New Wal*Mart Opens Wednesday

A new Walmart opens this month in Onley, bringing approximately 350 planned new jobs, savings on a full line of groceries and an increase in tax revenue to support the area's economy. Nonprofit organizations will also benefit from the retailer's ongoing charitable contributions and support for community projects. The Walmart, located at 26036 Lankford Highway, will be open to customers at 8 a.m., Wednesday, July 21.

"We are excited to have Walmart here on the eastern shore of Virginia. For years our residents had to travel to Tidewater or Maryland to enjoy shopping at these stores," said Jeff Davis, president, Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce. "Not only will it now mean greater product selection and competitive pricing, it will mean important jobs to our workforce. We look forward to a long and positive relationship with Walmart and are pleased that they have elected to join our Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce."

Store Designed to Improve Customer Experience
In recent months, Walmart has taken major steps to refresh its stores, merchandising and customer experience. The improvements have all come together in the company's newest stores, such as the Onley Walmart.

The new Walmart features wide aisles, enhanced service and a layout designed to make the shopping experience more convenient for customers. Walmart aligned the departments that customers shop most frequently. The pharmacy, for example, is adjacent to food making it easier for customers to pick up their prescriptions while shopping for their groceries.

"The layout of the store is easy to navigate, which will save our customers time as they shop for everyday necessities," said store manager Frank Durst. "By grouping the products that our customers most often purchase including health and beauty and pet supplies, we are making one-stop shopping even easier."

A bright interior color palette creates an inviting shopping experience and helps define the store's merchandise areas. Lower shelving creates an improved sightline and directional signage on every aisle helps customers find what they are looking for quickly. Walmart also combined the customer service desk, Site-to-Store pick-up location and photo lab in one area near the entrance. Customers now have easy access to these services, as well as associates on hand to help meet their needs.

The store's opening has created approximately 350 new jobs. Three of the stores associates have worked for Walmart for more than 10 years. Durst began his Walmart career in 1993 as an hourly associate at a store in La Vale, Md.

Store Design Incorporates Environmentally Friendly Features:
The Onley Walmart, like all new Walmart stores, includes energy-efficient technology and environmentally friendly features to reduce energy and water consumption and minimize waste. The store's skylights harvest daylight and reduce the amount of energy required to light the store by up to 75 percent daily. LED lighting in the store operates 70 percent more efficiently than traditional fluorescent lighting.

The cement used in the concrete flooring is made with recycled materials, and the floors finish reduces the need for chemical cleaners. Low-flow toilets and faucets reduce the water used in the bathrooms. The new store also operates a recycling program and will promote sustainable product purchases.

Ribbon-Cutting Celebration 7:30 a.m., July 21
Community and business leaders will join Walmart associates at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday for a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony. Store associate Kendra Townsend will perform the national anthem and representatives from the Virginia Marine Resource Corporation will present the colors.

Community Organizations Benefit from Grand-Opening Grants:
Walmart is continuing its support of the community by giving $19,000 in grants from the Walmart Foundation to local organizations. The grant recipients include Accomac County Sheriffs Department, Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Eastern Shore Rural Health, Lighthouse Ministries Food Bank, Olney Police Department, Southeastern Virginia Food Bank, Special Olympics and the YMCA.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have committed $2 billion to U.S. hunger relief efforts through 2015. The Fighting Hunger Together campaign will also engage Walmart customers and associates in the fight against hunger. More information can be found at walmart.com/fightinghunger.
www.shoredailynews.com

Two Accomack County Men Arrested and Charged With Car Hijacking

ACCOMAC –– Two men suspected of a carjacking in Accomack County three weeks ago have been arrested and charged, according to the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office.

Issac Scarborough, 26, of Parksley, and Larry Payton, 39, of Parksley have been accused of carjacking a red, four-door Jeep Cherokee and forcing a man to withdraw money from an ATM June 28.

Around 1 a.m., the vehicle’s owner offered a ride to one of the suspects, who was standing near Lankford Highway.

After dropping the passenger off in Parksley, the driver was approached by the second assailant. The two men assaulted the driver and drove to a nearby bank ATM, where they demanded money be withdrawn from his account.

Scarborough and Payton released the victim near Mappsville and drove off in the stolen vehicle, Sheriff Larry Giddens said in a prepared release.

Scarborough was arrested on the charges of abduction, robbery, grand larceny and credit card larceny July 14.

Two days later, Payton was arrested and given the same charges.

Scarborough is currently being held in the Accomack County Jail with bond denied.

Payton is incarcerated at the Eastern Shore Regional Jail with bond also denied.

www.delmarvanow.com

No Burning Allowed

BURN BANS are still in effect for

ACCOMACK COUNTY

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

Accomack County Sheriff Giddens To Retire

ACCOMAC — Accomack County Sheriff Larry Giddens has announced he will retire Dec. 31, 2011, at the end of his current term in office. Giddens, 54, was elected the county’s first African-American sheriff in 2007 with 49 percent of the vote, easily defeating two other men who also ran for the office after Sheriff Robert Crockett announced he would not seek a sixth term.

Giddens has served 24 years with the Accomack County Sheriff’s Office, in addition to four years before that with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel police.

Among other duties over the years, Giddens was the county’s first DARE officer, a job he said was his favorite. He also served as court service deputy.

He was promoted to sergeant in 1991 and to lieutenant in charge of the patrol division in 1994 before becoming captain and the department’s chief deputy.

Giddens was instrumental in the 2003 accreditation process for the department, which was one of only 14 in the state fully accredited at the time from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standard Commission.

Despite his many years of experience with the Sheriff’s Office, Giddens said he did not fully understand the pressures that come with the top job until he became sheriff.

“I didn’t imagine the magnitude, the pressure, of the job until I stepped into it,” he said.

Giddens said the sheriff’s office has within its ranks a strong candidate to replace him.

“We have a strong chain of command that is in place that knows the business, and I feel strongly that they will continue to serve the public in the way they’ve been used to,” Giddens said, adding, “My blessings and prayers are with my major, my second in command, Todd Godwin.”

Giddens said when he became sheriff two and a half years ago he had planned to run for a second term, but has since decided to retire. In Virginia, law enforcement officers with hazardous duty can retire at age 50 with 25 years of service.

Giddens’ retirement plans include substitute teaching, coaching area youth and some traveling, as well as catching up on projects around the house.

“I’m not planning on sitting down,” he said.

And Giddens had some advice for whoever steps into the position next: “The number one thing is to continue to be honest, open-minded and put people first.

www.delmarvanow.com

Assateague Lighthouse Undergoing Renovations

CHINCOTEAGUE -- The historic Assateague Lighthouse is undergoing renovations after serving as a beacon for more than 100 years.

After ownership of the building passed from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004, a $1.5 million, multi-phase restoration project began. The lower gallery deck has already been replaced, allowing visitors to walk on the deck -- approximately 130 feet in the air -- for the first time.

The second phase in the restoration project involved removing and replacing the glass windows at the top of the lighthouse to seal water leaks.

Funded largely by grants and entrance fees visitors pay to climb the lighthouse, these two projects together cost almost $400,000.

Now, fundraising for the remaining phases of the lighthouse restoration is under way. These include replacing the rest of the lighthouse windows, recentering the stairwell, renovating the upper gallery deck and eventually giving the lighthouse a new coat of paint.

"We don't want to change the fabric of the building, but we want to make sure it can withstand visitors going up," said Refuge Manager Lou Hinds.

Because the lighthouse is a registered historical structure, restoration efforts are being overseen by a Virginia historical official "to ensure the work is correct," Hinds said.

International Chimney Corporation is now working to replace the windows, which are bowing out due to pressure exerted by the wrought iron frames that are expanding as they rust.

"If we don't take steps fairly quickly, additional windows will break, and that is a loss because some of those are original windows," said Hinds.

The Chincoteague Natural History Association is working on a capital campaign to raise funds for the continued restoration of the lighthouse. The association "wanted to be involved in the restoration of the lighthouse, so they began saving money many years ago. That's what's given us such a great start on the restoration," Hinds said.

The CNHA leads tours of the lighthouse, and this summer, five interns from as far away as California have been employed to help.

"Our interns this summer are ... relaying the cultural importance of the lighthouse," said Park Ranger Melissa Perez. "They'll be ... explaining why we're doing what we're doing with the restoration."


She hopes the tours will gives visitors a deeper appreciation for what the lighthouse symbolizes, rather than a single-minded goal of climbing the 198 steps to the top -- although the view of the island from 142 feet is breathtaking.

Perez said education is an important step in gaining public support for the CNHA's capital campaign, and Hinds agreed that "it's the community's lighthouse ... so having community support is important."

The CNHA is currently working with the Curtis Group, a Virginia Beach-based organization that aids in nonprofit fundraising, to survey the public about attitudes regarding the lighthouse and restoration "to find out what fundraising approaches will work best," said CNHA Executive Director Beth Hanback. The CNHA aims to raise $1.5 million for the restoration project and to establish an endowment fund for the future maintenance of the lighthouse.

In addition to the study, which Hanback hopes will be completed in three to five weeks, the CNHA is working to plan events including National Lighthouse Appreciation Day on Aug. 7 and a lighthouse benefit concert on Oct. 2.

The timeframe for the remainder of the restoration project depends on funds received. The final step of the process will be stripping the lighthouse of its old, lead-based paint and applying a new coat.

"Literally the icing on the cake is going to be when the lighthouse is repainted," Hanback said.

The lighthouse was completed in 1867 and had six keepers until the lens was converted to electric operation in 1933. The Coast Guard still operates the lens.

Visitors can go inside the lighthouse Thursday through Monday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. -- but those wishing to climb to the top should arrive by 2:30 p.m. Adults pay $4 to climb, and children under 12 pay $2. All entrance fees contribute to restoration efforts.

Anyone wishing to donate to the restoration project can send checks to the Assateague Lighthouse Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 917, Chincoteague, Va. 23336. Call the CNHA at 757-336-3696 for more information.

"In the end, it takes the public and donations from the public ... to help us achieve our goal of complete restoration," Hinds said.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/

Big Cat Sighted Again.....Could It Be A Puma Concolor?

CHEAPSIDE -- Raymond Gunter of Townsend is not the first person to suspect he has seen a cougar or other large cat prowling on the Eastern Shore, but he may be the latest.

I have never seen anything like it and I have been in construction work for 38 years," Gunter said.

He's built highways all over the southeast and has seen alligators, rattlesnakes, bears and all sorts of wildlife.

"And I never heard a sound like this. It startled me, and I said, 'What in the world is this?' "

Gunter's report is one of several recent large-cat sightings, many of which describe a cougar-like animal.

The animal he saw on Friday, May 28, at fairly close range fits the same description -- a rusty-tan colored, three-foot long cat with a long tail. It was quick-footed and traveling close to the ground.

Similar sightings were reported in February a few miles to the north in Dalbys.

Since reporting that incident, the News has received accounts of more sightings in both Accomack and Northampton counties over a number of years.

Gunter was doing some tree work at a Cheapside home when he heard a loud sound coming from high up in a 50-foot-tall tree.

"It was a real scream like," Gunter said. "Like a growl that went into a scream. He did it twice, like he was warning me."

Then he heard rustling and scratching sounds as the animal made its way down the opposite side of the tree. Gunter didn't get a good look until it was on the ground.

"It was crouched, moving low to the ground, creeping like, at a pretty good rate, then crossed over the road and went into the woods," he said.

He said some neighborhood dogs heard the screeching and moved in to investigate.

"Then they stopped because I think they thought better of it," Gunter said.

In February, Ernie and Kathleen Coulter reported hearing a loud screaming sound over a couple days in December before they ever saw the would-be cougar.

"I thought it might have been a bobcat because it was loud,"

Kathleen Coulter said then. "It was a deep scream. It was scary. I have never heard anything like that before.

The couple saw a very similar animal to Gunter's at least twice after hearing the sounds.

The cat's official name is puma concolor, but the species has many common names including mountain lion, puma and cougar.

It is unlikely, though, to make it to this area, said Sue Rice, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge at the time of the February sightings.

"The chances of there being a mountain lion that is a wild animal on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is extremely low," she said. "Even in the whole state of Virginia, I don't believe there are enough sightings."

A wild cat would have to come from the woodsy north. "The chances are pretty slim for them to get here without being seen or getting hit by a car if they are wild animals," Rice said, suggesting instead a pet released locally.

Cougars are both solitary and nocturnal for the most part and feed on white-tail deer. Females have ranges of several square miles, but the male's home-range is much larger, which could account for reports of sightings in Melfa and Wachapreague and other parts of Accomack, too.

www.easternshorenews.com