixed use,”
situations where visitation is un
avoidable, and \n those situations
visitors with a respiratory illness
should wear a face mask.
The hospital asks visitors to
wash their hands before entering
patient areas and before and after
entering patient rooms.
“Flu season is definitely upon us,
but there are lots of things we can
do to protect ourselves," said Jef
frey N. Sackrison, hospital presi
dent “If you haven't gotten a flu
Gupta said. “But a hotel would be
the primary use that we would be
looking at The primary thing we
are looking at is whether it would
make sense as a restored hotel.”
In a Jan. 2 talk at the Museum
of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City
on the topic'of historic preserva
tion, Edenton Town Councilman
Sambo Dixon spoke about the his
toric importance of the Hotel Hin
ton and the value that a mixed-use
restoration of the building could
contribute to downtown Edenton.
shot this year, talk to your health
care provider about whether this
would be a good choice for you.
Also be sure to wash your hands
well and frequently and cover any
coughs or sneezes with your elbow,
not your hands.”
Currently the James and Connie
Maynard Childrens Hospital at Vi
dant Medical Center is the only Vi
dant hospital restricting visitation
for children under 12 years of age
due to their highly susceptible par
* .■»•* , .;;?•
While the focus has been on the
restoration and renovation of the
building, county officials also have
maintained as a last resort the pos
sibly of demolishing the structure
to make way for new construction
at the site.
County officials have insisted
they do not intend to tear the
building down and only wish to
keep their options open at this
point '
. See HOTEL, 2A
Pair face
charges
in bank
robbery
From staff reports
WINDSOR —TWoEden
ton men face armed robbeiy
charges in connection with
a bank robbeiy last week in
Windsor.
William C. TWine, 45, of
806Johnson St, and Michael
Rankins, 50, of 201 Boswell
St, both
. have been
charged
with' rob
bery with a
dangerous
weapon in
connection
with the in
cident
Windsor
police said
the inci
dent also is
under fed
eral investi
gation.
Tw i n e
an d
Rankins
are being held at the Ber
tie County Jail, according
to police. Both men were
placed under $400,000
bond, but TWine was being
held without bond because
of his refusal to provide a
DNA sample, police said.
Subsequent to providing
the DNA, TWine again would
be placed under $400,000
bond, according to police.
The two men were sched
uled to make a first court
appearance in court today
in Bertie County District
Court
Windsor authorities said
this was the first bank rob
bery in the town in anyone’s
memory.
The robbeiy occurred
Thursday around 4:30 p.m.
at the Wells Faigo Bank on
South King Street An un
disclosed amount of money
was taken in the robbery,
according to police.
A weapon was involved in
the robbeiy but police were
not releasing specific infor
mation about the weapon at
this time.
N.C. Department of Con
rection records indicate
William C. TWine has previ
ous convictions on various
charges, including assault,
4
%
V ■■
RANKINS
See ROBBERY, 2A
tient population. Vidant Chowan is >
not restricting visitation due to the
flp at this time.
As flu cases in North Carolina >:■
continue to increase, Albemar^
le Hospital in Elizabeth City is
strongly recommending visitors
take extra precautions in an effort
to protect patients. All visitors are
asked to wear a mask (available at
infection prevention kiosks at eadr
See FLU, 2A * M.
‘Then Sings My Soul’