September 11,1997
12 013165 10/09/1997 *C20
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 65, No. 36
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Inside
Hertford will
continue park
work with
grant
Page 3
ul
Celebrations,
happenings
Page 2
Perquimans County
an
All of Us
Community
September’s theme:
Do
Your
Best
Drug raid nets $200K in pot Local
teens
Ftt)m staff reports
High school football wasn’t the only
game in town Friday night.
The Perquimans County Sheriff’s
Department picked up 161 marijuana
plants growing outside a Parksville resi
dence, the largest amount of marijuana
under cultivation confiscated in a drug
raid in the county in quite some time.
“I know it’s the largest since I’ve been
sheriff,” said Sheriff David Lane, who was
elected in 1994. The confiscated marijuana
has an estimated street value of $225,475.
The alleged owner of the marijuana, 53-
year-old Cecil Elliott of Route 2, Box 241,
Hertford, was arrested at his mobile home
on Hurdle Town Road shortly after a sher
iff’s raid of the property began around 7
p.m. Friday.
In addition to the marijuana plants,
which were discovered growing in pots
around the mobile home and in the corn
field behind it, law enforcement officials
also confiscated one ounce of marijuana,
six half-gallons of rum, $370 in crack
cocaine and $307 in cash from inside the
Support
voiced for
mobile home.
The rum was confiscated because
officials believe Elliott was using it to
sell illegal mixed drinks from a build
ing known locally as the Cowboy
Club, which is also on the property.
Lane said the raid included state
Division of Alcoholic Beverage
Control, the state Highway Patrol, and
a canine unit borrowed from the
Elizabeth City Police Department. It
was the result of an undercover inves
tigation of Elliott’s activities that
began more than two years ago.
So far, Elliott has been charged
with possession of cocain and manu
facturing of a scheduled VI controlled
substance (marijuana), but Lane
anticipates that other charged will be
filed. Officials hope to take Elliott
before a grand jury on the additional
charges. Lane said.
Elliott has had prior drug arrests.
Lane also said that indictments will
probably be filed against other sus
pects in the case.
PHOTO COURTESY PERQUIMANS SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
Perquimans Sheriff David Lane (right),
deputies, and officials from state agencies
confiscated over $225,000 in growing mari
juana and other drugs from the home of
Cecil Elliott Friday night. The raid was the
result of a two-year investigation.
I wanta’ be like Mike
Manager,
chief have
differing
ordinances
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
It began as a request from
the Chamber of Commerce for
town support to do away with
sidewalk sales at the annual
Indian Summer Festival.
It ended with the revelation
that the police chief and town
manager had conflicting ordi
nances in the town’s ordi
nance books in their respec
tive departments.
Police chief Bennie Murphy
said the ordinance in his book
prohibits selling merchandise
on the sidewalks. But town
manager John Christensen’s
book contains an ordinance
that allows sidewalk sales as
long as they do not extend over
one-third of the width of the
sidewalk.
Hertford town attorney
Walter Edwards said he has
suggested several times that
the town recodify its ordi
nances, but no one wanted to
spend the money to do it.
Please see SALES, page 8
Murphy
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
On the even of his last day
with the department, several
people expressed dismay over
the resignation of Hertford
police chief Bennie Murphy.
“Mr. Murphy, we’re sorry
that you have done this,”
mayor John Beers said when
he announced that the town
had accepted Murphy’s resig
nation. He thanked the chief
for his service to the town.
Vice mayor Billy Winslow
followed Beers’ comments
with a motion to send Murphy
a letter of appreciation for his
service.
At the meeting’s end,
Hertford officer Ron Jacobs
stood and addressed council.
Jacobs said he did not speak
for the entire department, but
was a representative of several
of his fellow officers. He said
he hated to see the chief leave.
Please see MURPHY, page 8
Elizabeth Phelps, age 4, won third place in the Be The Next “Mikey” Contest sponsored by
The Quaker Oat Life Cereal Team. Elizabeth is the daughter of Heilford residents Mark and
Julie Stamper Phelps. The adorable red-head earned her prize with this photograph. She
appeared in The Lost Colony as Virginia Dare at age 10 weeks.
Festival kicks off Saturday with pageant
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
A very talented group of
Perquimans High School stu
dents will take the stage
Saturday night as Perquimans
County’s Indian Summer
Festival 1997 kicks off with the
Miss Indian Summer Festival
pageant. '
Pageant co-chairman
Brenda Dail said the pageant
promises to be a showcase of
local talent.
“It’s an outstanding group
of young ladies,” Dail said. “I
can assure people it’s going to
be very worth their time to
come out because the talent is
reaUy good.”
Singing, dancing and instru
mentals are among the talent
planned for the pageant.
This year, the opening pro
duction number will feature
music from the Broadway hit,
“Grease.” In addition to the
pageant contestants, the act
will include some young men.
Another highlight of the
pageant will be a performance
by Brandy Hollowell, Miss
Indian Summer Festival 1996.
Hollowell is an accomplished
performer and student of
dance. She spent much of her
summer expanding her study
of dance at Governor’s School
and master of ceremonies will
be Anna Smith and Doug
Umphlett.
The out-of-town judges will
include a former Miss
Kentucky, along with those
who are knowledgeable about
pageants and the performing
arts, Dail said.
Originally set for
Perquimans High School, the
pageant has been moved to the
middle school because the
lights in the high school audi
torium are not functioning
properly.
Admission to the pageant is
$2. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for
the 7:30 show.
with bank
hold-up
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
About two hours after
allegedly robbing
NationsBank Tuesday, two
Hertford teens were in police
custody, charged with armed
robbery.
Travis Chapman, 19, of 515
Pennsylvania Avenue, and
Clinton Jermal Oliver, 16, of
321 Market Street, were picked
up by FBI agents at Oliver’s
home and taken to police head
quarters for questioning
around noon Tuesday.
Hertford Police Chief Bennie
Murphy said that during his
interview with FBI agents
Fernandez and Sauls,
Chapman confessed that he
went to NationsBank in
Hertford with a weapon, wear
ing a stocking mask and
robbed the bank.
Chapman and Oliver were
later arrested and charged
with armed robbery under
state statute. Murphy said the
FBI will decide within the next
few days whether or not to file
federal charges against the
pair.
Murphy said the bank was
robbed at about 10 a.m.
Tuesday. Law officers received
reports that two suspects had
been seen running from the
area of the bank toward
Market Street at about that
time.
Deputy Temple and his
canine, Marco, of the
Pasquotank County Sheriffs
Department were called in to
assist local officers. The dog
hit a trail that took officers
into the vicinity of 321 Market
Street, Murphy said. Two
stocking masks were found in
a garbage can in front of the
house.
The subjects answered the
door when Fernandez
knocked. They were taken to
the police department for ques
tioning.
Murphy said an undisclosed
amount of cash was taken dur
ing the robbery. Police recov
ered $300 from Chapman at the
time he was charged. Officials
were executing the paperwork
to obtain search warrants for
Oliver’s home by mid-after
noon on Tuesday.
The robbery marked the
second time this year
NationsBank has been robbed.
The first incident was just
before closing time on Jan. 10,
when a lone, masked gunman
entered the bank and demand
ed cash. No arrest has been,
made in that case.
In addition to the FBI and
Pasquotank Sheriff’s
Department, the SBI also
helped investigate.
Outside
FILE PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Miss Indian Summer Festival 1996, Brandy Hollowell (center),
will crown her successor Saturday night at Perquimans Middle
School. She will also dance during the pageant.
for the Arts. She will also per
form during the show with
James Hurdle, a PCHS gradu
ate now attending the N.C.
School of the Arts.
At the pageant’s closing
moments, Hollowell will
crown her successor.
Miss Indian Summer
Festival is a youth ambassador
for the Chamber of Commerce.
She makes appearances at the
festival and the Christmas
parade on behalf of the
Chamber.
Returning to be the mistress
M
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