A2 THE CHOWAN HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019
Gov. appoints Chowan
residents to boards
SENIOR NEWS
SUBMITTED REPORTS
Governor Roy Cooper
appointed several
Chowan County resi
dents to state boards and
commissions.
Jeff Smith, former
commissioner, was ap
pointed to the reconsti
tuted Rural Infrastruc
ture Authority.
He will serve as a rep
resentative of a tier 1 or 2
county. Smith is the past
chair of the Chowan
County Board of Com
missioners.
Travis Gilliard was ap
pointed to the College of
the Albemarle Board of
Trustees as a member-at-
large. Gilliard is a regis
tered pharmacist with 36
years of experience in
the field of pharmacy. He
has practiced pharmacy
in retail, at hospitals, and
educationally. He has
worked as a pharmacist
at Martin General Hospi
tal in Williamston since
1997.
Samuel Bobbitt Dixon
was appointed to the
North Carolina Historical
Commission as a profes
sional historian. He is the
owner and manager of
Dixon & Thompson Law,
PLLC. Dixon serves on
the board of trustees of
the National Tnist for His
toric Preservation, the
board of directors of the
NC Museum of History
Foundation and on the
North Carolinian Society.
The Chowan County Se
nior Center will have a spe
cial lunch with entertain
ment at noon on July 12 to
celebrate returning to the
renovated senior center.
Come join the celebra
tion. Cost is $1 and the
deadline was July 3.
Special activities
* Ann McNellis Elmore,
from the NC Department of
the Secretary of State, will
present the program “Pro
tect Your Health, Money
and Charitable Gifts in a
Scary World” at noon Mon
day, July 15. This presenta
tion will last an hour and
lunch will be served. The
cost is $1 and the deadline
was July 3.
* The center will host a
shopping trip to the Trian
gle Town Center on July 19.
Participants will leave the
center at 8 am., go to Tri
angle Town Center for
shopping and lunch on
your own and return by 5
p.m. The cost is $10 and the
deadline to pay was July 5.
* Sign up for Medicaid at
the Center on July 17.
* Grocery Shopping As
sistance — at 11:30 am.
July 18.
* Monthly Medical Notes
— 11:30 am. July 16.
* Crossword Puzzle — at
11:30 am. July 25.
* Birthday Quiz — at
11:30 am. July 11.
* Trivia Plus — at 11:30
am. July 30.
* Word Search—at 11:30
am. July 23.
* Bingo — will be played
from 1-2 p.m. every Tues
day at the center. This is
free.
* Senior Bowling — Par
ticipants will leave the cen
ter at 12:15 p.m. Mondays,
go to Albemarle Lanes, and
return by 3:30 p.m.Trans-
portation is $2.
* Computer use — 8 am.
to4p.m. Monday-Friday.
Classes
* Crochet — Join the
group from 9 am. to noon
July 17 and July 31.
* Woodcarving — On all
Fridays, the group will meet
from 9 am. to noon, at the
center.
* Arthritis exercise —
10:15-11 am. on Tuesdays
and Thursdays.
* Paint — Katrina will
teach this class from 10:30
am. to 12:30 p.m. July 17.
All materials are supplied
and the cost is $12. The
deadline to pay was July 3.
Fitness
The fitness room is open
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Classes are $4 per class or
$30 per month.
* Monday—9 am, Total
Body, Esssentrics or Yoga;
5:30 p.m., pilates.
* Tuesday — 9 am, step
interval; 5:30 p.m. Zumba
Fitness & Tone 5:30.
* Wednesday — 9 am,
Chilates; 5:30 p.m, Oilates.
* Thursday — 9 am.,
your choice class; 5:30 p.m,
Zumba Fitness & Tone.
* Friday—9 am., yoga
* Line Dance Class —
Join us from 10:30-11:30
am. Mondays and Fridays
* Fun swim — Every
Wednesday, participants
will leave the Center at
11:15 am. for a swim at
the YMCA swimming
from noon to 1 p.m., re
turn by 2 p.m. Cost is $6
and deadline is two days
before.
* Walking Club—10 am.
to 1 p.m. Monday-Friday at
the D.F. Walker gym.
PRISON
Continued from Al
expected from any mem
ber worth their salt, and I
will be ready to answer
them.”
Previous reports noted
that inadequate staffing
and major security flaws
contributed to the deaths
of Sgt. Meggan Callahan at
a Bertie Correctional Insti
tution in April 2017 and
four prison workers who
were fatally wounded dur
ing escape attempt by in
mates armed with scissors
and hammers in October
2017 at Pasquotank Cor
rectional Institution.
“As we voted on this bill
on July 1,1 cannot say that
I felt a sense of satisfaction
or vindication, rather my
relief in that we had taken
the first serious step in
what is going to be a long
series of steps,” Steinburg
said. “In addition, the
names Megan Callahan,
Justin Smith, Veronica Dar
den, Wendy Shannon and
Geoffrey Howe were very
much on my mind while
the Senate voted on this
bill.”
There are 55 state pris
ons that house more than
36,500 inmates. The state
prison system has a budget
of approximately $1.2 bil
lion and more than 17,000
employees. More than 70
percent of the state’s
Department of Public
Safety’s budget is spent on
the prison system — an ar
rangement that prompted
lawmakers to consider
whether the prison system
should become a separate
department within the
state government.
The bill directs the
Program Evaluation Divi
sion (PED) to study alter
native management struc
tures for The Division of
Adult Correction and Juve-"
nile Justice. The Division
of Adult Correction and Ju
venile Justice is currently
one division under the
purview of the Department
of Public Safety (DPS).
Under the bill, PED will
look at a number of differ
ent management structure
options including creating
two separate agencies that
would still be under DPS
or splitting it into two new
principal state depart
ments.
Steinburg said there are
two tilings about this bill
that need to be under
stood.
“First, that separating
out the Department of Ju
venile Justice and the
Department of Correction
from the Department of
Public Safety (DPS) is a
primary step,” he said. “Se
cond, it acknowledges the
importance of accurately
handling the process of
separating out these de
partments as an essential
step to ensuring prison
safety.”
The bill requires PED to
submit its findings and rec-
ommendations to the Joint
Legislative Program Evalu
ation Oversight Committee
and to the Joint Legislative
Oversight Committee on
Justice and Public Safety
no later than May 1,2020.
“As I have stated pub
licly, many times, there
is no silver bullet for
fixing these issues nor
can they be solved
through one bill alone,
it is a process,” Stein
burg said.
Steinburg said he is
most pleased about how
the bill addresses what
management structures
might work best within the
prison system.
“The best parts about
this 1)111 is that they are
looking at alternative man
agement structures and in
a manner to determine
which of those structures
would work best,” he said.
“Further, section three sets
a clear deadline for the
PED to report back by, so
that a prolonged period of
time does not occur. The
purpose of this deadline is
to produce a bill which will
provide clearly specified
parameters that will be
ready for presentation by
the short session.”
When Steinburg coined
the term “secret society” to
describe the prison sys
tem’s leadership style, the
phrase rocked the state.
He said the bill’s intent is to
spur accountability and
transparency.
“With respect to the ‘al
leged’ secret society, the
last two sections of the bill
are intended to result in
greater accountability by
virtue of the fact that the
Governor would appoint
the presumed cabinet level
secretary, but the Senate
would have to confirm said
nominee,” he said. “By sep
arating out the depart
ments and having the theo
retical Secretaries of Juve
nile Justice and Correc
tions concentrate on area
of responsibility, this will
reduce problems by in
creasing accountability
through greater trans
parency across the entire
system.”
Staff writer Miles Layton can be
reached at mlayton@ncweek-
lies.com
TAYLOR
Continued from Al
were few and far between,
so I’ve real satisfied with
business.”
Folks don’t need to fire
up the Wayback Machine
to remember the theater
was closed for about a year
after a storm damaged its
building in June 2017. For a
while, it looked like the
theater might never re
open. But movie-goers and
downtown boosters in
Edenton decided they
weren’t going to let that
happen. They banded to
gether to save the theater,
buying the building from
the former owners and un
dertaking a major renova
tion of the theater.
The renovation, which
started in late 2017, was
completed just in time for
the start of the summer
blockbuster season in July
2018. Each side/theater
seats 120 people.
“I’ve gotten lots of good
feedback (over the year,”
Respass said.
A year later and there’s
multiple food offerings in
cluding Dippin’ Dots,
White Castle burgers and
fries, as well as beer and
wine for the thirsty theater
goer who may need a drink
after a sad scene like that
from “Avengers: End
Game.” Don’t worry, we
won’t spoil it here.
Toys and posters are
given out. Popcorn smells
great. And augmented sur
round sound has been
added to one theater. The
proposed General
Assembly budget allocates
$66,000 for renovations the
theater’s historic marquee.
And check out the com
mercial during the opening
credits about shopping lo
cal - Christian Bookstore
co-owner Heather Newing-
ham and her daughter are
featured - excellent com
mercial about how our dol
lars move from here to
there.
No one can deny that
there is a real community
feel to Taylor Theater
these days. When Blake
Byrum, of Sears Home
town Store, delivered a
package to a movie patron
who was watching Spider-
Man, Respass held onto it
so the customer wouldn’t
have to worry about it until
the movie ended. Some
times when a family of five
is split in two because of
scheduling, Respass will
hold the family’s tickets un
til dad and kid 3 arrive to
meet the others.
“There’s lot of familiar
faces and families' that
come in'on a regular - ba
sis,” she said. “Then there’s
people I don’t know who
come in from places like
Ahoskie, Williamson and
even further than that.”
A point echoed by local
businessman Charlie
Creighton, who was
among those who led the
effort to save the theater.
“My wife Susan and I
went two weeks ago, en
joyed a first-run movie,
comfortable seats, good
slider and popcorn but
most of all, a beautiful,
bright clean, majestic the
ater,” he said. “We also saw
people from Ahoskie and
Williamston at the theater.”
Sambo Dixon, a local at
torney and another archi
tect of the theater’s second
act, offered praise to the
community who stepped
up to preserve the silver
screen for future genera
tions.
“The Taylor Theater has
now returned as one of the
mqjor anchors and attrac
tions on Edenton’s Broad
Street,” he said. “I think
that one year out the the
ater has exceeded my ex
pectations and brings life
and vitality to our town.
Today our children can
once again watch first-run
movies. I am proud of ev
eryone involved in saving
the theater. We are lucky to
live in a place where the
community sees a need
and then comes together
to make that need a real
ity.”
As to tire year ahead, the
future is bright.
“We’ve got a lot of ideas
in the works,” Respass
said. “Upstairs, we’ve been
frying to get that third audi
torium ready for people.
We hope to get more in
volved with downtown
event planning, perhaps
showing movies on lawn
with an inflatable screen.
We have a bunch of ideas.
We keep pushing and
putting money back into
the business and hopefully,
it will keep returning for
us. I’m happy with what
we’ve done this year and
look forward to the fu
ture.”
Staff writer Miles Layton can be
reached at mlayton@>ncwee/clies. com
COUNCIL
Continued from Al
term after 24 years of ser
vice.
“For the past 24 years I
have given my best effort
to the citizens of Edenton
who have honored me
with the privilege of being
their mayor,” he said. “As a
surviving cancer patient
who will be 76 next month,
I want to spend what time I
have left enjoying travel
with my wife and more
time with my family.”
Vaughan said he will
“miss my job” as well as
the “many people who
work tirelessly to make
Edenton such a wonderful
community.”
“I will look back on my
career of public service
with much happiness and
no regrets. It’s been a great
journey,” he said.
Stallings family joined
him as he filed for mayor
on Friday at the county’s
Board of Elections.
Stallings represents the
town’s 1st Ward, which in
cludes most of the neigh
borhoods from Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Avenue
down to Edenton Bay and
some of the downtown
area, west of South Broad
Street. He has served 19
years as a town council
man.
Stallings retired as
agency manager of
Chowan County’s Farm
Bureau Insurance Office
after 43 years. He is a Food
Pantry volunteer and
serves on a number of
boards such as the Eden
ton-Chowan Partnership
and Edenton Housing
Authority.
Active in civic affairs,
Coleman recently retired
as Edenton-Chowan Food
Pantry director. During
Coleman’s tenure with the
Food Pantry, he led an ef
fort to raise more than
$100,000 to secure a
matching $100,000 grant
from Dr. John Phillips in
2018.
Following Bethany Col
lege in West Virginia,
Coleman attended the di
vinity school at Texas
Christian University and
was ordained in 1968. He
also holds graduate de
grees in education and in
theology.
Other people who have
announced an interest in
running for office include
businesswoman Jacque
line Hardy-Lassiter for
mayor, attorney William
Hackney High Jr. for the
1st Ward Council.
Worth noting, recently
the Chowan Herald posted
on its Facebook page an
article about Stallings filing
for mayor and Coleman fil
ing for town council (at-
large). One reader com
mented: “Who cares?”
Here was Coleman’s re
ply:
“I do. I care about this
town, its residents and its
future. And when you care
about something, whether
person or place, you find a
way to express it. I see
that, in most of your Face-
book pictures, you are
holding someone you care
about. I care about this
town. I hold it dear. I’m
sure Jimmy Stallings does
also.
“Holding public office
may not bring much re
spect, certainly not the
kind received from direct
ing the food pantry or by
serving as an active minis
ter for many years. In poli
tics there are too many
promises and not enough
action. The powerless too
often get forgotten. I un
derstand this. Still, the op
portunity to give back to
this town something of
what I’ve received is moti
vation enough to try and
do better. Thanks for giv
ing me the chance to re
spond to your question. It’s
a valid one.”
DIXON
Continued from Al
houses built by the Hanni
bal Badham family.”
A local lawyer, Dixon
was born in Edenton, at
tended school in Edenton
and graduated from Vir
ginia Episcopal School in
Lynchburg, Virginia. He re
ceived a bachelor’s of arts
degree in political science
from UNC Chapel Hill and
a law degree from Wake
Forest School of Law.
Dixon is a member of St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church in
Edenton, where he was
formerly on the vestry. He
was president of the First
Judicial District Bar in
2001; he is a member of the
Edenton Historical
Commission, and was
reappointed last week to
the North Carolina Histori
cal Commission.
Dixon was Edenton’s
Town Attorney from 1993
to 1997. Since 1997, he has
been a member of Eden
ton’s Town Council. Dixon
serves on numerous local,
state and national boards
including Main Street
America - a group that vis
ited Edenton earlier this
year.
Dixon is an active mem
ber of the National Trust
for Historic Preservation.
He is among a group local
notables who are spear
heading the effort to re
store Kadesh AME Zion
Church.
And give Dixon credit
too for being among those
who stepped up to the plate
to restore Taylor Theater.
“I will always advocate
for projects like the Eden
ton Farmer’s Market, the
restoration of the Edenton
Cotton Mill and Village and
the Taylor Theater,” he
said. “I believe that organi
zations, like Destination
Downtown Edenton, the
Cupola House Association
and the Edenton Historical
Commission, have been in
strumental in strengthen
ing our community
through preservation-
based tourism and heritage
economic development.”
During Dixon’s tenure
on town council, he has
supported a vast array of
infrastructure projects
ranging from the new po
lice station to the water
treatment plant that is set
to go online later this year.
“As a member of the
Town Council, I have con
sistently voted for new in
frastructure projects like
the Police Station on
Oakum Street, the
repaving of our streets and
the updating of our water
treatment plant. I believe it
is the duty of the town of
Edenton to keep our com
munity safe and to provide
our residents with quality
services,” he said.
Last note — if you’re
looking for something to
read, Dixon wrote “Stayin’
Put: Short Stories From
Edenton” — an informa
tive and very entertaining
compendium of the town.
Check out the chapters
about turtles and snakes.
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