Hertford Fire Dept, gets grant
Rage 3
Students enjoy Farm Day
Page 4
Lady Pirates fall in round four
Page 7
November 1, 2006
Vol. 74, No. 44 Hertford, North Carolina 27S44
PERQLuyiai^S
Weekly
County reviews
court security
MARGARET FISHER
Recent rashes of crimi
nal activities and signs of
gangs in and around the
county have induced offi
cials to take steps to
improve security at the
courthouse and its newer
annex building.
Court and law enforce
ment officials have formed
a committee, which met
last week, to review the
facilities based on the
Governor’s Crime
Commission state court
security guidelines.
Members include Judges
J.C. Cole, Richard Parker
and Grafton Beamon;
Sheriff Eric Tilley; Clerk of
Court Todd Tilley; District
Attorney Frank Parrish;
County Manager Bobby
Darden; attorney Janice
Cole; Chief Magistrate
William Winslow; proba
tion officer George Long;
county commissioners
Tammy Miller-White and
Sue Weimar; and a citizen.
Brad Kime.
Because it is historic,
the old courthouse poses
unique problems regarding
security. There are about
eight entrances located
around the building with
halls leading to the court
room and clerk’s office.
Particular areas of con
cern include the area
around the holding cell for
inmates, the hallway from
the lockup to the court
room, the area around the
judge’s seat and the clerk’s
office.
In his seven years as
sheriff, Eric Tilley said he’s
not seen any major inci
dents occur in the court
room as of yet. But crimi
nal, child custody and
domestic sessions have the
potential to explode into
serious situations, as they
have across the country.
“We’ve had a potential
for problems, but we
haven’t had any to escalate
to a serious problem,” he
said. “We’ve been able to
diffuse it, or it just didn’t
arise.”
They have had people
attempt to escape. One
inmate was able to run out
side where he was caught.
Now, inmates are shackled
in the courtroom, unless
the judge doesn’t want that,
Eric Tilley said.
A major, obstacle to
improving courthouse
security is preserving its
history.
Kime was a military
intelligence analyst for the
US. Navy for 22 years and
currently works in security
for the federal government
at the Navy and Marine
Corp Intelligence Training
Center, Damneck, Va.
Kime said that the com
mittee will have to decide
what the county would be
willing to change to make
the courthouse more
secure and how much
money they will be able to
spend on those changes.
The Belvidere resident
said the simplest fix that he
can see would be to install
cipher locks on the doors.
The electronic coded locks
would require employees to
use a card to access the
building. The public could
only enter through the
main entrance at the front.
Certain areas could be
accessed only by specific
people during certain
times and patterns of who
is going where could be
tracked, Kime said. “It’s
relatively inexpensive,” he
said.
Continued on page 10
Glimpses of The King
He looked, sang and
had stage presence
like Elvis Saturday
night at the high
school auditorium,
but it was Keith
Henderson who per
formed "A Tribute to
the King."
Henderson wowed a
packed house with
his talent and show
manship. Lacey
Reames of
Belvidere, a stage
veteran at 17,
opened the show.
The event was a
scholarship fund
raiser for the
Hertford Rotary.
Show nets $3,500 for Rotary Club
MARGARET FISHER
While some may ponder on whether
or not Elvis is dead, about 450 people
knew his music was alive when they
heard Keith Henderson perform
“Illusions of the King” at Perquimans
County High School on Saturday night.
The performance netted about $3,500
for the Rotary Club of Hertford to pro
vide college scholarships to high school
students in the county. Brad furr. Rotary
president, said he was impressed with
Continued on page 10
Alleged crack house closed for business by cops
MARGARET FISHER
In a team effort involv
ing police, town workers
and animal control, a house
commonly known as a
crack house was boarded
up, and animals on the
property were rescued.
“The whole situation
stems from years of drug
activity,” said Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy
The event occurred at
329 Market Street last
Friday at about 3:45 p.m.
When officers arrived,
Shelma Miller Jr told
police he is a resident of
the house, Vanscoy said.
Miller then received a let
ter signed by the homeown
er, Elizabeth City resident
and attorney William T.
Davis, giving officials per
mission to board up the
house, post no trespassing
signs and arrest anyone
found on the property. He
was also given one hour to
remove his belongings.
Earlier in the week, offi
cials posted no trespassing
signs at the former funeral
home next door to the
house and the old J&L
Store across the street on
Edenton Road and Market
streets.
“All of this was the
result of public complaints
and council concerns,”
Vanscoy said.
A group of residents
watched on Friday as ani
mal control officers
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Law enforcement, town
workers and animal con
trol officials teamed
together to board up 329
Market Street, a house
known for drug activity.
Dogfight training equip
ment was found on the
property, and nine pit
bulls, 31 pigeons and
three box turtles were
rescued out of the yard.
removed nine pit buUs, 31
pigeons and three box tur
tles from the premises. The
yard was littered with
devices used to train dogs
to fight, including fighting
hides and biting sticks and
springs.
Tri-County Animal
Shelter officials removed
the dogs.
“The majority are in
poor condition, as far as
weight goes,” said Mary
Bass, shelter manager and
Chowan County animal
control supervisor. In addi
tion, all but one exhibit bat
tle scars on them, she said.
The people-friendly
canines might not be taken
by a rescue group because
they will not tolerate other
dogs, Bass said. The dogs
had been chained up with
what looked like logging
chains — illegal to use for
dogs — in various areas of
the yard. One was confined
in a makeshift plywood
pen. A puppy was chained
with links the size of those
used on ships.
The pigeons were con
fined in a wooden hutch
with about two cups of
water laden with bird feces.
There was no evidence of
food in the outbuilding.
Feces were as deep as four
inches in some places, said
Elizabeth Hanrahan, a
licensed wildlife rescuer.
“They were really hun
gry and thirsty when they
got here,” Hanrahan said.
But they were looking bet
ter on Monday afternoon,
she added.
Their future is unknown
as there are no pigeon res
cue groups in the state and
they can’t technically be
transported across state
lines. Hanrahan is watch
ing them for signs of para
sites and fungus of the
lungs - two common ill
nesses among pigeons.
She is also rehabilitating
the box turtles, whose num
bers are dwindling across
Continued on page 10
Resident
scammed
MARGARET FISHER
The check’s in the mail,
so the saying goes. But
beware of people sending
checks and then asking for
money back or telling you
that you have won a lottery.
Scams are ever present,
but there is a rash of them
out there now, said
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley.
He’s received numerous
complaints from citizens
throughout the county
about telephone and mail
scams telling residents
they’ve won $5,000. One
scam cost an elderly resi
dent $7,150, he said.
The perpetrators are
usually located outside the
country, often in Canada or
Jamaica, so they can’t be
prosecuted, Tilley said.
Often, the elderly are prey,
he said.
It often goes like this: A
large check arrives in the
mail with a phone number
to call. Or someone calls
and says that you’ve won a
large sum of money. The
recipient is then asked to
deposit the check. But, in
order to receive the money,
the recipient has to pay
fees for such things as ship
ping and processing. Those
fees supposedly come out
of the check.
In actuality, the check is
no good. So the recipient
ends up sending his or her
own money and ends up
with a bounced check, pos
sibly with a returned
check fee, in the bank.
There’s no way to track the
perpetrator down. And
secrecy is often part of the
scam.
“They’ll tell you not to
tell anyone else, not even
your family members,”
Tilley said.
Fortunately, the local
woman who lost a sum of
money through a scam did
not lose more than she did
because her local bank
notified a relative of the
unusual activity in her
account, Tilley said.
“One part of living in a
small rural town is that the
people at the bank can con
tact you if they see some
thing happen on your
account,” he said.
But don’t let it get that
far. Keep the old adage in
mind that if it’s too good to
be true, it probably isn’t
true. If you receive a scam
in the mail, report it to the
U.S. postal inspector in
Wilmington that handles
this region at (910) 762-5545.
Weather
Thursday
High: 63, Low: 42
Showers
Friday
High: 58, Low: 35
Sunny
Saturday
High: 57, Low: 39
Mostly Sunny