***CAR-RT LOT**R 0° 8 A °° 01
p9/c9 ******CAR RT 11 | 11111 . 1 | 1
yuvv KEKLY
"News front Next Door”
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018
Machining students ready for work, 7
75 cents
Man, 31, jailed under $860,000 bond
BY PETER WILLIAMS AND
MILES LAYTON
Staff Writers
A 31-year-old Edenton
man facing multiple charg
es based from an alleged
crime spree that took place
in several counties, is in the
Chowan County Jail.
Last month, Dustin
Bunch of Seaview Drive,
was apprehended by U.S.
Marshals in Florida and
BUNCH
extradited
back to
North Caro
lina.
Bunch’s
bond has
been set at
$860,000
based off
warrants
served from Beaufort, Per
quimans, Pitt and Chowan
counties.
Bunch was charged in
Perquimans County on
July 25 and his bond was
set at $100,000 for the local
charges.
Perquimans County Sher
iff Shelby White said Bunch
was linked to a series of
car burglaries that started
in December a continued
through a few months ago.
The Perquimans County
crimes primarily happened
in the area of Heritage
Shores, Woodland Church
Road and Burnt Mill Road.
White said the stolen
items were mainly lower
value items like knives,
change, sunglasses and a
weed trimmer. In one case,
Bunch is charged with
stealing a book of stamps.
Once Bunch was tak
en before a Perquimans
County magistrate, he was
also charged for one case
of breaking and entering a
motor vehicle in Pasquo
tank County.
His Perquimans County
charges include one count
of larceny, one count of
possession/concealing sto
len property, 13 counts of
breaking and entering a
motor vehicle, nine counts
of larceny, 11 counts ofpos-
sessing/concealing stolen
property, and two counts
of breaking and entering.
Bertie County was also
investigating Bunch’s role
for crimes there, but they
haven’t made any charges,
White said.
As to Chowan County,
Detective John McArthur
of the Chowan County
Sheriffs Office said Bunch
was charged with three
counts of breaking and en
tering into a motor vehicle,
larceny, obtaining property
by false pretenses when
See BOND, 2
Teachers give
schools
positive grades
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
On the whole, Perquimans County teachers
seem well satisfied with their working condi
tions based on the latest biennial survey by the
state.
In one of the final questions, asking if their
school is a good place to work and learn, 95.6
Perquimans County teachers answered they
agreed or strongly agreed. That’s an improve
ment over the 91.7 percent figure in 2016 and
the 86 percent figure in 2014.
Statewide the figure was 87.1 this year.
When the question was if the survey was go
ing to be used to improve the schools, 97.5 per
cent said they agreed or strongly agreed. Two
years ago the local figure was 88.1 percent and
two years before that it was 86.1 percent. The
statewide figure this year was 84 percent.
The first of the state surveys was given in,
2002 and they take place every two years.
Perquimans Superintendent Matthew Chee
seman said the school system does their own
survey during the off years.
He said they are valuable and they are
shared and used.
“We are always working on improvement
and that survey is used at each school site to
address or respond to situations. Each princi
pal and teacher advisory council looks at the
survey results to develop action items.”
That might be one reason why the participa
tion rates locally have climbed over the years.
Perquimans also had high marks when it
comes to safety. Some 98.5 percent of teach
ers answered they agreed or strongly agreed
that their school offered a safe environment.
That’s up from 96.2 percent two years ago and
90.6 two years before that.
The statewide figure this year was 89.4 per
cent.
They survey was conducted before the Per
quimans County Commission agreed to fund a
fourth School Resource Officer this year. The
school system had three SROs to cover the foul-
campuses. Having one for every school puts
Perquimans in a rather limited club. There are
probably fewer than 10 school systems across
the state that have an SRO at every school.
In not every category did Perquimans score
in the 90 percent or better. In the area of pa
rental support for teachers, the new figure
was 82.3 percent but that was an improvement
over 74.2 percent in 2016 and 72.6 percent two
years before that.
See TEACHERS, 2
BRIDGE Construction
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
Top: The North Carolina Department
of Transportation has closed a
section of U.S. 17 Business/Creek
Drive to allow the removal and
replacement of a bridge over Brights
Mill Creek. The completion date for
the project is Nov. 30. Detour signs
have been posted. Right: A barge
prepares to drive test pilings into the
Perquimans River on Monday. DOT
hopes to start construction on the
replacement for the S-Bridge in the
summer of 2019.
Back to school events planned
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County Schools
will be putting on Back To
School events at Perquimans
Central on Aug. 9 and Aug. 14.
The location is Central, but
the event is for the parents or
guardians of every child in the
Perquimans school system.
The hours are 3-7 p.m.
“It will give parents two dif
ferent opportunities to com
plete all the paperwork that is
required,” said Lisa Lane, the
spokeswoman for the school
system. “There will also be in
formation about transportation
and school nutrition and how
to check a child’s grade using
the on-line parent portal.”
Representatives from the
public library, State Employ
ees Credit Union and the
YMCA will be there as well.
Chromebooks will not be
issued at the event. Lane said
they would be distributed
at school once the new year
starts.
On Aug. 26 from noon un
til 3 p.m., there will be free
haircuts offered for students
at Perquimans County High
School. Area barbers will be
volunteering their time and
there will be free back to
school items available.
“Last year we had a sig
nificant turnout,” Lane said.
“This year we’re hoping to get
six barbers. The haircuts will
strictly be for young men, but
the event is open for every
one.
Lane said the schools are
partnering with the New
Hope Community Reunion
group and pastor Joe Welch
and his wife.
The Alpha Upsilon Sigma
chapter of Phi Beta Sigma
fraternity Inc. is also collect
ing book bags for the event.
School starts back on Aug.
27.
Group to
honor first
responders
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A small group of women
will honor Perquimans Coun
ty’s first responders Aug. 18
for the second straight year.
Lend A Hand Ministry was
organized about 10 years ago,
said Vanora Brothers, the co
ordinator for the event.
“We’re not a church, it’s a
community-based group that
got together and organized as
way to help people who are
in need. We’ve come together
and held fundraisers for peo
ple who are terminally ill with
their expenses for medication
andall.”
Last year, the group held a
back to school bash for kids.
The “Lend A Hand” group
has about 10 members, all
women, and all African Ameri
can. Some men also help out
from time to time. They attend
different churches, but work
on projects for Lend A Hand”
as a group.
Brothers said the idea of
reaching out to say thanks to
first responders seemed like a
good project for the group.
“They (first responders) are
so dedicated and they work so
hard,” Brothers said. “This is
just a way of saying thank you.
They put their lives on the line
every day for us.”
From her home on Harvey
Point Road, Brothers said
she sees EMS coming past
her house most every day,
sometimes several times a
day. They’ve also had to come
to her daughter because of a
medical condition.
Sheriff Shelby White said he
truly appreciates what Lend A
Hand is doing. .
“First, we are honored just
to get the show of apprecia
tion,” White said. “We do what
is consider a thankless job,
and it means a lot when we get
some show of appreciation.”
See RESPONDERS, 2
Van service may offer options for area employees, workers
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A private van pool may
provide some answers for
some employers looking to
attract hard to find talent
from outside the area and
local workers another op
tion for getting to the job.
One issue in rural north-
eastern North Carolina
is people may live in one
place, but have to com
mute to another place for
work, sometimes long dis
tances, said Angela Welsh,
the planning director for
the Albemarle Rural Plan
ning Organization. The
group is part of -the larger
Albemarle Commission.
In July, the Workforce
Transportation Committee
of the RPO met with an of
ficial from Enterprise Rent-
A-Car.
Welsh said Enterprise
has a “ride share” division
and currently runs a van
pool that shuttles workers
from Virginia to the Coast
Guard base in Elizabeth
City and back to Virginia.
Enterprise now has 350
van pools running in the
state, Welsh said. The cost
to ride is based on the type
of vehicle that is needed
and the distance to and
from the business.
“It’s not going to be work
for everybody,” Welsh said
of the Enterprise solution.
“If you are working in fast
food and working for mini
mum wage, you could be
spending half your check
on transportation unless it
was subsidized by the busi
ness. The ICPTA (Inter-
County Public Transporta
tion Authority) tried this,
but their insurance com
pany wouldn’t let them.”
ICPTA serves Pasquo
tank, Perquimans, Camden,
Chowan and Currituck
counties. ICPTA services
are intended to transport,
the general public to nutri
tion sites, medical appoint
ments and other locations
in order to access services
or “attend activities related
to daily living.”
The one-way cost for a
local ride is $4.
Welsh threw out a figure
of $1,000 to $1,200 a month
for one van and a driver
with Enterprise for a lon
ger commute. If the van
held 10 people, the cost
drops to $100 or $120 per
person.
Welsh said the solution
might not work for some
workers and employers.
“But for others, who
need specific skills and pay
better, the situation could
work.”
Welsh said Regulator
Marine in Edenton is look
ing into the Enterprise op
tion.
The Enterprise service
can provide door-to-door
services for workers going
to a specific employers,
Welsh said. It could also
pick up and drop off work
ers at a specific location,
like a parking lot, where
they could meet.
“Some people are go
ing to the beach to work.”
Welsh said she used to do
that.
“I drove to Nags Head
for years to work. I ended
up buying a Prius because
at that time gas was $4 a
gallon.”
The Albemarle Com
mission and its workforce
development arm serve 10
counties: Camden, Chow
an, Currituck, Dare, Gates,
Hyde, Pasquotank, Perqui
mans, Tyrrell and Washing
ton.'
She said Enterprise con
ducts all the required map
ping (finding “clusters” of
employees based on their
addresses) and provides
the driver agreement be
between Enterprise and
the driver, not the driver
and the company he works
for which places liability
on Enterprise for any acci
dents.
Welsh said committee
members felt the Enterprise
“ride share” program was
promising. “We intend to
continue discussions with
them and hopefully be able
to use their ride share pro
gram throughout our 10
counties.”
The Enterprise official in
volved could not be reached
for comment.