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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
514 SCHURCH ST
HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
.- W1 E KLY
“News from Next Door”
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019
National Night Out Photos, 3
$1.00
Students heading back to school Monday
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Nearly 1,700 Perquimans County
students are expected to be back in
class on Monday.
Among the faculty, there will be
two new faces that really aren’t new.
Laura Moreland is back at Perquimans
County Middle School as principal, a
position she left briefly last December
to take a job in Dare County. Isaac
Lister has joined the staff as assistant
principal.
Tracy Gregory is the new principal
at Perquimans Central School, but she
is not new to the school. The 27-year
veteran spent 20 years in Perquim ¬
ans County Schools, including being
at teacher at Central along with now
Superintendent Tanya Turner. Greg
ory replaces long-time PCS principal
Melissa Fields, who is now the school
system’s chief academic officer for
curriculum and instruction. Central
has about 385 students. System wide,
the schools had 1603 students last
year and as of last week, it was antici
pating an enrollment of 1,685.
Also new to the high school will be
band director Evan Copeland. He had
been band director at Chowan Middle
School last year.
The high school also has the
long-awaited new football field.
The $1.2 million project is complete
enough to play on, with bleachers,
restrooms, a concession stand and
lights. But some additions, like a ticket
booth and paved parking will have to
wait until funding becomes available.
And funding will be tight this year.
The Perquimans County Commission
funded the school system at the same
level as 2018-19 and the school system
has to postpone some $146,000 in cap
ital projects because last year funds
were spent on the football field that
should have been held for other proj
ects.
The other big question is the state
budget. It hasn’t been adopted so the
See SCHOOL, A2
Bus driver takes job seriously
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
If the last 11 years is any
indication, you can bet Jan
ice Butts will be back at
work on Monday.
Butts, 62, has been driv
ing a school bus for 26 years
and for the last 11 years, she
has never missed a day of
work.
“I don’t think anybody
can say that, no matter
what his or her profession
BUTTS
is,” said Jeff
Miller, the
transporta
tion direc
tor for the
Perquim-
ans County
Schools.
“Her atten
dance is
only a part
of her performance. She
is outstanding at what she
See BUTTS, A2
School
lottery
spending
varies
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Over the last 10 years
surrounding counties have
largely used their share of
lottery school construction
money to build or renovate
classrooms or pay down
debt from previous con
struction projects.
The NC Lottery web site
said that pot of funds is to
build and repair schools.
“This helps meet needs
that otherwise would have
to be paid for by other
means such as property
See LOTTERY, A2
Early voting
starts today
From Staff Reports
Early voting starts today
for next month’s special
election to decide eastern
North Carolina’s next con
gressman.
Election offices will be
open for early voting in the
3rd Congressional District
from Wednesday through
Friday, Sept. 6, with elec
tion day to follow on Sept.
10.
On the ballot are 3rd Dis
trict candidates state House
Rep. Greg Murphy, a Re
publican from Greenville;
former Greenville Mayor
Allen Thomas, a Democrat;
See VOTING, A2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Lisa Higgins (right) and her mother Arlene Calogero, stand next to one of the few remaining displays at
Catholic Charities on Market Street in Hertford. The operation will close in September and relocate to
Elizabeth City.
Catholic Charities is moving
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
In 1977 the Diocese of
Raleigh created a Cath-
ohc outpost in Perquim
ans County to serve as
an outreach ministry for
a 14-county area cover
ing 7,800 square miles of
northeastern North Caro
lina.
Catholic Social Services
was staffed by two nuns.
Sisters Gloria Gilman and
Barbara Gerrive lived in
the same building that
served as a church chapel
right across the street from
Hertford Baptist Church.
And the venture flour
ished. By 1979, the nuns
started a prison ministry
in addition to social ser
vices including helping
arrange adoptions and re-
locating immigrants. The
nuns and the Diocese also
helped arrange a loan so a
businessman could get the
SeeCHARITIES, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Nuns gather for an open house at what became
Catholic Charities in Hertford in 1978.
Marine
industry
coming
soon
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A steel fabrication com
pany has purchased a
building and land near the
Perquimans Marine Indus
trial Park and plans to start
building a 160-foot long
dredge at the site within a
few months.
Mark Overman said right
now they are waiting on the
Town of Hertford to provide
electric service to the site.
“We’ll start as soon as
we get power,” Overman
said last week. “They had
to order a transformer and
that has a lead time of two
to four weeks. We already
have materials stored in
the building and carried in
some equipment.”
Marks’ wife, Cynthia is
President of East Coast
Steel Fabrication Inc., but
she said her husband han
dles the day-to-day affairs of
the company. They both live
in Camden.
East Coast now builds
barges, dredges and tugs in
a rented 30,000 square foot
facility in Chesapeake. The
Hertford site has a 14-year-
old 5,000 square foot metal
building, but Overton wants
to build a 15,000 to 20,000
square foot building. The
site has 10 acres.
The first project for the
Perquimans site will be a
160-foot-long, 38-foot-wide
dredge they are building for
a customer. He said the con
struction could take eight
See MARINE, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans County hosts on of the portable CAMET
trailers owned by the state.
Perquimans County looks at pet shelter options
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County
Emergency Management
is fine-tuning a system that
would provide pet owners
who need to seek shelter a
place nearby for their pets
as well.
Hurricane Katrina di’ove
home the fact that some
people won’t evacuate to a
shelter if they couldn’t take
their pet. So the federal gov
ernment passed a law that
said every county has to
have a plan on how to deal
with pets in an emergency.
The county has access to
a state-owned trailer that
is equipped with cages and
bowls and other items that
would be needed to house a
large group of animals.
But Emergency Manage
ment Director Jonathan
Nixon stresses, the coun
ty doesn’t own the trailer,
North Carolina Emergency
Management does. It is sim
ply staged in Perquimans
County.
“It is a NCEM resource,
so we would have to re
quest the use of this trailer
if pet sheltering were need
ed,” Nixon said. “There is no
guarantee we will get it, but
we will request early for an
anticipated event like a hur
ricane.”
But during Hurricane
Florence, the state deter
mined that the trailer was
needed further south and
See SHELTER, A2
Local first responders are honored
From Staff Reports
Lend a Hand Ministries
hosted the annual Perqui
mans First Responders ap
preciation event Saturday at
the Crawfish Shack.
The event was attended
by members of the Sher
iff’s office, EMS, various
fire departments across the
county, the Hertford Police
Department, family mem
bers, elected officials, and
members of the community.
Lunch was provided for all
of those in attendance, as
agencies were recognized
for their service.
Several members of the
community spoke about the
experiences that they have
had with EMS during emer
gencies with their loved
ones and expressed their
gratitude.
Winfall Mayor, Fred
Yates, was one who spoke
See RESPONDERS, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
First responders and the public gather for a prayer
during an event Saturday at The Crawfish Shack.