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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRAFt
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SfC 12 2001
Perquimans
December 12, 2001
Vol. 69, No. 51 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
35 cents
Cole considers congressional bid
Ex-prosecutor
may run for
Clayton’s seat
ROBERT SHILES
The Daily Advance
Janice McKenzie Cole, a
former U.S. attorney and
the first black woman to be
elected a judge in the 1st
Judicial District, may run
for the U.S. Congress.
Cole, a Perquimans
County resident, said
Friday that she has formed
a committee to explore the
feasibility of running for
the 1st Congressional
District seat now held by
Rep. Eva Clayton of
Warrenton.
Clayton, a D-N.C.,
announced last month that
she will not seek another
term.
Since her announce
ment, the names of several
potential candidates for the
1st District seat have sur
faced, the most prominent
being state Senate Deputy
President Pro Tern Frank
Ballance.
Ballance, who chaired
Clayton’s 2000 re-election
campaign and managed
two of her other cam
paigns, is expected to
announce this morning in
Rocky Mount that he will
be a candidate for Clayton’s
seat.
Cole must run for the 1st
District seat, instead of the
3rd District seat now held
by Walter Jones Jr.,
because recent redistrict
ing of congressional dis
tricts has moved
Perquimans County from
the 3rd to the 1st District.
The move means Cole
must give up the chairman
ship of the 3rd District’s
Democratic Party, a posi
tion she was elected to ear
lier this year.
Asked why she was set
ting up an exploratory com
mittee, Cole said Friday
that “I want to make sure
that I have the support at
the right corners of the
state and the ability to raise
money.”
“If I decide to run, I want
it to be an informed deci
sion,” she said. “When 1
ask people to vote for me, I
want them to feel confident
that I am a strong and
viable candidate.”
Cole believes‘she can be
a strong candidate and
muster support from across
the 1st Congressional
District. Since Clayton
announced her retirement,
citizens from across the
district have asked her to
consider running for
Congress, Cole said. She
has been “humbled,” she
said, by the number who
said they believed a seat in
Congress “would be a natu
ral transition” for her after
stints on the district court
bench and the U.S.
Attorney’s office.
“This hit me kind of sud
denly,” Cole said. “It came
up very quickly. I had no
idea that Eva was not going
to seek re-election.”
Cole said she’ll decide
shortly after the holidays if
she will be a congressional
candidate.
“I am giving this very
serious consideration,” she
said.
Familiar throughout
eastern North Carolina,
Cole was U.S. attorney for
the Eastern District for
seven years, resigning in
April of this year. Before
becoming U.S. attorney, she
had served as a district
court judge in the First
Judicial District.
In October, she was
awarded the Order of the
Long Leaf Pine, the state’s
highest civilian award. The
award recognizes those
who have a record of serv
ice in the state, including
outstanding contributions
to their commimities.
Dail
pleads
guilty to
sex
offenses
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A Perquimans County
man will spend the next 10
years in prison after plead
ing guilty to four sexual
abuse charges.
Jack Hardy Dail, 61, of
329 Hunters Fork Road,
Tyner was sentenced by
Superior Court Judge
William Griffin in
Perquimans County
Superior Court on Dec. 3.
Originally charged with
18 counts of sexual abuse
alleged to have occured
over four decades, Dail
pleaded guilty to three
counts of indecent liberties
with a child and one count
of indecent liberties with a
child and crimes against
nature in a plea bargain
agreement arranged by his
attorney, former district
attorney H.P Williams. He
received 10 year sentences
on all counts. According to
Sheriff Eric Tilley, Dail will
serve at least 10 years.
Dail was arrested in
December 2000 after turn
ing himself in to the sher
iff’s department when
indictments were handed
down by the grand jury.
Sheriff’s investigator
Nate Zachary said at the
time of Dail’s arrest that
the investigation began in
early September 2000, when
one of Dail’s alleged vic
tims contacted the sheriff’s
deparment.
Zachary said after Dail’s
arrest that the alleged inci
dents took place over a peri
od of 34 years. The deputy
said Dail admitted his guilt
in some of the cases, but
said he was not guilty of all
charges against him.
At that time, there were
four confirmed victims,
Zachary said.
Until his arrest, Dail was
a Sunday school teacher
with no prior criminal his
tory.
After sentencing, Dail
was taken to Albemarle
District Jail from where he
was transported to Central
Prison in Raleigh for pro
cessing. He may be sent to
another facility to serve his
term, Tilley said.
Christmas in Perquimans
il:
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS
Perquimans was filled with the sights, sounds and
tastes of the holidays last Thursday as the annual
HHBA Caroling on the Green and Treasure Hunt,
Extension Christmas Ramble Homes Tour and Antique
Dealers Association Ramble took place simultaneous
ly. From choirs on the courthouse lawn (above), to
treasure hunters finding hidden prizes in stores
(right), to beautifully decorated homes to welcoming
antiques shops, there was something to help everyone
to help get into the holiday spirit Thursday.
j]
Youth arrested after
high-speed chase
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans Extension Director Lewis Smith, Farm Tour
Coordinator Harriette Woodard and PCRA Heritage
Tourism Development Officer LuAnne Pendergraft
present the proceeds of the second annual farm tour
to PCHS agriculture teacher Angel Workman.
Farm Tour nets $2k
A second successful
Perquimans County Farm
Tour and Hertford Heritage
Antique and Craft Show
and Sale netted $2,115 for
the Perquimans County
High School Agriculture
Program.
The check for the pro
ceeds was presented by
tour organizers to PCHS
agriculture teacher Angel
Workman at a thank-you
dinner held Nov. 27 for aU
the host families and every
one who worked to make
the tour possible.
The tour was sponsored
by the Perquimans County
Extension Center and the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association.
Financial assistance was
provided by several
Albemarle area businesses.
The tour, which pre
miered in October 2000, will
now be held every other
year. In off years, a spring
home tours will be held.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A high speed chase
through Hertford resulted
in multiple charges against
a 17-year-old.
Armen Levall Hodges of
Hertford led sheriff’s
deputies and Hertford
Police officers on a chase
that ended at Miller and
Meads Mobile Home Park
with the youth’s arrest.
Speeds hit 100 miles per
hour.
Sheriff Eric Tilley said
the chase started on
Edenton Road Street near
Perquimans High School
on Nov. 27 when deputies
Nate Zachary and Larry
Chamblee tried to pull
Hodges over. Hodges led
officers south on Edenton
Road Street to its intersec
tion with Ocean Highway,
which is also U.S. 17
Bypass. Hodges turned
north on Ocean Highway,
then turned on Church
Street Extended at the stop
light on the bypass. The
chase moved onto Dobbs
Street, turned onto Covent
Garden, turned onto
Market Street, turned onto
Dobbs Street, turned onto
Perry Street, turned onto
Grubb Street, turned on
River Road and into the
mobile home park. Hodges
pulled into a driveway, but
hit the side of the driveway
and hit a pipe, which blew
out a tire on the vehicle.
Hodges was arrested at
the mobile home park and
charged with passing a
stopped school bus, felony
speeding to elude arrest,
careless and reckless driv
ing and driving while
license revoked.
He was released under a
$10,000 unsecured bond by
District Court Judge. J.C.
Cole with the conditions
including that he not be
away from his mother’s res
idence except to attend
school, meet his his attor
ney or participate in the
pretrial release program (a
day reporting center), that
he obey his mother and not
violate any of her rules,
and that he enroU at COA
by Dec. 11. He is scheduled
to appear in court again
today.
Town
may face
electric
increases
SEAN JACKSON
Correspondent
Although it’s likely a
year away. Town Manager
John Christensen said
Hertford residents and
businesses could see an
increase in their electric
bills by next December.
Christensen told the
Town Council Monday
night that the N.C. Eastern
Municipal Power Agency
wiU increase its wholesale
rates in January. That rise
will not immediately result
in higher costs to cus
tomers, he added.
“The good news is,”
Christensen said, “we have
established a rate stabiliza
tion fund which will hold
off any rate increase for
some months to come.”
Christensen said any
potential rate increase will
likely not be identified
until council reviews the
Electric Department’s
budget for the 2001-2002 fis
cal year. He said projected
revenues could be
enhanced by a growth in
the town’s customer base.
If no growth occurs, cus
tomers could see as much
as an 8-percent rate hike in
order to balance the town’s
budget.
Continued on page 10
Weatwr
Thursday
High: 70
Low: 46
SCAHERED T'STORMS
Friday
High: 60
Low: 39
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 60
Low: 44
Party Cloudy