The ONLY NEWSPAPER FOR AND ABOUT PERQUIMANS CoUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Saimmage starts gridiron action
Page 7
Swindell participates in pageant
Rage 3
Aging with Gusto planned
Page 5
The
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Perquimans
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Vol. 68, No. 32 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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power outage burns up AC unit at school office
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Many in county
r without power
Monday
: afternoon
^ SUSAN R. HARRIS
*» »
Editor
^^..Perquimans County Schools
§litral office personnel
tWred their offices Mor^day
J^ernoon when smoke filled.;
th^building.
; ;Sphools Public Information
Pfficer Brenda Lassiter said
firefighters were called just
after 4 p.m. Monday and
arrived to find the building
filled with smoke. Firefighters
used vans to vent the building.
A search of the building
after the smoke was cleared
determined that the motor on
an air conditioning unit in the
building’s attic had burned up,
causing the intense smoke to
fill the building.
Lassiter said officials
believe the problem was
caused by power surges that
rippled through towii when a
North Carolina Power jumper
burned up. The school board
office, like most of the town of
Hertford and some areas of the
county, experienced a brief
power outage. The brief power
outage, coupled with low volt
age, sometimes called a brown
out, probably caused the air
conditioner motor to burn.
There were no flames and no
injuries reported, Lassiter
said.
Lassiter said all the comput
ers were operating smoothly
Tuesday morning, with no
problems apparent as a result
of the fire.
“We were very fortunate,
especially with school starting
Thursday,” Lassiter said. “We
were very happy when our
computers were turned on this
morning and everything was
running fine.”
The town of Hertford was
without power for about 1 1/2
hours, according to Town
Manager John Christensen.
Christensen said North
Carolina Power, whose lines
supply electrical current to the
town, lost one phase of a three-
phase power system.
Christensen said some town
electric customers experienced
a low voltage situation before
the power went off completely.
while some did not. He said
that is because of the way the
electricity is routed and bal
anced through the power lines.
N.C. Power immediately
sent crews to town, and rerout
ed the distribution system to
bring electricity into the town
from the south, rather than its
usual northerly entry.
Christensen said he was not
sure of the cause of the prob
lem. He added that it could
have been caused by a tree
limb on a line or a heavy load.
Some Albemarle EMC cus
tomers also experienced, out
ages, according to Bradley V
Perquimans Schools
aim even higher
OLhst Thursday they cele
brated their exemplary status
and set out to become schools
of distinction in 2000-2001.
; Perquimans County Schools
official kicked off the new
school year last Thursday with
the annual Opening Day
Convocation. During the pro-
. gram. Superintendent Gregory
Todd announced that all four
county schools earned exem
plary status under the ABC’s
accountability program crite
ria for the second consecutive
year. The ABC’s of Public
Education is a comprehensive
plan to improve public schools
that is based on three goals of
strong accountability: an
emphasis on the basics, high
educational standards, and
local control of schools.
Todd credited administra-
tOrj, teachers, support staff,
parents and students for con
tinued improvement in the
spl^ools and encouraged staff
fe-continue to move forward,
ipake^ adjustments and
improve. He added that the
&oal for the coming year
should be to move to the level
of Schools of Distinction,
meaning that at least 80 per
cent of the system’s K-8 stu
dents perform at or above
grade level on end-of-grade
tests, and that high school stu
dents perform at proficiency or
above.
“Success is a choice,” Todd
said. “As we begin this school
year, let’s choose to succeed,
let’s choose to help those
around us succeed, adn let’s
choose to help our students
succeed.”
The ABC’s model recognizes
both growth in student
achievement and the percent
age of students performing at
grade level or proficiency
level. Each K-8 school has a
goal for student achievement
that is set by the state and is
based on average growth
statewide and previous year’s
experiences.
A total of 69.8 percent of stu
dents in grads three through
eight scored at or above grade
level in reading and math
statewide. In Perquimans,
Hertford Grammar students
had a composite score of 70.50,
while the middle school’s com
posite was 76.40. The high
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans County Schools staff is back at work preparing for Thursday's return of students.
Teachers from Hertford Grammar School (above) attended a workshop on assisting students
to become higher-level thinkers through playing chess. Perquimans Central School teachers
Lisa Hollowell and Lynn Woodell (bottom left) attend a workshop on peer coaching. Peer
coaching is a technique of evaluation implemented in the school system. Judge J.C. Cole
(below right) enjoys a light moment during the Opening Day Convocation for Perquimans
County Schools.
school’s composite socre was
66.30.
The exemplary designation
means school staff will receive
bonuses.
September weekend filled with ALS fund raisers
^ September 22-24 will be a big
;weekend for the Jim “Catfish”
Hunter ALS Foundation.
The 2000 Jim “Catfish”
Hunter ALS Softball
iTournament is set for
> :Friday—Sunday at the
:Perquimans County Athletic
:Fields in Winfall. On Saturday,
thn ALS Association, North
Carolina Chapter will sponsor
an ALS walk in Hertford.
The men’s softball tourna
ment, introduced last
September, was a hit — espe
cially the game pitting a
WVEC TV team against a team
composed of Hunter’s extend
ed family. According to Joan
Rountree, Hunter’s niece and
one of the event’s organizers,
the two teams will face off
again during the tournament.
Rountree said donations of
baked goods or other items for
sale in the concessions stand
are being accepted. Call
Rountree at 357-0597 for more
information on donations.
Registration-for the softball
tournament is $200 per team
and each team must provide
balls. Teams can register at the
Perquimans County
Recreation Department or by
calling Guy Webb at 426-5695.
The department is providing
organizational assistance for
the tournament.
The 3-mile walk, the first
sponsored by the ALS
Association in North Carolina,
will begin at the Perquimans
County High School baseball
field. Registration will begin at
8 a.m., with the walk starting
at 9 a.m.
A portion of the proceeds
from the walk will fund
research. The Hunter ALS
Foundation will help make the
decision on what project(s)
Furr, Manager of Technical
Services. The EMC outage,
which was also attributable to
N.C. Power problems, lasted for
about an hour, he said. It affect
ed about 1822 customers.
Furr said N.C. Power had a
jumper burn open that feeds
Albemarle EMC’s Burgess sub
station. The Burgess substa
tion feeds the Albemarle
Plantation, Holiday Island and
Snug Harbor communities in
the southern end of the county.
EMC de-energized the Burgess
station to prevent unnecessary
damage to its customer’s appli
ances.
Fowl tests
positive
for FEE
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
A chicken in a Perquimans
County sentinel flock tested
positive for eastern equine
encephalitis.
Albemarle Regional Health
Services Health Education
Supervisor Jill Jordan said
Monday that the flock is on the
Bethel farm of Walker and
Majorie Rayburn. The flock is
part of a state program that
put flocks in 28 counties for
testing purposes. The blood of
each bird is tested every two
weeks for a number of mos
quito-borne viruses, Jordan
said. One bird in the flock test
ed positive for eastern equine
encephalitis, also known as
triple E, at the last testing.
Jordan said there have been
no documented cases of
humans in the county con
tracting triple E.
In response to the latest
case of triple E, Perquimans
County, in conjunction with
Albemarle Regional Health
Services, sprayed by truck for
mosquitoes in Albemarle
Plantation, Snug Harbor,
Holiday Island, and the sur
rounding communities
Monday and Tuesday.
Spraying will continue based
on mosquito population docu
mented by landing counts in
higher density population
areas. Health officials said res
idents should remain indoors
during hours of spraying.
Jordan said triple E can be
passed to humans through
mosquitoes, but the disease is
not passed through the meat of
an infected bird if the bird is
eaten.
For questions about triple
E, contact Environmental
Health Services at 338-4490.
gets funded with the proceeds.
Applications for walk par
ticipation are available at
Woodard’s Pharmacy and The
Perquimans Weekly, and by
contacting Leah Robertson at
426-3043 or Kim Hunter-Layne
at 426-1559.
For information about ALS
or the Jim “Catfish” Hunter
ALS Foundation, log on to cat-
fishhunterals.org.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
Hioh: 92
Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 87
Low: 69
ISOLATID TSTORMI
Saturday
High: 85
Low: 88
Partly Cloudy