No such thing as healthy tan
Page 4
Lady Pirates get first win
Page?
Students Kick Butts
Pages 8
April 1, 2004
Vol. 72, No. 14 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
'P1I7C5
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST ' FtA
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306 ^
Fhe
Weekly
35 cents
Armed
WiNFALL BLAZE
McDonald’s
robbed at
gunpoint
Thursday
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A lone gunman robbed
McDonald’s in the early
morning hours of April
Fool’s Day.
According to a press
release issued by the
Hertford Police
Department, a masked
black male dressed in black
entered the fast-food restau
rant located at the
Perquimans Centre on
Ocean Highway South (U.S.
Highway 17 Bypass) around
5:04 a.m. last Thursday. He
robbed the store of an
undetermined amount of
money and fled on foot in
an unknown direction.
There were three
employees in the restau
rant at the time of the rob
bery, but police say no one
was injured.
The man was described
as approximately 5-foot, 10
inches tall with a thin
build.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said Tuesday
that the investigation into
the case continues, but no
additional information is
available.
Anyone with informa
tion about the case is asked
to contact the Hertford
Police Department at 426-
5587.
Primary
election
scheduled
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The U.S. Justice
Department’s approval of
the new voting districts in
North Carolina has paved
the way for a July primary.
Board of Elections
Director Eula Forbes said
the primary election is set
for July 20. The election
was originally scheduled
for May.
The filing period for
office win operj on April 26
at noon and close on May 7
at noon, Forbes said.
Local elections include
county commissioners,
school board and Register
of Deeds.
County commissioner
seats available are present
ly held by Democrats Mack
Nixon, currently the board
chair, and Shirley Wiggins
and Republican Wallace
Nelson.
On the non-partisan
school board, seats held by
Chairman William Byrum,
Vice Chair Helen Shaw and
Iris Byrne are up for re-
election.
Deborah S. Reed, a
Democrat, is the present
Register of Deeds.
Forbes said if necessary,
a run-off date of Aug. 17
has been set.
The general election
scheduled for Nov. 2.
Winfali and Hertford firefighters battle a house fire on Loomis Street in Winfall Monday morning. The initial
investigation suggests the fire began at the water heater. The home appears to be a total loss.
Winfall couple loses home in Monday fire
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A faulty water heater
may have caused a Winfall
couple to lose their home
Monday morning.
Winfall Fire Chief
Kelvin Roberson said the
initial investigation indi
cated that the fire started at
the water heater. He said he
believes the home was a
total loss, including all per
sonal property inside the
dwelling.
The occupants of the
home, Shirley and
Jonathan Ferebee, were not
at home when the blaze was
reported at 112 Loomis
Street. Roberson said a
passerby saw and reported
the fire on the side street
which runs parallel to
Winfall Boulevard near
Winfall Landing Park.
The Winfall Fire
Department was dis
patched around 10 a.m.,
and Roberson said the fire
was under control in about
45 minutes. Firefighters
from both Winfall and
Hertford responded and
used air packs to get into
the house, which was full of
dense smoke.
The Winfall Police
Department, Perquimans
County EMS and
Emergency Management
Coordinator also respond
ed to the blaze.
County board to study occupany tax
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The county commission
ers made no decision on
implementing an occupan
cy tax in the county during
regular session on Monday
night.
The chamber of com
merce has appeared before
the commissioners on at
least two occasions to
request that commission
ers approve a 6 percent
occupancy tax on overnight
lodging. The tax would be
charged to all who obtain
overnight lodging in teh
county, including those in
motels, bed and breakfast
establishments and condo
miniums.
Funds collected would be
spent on tourism promo
tion, sponsorship of
tourism-related events and
activities in the county, and
financing local tourism-
related capital projects.
A seven-member board
appointed by government
and private agencies would
oversee the funds collected,
according to the resolution
presented to the county by
the chamber.
Monday night, commis
sioners held a public hear
ing on the issue.
County resident Pete
Perry spoke against the
tax. One of his reasons for
not supporting the tax is
that it would be controlled
by a private board.
“We should not levy
taxes for a private organi
zation,” Perry said.
He said if the county
feels that the tax is needed,
the tax should be imple
mented and the funds col
lected placed in the general
fund for dispersal by the
county commissioners.
“I feel that this is unnec
essary at this time,” Perry
said. “I urge you not to do
this. It is unneeded,
uncalled for.”
Later in the meeting
when the matter came up
on the agenda for discus
sion, some commissioners
questioned how much
could be generated from
the tax and if it would deter
people from visiting
Perquimans County.
The chamber estimated
that $14,000 could be col
lected in the first full year
of tax collection.
Past chamber president
Larry Johnson said the tax
doesn’t stop people from
staying overnight in other
counties. Only three other
counties in the state do not
have the tax, Johnson
added.
Commissioner Ben
Hobbs, owner of a bed and
breakfast in the county,
said he is against the occu
pancy tax.
“I don’t think it’ll afffect
business. I’m against it
because it’s a new tax,”
Hobbs said.
County attorney John
Matthews said the resolu
tion as presented by the
chamber could not be acted
upon by the commissioners
because he had some con
cerns about its legality.
Matthews said the resolu
tion needed further study
before action.
Commissioners also said
they* wanted to thoroughly
review the resolution
before taking action. It will
be discussed at the commis
sioners’ next work session.
Periauger project beamed worldwide by webcam
The historic construc
tion of the periauger, a
Colonial era log boat, is
being beamed worldwide by
a webcam installed at the
N.C. Maritime Museum’s
Watercraft Center, the site
where the boat is being
built.
The progress of the
boat’s construction can be
viewed at the site
www.estuarylive.org. The
webcam is coordinated by
Marine Grafics and the
North Carolina National
Estuarine Research
Reserve (www.ncnerr.org)
as part of their
EstuaryLive program. The
site refreshes every ten
minutes.
The periauger will be
featured during Estuary
Live Spring 2004, an elec
tronic field trip focusing on
the ecology, history and cul
ture of North Carolina’s
coastal areas. The segment
on the Periauger is sched
uled for April 28 at 9:30 a.m.
For information on regis
tering for the EstuaryLive,
visit estuarylive.org.
The construction of the
periauger is a joint project
with the Perquimans
County Restoration
Association, which oper
ates the Newbold-White
House Historic Site, NC
Maritime Museum,
Board to
define
vote
recording
policy
SUSAN R. HARRIS
County commissioners
will discuss their voting
policy at the board’s next
work session.
County attorney John
Matthews said Monday
night that commissioner
Tammy Miller-White
abstained from a vote at the
board’s March meeting,
which prompted a call to
Matthews from board secre
tary Mary Hunnicutt as to
how to record the vote in
the official minutes.
Matthews said that tradi
tionally, silence has been
recorded as an affirmative
vote.
The question, however,
prompted Matthews to
review state statute regard
ing recording votes. He
found that commissioners
are required to abstain
from voting under certain
circumstances, such as in
situations in which a board
member would personally
benefit from a decision. But
in all other cases, board
members are required by
law to vote. In fact, it is a
criminal offense for a board
member not in a situation
where a vote would person
ally benefit them not to
vote.
Matthews said commis
sioners must state prior to
a vote that they are abstain
ing; otherwise, a vote must
be recorded.
Miller-White said she
would not have personally
benefitted from the vote in
question.
Matthews said how to
record a no-vote is essen
tially up to the commission
ers.
Commissioners
Chairman Mack Nixon said
the board should adopt an
official policy to document
how votes will be recorded
when a commissioner does
not audibly vote. He said
how votes are recorded
should be a matter of writ
ten policy, not just a vote
that requires research
when in question.
He placed the issue on
the board’s work session
agenda for further discus
sion.
Perquimans County, and
East Carolina University’s
Program in Maritime
Studies.
The periauger will be
'located in Historic Hertford
harbor following comple
tion and eventually at the
Newbold-White House
Historic Site as part of its
hands-on educational pro
gramming. The project is
funded in part by
Continued on page 10
Holiday
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 69
Low: 54
Scattered T-Storms
Friday
High: 68
Low: 45
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 64
Low: 45
Partly Cloudy