February 8,
01'?165 06/17/19-9 6 20
PERUUIrlAMS COUNTY
110 iv ACADE''1Y ST
HERTFORD nC 27944
library
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 64, No. 6
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Storm pounds Perquimans
Filing
period
closes
All local
races are
contested
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The filing period for
the May 7 primary closed
Monday at noon, and
Perquimans voters will
have to make choices in
the voting booth in 1996.
All local races are con
tested.
Running for three
available school board
seats are Cathy
Terranova, Helen Shaw,
Thomas L. Riddick Sr.,
Kathy Keefe, and
Wallace Nelson. The
three top finishes in the
May 7 primary will be
declared the winners and
will be seated in July.
The seats are present
ly held by L. Wayne
Howell, Ben Hobbs, and
Wallace Nelson. Neither
Howell nor Hobbs opted
to seek re-election. Shaw
sat on the board briefly
when she was appointed
to hold the seat created
by the 1994 county elec
toral system revision.
She did not run in 1994.
Terranova has run for
school board before, both
under the old and new
systems. Keefe and
Riddick are political
newcomers.
While Howell will not
ask voters to put him
back on the school board,
he has filed as a
Democrat for a seat on
the board of commission
ers. He joins Democratic
incumbents Archie
Miller and Shirley Yates
and former board chair
man Leo Higgins.
Another name will
appear on the board bal
lot, if Bert Hays and the
Republican Party can get
4 percent of the county’s
registered voters to sign
a petition allowing Hays
to run as an unaffiliated
candidate. Hays said
Friday he had changed
his party affiliation to
Republican, but did not
change in time to run as
a Republican candidate.
A successful petition
drive will allow him to
run unaffiliated. Hays
said he is a conservative
candidate who does have
the support of the local
Republican Party.
For Register of Deeds,
incumbent Deborah S.
Reed will face challenger
Gregory Barclift.
Ice, snow, frigid
temperatures
settle in for days
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans’ majestic pines
bowed their ice-laden branch
es in defeat, as a fierce winter
storm pounded the Albemarle
this weekend.
The first sign of trouble
came Friday morning, when
the Perquimans County
Schools opened two hours late,
the result of icy road condi
tions caused by low tempera
tures and freezing rain during
the night. Students were also
released early, as icy rain con
tinued to fall and both
Perquimans High School and
Hertford Grammar School lost
electric power at about 12:15
p.m.
The power outage occured
all over the town of Hertford,
according to utilities officials.
A tree limb fell across the
main line from North Carolina
Power, leaving all Hertford
electric customers in the dark
for about two hours. Utilities
director Parker Newbern said
there were scattered outages
throughout the weekend
caused by tree limbs and ice
on the town’s lines, but no
major power lines were dam
aged.
“We’ve been fortunate so
far,” Newbern said Monday.
“No major lines have gone
down.”
Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation
V
>. > ,
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Perquimans looked like a crystal wonderland
all weekend, with ice coating tree limbs.
Children enjo||ed playing in the snow, but utili
ties officials and road crews weren’t so happy
wth the long hours they had to work to restore
power and make roads passable.
crews were also out all week
end. At the height of the storm,
over 3,000 AEMC customers
were without power. EMC
General Manager Dorris B.
White said Monday that all
service was restored by
Saturday at midnight.
“We just think our men did
a great job (restoring power so
quickly),” i^ite said. “We feel
that we were real fortunate.”
White said work crews were
out cleaning up Monday.
North Carolina Power cus
tomers fared worst in
Perquimans, with some power
not restored until late Sunday
or early Monday.
Friday morning’s ice was
just the beginning, as frozen
rain pelted down late Friday
evening and early Saturday
morning. Some snow fell dur
ing Saturday’s early morning
hours. Snow showered the
county off and on all day
Sunday. About five or six inch
es of precipitation landed on
the county.
Temperatures dipped into
the single digits Sunday night
and Monday. Forecasters did
not expect it to get above freez
ing until Tuesday.
Motorists were advised to
stay at home unless they
absolutely had to travel.
Some businesses in
Hertford closed early Friday
after losing current.
Schools were cancelled
again Tuesday due to treacher
ous road conditions. While the
main thoroughfares were not
dangerous, many secondary
roads were covered with a
thick sheet of snow-covered ice
Tuesday morning. Schools
superintendent Randall L.
Henion said Monday that stu-
Activities
cancelled,
rescheduled
The weekend storm
cancelled or postponed
several activities
throughout the county.
Some program directors
called in Monday with
reschedule dates.
Recreation League
Games: Saturday, Feb.
10: Midget boys - Feb. 19
at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.;
Mites - Feb. 17 at noon
and 1 p.m.; Girls - Feb. 10
at 3 p.m.; Juniors - Feb.
10 at 4 p.m.. Monday,
Feb. 5 games: To be
announced. Local tour
nament cancelled to
allow for make-up games.
Library: Nature pro
gram set for Feb. 3 will
be held on Feb. 24 at 10
a.m.
NAACP Youth:
Program scheduled for
Feb. 5 cancelled and not
rescheduled.
Court: All courts in
Perquimans County can
celled for the week.
Schools: Make-up
dates for classes and ath
letic events will be
rescheduled.
dents would not return to
classes until officials felt there
was no danger to any student
travelling on a bus.
Hertford Rotary Club
spearheads project
County complies with ADA
Using local
resources is
focus of program
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Using local resources to
enhance the community is the
focus of a new program com
ing to Perquimans County.
Spearheaded by the
Hertford Rotary Club, the
Perquimans Resources Project
has gained support and assis
tance from the Perquimans
County school and public
library systems.
The basic premise of the
Resources Project is neighbor
helping neighbor, according to
Rotarian Jack Taylor. By iden
tifying county residents with
skills and knowledge in specif
ic areas and making a
resources list available, busi
nesses, schools and civic
groups would be able to access
previously untapped local
resources.
According to Taylor, an
Albemarle Plantation resident,
the idea of composing a list of
local resource people was actu
ally sparked by Rotary mem
bers who were charged with
getting speakers for the club’s
weekly meetings. Members
knew there were those in the
community with knowledge to
share, but finding those people
was sometimes difficult. With
a resources list. Rotary mem
bers believed any group or
agency needing information in
a specific subject area could
receive assistance. Thus, the
Perquimans Resources Project
was born.
Taylor said both the schools
and the library are very inter
ested in the project. An infor
mal partnership was formed
between the groups. The
Rotary Club is the lead agency.
and supports the undertaking
financially. The public agen
cies have provided in-kind ser
vice support and materials.
Those willing to participate
in the project might be asked
to speak at a school to share
their experience in a particu
lar field with students interest
ed in pursuing a career in that
field. Or, resources partici
pants with a skill in a techni
cal area might be asked to
assist a business in upgrading
technology. A civic group
interested in learning more
about a topic such as recycling
could find someone with a
background in that area to
come and speak at a meeting.
Resource people could be
asked to help by speaking with
a group or individual consulta
tion. All services would be pro
vided by resources volunteers
at no cost.
County residents interested
in sharing their skills and
knowledge with others should
call Taylor at 426-1012 or Jeri
Oilman at the library at 426-
5319. Participation forms are
available at the library.
Emergency
services for deaf
in place
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Perquimans County was
ahead of the game when U.S.
Attorney Janice Cole remind
ed all 911 and emergency ser
vices in the state’s Eastern
District of their legal obliga
tions to comply with the
Americans with Disabilities
Act.
Cole specifically said that
under Title H of the ADA,
counties and towns must pro
vide direct access to individu
als who use TDDs, or telecom
munications devices for the
deaf. TDDs allow those who
are deaf, hard of hearing or
speech impaired to communi
cate by telephone. The TDD
user types his or her message,
which is read on a display by
the TDD user on the other end
of the line. Both the caller and
the emergency services center
must have TDDs in order for
the system to work. Often,
Cole stated in a news release,
911 centers do not have TDDs
or trained personnel who
know how to recognize and
respond to TDD calls.
Perquimans County does
not fall into that category.
According to Homeria
Jennette, Perquimans
County’s chief dispatcher, her
department has owned a TDD
for several years. Although
Jennette said she had never
had occasion to use the equip
ment, it is tested each month
to ensure that if it is ever need
ed, it wlU. be in working condi
tion.
Jennette said the TDD looks
similar to an adding machine.
She estimated the cost at $200-
300.
Cole’s contact with emer
gency services departments is
part of Attorney General Janet
Reno’s national campaign to
educate Americans about their
rights and obligations under
the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
For information about the
ADA, call the toll-free ADA
information line at 800-514-0301
(voice) or 800-514-0383 (TDD).
Callers may access recorded
information any time or speak
with an ADA specialist
Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
(EST), except Thursday, when
hours are 1-6 p.m.
Board split on grant application support
Outside
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The Perquimans County
Commissioners gave their
blessing to some projects
Monday, but denied other
requests when they met in reg
ular session Monday.
The board approved sending
a letter of support to the state
for a proposed business incu
bator grant being written by
Perquimans 2020 Vision
Coalition after a lengthy
debate, sometimes heated
between commisisoner
Charles Ward and Economic
Development Director Robert
Baker.
Ward scoffed at Baker’s
statements that the county
would not have to put cash
funds into the project. Baker
said the only request from the
county would be a parcel of
land in the Perquimans
Commerce Centre on which to
construct a building. The
building and the first two
years of operating costs would
come from grant funds. Baker
said.
The county did not support
a request from the
Perquimans County Schools
for a grant from the
Governor’s Crime
Commission to help at-risk
youth. County manager Paul
Gregory said his office has
been burdened with adminis
trative duties for grants that
are not requested by the coun
ty, but which by law must be
administered financially by
the county. Gregory said his
staff was not large enough to
oversee the programs’
finances. Gregory said if his
signature on program docu
ments indicated his guarantee
that the program funds were
being properly handled by the
agencies to whom the funds
were granted, he was not in
favor of the county approving
any additional applications.
The board denied its sup
port to the program.
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