P8/C8******CAR-RT lot*
• SSfiS?..
106 w WATER St ARY
EDENTON NC 27932-1634
482-4418
Wednesday, May 7’, 2014
Pet-a-Palooza raises
funds for area shelter, 4B
■ County officials praise first
responders, staff, citizens
From staff reports
Chowan County citizens — as
sisted by local government and
nonprofits from the community
and beyond — are busy recover
ing from the devastating torna
does of April 25.
In a report to the Chowan
County Board of Commissioners
at its regular meeting Monday
night, Cord Palmer, who is the
county’s emergency management
coordinator, told the board the
American Red Cross response in
the immediate aftermath of the
tornado was excellent The Red
Cross provided meals, water, tarps
and blankets, he said.
The Salvation Army and Bap
tist Men organizations have been
very active in the storm response,
and Albemarle Regional Health
Ag
officials
assess
damage
From staff reports
Recent storms in Chowan
County — and especially
the heavy rainfall of the past
few weeks — have wreaked
havoc on many farms in the
area.
/-■* Last week, the state di
rector of the agency that
oversees that part of the
U.S. Department of Agricul
ture that administers loans
toured storm damaged ar
eas of Chowan and Perqui
mans counties.
£ On Weigh Station Road,
Farm Service Agency Ex
ecutive Director Bob Ether
idge spoke to farmer Walter
Cartwright and his family.
Cartwright lives in Chowan
County now, but his roots
are in Perquimans County
, and family members includ
ing sister Teresa Cartwright
, live on Weigh Station Road.
' Members of her church
were in the yard were clean
ing up limbs and storm de
1 bits when Etheridge arrived
last Wednesday.
The sight of people help
ing people is the positive
thing that can come out of
i a storm like the one that hit
Friday, the former Congress
man said. Etheridge served
as Congressman in the 2nd
Congressional District from
i 1997 through 2011 and had
an unsuccessful bid for gov
ernor.
“It’s times like this when
you find out who your
friends, your real friends
1 , are,” Etheridge said.
| After Hurricane Fran in
1996, Etheridge said he lost
29 trees in his yard in Lilling
toa
“People just started show
ing up, people I didn’t even
know."
He said he’s seeing simi
lar things on his swings
through areas hit by the tor
nados April 25.
Etheridge offered no
magic cme to farmers who
suffered physical damages
from the storm. But he said
the agency does off 3-per
cent loans to farmers who
need help getting back on
* their feet and there are
some grant programs for
See DAMAGE, 4A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
i All Rights Reserved
IN A RELATED STORY
■ Large crowd pays respects to 11- <
month-old tornado victim - 3A
Services had provided 51 tetanus
vaccinations for tornado response
volunteers as of Monday morning,
Palmer reported. .
Chairman Keith Nixon said dur
ing the meeting that the commis
sioners’ hearts go out to the family
of Gavin Soto, the Chowan County
infant who died in the wake of one
of the tornadoes.
Nixon praised the response of
the county’s first responders and
other county staff, and said staff
and citizens alike have worked
hard in response to the torna
does.
Commissioner Jeff Smith also
thanked county employees for
their prompt response.
See TORNADO, 3A
STAFF PHOTO’BY REBECCA BUNCH
Participants in theiNational
Day of Prayer event last
Thursday at Edenton United
Methodist Church place their
hands over their hearts as
j' members of thejJROTC atJjS
John A. Holmes/High School
-present the colors. See
- stories, 7B.
.1 , gflfc
Felton, board reach agreement in suit
From staff reports
The Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education has
reached a settlement with
a former school adminis
trator in the latter’s federal
civil rights lawsuit against
the school system.
Mary E. Felton initially
alleged racial discrimina
tion in six lawsuits filed in
Chowan and Pasquotank
counties. After those suits
were dismissed, she filed
a federal civil rights ac
tion in July 2012, alleging
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The group takes a brief respite from surveying farm damage. Pictured (l-r) are Carey Parrish, FSA
District Director Phillip Farland, Jeff Smith, FSA State Executive Director Bob Etheridge, Perquimans
Chowan FSA County Committee Chairman Michael Moore, and Phil Smith.
the school system failed to
promote her because she
was black.
During a review of the
board of education’s pro
posed meeting schedule
for the 2014-2015 school
year during the board’s
meeting Monday night,
board member Gil Bur
roughs asked whether the
Felton lawsuit had been
settled and was told by Su
perintendent Allan Smith
that it had beea
Details of the settlement
were not immediately
available.
The federal Equal Em
ployment Opportunity
Commission ruled in De
cember 2011 that the
school district discrimi
nated against Felton when
it demoted her.
School officials have ar
gued that the EEOC find
ing was inaccurate.
Felton claimed in a fed
eral lawsuit that the school
district demoted her after
she filed an EEOC com
plaint
Felton was. an assistant
principal at John A. Hol
mes High School when she
applied for the principal
post but was not selected.
She later was assigned as
a guidance counselor at
Chowan Middle School.
But Felton claimed she
opposed the assignment
After she refused to obtain
the necessary credentials
for the job, the school dis
trict suspended and then
fired her, according to pub
lished reports.
Burroughs said dur
ing the meeting Monday
night that he felt the board
See LAWSUIT, 5A
Early
voting
slow
- From staff reports
Voters went to the polls
Tuesday as the Primary was
held in Chowan County and
across North Carolina
The Chowan Herald went
to press before the polls
closed, but
election
r e -
suits
are
pub
lished
i n
today’s
Daily Ad- vance.
There were no contested
_ primaries for local offices
in Chowan County. The
contests were in district
and statewide races.
All ballots included a
N.C. Supreme Court associ
ate justice race.
Democrats had a U.S.
Senate Primary, District
Attorney Primary and N.C.
Senate District 3 Primary,
and voters in U.S. House
District 1 also had a con
tested race there.
On Republican ballots,
there were eight candidates
vying for the GOP nomina
tion in the U.S. Senate race,
and those living in the 3rd
U.S. House District had a
choice of three candidates
— incumbent Walter B.
Jones Jr. and challengers
Taylor Griffin and A1 No
vinec.
There also was a Repute
lican Primary in the 1st U.S.
House District ;
One-stop voting in the;
May 6 Primary was well be
hind the early voting turn
out in the 2010 Primary.
More than 500 , early
votes were cast in 2010, but
only 357 this time. The one
stop voting period was few
er days than in 2010, and
there also are no contested
primaries in local races this
time.
Edenton officials troubled by tree bill
■ Steinburg opposes bill that could tie
town’s hands on tree rules
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Local officials are expressing concern about
the potential impact of a proposal from a legisla
tive study commission that would prevent towns
like Edenton from imposing tree-related rules on
✓ private property owners.
The study has been endorsed by the Agri
culture and Forestry Awareness Commission,
making it eligible fccjfconsideraiion as a draft bill
during the General Assembly’s
upcoming short session. The
proposed bill would also apply
to cities and counties.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton said as she un
derstands it the bill would
eliminate the authority of local
Historic Preservation Com
missions such as Edenton’s to
regulate the removal of trees on private property
within the town’s Historic District and the place
ment of trees located on private property within
the district
“We are seeking clarification qjt how to inter
Ik
STEINBURG
pret the provision of Edenton’s UDO (Unified
Development Ordinance) which requires a cer
tain number of shade trees be planted in new
parking lots with more than 10 parking spaces,
trees on newly created public streets and in but
fers under certain conditions when land uses or i
zoning are not in harmony,” she said. “We also
have a provision that requires developers to save
certain trees, based on diameter and size, which
would be eliminated by this legislatioa”
Knighton said the town treasures its trees
and that the beauty for which the community is
known did not come about by accident
V See TREE BAN, 5A • ^