CHOWA^HERALD
252-482-4418 WEDNESDAY, september 11,2019 $1
FUN TIME HAD FOR
A SERIOUS CAUSE - Bl
NEWS
Vivian Clarke joins Habitat for Humanity board -- A3
NEWS
Chowan County Board of Commissioners looks at
sanctuary status -- A7
COMMUNITY
Cheryl Orr: Apple pie a perfect fall dessert - B4
COLUMN
Jonathan Tobias: There is a ‘there’ in Edenton - B5
NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON/CHOWAN HERALD
Water from Edenton Bay covers the parking lot and land surrounding the Barker House and the harbor Friday morning.
Dorian causes flooding, breaks tree limbs
For more photos of
Hurricane Dorian, see A6
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON
AND MILES LAYTON
Chowan Herald
As Humcan Dorian swept
through northeastern North
Carolina, Chowan County
had a lot of water on the
roads and fallen tree limbs
Thursday and Friday, Sept.
5-6.
According to Emergency
Management Director Cord
Palmer the shelters set up at
John A. Holmes and Chowan
Middle School were to close
at 2 p.m. Friday. The Emer ¬
gency Operation Center also
closed at 2 p.m.
Palmer said 26 people went
to the high school, while 64
clients with about 40 staff and
volunteers were at the middle
school. Several pets were at
the middle school as well.
Electricity stayed on
Thursday but started flicker
ing in downtown Edenton
around mid-day Friday, with a
transformer “popping”
around noon.
According to the Town of
Edenton 10 customers were
without power as of noon Fri
day. However, as the day
See DORIAN, A8
PHOTO COURTESY
NITA CRINER
The Chowan
River hits
the shoreline
of Nita
Criner’s
property at
Arrowhead
Beach
during
Hurricane
Dorian.
Proposed
ferry trial
postponed
Representative Goodwin: Crew took
boat north due to Hurricane Dorian
BY JULIAN EURE
Daily Advance
A proposed week-long trial of a pas
senger ferry across the Albemarle Sound
has fallen victim to Hurricane Dorian.
A 150 passenger ferry boat, which was
utilized by the NC Ferry Division for runs
between Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke
during the summer months, was sched
uled to begin pilot runs across the Albe
marle Sound on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Perhaps next spring instead, the Har
bor Town Inland Ferry Project will run a
fast passenger ferry boat throughout the
Albemarle Sound stopping in Edenton,
Plymouth, Columbia, Kitty Hawk and
Hertford. Sonar soundings and naviga
tional mappings have been completed
and it was anticipated that at least three
of the towns would participate in the
week long trial run.
“Edenton, Plymouth, and Columbia
were enthusiastically committed to par
ticipate in the pilot runs. Mother Nature,
however, had different plans,” said NC
Representative Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan.
“All five Harbor Towns were under hurri
cane warnings and were addressing local
See FERRY, A3
State agency
consulted
Nearby counties suffer
‘substantial damage’
Residents report severe flooding,
debris and several power outages
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Though we are across the Albemarle
Sound, the Chowan Herald pays atten
tion and has close ties to folks in Wash
ington, Tyrrell and Hyde counties.
During and after Hurricane Dorian,
the people in places between Creswell
and Engelhard endured a lot.
The newspaper reached out to Nicole
Byrd-Phelps of Washington County, Bar
bara Fleming of Tyrrell County and Re
becca Gibbs of Engelhard.
Sunday morning as this article was
being written, utility workers worked
around the clock to restore power in
See COUNTIES, A2
PHOTO COURTESY BARBARA FLEMING
Road Street in Columbia is flooded af
ter Hurricane Dorian.
Residents help
their neighbors
at home, afar
Rocky Hock Baptist collecting
supplies to send to Ocracoke
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON
Editor
“When I was a boy and I would see
scary things in the news, my mother
would say to me, “Look for the
helpers. You will always find people
who are helping. ” — Fred Rogers
Now that Hurricane Dorian is over,
several Chowan County groups are
helping victims. Steve Evans, husband
of White Oak Principal Sheila Evans, is
leading a donation drive at Rocky Hock
Baptist Church to aid the victims on
Ocracoke.
Today, Sept. 11, is the last day to drop
See HELPERS, A8
on protocol
Registered voter living in town limits
may challenge status of candidate
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
The Chowan County Board of Elec
tions has consulted the North Carolina
General Statutes and the North Carolina
Constitution as to the proper protocol to
challenge a candidate for any Municipal
office.
No one has challenged any mayoral
candidate’s right to run for office. Ac
cording to the board’s records, all those
who have filed for office in the Municipal
election for Edenton are qualified candi
dates.
Chowan County’s Board of Elections
referred Chowan Herald to the NC Board
of Elections to answer questions arising
from how this matter would be resolved
if challenged.
Should any challenge be filed, the
county’s Board of Elections would serve
See PROTOCOL. A5
Future of high school
topic of public forums
State gives E-CPS ‘C’ performance grades
STAFF REPORT
Chowan County resi
dents have two opportu
nities to offer their voice
as to whether to they’d
like to see the county’s
current high school ren
ovated or a new high
school built. If they favor
a new school, citizens
can also recommend
where they’d like to see
it built.
The first public input
session on site selection
for the new high school
will be held at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the
current high school,
John A Holmes. The sec
ond will be held at 6 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 19 at the
Northern Chowan Re-
creation Center. More
meetings may be held as
the process moves
along.
Jackson: Every school
met or exceeded growth
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
State Board of Educa
tion approved and released
the scores and School Per
formance Grades for the
2018-19 school year last
week.
State Superintendent
Mark Johnson pointed to
the gains that North
Carolina schools have
made since 2014 to under
score how the hard work
of dedicated educators is
helping many students suc
ceed.
“Teachers across the
state are working hard to
ensure that students learn
and achieve,” Johnson said
in a news release. “We are
making changes in Raleigh
to help our students and
teachers - with less time
spent on testing and more
time for instruction, get
ting money out of Raleigh
and into classrooms where
it belongs, and a regional
support system better tai
lored to support schools.”
All North Carolina pub
lic schools, including char
ter schools, have received
A through F letter grades
since 2013-14, when the
General Assembly passed
legislation requiring it.
For the third consecu
tive year, Edenton-Chowan
Schools has zero low-per
forming schools - John A.
Holmes High School, D.F.
Walker Elementary, White
Oak Elementary, and
Chowan Middle all kept
their “C” letter grades. D.F.
Walker exceeded its
growth target while
Holmes and Chowan Mid
dle met its growth target.
According to the NC
Board of Education,
school grades are based
mostly on overall profi
ciency rates on the state’s
standardized end-of-grade
tests, and to a lesser ex
tent, the growth students
make during the year,
See SCHOOLS, A3
Vol. 84, No. 36
What’s Happening in Chowan County
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Bro Bonner, Obituaries - A3
fixture on Aces’
sideline, dies — G- Samuel Cox
Bl Annette Hollowell Downum
Calendar B6
Classifieds....B6-8
InnOY Community....B4-5
llUvA Obituaries A3
Opinion A4
Sports B1-2