P11/C5
Harrell goes Hollywood
F^ge4
Library friends honor Gustafson
Page 2
PCHS to stage musical
Rage?
March 16, 2005
Vol, 73, No, 11 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST >
HERTFORD, NC 27944- 1306
PEkyUlMANS
Weekly
storm blasts through Perquimans
Freak storm
wreaks
havoc here
ERIN RICKERT
Perquimans County resi
dents are left cleaning up
after last week’s freak thun
derstorm whirled through
eastern North Carolina,
ripping roofs from houses,
flinging vehicles and snap
ping trees.
The storm turned a
bright sky gloomy shortly
before noon last Tuesday as
sleet, snow, rain and hail
were cast down by way of
more than 65 mph winds,
causing in excess of
$750,000 in damage.
“Every area in the coun
ty was impacted in some
way,” said Harry Winslow,
emergency management
coordinator for
Perquimans County. “The
damage was widespread.”
Though a final count of
the number of residents
affected by the storm was
not available at press time,
Winslow said the figure
was in the hundreds.
For 63 year-old Dorothy
Owens, the reality of the
storm’s force was all too
evident once the blur of
precipitation cleared and
she Was able to see the
A nearly 35-foot pine tree crashes through the roof of
Dorothy Owens home on Ballahack Road causing hun
dreds of dollars in damage.
PHOTOS BY ERIN RICKERT
Lindsey Ferrell works to clean up nearly $20,000 in
damage at Farmer's Feed and Seed Wednesday, after a
grain bin landed on top of the business's outdoor
greenhouse in last Tuesday's storm.
nearly 35-foot pinfe tree rest
ing on her Hertford home.
“1 don’t believe this,”
Owens said. “1 would never
have dreamed this in a mil
lion years.”
Sent crashing from its
perch by Tuesday’s high
winds, the tree left a hole
Continued on page 10
/
Tuesday's more than 65 mph winds blew a FedEx trail
er on top of a Jeep Cherokee owned by an unnamed
Hertford FedEx driver.
Driver hits school bus, is charged with DWI
ERIN RICKERT
A Perquimans County
man was arrested on drunk
driving charges after the
pickup he was drivjng col
lided with a school bus in
Hertford last Tuesday.
Richard O’Neal Jr., 34,
was arrested and charged
with driving while
impaired, driving while
license revoked and failure
to reduce speed to avoid an
accident after he struck a
stopped Perquimans
County School bus at the
intersection of Grubb
Street and* Hiland Park
Avenue.
Eight Perquimans
County Middle School stu
dents were riding on the
bus when the accident
occurred around 4 p.m.
One student, who could
hot be named, was exiting
the bus at the time of the
crash and was forced back
into a seat by the impact.
The student was later
transported to Chowan
County Hospital to be
checked for neck and shoul
der pain. According to
Brenda Lassiter, public
information officer for
Perquimans County
Schools, the student
returned to school Monday
after suffering minor back
injuries.
The other students and
the bus driver, Elaine
White, only reported minor
injuries, police said. Most
of the students left the
scene of the accident with
their parents.Gerald
Waters, the owner of the
2003 Ford pickup truck
O’Neal was driving, was
also transported to Chowan
Hospital with a head lacer
ation and was later
released, police said.
L- ''i''
mlllL
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Richard O'Neal Jr. of Hertford was charged with dri
ving while impaired after the truck he was driving
crashed into the rear end of a school bus last Tuesday
afternoon.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said O’Neal
was taken to the Hertford
Police Station for a blood-
alcohol test after officers
detected an odor of alcohol
on his breath.
The results of the test
indicated O’Neal had a
blood-alcohol level of .23 —
nearly three times the legal
limit in North Carolina.
Vanscoy said O’Neal
already had his license
revoked for a previous DWI
charge.
O’Neal was released that
evening after posting a
$1,000 secured bond.
Vanscoy said Waters,
who was also suspected to
have been under the influ
ence of alcohol could
receive an aiding and abet
ting charge pending fur
ther investigation, but no
more information was
available at press time.
Waters’ truck was
totaled in the accident, but
the school bus sustained no
damage.
Clothing store opens along Ocean Highway
ERIN RICKERT
The Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce
held a ribbon cutting for
the newly opened Ava’s
Fashions in Hertford
Friday.
Co-owned by cousins E.
Annette Perry Riddick and
Vera R. Murrill and their
friend Jo Anna Lawrence,
the store carries fancy hats
along with women and
misses fashions by names
like Donni Vinci, GMfc ,
Fifth Sunday and Ben Mapc''
in sizes 6-34. ,
The store, located at 223
Ocean Highway South, js ,
open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
The Chamber of Commerce welcomed Ava's Fashions
to the business community at a ribbon cutting Friday
at the new store.
Friday and 9 a.m.-l p.m.
Saturday.
Just weeks into busi
ness, Riddick said plans are
already in place for mer
chandise expansion, which
would include the addition
of shoes and men’s cloth
ing.
“The whole thing is very
exciting, a blessing,”
Riddick said. “We all have a
love for clothes and fash
ion.”
For Riddick, fashion has
been her life after she spent
close to 40 years in the hair
styling business — later
selling dresses and embell
ished suits out of her car in
Greensboro and at Harris
option
patrons
need.
They look forward
welcoming customers.
Winfall man
dies in
poisoning
accident
CHRIS WHIPPLE
The Daily Ad'irance
Tuesday’s weather may
have set up conditions that
led to the death of a Winfall
man, found dead in his
home last Wednesday, the
apparent victim of carbon
monoxide poisoning.
Teddy Langley, 50, co
owner of Action Auto on
North Road Street, was dis
covered by a friend at about
7:30 a.m., according to
Perquimans County Sheriff
Eric Tilley. Langley’s River
Drive home in Winfall lost
power during Tuesday’s
storm and Langley had run
a gas-powered generator in
his attached garage
overnight.
Langley had two grown
children and a granddaugh
ter.
Langley was well-known
in the auto dealership com
munity, and his death was
about aU local dealers could
think about during the
Tidewater Auto Auction in
Virginia on Wednesday,
according to Charlie
Jessup, an Elizabeth City
auto dealer.
Langley had worked at
most of the local dealer
ships in Elizabeth City, his
brother, Tony Langley, said.
Langley was scheduled
to drive out to the
Tidewater Auto Auction on
Wednesday morning. When
he didn’t show up,
Elizabeth Meads, a close
friend of Langley’s and an
employee of Action Auto,
came by to check on him,
Tilley said.
Meads last saw Langley
alive about 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday She had been con
cerned about the generator
and had warned him to
leave a window open, Tilley
said. When she came to
check on him Wednesday,
he ws unconscious on the
floor in the utility room.
Sheriff’s deputies were
dispatched at 7:52 a.m. and
the Winfall Volunteer Fire
Department was dis
patched at 8:38 a.m. Kelvin
Roberson, public works dir-
ContinuecT on page 7
Shopping Center in
Hertford.
Riddick said Murrill
and Lawrence, both teach
ers at Riverview
Elementary, were her two
best customers.
“She had the dream for a
long time and she shared it
with us,” Murrill said.
Now these women are
using their fashion know
how to provide their cus
tomers with matching hats
and embellished suits as
well as a 30-day layaway
to help their
get what they
to
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 49
Low: 39
Mostly Cloudy
Friday
High: 48
Low: 35
Showers
Saturday
High: 47
Low: 40
Showers