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Chowan officials look to Ag program to revive COA campus
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Supporters of College of
The Albemarle’s Edeuton-
Chowan Campus have high
expectations for a planned
agriculture program to grow
enrollment at the struggling
campus.
Although official plans
for the new agriculture cur
riculum have not been com
pleted, the college’s Board
of Trustees has its eyes on
a fall 2018 rollout for the
program. COA officials are
working with representa
tives of N.C. State University
to fashion a seamless transi
tion from a COA agriculture
program to NCSU, which
is considered one of the
nation’s premier research
and teaching institutions for
agriculture.
Both Edenton and Eliza
beth City have been men
tioned as possible locations
for the agriculture program,
but most of the attention
early on was directed to
ward Edenton because of
its position as an epicenter
of the region’s robust agri
cultural industries.
Recently, however, col
lege officials have discussed
locating the program on
COAs Main Campus in Eliz
abeth City.
The prospect of landing
an agriculture curriculum
comes at a critical time for
the Edenton-Chowan Cam
pus, which COA officials
recently reported has been
losing some $230,000 a year.
It is also a time of transi
tion for COA as the college
prepares to welcome Rob
ert Wynegar as its 10th pres
ident on April 17. Wynegar
comes to COA from West
ern Nevada College, where
he has been vice president
for academics and student
affairs.
Backers of the Edenton-
Chowan Campus are eager
to work with Wynegar, who
led a turnaround at strug
gling campuses of Western
Nevada and expressed en
thusiasm for a similar effort
at Edenton-Chowan dining
a visit to the campus as part
of the presidential search
process.
The Edenton-Chowan
Campus was the only one
of the college’s four cam
puses that was not selected
for a new facility or over
haul project under COAs
$6.59 million allocation
from the state’s Connect NC
bond program. COA also
is relocating the electrical
technology program from
Edenton-Chowan to the
Main Campus in Elizabeth
City this fall and has plans
to move the heating, venti
lation, and air conditioning
(HVAC) curriculum to Eliza
beth City next year.
The moves are part of
See COA, 7A
Dogged Determination
Commission
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Chowan County Emergency Response Dive Team recovered a handgun tossed into the Chowan River from a fleeing vehicle
involved in a recent police chase through two counties.
Dive Team recovers handgun tossed
into river during high speed chase
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Keen eyesight and dogged
police determination helped law
enforcement agents discover a
firearm that was tossed into the
Chowan River during a recent
high speed police chase through
two counties.
The Chowan County Emer
gency Response Dive Team
recovered a gun Sunday after
noon, March 26, that was maybe
a hundred feet or so from the
Edenton boathouse pier.
Detective John McArthur,
Chowan County Sheriff’s De
partment, found the handgun in
water about 7 feet deep, a short
Relay for Life poised to ‘Paint Your World Purple’
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff writer
This year’s Chowan-Perqui
mans Relay for Life will include
many familiar events and one
important new one. Relay will
start at 6 p.m. Friday, May 19
and end at midnight rather than
the familiar Saturday morning
finish.
Co-chairs Sheryl Alligood
and Lynn Knapp announced the
change Monday night during the
kickoff event for Relay — a din
ner honoring cancer survivors
and their caregivers that was
held at Edenton Baptist Church.
'89076
44813 1
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
0
6
hop away from the Chowan
River bridge. He said though the
water was somewhat clear near
the surface, visibility was an is
sue toward the river’s bottom.
Edenton Police Chief Jay
Fortenbery said the gun has
been sent to the State Bureau of
Investigation for extensive anal
ysis. He said not only does law
enforcement hope to recover
finger prints from the weapon,
but other indicators that may
tell if the gun was fired and who
owns it. Fortenbery said the
firearm can be tracked in many
different ways that could assist
law enforcement in any ongoing
investigation that they may be
pursuing.
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
In this Chowan Herald file photo, residents of Chowan and
Perquimans counties join to walk the Friday night survivors’ lap
at the opening of Relay for Life.
The theme was “Paint Your
World Purple!”
Knapp noted that neighbor
ing Bertie County has done well
with the new, shorter format for
Relay.
“They have had good results,”
she said.
Alligood said that the new
format would be a help to those
“We have sent the gun to the
SBI for comparison to recov
ered shell casings from other
shootings and if we get a match,
additional charges will follow,”
Fortenbery said.
The firearm’s recovery arises
from an incident began March
27 when police officers attempt
ed to stop a vehicle on Badham
Road because one of the occu
pants is a person of interest in
an ongoing investigation. The
vehicle refused to stop and trav
eled down Broad Street to Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue
and onto Highway 17 and into
Bertie County.
Tykavis Requan Melton, 19, of
Sandy Terrace Road, Edenton,
who might find their participa
tion in Relay in conflict with oth
er activities they have planned
for the weekend of May 19 when
Relay is scheduled to take place
at the track at John A Holmes
High School in Edenton.
“If they have plans to do some
thing on Saturday (May 20) they
can participate in Relay on Fri
was charged with felony speed
ing to elude arrest and multiple
traffic violations. Melton was re
leased imder a $5,000 bond.
Dramale Vanterpool, 18, of
John Hill Lane, was charged
with littering because he alleg
edly threw the firearm from the
vehicle into the river.
Despite speeds that ap
proached 90 mph during the
chase, Edenton Police Officer J.
Burkett’s mind was very focused
when he saw the gun being
thrown from the fleeing vehicle,
McArthur said. Burkett marked
the spot so that law enforce
ment agents would be able to
See HANDGUN, 5A
to consider
moratorium
on solar
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
The Chowan County Commission
is considering a moratorium on solar
; farms.
During Monday’s meeting, the Board
voted unanimously to hold a public
hearing during their regularly sched
uled May 1st meeting to consider an
ordinance implementing a 60 day mor
atorium.
The committee was formulated
to consider the County’s current use
table (Table 5-1, available online at
chowancounty-nc.gov/vertical/sites/
%7B10E82D50-AAE0-43D7-A98A-
42E82683885E%7D/uploads/Article_5_
Permitted_Uses.pdf).
Specifically, the committee will con
sider what uses are subject to review
by the commissioners through the con
ditional use permit procedure versus
the uses that are subject to review by
the Planning Board through the special
use permit procedure, County Attor
ney Lauren Womble said. This review
will include several uses, including
solar farms. The committee will make
recommendations regarding possible
amendments to this table, specifically
which board should review specific
types of uses, she said.
That committee may also make rec
ommendations to change the county
planning committee’s role to be more
advisory in nature so as to allow the
commission — an elected body — to
make final decisions regarding mqjor
zoning issues. The Board, during their
consideration of a moratorium on solar
farms, may ask the same committee to
work with staff to develop recommen-
See SOLAR, 5A
day night and still have the rest
of their weekend free for other
things,” Alligood said.
Currently 15 teams have
signed up to take part in the
annual effort to raise funds for
cancer research and ultimately a
cure for the deadly disease.
“We’d love to have five more
teams,” Knapp said.
Knapp and Alligood said they
wanted to especially recognize
the longest running team in the
local Relay — the Rocky Hock
Ruritans — and Jack Evans,
whose Rocky Hock Opry cast
produced shows twice a year
that allowed the team to make
by far the largest donations to
the Relay fundraiser.
Evans died recently but the
co-chairs said they were touched
that his wife Frances and his son
Steve had stepped up to con-
See RELAY, 2A
Steinburg: new
JesseHehns
conservative icon
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
. State Representative Bob Steinburg
took aim at the NCAA, the General
Assembly, the media and the Left in
the wake of a reversal of a law that
took bathroom politics to the national
stage.
Late last week, leg
islators approved a
new bill that repeals
House Bill 2 and bans
until 2020 local gov
ernments from pass
ing their own nondis
crimination measures
that would extend
protections to the LG-
BTQ community.
STEINBURG
By eliminating the requirement that
certain public accommodations are
based on biological sex rather than
gender identity, the bill resets the clock
to the time and place before this issue
See STEINBURG, 3A
Sponsored by the Rocky Hock
Ruritan’s Relay for Life Team
FRIDAY, APRIL 21", 7:00rm
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PERQUIMANS COUNTY
HIGH SCHOOL
auditorium!
HERTFORD, NC
Tickets Available at various locations or call 252-221-4875 or 252-333-8567. Email rockyhock opry@live.com