P The
ERQUIMANS
j WE E K LY
Pirates
Roundup:
Lady Pirates
unable to
top Gates,
boys go 1-2
for week, 7
"News from Next Door"
JANUARY 14, 2015 - JANUARY 20, 2015
Nixon
to head
EMS
services
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
One person is now in
charge of both emergency
management and emergen
cy medical services in Per
quimans County.
NIXON
J o n a -
than Nixon
took over
the posi
tion effect
Jan. 1.
Until he
retired in
N o v e m -
her, Larry
Chappell was in charge of
the emergency medical ser
vices (EMS) department.
Jarvis Winslow served as
part-time director of emer
gency management. Both
See EMS, 3
CAR FIRE BLOCKS TRAFFIC
JAN1
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford firefighters respond to a car fire in the southbound lane of U.S. 17 at the intersection of Harvey Point
Road on Thursday. No injuries and no accident were reported, but the fire did temporarily block some traffic
on the road.
Woman adjusting while waiting for heart
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Teri Crowe doesn’t worry about
the little things as much anymore.
She says three heart attacks will
do that to a person.
Crowe hopes to get on tire trans
plant list for a new heart, but until
that happens she tries to take life
in stride.
“I’ve been doing pretty well,
knock on wood,” Crowe said last
week. “But you never know. Some
thing like this does open your
eyes.”
Crowe, 52, had her first heart at
tack in 2012.
“Heart attacks for women aren’t
the same as for men,” she said. “In
men it’s a tightening in the chest
and pain. For me, I just couldn’t
breathe.”
The second heart attack came in
August 2013.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A chicken plate fundraiser is planned for Friday to benefit Teri Crowe,
a Belivdere resident, who needs a heart transplant.
“I’d just left Norfolk after that Doctors determined Crowe
one and got home and then I had a needed a new heart, but in the
major one in September.” meanwhile a pump was implanted
to keep her alive. She’s had it a year
now and adjusted.
When Crowe is out and about
she carries a battery pack about
the size of a purse. Wren she goes
to sleep at night, she plugs herself
into the wall.
“It tends to be har d to sleep at
night, but if the line got discon
nected that would be it. But I’ve
just learned to adjust.
“One difference is I work out
now. I never used to do that, but I
do Zoomba twice a week and I’m
eating a lot healthier now than I
ever have.
She also quit smoking long be
fore she ever had the first heart at
tack.
“I wish how I had never smoked,
and I tell people don’t ever start.”
Even getting on the transplant
list isn’t a guar antee of anything.
See HEART, 2
50 cents
tcsu
student
to speak
at event
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The president of the Stu
dent Government Associa
tion at Elizabeth City State
University is scheduled to
be the guest speaker at a
Martin Luther King Jr. event
Monday in
Hertford.
A mo-
t o r c a d e
is set to
leave Per
quimans
County
Middle
School at
STROTHER
noon Monday and proceed
to First Baptist Church. Ilie
event starts there at 1 p.m.
Speaking will be McKin
ley Strother, a 20-year-old
who hails from Hampton,
Va.
He plans to talk about
how some of King’s dreams
remain just dreams.
“Some of the things that
Dr. King fought for are a
lot of the things people still
deal with,” Strother said
Monday.
One issue is voting rights.
The N.C. General Assembly
passed a law that will require
all voters to have a photo ID
by 2016. Critics argue that is
designed to keep blacks and
tire poor for exercising their
right to vote.
Strother picked ECSU in
part because it was close to
home and in part because
even with out-of-state tu
ition it was reasonably
priced compared to some
state schools in Virginia
“I heard it was very family
oriented and it is,” Strother
said.
Strother is studying jour
nalism at ECSU, but hopes
to keep learning.
“I aspire to going to law
See STROTHER, 2
Area customers enjoying lower propane prices
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Motorists aren’t the only
ones eqjoying lower fuel
prices.
Homeowners, farmers or
anyone who uses propane
for heating is seeing a big
difference from just a year
ago.
The winter of 2013-14
proved to be a double wham
my. Not only were tempera
tures abnormally low, fuel
prices were high.
Propane prices spiked at
about $4 per gallon in late
January 2014. As of last
week, the fuel was selling in
the range of $1.75 or $1.80.
“I’m sure it makes cus
tomers happy,” said Ken
neth Winslow, the branch
manager for Crossroads in
Perquimans County.
“It makes me happy, I
have to buy it like everybody
else,”
Durwood Reed of Reed
Oil and Propane in Hertford
said the prices are a relief to
customers. As of Monday,
the cash price of propane
was $1.80. That’s up slightly.
“The way it was going, I
thought it was going to keep
getting lower, but if you look,
gasoline prices are also up a
little.”
One reason early 2014
was so bad was farmers in
the Midwest were using very
large amounts of propane
to dry corn. Some farmers
were getting a bumper crop
but it developed later in the
season and rain kept it wet
so the corn needed more
drying.
Unlike gasoline, which is
a direct product of the pro
duction process, propane
is a byproduct. It’s created
when processing natural gas
and refining petroleum.
Lewis Smith, a retired
agriculture extension agent
for Perquimans County, said
falling propane prices aren’t
helping farmers at the mo
ment, but they could if the
prices remain low through
the year. Propane to dry
grain isn’t needed right now.
Smith thinks the biggest
benefit so far is for consum
ers.
Perquimans County Man
ager Flank Heath said the
lower gasoline prices will
help the county’s budget a
little. What’s helping even
more is the gradual shift to
buying more efficient cars
for the sheriff’s department.
“In the grand scheme of
things it probably won’t do
much, but if you can pay
$30 to fill up your gas tank,
instead of $55 or $60 that’s
more money in your pocket
and that should impact peo
ple’s attitudes.”
Former local teacher
name to high post
Club gives Hertford woman top award
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Chowan Middle School
Principal Tanya Turner has
been named assistant super
intendent of curriculum and
instruction for the Edenton-
Chowan Schools effective
July 1.
The school board gave
its approval during its Jan.
5 monthly board meeting.
Superintendent Rob Jack-
son recommended Turner
TURNER
elusion of a
month-long
applica
tion and
selection
process,
school offi
cials said.
“I am ex
cited about
for the position at the con-
6 89076 47144 2
the leadership and expertise
Ms. Turner will bring to our
K-12 curriculum and instruc
tional program as she works
with our teachers, principals
and directors in continuing
to move our school system
forward,” Jackson said.
Turner’s academic career
began in 1992 in neighbor
ing Perquimans County,
See TURNER, 3
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Nell Drees of Hertford (left) accepts a gift from Edenton
Woman’s Club President Susan Nolton, right, after being
named the club’s Woman of the Year. Drees chaired last
year’s district arts festival on behalf of the organization. She
was recognized during the EWC’s monthly meeting on Jan. 7.
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Hertford resident Nell Drees has been named
the Edenton Woman’s Club’s Woman of the
Year.
Drees, who chaired the successful district
arts festival on behalf of the club in 2014, was
praised by EWC President Susan Nolton for her
hard work on the event.
“You did a tremendous job,” Nolton told
Drees, who said later she was surprised when
her name was announced as recipient of the
prestigious award.
Drees said she began attending EWC meet
ings in 2011 with her friend Jeanne Marquitz and
that her involvement grew from there. She said
she eqjoys being a part of an organization that
does so much.
“I like that they are a service-oriented club,”
she said.
Among the organizations the EWC supports
is the Boys and Girls Club of Edenton/Chowan,
See WOMAN, 2