THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 62, No. 9
Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, March 11, 1993
35 Cents
Sports: WP ’ ■’*“
Varsity Pirates fall in
conference tourney, look
to state play-offs: Page e
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|FHA/HERO members
take regional competition
by storm: Page 7
* . '
2020 group
gets state
grant
' •' The Perquimans 2020 Vision
Coalition is one step closer to
taking the county successfully
into me 21st century.
The group received a $25,000
grant from the N.C. Rural Eco
nomic Development Center to
staff the county’s long-term eco
nomic development initiative.
’ The coalition is seeking a
Coordinator to assist the coalition
and its committees as they strive
to find ways to make Perquimans
County a better place to live and
work.
> The coalition produced a plan
earlier this year which outlines
steps that can be taken to
strengthen the county. Areas dis
cussed in the {dan incude com
munity services development,
agricultural and industrial devel
opment, infrastructure, human
services and tourism.
The plan is the result of
many hours of work fay a diverse
group of county residents. Initial
goals set call for specific steps to
be taken over a five-year period
to improve the economic and so
cial opportunities in the county.
' A copy of the plan is avail
■ able for review at The Perqui
mans Weekly office.
Schools
commended
for facilities
needs study
It’s not often that people get
complimented for putting in writ
ing that they need over $11 mil
lion, but it happened to the
Perquimans County School sys
tem.
Schools superintendent Ran
dall L. Henlon received a letter
from the state Department of
Public Instruction commending
administrators and the school
board for presenting an out
standing schools facilities needs
update to the state.
"Superintendent Henion. I
commend you, your Board of Ed
ucation. and staff for a ’job well
«done,’ ” R Mltchel Tyler, School
- Planning Consultant, said in .his
- letter last month. Tour plan re
• fleets long hours of careful plan
ning and evaluation of existing
^facilities in reference to addi
- tions, and renovations, as well as
planning for new facilities.’’
The board sent a plan com
p’iled by HBA Architects, the firm
; that was contracted by the board
; to handle the middle school ren
•ovation project. HBA studied
Igdsting facilities, looked at pro
jected needs for the future and
talked with administrators and
staff before committing plans to
paper.
The school system paid HBA
almost $10,000 for the study.
Henion told board members
when recommending such a de
tailed study that he felt a com
prehensive plan would help
Perquimans County be ready to
seek state, federal and private
.funds for school improvement, if
tiny funds become available.
The local plan calls for tbe
construction of a new school at
the present Central School site at
a cost of over $5.7 million. Addi
tions and renovations at the
county’s other schools totalled i
over $4.3 million.
The plan included air condi
tioning all die schools, equip
! ment and technology updates.
' ; According to Superintendent
of Public Instruction Bob Ether
idge, the state’s 128 school sys
tems turned in plans totalling
$5.6 billion.
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Working on water
The changing weather over the past few weeks has provided
sharp contrasts for workers building the high-rise bridge
over the Perquimans River. Beautiful sun-filled days have fi
nally wedged themselves between thi cold, rain and ice that
made working high above the water a challenge for the con
struction crew. (Photo by Vallerle Stevenson)
Propane truck hits ditch in Beech Springs
A propane gais truck slid
into a ditch on Beech Springs
Road Thursday afternoon.
The truck, owned by Reed
Oil Company and driven by Jo
seph Mark Chappell, 31, of Bel
vldere, had just turned off of
Center Hill Highway onto Beech
Springs Road at around 1:15
p.m. Chappell told N.C. High
way Patrol Trooper D.C. Garriss
that he met a vehicle traveling
south which appeared to be
coming into Chappell’s lane.
Chappell, who waa traveling at a
slow rate of speed, according to
Garriss, steered to the right to
avoid colliding with the oncom
ing vehicle.
The propane truck hit the
shoulder of the road, which was
wet, causing it to slide into the
ditch. .
No one was injured in the
accident
The Hertford Fire Depart
ment was called to the scene, .
assisted with traffic control and
sprayed down the roadway after
the truck was pulled from the
ditch. The Perquimans County
Sheriffs Department also re
sponded to the call.
■ The truck sustained an estl-'
mated $5,000 in damages. No ci
tations were issued. ; i
No one was injured when this propane gas
truck owned by Reed Oil Company slid into a
ditch on Beech Springs Road Thursday shortly
after 1 p.m. Joseph Mark Chappell, driver of
the truck, said he swerved right to avoid an
oncoming car and slid into the ditch due to the
wet road shoulder. (Photo by Susan Harris)
Children especially enjoyed story hour at the Perquimans
County Liblrary on Halloween. They were invited to dress up
and were met by librarian Shelley Feam In her holiday attire.
Programs like these make the library a tun place where chiF
dren like to visit Feam hopes these programs will encourage
library use and reading throughout the participants’ lives. (Fih
Library begins new
program aimed at kids
On March 15, the Perqui
mans County Library will begin
redeeming “Reading — The Best
Start” coupons. Available to par
ents of any Perquimans County
child newborn through 3 years of
agq. these coupons entitle the
mild to a “welcome” library bag
containing Information bro
chures about parenting, the li
brary, and the county, as well as
a picture book to take home and
enjoy. The coupons are available
at the Perquimans County De
partment or Social Services, the
Health Department, the Perqui
mans County Schools Central
Office, the maternity wards of the
area hospitals, and the library.
“Reading - The Best Start” is
a project jointly sponsored by the
Perquimans County library and
the Perquimans County Intera
gency Council. The picture books
were purchased with funds made
available through an LSCA Youth
Mini Grant from the North Caro
lina State library, a division of
the North Carolina Department
of Cultural Resources.
An experimental program, it
is hoped that the gilt of the li
brary bags will encourage both
library use by new parents and
an emphasis on reading to very
young children, the program
was also designed to facilities
the meeting ortargeted goals of
the early education ana adult
literacy facets of Perquimans
2000. a local educational reform
study group.
The library has enjoyed suc
cess with Its Mother Goose
Time, an innovative language
development and enrichment
program for young children.
Story time 'Is another children’s
offering sponsored by the library
each week. A six-week hands-on
science program for elementary
school children was held this
winter.
Task force
operations
dent drug
traffic
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Several northeastern North
Carolina drug dealers have run
into a few snags doing business
thanks to the Northeast Regional
Drug Task Force.
In its first eight months of op
eration. the task force has ar
rested 176 persons and charged
them with 349 counts of drug vio
lations, and seized an estimated
$288,345 in controlled sub
stances, according to a report
sent to task force board members
by task force supervisor Lt. J.P.
Tade.
Tade reported that 174 cases
have been initiated by the group
since its formation. Four cases
are pending.
Charges include:
•Possession with the intent to
sell and deliver cocaine -135
Possession of cocaine - 111
Conspiracy to sell and deliver
cocaine - 28
Trafficking cocaine - 21
Maintaining a vehicle for the
purpose of selling/delivering a
controlled substance - 14
Possession of drug par
aphemalia - 13
Possession of marijuana - 8
Possession with the intent to
sell and deliver marijuana - 8
Maintaining a dwelling for the
purpose of selling a controlled
substance - 4
Manufacturing marijuana - 2
Possession of heroin - 2
CCW-2
Possession with the intent to
sell and deliver LSD - 1
The arrests resulted in the
seizure of 637.8 grams of crack
cocaine, 368 grams of cocaine,
119 grams of marijuana, 77 mari
juana plants, 41 doses of LSD
and one gram of heroin.
In addition, four vehicles va
lued at $36,000, $38,323.81 in
cash, 11 firearms, a cellular
phone, assorted drug parapher
nalia, marijuana growing equip
ment, 40 pornographic tapes and
a liquor still were confiscated.
Fifty of the drug charges in
volved Hertford residents.
The Hertford Police Depart
ment joined the Elizabeth City Po
lice Department. Pasquotank
County Sheriffs Department and
Camden County Sheriffs Depart
ment in the task force.
Bus wreck
injures 19
The excitement of competing
at the Odyssey of the Mind Re
gional Competition turned to anx
iety for a group of Dare County
students.
The bus in which they were
traveling overturned on U.S.
Highway 17 Just outside of Hert
ford around 7:20 a.m. Saturday.
Injuring 19 of the 20 passengers
on board.
The bus, owned by Dare
County Schools and driven by
Patricia Brown Johnson, 49. of
Kill Devil Hills, was travelling
south on U.S. 17 By-pass near
the Orchard Shop when it fan off
of the roadway onto the right
shoulder, skidded and over
turned. Hie bus endec! up on its
side in the road.
Law enforcement officials,
Perquimans County Rescue
Squad personnel and Hertford
firefighters responded to the acci
dent, and got the passengers out
through the emergency exit. Some
of those injured were treated at
local hospitals and released. Oth
ers. sources said, were taken to
the home of a Perquimans County
teacher to wait to be picked up.
Damages to the bus were esti
mated at $2,000. No citations
were issued. N.C. Highway Patrol
Trooper C.T. Griffin investigated