:7s
Garner earns top 4-H honor
Pages
September Senior Center notes
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Pirate sports update
Rage 6
P11/C5
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
r‘-:. • .
September 1, 2004
Vol. 72, No. 35 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
e«(y2004.
Perquimans
Weekly
PCHS
student
arrested
Juvenile found
with drugs on
campus
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A high school student
was suspended last week
after being found in posses
sion of prescription drugs
and drug paraphernalia on
the PCHS campus.
The student, a 15-year-
old white male whose name
cannot be released because
he is a juvenile, will be
dealt with in juvenile court,
according to Sheriff Eric
Tilley.
Tilley said the student
was picked up and ques
tioned by he and Deputy
Shelby White after infor
mation was received from
the school resource officer.
Deputy Stacy Mitchell, and
school administrators that
the student was thought to
be involved in drug trade at
the high school.
A tip came in last
Thursday that a student
with narcotic prescription
drugs in his possession was
on his way to school in a
blue Ford truck. Tilley and
White waited in the school
parking lot and followed
the student inside the
school, identified them
selves, took the male to the
principal’s office and
advised him that the sher
iff’s office had received
information that he was
bringing drugs onto cam
pus. Tilley said the pre
scription pain killer
Oxycontin and a pipe like
those used to smoke mari
juana were found on the
student.
Tilley said juvenile peti
tions have been filed and
the student was immediate
ly suspended for 10 days in
accordance with school
board policy pending fur
ther investigation by school
officials.
“I stand ready to do
whatever I have to do to
ensure a safe and drug-free
environment for our stu
dents and for our staff,”
said PCHS Principal Hans
Lassiter.
Lassiter added that those
who “insist on doing drugs
in that building will find
that their days are num
bered.”
“We are going to find
sources and We’re going to
find who’s supplying
them,” Lassiter said.
Drugs are a problem in
schools all across America,
Lassiter said, adding that
the problem touches all
schools from inner-city to
rural to exclusive private to
suburban, and from small
campuses to large.
Lassiter said parents,
students and school offi
cials can all help in the
fight against drug use and
distribution by talking to
each other, and that parents
and students should go to
school officials with any
information they have
regarding drugs so investi
gations can take place.
“We are fighting and
we’re going to continue to
fight (the drug problem),”
Lassiter said.
Migrant worker killed Friday
CHRIS WHIPPLE
The Daily Advance
An autopsy was per
formed Monday on a man
stabbed to death Friday
night in Miller and Meads
Mobile Home Park.
Jose Manuel Hernandez,
approximately 23 years old,
died of a stab wound to the
chest. The medical examin
er’s preliminary report
indicates the knife punc
tured Hernandez’s heart,
liver and spleen before
stopping at his spine.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said the
emergency caU came in at
11:03 p.m. Friday. When
police arrived at 214 Meads
Circle, they found
Hernandez lying face down
in a vacant lot next to the
trailer. Emergency Medical
Services was called, but
Hernandez had no vital
signs, Vanscoy said.
Hernandez was trans
ported to Albemarle
Hospital, where he was pro
nounced dead on arrival.
Vanscoy said a crowd of
about 35 people were at the
scene of the stabbing when
he arrived. The problem is,
he said, most of the poten
tial witnesses speak very
little English. A Spanish
speaking deputy from the
Chowan County Sheriff
Department provided assis
tance on the night of the
killing.
Vanscoy said Hertford
police are still conducting
interviews with the assis
tance of interpreters to try
and find out who stabbed
and kiUed Hernandez. No
arrests have been made.
“The investigation is
proceeding very slowly due
to the language barrier,”
Vanscoy said.
Vemscoy said they have
not been able to locate any
of Hernandez’s family
locally. He was employed by
a Hertford landscaping
company.
Vanscoy said an address
in Mexico was found on
Hernandez. He had a
receipt for money he had
recently wired to Mexico.
Vanscoy said the FBI has
been contacted’ for assis
tance.
Monday fire
■C:
. '.r-.
Hertford firefighters responded to an outbuilding fire on King Street Monday morning. It took just a few
moments to contain the blaze, but smoke continued to drift from the structure as firefighters worked to
squealch hot spots. Those at the scene said there was no electricity connected to the building. One neighbor
said people do walk near and even enter the outbuilding at night,
Dog fight
tip leads
to arrest
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A tip to Perquimans County
Animal Control led to the arrest of
a Tyner man now charged with dog
fighting.
Morris Kee Jr. of Rt. 1, Box 606,
Tyner was arrested on Aug. 23 and
placed under a $3,000 unsecured
bond. Seven dogs were confiscated
at the time of Kee’s arrest.
Sheriff Eric Tilley said Animal
Control Officer Thomas Stanton
received a call about dog fighting at
1366 Beech Springs Road and noti
fied the sheriff’s department. When
officers reached the scene, there
was no fighting, but they found an
enclosed area that appeared to be a
fighting ring.
A search warrant was obtained
and executed the next day. Because
the actual pen and ring were on
adjacent property, permission was
obtained from that owner to search
that property as well.
Paraphernalia associated with dog
fighting such as a bite stick and nee
dles to treat the dogs’ injuries with
penicillin, along with a rag with
blood on it and blood on a carpet
inside the ring, were found. In addi
tion, seven dogs were found, and
Tilley said all but one had scars con
sistent with those found on dogs
known to have been fighting.
Tilley said the dog thought to
have been fighting most recently
had puncture wounds on both front
legs.
Day of festivals approaches
There will be three festivals in
one day on Sept 11 when Historic
Hertford, Inc. hosts the 23rd annual
Indian Summer Festival in down
town Hertford, the Perquimans
County Restoration Association
hosts the Hearth & Harvest Festival
at Newbold-White: A Quaker
Homestead and Winfall celebrates a
day in its WinfaH Landing Park.
A highlights of the day will
include the arrival of the periauger
in Hertford at 10 a.m. at the Hertford
municipal docks. The ISth-century
workboat—the pick-up truck of the
rivers — is making its way from its
birthplace in Beaufort to
Perquimans now.
The periauger will be escorted by
a flotUla.
After the periauger arrival cere
mony, which will include music by
the Perquimans County High
School band brass section,
WRdriver Outfitters from Virginia
Beach will lead guided canoe and
kayak tours on the waterfront.
There wiE be paddles for beginners
and experienced paddlers. Rentals
will be available.
Downtown, a wide array of arts
and craft, information, food, fun
and entertainment will await festi
val-goers.
Entertainers include the Senior
Center choir and Snappers, Lacey
Reames, singer-songwriter Kim
Kalman, the Perquimans County
High School Marching Pirates,
Loose Change, the Harbor Lites
Square Dancers, Hertford Grammar
School Panther Percussion Team,
Grace & Truth Community Church
Praise Steppers and the U.S.
Atlantic Fleet Jazz Band.
In the Hertford Baptist Church
Youth Pavilion, a petting zoo, pony
rides, magic show, balloon art, face
painting, paint-your-own-ceramics
and more await the younger set.
A variety of food, including tra
ditional fair foods, will be available
in the food court.
Winfall’s day will center around a
patriotic program at 2 p.m.
Entertainers will include Bagley
Chapel Praise Dancers, D.J. Eugene
Byrum, Melton Grove Youth Choir,
Melton Grove Praise Team Dancers,
Wild Streak Band and the choir and
band from Perquimans County
Middle School.
There will also be a Casting for
Kids competition, an N.C. Wildlife
Fisheries Commission fish tank,
pony rides, the US. Coast Guard
mascot and kids games.
Craft and foot vendors wEl also
be on site during the day.
The periauger wiU leave Hertford
at 2 p.m. and sail to Winfall.
The official program book wUI be
inserted into The Perquimans
Weekly next week and wiU be avail
able at the Indian Summer Festival
information booth in front of the
Visitors Center on festival day.
While the deadline has passed for
inclusion in the festival book.
Historic Hertford, Inc. is still
accepting vendor applications. Call
or stop by The Perquimans Weekly
for an application.
Sponsorships are also stiE avaE-
able. CaU Historic Hertford at 426-
1425 for information.
Students
not hurt
in bus
accident
SUSAN R. HARRIS
No students were report
ed injured when a
Perquimans County School
bus was rear-ended on the
way to school Tuesday.
Schools Public
Information Officer Brenda
Lassiter said that a bus car
rying four students, the dri
ver and a monitor was trav
eling west on Harvey Point
Road about three miles
from its intersection with
U.S. Highway 17 Bypass
when it was hit from
behind. The incident
occurred around 7:30 a.m.
Lassiter said the bus
monitor and a passenger in
the other vehicle left the
scene by ambulance. She
said the bus monitor had
reported a possible back
injury.
The bus driver was taken
from the scene by vehicle to
Coastal Carolina Family
Practice some time after the
accident.
The parents of all four
students were caUed from
the scene, Lassiter said, and
school administrators,
including all four princi
pals and a counselor, were
on site when the students
were transferred to another
bus and taken to school.
N.C. Highway Patrol
Officer Archer investigated
the accident, but his report
had not been filed at press
time. Lassiter referred aE
other questions about the
accident, including the
names of the drivers, to the
highway patrol.
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 83
Low: 70
PARny Cloudy
Friday
High: 92
Low: 70
Scahered T'Storms
Saturday
High: 82
Low: 70
Scahered T'Storms