CHOWA^HERALD
482-4418 Wednesday, March 13, 2019 75c
INSIDE
Obituaries 3A School 2B
Opinion 5A Calendar 4B
Community 6A Church 5B
Sports IB Classifieds 7-8B
Future of John A. Holmes facility still unclear
Board of Education
discusses lack of progress
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff Writer
Like a middle-age man
who has fallen off the exer
cise wagon since New Year’s
Day but decides to get back
to running in March, the
Edenton-Chowan Board of
Education is ready to get
moving again on formulat
ing future plans for a new
high school or renovating the
decades old John A. Holmes
High School.
For
months now,
a joint com
mittee of
school board
members
and county
commission- BROWDER
ers has met,
listened to experts and dis
cussed the matter. Progress
hasn’t moved too much, be
cause it is a big decision to
make and questions about
funding sources remain un
clear. Recent meetings indi
cate a more distant timeline
BURROUGHS JORDAN
than the near future for any
such project
“I went from being op
timistic to pretty disheart
ened,” BOE member Ricky
Browder said during the
March 2 Board of Education
meeting.
BOE Chairman Gene Jor
dan said when the commit
tee got to the point where a
decision had to be made as to
when hire an architect, plan
ning slowed because ftinds
must be available to pay for
costs that are not expected
to be cheap.
“From there, things kind
of slowed down to a slog,” he
said. “I’m not quite as pessi
mistic as Ricky. I feel better
about things. I don’t know if
the facts support my think
ing or not, but it seemed that
in talking to commissioners
that they are a little more op
timistic - that’s my impres
sion.”
Though BOE member Gil
Burroughs is not a member
of the joint committee, he
has attended each meeting
the group has held since the
committee formed in 2018.
Burroughs looked at
Browder before he said, “You
took the words right out of
my mouth. We’ve seen that
every single time. And my
impression from the county
manager is that they would
be very happy if we ever got
around to it We got to drive
this thing. This board has got
to drive this train. The way I
look at it, it is our responsi
bility to figure out what we
need and then it is the coun
ty’s responsibility to see how
we get that.”
Browder stressed that it is
important to get the public
involved in pushing this proj
ect to fruition.
“They need to be a voice
that speaks loudly—if that is
the desire of this committee
to do something about the
facility that we have at the
high school,” he said. “That’s
See FUTURE, 2A
Rizzo
to lead
Food
Pantry
Retired lawyer to start
new job as director April 1
From Staff Reports
The Edenton-Chowan
Food Pantry Search Com- I
mittee announced that
Joe Rizzo, a native of Long
Island, New York, will be
come director of the non-
profit effective April 1.
“We had several tal
ented candidates for the I
position,” said Gerard
Cooney, president of the
Food Pantry Board, “but
the search committee’s
final choice of Joe Rizzo
was unanimous.”
Rizzo is a graduate of
Amherst College and Hof-
stra University School of
Law. He was the general
counsel and director of a
hotel chain in New York
City and served as an
adjunct professor at the
State University of New
York before retiring sev
eral years ago. He and
his wife, Shirley, settled
in Edenton last year after
moving from Hilton Head,
SC.
“I’m in a new, beautiful
community that maintains
a significant organization
that provides a valuable
service to the region,”
Rizzo said. “I have the
energy, resources, expe
rience and dedication to
follow the Board’s vision
for the future.”
See RIZZO, 3A
PHOTOS BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON/CHOWAN HERALD
Girls who attend White Oak Elementary School are accompanied by family members and friends in the
community Monday during the school’s “Tea for Two” event.
‘Tea for Two’ celebrates White Oak’s girls
From Staff Reports
The girls of White Oak El
ementary School took time
out of their day to learn how
to be the best they can be
Monday afternoon during
“Tea for Two.”
The school’s 228 girl stu
dents were accompanied by
educators, family members
and members of the com
munity in the school’s gym
nasium and cafeteria. They
eryoyed some delicious
cookies and “tea,” apple
juice, and some presenta
tions during the event.
The John A. Holmes High
School cheerleaders taught
the audience a few cheers.
They also took questions
from the audience, empha ¬
sizing that practice and get
ting good grades in school
were the keys to their suc
cess.
Meredith Wood, an as
sistant Extension Agent of
4-H Youth Development in
Pasquotank County and
executive lead director of
LimeLight By Alcone, spoke
to the girls about pursuing
their dreams.
She noted that when she
was little, she wanted to be an
N.C. State cheerleader. While
working hard to achieve that
goal, she suffered a setback
when she hurt her knee
during cheerleading prac
tice. Wood underwent sur
gery and spent about seven
See TEA, 2A
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Prison
safety
A John A. Holmes cheerleader teaches girls at White
Oak Elementary School how to do a cheer Monday
during “Tea for Two.”
— 1 —
Residents urge county to rethink project
County holds forum on
Valhalla plant proposal
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-
LAYTON
Editor
Chowan County resi
dents urged the county to go
back to the drawing board
in regards to a project that
will help the Valhalla water
treatment plant become
compliant with state regula
tions.
About 50 citizens, includ
ing the Chowan County
commissioners, attended a
special forum to discuss the
issue on March 7 at the Pub
lic Safety Center. Because
the commissioners were
not going to take any action
at the forum, they were not
allowed to speak.
County Manager Kevin
Howard, who moderated
the forum, noted that the
state has not approved the
project’s permit, which
would dispose of the plant’s
wastewater into the Chow
an River. Currently, drones
are surveying the proposed
route of a five-mile pipe
before leaves form on the
trees, making it harder to
See PROJECT, 4A
NICOLE BOWMAN-
LAYTON/CHOWAN
HERALD
Greg
Churchill, with
Rivers and
Associates
Inc., discusses
the Valhalla
Water
Treatment
Plant
wastewater
project
Thursday at
the Chowan
County Public
Safety Center.
RELAY FOR UFE
FRIDAY,MARCH_15™
11 AM to 2PIVI & 4PIVI to 7PM
Beriefit Lunch & Dinner AUCTION-7Pin until
M
fl A
group
meets
Senate committee listens to
researchers, prison director
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff Writer
RALEIGH - A new state
Senate committee tasked
with making prisons safer
met Monday for the first
time to begin the job of
reforming the state’s De
partment of Corrections
system.
Led by state Sen. Bob
Steinburg, R-Chowan,
the Senate Select Com
mittee on Prison Safety
will meet during the next
few weeks, after which
he hopes to make some
initial recommendations.
“I was very pleased
with the first meeting,
which was generally an
overview of the depart
ment,” Steinburg said.
“We will be meeting
j weekly on Mondays for
See PRISON, 3A
Lawmakers:
Funding for
schoolsa
priority
Steinburg, Goodwin meet
county commission
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff Writer
State Sen. Bob Stein
burg and Rep. Ed Good
win, both R-Chowan,
spoke to the Chowan
County board of commis
sion about their legisla
tive goals.
Among the initiatives
this dynamic duo seeks
is acquiring funding for
a new school, expanding
broadband coverage, sup
porting Vidant Chowan
Hospital in the wake of
proposed healthcare
changes and potentially
expanding the commu
nity college reach into the
local school system.
As space is tight in this
See SCHOOLS, 4A
BPM til /PM limner Music by Bi« Daddy Sam Motto” arid Darryl StaMm^s:
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