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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
, The 514 S CHURCH ST
! _ HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
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I WE E K LY
Bittner invited to Kennedy Center, 5
"Vens from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019
75 cents
Turner named superintendent
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
School Board named Tanya
Turner as their new superin
tendent Monday night.
Turner, 49, currently is
the assistant superintendent
for curriculum and instruc
tion with Edenton-Chowan
Schools.
But Turner is a Perqui
mans County native, a
product of the Perquimans
County Schools system and
still lives in Perquimans
County, said Chairman Dr.
Anne White.
After graduating from
Perquimans County High
School and Methodist Uni
versity, Turner taught in Per
quimans for 10 years, first
at Perquimans Central and
then at Perquimans County
Middle School before mov
ing to the Chowan school
system where she has been
for the last 17 years.
“Serving as the super
intendent of Perquimans
County Schools means so
much more to me than a
promotion, a title, or anoth
er step in my career,” Turner
said. “Perquimans County is
my home and this is where
I want to be. I am passion
ate about the possibility of
making this district the best
in the state.
“The strength of any
school system lies within
its human capital and its
effectiveness in impacting
student achievement. I have
had the opportunity to work
with and coach many differ
ent employees during my
17 years in leadership roles
and I believe that can use
that strength to improve all
areas of Perquimans County
Schools. I am excited to
have been selected as su
perintendent of Perquimans
County Schools and I look
forward to the challenge of
leading leaders, maximizing
the potential of each indi
vidual and building relation
ships that will impact the
future of students.”
Turner replaces Matthew
Cheeseman who announced
in December he had taken
a job as superintendent in
Beaufort County. Cheese
man was in for Perquimans
See TURNER, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Tanya Turner signs her contract Monday night after
being named the new Superintendent of Schools for
Perquimans County.
Town to
tackle list
of issues
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The situation didn’t get
this way overnight, and Hert
ford Public Works Director
Greg Benton said it won’t
be fixed overnight, but he’s
trying to tackle a backlog of
maintenance issues within
the department.
Benton recently present
ed the town board with a list
of nearly 50 things that need
addressing. Some are ve
hicles that are past due for
serving and others involve
equipment that needs repair
or replacement.
■ Benton stresses that none
of the issues are keeping the
department for doing the
job, but they do need to be
addressed.
“It’s a lack of redundan
cy,” he said. “We have no
redundant systems. But we
can still perform our mis
sion. But we’re one causal
ity away if we had a storm
or loss of power.”
Public works covers a
wide expanse of what the
municipal government does.
Under Benton are the elec
trical department, the water
and wastewater depart
ments, and the streets divi
sion. That includes street
sweeping and road repairs.
One problem that didn’t
crop up overnight is cracked
sidewalks. Sometimes tree
roots growing up under
the sidewalk can cause the
crack and other times it may
be the ground settled.
In some instances in the
past, crews have used a
grinder to wear away the
concrete to make it smooth
again, but Benton said that
doesn’t cure the underlying
problem.
One day recently, Benton
set out walking sidewalks
in Hertford armed with a
clipboard and spray paint
to mark cracked sidewalks
that need attention and note
their location.
He said that will be a
long-term project for the
town, but one he wants to
See ISSUES, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A fire gutted a commercial building on Edenton Road Street on Sunday.
Building fire investigated
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The State Bureau of Investiga
tion has been called in to help de
termine the cause of a fire in an un
occupied building Sunday evening
on Edenton Road Street.
The Hertford Volunteer Fire
Department responded to the call
about 6:30 p.m. At that point, the
fire had already burned through
the roof of the structure at 103 S.
Edenton Road Street, said Fire
Chief Drew Woodard.
Police Chief Dennis Brown was'
called in and Brown in turn called
the SBI for assistance.
The 1,584 square foot front part
of the building was made of brick.
Most recently it had been used for
See FIRE, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Hertford fireworkers work to contain a blaze Sunday in a building on
Edenton Road Street and Market Street.
Donation boosts scholarship fundraising effort
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor 1
A fundraising effort to hon
or the legacy of the late Kim
Hunter Daugherty is half way
to the point of having enough
to create a perpetual source of
money to help local teachers or
students. ,
Daugherty collapsed at
Hertford Grammar School in
December and later died. The
daughter of the late Major
League baseball great Jim “Cat-
fish” Hunter and mother Helen,
had spent almost all of her 20-
plus years as a teacher in Per
quimans County.
The fundraising effort is be
ing coordinated by the Perqui
mans County Schools Founda
tion. If $10,000 can be raised,
it can endow fund that would
produce $500 a year in earnings
without touching the principal
amount.
A recent donation of $2,050
from the Jim “Catfish” Hunter
Chapter of Ducks Unlimited,
SBI
looked
into guns
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An SBI investigation into
the fate of weapons miss
ing from the Hertford Police
Department or improperly
sold, focused on just three
weapons, not the 18 to 25
alleged by Hertford Mayor
Pro Tern Quentin Jackson.
Both District Attorney
Andrew Womble and a
spokesman for the State
Bureau of Investigation said
the SBI probe was able to
find two of the firearms and
they have been returned to
the police department. One
gun has not been located.
In a press conference
March 22, Jackson said 18
to 25 weapons were stolen,
missing or improperly sold.
Last week, Jackson stood
by his comments. At the
March 22 press conference,
Jackson said he was speak
ing on behalf of the Hert
ford Town Board when he
| asked the Attorney Gener
al’s office to investigate the
situation. He also called on
Womble to come and speak
with the town board about
the SBI investigation and
why nothing has come of it
and expressed his personal
feeling that he has no trust
inWomble.
Womble responded to
questions by The Perqui
mans Weekly and said, “I
was apprised of the request
by Chief (Dennis) Brown of
the Hertford PD for SBI as
sistance into the improper
surplusing of three duty
weapons belonging to the
See GUNS, 2
pushed the fund over the $5,000
mark, said Brenda Lassiter, the
executive director of the Foun
dation.
The DU Chapter designated
three items to auction off with
the single purpose of donating
the money to the Daugherty
See DONATION, 2
DAUGHERTY
School board member, coach, ejected
Wine And Cheese Reception
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A Perquimans County
school board member who
volunteers as an assistant
coach for his son’s middle
school baseball got a one
game suspension after be
ing ejected from a game last
month.
The situation got to the
point that the door handle
on umpire Matt Leicester’s
truck got pulled off.
Both Leicester and Leary
Winslow said the situation
got out of control and they
both regret the incident hap
pened. Both went to school
together and both said they
consider each other friends.
“Honestly I want to have
the whole thing go away,”
Leicester said recently. “I
am not interested in mak
ing Leary out to being a hor
rible person, because I don’t
think he is.”
“It should have never
happened,” Winslow said.
“I am sorry. I wish I could
have handled it differently,
but I didn’t.”
Leicester was umpiring
in a game on March 13 be
tween Perquimans County
Middle School and Elizabeth
City Middle School. It was
only his third game officiat
ing either a middle school or
high school game.
The issue started when
an ECMS batter was at the
plate. The chalk lines that
mark the batter’s box were
gone, 'and Winslow com
plained that the Elizabeth
City player was standing
outside of the box. The rules
say if a batter is outside the
box and hits the ball they are
automatically called out.
The rules say generally
only head coaches should
See EJECTED, 2
PHOTO BY PAULA FITZPATRICK
Guests attend a wine and cheese reception to mark
the opening of the Oide Albemarle exhibit at the
visitor’s center at the Newbold-White House.