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AEA holds garden open house
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Hertford, England couple visits
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Pirates get wild card play-off slot
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The
May 17, 2006
Vol. 74, Mo. 20 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Weekly
A.
Local officials meet with legislators
MARGARET FISHER
Officials from the county, the
towns of Hertford and Winfall
and Perquimans County Schools
met with legislators to discuss
issues across the county on
Monday.
Sen. Robert L. Holloman and
Rep. Tim Spear visited local offi
cials to listen to some of the most
pressing concerns facing the
county.
Those concerns include the
delay of water plant expansion
permits and other water-related
issues, Medicaid relief, infra
structure, economic development
and school capital needs.
Holloman said that his great
est concern is the condition of
the U.S. Highway 17 Business
causeway after Winfall Mayor
Fred Yates related the existence
of long-term problems.
“(NCDOT has) been patching it
and patching it and patching it,”
Yates sai^. “The bottom line is - it
needs to be fixed.”
County Commissioner Charles
Ward said that in some areas the
causeway is 4-foot deep concrete
with rotted out supports below.
Hertford Mayor Sid Eley agreed
and said that it’s been reinforced
with steel plates in some places,
but nothing else. In addition,
there are no weight limits on the
road and school buses routinely
use the route.
“(The causeway’s condition)
sounds very dangerous to me,”
Holloman said. “...I’m willing to
Continued on page 10
Schools take action
Walking for a cure
on incidents at
PCMS and PCHS
Rumors of
‘hit list’ swirl
at middle
school
SUSAN HARRIS
A report of an alleged
“hit list” found at
Perquimans Middle School
caused concern among
parents and students last
week.
However, an investiga
tion into the report turned
up no evidence that the
piece of paper said to be
the hit list was actually
that, or that the female stu
dent said to be its author
intended to hurt anyone.
Schools Public
Information Officer
Brenda Lassiter con
firmed that there was an
investigation at the school
the first week of May
when students reported
that a fellow student had
completed a hit list and
had spoken of injuring
other students.
School officials found a
piece of paper with letters
on it, some of which may
have been initials, but they
could not match any of the
letters or initials to stu
dents in the school,
Lassiter said.
Principal Jamie
Liverman met with the
student said to have writ
ten the alleged list and her
parents. She was placed in
in-school suspension dur
ing the investigation per
Continued on page 10
Notebook of
student cause
for concern at
high school
SUSAN HARRIS
Fear that a friend may
harm herself caused a
Perquimans High student
to confide in school admin
istrators Monday
According to Schools
Public Information Officer
Brenda Lassiter, the stu
dent had been correspon
ding in a notebook with
her friend, a ninth grade
female student. In her
writings, the ninth grader
had named 19 other stu
dents she felt had mistreat
ed her, and wrote about
how negatively those inci
dents made her feel about
herself. Fearing that the
ninth grader would harm
herself because of how the
incidents had made her
feel, the other student
turned the notebook into
administrators around the
close of school Monday.
Principal Melvin
Hawkins called the ninth
grader’s parents, and met
with the family along with
law enforcement person
nel, school counselors and
the school psychologist
late Monday afternoon,
Lassiter said.
The student has been
suspended under board
policy 6401.2 which deals
with the disruption of
school, and will be admit-
Continued on page 10
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS
Perquimans cancer survivors Brenda Lassiter, Kay Rose, Denise Lamb and Patricia
Cartwright begin the survivors lap at the Chowan/Perquimans Relay for Life Friday
evening at John A. Holmes High School (above). One of the team activities at the
event was a crazy hat contest. Teams were given a paper bag and decorated it with
items related to their team theme. Representatives of four of the Perquimans
teams — Belvidere Ruritans, Hertford Grammar School, Woodland United
Methodist Church and Growmasters — take a lap (below).
Relay
raises
$117K
SUSAN HARRIS
They came in all shapes
and sizes, from all socio
economic backgrounds,
from all walks of life. But
they were bound by one
desire: to find a cure for
cancer and support those
diagnosed with the disease.
Continued on page 8
Java Cafe
opens in
garden
center
MARGARET FISHER
With the trend to bring
the outdoors in and extend
the indoors out, it’s not sur
prising that quaint cafes
are turning up in such
places as garden supply
centers. So, when green
house grower Joan Burnor
heard there was a space for
rent where she was
employed at Planters Ridge
garden center, she decided
to open up a restaurant
there.
“I stopped for coffee one
Hawkins leaving PCHS
SUSAN HARRIS
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Java Gardens Cafe is the newest restaurant addition
to Hertford. Located inside Planters Ridge at the
Commerce Center, the cafe sells sandwiches, salads,
desserts and gourmet beverages for lunch and coffee
and pastries for breakfast.
day, on the way into work,
in Elizabeth City and had a
great idea - why don’t I
o.pen up a coffee shop?” the
Camden resident said.
Burnor opened Java
Garden Cafe about four
weeks ago and celebrated
its grand opening last
Continued on page 8
PCHS Principal Melvin
Hawkins announced to his
staff Monday afternoon
that he will be leaving at
the end of this school year.
Hawkins, who is com
pleting his first year at the
high school, has accepted
the position of Director of
Secondary Education for
Camden County Schools.
He has resigned from
Perquimans County
Schools effective June 30.
Hawkins came to
Perquimans County
Schools three years ago as
principal at the middle
school, a position he held
for two years before trans
ferring to the high school in
the same capacity upon the
resignation of former prin
cipal, Hans Lassiter.
School officials say they
Melvin Hawkins
Homes
tour
anchors
events
Pig pickin’,
concert,
garden party,
ice cream
social
also on tap
SUSAN HARRIS
From Friday until
Sunday, there will be plenty
to do in Perquimans
County.
The biennial PCRA
Historical Homes Tour will
provide two days of visits
in some of the county’s
most significant historic
buildings, while an array of
complimentary activities
will keep locals and visitors
busy throughout the week
end.
Newbold-White House: A
Colonial Quaker
Homestead will serve as
tour headquarters. The ca.
1730 home and grounds on
Harvey Point Road tell the
story of Abraham and
Judith Sanders, a Quaker
family situated in the
North Carolina wilderness.
The house is the oldest
brick home in North
Carolina and is a unique
brick example of English
domestic architecture.
The house was listed on
the National Register of
Historic Places in 1971 and
over the next decade the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association
Continued on page 8
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 80, Low: 63
Parry Cloudy
have already begun the
process of advertising for a
replacement for Hawkins.
The system is presently
in the process of hiring a
principal for Hertford
Grammar School to replace
Tim Aydlett, who retired as
assistant principal at PCHS
before returning to serve at
the grammar school on a
two-year contract.
Friday
High: 76, Low: 57
Scahered T'storms
Saturday
High: 75, Low: 58
Parry Cloudy
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