STORM PREPARATIONS
Mayor Asks Residents to Help Absentee Neighbors
A MESSAGE FROM MAYOR SULLIVAN CONCERNING HURRICANE SANDY
There are many homes in Cape Charles that have part time residents. With the impending storm and the possibility of strong winds and heavy rains, it would be prudent for each of us to pay attention to our neighbors’ homes. Below is a list of items for consideration to avoid damage from the winds that will come with the storm:
SECURE ALL OUTDOOR ITEMS IN CASE OF STRONG WINDS AND/OR FLOODING
- Lawn / yard furniture (tables, chairs, umbrellas, etc.)
- Grills
- Decorative items
- Boat and utility trailers in the yard or the street
DEBRIS
- The Public Works crew will be picking up all loose debris in the alleys and along the streets.
- Debris pickup will then be suspended until after the storm has passed.
- The trash barrels at the beach have been picked up and the trash receptacles on the fishing pier are being secured. All trash receptacles will be removed from the boardwalk and along Bay Avenue.
- Storm drains are being cleared.
- Please DO NOT put any yard debris, brush or other trash on the street curb. Any debris can pose a safety hazard in strong winds and will clog storm drains if any flooding occurs.
HIGH WATER
- DO NOT drive your vehicle through high water. If you cannot see the pavement, DO NOT go through it. This could cause irreparable damage to your vehicle.
- The wake created from driving through the water could cause damage to the houses along the street.
- During the last storm, there was street flooding up to Strawberry Street and a number of vehicles were lost due to the flooding. The parking lot of the former Meatland Building is available for your vehicles during this storm. Please consider moving your vehicles to this parking lot to help alleviate possible damage. [Read more…]
NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL BOARD
Kiptopeke Elementary Hopes for Provisional Accreditation

Northampton County school principals Ron Yorko at Occohannock Elementary, Alvin Coleman (standing) at Northampton High, and Elizabeth Fennell at Kiptopeke Elementary. (Wave photo)
By SARAH BARBAN
Cape Charles Wave
October 26, 2012
Northampton County Schools have been facing their fair share of troubles — from accreditation, to staffing, to test scores. The county school board even had to call in an outside company, Edison Learning, to try and help sort out the issues.
At the Northampton County School Board meeting October 24, it appeared that rough seas are still ahead.
Due to last year’s unsatisfactory math scores at Kiptopeke Elementary, the school cannot be deemed fully accredited.
The three classifications for accreditation are: fully accredited, accredited with a warning, and seeking additional accreditation.
Kiptopeke falls under the latter.
“We have to make a request to the [state] Board of Education for their consideration to see if they will give Kiptopeke that rating of additional accreditation,” reported Superintendent Walter Clemons.
With the exception of math, Kiptopeke’s scores went up in all other areas, including reading, language arts, science, and social studies.
The State Board of Education met October 25 to decide whether to grant Kiptopeke a status of additional accreditation needed. The school awaits the decision.
Clemens lamented that in these difficult times, Northampton County schools, along with the entire United States, face federal budget cuts under the Budget Control Act of 2011, known as sequestration.
The cuts could affect Federal programs such as Title One, Head Start, English Language Acquisition, IDEA, and Career and Technical Education. [Read more…]
Town Council Candidates Bennett, Burke Face off Tonight

Dan Burke

Steve Bennett
By CAPE CHARLES WAVE STAFF
October 25, 2012
Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Palace Theater, Cape Charles residents will have a chance to hear and question the two candidates running for Town Council.
The candidates are, in alphabetical order, Steve Bennett, a Bay Creek resident with years of political activity in Cape Charles, and newcomer Dan Burke, who moved to the Historic District 16 months ago.
Town Council elections normally are in May. The November 6 special election, concurrent with the Presidential election, is due to the death of Don Clarke, who was elected May 1 to Town Council but passed away in June before taking office.
Thursday’s candidate forum was organized by Town staff with the cooperation of Arts Enter.
The moderator will be Northampton County Supervisor Willie Randall. [Read more…]
SHORE THING: Where’s Cape Charles’ Nude Beach?

Reserved parking sticker on vehicle parked in downtown Cape Charles. (Wave photo)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
October 24, 2012
Yesterday was the reason I moved to Cape Charles.
Walking out on the fishing pier, feeling the not-too-hot sun and the not-too-strong breeze on my face, gazing at the beach at low tide, smelling the sea air, hearing the gentle ripples of the waves — it was just perfect.
And almost no one was around. But rather than luxuriate in the solitude, I felt a sudden sadness that more people were not out at the beach to appreciate the perfect day.
Perhaps it was the decades of office confinement tugging at my conscience — I wanted to share the ecstasy of freedom to enjoy nature.
Actually, I was not alone. As I had walked up the boardwalk toward the pier I had noticed a car with Pennsylvania plates slowing down to parallel park.
And as I walked out on the pier I passed two elderly women. The older woman looked vaguely familiar. Perhaps I had met her before. I couldn’t remember. With a sudden pang I realized that very old women often look very much alike.
I leaned over the railing, gazing at the sand flats at low tide. From a distance, walking in the shallows, came two spectacular specimens of youthful beauty.
There I stood, leaning over the railing. I was invisible to the blonde Venuses below me, which I have become used to. Age is often invisible to youth. But I also seemed to be invisible to the old women on the pier, whose conversation was loud enough to overhear but spoken as if I was not there.
Youth and Age — and I stood between the two. The girls approaching me might be nearly 40 years’ my junior, while one of the women on the pier, I soon learned, was nearly 40 years’ my senior. [Read more…]
MONDAY 11/12: Volunteers Needed to Measure Coastal Water Quality
Volunteer opportunity at the Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center on Monday, November 12. [Read more…]
TUESDAY 11/13: Deadline for New Cape Charles Tourism Website Proposals
Request for Website Proposal: The Cape Charles Bed & Breakfast Association, in partnership with Arts Enter Cape Charles and the Town of Cape Charles, is seeking to develop a new comprehensive community-wide Cape Charles tourism-focused website designed around the Cape Charles by the Bay – Harbor for the Arts theme, and one that is linked closely to and supports the State’s Virginia is for Lovers, and the Eastern Shore’s You’ll Love our Nature marketing themes. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY: Expert Warns Eastern Shore –
Special Trade Status Slipping Away

Foreign Trade Zone status is crucial to attracting wind energy development. Cape Charles — and the entire Eastern Shore — is in danger of losing FTZ status.
By MICHAEL W. O’BEIRNE
October 23, 2012
Earlier this month I attended the American Wind Energy Association Offshore Windpower conference in Virginia Beach. Coastal Virginia wind-related project sites are in various stages of development. Investors have amassed, and logistics are being refined in hopes that offshore leases will head towards steel in the water.
Yet, as corporate forces are gearing up, the Virginia Port Authority is changing the Eastern Shore’s most vital investment and trade incentive — how they allocate Foreign Trade Zone designations and to whom.
Politics and competing economic interests from Hampton Roads may leave the Eastern Shore high, dry, and out of the game.
A little background: In July 2009 I toured sites along the Delmarva coast in a project development visit for wind energy companies and manufacturers.
Since then, several domestic and foreign interests have proposed, built, and still have site agreements for future wind developments — both onshore and offshore on the Eastern Shore and in the Atlantic Ocean.
But much more work needs to be done.
My business centers on U.S. incentives to attract foreign investment. That’s why I came to Northampton and Accomack counties — to see U.S. Foreign Trade Zone sites firsthand at Wallops Island, Accomack Airport Industrial Park, and the Cape Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial Park (part of the Southport development).
There is also a tiny sliver of land in Cape Charles used to dump dredged materials designated as a Foreign Trade Zone.
Cape Charles Mayor Dora Sullivan raised FTZs in a 2011 letter to Governor McDonnell urging focus upon her town in the offshore wind energy game. [Read more…]
Battle of the Yard Signs: Democrats on Top in Historic District

Almost 300 yard signs are posted in the Historic District, including national and local political races,
For Sale signs, and support for local initiatives. (Wave photo)
By CAPE CHARLES WAVE STAFF
October 22, 2012
Yard signs tell a story — whether or not it’s an accurate one.
In observance of the political silly season, Wave staff drove 15 miles up and down each street in the Cape Charles Historic District yesterday, recording every single yard sign they saw — almost 300 in all.
That includes political signs, For Sale signs, and various community advocacy signs. Permanent signs such as for vacation rentals were not counted.
The biggest surprise was that the Blue candidates (Obama, Kaine, Herschbiel) trounced the Red ones.
That doesn’t mean Cape Charles has more Democrats than Republicans — it just means more Democrats put up yard signs.
At the local Town Council level, Steve Bennett racked up 43 signs to Dan Burke’s 31. Town Council candidates do not register by political party, so no correlation can be established between the local and national races.
One interesting phenomenon: all five Cape Charles bed & breakfasts are displaying Steve Bennett signs. Bennett thus wins the “George Washington slept here” award.
Community Center/Old School Cape Charles, with many variations, recorded 31 signs.
Worthy of mention: “Prayer: America’s Only Hope” was seen 8 times. [Read more…]