Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / March 27, 2019, edition 1 / Page 2
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2A THE CHOWAN HERALD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27,2019 CrimeWatch Edenton Police Department Arrests William Earl White, 61, of Newport News, Virginia, was arrested March 10 and charged with driving while impaired and driving while license revoked. Arresting officer, Cpi. D.A. Smith. Yssil Ayana Babb-Craw ford, 27, of Melonie Street, Edenton, was arrested March 8 on a warrant out of Pasquotank County for a mis demeanor charge of failure to appear. A secured bond of $250 was set. Arresting of ficer, Officer A.M. Wynn. Mitchell Lee Anthony White, 34, of Waterford Place, Edenton, was ar rested March 2 on warrants out of Bertie County for two misdemeanor charges of cyberstalking and one mis demeanor charge of assault by pointing a gun. A secured bond of $1,000 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Arresting officer, Ptl. B.A. Adams. Ervin Len White, 48, of East Albemarle Street, Edenton, was arrested March 10 on a misdemeanor charge of harassing phone calls. A secured bond of $500 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Arresting officer, Cpi. W.S. White. Tremain Porter, 21, of Wynne Fork Court, Hertford, was arrested March 7 on a warrant out of Perquimans County for a misdemeanor charge of assault and bat tery. A secured bond of $1,000 was set. He was con fined to the Chowan County Jail. Arresting officer, Cpi. R.J. Michael Jr. Trevin Areese Elliott, 32, of Morris Lane, Edenton, was arrested March 18 on a misdemeanor charge of driv ing while license revoked and a warrant out of Perquimans County for a misdemeanor charge of failure to appear. A secured bond of $750 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Jose Lazaro Alverez, 35, of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Av enue, Edenton, was arrested on Feb. 26, on a misde meanor charge of intoxicated and disruptive. A secured bond of $6,000 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Arresting officer, Cpi. R.J. Michael Jr. Yakevis Fruquan Kee, 25, of Tyler Run 2, Edenton, was arrested Feb. 27 on a misde meanor charge of assault on a female. An unsecured bond of $1,500 was set. Arresting officer, Officer C.N. Skorupa. Incidents Police are investigating a March 9 report of vandalism at 109 Oakdale Drive, Eden ton. According to the report, a brick was thrown through sliding glass windows, causing $400 in damage. Investigating officer, Officer C.N. Skorupa. Police are investigating a Feb. 1 report of assault and injury to personal property at the old D.F. Walker gym, 824 N. Oakum St., Edenton. According to the report, the suspect struck the victim’s right eye with a closed fist and breaking the victim’s glasses. Investigating of ficer, Ptl. B.A. Adams. Police investigated a March 9 report of shoplift ing at Dollar General, 1317 N. Broad St., Edenton. According to the report, the suspect took $13.50 worth of frozen breaded chicken breast without paying. Inves tigating officer, Officer C.N. Skorupa. Police investigated a March 16 report of larceny at a home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Edenton. According to the report a package was taken off the front porch of the home. Investigating officer, Cpi. D.A. Smith. Police investigated a March 1 report of injury to personal property and injury to real property at a resi dence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Edenton. According to the report, damage was done to a sofa, chair and interior bathroom wall. Investigating officer, Cpi. R.J. Michael Jr. Police investigated a Feb. 9 report of larceny at Food Lion, 300 C Virginia Road, Edenton. According to the report, the suspect took the victim’s wallet from his grocery cart. Investigating officer, Ptl. C.S. Bunch. PRISON Continued from 1A between the prisons super- intendent/warden and the secretary of the agency. “Are there too many lev els of management? That reduces communication between the bottom and the top of the agency,” he said. “That creates and inflexible rigid organization that slows decision making, impedes growth and change, and de lays response time during an emergency.” Bennett said during the late 1990s, the Department of Correction and Division of Prisons did an organiza tional review that recom mended closing small fa cilities and building larger ones. Bennett advised eliminat ing as many bureaucratic levels as is necessary to cre ate a leaner, more efficient, system. “The need was to reduce levels of management be tween the prison superin tendent and the secretary —push more decision mak ing authority down to the regional officers and prison facility level,” he said. “This lean organizational struc ture helped me during my tenure as director of pris ons.” Bennett’s third recom mendation was to review the organization of the di rector of prisons office. “It is my understand- ing that several key areas of responsibility that have traditionally been a part of that office — medical, secu rity and personnel investi gations — have been taken over by other staff outside the division of prisons,” he said. “Strengthen that office by clearing up the confusion as to who does what.” Bennett fielded questions from committee members as to how to reform the sys tem. Sen. Tom McInnis, R- Richmond, asked Bennett if there was reason for the recent loss of life, whereas in the past, there was a long period without deaths and very little injury. Bennett noted that among the causes for the recent loss of life was how the prison system’s correc ¬ tion officer vacancy rate is very high and when coupled with the staffing shortages, tins can result in burnout of the existing staff. He said the second reason is the bal ance between custody, se curity, and rehabilitation is being lost. Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Pamlico, asked Bennett what he saw as the three biggest problems with per sonnel retention during Bennett’s tenure within the prison system. * Bennett said the first was salary, while the second was adjusting to the prison man agement culture. The third was dealing with disciplin ary issues among the other prison employees. There are 55 state prisons that house more than 36,500 inmates. The state prison system has a budget of ap proximately $1.2 billion and more than 16,000 employ ees. Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr., D-Durham, asked what changes in functions did Bennett envision with fewer layers of bureaucracy. Ben nett said a smaller system of administration could better focus on a singular func tions directly affecting pris ons — a system best served by being a separate state agency. “Knowledge of what’s going on, response time, dealing with problems, staff conununication about and down the chain — all that in my mind leads toward a separate organization as it was for so many years,” he said. When responding to a question from Sen. Joyce Waddell, D-Mecklenburg, about statistics that support Bennett’s assertion about how multiple levels of man agement don’t work, Ben nett said it’s better to reduce the number of bureaucratic layer to achieve a better bal ance. “I’m telling you this based on my experience,” he said. “It works better to cut out as many layers as possible — it’s tough to do and it affects people — and you can have not enough layers which is another problem. There’s a balance there. I think that’s something you might want to look at.” McInnis asked if- anything can be done immediately to solve certain issues, real izing that there is no silver bullet to solve all the prob lems. Bennett answered that it is important to continue to work with the current leadership and to visit the prisons as well as talk to personnel in the field. “I think continue to work with the agency and the leaders who are there now,” he said. “They are good peo ple. They’ve done a lot of good things to try to change things. They need support with more equipment and training. Work hand in hand with them — that doesn’t mean they make all the de cisions or you make all the decisions, but listen to them and try to work with them. Visit these prisons and talk to the staff out there. It’s amazing what you’ll hear and ideas you’ll pick up on.” After the meeting, Stein burg said he agrees with Bennett’s assertion that the prison system should be split off from DPS and formed into a separate cabi net agency. He said during the past eight years, the merged system has failed\. “This was an experiment for us and has been in my view an abysmal failure,” Steinburg said. As to the senate select committee’s work, Stein burg said of reforming the prison system, “We hope to make a template for other states across the nation. We want to fix the system to do what’s best for DPS and our state. This is a bipartisan is sue and there is tremendous support for the work of this select senate committee.” Steinburg said the Sen ate’s leadership is commit ted to fixing the problem. “Senator Phil Berger (President Pro Tempore) is committed to fixing what ails DPS,” he said. “While we may not able to do ev erything in this budget year, the leadership will decide what it can it do within our fiscal parameters and pri oritize. Those things include recruitment and retention, accountability and we may make other recommenda tions in terms of increased benefits and pay. This is one of the most pressing issues in the state.” LITTER Continued from 1A viduals that would like to volunteer their time to help this effort. After a group is organized, it gathers sup plies provided through the Edenton-Chowan Chamber, and executes a cleanup plan. DOT picks up all the filled trash bags left on the roadside. The Chamber can help choose a roadside to clean, or a group can choose the roadside. Dale beamed with civic pride about how groups, such as Welcome Home Realty, Carolina East Real Estate, Chowan County Regional Fair, American Legion Edenton Post 40 and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 40, already collected trash. When volunteers put in more than 30 hours this past weekend, Dale said, they collected more than 30 bags in various corners near and far. “The response from the community has been really good,” he said. Councilman Jimmy Stall ings praised Dale regarding leading this clean sweep initiative. “I really applaud you for taking the bull by the horns and running with it,” he said. “I think it is an excel lent program. If you look at some of the entrances by U.S. 17 — that’s absolutely horrible. I really applaud you for doing all this. I have no sympathy for people who litter.” Mayor pro tern Steve Biggs added that as he walks Broad Street al most eveiy day and some times twice a day with his little dog, “It is amazing — there’s a trash can on ev ery corner — but it’s amaz ing how much trash is in between the sidewalk and the street every morning. I feel pretty confident that we can find some more trash cans somewhere to help out with that... Don’t get me wrong — a lot of the time those trash cans that I see on Broad Street from the Fire Hall back to down- town — they’ve got a lot of trash in them. And I know the Town’s Public Works Department empties those Cans regularly. People are using the trash cans, but it’s amazing how people refuse to use them.” Dale said in the past, prisoner work crews from local correctional facilities cleaned many of the town and county’s thorough- fares, but since the fatal incidents that occurred in 2017 within the Bertie and Pasquotank prisons, that program was put on hold statewide. “Without the prisoners to clean up the roadsides, the litter problem has only gotten worse,” he said. The Chamber is work ing closely with Edenton Police and Chowan County Sheriffs Department to de cide how to keep various spots clean, so litter bugs — beware! Dale said cour tesy of Chowan County Commission Chairwoman Patti Kersey’s work to pro cure signs from the DOT, at least six “no littering” signs will be placed at different venues. Adding to that, Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton spoke of looking into the purchase of trail cameras to take video of high profile places where folks may be tempted to toss out trash. She said with some hefty fines from tick ets, the word will spread that Edenton and Chowan County are not places to litter. “I think what Win and the community is doing is fantastic, but we need to work the enforcement an gle as hard as we possibly can,” she said. “I had two people who live out in the county come into our office and com plain. I didn’t feel right say ing that’s in the county, not the town. We’ve got to do something. That’s when I reached out to Win. I’m so grateful for leadership and from the Chamber Board. I think in order to make a real impact, we need to do enforcement.” For information and/or to volunteer, contact the Edenton-Chowan Cham ber Chamber of Commerce at 252-482-3400. PROGRAM Continued from 1A port from local businesses. “It works — kids get real excited about it and can get real involved in the com munity,” he said. “These programs work.” Council seemed recep tive to Bass’ proposals pending talks with the Edenton-Chowan School System to provide such a course offering. “This is a win-win situ ation,” Councilor Jimmy Stallings said. “The big thing is teaching these kids some responsibility.” Mayor Pro Tern Steve Biggs said a similar pro gram is offered in Bertie County, so he hopes council can find funds to make this happen in Chowan County. In other news, council Recycle this newspaper. received an update regard ing. speed limits in various parts of town. Plans call for enforcement with warn ing tickets and then town tickets. Plans also are be ing considered for the pur chase of “speed cushions” that cost about $1,100 each. The moveable cushions are engineered to minimize any affect on first-responder ve hicles, such as fire trucks. Greenville Fire Chief Eric Griffin Told Bass the cushions have not impacted response time or damaged their vehicles. Also, council agreed to consider Destination Downtown Edenton’s re quest for permission to close the 200 block of South Broad Street in sell beer and wine for the an nual Boogie on Broad event on April 12. With assistance from police and volunteers, the area is monitored to make sure al cohol is not carried beyond the event’s perimeters. And Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce Ex ecutive Director Win Dale spoke about the “Sweep Chowan” litter campaign to clean up of the road sides throughout Chowan County. The event started March 20 and lasts through April 30. Activity even has a hashtag — #sweepchow- an. See more about Dale’s comments on page Al. In other matters, coun cil agreed to consider a Beer & Wine Bar Wed: Open 5-10 / Trivia Night Thurs: Open 5-Late / Karaoke Night Fri: Open 12-12 / Open Mie Night Sat: Open 12-12 / Live Music Night Live Music Schedule: March 30 - David Howard w/ Chris Bittner April 6 - Duf Franco April 13 - Daniel Jordan April 20 - Bobby Plough / April 27 - Doc Perkins | May 4 - Fueston Bros. & Company 107 W. Grubb Street • Hertford NC, 27944 resolution supporting House Bill 184 — that af fects changes to the state’s heath care system. Cham ber of Commerce adopted a resolution in support of HB 184. And, since Chowan Arts Council purchased the for mer Chero’s Building, the nonprofit moved out the space it leased from the town. Council expressed an interest in leasing the space to groups that may be inter ested in additional meeting space. Lastly, council con sidered Finance Officer Virginia Smith’s budget amendment regarding the Nuisance Code Enforce ment Line Item in the Gen eral Fund. The town took code en forcement action against the owner of the vacant lots at Colonial Village, residential subdivision on Coke Avenue, during the CHOWA^HERALD (USPS 106-380) Vol. 84, No. 13 Published Every Wednesday Adams Publishing Group Entered as a second-class matter August 30,1934 at the Post Of fice of Edenton, North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1870. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Daily Advance home delivery area $30* (Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, parts of Gates) Elsewhere in continental United States $47 ’"Plus applicable sales tax. Activation fee of $2.99 will be collected with all new subscriptions. Deactivation fees may apply for early cancellation. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: The Chowan Herald • P.O. Box 207 • Edenton, NC 27932 Telephone: (252) 482-4418 Fax: (252) 482-4410 nlayton@ncweeklies.com summer of 2018. The cost of enforcement was expen sive, however, the prop erty owner paid the bill for the cost of services. Town needs to add the funds to the General Fund revenue line item and increase the expense in the Nuisance Code Enforcement Line Item. M *
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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