Schools honor retirees
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Snakes in the garden
Page 6
Pirates top PYL tourney
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WiJIMANS
June 28, 2006
Vol. 74, No. 26 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Weekly
i 0 Jg
TWo
hurt in
wreck
MARGARET FISHER
Speed played a role in a
one-car accident that
injured two people
Saturday
Kianoosh Dastan, 18, of
Ashburn, Va., was driving
north in a 1998 Honda on
US. Highway 17 about five
miles north of Winfall
when he lost control of his
speeding car. According to
N.C. Highway Patrol
Trooper E.D. Goodwin’s
report, the vehicle collided
with a rise in the median
and overturned a number
of times. It came to rest in
the southbound lanes.
Dastan was flown to
Sentara Norfolk General
Hospital and released the
following day. A passenger,
Michael Edens, 18, of
South Riding, Va., was
taken to Albemarle
Hospital. No information
was available about his
condition.
Dastan was charged
with reckless driving to
endangerment and is to
appear in Perquimans
County District Court on
Oct. 18.
Sailing the Albemarle
From staff reports
With overcast skies and
sporadic rain, the 11th
Annual Osprey Challenge
Regatta took place at the
Albemarle plantation
Marina on Saturday.
The Albemarle
Plantation Marina along
with its home-based
Osprey Yacht Club hosted
4 plead guilty to
property damage
The 11th Annual Osprey Challenge Regatta was held at the Albemarle Plantation
Marina on Saturday in choppy waters, overcast skies and rain. There were 21 boats
from four area yacht clubs competing in four different classes. The Osprey Yacht
Club hosted the event. The final winners of the four regattas will be determined
in October.
21 vie for regatta titles
MARGARET FISHER
Four Perquimans
County residents pleaded
guilty Friday in Superior
Court for damaging proper
ty in October 2005.
Brandon Callahan was
charged with injury to per
sonal property Three oth
ers, Robert Matthews,
Jerod Winslow and
Anthony Overman, were
charged with injury to real
property. All charges are
misdemeanors.
The defendants received
a 45-day suspended sen
tence and were placed on
probation.
The four individuals
were indicted on Dec. 12 on
charges of breaking and
entering, larceny after
breaking or entering, pos
session of stolen goods or
property and burning a
building.
In a plea bargain agree
ment those charges were
dropped, said Perquimans
County Sheriff Eric Tilley.
The plea arrangement was
discussed with property
owner Patricia Calderwood
of Connecticutt, who was
not opposed to the agree
ment.
On Oct. 22, a call was
made to central communi
cations that a shed located
on Lots 2 and 3 on Rocky
Street off of Muddy Creek
Road, which was also used
as an apartment, had been
burned down. Investigators
linked the crime to the four
defendants.
Crime story sparks
awareness forum
the regatta for the
Albemarle Sound Sailing
Association, made up of
four yacht clubs. The other
three include the Pasquo-
Continued on page 10
MARGARET FISHER
Was there a beating At
Wynne Fork Apartments or
was it just a story made up
by someone who had too
much to drink? That’s what
police and the housing
authority want to know.
They also hope that high
crime areas become safer.
Whether or not a fight
took place. Waters is con
cerned about rising prob
lems within the complex.
Continued on page 10
Locals
among
returning
Guardsmen
MARGARET FISHER
A Hertford resident and
former resident came home
from Iraq on June 7 along
with the rest of the 725th
Quartermaster Company
of the North Carolina
Army National Guard. The
160 soldiers in the unit put
in 175,000 man-hours dur
ing their 18-month deploy
ment.
Spc. Charles Taylor and
Cpl. Corey Sylvester had
been doing their weekend a
month and two weeks a
year when they received
notice that they were going
to Iraq.
Taylor, a resident of
Perquimans County since
1997, had spent six years in
the US. Army, ending his
stint in 1996. 'The next year
he moved here from
Hampton Roads. In 2000, he
joined the National Guard.
Taylor said that when he
found out he was being
called to duty, it wasn’t a
shock. He had served in
Desert Storm and provided
humanitarian service in
the African country of
Somalia.
“I guess it was a little bit
easier for me, just hard on
my family,” Taylor said.
His loved ones include his
mother, girlfriend and sis
ters.
Taylor reported to the
National Guard Armory in
Williamston in March 2005.
There, he learned about
what to expect and received
roadside training to pre-
JVSIfZSTlII^ ,2
Committee mulls corridor survey
N
A
Hertford resident Spc. Charles Taylor is one of about
160 National Guard members who returned to. Coast
Guard Base Elizabeth City after 15 months in Iraq.
Taylor drove a supply truck he nicknamed "Matilda"
about 25,000 miles while deployed there. The 725th
Quartermaster Company of the North Carolina Army
National Guard, headquartered in Edenton, experi
enced no casualties or serious injuries during their
overseas stint.
pare him for transporting
supplies.
Sylvester, 28, joined the
National Guard in 2003.
The Elizabeth City native
used to live in Perquimans
County and now resides in
Chowan County. He left
behind his wife and three
young children who had
mixed feelings about his
deployment.
“In one sense they were
proud, and in another
sense, they were really hurt
- fearful, I guess,” he said.
The unit arrived at the
Qayyarah West airfield,
known as Q-West or “Key
West,” in northern Iraq in
June of last year. The base
is situated about 60 miles
south of Mosul, a major
trade center linking Persia
and the Mediterranean,
and near the Assyrian bor
der.
Sylvester’s first reaction
was confusion. He had
heard the news reports
about the Iraqi people, but
his experience turned out
to be different. ..
“I found out, once I was
there, that all the people
there aren’t had people like
the media portrays them to
be,” he said.
Sylvester drove a trac
tor-trailer type vehicle for
nearly two months. Later,
he provided protection at
the front gate during sec
ond shift. Sylvester would
not talk about his experi
ence in providing force pro
tection at the gate.
“Iraq was very danger
ous,” Taylor said. Mosul is
known as “RPG Alle,” he
said becdause of the dan
ger of rocket-propelled
grenade attacks there.
Taylor drove a supply
truck. Half of the unit
drove in convoys, trucking
fuel, equipment and sup
plies to bases as far as 300
Continued on page 10
MARGARET FISHER
Poll results on the future
appearance of the area
around U.S. Highway 17
and Harvey Point Road
paint an attractive and
inviting welcome to
Hertford.
Called the U.S. 17
Corridor, it’s one of a num
ber of corridors that have
been designated for study
by the Hertford Corridor
Project Committee. The
committee is looking at
land use, transportation
and future development
potential for thoroughfare
corridors and gateways
into Hertford.
The committee’s goal is
to develop a plan to protect
and improve the appear
ance of the roadways
through Hertford and into
the Historic District. The
physical attractiveness, sig
nage and inviting nature of
the first corridor have been
evaluated and an official
report will be made avail
able to local officials.
The first phase within
the town limits and its
extraterritorial jurisdic
tion includes the area from
Castleton Creek south to
US. Highway 17 and
includes Church Street
Extended, Ballahack Road
and Edenton Road Street. It
also extends from the high
way to the Commerce
Centre and includes
Harvey Point Road and
Wynne Fork Road.
A recent public open
house and visual prefer
ence survey was held to
gather ideas on what resi
dents hope to see along one
of the main gateways into
the downtown.
Susan Suggs, planner
and landscape architect for
the N.C. Division of
Community Assistance
under the N.C. Department
of Commerce, headed the
presentation.
About 80 people rated an
assortment of pictures cat
egorized as parking areas,
commercial signs, pedestri
an facilities, business
developments, streets, con
dominiums and detention
ponds. Points were counted
up with some areas having
negative points, while oth
ers had positive points.
The committee reviewed
the scores and public com
ments and came up with
preliminary recommenda
tions. Further study about
the area and final recom
mendations will be given to
town and county managers,
commissioners, planners
and other officials in the
fall, Suggs said.
“The general comments
of the public were in sync
with the committee,” she
said.
The public highly rated
images of parking, pedes
trian and street areas that
included trees, landscaped
medians, buffers and
islands, well-maintained
walkways, round abouts
with green areas, benches
and decorative lighting.
Residents gave high rat
ings to commercial build
ings with interesting
entrances and varied
facades, though similar in
scale and character.
Developments higher than
three stories and large
warehouse-type buildings
received low ratings.
Participants rated com
mercial signs with unified
colors and designs high.
Too much information and
too many colors and sizes
were rated low. Larger
signs were discussed as
being more appropriate on
U.S. Highway 17 than on
other streets in the corri
dor.
Citizens were concerned
about over-development of
condominiums in the area.
“(Condo development is)
a developing trend in the
region. It’s happening in
other counties,” Suggs said.
In addition, she said that
there is a need for desir
able, low maintenance
forms of housing for the
elderly
Attractive landscaping,
buildings with interesting
architecture and textures
and two or less stories high
with varied footprints and
multiple rooflines wpre
rated high. Streets lined
with garages and parking
areas rated low.
Detention ponds that
look like natural ponds
with landscaping and deco
rative fencing were rated
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 86, Low: 72
Scattered Tstorms
Friday
High: 87, Low: 70
Isolated T'storms
Saturday
High: 84, Low: 70
Partly Cloudy