LETTER
Two County Supervisors May Have Conflict of Interest
June 15, 2015
DEAR EDITOR,
The June 9 meeting of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors was rather lively. As this would be the last time that residents could address the BOS before staff sends the rezoning scheme out for public comment, many speakers took to the podium to relay their opposition to the widespread plan to industrialize our farmland, among other changes. Those commenting included three former planning commissioners, a marine scientist, two heads of local civic organizations, and other landowners who feared their investments in this county were being jeopardized.
Nearly all of the speakers questioned the Board’s motives for changing the land use rules which currently protect property rights and our limited natural resources (the aquifer and clean coastal waters), all without our consent. Near the end of the citizen comment period, I addressed the Board with what I thought might be in part driving the changes, and I appreciate this opportunity to more fully flesh out my presentation.
Shortly after buying our building next to the Post Office in Exmore in 2008, during a meeting of a local citizens group we became aware of a project called the Exmore Energy Project. The plan was announced at that meeting by a representative of the Bay Coast Railroad. The proposal was called a “Bio Diesel plant” and would manufacture a diesel additive by refining waste oil from the Norfolk Oil Transport Company. The waste product would be railed to the site (next to our shop and in the middle of town), mixed with methanol and other additives, heated, filtered, and stored.
As I had experience with these oil refineries while working for county government in our rural upstate New York county, I quickly concluded that the project was not a good fit for the middle of a business district. Working with other citizens in the town and Virginia DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality], we encouraged Bay Coast and the Norfolk concern to abandon their plans. [Read more…]
LETTER: Respect Animals by Not Eating Them
DEAR EDITOR,
Thank you for publishing Wayne Creed’s thoughtful and informative article, including the shout out for International Respect for Chickens Day May 4 and every day. For many people who want to be vegan, including me 30 years ago, cheese is the biggest hurdle. One day I sat in my car in front of my favorite Italian restaurant in College Park, Maryland, crying because I could no longer have pizza with extra (or any!) cheese. I had a good cry in the driver’s seat. Then I dried my eyes, went inside, ordered rigatoni with mushrooms, and never looked back.
I wish that in childhood I had made the connection between eating and animals, but I didn’t. Growing up in a Pennsylvania town where schools were (and still are) closed on the first day of hunting season, where ring-necked pheasants are pen-raised to be released into the woods to be wounded and shot for pleasure, I hated those things, yet I didn’t connect animals and dinner. I don’t hold myself responsible for what I failed to realize growing up, although I regret it, but once my eyes were open, I was responsible.
To this day I consider my decision to respect animals by not eating them to be the single best decision I ever made. For me, being vegan is the opposite of renunciation. It is a totally positive, deeply satisfying diet and dietary decision that has influenced my attitude and behavior in other areas including household and personal care products and in trying to act consciously instead of just conveniently.
If I have any advice for people who want their food to be animal-free, it is to stay firm in your commitment, be happy about it, eat well, and don’t apologize. I invite everyone getting started to sign up for the daily recipes and gorgeous photos featured on One Green Planet. Remember the animals whose lives you are no longer ruining just for a meal. For me, this is the most powerful incentive.
KAREN DAVIS, Ph.D.
President, United Poultry Concerns
Machipongo
WAYNE CREED: How to Bring Avian Flu to Northampton
By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave Columnist
June 15, 2015
As Northampton County continues to grapple with the ramifications of the proposed zoning changes, still lurking in the shadows is the subtle opening of the door for the poultry industry, including CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), as well as chicken litter waste incinerators. Having less available expansion options left on the northern Delmarva, the industry finally hopes to gain a foothold in Northampton County.
While the special, and even conflicted, interests continued to gather in the back rooms of Northampton to plot their next moves in efforts to make the county “more profitable” through proposed zoning changes, it was reported in the New York Times by Stephanie Strom that the deadly avian flu had struck some of the largest egg operations in the Midwest where millions of chickens will have to be euthanized.
The Center Fresh Group, a top U.S. egg producer must kill (using carbon dioxide or foam) and dispose of about 5.5 million laying hens housed in 26 metal barns on their property. For the last month, the daily ritual of the Agriculture Department has become to report how many more hens must be destroyed. On extreme days, the number can be several million. In Iowa, where a good bit of all eggs originate (including liquid egg products), nearly 40% of the egg laying hens have been affected by the flu.
This is creating a monstrous disposal problem, as carcasses have filled barns; poultry farmers have been pleading for state and federal assistance to deal the disposal effort, as “workers in masks and hazmat gear attempt to clear the barns.” Part of the issue is the way the battery hens are crammed in, with the battery cages stacked on top of each other, usually filling almost every square inch, top to bottom, of the barns. [Read more…]
LETTER
Chamber of Commerce Applauds School Resolution
June 15, 2015
DEAR EDITOR,
I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce has served businesses on the Eastern Shore for 62 years. Representing more than 450 businesses, our mission is to “serve, promote and connect businesses and communities of the Eastern Shore of Virginia.”
The Board of Directors would like to commend the Northampton County Board of Supervisors for the Resolution they adopted at their meeting on May 12, 2015. We wholeheartedly agree that education should be viewed as the cornerstone for the county’s economic future. We encourage the Board of Supervisors to remain focused on education and to keep all the educational declarations listed below in the forefront of their decision making.
RESOLUTION DECLARING EDUCATION AS THE CORNERSTONE FOR NORTHAMPTON COUNTY’S ECONOMIC FUTURE
WHEREAS, it is well established and recognized that the future of our local, regional and even global society hinges on an engaged, informed, and educated youth; and
WHEREAS, it is also recognized that a well-educated and inspired student body is the engine that drives, and will continue to drive our local and regional economy; and
WHEREAS, Northampton County is fortunate to enjoy world-class teachers who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that their students are equipped and prepared to become productive and beneficial members of society in business, academic and leadership roles; and [Read more…]
REVIEW: Cape Charles in the Good Old Days
Pat Parsons lived in Cape Charles from 1940-1960 and reveals warts and all before the town was considered “quaint.” (Wave photo)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
June 8, 2015
Roberta Romeo hears a lot of idle chatter among her customers at the Cape Charles Coffee House, but thanks to a chance comment last year, the town has a new, entertaining, reminiscence of the good old days — specifically, the decades just before Cape Charles entered a long downward spiral.
Portrait of a Town: Cape Charles, 1940-1960 is the title of a book by Patricia Joyce Parsons recalling the years she lived here. And while she rightly gets the credit for writing the book, Roberta Romeo gets the credit for encouraging her to do it.
As the Wave reported last September, during breakfast one morning at the Coffee House, Parsons mentioned to Romeo that she was writing vignettes of growing up in Cape Charles in order to share her memories with her grandchildren. At Romeo’s urging, Parsons read one of her stories to her. Recognizing a talented writer, Romeo immediately urged her to publish a book, and promised to sell the book at the Coffee House.
Now the book has been published, and appropriately enough, Parsons will launch it at the Coffee House 5 p.m. Friday, June 12. It’s a chance to meet the author and get an autographed first edition. And there will surely be further printings, as the book promises to be a staple in gift shops on the Shore for years to come.
That’s because Parsons is no public relations hack — she portrays the town for what it was, warts and all. And that makes her book interesting, even fascinating, for those with a love for the Eastern Shore.
Anyone who grew up reading Laura Ingall Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series will especially enjoy Parsons’ book, because while the locale is far removed from the prairie, the fresh, honest, easy-reading evokes Wilder’s style. Parsons tells it as she remembers it, and she has a gift for honing in on the interesting and skipping the mundane. [Read more…]
PSA Work Session or Playtime?
Bannon, Natali Try to Gag Wendell, Andrew Follmer
By WAYNE CREED
Cape Charles Wave
June 8, 2015
The traveling medicine show, also known as the Northampton Public Service Authority, made a stop in Cape Charles for a work session with Town Council June 4. The PSA’s leading snake oil salesman, Bob Panek, was on hand with more information about the magic elixir that will miraculously heal all the ills that inflict the Town and County.
The medicine show’s humble beginnings date to 2010, when it was reinstated by the Northampton County Board of Supervisors as a way to help stave off wastewater issues then facing Shore Riverside Hospital in Nassawaddox. Riverside later decided to move on, and with the PSA’ s gaze now focused on the south, no one really knows where it will go, or what it will do.
Shortly after Mayor George Proto gaveled the meeting to order, he announced that Andrew Follmer, president of the Cape Charles Business Association, was there to make comments and ask questions. Councilmen Chris Bannon and Joan Natali immediately raised objections. “I don’t think he should be allowed to speak,” said Bannon — “The public is not allowed to speak here; he shouldn’t be either.”
“Yes,” agreed Natali — “The public is not given an opportunity, so he shouldn’t.”
“Just wait,” said Proto. “Andrew was invited to this session to give his perspective and have a chance to ask questions. He’s invited to speak just as Bob [Panek] was invited.”
With that quashed, Bannon went on to his next target, Councilman Frank Wendell: “Wendell should not be allowed to speak — He owns commercial property on Route 13.” [Read more…]
ALTERNATIVE TABLE
A Visit to the Upshurs’ Copper Cricket Farm
Late June basket from Copper Cricket Farm. (Photos: Karen Gay)
By KAREN GAY
Cape Charles Wave
June 8, 2015
Small sustainable farms are on the rise in America and even on the Eastern Shore. Every time I go visit a new farm on the Shore the farmers point me to yet another farm I haven’t heard about. As part of my Weston A. Price Chapter Leader responsibilities I have compiled a list of great places to get fresh, local and often organic food. As this list is growing, my goal is to visit each farm or market on the list so that I can explain to readers the hallmarks of each one. I will be happy to email the resource list to you ([email protected]) or you can pick one up at the Tall Ships Festival where I will have a Weston A. Price booth.
Surprisingly, I have found that some of the farmers I’ve visited have started their farms in mid-life. This is the case with the farmers of Copper Cricket Farm, Carol and Arthur “Cricket” Upshur. Cricket was raised on the Shore and graduated from Broadwater Academy. He met Carol in college and they raised their three children while moving frequently. Cricket spent much of his career working at Groupe Danone, a large French food company. It was probably their time in France that crystalized their views on good food and natural food products. [Read more…]
LETTER
3-Minute Public Hearing for $8 Million Town Budget
June 8, 2015
DEAR EDITOR,
On June 4 there was a Public Hearing in Cape Charles Town Hall to “Receive Public Comment on the FY 2015-2016 Proposed Budget and Utility Rates.” I was the only party having comments and questions. I was made aware, that my remarks were limited to three minutes.
After my greeting remarks, some pleasantries, and some thank you’s for having this meeting, I was left with about 2 minutes and 30 seconds for my comments and questions. This was by far not enough time to express the many questions and concerns I had and still have about many inconsistencies and questionable entries made in the proposed budget. However, after three minutes, BIG BEN was ringing at the councilwoman’s desk, reminding me in no uncertain terms to end my remarks. This leaves me with only one option, to ask these questions openly, through local publications.
It is unfortunate that we still – 11 months after closing the books for FY 2013-2014 – do not have audited financial statements. This forced me to compare the proposed 2015-2016 budget with the budget for the previous fiscal year. Please keep also in mind that a good portion of our residents are on fixed income and cannot afford expense increases that exceed inflation. [Read more…]
