Council members respond to comments about vote
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The four town council members
who voted against the sale of the
Northeast Commission building
say they stand behind their choice
even though some of the com
ments they’ve heard from citizens
have been less than kind.
Councilman Elton Bond said he
has been stopped in the grocery
store by citizens who have told
him he made the wrong choice.
But he said he hasn’t been bom
barded with harassing phone calls
at home as has been the case with
another councilman, Bob Quinn.
“I have run across some people
in the grocery store who said I
was wrong,” Bond said. “But no
one has been calling me at home.
The ones who have talked to me
said they were disturbed by the
way I voted.”
But Bond said he has taken the
comments in stride.
‘It’s part of^the job,” he said.
“Sometimes people are pleased
with the way I vote and sometimes
they are not. That’s just life.”
Councilwoman Norma Simp
son, who works at a local doctor’s
office, said she has had people
trying to talk with her at her work
place and shared the piece of ad
vice she gives them about her vote
against the sale.
“I tell them, if yaTl have any
comments come to the next coun
cil meeting and give your com
ments there,” she said.
Simpson said she was aware
many in town did not approve of
the way she voted.
“I can feel the tension when I
go out in public,” she said. “I have
had some people that have been
supportive, that have told me I’m
doing a good job. But I know oth
ers feel differently.”
Simpson said she could tell
some people were trying to avoid
her since the sale vote but said
it would not cause her to vote
against what she believed was
right
“As long as I’m on the town
council, I’m going to vote the way
I believe,” she said.
Simpson added that as always
when she faced troubled times,
she has turned to her faith for
comfort.
“I’ve prayed more this time than
I’ve ever prayed before,” she said.
“And it has given me strength.”
Councilman Steve Biggs said
while he’d heard some negative
comments about the vote he was
taking it in stride. He said that he
saw it as a plus that so many peo
, pie were passionate about the is
sue of whether the building should
be sold to Raleigh businessman
John Glover for the establishment
of a brew pub on the downtown
waterfront
See VOTE, 2A
oiMrr rnuiu DT KLValjIt rUiNUtK
Celebrating the new ownership of the Edenton Steamers are (l-r) Mayor Roland Vaughan; Billy Bass, former Steamers Board of Directors
Georgia"^iuwll in™&** GenCra Manager Tyler RusseM: Coastal Plain League Commissioner Justin Sellers; and new owners Frank Burke and
Edenton Steamers see good times ahead
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A veteran minor league owner
lias bought the Edenton
Steamers, which won the
Coastal Plain League’s Petitt Cup
last season but had struggled finan
cially over the past year or so.
At a press conference Thursday
afternoon in the Edenton Town
Council Chambers, Steamers
General Manager Tyler Russell an
nounced that the community or
ganization that previously owned
the Steamers had agreed to sell the
team to Frank Burke and Georgia
Rhodin.
Russell remains as general man
ager.
Burke owned the Chattanooga
Lookouts for two decarles.
“He knows baseball inside and
out,” Russell told tire crowd gath
ered in the Council Chambers.
For Burke, it’s all about staying
involved in the game he loves.
There is no better way to retard
the growing up process than to be
involved in the game of baseball,”
Burke said.
Burke said that no matter whose
name was listed as owner, the com
munity still owns the Steamers.
“This team is not leaving Eden
ton. Period,” Burke said. “I don’t
believe in moving teams.”
Burke thanked the people of the
town and county and all the volun
teers who have done so much for
the Steamers. Everyone’s help is
still needed, he said.
“It’s our intention to be good
stewards,” Burke said.
That stewardship promises some
good things for fans. For instance,
See STEAMERS, 3A
Manager: Town not authorized to regulate billboards
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Facing a public outcry
about a controversial bill
board on U.S. 17 Business
north of town, Edenton
town officials say the mu
nicipality has no authority
to regulate the billboard’s
content.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton said this week
that the town does not have
the authority to regulate bill
boards on state highways.
Under state law, Knigh
ton said, respoasibility for
regulating billboards on
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
state and federal highways
is assigned to the N.C. De
partment of Transporta
tion. And DOTs authority
over billboards is relegated
to matters such as size and
maintenance rather than
matters of content, accord
ing to Knighton.
“It really is a freedom
of speech Issue, a First
Amendment issue,” Knigh
ton said.
The billboard in question
Is located within the town’s
Extra-territorial Jurisdic
tion on U.S. 17 Business.
It alludes to the Supreme
C’ourt’s ruling last
summer on gay marriage
and includes the sentence
“Homosexuality is an abom
ination,” which is attributed
to “Supreme Being.”
In addition to sparking
a numl>er of letters to the


STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Edenton town officials say the municipality has no authority to regulate the content
of the controversial billboard on U.S. 17 Business.
editor of the Chowan Her
ald taking issue with the
billboard’s message, the
billboard controversy also
had led some people to call
.town officials asking that
the town take action to re
move the message or some
how block it from public
view.
Knighton said she had
received rails from people >
See BILLBOARD, 3A
| Charges
follow
in wake
of fights
j From staff reports
I
The Chowan County
| Sheriff’s Office had a
beefed-up presence on the
campus of John A. Holmes
; High School on April 27 fol
I lowing a series of fights on
i campus last week.
In addition, there was an
incident in which shots were
fired in the Oakum Street
area behind the high school
as a middle school track
meet was winding down
on the evening of April 26,
but school officials and law
enforcement do not believe
i there was any - connection
between the incidents.
Michelle Maddox, public
information officer for the
Edenton-Chowan Schools,
said a fight at the school
See FIGHTS, 3A
Tyner man
critical
after
being shot
From staff reports
A 23-year-old Tyner man
Is in critical condition at a
Virginia hospital after being
shot in Elizabeth City this
weekend.
Shawquin Privott was dis
covered wounded early Sun
day morning i n a car near
the Fairfield hut and Suites
after a Pasquotank County
sheriff’s deputy stopped a
person who was driving er
ratically, police said. No ar
rests have been made in the
case and a prolte is continu
ing, police said.
Police at approximately 2
am. had started responding
to a report of gunfire heard
in the area of the Arena
sports bar downtown. Police
learned that Privott was shot
as the driver of the vehicle
he was in was leaving the
Elks Lodge along Herrington
Road. Police learned that
Privott and others in the ve
liicle were looking for a hos
pital at the time the deputy
made the traffic stop.
Privott was taken to Sen
tara Albemarle Medical
Center before being airlifted
to Sentara Norfolk General
Hospital. A Sentara spokes
man confirmed Privott’s con
dition on Monday.
Experience the DIFFERENCE
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323 S. Broad St. * PO Box 209 • Edenton, NC 27932-0209 • (252) 482-2127 J.G. (Jim) Blount, Sr., R.PH • Jenny Blount IVillim, Plurn.D. • Nelson Spar, Phami. D.