Mother, daughter show at PAL
Rage 4
Lady Pirates continue streeak
Rage 7
Parents learn at HGS
Rage 9
The
Perquimans
CAS-ar
October 18,2006
Vol. 74. No. 42 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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Zita Ferebee became first a
local, then state hero last year
when she was credited with
saving the lives of 41 children
on her school bus after a truck
crashed into it twice, then
burst into flame. Ferebee's
calm demeanor and attention
to detail were crucial to the
rescue effort. Next month, she
will be receive the Blue bird
Heroism Award at the 32nd
annual conference for National
Association for Pupil
Transportation,
National hero
^ Zita Ferebee
earns national
heroism award
for her actions
after bus crash
SUSAN HARRIS
Zita Ferebee will be the recipi
ent of the Blue Bird Heroism
Award next month during the
32nd annual Conference for
National Association for Pupil
Transportation.
Ferebee became a local hero
last Oct. 24 when the Perquimans
County Schools bus she was driv
ing was involved in a horrific
accident that endangered the
lives of the 41 students on the
bus. Through Ferebee’s calm
demeanor and adherence to safe
ty and emergency procedures,
she was able to help get all the
students and herself off the
burning bus.
On Oct. 30, 2005, Ferebee was
named as the Tar Heel of the
Week in the News and Observer
newspaper, published in Raleigh.
This article highlighted Ferebee’s
passion and dedication, leaving
readers with not only a very posi
tive perception of school bus
drivers, but also with a better
understanding of the student
safety with which they are
entrusted.
Continued on page 9
County to
buy water
fix)m
Pasquotank
MARGARET FISHER
Perquimans County has asked
Pasquotank County to provide
350,000 gallons of water a day
once the new water plant is built
in mid-2008. The new plant will be
built on Foreman Bundy and
Okisko roads.
The agreement, to be contract
ed by' Dec. 1, is expected to pro
vide 300,000 gallons per day for
Hertford and 50,000 gallons for
Winfall and allow for growth, said
County Manager Bobby Darden.
The request is a reasonable
one, said John Gregory,
Pasquotank County water super
intendent.
The Winfall water plant, which
is producing nearly at capacity,
will still run, but won’t produce
as much water as it does now.
“We’ll use it for peak
demands,’’ Darden said. It pro
duces about 150,000 gallons, but
peaks at 400,000 gallons per day.
The Bethel water plant will
continue to produce water for the
west side of the Perquimans
River. The plant received a new
rating in August increasing its
Continued on page 9
Sail away
w
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Crew members of the periauger, along with captain and program director John Ernst, sailed the
historic replica in colonial dress out of Hertford last Thursday. The boat was making a four-hour,
21-mile journey to the Scuppernong River Festival held on Saturday in Columbia. The periauger
and its crew are often called upon to participate in waterfront festivals, as the periauger, the
colonial marine equivalent of today's pickup truck, had disappeared from use and was brought
back to life by the Perquimans County Restoration Association with grants and volunteers.
One 911 call made
during outage
MARGARET FISHER
During the outage experienced at the E-911
Communications Center that was mentioned in last week’s
newspaper, one caller did, in fact, try to place an emergency
call.
The caller, Carole Dail, dialed 9-1-1 after her father-in-law
fell at his home on Hunters Fork Road on the evening of Oct.
2. Dail called the emergency line about four times - each
time she heard rings followed by a busy signal, Dail said.
Dail then looked up the Perquimans County Sheriff’s
Office phone number and reported the fall. The Sheriff’s
Office reported the emergency caU to the Communications
Center on their administrative line.
“It really could have cost someone’s life. Looking up the
number takes time,’’ Dail said.
Homeria Jennette, director of Telecommunications, said
that she was not aware of the emergency call coming in that
night because it had come in on the administrative line. She
confirmed that the emergency had occurred during the out
age.
There are a number of ways that calls come in, and she
had inadvertently missed that report, she said. Upon further
research, she confirmed that no other emergency calls had
been reported that night during the approximately 13-
minute outage.
The outage occurred when an Embarq hardware card
failed in a switch in Rocky Mount. The problem sporadically
affected a number of E-911 centers in eastern North
Carolina.
New jail to cost $19M
Perquimans part of
tri-county project
MARGARET FISHER
With a contract dating back to 1970,
Perquimans and Pasquotank coun
ties, as well as Camden County, will
be pooling resources in order to build
a new jail facility.
The new Albemarle District Jail is
expected to cost about $19 million and
will house 248 inmates. The current
jail is licensed to take 88 inmates but
often houses as many as 160 inmates,
said Pasquotank County Sheriff
Randy Cartwright.
Pasquotank County is borrowing
$12 million from USDA Rural
Development and the remainder
through a bank loan. Officials plan
that all or at least part of the costs
will be supplied by leasing space in
the jail.
“One thing we’re hoping to do is to
house federal prisoners and also
inmates from other counties,’’
Cartwright said.
Hopefully, that will offset the debt
service from the cost of the building,
said Perquimans County Manager
Bobby Darden.
Currently, Perquimans County
pays $343,000 per year, or 21 percent of
the cost, for sharing the use of the
jail, Darden said. The money comes
from tax dollars in the general fund.
Pasquotank pays 66 percent and
Camden pays 13 percent. The percent
ages are based on the latest popula
tion census, Cartwright said.
The four-member jail commission,
made up of one to two representa
tives from each county, will make the
payments to Pasquotank County after
revenues are received, said
Pasquotank County Manager Randy
Keaton.
Perquimans County
Commissioner Charles Ward is a
member of the jail commission.
“We’re going to probably sign a
contract this month,’’ Ward said.
'’‘...We’re not anticipating having to
come up with a lot of money.’’
The new jail will be built with an
infrastructure to house 400 inmates
and capacity to add wings for addi
tional rooms, Cartwright said. It will
be located at the Pasquotank County
Commerce Park next to the N.C.
Department of Corrections.
Contracting with the state prison
will provide savings in the cost of
food service and laundry, thereby sav
Continued on page 9
Arrest
made for
stolen
vehicle
MARGARET FISHER
A man who stole a vehicle in
Hertford was found and arrested
in Elizabeth City. The incident
resembles a similar case last
month involving his brother,
Johnnie Ace Foster Jr.
Kervin Javon Brown, 18, of Lot
5 at Sawyer’s Mobile Home Park
in Elizabeth City, was arrested
under numerous charges in both
cities and placed on a secured
bond totaling $28,200.
At about 10:25 p.m. oh Saturday,
officers responded to a call about
a stolen vehicle at New Branch
Outreach Church at 103 N.
Edenton Road St..
Julius Santiago of Elizabeth
City told officers that he had
parked his 2005 Nissan Altima in
the parking lot next to the church.
When he left the church, he found
that his car was gone, said
Hertford Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy.
The police department report
ed a description of the car to the
National Crime Information
Center which distributed the
information to E-911 centers by
computer.
After Elizabeth City police offi
cers received the information by
radio, Sgt. C.E. Kirby spotted the
car, said Capt. Frank Koch. After
a short chase. Brown jumped, out
of the car and attempted to run.
The car he had been driving
rolled back into a patrol car.
Police apprehended Brown and
arrested him. Hertford police
brought warrants to Elizabeth
City where Brown was charged
Continued on page 9
Weather
Thursday
High: 81, Low: 65
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 70, Low: 49
Showers
Saturday
High: 70, Low: 52
Sunny