THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 39, No. 19 USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, May 12, 1983 20 CENTS
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Perquimans resident gets two life sentences
A Perquimans County man
^ received two life sentences plus 10
years after he pled guilty to three
counts of extortion and two first
degree sexual offenses in
f Perquimans County Superior Court
Monday.
. Michael AUen Walker, 29, of
Durants Neck, was arraigned
Monday, with the honorable Henry L.
Stevens III presiding.
According to State Bureau of In
vestigations special agent Walter
House, who testified during the
hearing, Walker had threatened to
kill his former wife, Lisa Walker, her
attorney, John Morrision, and
District Court Judge Grafton
Bearaon, if a civil court decision did
not reiult in his favor.
House said Walker had instructed
his attorney at that time, Walter
Edwards, Jr.. to tell his intentions to
his wife's attorney.
Accordng to House, Walker
planned to accomplish the killings
through the use of explosive devices.
He said at the time of Walker's
arrest on February 3, a number of
weapons were confiscated, including
a home made steel pipe bomb, a 45
caliber pistol and a machete.
A subsequent search of Walker's
residence in Durants Neck revealed
two more steel pipe bombs and other
bomb construction items, said
House.
House said the sexual offense
charges resulted from his in
vestigation of the Department of
Social Services reports in which
Walker had sexually abused two
children.
Among cases to be heard during
Superior Court this week include:
Douglas Luckie Cartwright, charged
with trafficking in cocaine and
selling and delivering cocaine;
Wallace Hinton, charged with two
counts of incest and first degree
rape; Dennis J. Stallings, charged
with 17 counts of embezzlement; and
others.
Fire depts.
receive
funds
Over 100 volunteer fire depart
ments in North Carolina will be
receiving matching fund grants this
spring as part of the Rural Com
munity Fire Protection Program,
Joe Grimsley, secretary of the state
Department of Natural Resources
and Community Development an
nounced this week. North Carolina
received $73,00 in federal grant funds
for the program this fiscal year.
In Perquimans County, Durant's
Neck and Bethel Fire Departments
will receive $450.
The money can be used to purchase
a variety of firefighting equipment
ranging from "turn-out gear"
(helmets, coats and boots) and hoses,
to pumps and pumper trucks.
"The fire departments send their
applications to us, and the ap
plications are then scored using a
formula developed by the U.S. Forest
Service." stated H.J. "Boe" Green,
Director of Forest Resources which
administers the program in North
Carolina.
"The basic requirements are to
- show the need for the funds and be
able to match ttar grant, cbctUar tor
dollar. The maximufh amount a
department can receive is $2,000.
This upper limit allows the grant
monies to be spread out among more
departments, therefore helping more
communities," Green said.
"This is the sixth year that we and
the U.S. Forest Service have ad
ministered this program," Grimsley
added. "But it may be coming to an
end since this item has been
eliminated from the current federal
budget proposals. We all hope that
the President and Congress will be
able to find some way to restore the
funds and enable the program to
continue." Grimsley concluded.
Fishing weather
Warm weather means it's
fishing time in Perquimans
County, especially for Ricky
Trueblood and Matt Tice,
both of Hertford, who took in
some after school fishing
recently. (Photo by Val
Short)
Hertford, Winf all apply for grants
Thirty-four million dollars is a lot
' of money, but it will fall far short of
covering the $119 million in Com
munity Development Block Grant
requests submitted May 2 by 202
community, including Perquimans
County.
In applications received by the
department of Natural Resources
and Coumunity Devlopment, the 164
cities and U counties have requested
funding for community revitalization
i projects ranging from housing
r rehabilitation to street paving.
Development planning projects
were designed to identify critical
community needs and formulate
plans to meet those needs.
The request from Hertford totalled
$575, MS for comunity revitalization
activities.
The Town of Winfall aty requested
$748,668 for community revitalization
) and development planning.
The Town of Hertford submitted its
second application for Phase II of the
King Street Revitalization project
Hertford Mayor and Town
Manager Bill Cox is positive about
the funding of the project. "I feel the
need is there, the application has
been property presented and I hope
we will be funded," Cox stated
This is the third such application
\ presented by the Town of Winfall,
according to Winfall Mayor Lloyd
municipalities. The is cities, who
continue to receiye Community
Development Block Grant funds
directly from the federal government
include Jacksonville, Wilmington
and Fayetteville.
The 202 application, signals the
beginning of an intence period of
review by state staff, according to
NECD Secreatry Joseph W. Grim
sley.
"With requests totaling over three
times the available money, it is
imperative that each project be
reviewed very closely on the basis of
the established scoring system to
ensure that the limited allocation will
be utilised in the most effective
manner possible," said Grimsley.
Each community revitalisation
application will receive scores in the
areas of community needs, project
design, benefit to low and moderate
income persons, other public >end
private funds to be used for project
activities and a project's con
sists ocey with state policies and
programs.
Development planning projects are
reviewed on the basis of need,
feasibility and local commitment.
Grimsley feels the scoring system,
first used in 1982, is a sound one and
credits input from local officials as
being a key factor in the overall
program success.
"The cooperation and assistance
we received from local officials,
those persons directly involved with
community improvements efforts,
have provided us with a perspective
on program design and ad
ministration which minimizes the
local impact of each dollar awar
ded," he stated.
Last year 90 communities were
awarded a total of >45 million for
community revitalisation,
development planning and economic
development projects, which
resulted in the rehabilitaion of over
1800 houses, the creation of TOO jobs
and the leveraging of an additional |7
million in other public and private
Summer youth program set
Ten area counties including
Perquimans, will receive ap
proximately $341,513 for a IMS
Summer Youth Program requested
by the Albemarle Commission from
federal funds, according to Alice
Bond, manager of the Bdenton
Employment Security Commission
office. *
The ten counties which make up
Begkm "P." will receive the grant
through the State Division of Em
ployment and Training. The funds
art provided by the Comprehensive
Employment and Training Act
(CETA).
The Summer Youth Program i>
designed to provide Job training and
employment opportunities (or the
unemployed and economfeftUy
disadvantaged.
The Employment Security Com
mission with offices in Edenton has
successfully bid for contracting the
program for the pest five years. The
Edenton office serves the four
counties of Chowan, Gates,
Perquimans sari Tyrrell.
CBTAemptoyees are allowed up to
thirty hour? of work each week and
are paid the minimum wage at B.U
an hoar.
funds.
Although there is no minimum
amount established for a grant
request, no community revitalization
project may exceed $750,000 and
development planning projects are
limited to $10,000.
Each project must primarily
benefit low and moderate income
people, defined as an annual income
of $15,600 for a family of four and at
corresponding levels for various size
household.
Town Council
hears complaints
of dog ordinance
By VAL SHORT
The town dog ordinance was the
topic of concern expressed by several
Hertford residents at the Hertford
Town Council meeting Monday night.
Calling for changes in the current
ordinance, which prohibits dog
owners from allowing their canines
to run at large, the citizens included
Claude Brinn, who suggested the
councilmen "use your heads and
come up with a law everyone can live
with."
Ear] Willis suggested "a little
more common sensical approach."
Billy Nixon, who received a
citation and carried his case to court,
agreed a law was needed to keep
vicious dogs out of town, but the
current law was too harsh.
Councilman Jesse Harris said the
ordinance is "to strong a law." "This
is not a matter to go to the cour
thouse, It should be a minor
penalty," he said.
Hertford Mayor and Town
Manager Bill Cox suggested the
Town Council study the ordinance to
see if any changes could be made.
Hertford Chief of Police Marshall
Merritt presented the April police
report which included seven arrests,
including three for shoplifting.
Merritt also reported 30 citations,
including 16 dog ordinance
violations, four speeding and three
DUI tickets. The report also included
13 violations and investigations.
Cox presented the town ABC store
report for April, which included
$38,889 in revenue with 6,551 bottles
being sold. This compared with the
April 1982 report of $35,682 in revenue
and 6,048 bottles sold, according to
Co*.
Cox announced the public hearing
for revenue sharing for the Town of
Hertford is scheduled May 16 at 7
p.m. at the Municipal Building.
Cox also presented prices on 378
feet of fencing and gates for the town
cemetery between the athletic field
at Perquimans High School and the
swamp.
He also read a letter to the Council
from the Perquimans County Board
of Education requesting a gate be
included on the fence to allow traffic
to exit from ball games.
The Council tabled the discussion
on the fence until after the new
budget is adopted.
The Council set May 24 as the date
for a budget work session.
Volunteer award
deadline extended
The deadline for nominations
for the Governor's Volunteer
Awards has been extended to May
20, according to Hertford Mayor
Bill Cox, who is chairing the
selection committee.
Cox said no nominations had
been received for the 11 categories
of awards, and he has agreed to
extend the deadline.
"I'm real disappointed that we
haven't had any response," said
Cox. "We have so many volun
teers in this county who deserve to
be recognized."
The annual awards are
presented to volunteers across the
state at the annual ceremony in
Raleigh in the fall.
Individuals, busineses, civic
and church organizations pan be
recognized for the 11 Perquimans
County awards.
The categories include: in
dividual human service, in
dividual community leader,
coordinator of volunteers, youth,
senior citizens, disabled person,
school, and one-on-one volunteers.
Group categories include:
community organizations,
church-religious groups, and
business-industry volunteers.
Applications for nominations
are available at the mayor's office
in the Municipal Building in
Hertford. Cox urged county
groups and individuals to
recognize their voluateers.
"Someone needs to take the time
to make these deserving
nominations," Cox said.
4%
Employees recognized
Four employees at the U.S.
Post Office in Hertford have
accumulated a total of 9,239
hours of sick leave,
representing over four years
of work. They are, from left to
right, Billy White, Ray
Haskett, Dan Berry and
Poatma?ter Henry Stokes.
Berry and White recently
became members of the 1,000
hour sick leave club. Haskett
*
is now a member of the 2,000
hour sick leave club and
Stokes is a member of the
3,000 hour sick leave club.
(Photo by Val Short)
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