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"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018
75 cents
DA dismisses assault charges against Eley
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Assault charges filed against Hertford
Town Councilman Sid Eley were dropped
by the District Attorney’s office Monday,
according to Quentin Jackson who made
the claim.
District Attorney Andrew Womble could
not be immediately reached for comment.
“I still have no comment (on the original
charge against Jackson) but the charges
(against me) have been dropped,” Eley
said Monday night. “Andy (Womble) said
they should have never been filed in the
first place.”
ELEY
Jackson has been
charged with assault on
a government official for
hitting Eley in the head
with a closed fist after
a meeting earlier this
month.
Jackson said he tried
to get charges filed
against Eley for assault
in Perquimans County,
but said Perquimans magistrates would
not hear the case.
Chief District Court Judge Edgar Barnes
See ELEY, 2
Judge amends restraining order
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Councilman Quentin
Jackson will be able to at
tend Hertford Town Council
meetings, but District Court
Judge Chris Bean let stand
an order that Jackson can’t
harass or threaten Council
man Sid Eley.
Jackson was in court
JACKSON
Wednes
day on the
charge of
assaulting
a govern
ment of
ficial for
punching
Eley in the
head after
a town council meeting.
He was originally charged
with simple assault, but the
District Attorney’s office
dropped that and charged
Jackson instead with assault
on a government official.
The second offense carries
a more serious punishment.
The DA’s office also said
as a condition of his pre-
trial release Jackson could
See JACKSON, 2
Davison
to work
for utility
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Cathy Davison, the outgo
ing executive director of the
Albemarle Commission, will
be joining the Bertie-based
Roanoke Electric Coopera
tive as vice president of cor ¬
porate services.
Davi-
son an
nounced
early this
month
she would
be step
ping down
from the
DAVISON 10-county
regional
government organization
based in Hertford. Some
board members were criti
cal of her decision to give a
contract to a company that
was owned by her husband.
She had been with the com ¬
mission since September
2014.
Her last day with the
commission was Friday and
her first day with Roanoke
is Monday.
“I don’t let the grass grow
under my feet,” Davison
See DAVISON, 2
Belvidere Day
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
Top, volunteers on golf carts give people a free ride at
Belevidere Day Saturday. Right, a child enjoys a cookie
Saturday during a trip to Belvidere Day. Below, Helen
Hunter (left) rides in the Belvidere Day parade Saturday.
She was the Grand Marshal for the event. See more
photos on page 9
Early voting
remains
strong
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans Comity vot
ers are coming out in large
numbers for early voting.
As of the end of the day
Monday, 1.988 people had
voted. Voters still have
through Saturday to cast an
early ballot.
In 2016 Presidential race,
4,046 people cast an early
ballot in Perquimans.
“It’s been really busy and
we still have the rest of the
week,” said Holly Hunter,
the county’s elections direc
tor.
Hunter started working
in the elections office in Au
gust 2016 and was named
director in February when
Sydni Banks left to take a
similar position in Currituck
County.
On the very first day, 271
Perquimans voters went to
the polls. On Monday, the
number was 216.
Voters can go to the elec
tions office between 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m. and cast a ballot
through Friday. On Satur
day, they can vote between
8 a.m. and 1 p.m. There is
no Sunday voting in Perqui-
See VOTING, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Master Gardener Betty Onufrak (left) and Master
Gardener intern Veronica Martin-Dowdy give out
information and plants to food pantry families at the
Chowan Food Pantry last spring.
Extension program wins state award
By PAT WINTER
The Chowan-Gates-Per
quimans Master Gardeners’
“Grow To Eat” collabora
tion with local food pantries
was awarded first place in a
statewide Master Gardener
Search for Excellence rec
ognition program.
“Grow To Eat” is run by
volunteer master garden
ers under the direction of
Chowan’ Extension Agent
Katy Shook.
The “Grow To Eat” effort
took first place in the com
munity service category,
earning the Extension pro
gram $200 which will be
used for its support. This
award was presented by the
North Carolina Extension
Master Gardener Volunteers
Endowment Committee to
recognize outstanding Ex
tension Master Gardener
volunteer groups that
complete projects in their
communities that result in
significant learning, finding
solutions to local garden
ing problems, and sharing
research-based gardening
information in their com
munities.
The “Grow To Eat” pro
gram was the idea of Master
Gardner Betty Onufrak who
also volunteers her time at
a local food pantry. There
Onufrak became aware of
how many food pantry cli
ents were living both with
out adequate nutrition and
without the knowledge or
resources needed to grow
food for themselves. The
project’s goal was to find a
way to provide food pan
try clientele with easy, safe
and productive methods of
growing produce at home
with the hope of improving
their nutrition.
In the first year of the
project’s implementation,
Onufrak wrote to seed com-
See AWARD, 2
Elizabeth City rejects request for police help
BY JON HAWLEY
The Daily Advance
Elizabeth City officials
have denied the town of
Hertford’s request to send
city police officers to help
with routine patrols, citing
their own lack of officers as
well as legal concerns.
The matter came up dur
ing meeting of the Elizabeth
City City Council this month,
when Councilor Darius Hor
ton said someone asked him
about Hertford’s request last
week at a restaurant, adding
that he had also heard Hert
ford Mayor Horace Reid
had sent a letter to the city
requesting a “mutual aid
agreement.”
Horton said the issue had
not gone before City Coun
cil and he asked City Man
ager Rich Olson to explain.
Olson told the council
that Reid had approached
Elizabeth City Police Chief
Eddie Buffaloe Jr. about
providing patrol officers to
help patrol Hertford. Olson
said the city has, and will
honor, its mutual aid agree
ment with Hertford. Howev
er, he said mutual aid refers
to providing emergency or
non-recurring aid, such as
that provided following a
natural disaster.
To offer Hertford routine
policing would require an
“inter-local agreement,” Ol
son said.
Olson and Buffaloe de
clined Hertford’s request for
two reasons, he explained.
“The city of Elizabeth City
is now 11 officers short; we
do not have the staffing to
provide that type of service
to the city of Hertford or
anyone else at this particu
lar time,” Olson said.
Elizabeth City has 64 of
ficer positions, Olson also
noted, and is looking at
ways to better attract new
officers.
Secondly, Olson said that
providing, and charging for,
routine patrols outside its
jurisdiction would weaken
the city’s “sovereign im
munity” in any legal cases
against the officers. If some
one sued an Elizabeth City
officer over something they
Halloween
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER
WILLIAMS
Ms. Betty
Moneybags greets
customers outside
Hertford Savings
Bank on Church
Street. A number
of the scarecrows
have sprouted up
in downtown as
part of an effort by
Historic Hertford Inc.
and for Halloween
they will be all be
assembled on the
courthouse lawn.
Trick or Treating
downtown is from
3-5 p.m. today.
See POLICE, 2
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NC SCDClt6 Paid For By Bob Steinburg For NC Senate
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