Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Feb. 17, 2000, edition 1 / Page 1
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; The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its peopi I’^onuiMANS county Fall All-Conference picks page? Central provides resources pages Activities for kids pages The acadfhy si liO w •'•7944 HERTFORD NC - Perquimans February 17, 2000 Vol. 68, No. 7 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 FEB 1 6 2000 [OtS^GOTrOI 35 cents Gas tanker overturns on Ballahack Road No leakage reported, but road closed for 7 hours SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor and JEREMY DESPOSITO The Daily Advance A tractor-trailer carrying 9,700 gallons of liquid petrole um rolled over on its side last Wednesday, after the shoulder of the road gave way under the rear tires. No leakage occurred, according to Hertford Fire Chief Bob Reed. However, the accident caused the closure of Ballahack Road for seven hours, and kept emergency personnel on the scene because of the constant danger the truck posed. State Trooper W.D. Shepherd said the truck was imoccupied when the shoulder gave way around 11:40 a.m. The load wasn’t scooped back on its wheels until around 7 p.m., he said. “the truck was parked part ly in the road and partly in the driveway,” Shepherd said. “The driver was having prob lems backing the truck into the driveway. When the shoulder gave way, he was standing out side the vehicle. We closed down the road because of the material it was carrying.” Amerigas employees tried to transfer the load to another truck to make it easier to pull the trailer up, but only about 10 percent of the 9,700 gallons were able to be transferred |.'?i % t'T'i ■ ■-- Stef. t 'V \ *h. 1 f 'I -V'5* Daily Advance photo An Amerigas propane truck lies on its side on Ballahack Road last Wednesday after flipping over while trying to back into a propane station. The driver wasn't hurt and no propane leaked from the truck, a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper said. while the trailer was in the ditch. Shepherd said. “They used air bags and wreckers to set it up right, to keep it from tearing,” he con tinued. “’’(The air bags) set the truck up nice, slow and easy.” Reed said the emergency personnel and Amerigas stor age facility were in constant danger from the time the truck overturned until it was uprighted and the area cleared. “It was a pretty volatile situ ation,” he said. “The biggest danger was a possible fire.” Upon arrival, Reed and other emergency personnel assessed the situation, estab lished a command post and called county Emergency Management Coordinator Walter Meads. Reed said the most immediate danger was that of a possible fire if there was a leak or a spark from any source. Not only was there gas in the overturned truck, but at the storage facility there were two 30,000-gallon LP storage tanks. He said had the tank exploded it would have been “like a bomb drop.” Reed said after assessment, the first steps taken included notifying North Carolina Power to cut its electrical power to the area to do away with that source of ignition, closing the area to traffic, and evacuating Southern States and three homes considered in the danger zone. Personnel determined that there was no gas leak; however, Reed said the truck was care-* fully monitored. The chief, who is also an employee of Reed Oil Company and there fore works with gas equipment every day, said gas trucks have relief valves to release tension, especially in warm weather when the gas begins to expand. Gas escaping through those release valves was also a dan ger. To help defuse that situa tion, Reed said firefighters put water on the overturned gas tanker to try to cool the surface and keep the gas from heating up. Firefighters continued to monitor the situation as they, waited for the air bags to help: upright the truck to arrive from Plymouth. Uprighting the truck was especially dangerous, Reed said. A spark from the metal of the overturned truck hitting metal on the rescue equipment, could have sent a huge cloud oP fire into the air. Reed said fire'- fighters set up automatic equipment to spray the water when the truck was actually moved. The equipment allowed the firefighters to move further away from the scene while still providing a quick source of water in case of fire. Joining Hertford firefight ers and the highway patrol on the scene was the Perquimans Sheriff’s Department, the Winfall and Bethel fire depart ments, Perquimans EMS and Rescue Squad, NCDMV and state emergency management personnel. Reed said several local businesses donated food and drinks to the responders. Pritchard is local Principal of Year Officials: Accurate census count critical to county PCHS leader will represent Perquimans in regional finals PCHS principal Elaine Pritchard will represent Perquimans County Schools in the regional round of the -Wachovia Principal of the Year competition this week. Pritchard was named Perquimans County Schools’ Principal of the Year by the school board. The principal at the high school since 1994, Pritchard has served in several capaci ties in education since begin ning her career as a seventh grade language arts teacher at Hertford Grammar School in 1970. She has served as assis tant principal, guidance coim- selor, vocational counselor, librarian, and teacher of soci ology and language arts. Several innovative pro grams have been implemented at Perquimans High School during her tenure. These pro grams include the Responsible Classroom Management Discipline Program; Safe Schools procedures implemen tation including hiring a secu rity guard/resource officer, obtaining walkie-talkies to allow staff to communicate across campus, obtaining a walk-through metal detector, and installing TV cameras; Back to Business for teachers which puts teachers at job sites to see what skUls and knowl edge employers expect from employees; adopting Individual Growth Plans for aU staff to support professional development; and implement ing the ABLE Learners Program, programs for at-risk students. Alternative Teacher Evaluation Program/Peer Coaching Project, senior pro jects, and the accelerated read er program. Pritchard said her leader ship style is a relationship and everyone has a job to do. “By assessing human and material resources effectively and by empowering others, I work to generate ownership of school issues, foster success and stimulate motivation to match our school’s vision,” she wrote in her Wachovia Principal of the Year portfolio. “By setting high expectations for myself first and then for my staff and students, I set the foundation for continuous growth and improvement.” Pritchard wrote that high expectations and the team con cept are critical in the effective operation of a school. “In addition to high expecta tions, the team concept is also a critical component of this job, for a successful school is built on everyone’s working together to fulfill the shared vision of the school. The prin cipal, as leader, is critical in not only keeping everyone’s Elaine Pritchard focus on the school’s vision, but also in establishing an atmosphere and working rela tionship where the staff and the community cooperatively join together to fulfill the school’s vision of meeting the needs of all our students.” The principal also said that celebrating staff and student successes help encourage everyone to do their best, and is an important component of a successful school. Pritchard and her staff have worked diligently over the last two years to strengthen cur riculum and raise expectations in order to improve student achievement. During the 1997- 98 school year, the state end-of- course test scores indicated that student achievement was not at expected level. State ABC data released at the end of last school year revealed that the school had made exem plary growth. Pritchard attrib utes the improvement to hard work by staff and students, along with parental support. SUSAN R. HARRIS Editor County manager Paul Gregory has stated repeatedly since the 1990 census that he does not believe the county’s population was accurately measured then, and that the low count has probably cost the county some money Gregory said there are fed eral and state grant and other programs funded based on pop ulation. If everyone in a coim- ty is not counted in the census, the county’s share of these funds is affected. County commissioner Evelyn Stubbins is hard at work getting the word to every corner of Perquimans about participating in the census. She organized an initial infor mational meeting last Tuesday at the Albemarle Commission building. To the meeting, she invited representatives from aU communities in the county to help spread the word about the importance of the census. Although other counties are ahead of Perquimans in the census process, Gregory said starting too early may cause residents to lose interest. Forms wiU be sent out some time in March, he said. Stubbins said information she has received indicates that people who live in the city lim its of Hertford and WinfaU wiU receive forms in the mail, while those in rural areas may not. Enumerators will be going door-to-door in late March and early April to make sure every one has been counted. There are two tjrpes of forms, a short form and a long form. The short form, Stubbins said, takes about 10 minutes to complete; the long form, about 45 minutes. Both ask name, address, number in household and ages. The long form, which will be received by an estimat ed one in six households, also asks questions about each indi vidual in the household, including marital status, level of education, military back ground, employment informa tion, housing information and property values. Employment information requested on the long form includes job duties, in what type of business or industry the individual is employed, work history and income. Housing information requested includes whether the individual owns or rents a home and the amount paid for housing. Stubbins said information provided to enumerators and on census forms is confiden tial. She said enumerators are sworn not to reveal any infor mation and if convicted of sharing information, face a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. In addition, eniunerators cannot report anything they witness in the course of their interviews to anyone, not even the police. As an example, she said if an enumerator enters a dwelling and sees drugs spread out on a table, the envimerator cannot report what he or she sees to law enforcement offi cers. Also, no other government agency can get individual information from the Census Bureau. Only composite data is available. ■ Stubbins said it is hopeti that in addition to mail ani door-to-door enumerators, the county c£m set up sites where people can go to get help filling out census forms. Those interested in becom ing enumerators should call 1- 888-325-7733. A test is required. Weekend Weather Thursday High: 50s Lowe 40s Partly Cloudy Friday High: 60s Lowe 40s Partly Cloudy Saturday High: 60s Low; 40s Chance of Rain
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Feb. 17, 2000, edition 1
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