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P The
ERQUIMANS
W E E K LY
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’'News from Next Door"
JULY 16, 2014 - JULY 22, 2014
JUL 1 6 RETD
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DOT addresses some bridge concerns
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
T he N.C. Department
of Transportation
appeared to answer
some of the questions posed
Monday night by Perqui
mans County residents who
oppose plans to replace the
S-Bridge in Hertford with a
fixed span that extends off
Church Street.
The meeting of the Hert
ford Town Board was held
in the historic Perquimans
CountyCourthousebecause
the anticipated crowd was
bigger than what the town
hall could handle. Even the
courthouse wasn’t enough.
People packed every seat
and lined the wall for the
meeting and some stood in
the lobby.
The DOT presentation
was requested because
some residents in the his
toric district were con
cerned about how the new
bridge would bring more
and faster traffic and how
the construction would
damage their homes. Some
still seemed to have those
concerns after the meet
ing but others residents
appeared satisfied. Several
people who had signed up
to speak to the board be
fore DOT make its pitch
told Mayor Horace Reid
that they didn’t need to
speak when their turn came
up because their questions
had been answered.
Others like Nancy Theo
dore, a Phelps Street hom
eowner who stands to lose
her house to make way for
the bridge; still has con
cerns.
“I think all of Hertford’s
citizens are in support of
the merchants,” Theodore
said in a letter to the editor
to the Perquimans Weekly.
“But, the fact is, there aren’t
many merchants to support.
Look at all the empty dere
lict buildings in the historic
downtown area So, what is
the town doing to renovate
the historic downtown area
and attract new businesses
PHOTO BY CHUCK PAGELS
Skip Matthews speaks to the Hertford Town council and NC DOT representatives Monday night during a town
meeting at the Perquimans County Courthouse.
to the empty storefronts?”
One man who didn’t
identify himself said Hert
ford would be better served
if DOT took the $18 million
to $20 million it expects to
spend on replacing the S-
Bridge and used it to keep
repairing the old S-Bridge
and the causeway. He esti
mated that would extend
the life of the S-Bridge by
another 18 years.
“By then most of us will
be gone,” he said of the old
er residents.
Sara Winslow, a Phelps
Street resident who won’t
lose her home but will be
next door to the new bridge,
still has nagging questions
but said some were an
swered Monday night.
“They still haven’t talked
about flooding and they still
haven’t done a geotechnical
survey so I don’t know how
they can be talking about
building a bridge when they
don’t know what the sub-
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Jay McInnis, the project
engineer for DOT on
the new Hertford bridge
projects, speaks to a full
house Monday night at
the Perquimans County
Courthouse.
strate is. But some of the
questions were answered,
no doubt about it.”
Both sides for and
against the new Church
Street bridge mobilized
prior to Monday’s meeting
to make their case for why
alternative D-Mod was or
was not the best choice for
Hertford’s future.
Those opposed can
vassed neighborhoods
and left pamphlets asking
“Which bridge is best when
we lose this...” The docu
ment by the group “Citizens
for the preservation and
growth of Hertford” shows
an aerial picture of the his
toric homes on Phelps Point
and the S-Bridge.
See BRIDGE, 2
County
warns
of title
scant
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A California company is
pitching an offer to provide
residents with a copy of
their property deed for $83
— far more than the cost of
obtaining the same informa
tion from the Perquimans
County courthouse.
Perquimans County Reg
ister of Deeds Jackie Frier
son said she’ll provide the .
same deed information for
25 cents per page. To get a
certified deed costs a little
more, but Frierson said a
typical one costs $10.
“I wanted to let people
know,” Frierson said last
week.
The N.C. Attorney Gener
al’s Office has gone to court
,to stop similar mailings
including one mailed into
the state 18 months ago by
another California company
called Local Records Office.
The latest offer comes from
a Record Transfer Services
based in Westlake Village,
Calif.
Frierson knows of at least
one Perquimans County res
ident that was going to take
the company up on the offer
but didn’t.
The Attorney General’s
office is asking anyone
who paid money to Record
Transfer Services to contact
Julie Daniel in the consumer
protection office at 919-716-
6000.
Frierson called it a scam
and said it’s been going on
• for a few months.
“When people buy prop
erty the closing attorney
is supposed to give them a
deed as part of that. If for
some reason they don’t or
they lose their copy, you
See TITLE SCAM, 5
School reaches out to students with reading issues
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER
WILLIAMS
First-year teacher
Rachel Hudson
works with students
in a summer
reading program
at Perquimans
Central School. This
is the first year that
students who aren’t
able to read at a
third-grade level face
being held back.
The program helped
students, as well
as others who are
attending voluntarily.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Forty-two Perquimans Coun
ty students are getting extra
help this summer to improve
their reading comprehension.
This year marks the start of
a state mandate that says third-
graders must read at grade level
or they can’t advance to fourth
grade. ’
The summer program is be
ing held at Perquimans Central
School because Hertford Gram
mar School is undergoing reno
vations.
There were about 138 stu
dents in the ‘ third-grade class
“Julie has tracked all
the data and she knows
the students who are
struggling in certain
areas and has provided
interventions."
Jason Griffin
Herford Grammar principal
on reading coach
Julie Roberts
last year at the grammar school.
A test administered in Septem
ber showed a number needed
some help with reading. Some
of that can be attributed to the
“summer slide” where students
lose some of their edge over
the vacation months. Some of it
may be due to the fact that the
students tested in September
had never had a standardized
test like that before.
In the end 16 students still
required the summer reading
program. Another 26 students
are attending the classes volun
tarily.
HGS Principal Jason Griffin
said one reason so many stu
dents were able to get back on
See READING, 2
Show to feature old, new cars
Comic still working his trade
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Vintage cars of the past and the newest
cars of today will be on display this year at
the Indian Summer Festival in downtown
Hertford Sept. 5-6.
This year’s car show will include a pa
rade down Church Street at 9 a.m. that
6 11 89076 47144
2
Saturday. »
Frank Jaklic, the organizer of the car
show, said he expects a bigger showing
than last year. The 44 cars last year was
double the amount of the year before, he
said.
The gateway to the show begins on
Church and Grubb streets where area car
dealers will have their newest offerings
available for view. The show itself will be
in the parking lot behind Hertford Town
Hall, 114 Grubb St.
The cost of entering a vehicle into the
See CAR SHOW, 5
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Matt White still has people laugh
ing and at 31-years-old he still has
the dream.
White, a 2001 graduate from
Perquimans County High School,
went to East Carolina University
where he studied theater. In 2005
WHITE
he founded his own comedy organization
called Seriously Clowning.
He’s now working to turn that dream into
reality by performing as often as possible in
comedy clubs and competitions.
“I always wanted to act,” White
said. “I didn’t think about doing
standup until I got to college at East
Carolina.”
He was the seventh of eight chil
dren and grew up in Hertford.
“I think it helps being a comic if
you have six sisters,” he said. Be
ing the next to the youngest child
meant he could learn off his older
siblings. He has two sisters living in Eliza
beth City, Sharla White and Maude White.
In high school he participated in sports
See COMIC, 4
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