THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 59,No.11
USPS 428-080
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C. Thursday, March 15,1990
30 CENTS
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Lady Pirates win
[ ■ Page 6
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Aloe vera sooths hurts
Page 12
FEATURE
Community happenings
Page 2
Briefs
Peoples Bank will acquire
Watauga Savings & Loan
Rocky Mount—Peoples Banccr
poration announced that it has re
ceived final regulatory approval to
acquire Watauga Savings and Loan
Associaiton, Inc. The acquisition,
which was proposed last August,
took effect Feb. 28.
Watauga Savings, with head
quarters in Boone, and additional
offices in West Jefferson and New
land, had assets on Dec. 31,1989 of
approximately $120 million.
Robert R. Mauldin, Chairman of
Peoples Bancorporation, said, “We
are pleased to have die opportunity
to join with Watauga which is a nat
ural expansion of our franchise
from the Triad into the High Coun
try area around Boone. Peoples’ af
filiation with Watauga allows the
bank holding company to continue
its commitment to community
oriented service. ”
George C. King, Watauga’s Pres
ident said, “The management and
staff are excited about the merger
and the opportunity to broaden the
range of financial services we can
provide to our customers. ’ ’
Peoples’ first action was to reca
pitalize Watauga by purchasing 100
percent of the thrift’s common
stock. Watauga now exceeds the
capital requirements imposed by
the Financial Institutions Reform,
Recovery and Enforcement Act.
Watauga will remain as a separate
financial institution with its Board
of Directors and staff continuing to
serve in their present capacities.
Peoples Bancorporation is the
state’s ninth largest hank holding
company with assets on Dec. 31,
1989 of $1.3 billion. Its subsidiaries
are Peoples Bank & Trust Com
pany, Rocky Mount; Mid-South
Bank & Trust Company, Sanford;
Peoples Bank of the Triad,
Winston-Salem; and Watauga Sav
ings.
In January, Peoples agreed to a
merger of equals with The Planters
; Corporation, Rocky Mount, which
> would form a new bank holding
; company, Centura Banks, Inc.,
with assets of $2.5 billion.
; Sheriffs Department makes
’ several arrests In county
The Perquimans County Sheriff s
Department reported the following
arrests:
On March 4, Lee Ann LaSure
Pritchett, 24, of 38M Chestnut St.,
Snug Harbor was arrested on a
worthless check charge. The war
rant was from Pasquotank County.
On March 7, Willie Junior Stan
ley, 21, of Route 1, Box 313A, Tyner,
was arrested and charged with
misdemeanor possession of mari
. juana.
•On March 7, Daniel Alphonso
.‘Hurdle, 21, of Route 1, Box 373,
Tyner was arrested and charged
; with misdemeanor possession of
marijuana.
On March 8, Ricky Alexander
Speller, 26, of Lot 23 Dogwood Tra
iler Park, Hertford was arrested
and charged with communicating ‘
threats on a Chowan County war
: rant. '
On March 10, Douglas Paul Cole- i
man, 26, of 38 M Chestnut St., Snug
Harbor was arrested on a worthless
check charge.
The Hertford Police Department,
reported no arrests.
j-'f s . ■ * .j *u*,.
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Perquimans
Weekly
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119 W. Grubb St.
i 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Frl.
Mistrial declared in Harris murder case
By SUSAN HARRIS and
JOE SOUTHERN
HERTFORD—A Superior
Court jury failed to reach a ver
dict after two days of deliber
ations in what has been described
as a racially motivated shooting.
After the jury spent 11 hours
Wednesday and Thursday dis
cussing the case without reach
ing a unanimous decision, Judge
Frank R. Brown declared a mis
trial.
William Jay Harris, a 22-year
old black man, stood trial for the
shooting death of Willard Mi
chael Perry, a 32-year-old white
Elizabeth City businessman, as a
result of an early-morning con
frontation at Hardee’s in Hert
ford.
“I regret that you were unable
to reach a verdict,” Brown said.
“All of the parties in this ca
se...came here expecting you to
make a decision.”
Brown told the jury that both
the Perry and Harris families
“deserved to have this matter re
solved.” He said that each day
they must wait for a verdict adds
grief to their lives.
“Your verdict would not have
ended their suffering,” he said,
but added that a verdict would al
low the families to put the matter
to rest, and begin rebuilding their
lives.
After being charged at 9:50
Wednesday morning, the jury re
quested at 11:10 that Brown again
spell out the differences in first
degree murder, second-degree
murder, manslaughter ana not
guilty. They were allowed to go
home for the night at 5 p.m.
They re-entered the jury room
to debate at 9 a.m. Thursday, but
announced at 9:35 that they were
unable to reach a unanimous deci
Photo by Joe Southern
William Harris stood trial last weekfor the murder of Willard Michael
Perry last April 30. After 11 hours of deliberation, the jury was dead
locked, and a mistrial was declared by Superior Court Judge Frank
R. Brown.
sion.
Jurors were instructed to re
sume their deliberations by
Brown. After a lunch break, he en
couraged them to try to resolve
their differences of opinion.
At 3:10 p.m., the jury filed back
into the courtroom and told Brown
they did not feel that there was a
reasonable chance that a unani
mous decision would be reached.
Brown subsequently declared a
mistrial after denying defense at
torney John Halstead’s motion for
dismissal.
The state asked the jury to con
vict Harris of first degree murder
in the case. The defense argued
that Harris, much smaller than
Perry, thought that Perry in
tended to kill him, and that he shot
Perry in self-defense.
Both groups admitted that there
was a confrontation and that ra
cial slurs were hurled; however,
witnesses for both sides differed in
their recanting of the night’s
events which ended in tragedy.
Perry, his wife and four friends
had attended a Moose Lodge
Dance in Chowan County before
visiting Hardee’s. Harris and his
friends had been at the Rainbow
Lounge in Hertford.
According to testimony, Harris
had driven his car beside his girlf
riend’s at the restaurant’s (five
through window when the Perry
van pulled into the parking lot.
Harris and his girlfriend, Annie
Bouey, were arguing when the
Perry group passed near them.
Stuart White, a member of the
Perry entourage, made a com
ment as he passed the vehicles.
When White walked in front of
the Harris car, it lunged forward,
almost hitting White. Harris said
in court that his foot had slipped
off of the break pedal.
Upset by the incident. White
and R.P. White, also with the
Perry group, admitted on the
stand that they had made com
ments which included calling
Harris and his friends “niggers.
They also admitted that they had
heavily consumed alcohol earlier
that night.
After receiving his food at the
drive-up window, Harris said he
drove to the back of the restau
rant, got out of his car and went
to speak with his girlfriend.
He said that Perry had fol
lowed him and tried to start a
fight, but Harris said he told
Perry he did not want to fight.
Harris told the court that he
then got a gun and shot twice at
the ground, but that Perry did not
stop advancing toward him. Har
ris said he was afraid that Perry
was about to pull a gun because
Perry’s hands were behind his
back, so Harris shot, striking
Perry in the chest.
Perry seemed to be drunk, Har
ris said, and he was certain that
the man much larger than himself
wanted to kill him. Perry, accord
ing to a coroner, had a 0.23 blood
alcohol level at his death.
Perry did not threaten Harris
and walked in Harris’ direction
with his arms by his sides, said
those with Perry on the night of
the murder.
Harris is being held awaiting a
second trial.
Photo by Susan Harris
The winning conservation posters in the Perquimans County compe
tition are on display at the Conservation Office<on Edenton Road
Street. Secretary Ginger O'Neal said the judges were very pleased
with student creativity in the contest.
Local conservation poster
winners are announced
By GINGER O’NEAL
Conservation Secretary
Once again the Albemarle Soil &
Water Conservation District and
the Albemarle Electric Mem
bership Corporation sponsored the
annual poster contest in Perqui
mans County for students in grades
four through six. The local contest
got underway January 29 and
ended February 16.
The topic for this year’s contest
was Soil & Water Conservation in
North Carolina. Students were
asked to reflect this in their draw
ings. Posters were judged on the lo
cal level on February 21 by Grace
Coston, Brenda Hollowell and Au
brey Onley, Jr. The first place win
ners were: Fourth Grade - Cristin
Harrell, Central Grammar, Ms.
Holley; Fifth Grade - Korey Moore,
Ms. Ralph; and Sixth Grade - Mark
Swindell, Ms. Geouge..Earning
Second Place honors were: Fourth
Grade - Tiffany Baker, Central
Grammar, Ms. Holley; Fifth Grade
- Torrey Bailey, Ms. Parker; and
Sixth Grade -Alison Boone, Ms. Ge
ouge.
These students won cash
prizes and went on to compete at
the district level of competition
with award-winning posters
from Chown, Pasquotank and
Currituck counties. The district
contest and luncheon was held at
the Albemarle Commission
building in Hertford on March 6
with approximately 100 in atten
dance.
Winning students from this
contest will now go on to compete
at the 16-county area contest in
Bertie County. Winners from
that round will go to the state
competition in Raleigh in April.
Winners of the Albemarle Dis
trict contest were: First Place,
Fourth Grade - Matthew Dixon,
Griggs Elem., Currituck; Fifth
Grade - Amanda Beasley, Griggs
Elem., Currituck; Sixth Grade -
Nykoll Williams, Chowan Middle
School; Second Place, Fourth
Grade - David Jethro, White
Oak, Chowan; Fifth Grade -
Todd Merrell, Griggs Elem.,
Currituck; Sixth Grade - Traci
Mutzabaugh, Weeksville Elem.,
Pasquotank.
4-Hers to attend
Mitchell Camp
This year Perquimans County 4
Hers ages 8-13 will be camping at
Mitchell 4-H Camp during the week
of July M>. Mitchell is located on
Queen’s Creek in Swansboro. At
Mitchell you will enjoy learning
about our coastal adventure. You
will learn a craft, learn to canoe,
learn archery, sail a boat, study
fiddler crabs and blue crabs, ex
plore an island, sing, dance, play
volleyball and softball, study ma
rine science and have lots of fun.
The cost of the camp is $115, and
includes three meals a day, snacks,
lodging and transportation to ,
camp. This year Perquimans, •
Gates and Camden counties will
charter a bus to camp. To help keep
transportation cost low ($25) for
campers, the Perquimans County
Extension Homemakers Council
makes an annual donation of $100 in
support of our .camping program.
Youth attending camp must have
in immunization record and a
lealth exam. The deadline for the
&25 nonrefundable deposit is May 1.
Oue to the fact that we have only 15
spaces for summer camp, reserva
ions will be taken on a first-come
>asis. If you have any questions,
call Juanita T. Bailey, Home Eco
lomics Extension Agent at 426
>428. Plan now to join us for a week
>f adventure and fun. v -- ^
Hertford Mayor Bill Cox signed a proclamation declaring March 12-17 as Employ the Older Worker
Week in Hertford. The document stated that older workers bring extensive experience and high job
qualifications to the work force, and that they should be seriously considered when jobs are available.
Council votes
to enforce
tag ordinance
By SUSAN HARRIS
Hertford Town Councilman John
Beers said at the board’s Monday
night meeting that he felt the town
should enforce the ordinance re
quiring residents to purchase city
tags for their vehicles.
Beers said that he had noticed
that fewer residents were purchas
ing the tags, and that there seemed
to be no penalty for those who did
not comply with the city ordinance.'
Hertford Police Chief Aubrey
Sample was asked if he could rec
ommend ways to handle the prob
1 em . Sample said that his
department could set up spot
checks. He also told the council that
Elizabeth City had added the fee for
their town tags to the registered
owner's property tax bill.
Councilman Erie Haste sug
gested that Chief Sample be asked
to establish a policy to deal with the
problem. The penalty for failure to
purchase a tag is a $10 fine plus the
$5 cost of the tag.
Councilman Jesse Harris said
that he felt the residents should be
warned that the town intended to
strictly enforce the policy before is
suing citations.
“You can do it cold-bloodedly or
you can do it with some common
sense decency,” Harris said.
Haste countered that the ordi
nance is not new, and that people
are deliberately failing to purchase
tags.
Mayor W.D. “Bill” Cox recom
mended that city attorney Walter
Edwards look into the legality of
adding the fee to property taxes.
Sample said he will probably di
rect his department to run spot
checks. Haste asked for an update
at the next council meeting.
Junk car ordinance
Beers also asked what had been
done regarding the junk car ordi
nance passed by the town last
month. Sample said that he had had
some questions regarding the im
plementation of the ordinance, but
had discussed them with Edwards
earlier and gotten clarification.
He told the councilmen that both
he and Captain Brad Krause have
issued spoken warnings. One writ
ten warning has also been issued. If
some of the problem vehicles are
not removed by Friday morning.
Sample expects to have them towed
Friday afternoon.
Beers said that he felt the people
were ready to see the town move on
the ordinance.
Retirement study
Cox asked the board to consider
allowing the state to review the
town’s retirement plan at a cost of
$740. He said that Hertford is one of
the few towns not on the state re
tirement system, and that it has
hampered efforts to hire experi
enced employees when they are
presently on the system and will
lose their benefits because Hertford
has a private retirement package.
Council voted to go ahead with
the study.
Acquired property
Cox told the council that the prop
erty at 100 Railroad Ave. owned by
the Bertha Lane Estate has been
purchased with monies from the
block grant the town received last
year. He said that the town will so
licit bids to tear down the partially
burned dwelling on the property.
He also told the town that Ed
wards had spoken with Edgar Lane
regarding two other abandoned
houses owned by the Bertha Lane
Estate against which the town has
initiated condemnation proceed
ings.
Edwards told Cox that Lane had
requested information on allowing
the Hertford Fire Department to
burn the houses for training pur
poses. Chief Edgar Roberson is
working with Lane to get the proper
forms signed to allow the depart
ment to burn the structures.
Cox announced that there w 'l be
a zoning hearing on March 19 at 7
p.m. at the municipal building to
discuss the placement of mobile
homes in the city limits.
The council went into executive -
session at the request of Harris to
discuss personnel matters.