P The ERQUIMANS 1 WEEKLY 'News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016 PCHS students visit PAL, 3 JUu 2 - RETD 50 cents Senate passes restrictive wind bill BY PETER WILLIAMAS News Editor The N.C. Senate approved a bill Monday that would put large parts of the state off limits to wind power proj ects and possibly kill plans for a project in Perquimans and Chowan County. The Military Operations Protection Act will now go to the N.C. House for con sideration. The bill is champion by Sen. Harry Brown of On slow County and has the support of Sen. Bill Cook, a Republican who represents Perquimans County. The bill gives the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs the respon sibility for considering how wind turbines and other tall structures would impact military flight operations. Spokesmen for both Iber drola Renewables and Apex Clean Energy maintain that wind energy companies already wdrk with the De partment of Defense when it comes to locating projects near military bases. Melissa Dickerson, a regional direc tor for the N.C. Sierra Club, also questioned the need for the bill. Dickerson said the bill goes beyond just making sure jets and helicopters can fly without fear of hit ting a wind turbine. It in cludes language that gives the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services power over wind turbines because of health issues. “It’s a concern for us in that it gives the agencies veto power over projects,” she said. “Some Senators ap pear to be seeking to pre vent any new wind projects in eastern NC.” “The measure needlessly pits mqjor clean energy See BILL, 5 Judge rejects wind lawsuit BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor An administrative law judge in Raleigh ruled Wednesday that the state acted properly when it ap proved plans for a 22,000- acre wind farm project in Perquimans and Pasquo tank counties. A Perquimans County couple, Stephen Owens and Jillanne Badawi, chal lenged the state’s decision to allow the Iberdrola to proceed on a project originally known a Desert Wind. The conservative Raleigh-based Civitas In stitute took up the case on behalf of the couple. The suit was against the N.C. Department of Envi ronmental Quality, former ly known as the N.C. De partment of Environment and Natural Resources. The suit alleges a law passed by the General Assembly in 2013 that requires extra review for wind power projects should have applied to the Iberdrola project. Civitas argued that Iberdrola changed the lo cation and size of some of the turbines after getting a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration; hence Iberdrola should have to restart the state See LAWSUIT, 2 Male Accident mentors sought BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor A Perquimans County minister is trying to recruit men to play a bigger part as role models in local schools. Pastor Arthur Manigault said he heard about the WATCH D.O.G.S. program while attending a United Methodist Church seminar. Manigault heads Spirit and Truth UMC in Winfall. The D.O.G.S. part of the name stands for “Dad’s Of Great Students.” The project has two goals. (1) To provide positive male role models for the students, demonstrating by their presence that educa tion is important., (2) To provide extra sets of eyes and ears to enhance school security and reduce bullying. Manigault wants to bring the program to Perquimans Central School and Hertford Grammar School at first. As part of the WATCH D.O.G.S program partici pants have to go through an hour-long telephone training call and go through a back ground check. Manigault wants to see at least 50 men sign up to gauge if there is enough interest. The school calendar has more than 180 days. “A lot depends on the amount of volunteers we get,” Manigault said. “This is a trial run. If it’s successful and I think it will be we can do more.” Manigault said he’s seen first hand how having a male adult in a school can change things. “One thing it shows is that somebody cares about them.” The commitment is to See MENTORS, 2 PHOTO BY JOHN HUDSON An aerial view shows the extend of the log truck accident on U.S. 17 on June 14. Car causes logging truck wreck BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor A driver who pulled out in front of a logging truck on U.S. 17 was cited for an accident that damaged three vehicles and sent one person to the hospital on June 14. According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, Randolph Haddock, 61, of Asheville, was stopped at a stop sign at South Edenton Road Street and failed to yield the right of way to the southbound truck. He was charged with fail to yield from a duly erected stop sign. Tyquan Alexander, 27, of Colum bia was southbound driving the 1^98 Freightliner with a load of logs and hit Haddock’s 2008 Dodge and overturned into the median, spilling the logs. Meanwhile a third vehicle, a 2010 Honda, was headed northbound was hit by debris from the wreck. It was driven by Maitlyn Gregory, 19 of Jennifer Drive, Elizabeth City. Alexander was transported to Vi dant Chowan Hospital and treated and released the same day accord ing to a hospital official. PHOTO BY CHUCK PAGELS Hertford firefighters spread material to absorb oil at the site of an accident involving a logging truck last week. The logging truck suffered $10,000 damage according to the report. Haddock’s Dodge suffered $5,000 in damage. The Gregory Honda had $500 damage. The acci dent happened around 4:30 p.m. The Hertford Fire Department provided incident command for the call. Also responding to the accident were: the Hertford Police Depart ment, the Perquimans Sheriffs Of fice, Perquimans EMS, Perquimans Emergency Management and the N.C. Department of Transporta tion. Teen dies in wreck BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor A 14-year-old Perqui mans County girl was killed Thursday afternoon when the ATV she was riding in hit a culvert, a small tree and flipped over. Sheriff Eric Tilley said Mad elyn Byrum died at the scene. He said anoth er girl who was riding with her BYRUM was not seriously injured and ran to get help. The wreck happened about 5 p.m. off Goodwin Mill Road on property belonging to Byrum’s family. See FATALITY, 2 Golf pros coming for tourney BY MALCOLM SHIELDS The Daily Advance For the past two years, change has been the norm for the Biggs Cadillac Buick GMC Classic. With two different tours at the past two tournaments, the 2016 edition seems to have stability. More than 50 profession al golfers are expected to appear at Albemarle Plan tation in Hertford to earn a piece of the $120,000 purse. The Classic begins four rounds of golf on Wednes day with the final round on See TOURNAMENT, 2 Department of Transportation starts work on bridge, roads BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Perquimans County roads and bridges are getting a $1.6 million makeover this month. Crofton Diving Corp, of Portsmouth, Va., is work ing on a $1 million project to replace wooden fenders that protect the U.S. 17 By pass bridge. The rest of the 6 89076 47144 2 money is going to resurface parts of U.S. 17. John Abel, a bridge engi neer in the N.C. DOT Divi sion 1 office, said the older fenders date back to the 1960s when the first two- lane bridge was built. “They were getting old and money was available,” Abel said. “It was going to have to be done at some point.” Work is also planned on the Alligator River Bridge and one at Mann’s Harbor. Abel said said large boats could still travel under the See DOT, 2 PHOTO BY CHUCK PAGELS A crew works from a barge to replace some of the fenders protecting the U.S. 17 Bypass bridge in Hertford last week. Some of the protective barrier dates to when the first two-lane span was build in the 1960s. STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS Crews resurface part of Dobbs Street last week as part of a $643,000 contract that included a two-mile section of U.S. 17.

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