The
ERQUIMANS
WEEKLY
Perquimans chamber to hold holiday
turtle contest, 8
’'News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015
NOV 2 5 RETD
50 cents
New superintendent named
STAFF PHOTO
BY PETER WILLIAMS
Matthew Cressman
speaks Monday night
after being named the
new Perquimans County
Schools superintendent.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
School Board named a new su
perintendent Monday night.
The board hired Matthew
Cheeseman, 43, to replace
Dwayne Stallings who will be
retiring at the end of Decem
ber.
Cheeseman comes from a
job as chief administrative of
ficer at the Washington County
Schools based in Plymouth.
His Perquimans contract runs
from January through June of
2019 with a salary of $120,000.
The school board has been
working to find a replacement
since June when Stallings gave
them notice he would retire.
It’s been eight years since the
board had to hire a new leader,
and they enlisted the services
of the Wilmington-based Ma-
sonboro Group to help. The
effort included meetirigs with
the public, educators and staff
to find out what they wanted to
see in a new leader.
“It’s been a long process,”
said Susan Cox, the chairman
of the school board. “But this
is the most important thing
the board of education can do
— selecting a new superinten
dent.”
She thanked the board for
their diligence, and one board
member thanked Cox right
back for taking the lead.
“You have done a fantastic
job,” Ralph Hollowell told Cox.
Cheeseman started in educa
tion as a chemistry and physics
teacher with the Upper Adams
School District in Biglerville,
Pa The went on to work with
school districts in San Lorenzo,
Calif. Nicolaus, Calif., and the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School
See CHEESEMAN, 8
Community pitches in to help with Turkey Drop
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
F ood pantry volun
teers were thankful
a few days early this
week when community
support made it possible
for nearly 300 families to
have a proper Thanksgiving
meal.
Rosemary Smith, the di
rector of the Winfall-based
Open Door Food Pantry,
said a “Turkey Drop” held
by Hertford United Method
ist Church collected 150
birds plus more than 770
pounds of other holiday
food and $800 in cash. The
pantry had already ordered
more than 100 turkeys.
The HUMC effort was
50 birds shy of the goal it
set itself, but Smith said
the cash would more than
enough to buy the rest. Last
year’s Turkey Drop col
lected 103 birds.
“The community has
been so very supportive,”
Smith said Monday as
volunteers were handing
out the food. “I really don’t
know what to say.”
It’s the second year the
Hertford church has acted
as a collection point for
See TURKEY DROP, 4
Perquimans should see insurance savings
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Shifting insurance to a state
health plan is expected to save Per
quimans County taxpayers about
$300,000 next fiscal year.
The county along with Albe
marle Regional Health Services
and Pasquotank County are cov
ered now by a self-insurance pool
called Northeast Albemarle Group
Health.
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Sandra Hoffler hands a turkey to Bob Halter Friday during Hertford United Methodist Church’s “Turkey Drop”
event.
The Northeast group was creat
ed to counter high insurance rates,
but had become more expensive as
the group got smaller.
In June the General Assembly
passed legislation that opened up
the state plan to allow up to 10,000
more enrollees from local govern
ments.
“We were talking about do
ing something anyway, but when
the General Assembly threw us
this rope, we had to grab on to it
as quick as we could,” said Per
quimans County Manager Frank
Heath.
As of late October all but about
750 of the 10,000 open slots had
been spoken for.
Heath said the idea of the North-
east group was it would save mon
ey because it would pool the risk of
a far larger group. And save money
it did, he said..
But the pool got smaller when
Chowan, Currituck and Camden
Search
continues 1
for missing
woman
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The family of a woman
missing since May has en
listed the help of a national
volunteer agency.
Karen Bosta was last
seen visiting the Walgreens
in Edenton
on May 30.
Her car
was found
a few days
later in
the Candle
Square
parking lot
off Broad
BOSTA
Street in Edenton. Bosta
was living in Holiday Is
land at the time of her dis ¬
county dropped out. A few recent
large claims and federal regulation
forced rates up even higher for the
three members than remained.
Pasquotank County expects to
save $900,000 in 2016-17 as well as
some savings in fiscal 2015-16 since
the switch takes effect Jan. 1. ARHS
expects to save about $750,000 in
the 2016-17 fiscal year.
Insurance remains a significant
See SAVINGS, 8
appearance.
To date lawmen have
had few clues as to what
happened to her.
“As her mother, I am
pleading with the commu
nity to be vigilant when
you are out and about es
pecially our hunters, farm
ers, boaters, fisherman,
aviators and all outdoor
workers for anything sus
picious,” said Arlene Mur-
rin. “Pay attention to aban
doned homes, barns or
buildings. Any rumors or
hearsay should be report
ed. With everyone’s help, I
know we can find her.”
The Wilmington-based
non-profit group CUE Cen
ter for Missing Persons is
helping with the search.
CUE stands for Communi
ty United Effort. The group
was founded in 1994.
See BOSTA, 4
WWII replica of ship to take part in Christmas parade
From Staff Reports
A 55-foot replica of the
World War II battleship USS
Alabama is scheduled to
take part in this year’s Per
quimans County Christmas
Parade on Dec. 5
A group of Naval reserv ¬
7144
89076
1
ists built the float in the
early 1980s.
The actual USS Alabama,
BB-60, was built at Norfolk
Navy Yard and launched
in 1942, just three months
after the United States en
tered World War II. It served
in the Pacific and received,
nine battle stars.
Accompanying the bat
tleship float will be Capt.
Scott M. Brown, U.S. Navy,
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A replica of the USS Alabama is scheduled to take part in the Perquimans County Christmas Parade in Hertford.
6
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See BATTLESHIP, 4
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