P The
ERQUIMANS
. A kWE E K LY
"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015
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Judge
to hear
wind
case
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A judge has rejected a call
to dismiss a suit that claims
the state improperly allowed
a 20,000-acre wind energy
project in Perquimans and
Pasquotank to proceed.
Judge Melissa Owens
Lassiter of the Office of Ad
ministrative Hearings made
the ruling Dec. 14.
That clears the way for a
suit by a Perquimans Coun
ty couple — Stephen Owens
and Jillanne Gigi Badawi.
They claim the project
by Iberdrola Renewables
should have go through a
new round of state review
because of a change in the
state law.
“I’m extremely pleased,”
Badawi said Dec. 16. “It’s
like Christmas has come
early.”
Lawyers for the NC De
partment of Environmental
Quality had tried to argue
that Owens and Badawi,
lacked the legal standing
to bring their claims. The
counsel from the Attorney
General’s Office also argued
that the couple failed to file
their petition in a timely
manner.
Badawai argues that they
didn’t file their petition with
in 60 days of DEQ’s decision
because DEQ didn’t notify
them of the decision.
“I should have received
that notice,” Badawai said.
“You can’t appeal something
that you don’t know about.”
Badawai and her hus
band are being represented
by the Center for Law and
Freedom (CLF), a nonprofit
public interest law firm
housed within the Civitas
Institute.
“DEQ never gave our cli
ents notice of its decision
because it did not consider
them to be ‘aggrieved,’ and
then tried to argue that their
petition was not timely be
cause it was filed after it
gave notice to Iberdrola,”
CLF Lead Counsel Elliot
Engstrom said. “If that ar
gument were to hold up,
administrative agencies in
North Carolina would essen
tially be able to decide who
could and could not bring
suit against them based on
their own determinations of
who is ‘aggrieved’ by their
decisions.”
Engstrom is joined by
Dr. David Schnare, Gen
eral Counsel for the Energy
and Environment Legal
See WIND CASE, 7B
Holiday Showcase
PHOTOS BY CHUCK PAGLES
Lynwood Winslow conducts the Perquimans High School Chorus at a Holiday Showcase, Thursday evening.
The Perquimans High School Symphonic Band, conducted by Ryan Minster, performs at the Holiday Showcase.
Linda Mallard of
Hertford looks
over the student
artwork on
displaye at the
Holiday Showcase
at the high school
last Thursday.
Student artwork is seen
on display at the Holiday
Showcase held last week
at Perquimans County
High School.
1 Scaife .
Election
slate
finalized
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Three candidates filed
for Perquimans County
offices Monday,' the last
day to do so.
Charles
Woodard,
a long-
time phar
macist in
Hertford;
Russell
Lassiter,
a recently
retired
shipbuild
er and turf
farmer
Leary Win
slow sub
mitted pa
perwork
with Per
quimans
Elections
D i r e c -
tor Syndi
Banks
before
the noon
deadline.
W o -
odard is
seeking a
WOODARD
seat on the
Perquimans County Com
mission. Lassiter and
Winslow are running for
school board.
The field leaves three
people running for three
county commission seats
and four running for three
school board seats. Other
school board candidates
are incumbent Alrene
Yates and challengers Jim
Davison, Winslow and
Lassiter. All four names
will appear on the March
15 ballot and the top three
will be sworn in in July.
In the county commis
sion race there is just one
incumbent, Kyle Jones.
Also in the contest are
Alan Lennon, another Re
publican and Democrats
Joseph Hoffler and Wo
odard. They will not ap
pear on the March ballot,
but all four will be on the
November ballot.
Register of Deeds Jack
ie Frierson is running un
opposed for her job.
Woodard, 69, ran for
the county commission
years before in the 1970s
as a Republican and lost.
He’s running as a Demo
crat now and said he’d
reached a time where he
can devote more time.
“Working 8 a.m. until
7 p.m. made it tough,”
Woodard said about his
early schedule after he
bought the Church Street
pharmacy in 1972.
See FINALIZED, 2
Teachers reflect on some memorable gifts from students
From staff reports
The Perquimans Weekly
asked area teachers about
what memorable gifts
they’ve received from stu
dents. The results follow.
Abigail Ellis - Kinder
garten
“The most memorable
gifts I receive are the ones
you can tell a lot of thought
was put into them. It may
be something a child made,
or even something that was
bought. My favorite gift I
have ever received was a
small canvas with “I thank
you for your part in my jour
ney” painted on it. Teachers
work very hard to make a
difference in each stu
dent that we teach so it
is great to hear ‘thank you’
Linda Morgan - 6th
Grade English Language
Arts
“The most memorable
gift I received was a hand-
drawn picture of the New
Zealand flag. This was
memorable for me because
New Zealand is the country
I am from and this student
took the time to look up the
flag for my country and then
especially in this creative
way!”
color a picture of it for me.
It was an extremely special
and heart felt gift.”
Angela Rose - Excep
tional Children’s Teacher
“I received a picture in a
frame that still sits on my
desk today. The picture is of
a student in a self-contained
classroom, my mother, and
me. My mother was volun
teering in the school (in her
80s) and she was helping
the student mix ingredients
for Christmas cookies.”
Rebecca Miller - Pre-K
“An Apple cut out of
wood, painted red and it had
my name “Mrs. Miller” on it.
Its the most memorable be-
cause
it
himself and had his grandfa
ther cut it out just for me.”
Courtney Baccus - 1st
Grade
“The most memorable
gifts from students
are often Christmas
ornaments because. tree and his authentic de ¬
they are brought out
yearly and memories are
relived though looking at
them hanging on our tree
every year. I love decorat
ing my tree every year and
having memories of the
students that gave me each
ornament.”
Rhonda Meadows
- Middle School English/
Language Arts Teacher
“Zoe Sawyer gave me a
handmade birdhouse her
grandfather made from an
old tree that was planted
in their yard last Christmas
(2014-15 school year), my
first year as a middle school
ELA teacher. Her granddad
included the history of the
sign signature. Of course,
this was the best Christmas
Ever! Zoe is such a thought
ful person because I had
shared with her how much
I loved birdhouses prior to
Christmas in my class.”
Terrie Mallory - Sth
grade
“The most memorable
gift that I have received
See MEMORABLE, 7B (
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