CHOWAN ^ ^
V11V YYAI/ ^S^
^DENTON NC 27932-1854
252-482-4418
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2010
MUNICIPAL ELECTION
So far, 179 people have cast their ballots
during the early-voting period - A2
FALL FESTS
Truck or Treats, Halloween activities get underway
around Chowan County - A6
100 YEARS
American Legion Post 40 needs help getting photos
for its centennial celebration - A8
BEEKEEPING
COA-Edenton/Chowan campus hive produces 41/2
gallons in its first year - B2
State panel dismisses ethics complaint
Senator Steinburg accused of
conflict of interest in 2018
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff Writer
A state panel has dismissed
a complaint that state Sen.
Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan,
violated .state ethics rules
when his sports marketing
company signed a $50,000
contract with Currituck
County last year to facilitate
the county’s sponsorship of a
college basketball tourna
ment.
The N.C. Ethics Com
mission also ruled Tuesday
(Oct. 15) that Steinburg had
made all proper disclosures
of his economic interests on
his 2018 Statement of Eco
nomic Interest.
“I knew I wasn’t guilty and
wouldn’t be found guilty,”
Steinburg said, reacting to the
commission’s rulings.
He described the com
plaint against him as “pure
ugly campaign politics from a
bunch of self-serving malcon
tents,” calling it “politics at its
absolute worst.”
Tina Lunt, an Elizabeth
City resident, filed the
complaints against Steinburg
with the Ethics Commission
in August 2018. At the time,
Steinburg, who was then a
member of the state House,
was running for a seat in the
Senate, a race he would win
See ETHICS, A6
STEINBURG
to°Table' L Following the call to farm
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Farming is a multi-million dollar business in Chowan County. According to the Chowan County Cooperative Extension,
farming brought in nearly $50 million dollars in 2017.
Those working in agriculture struggle, tend to be older
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
God made farmers like
John Layton of Rocky Hock
to till the fields, harvest the
crops, attend meetings and
make their voices heard.
Layton walks the walk,
talks the talk, so the Chowan
Herald reached to him to
learn more about farming and
a way of life that has been the
backbone of northeastern
North Carolina for genera
tions.
“I have been farming along
side my father and grandfa
ther since I was able to walk,”
said Layton, 31, co-owner of
Layton Farms, located a few
miles outside Edenton. “I
grew up every spring of my
childhood planting produce,
peanuts and cotton. I spent
every summer in the fields
pulling weeds, pulling water
melons, and cantaloupes. Th
ese were days that I hated as
a kid, but now I thank God ev
ery day that I grew up that
way. It molded me into the
See FARMING, A5
John Layton
who holds
harvested
peanuts in
this photo
runs a 1,800
acre farm
with his fa
ther and an
other full-time
employee. His
family has
farmed in
Chowan
County for
several gener
ations.
Help keep
Chowan
litter free
Chamber again providing supplies for
volunteers to gather roadside trash
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON
Editor
Northeastern North Carolina counties
are teaming up through Nov. 3 to clean up
the region’s roadways in the Fall Litter
Sweep.
The Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce is again working with the
community and neighboring counties to
assist with the event, which encourages
volunteers to help keep the county clean.
This time around, the Chamber is
working with Pasquotank, Perquimans
See LITTER, A2
Forensic Files
producing
new episodes
Hertford’s Gary Lico helped develop
longtime syndicated crime series
STAFF REPORT
CANNES, FRANCE — WluIe world-
renowned television executive Gary Lico
was in Europe this past week, he made a
quick phone call to his favorite local
newspaper, the Chowan Herald, to share
See EPISODES, A2
Beqjamiii Ullom travels world with Ocean Infinity
Holmes graduate operates
underwater survey machine
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Early one morning long be
fore sunrise, I’m having a cup
of coffee on the deck of my
sailboat when my phone
starts beeping — it is Ben
jamin Ullom and he’s on a big
ger boat off the western coast
of Africa.
Time difference is about
three hours give or take be
tween the Cape Verde Islands
and Edenton Marina.
John A. Holmes Class of
2016, Ullom is a graduate of
Cape Fear Community Col
lege, where he earned an as
sociate’s degree in applied
science and marine technol
ogy.
This is Ullom’s first trip to
Africa. Most recently, Ullom
traveled to Praia, the capital
and largest city of Republic of
Cabo Verde.
“Just what you wpuld ex
pect in a town in Africa,” he
said. “There’s lots of sand in
the air and a lot of poverty.”
Ullom scored a big time job
with Ocean Infinity as an
AUV/USV (autonomous un
derwater vehicle/unmanned
surface vehicle) operator. Ac
cording to -the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad
ministration, AUVs can be
used for underwater survey
missions, such as detecting
and mapping submerged
wrecks, rocks and ob
structions that can be a haz
ard to navigation for commer
cial and recreational vessels.
An AUV operates indepen
dently from the ship and has
no connecting cables,
whereas USV are connected
to an operator on the ship
“The job is wonderful,” he
said. “I get to travel to beauti
ful places and see some inter
esting stuff. It gets hard some
times on being a 6-week-on/6-
week-off rotation, but the ex
periences I do make up for it.
Traveling around the world
for work is truly a dream
come true for me and work
ing on the open ocean.”
Ullom keeps in contact
with his mother, Kim, and
shares photos of his seafaring
adventures. Being an ocean
away from Rocky Hock, does
he miss home?
“It’s not as hard as you think
— missing home — especially
when we’re working everyday,
but when you start to get closer
to the end of your rotation it
feels good to know you’ll be
home doing whatever you
want for six straight weeks
soon,” Ullom said. “I’ve trav
eled as far north as the Arctic
Circle and visited Norway and
visited places such as Las Pal
mas in the Canary Islands —
some beautiful places.”
On that note, anyone who
travels abroad — please
make time to connect via so
cial media or email (mlay-
ton@ncweeklies.com) with
the Chowan Herald. We want
to hear from you!
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Benjamin Ullom, a member of John A.
Holmes Class of 2016, is a seafaring
Ace who scored a good job with an in
ternational company and travels the
world applying his marine and techni
cal skills.
'89076
44813 1
Vol. 84, No. 42
What’s Happening in Chowan County
Like
us on
Spear earns
spot at state
girls tennis
meet — Bl
OBITUARIES - A3
Merle N.Byrum
Alvin Franklin Earley
Dr. David Orlo Wright
Index
Calendar B7
Classifieds....B7-8
Community....B2
Obituaries A3
Opinion A4
Sports Bl
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