THE
ERQUIMANS
J W E E K LY
"News from Next Door" MAY 2, 2012 - MAY 8, 2012
UPSTYLE
50 cents
Student facing felony after hallway assault
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A Perquimans County High
School sophomore faces a felony
charge of assault by strangula
tion following an incident last
week in a school hallway
Perquimans County Sheriff
Eric Tilley said Ryan Rash, 18, of
the 700-block of Holiday Island
Road, is charged with the felony
after Rash allegedly assaulted a
female student under the age of
16 in the hallway between classes
April 24.
“They had a few words be
tween them and witnesses said
he grabbed her around the
neck and started choking her
hard enough to leave red marks
around her neck,” said Tilley.
Tilley said the victim reported
the incident to the school’s ad
ministration who turned it over
to the school’s resource officer
who sought the warrant.
Authorities say Rash was re
leased under a $10,000 unsecured
bond.
Brenda Lassiter, public infor
mation officer for the school sys
tem, said Rash was immediately
suspended from school.
“After his suspension is over
at the high school, he will be
placed in an alternative setting
for education, not at PCHS,” she
added. “No bus transportation
will be provided for him.”
Lassiter reiterated that law
enforcement will take the lead in
the matter.
Last week’s incident at PCHS
was not the only time police
were called to help with disrup
tive students. On Thursday, a
fight among students on an ex
tended-day school bus on Harvey
Point Road caused local police to
intervene as well.
Lassiter said no one injured
during the fight between two
middle school students onboard
the bus and disciplinary action
was taken next day at school.
“Video from the bus was pulled
and will be considered as evi
dence in the matter,” she said.
The bus driver apparently
called the school resource officer
who in turn called for help from
law enforcement. Students were
escorted off the bus and trans
ported to their homes.
STAFF PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
Approximately 100 people participated in the 5K run/walk sponsored Saturday morning at the Perquimans County Recreation Center by members of the Junior Women’s Club of Perquimans County.
Ben Godfrey (No. 29), finished first. In addition to the 5K race on Saturday, Perquimans High students celebrated prom and the Albemarle Master Gardeners held their annual spring garden show.
See slideshows of prom and garden show at DailyAdvance.com.
Daja Felton
(right) heads
for the prom
entrance at
Perquimans
County High
School, Saturday.
The school’s gym
was transformed
into a night
to remember
around the
theme
“Fairy
Tale.”
Local gardeners and
other interested
spectators attended
the Albemarle Master
Gardener Spring Gar
den Show on Saturday
at the Perquimans
County Recreation
Center. A variety of ac
tivities kept the crowd
busy including plant
sales, bake sales,
raffles, the children’s
garden, speakers,
and “Ask a Master
Gardener” booth.
PCHS wins state good
sportsmanship award
Perquimans County
High School is one of
two high schools in the
state scheduled to receive
a major award during
the North Carolina High
School Athletic Associa
tion Annual meeting on
May 3 at the Smith Cen
ter on the University of
North Carolina campus.
Perquimans County
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High School is the winner
of the 2012 Sportsman
ship Award. Weddington
High School is the sixth
annual winner of the Ex
emplary School Award.
The awards are given
as a cooperative venture
among the NCHSAA, the
North Carolina Coach
es Association and the
North Carolina Athletic
Directors Association. In
addition to a trophy and a
banner for display at the
respective schools, each
school receives a $1000
cash award.
The sportsmanship
honor is designed to rec
ognize a school that has
been ejection free, has a
2
See AWARD,.8
Baseball ceremony to honor Hunter
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The memory of Jimmy Hunter,
better known as “Catfish” Hunter
to baseball enthusiasts around the
world, will be honored May 7 by nam
ing the high school baseball stadium
after the local pitching icon who first
threw strikes on Perquimans County
dirt before eventually landing in the
National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The school board
will unveil a
special sign at 7
p.m. Monday at the
baseball field behind
the high school.
The Perquimans County Board of
Education will unveil a special sign
at 7 p.m. that evening at the Perqui ¬
mans County Veterans Memorial
Field located behind the Perquimans
County High School gym. The cer
emony will mark the naming of the
baseball stadium as the Jimmy “Cat-
fish” Hunter Park.
The ceremony takes place prior to
the Perquimans County High School
baseball team’s last home game of
the season against Edenton.
“When we began making plans
for the proposed new sports com
plex across the street from the high
GRAPHIC COURTESY PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS
school, it was decided that the base-
ball field will stay where it is now,”
explained Brenda Lassiter, public
information officer for the Perqui
mans County Schools. “It is the same
field where Jimmy played on in high
school and it will always be there for
baseball. One of the first steps in cre
ating a new sports complex is to re
name the baseball stadium and play
tribute to Hunter’s life.”
See CATFISH, 8