Wind permit hearing delayed for medical emergency
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County Board of
Commissioners last week voted
to delay the second night of the
hearing on a conditional use per
mit application for the Timbermill
Wind Project for a month to give
Commissioner John Mitchener an
opportunity to participate.
The hearing will resume on
Sept 26 at Swain Auditorium, be
ginning at 5 p an.
Mitchener was absent from
the Aug. 23 session because of a
medical emergency, County At
torney John Morrison announced
at the meeting, which was held at
the Northern Chowan Community
Center.
Morrison explained that the
board would meet
in closed session to
discuss how to pro
ceed, given Mitch
ener’s absence, and
then would discuss
in open session what action to
take next
After meeting in closed session
for more than an hour, the board
reconvened in open session and
Commissioner Alex
; Kehayes made a
| motiontorecessthe
. meeting because
1 of Mitchener’s ab
qatipp
Mitchener represents District 2,
where most of the proposed wind
turbines in Chowan County would
be located, and the district would
be under-represented without
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Mitchener present, Kehayes said.
Commissioner Emmett Win
bome argued that District 1 al
ready was under-represented since
Chairman Jeff Smith, who repre
sents District 1, had been recused
from participating in the hearing
on the conditional use permit.
Kehayes said Smith’s absence
See WIND, 4A
Schools off to a smooth start for the new year
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
All four schools in the Edenton-Chowan system saw
smooth starts to the 2016-2017 school year on Mon
day.
Steve Wood, principal at John A. Holmes High School,
said it was a good first day at the high school.
“Everything went very well this morning,” Wood said.
Most of the students appeared to be glad that school was
back in session, he said. Everyone fell in and did what they
were asked to do, he said.
“It really has been a good day,” Wood said.
The school day at the high school is starting 10 minutes
later than last year. The day runs from 8:30 am. - 3:10 p.m.
this year, compared with 8:20-3 in 2015-2016.
Wood said the later start is an inconvenience for
some parents in terms of getting to work but is an ad
vantage for the students. Studies have shown that teen
agers perform better later in the morning, Wood said.
The school has three 25-minute lunch periods with about
200 students each.
Attendance at the high school Monday was 608, slightly
higher than the number at the end of last school year, ac
cording to Wood.
Chowan Middle School had 436 students enrolled as of
Monday, which was slightly less than last year.
Princip^ John Lassiter said a smaller group of sixth
graders is coming in this year because they were affected
by a state law change about a decade ago that shifted the
See SCHOOL, 4A
STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER
Teresa Ward
heads to
work at
White Oak
Elementary
School
Monday
morning with
her grandson,
6-year-old
Hunter Lynch,
trailing
behind.
Jones calls for action on soaring national debt
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
U.S Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr.
told the Edenton Rotaiy Club
Thursday that Congress needs
to start acting responsibly by not
spending money it doesn’t have.
“We keep funding the crazy
things that are happening in the
world," said Jones, a Republican
who represents North Carolina’s
3rd District. The district includes
Chowan and a number of other
area counties.
Jones cited as an example of
the “crazy things” the ongoing
American involvement in Afghan
istan. He said America was trying
to develop law and government
institutions in an Afghan society
where few people have the edu
cation to implement those insti
tutions.
Telling a villager without edu
cation to take on a role such as
mayor or sheriff makes no sense,
he said.
“What do we think we’re going
to accomplish in Afghanistan?”
he asked.
A handout distributed by Jones
indicated the Iraq and Afghani
stan wars have cost American
taxpayers $1.6 trillion. The Iraq
War has cost $819 billion while
the Afghan War has cost $729 bil
lion.
Jones said Congress has not
listened to the people.
“People are just tired and fed
up with the federal government
not listening to you the people,”
Jones said.
Jones said he believes the gov
emment’s lack of responsiveness
to the people on issues such as
the national debt has been a main
factor in the popularity this year |
of both Bernie Sanders and Don- j
aldTVump.
“It my mind it’s a certainty that
See JONES, 4A
STAFF PHOTO
BY REGGIE
PONDER
U.S. Rep.
Walter B.
Jones Jr.,
R-N.C.,
speaks to
mm the Edenton
Rotary Club,
Thursday.
m|
Response averts tragedy in carbon monoxide incident
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Several workers at Leon Nixon’s Catering, shown here Wednesday afternoon, suffered
apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday morning.
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Fifteen people - most
ly workers at a popular
Chowan County restau
rant and catering service
- had to be treated at hos
pitals last week for what
officials believe may have
been carbon monoxide
poisoning, according to lo
cal authorities.
“Vidant Chowan Hospi
tal in Edenton treated 15
patients for carbon mon
oxide poisoning today,”
the hospital said in a press
release on Aug. 24. “We
transferred nine patients
who needed specialized
treatment to Duke Uni
versity Hospital. The re
maining patients at Vidant
Chowan Hospital have
been treated for non-life
threatening injuries.”
Edenton police received
a report about 8 am. on
Aug. 24 that a number of
workers at Leon Nixon
Catering were sick, po
lice Chief Jay Fortenberry
said. An officer who ar
rived at the business in the
700 block of Virginia Road
said he found employees
outside the restaurant who
“were not acting right,”
Fortenberry said.
“They were all con
scious,” but because sev
eral workers appeared to
be sick, the officer had
other workers and staff
evacuate the restaurant,
See POISONING, 4A
Chowan health challenged by poverty, risky behavior
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Socioeconomic factors
such as poverty combine
with risky behaviors such
as smoking to place many
Chowan County residents at
risk for serious health prob
lems.
That observation was at
the heart of the 2016 Chowan
County Community Health
o ? \j r v
02009 The Chowan Herald
AH Rights Reserved
Assessment, which was
presented last week by
public health consultant
Sheila S. Pfaender.
Pfaender, in her pre
sentation Thursday af
ternoon at the Shepard
Pruden Memorial library,
explained that the report
was prepared by mining
secondary data - demo
graphic, socioeconomic,
health, and environmen
tal
The assessment also
made use of hospital
data, including emer
gency room discharges
and inpatient discharges.
The hospital data helps
show what people are liv
Sheila S. Pfaender, in her presentation
Thursday afternoon at the Shepard
Pruden Memorial L ibrary, explained
that the report was prepared by
mining secondary data - demographic,
socioeconomic, health, and
environmental.
mg with, rather than Just
what they are dying from
as in the case of mortality
data
, Pfaender said the as
sessment takes special
notice when Chowan
County deviates from
the state or regioa The
report looks at changes
over time and at signifi
cant age, gender or racial
and ethnic disparities.
In 2015 Chowan Coun
ty was ranked 61st out of
the state’s 100 counties
in health outcomes. The
county also was ranked
92nd out of the 100 coun
ties for health behaviors
and 79th for social and
economic factors affect
ing health.
On the positive side,
the county was ranked in
the top third - 27th - for
clinical care.
In 2014,17.7 percent of
pregnant women in the
county smoked during
pregnancy - nearly twice
the statewide percentage
of 9.8.
Significant causes of
death for local residents
as noted in the assess
ment include stroke,
See HEALTH, 2A
9 ,
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Sheila Pfaender presents the 2016
Chowan County Health Assessment at
th« Shepard-Pruden Memorial Ubr|ry, ,r