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SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
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EDENTON NC 27932-1854
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482-4418
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
75*
New appraisal does not deter Brew pub
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
During their Feb. 13
monthly meeting members
of the Edenton Town Coun
cil agreed to schedule a
public hearing on Tuesday,
March 13 at 6 p.m. in the au ¬
ditorium at John A. Holmes
High School to receive citi
zens’ comments concern
ing the proposed sale of
the former Northeast Com
mission building to Raleigh
businessman John Glover
who has announced plans
to establish a brewery and
pub at the site located on
the downtown waterfront.
Councilman Elton Bond,
who is recovering from sur
gery, was absent.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton said that a sign-
up sheet would be available
for those who wished to
comment during the public
hearing. In keeping with the
council’s policy, comments
will be limited to three min
utes per speaker, she said.
Knighton said she had
been in contact with Glover
concerning a new appraisal
of the property in question
which established an in
creased value of about 10
percent for the property or
a sale price of $309,000. An
appraisal performed sev
eral years earlier had estab
lished the value at $282,000
See PUB, 8A
Wrestlers compete
A dynamic duo of
John A. Holmes’ wres
tlers competed recently
competed at the North
Carolina A Individual
Wrestling Champion
ship. — 1B
Audit reveals health
Edenton Town Hall
recently released an
external audit detailing
the town’s financial
health. —3A
Pets of the Week
Check out some of
the pets the Tri-County
Animal Shelter offers
that would love to
start the new year in
a home of their very
own. — 6B
Confronting eternity
Paul Young, best-
selling author of The
Shack: Where Tragedy
Confronts Eternity,”
will be the featured
speaker in the sanctu
ary at Edenton Baptist
Church, on Monday
evening, March 5, at 7
p.m. — 5B
Jackson pranked
It’s never a good
thing to prank your
boss, but what if the
prank is for a good
cause like the Special
Olympics? Chowan
Middle School Princi
pal John Lassiter and
John A. Holmes High
School Principal Steve
Wood decided to find
out. — 6A
Speller recognized
On Friday, Ben
Speller of Edenton was
among a select group
of North Carolinians
recognized for their
work in preserving
African American heri
tage and culture in the
state. — 3B
Safety top
concern
for area
schools
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A mass shooting at a Florida high
school hits close to home as school
officials consider safety and programs
aimed at producing good behavior.
Seventeen people were killed and
15 more were taken to hospitals after
a mass shooting on Feb. 14 at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Fla.
The suspect, Nikolas Jacob Cruz,
activated a fire alarm while he was
armed with an assault rifle and mul
tiple magazines, and began shoot
ing indiscriminately at students and
teachers.
Cruz was arrested shortly afterward
and confessed to the crimes, accord
ing to the Broward County Sheriffs
Office. He was charged with 17 counts
of premeditated murder.
Edenton-Chowan Schools Super
intendent Rob Jackson said there are
safety protocols in place intended
to counter any violent situation that
may arise. So as not to jeopardize the
school safety, Jackson declined to
elaborate as to the specifics of plans in
place intended to neutralize an armed
suspect.
However, Jackson said school staff
have worked with the Chowan County
Sheriffs Office to be trained as to how
to handle potentially dangerous situa
tions involving active shooters. There
is an armed sheriffs deputy on duty at
each school.
Jackson said because of state law
prohibits firearms on campus, teach
ers and staff are not armed.
Though schools don’t have metal
detectors at m^or entryways, Jackson
said, this is something that the admin
istration is considering making a prior
ity when presenting the annual budget
to the Chowan County Commission.
Jackson said call boxes with video
capability by the main entryways is
something school officials have dis
cussed in the past and present. Such
devices would allow staff to better
identify visitors among others seeking
entry into a school.
Jackson said while the call boxes
would be welcome, each schools’ ar
chitectural planning, when built de
cades ago, reduces the effectiveness
of call boxes because the main entry
ways open into common spaces rath
er than smaller enclosures intended
to restrict immediate access into the
schools.
MIKE STOCKER/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
Students hold their hands in the air as they are evacuated by police from
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla, after a shooter
opened fire on the campus, Feb. 14.
Jackson spoke in general terms
about alarm codes that would be
broadcast to alert staff of danger and
to enact countermeasures to keep stu
dents safe.
Future planning at John A Holmes
High School may involve reducing
the long accessible routes “shortcuts”
through the courtyard among other
means of reducing trespassing, Jack-
son said.
Principals said the schools are safe
for students, teachers and staff.
“I would want my two daughters to
go to any school in this school system,”
said Steve Wood, JAHHS principal.
“Safety is a top concern for our stu
dents throughout the school system.”
White Oak Elementary Principal
Sheila Evans has worked many years
an educator and administrator within
the Edenton-Chowan School system.
“White Oak School is a safe place to
learn and work,” she said. “If we see
something that needs attention, we say
something and then we act upon that
situation. That could be a spill on the
floor or a child teasing another child
or a parent upset with a teacher. We
handle each situation in a professional
manner. But, again, I’m confident that
schools who have experienced vio
lence are doing the same things. All of
us must be vigilant to protect our chil
dren.”
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©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
0
Beloved
educator
leaves
legacy
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A longtime educator
and administrator has
MILES LAYTON/
CHOWAN HERALD
Edenton-Chowan
principals insist
that school safety
is a priority
for students,
teachers and
staff. Chowan
Middle School
Principal John
Lassiter said,
“The values
we teach our
students make
our schools more
safe."
matricu
lated into
God’s
class-
room.
For
more
than 30
years,
SEE INSIDE
Safety always foremost concern - 5A
Evans said the school system’s poli
cies and procedures are in place to en
sure a safe learning environment.
“While I do not know what other
states do to ensure safety in their
schools, I can’t help but think that all
educators are doing every thing in
their power to create and maintain
safe learning environments,” she said.
“Over the years, I know that we, in
Chowan County, have continued to
refine our policies and procedures to
ensure our schools are safe.”
Chowan Middle School Principal
John Lassiter spends many hours in
Bulldogs’ country. Lassiter spends
many hours not only at school but at
ball games, school dances and band
concerts. He’s never been worried
about school safety.
“I have worked as a teacher at John
A Holmes and as principal at Chowan
Middle,” he said. “Never once have I
been concerned for my safety. Know
ing that safety is not a concern, I often
bring my wife and small children to
school events like concerts and ath-
See SAFETY, 4A
Brenda WINBORNE
Kaye
Bunch Winborne was
a teacher and principal
with the Edenton-Chow
an County School system
before she retired. As an
administrator, Winborne
was the recipient of the
Regional Principal of the
Year Award. Surrounded
by family, Winborne, 70,
died Feb. 15 at Vidant
Medical Center in Green
ville.
Colleagues remem
bered the good times
spent with Wmborne.
“I had the joy and plea
sure of working with
Brenda Wmborne at the
old White Oak School,”
said Linda Bunch, a re
tired teacher. “She taught
second grade and I was
a third grade teacher. We
were asked by our princi
pal to lead a school-wide
sing-a-long once a month.
Brenda and I would come
up with the songs togeth
er. She would play the
piano while I led the chil
dren. It was a fun and en
joyable time for tire entire
See EDUCATOR, 6A
Board
approves
contract
policy
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Town bands together, saves trolley service
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
One of the most famil
iar sights in Edenton is the
trolley that offers rides and
tours of the community to
visitors and locals alike. So
in January when the state
revealed plans to eliminate
funding for an interpreter
who rode the trolley and
talked with riders about the
town’s history, local leaders
began meeting and looking
for a way to keep the ser
vice going.
Once the town agreed to
continue to fund the cost
of maintenance and up
keep for the trolley, and to
continue paying the trolley
driver, officials who head
the Edenton Historical
Commission, whose offices
are located at the Penelope
Barker House on the down-
town waterfront — realized
that the eyes of interested
parties were turning toward
them for a solution regard
ing keeping an interpreter
in place.
“Everyone was looking
to the Historical Commis
sion to do that,” said EHC
president Chris Bean, “even
though it had not been our
responsibility in the past.”
So the commission
reached out to Sharon
Keeter, a 30-year employee
PHOTO BY KIP SHAW
More than 11,000 people rode the trolley last year to
see Edenton’s rich historical history.
of the Historic Edenton that time. Keeter, who had
State Historic Site, who planned to retire, enthusias-
had served as the trolley in ¬
terpreter for a large part of See TROLLEY, 7A
TYNER—Teacher con
tracts were the first thing
on the agenda for the
Board of Education when
it met recently in Bull
dogs’ country at Chowan
Middle School.
The Board approved
the first of two readings
for plans during it’s Feb.
13 regarding how the
school system will hire
new teachers or renew
contracts with educators.
According to the pro
posed policy, a new or re
newed contract will be for
a term of one school year
for teachers who have
been employed by the
Board as a teacher for less
than three years. After a
teacher has completed
See CONTRACT, 8A