THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 60, No. 41
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C.,Thursday, October 10, 1991
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Feature:
Firemen saluted
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during Fire Prevention
Week: Page 10
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Sports:
Varsity, jayvees
mount come-back
attempts: Page 6
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School:
Marching Pirates
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take second place
in Edenton: Page 7
Briefs
NAACP youth moot
The Perquimans County
NAACP youth will have a Fire
Safety Rap Session on Tuesday.
Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at First Bap
tist Church. The member who
brings in the most new paid
members will be awarded a
prize.
Candidates’ forum sat
The Hertford Business and
Professional Women's Club is
sponsoring "Meet the Candi
dates" on Thursday. Oct. 17 at
7 p.m. at the Perquimans
County Courthouse. Candidates
for the following offices will at
tend: Mayor of Hertford. Hert
ford Town Council. Mayor of
Winfall. and Win fall Town Coun
‘ cil.
Chapter 1 to meet
' Central Grammar School will
; hold their first PAC meeting on
•Thursday. Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
Marion Frierson will be the
guest speaker. For more infor
. mation contact Estelle Felton at
*426-5741.
Friendship Seniors meet
The Friendship Senior Club
will meet Tuesday. Oct. 14 at
the Senior Center at 2 p.m. on
Grubb St., and is open for new
; members, age 55 or older. There
is a fee of $6.25.
PTSA sets open house
Perquimans County Middle
School PTSA will have an open
house on Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m..
Information about the special
Olympics will also be provided at
this meeting.
College fair slated
There will be a college fair at
Northeastern High School on
Monday. Oct. 21 from 6:39-8:30
p.m. Representatives from many
colleges and universities in the
southeast will be on hand to an
swer questions and provide in
formation on their institutions.
High school students and their
parents are invited to attend.
Bass toumoy Saturday
The Perquimans County Jay- ,
cees wifi sponsor their semi-an
nual Perquimans River Bass
Tournament Saturday. Oct. 12.
Registration begins at 5 a.m. at
the Hertford Municipal Boat
Ramp. All boats must be in
spected before the 7 a.m. start
time. Entry fee is $25 per man
te fish in two-man teams. For
more information, call Sara
Winslow, chairman, at 426-7669
after 6 p.m.
Ppll conducted
' The Perquimans Weekly is
conducting pre-election polls to
guage voter reaction to the races
for the Hertford and Winfall
i town councils. If you would like
to participate in this poll, you
may coiqp by the Perquimans
Weekly office and fill out a poll
& ballot, or rail and tell us your
choices. You do not have to give
your name. You should be 18 to
participate in this poll.
Oct. 14
. 1492
Commissioners vote for pay raises
Deputies given step increases
The Perquimans County
Board of Commissioners voted
after an executive session Mon
day to give county employees an
across- the-board pay increase,
and to move all sheriffs deputies
to salary grade 60, step 7.
The combined salary in
crease will move all four county
deputies’ salaries to slightly
above $18,000 per year. All em
ployees will see a 2.5 percent
raise.
"I'm really tickled with the
increases for the deputies," said
Perquimans Sheriff Joe Lothian.
The commissioners unanimously
decided that we needed to make
sure that we could keep quality
people here. They've taken a gi
ant step in the right direction to
alleviate any problems we have
with that.’'
Funds for the salary in
creases came from budget line
items that will not be spent as
originally set out in the fiscal
budget, according to assistant
county finance officer and clerk
to the board Sharon Ward. Ward
r
said that the county was not ac
cepted for a Community Devel
opment Block Grant for which it
had applied and set aside
$10,000 in matching funds.
There is also additional money
in the hospitalization budget be
cause the five-county self-insur
ance plan did not have to
increase premiums in September
as predicted and planned for in
the budget.
Lothian had spoken with the
commissioners earlier in the
meeting in open session, and
told them he feared losing dep
uties to other departments.
“We need to take a look at
our salary situation.” Lothian
said. “We've got some of our
people being courted by other
departments and for the amount
of money they're being offered. I
can't blame them (for consid
ering a move)."
Lothian also said that he
would like to see the commis
sioners consider funding another
deputy's position due in part to
an increase in crime and the
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amount of time spent transport
ing prisoners and running the
court.
"The small-town crime rates
are up,” Lothian said, adding
that the court dockets have
doubled and in some cases
tripled over the past few years.
The sheriff added that back
up is needed in many instances
due to the increasingly violent
nature of crimes and criminals.
He indicated that threats of vio
lence against law enforcement
officials are also on the rise.
“We've got a new crowd (of
criminals) that's in here now,”
Lothian said.
County Manager Paul Gre
gory presented the board with a
$35,620 medical bill from the
Central Prison Hospital Unit for
care for Christopher Dance, the
Perquimans County man con
victed of burning the Hertford
Police Department last Hallow
een.
Gregory said records indicate
that Dance was ordered by a
judge on Nov. 6. 1990 to enter
T
1
File photo
Firefighters with the Belvidere-Chappell Hill Volunteer Fire Department participate in one
of many training sessions offered at departments all around the county each year. They
will join other county departments and those from across the 10-county region in the Al
bemarle Firefigher’s Association’s Firemen’s Day activities Saturday in Hertford.
Fireman’s Day activities slated
The Hertford Volunteer Fire Department
will host the annual Albemarle Firefighter's As
sociation'Fireman's Day parade and competi
tion on Saturday. Oct. 12 beginning at 1 p.m.,
according to publicity chairman Edward Leices
ter.
The events will begin with a parade of fire
fighting equipment through Hertford and will
continue with competition at the fire station. A
barrell-ftll race, fire hose tug-o-war and hose
stream through the tire are on tap for the com
The Albemarle Firefighter’s Association is
composed of about 38 individual fire depart
ments located in 10 northeastern North Caro
lina counties. All six Perquimans County fire
departments are members of the Association
and will participate in Fireman’s Day activities.
Departments take turns hosting the parade
and competition each October In observance of
National Fire Prevention Week.
There will be no charge to those who wish
to attend the competition.
Joe Lothian
.... pleased with increases
Dorothea Dix Hospital for eval
uation before determining his
ability to stand trial for arson.
Doctors there found him compe
tent to stand trial, but took him
off of his medication before
sending him back to Albemarle
District Jail to await his hear
ing.
Gregory was informed that
Dance had caused problems at
Albemarle District Jail and a
safekeeping order was issued
which moved Dance to Central
Prison, where he was hospital
ized.
Dance was not released from
the hospital, where he was
placed in the psychiatric unit,
until April 8, 1991, when he re
turned to Hertford to stand trial.
Gregory said that in past
cases where Dance had been
taken off of his medication, it
took 7-10 days to regulate his
condition again. He said he has
made numerous calls, but can
not determine why Dance was
kept in the hospital unit so long
and ran up such a high medical
bill for the county to pay.
The commissioners voted not
to pay the bill until it can be de
termined why Dance was hospi
talized for such a long period of
time and why the county was
not notified during his hospitali
zation period of the situation.
Gregory will continue to re
search the matter.
Man dies in wreck
A Perquimans County man
died of injuries sustained as a
result of a head-on collision in
the Bethel community last
Thursday evening.
Darrell Lee Powell. 34. of Rt.
5, Box 376, Hertford, died in
stantly when he was struck
head-on by a 1991 Ford truck
operated by Ricky Ray Sawyer,
31, of 5L Hemlock Street, Hert
ford.
According to the report filed
by N.C. Highway Patrol trooper
Craig Garriss, Powell was riding
a bicycle traveling west on Snug
Harbor Road when Sawyer
spotted him in the center of the
road. Powell told Garris that he
swerved left to avoid contact
with Powell. Powell swerved
right, and was struck head-on.
Powell was transported to Cho
wan Hospital by the Perquimans
County Rescue Squad, where he
was pronounced dead.
Garriss said no charges were
filed in the incident because Sa
wyer was unable to avoid the
accident. There were no lights
on the bicycle operated by Pow
ell.
Jaycees set Christmas
parade for Dec. 7
The Perquimans County Jay
cees have set in motion plans
for the annual Christmas pa
rade, according to parade chair
man Phil Harris. The traditional
kick-off to the holiday season
will step off at 2 p.m. on Satur
day, Dec. 7.
The theme of this year’s pa
rade is Traditions: Christmas in
Perquimans. Cash prizes will be
awarded for first through third
place finishes in two categories:
church/civic and school. March
ing groups will receive first place
trophies in two categories: 60
and over and under 60.
“The Jaycees work hard to
organize good Christmas pa
rades each year." Harris said.
“But without participation from
people in the county, we cannot
sponsor a quality parade. We
need all groups to enter. It’s a
lot of hard work, but it's worth
it to look at the smiles on the
faces of those who come to
watch.”
The Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce co-spon
sors the parade.
Harris said numerous invita
tions have been mailed to
school, church and civic groups.
Those who do not receive them
by Oct. 15 should contact Harris
at 426-5307.
Candidates for Hertford Council square off on issues
Voters from Hertford and
Win fall will go to the polls oh
Nov. 7 to elect councilmen and
mayors in both municipalities.
Candidates are actively cam
paigning. sharing with voters
their views on the issues facing
the towns.
The Perquimans Weekly will
give each candidate a chance to
answer questions about issues
in their respective towns before
election day. This edition begins
the series with interviews with
the four candidates for the two
4-year seats on the Hertford
Town Council - Carlyn Brown.
Larry Chappell. Jesse Harris
and Billy Winslow. Candidates'
answers appear in alphabetical
order.
1. What Is the main reason
yon decided to run for office?
Brown: My reasons for run
ning are not newly found. I ran
for office four years ago and my
motivations remain unchanged.
There is simply no excuse for
putting mobile homes in resi
dential zones where they should
be excluded. There is simply no
excuse for derelict buildings re
maining a blight on our commu
nity. There is simply no excuse
for our little town having a drug
problem.
^ Chappell: I would like to see'
prosper and grow. With
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wm
Carlyn Brown
new ideas, hopefully this will
happen and no more businesses
in Perquimans County and in
town will have to close down. I
believe in supporting your local
businesses. > ’ '
Harris: My main reason for
filing for office is, as a coun
cilman, to do all I can to stop
the escalation of our property
taxes and our electric rates. I
believe these two items have hit
the zenith. They have become
too heavy a burden on our busi
nesses and our residential cus
*>.s
Larry Chappell
tomers. Fixed Income citizens
are especially getting hurt. I
would hope that my business
experience, covering some 50
years, would be of benefit as a
councilman. I have proven my
interest and concern in Hertford
by my heavy investments here
in this community. I want to do
whatever I can to help this
town, especially in the economic
sense. And those two items
above become so important in
our lives, I filed for office to
work toward lessening this fi
Jesse Harris
nancial burden on all of us.
Winslow: The reason I de
cided to run for office Is due to
the dedication and concern I
have for our town and its citi
zens. I think the next four years
will be difficult financially, with
the economy and the limited re
sources available. With my expe
rience in serving on the council
for the past 20 years and pro
jects that are In progress. I feel I
can contribute, if the people
choose to re-elect me.
2. What do you think la
Billy Winslow
the major problem the town
now faces? .
Brown: Like all small towns
and rural communities, we are
In a struggle for our very survi
val. The costs of supplying es- ^
sential services is rapidly out- f
pacing our sources of revenue. J
Hertford must manage it's bud | ;
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Please see CANDIDATES. Page 3