Volume 34, No. 12
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C, Thursday, March 23, 1978
15 CENTS
EARLY MORNING FIRE -
Firemen from three departments
are shown on the scene as they com
bat house fire resulting in the death
of William Gay Allison, 68. The
house and its contents were a total
loss.
MORNING AFTEft 4&VESTIGA
TION ? Shown above are the char
red remains of the home later
Friday morning. At far right,
firemen are shown inYestigating,
trying to determine the cause of the
fire. (Staff photos by Kathy M.
Newbern)
Man dies in house fire
RABBITS CORNER - William
Allison Gay, 68, died as the result of
a fire in his home here on the Pas
quotank County side of the Wood
ville community.
The Inter-County Volunteer Fire
Department was alerted at 3:38
Friday a.m. to respond to the burn
ing structure. A mutual aid
assistance alert was also tent out to
the Elizabeth City Fire Department
and the Hertford Volunteer Fire
Department.
Firemen said they ??re unable to
remove Gay from the house until
after the blase had been ex
tinguished. His body was then taken
to Albemarle Hospital.
Also assisting on the scene were
members of the County Rescue
Squad, the Elizabeth City Police
Department, and the N.C. Highway
Patrol.
A total of six fire vehicles
responded. The house and its con
tents were a total loss. Firemen
were back on the scene later Friday
morning to try to determine the
cause of the blaze.
Holiday fatalities estimated
tuftjuunii ? Tne w.c*. state
Motor Club, estimating 12 people
? may die in traffic accidents on
North Carolina highways over the
long Easter weekend, urges
motorists to drive with extra care
during the hotifey period.
The toll wfll'be counted during a
78-hour period from 6 p.m. Friday,
March 24, until midnight Monday,
March 27. Last year, 15 fatalities
were recorded for a similar period
of time.
Mrs. Ruth Threatt, President of
the statewide motor club, urges all
motorists to redouble their efforts
to observe traffic safety rales, with 1
special emphasis on the 55 mile per '
hour speed limit. 1
"That's an excellent prescription
for any time of the year," she noted,
"But particularly important on a 1
weekend when traffic is expected to
be heavy."
Mrs. Threatt also suggested that
motorists guard against drinking
alcoholic beverages when driving
and called on all vehicle occtopants
to sue safety belts available in
almost all cart.
"with auto crashes the largest
killer of young people in this coun
try it is foolhardy for people not to
take the simple step of buckling
up."
Violations at the top of the list
contributing to accidents are
speeding, driving under the in
fluence, failing to yeild and unsafe
movement.
"The purpose of our predicting
the number of fatalities that will oc
cur is to make the traveling public
more alert and more safety con
scious," Mrs. Threatt said.
? ^ ^ ? ? ? ?
Governor supports
career center idea
Schools begin statewide
annual testing program
The county superintendent of
schools from Edenton-Chowan, Per
quimans, and Gates and Board of
Education members of the respec
tive counties met on March 1 with
Joe Pell, Executive Assistant to
Governor Jim Hunt, to discuss the
proposed tri-county career center
for the three-county area.
Walter B. Jones Jr., Eastern
Representative for the Governor's
office, said, "Governor Jim Hunt
commends this group for its in
terest in edacation and this project
has the full support of the Governor.
And, at the present time, the Gover
nor's office is conducting a study to
secure funding." Jones continued,
"The Governor's office will be
working jointly with the State
Board of Education and Dr. Crai*
Phillips as well as the other related
agencies." Jones, who resides in
Farm ville, N.C., will act as a coor
dinator between the three-county
local group and the Governor's
office.
The Perquimans County school
system is preparing to begin coun
tywide testing as well as ad
ministration of the statewide An
nual Testing program .
The 1977 General Assembly
passed two laws which established
the Annual Testing Program and
the Competency Testing Program.
The Annual Testing Program will
test students in grades one, two,
three, six and nine. The Competen
cy Testing Program will test the
eleventh graders.
According to local test coor
dinator, Paul Ward, testing for
grades one and two will begin dur
ing the week of April 3. Grade one
testing will last five days; grade
two testing will last six days. No
tests will be given on Mondays or
Fridays. All other grade* (three,
six, and nine) involved in' the An
nual Testing Program will also be
tested starting the week of April 3.
THE ANNUAL
TESTING PROGRAM
The Annual Testing Program was
designed to insure that each pupil
receives the maximum benefit from
the educational process and to
determine the effectiveness of that
process. To determine this, the
students in grades one, two, three,
six, and nine will be tested across
the state during April.
The Governor appointed a testing
commission to choose the best tests
available for this program. This
commission, composed primarily of
teachers, but also having other
educators and measurement
specialists, has examined the
available tests and recommended
to the State Board of Education the
tests that they feel are best. The
State Board of Education made the
final decision on the tests that will
Ibeused.
The tests for grades one and two
tha? have been chosen are the
Prescriptive Reading Inventory
(PJtl) and the Diagnostic
Mafthematics Inventory (DMI).
These tests are criterion-referenced
teats. This type at test is designed to
reveal whether or not students have
mattered, or learned, certain
specific objectives. Criterion
referenced results are reported in
terms of the success or failure of
students on each objective. This for
mat should provide information on
specific skill weaknesses and
strengths ei students ia the areas of
reading and mathematics'.
The third, sixth, and ninth grades
will be administered a norm
referenced test. The State Board of
Education has approved the
California Achievement Tests
(CAT) for use in these grades. It
consists of reading, spelling,
language and mathematics. This
type of test is designed to compare
the performance of North Carolina
students with the performance of a
representative national group
called the "norm" group. Scores
measured against the performance
of a norm group are reported in the
form of percentiles, standard
scores, grade equivalents, or other
derived scores.
The test score, along with a guide
for understanding these scores, will
be available at the end of the 1977-78
school year. The results for each
child will be sent to the student's
parents, teachers, aad school.
Results that show average scores
for the State and various regions
within the State will also be
available for parents, school peo
ple, and law makers. The parents
will be able to determine how well
their child is doing in comparison
with the nation, the State, and-or
other similar children within the
State.
Teachers and local school person
nel have received special training
to make sure the tests are ad
ministered in the same way all
across North Carolina. The State
pays for the materials and scoring
for the basic testing program.
COUNTY TESTING
Ward added that testing on the
local level will also take place dur
ing the test period mentioned.
Those grades not included in
either of the two statewide testing
programs will be tested locally.
Grades four, five, seven, eight and
ten will take the complete battery
of the California Achievement Test
(CAT) which includes all tests
taken in grades three, six, and nine
in addition to a reference skills test
and an academic aptitude section.
All scoring reports received for the
State testing will also be provided
for these grades.
NOTE: Information on the Com
petency Testing Program affectiv
ing all eleventh grade students in
the state will be released in upcom
ing issues.
Elected to co-op post
kajl.eiuh ? Edward ?. Brown
Jr., manager of Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation, Hertford,
has been elected secretary
treasurer of the North Carolina
Association of Electric
Cooperatives.
He was elected to the post at the
1978 Annual Meeting of the associa
tion held in Raleigh. The organiza
tion represents all 28 of the state's
EMC's.
Ac manager of the EMC, Brown
has been a director of the statewide
BMC board since 1974. He served as
secretary-treasurer of the organiza
tion during the past year, and also
sits on the board of N.C. EMC,
which oversees the co-ops' power
supply matters.
The Jamesville native joined
Albemarle EMC in November, 1973,
after serving for about five years on
the staff of the statewide BMC
organization. He was director of
advertising and associate editor
advertising manager of the EMC
manazine, Carolina Country.
He has a bachelor's degree from
N.C. State University and a
master's degree in journalism from
UNC-CH.
He is married to the former Jean
Andrews of Plymouth and they
have two children, Denise and
Tripp.
EDWARD E.BROWN JR.
CHURCH DAMAGED IN FIRE -
Bethel and Hertford volunteer
firemen responded to a fire call at a
?mall wooden church, one mile
?oath of Hertford on U.S. 17 at
?round 11 ?.m. Tuesday morning.
The Disciples Church of Christ
received exterior damage and at
press time, the full extent of the fire
damage had not been determined.
(Staff photos by Yvonne Baker)
?
ESC office
? ? i
announces
amendments
Recent amendments to the
General Statutes of North Carolina
require some employers of
domestic and agricultural workers
to pay unemployment insurance for
the first time.
Payments are due soon, reports
Mrs. Alice Bond, manager of the
local Employment Security Com
mission Job Service Office.
Complying with federal statutes,
the General Assembly last year ex
tended unemployment insurance
coverage to an additional 312,000
workers in North Carolina including
some domestic and farm workers.
Any employer of domestic
workers in private homes, college
elubs, or eeOege fraternities or