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Hertford to honor those who
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P6/C5***********5-DIGIT 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
:'l\
January 1, 2003
Vot. 71, No. 1 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
110 W ACADEMY ST '
■ HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306 _
PerQuhyi/^'^s
Weekly
Fire damages Dobbs Street home Sunday
MARGARET FISHER
The Daily Advance
When a fire broke out in
a Hertford residence
Sunday evening, the elderly
woman who lives in the
home didn't know her
house was on fire untU a
neighbor knocked on her
door.
Three fire departments
were called to 303 Dobbs
Street after a call to
Perquimans
Telecommunications was
placed about 6 p.m. on
Sunday. Hertford and
Winfall fire departments
arrived shortly after the
call when the right side of
the house was on fire. It
took about 25 minutes to
get the fire under control,
said Parker Newbern,
assistant chief of the
Hertford Fire Department.
There were no injuries
at the home where M.B.
Taylor lives alone. Taylor
was in the kitchen when a
neighbor saw fire in an
upstairs room. Another
neighbor also noticed the
blaze. One of the neighbors
knocked on the door and
helped Taylor out of the
house. Her four cats also
ran out of the house.
“(Taylor) didn't have a
clue that the house was on
fire,” Newbern said.
The house is heavily
damaged by fire, smoke and
water, said Hertford Fire
Chief Bob Reed.
The cause of the fire is
still under investigation,
although arson is not sus
pected, Newbern said. The
Inter-Ciounty Fire
Department was called in
with a thermal imager to
find hot spots and fire
Suspicious fire
destroys Belvidere
mobile home
Tournament champs
The Daily Advance
A fire that officials
believe may have been set
burned a mobile home to
the ground in Belvidere on
Dec. 21.
No one was injured in
the blaze that cost Debbie
Wiggins her home at 250
Cartwright Swamp Road,
Perquimans Fire Marshal
John Long said the day
after the blaze.
The fire began around
midnight, and had fully
engulfed the secluded
mobile home by the time
neighbors spotted the
smoke above the trees.
Long said.
Four trucks and 20 fire
fighters from the
Belvidere-Chappell Hill
Volunteer Fire Department
responded to the blaze.
The mobile home “burnt
right on down to the chas
sis,” Long said.
Because of Wiggins’
recent behavior, fire offi
cials initially believed that
she might have set the fire
to commit suicide. Long
said.
“She told neighbors and
family members that she
was tired of living and was
going to end everything,”
he said.
However, when a body
couldn't be found among
the mobile home's smoking
ruins, officials discovered
some of Wiggins' posses
sions outside the home that
appeared to have been res
cued from the fire.
Several objects from the
trailer were neatly placed
on a trampoline outside the
structure, and Wiggins
claimed she had taken the
things from her home after
the fire started.
But the neat placement
of the objects indicates
they were taken out before
the fire started. Long said.
Wiggins would not have
had time to be so fastidious
if she was acting after the
fire started. Long said.
Also adding to the suspi
cions that the fire may have
been intentionally set was
Wiggins’ failure to seek
help once the fire started.
Wiggins did not have a
phone, but, if the blaze was
an accident, she would have
most likely sought help
from someone who did.
Long said.
When they began look
ing for Wiggins around the
perimeter of her former
home, they found her “lay
ing in the woods,” Long
said.
Long said when Wiggins
was questioned, she told
him the fire began with a
kerosene lamp, and that
because she was afraid, she
ran into the woods.
“She said she heard
things exploding and ran,”
Long said.
Wiggins, 50, was staying
with friends after the fire.
She declined to speak to
The Daily Advance at the
fire scene.
Long said he doesn't plan
to charge Wiggins with any
criminal offenses.
Wiggin’s mother, howev
er, does not believe her
daughter intentionally set
the fire or tried to kid her
self.
“She did not try to kill
herself,” Doris Hollowed
said.
Hollowed stood by her
daughter's account of the
events surrounding the
fire, however. The blaze was
an accident involving
either the kerosene heater
or kerosene lamp Wiggins
used, Hodowed said.
Jerrell Foreman goes up to block the shot of No. 42 Devin Penny of Camdem dur
ing the boys final of The Daily Advance Four-County Holiday Basketball Classic.
Perquimans won the tournament.
PCHS students design web pages, get college credit
ALICE BREWIN
Staff writer
There are some folks, of
generations not defined by
the last letters of the alpha
bet, who may think of spi
ders when they hear “web
design.” The students in
Richard Davison’s
Principles of Web Design
class know better.
Working in teams, 10 stu
dents have designed profes
sional quality web pages
for Perquimans High
School, Perquimans
County Library and the
Perquimans Arts League.
The class, part of
Codege of the Albemarle’s
new Internet Technologies
Program, is being taught at
Perquimans County High
School.
No ordinary class at
Perquimans, this codege
course is being offered for
credit to both high school
ers and interested mem
bers of the community.
Antje Curphey, program
coordinator for
Perquimans County High
School Community
Technology Learning
Center, is the lone adult stu
dent. The rest of the class is
comprised of high school
juniors and seniors.
According to Curphey,
some of the major benefits
of the class, besides learn
ing a valuable and mar
ketable skid, are free col
lege credits and enrollment
at COA. This gives the high
extensions, or areas that
the fire may have extended
toward, he said.
Newbern said that fire
officials would likely
remain at the scene
through the night and part
of Monday to make sure
the fire is completely out
and to determine the cause.
Tburism
group
chooses
slogan
“A Quiet Haven in a Busy
World” is the winning entry
in a Perquimans County
Heritage Tourism
Development Councd con
test to select a marketing
catchphrase for
Perquimans County.
Charlie Skinner submit
ted the winning phrase.
“Charlie’s entry perfect
ly captures what is so spe
cial about Perquimans
County and what we have to
offer tourists,” said Chris
Lane, president of the
Perquimans County
Heritage Tourism
Development Council.
The council sought
entries from the public in
coming up with a catch-
phrase to give it a recogniz
able identity for its market
ing efforts. Elizabeth City
has had success marketing
itself as the “Harbor of
Hospitality,” and other
towns and counties have
also benefitted from a
catchphrase. Over 120
entries were received.
Serving on the selection
committee were David
Webb, Harriette Woodard,
and Jeri Oltman.
The first use of the mar
keting phrase will be in an
ad for Perquimans County
to run in the February 2003
issue of “Our State” maga
zine.
Daily Advance photo by Sam Wolfe
school students an early
start on their college
careers.
In its first year, the class
is made possible in part by
a training grant from the
Eastern North Carolina
Rural Internet Access
Authority. Open to resi
dents of Perquimans
County, a new Web Design
Continued on page 8
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
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Friday
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Saturday
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