The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people
Festival plans progressing
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Classes offered at COA
Pages
August 17, 2000
Vol. 68, No. 33 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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PEROUIMAiMS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
Perquima
Weekly
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3 5-cents-7-
Infant playing on U.S. 17 rescued
;Child uninjured;
two cars totalled
in incident
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Loretta Sawyer still imag
ines what could have hap
pened.
The Edenton woman was
-traveling north on U.S. 17 just
across the Perquimans County
line last Thursday morning
when she spied an infant, clad
only in a diaper, happily push
ing his toy lawn mower in the
right lane of traffic.
The story had a somewhat
happy ending as Sawyer saved
Plantation
residents
keep old
addresses
Homeowners
fight E-911
change
JEREMY DESPOSITO
The Daily Advance
Plans to set up an emer
gency-911 system in
Perquimans County include
designating new locator num
bers and addresses for many
residences and businesses.
And though residents sup
port the emergency system,
%)me believe changing
Addresses is a burden on them
and the post office.
Monday, about 30 residents
from Albemarle Plantation
attended the county board of
commissioners meeting to ask
if they could keep their origi-
i5al mailing addresses along
.;f;ith the new e-911 numbers.
Residents said keeping their
f^riginal addresses would save
'time and money for both them-
'selves and the post office, A1
Gesler told commissioners.
Gesler, who is president of
the Albemarle Plantation's
Homeowners Association, said
Jteeping the original address
..means avoiding the hassle of
[changing mailing subscrip
tions, check book addresses,
billing, and other postal-relat
ed items.
By having both numbers,
Gesler said residents can avoid
all mailing changes and still be
easily located in case of emer
gency.
, Commissioners unanimous-
.1^ approved a motion to let res-
..^ents of Albemarle Plantation
.kpep their original mailing
.a^Jdresses under the condition
fhat postal officials agree.
County Manager Paul
Gregory said he notified the
post office and is waiting for a
response.
“They will check with their
supervisors to see if the sys
tem is acceptable,” he said. “If
they say yes, then (residents)
can keep (their original mail
ing addresses). If not, then
they can’t.”
The county has already
mapped out homes for e-911
Please see ADDRESS, page 9
the child from danger — at the
expense of totalling her car.
Yet, there are some elements of
the events that unfolded on
that morning that perplex and
deeply disturb the grandmoth
er.
“I saved him this time, but
who’s going to save him next
time?” she asked. “I am so
angry. It really has got the best
of me.”
Sawyer said she saw the
child about at the intersection
of US 17 and Hopewell Road.
Her first fear was that the baby
would get hit by the morning
traffic as people continued to
make their way to work at 8:15.
The speed limit is 55 miles per
hour on that stretch of high
way. A quick check of her
rearview mirror told her
another car was some distance
behind her. Trying to shield
the child with the angle of her
car until she could remove the
child from danger. Sawyer
stopped in the roadway. The
child did not fight or show any
emotion when she picked him
up.
“He was just as happy as
could be, had nothing on but a
diaper,” she said. “He was
dirty. At 8:15 in the morning,
this child was dirty.
“This child never uttered a
sound. He showed no resis
tance to being picked up by
strangers.”
Sawyer said the car she had
seen in her rearview mirror
behind her before she stopped
swerved to avoid hitting her
car.
Sawyer said her training as
an Edenton-Chowan School
System employee made her
hesitant to put the child in her
car. Employees are taught that
it can be construed as kidnap
ping to put a child into a pri
vate vehicle without parental
permission. She looked
around, but saw no adults in
sight. She knew she had to do
something.
“I had to get him out the
road. I just had to.”
In the meantime, a
Perquimans County school
bus, making first-day-of-school
rounds, pulled up to the stop
sign at Hopewell Road.
Knowing that most school
buses are equipped with some
type of communication
devices. Sawyer approached
the bus to ask the driver to call
for law enforcement. While
they were talking, the baby in
Sawyer’s arms, they heard a
tremendous crash. Another
driver had plowed her car into
Sawyer’s, totalling both vehi
cles.
Even with the crash and the
crowd that had begun to gather
at the accident site. Sawyer
said there was no activity at
the house across the four-land
highway that the little boy had
pointed to when asked where
he lived. At least one person at
the scene told Sawyer they
knew where the child lived,
and asked if Sawyer wanted
Welcome back, students!
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Squeaky clean tennis shoes, brand new book bags, the latest lunch boxes and smiling faces filled the halls in Perquimans
County schools Thursday when students traded the lazy days of summer vacation for the first day of the 2000-2001 school
year. Winfall Police Chief David Shaffer assisted with traffic control at Central School. Both school officials and Shaffer
remind motorists that the speed limit is 25 miles per hour in front of Central School when the caution lights are flashing,
and the limit is 35 at other times. Student safety is a top priority with both school officials and Shaffer. For information on
school safety committees, contact the principal at any school.
School year off to great start
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Many youth were up with
the sun last Thursday, prepar
ing for that annual rite of pas
sage, the first day of school.
It’s the day when freshmen
finally have someone lower on
the totem pole to pick on,
seniors become top dogs and
some mothers’ babies experi
ence their first day in school.
It’s a day of traffic tie-ups, new
shoes, new teachers, excite
ment about the year ahead and
fear that this year will be hard
er than last.
In Perquimans County, it
was also a day when the plan
ning and organizing that took
place all summer resulted in a
smooth first day for students
and staff
According to Perquimans
County Schools Public
Information Officer Brenda
Lassiter, no major problems
marred the first day of class
for students. Aside from a few
students who took the wrong
turns in hallways of unfamil
iar buildings, the first day of
school was business as usual.
Personnel Director Brenda
Bail said she was very pleased
that school started with no
teacher vacancies. Although
Bail had a few teachers turn in
resignations or opt not to take
positions offered just before
school started, she was able to
fill all positions in time for stu
dents to return to class.
Hertford Grammar,
Perquimans Middle and
Perquimans High schools had
open houses prior to the start
of school. Central School will
hold its open house and PTA
membership drive on Aug. 17
at 7:30 p.m.
II
Winfall truck purchase irks town’s auto dealer
Institute of
Government
said deal is legal
SUSAN R. HARRIS
editor
A Winfall automobile dealer
thinks that a recent truck pur
chase by the town’s council
reeks of conflict of interest
Johnny Webb, co-owner of
WW Motors, said the town’s
July 26 purchase of a 2000 F150
Ford truck from Courtesy Ford
in Elizabeth City is tainted.
According to a copy of the bid
for the truck, Winfall Town
Councilman Cliff Towe was
the salesman for the purchase.
Webb said that, in his opinion,
makes the transaction ques
tionable.
According to minutes from
the council’s July 12 regular
meeting, council approved
$4,000 for the purchase of a
used vehicle for the town’s
maintenance department.
Minutes from a special meet
ing held on July 24 show that
council opted instead to pur
chase a new truck from
Courtesy Ford at a cost of
$15,908.60 plus taxes and tags,
which brought the cost up to
$16,394.36.
Webb said the truck could
have been purchased from
the child returned to his resi
dence. Sawyer declined to let
go of the child, and instead
requested that social services
be contacted. Sawyer said she
was reluctant to hand the child
over to anyone except a law
enforcement officers or social
services employee.
“Finally, a man wearing a
yellow vest that said ‘police’ on
it came over and said, ‘Let me
have the boy,”’ Sawyer said.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
Tilley said a deputy he dis
patched to the scene indicated
that state DMV officer Tim
Bunch had come upon the
scene and picked up the child,
taking him to his residence.
Please see INFANT, page 9
Town to
renovate
ice plant
Plan provides
needed space,
preserves history
ANNA GOODWIN MCCARTHY
Correspondent
In their efforts to find new
space, the Hertford Town
Council has decided to restore
a part of the town’s history.
Hertford’s ice plant will be
rejuvenated to accommodate
the expanding Public Works
Department at a cost of about
$815,550.
A study that examined the
structural reliability of the ice ,
plant was presented to the
Town Council Monday night.
The author of the study,
Gerald Traub, A.I.A., said that
he thought the building should
be saved.
Traub said the roof needed
to be replaced. An addition on
the back of the ice plant had
burned in a fire, said Traub,
but the blaze did not damage
the structure of the main
building. Traub said that the
second floor of the building
should not be used.
Town Councilman Dan
Daneker asked Traub to esti
mate the cost and value of
adding a sprinkler system to
the ice plant.
Traub said that the cost of
the sprinkler system would be
about $30,000, but he said he
did not see the need for a
sprinkler system because only
Please see ICE PLANT, page 9
Capital Ford, Inc. in Raleigh on
state contract cheaper. A fax
from Capital Ford to Webb
dated Aug. 10 shows the price
of a 2000 Ford F150 to be
$14,250, about $1,600 cheaper
than the unit from Courtesy.
An informal bid sheet dated
July 24 indicates that Winfall
officials called Albemarle
Ford, Performance Chevrolet,
Biggs Pontiac, Edenton Motors
and Courtesy Ford to get
Please see TRUCK, page 9
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 92
Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 87
Low: 69
Isolated Tstorms
Saturday
High: 85
Low: 68
Partly Cloudy