Circulation 13,000 March 13, 2009 Free The wreck of the Esk has surfaced on the beaches of Parramore Island. Wreck of the Esk Exposed on Parramore Island Story & Photo by Ron West feet and drew 9.8 feet of water. The prized for making violins. The car- ing surf on the isolated beach of Well into the 20th century, ves- Esk headed north from Maracaibo, go of dyewood, valued at $3,500, Parramore Island. sels transporting goods and passen- Venezuela, en route to Providence, would never create the sweet The Esk, a 148-ton vessel, along gers along the Atlantic Coast were R.I., with a cargo of dyewood. Dye- sounds of a lullaby. Rather, its final with her seven-man crew, came to powered by wind rather than coal or wood or Brazilwood as it is also sounds were groans as it was rest two miles south of oil. Small cargo schooners, crewed known, is a reddish brown wood turned into splinters by the break- (Continued on Page 11) by only a handful of men, were the workhorses of coastal trade for over two centuries. The entire coast, from Two Die in Separate Crashes Maine to Florida, is littered with the By Linda Cicoira ibu ran off the right side of the road and struck a util- remains of hundreds of vessels that Two passengers died in separate traffic accidents ity pole on the passenger’s side. The sergeant said ended their voyages, not in a safe in Accomack County over the past two days. speed is believed to have been a factor. Downing died harbor but on the beaches and is- Sgt. Michelle Cotten of the Virginia State Police at the scene. lands that dot the coastline. identified the victims as Hakeem Bowen, 18, un- The driver, Arthur Jones III, 22, of Nelsonia Road Along the Eastern Shore, shift- known address, and Dynell Taran Downing, 21, of in Bloxom, was charged with leaving the scene of an ing sands made entrance under John Cane Road in Greenbush. accident involving an injury or death, obstruction of sail into the numerous inlets be- Cotten said that at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday the justice and reckless driving. He was taken to Acco- tween the islands hazardous at first accident occurred on Route 614 or Shell Bridge mack County Jail. best. For many vessels and their Road, 2/10 of a mile west of Route 609 in unlucky passengers and crews, a Painter. A 2004 Crown Victoria driven by watery grave with only whitecaps Jarod-Scott Kirsten-Phillip Lee, 22, of to serve as markers became their Boston Road in Painter, hit a pole, caus- final resting place. The lucky few ing power lines to go down, Cotten added. who managed to drag themselves Bowen, who was a passenger, died at the through the surf often died of expo- scene of that accident. Lee and another sure and injuries long before the passenger, whose name and address was men of the U.S. Life Saving Service not available, were taken to Shore Memor- (USLS) could find them. ial Hospital. Cotten said it was unknown if Such was the fate of the three- alcohol was a factor or if seatbelts were masted schooner Esk. Built in 1887 worn. Trooper Williams investigated. at Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, by The second fatal crash occurred at Thomas A. Wilson and homeported 12:56 Monday morning on Lankford in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the Esk Highway 4/10 of a mile south of Hallwood was 98 feet long, had a beam of 24 Road. Cotton said a 2003 Chevrolet Mal- A young man died in this accident on Shell Bridge Road. 2 • EASTERN SHORE POST • MARCH 13, 2009 VDOT Offers Bleak Future for Road Upgrades By Ron West Nunez provided the supervisors an still without indoor pluming which to use a portion of the former Virginia Department of Trans- updated list of projects submitted the funding could provide. Supervi- Northampton Middle School as a portation (VDOT) representative for Federal Stimulus Package sor Richard Tankard noted that un- satellite facility for classes. Bobby Isdell updated the North- funding. The list focuses on up- der the provisions of the block In other action, the supervisors ampton County Board of Supervi- grading county buildings and grant, the county can use the funds voted to support a request to allow sors Tuesday on budget reductions school improvements. to provide for other county projects. a zoning amendment for industrial by the state. During the public information The supervisors voted to apply for sites with roads that do not meet Isdell noted that due to the re- period, Shelia Thomas questioned a grant to help renovate the former the 50-foot right-of-way require- ductions in state funding, localities the use of block grant funds for middle school in Machipongo for ment. Under the change, the zon- would be receiving very little fund- projects other than housing. She use by other agencies. ing administrator may use her dis- ing for secondary road repairs and said there are numerous substan- The supervisors agreed to allow cretion to allow up to a 10-foot upgrades. He advised the supervi- dard homes in the county that are Eastern Shore Community College variance. sors that funding for most of the six-year road projects is being re- duced to zero and that this would Rate Hike Discussed in Accomack likely continue for the foreseeable Story & Photo By Linda Cicoira future. The reduction will affect Accomack supervisors proposed a “worst case sce- projects such as the proposed ex- nario” budget at meetings Monday and Wednesday tension of Route 618 near Exmore nights that includes real-estate and personal property- as well as the Belle Haven Ceme- tax rate hikes and forced furloughs for county employees. tery Road upgrade. The total A public hearing on the more than $60 million VDOT cut for Virginia is $2 billion, draft was set for 7:30 p.m. March 25 at Metompkin with Northampton County’s share Elementary School. being reduced by $647,000. The officials said their goal is to use the proposed On a brighter note, Board budget for advertising purposes. In the weeks until Chairman Jeff Walker introduced the hearing, they plan to cut spending to reduce the newly promoted Eagle Scouts amount of tax revenue needed to balance the budget. Nicholas Schaffer and Coady The proposed adjustments would take the main- Paglia. Walker, himself an Eagle, land real-estate rate from 35 to 44 cents per $100 val- noted the extensive work required uation and the personal-property tax rate from $3.27 to achieve Eagle status. to $3.72 per $100 valuation. On Chincoteague, the Joe Zager, president and CEO of rate is proposed to go up 7 cents for the real estate Shore Health Services, fielded ques- rate and 42 cents for personal property. tions by the supervisors regarding On Monday, about a dozen protestors from the cit- the impending merger of the local izens’ group “Hear Our Voices” marched outside the Mark Breuer of Parksley pickets in front of the hospital with Riverside Health Ser- county office building to show their dissatisfaction administration office in Accomac Monday. “It’s vices in Hampton. Zager indicated with the government. On Wednesday, Bob Gresham of absurd that they want to increase the budget that the plan calls for Riverside to in- Accomac was alone in protesting against the county. when everyone else is cutting back,” he said. fuse between $35 million and $70 Picketers mostly complained that too much money is million in services and facilities on being spent on a Legal Department and that the Plan- The citizens’ group complained that the cost of le- the Shore and for a new hospital to be ning and Zoning Department budgets are excessive. gal services has risen since 2005 from about $40,000 built at some point in the future. Za- Vice Chairwoman Laura Belle Gordy was absent to $250,000. ger said Riverside hopes to be able to from the first session. Of the others, all but Supervi- The majority of the supervisors contended that a provide employment for all current sor Wanda Thornton favored continuing to fund the full-time attorney provides speedy answers to their Shore Memorial Hospital employees. position of County Attorney Mark Taylor, who is the legal questions and actually costs less. They say that County Administrator Katie highest paid county employee, at $120,822 a year. (Continued on Page 4) Jaxon’Jaxon’ss && C.D.C.D. 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From her current base in Taco- Off-Site ma, Wash., Sdao identified it as a habor seal and added, “Harbor seals Catering aren’t sexually dimorphic, so you can’t tell if it’s a he or a she.