Local vets in WWII
Page 2
Pirates get a gridiron win
Page 7
Rogers honored
Page 9
P3/C2***********CAR-RT LOT’^*C-Oai
PEHQUIMftffS COUHTT ilBKART
110 w ACADrarr sr
HERTFORD, 5C 27944-1306 11/6/ 2 0 0 fa
i ji^rv
November 8, 2006, 2006
Vot, 74, No. 45 Hertford, North CaroPma 27944
Sheriffs deputies,
ALE raid houses
selling alcohol
Weekiy
Trick or treat!
SUSAN HARRIS
Law enforcement agen
cies charged two local men
for selling alcohol illegally
last Thursday after months
of investigation.
Sheriff Eric Tilley said
the pair were charged with
possession of alcohol for
sale without a permit and
selling alcohol without a
permit after suspected
“shot houses” in the
Hertford and Bethel
Townships were searched
by law enforcement offi
cers. A “shot house” is a
place where people buy
drinks or “shots” of alco
hol.
Wallace Simon Jones Jr.
of 430 Burnt Mill Road,
and Charlie Ferebee of 107
N. Main Street, Winfall
were both charged with the
misdemeanors and placed
under $5,000 secured bonds.
Both are out on bail.
The arrests came after
an investigation spanning
over six months, Tilley
said. Both the sheriff’s
department and District
ALE office in Elizabeth
City had received com
plaints from county resi
dents about activity in both
locations. ^
“We had had numerous
complaints at the (Buri^
Mill Road) residence,
including shots fired, fights
and that kind of thing,”
Tilley said. There were also
accusations of drug activi
ty, although Tilley said no
drugs were found during
the raid.
There were several peo
ple at the Burnt Mill prop
erty, including Jones, when
the search warrant was
served, Tilley said,
although no one was arrest
ed except Jones.
At the Hertford house,
officers arrived to find no
people on site, but a large
amount of alcohol. Tilley
said officers also found
piles of ice in the front
yard. As that property was
being searched, officers
arrested Ferebee at his
Winfall home.
In addition to the sale of
alcohol, complaints there
included suspected drug
activity and a great deal of
people on the property.
“We had people tell us
that the line to get in there
and buy shots wrapped
around the house,” Tilley
said.
Tilley said customers
paid $2 per shot for the alco
hol.
In response to com
plaints, ALE District
Officer Rodney Parker and
the sheriff’s department
launched Operation Citizen
Complaint and sent an
undercover agent to both
locations. The agent pur
chased alcohol at both.
In addition to ALE and
the sheriff’s office, and SBI
agent with a drug dog and
the N.C. Highway Patrol
assisted with the raids.
Tilley said shutting
down the shot houses
marks the fourth case his
department has been invol-
Continued on page 12
PHOTOS BY SUSAN HARRIS
Downtown Hertford
was filled with all
manor of costumed
characters last
Tuesday when the
downtown businesses
hosted trick-or-treat
ing on Halloween in
the business district.
From super heroes to
witches to animals to
princesses and more, a
variety of visitors
made their way down
Church and Market
streets.
V
n\
OR treat
MARGARET FISHER
A man was arrested for
reckless driving in
Hertford on Halloween
night.
At about 8:30 p.m.,
Grandy Jamal Dunbar, 21,
of 880 Shillington Road,
was driving a 1992 Nissan
Maxima on King Street at
an excessive speed when
Officer Jeff Thomas spot
ted him, said Hertford
Police Chief Dale Vanscoy.
Thomas clocked him at
36 in a 25-mile-per-hour
zone, Vanscoy said.
Dunbar didn’t stop, but
ran a stop sign at King
Street and Hyde Park and
continued onto Edenton
Road Street to Cox
Avenue. He headed onto
Dobbs Street and through
another stop sign at
Railroad Avenue where he
drove the wrong way on
the one-way street.
Dunbar was apprehend
ed on Railroad Avenue
just before Grubb Street.
He told officers that he
had been heading to his
girlfriend’s house on Cox
Avenue. He consented to a
search of his vehicle after
police found him carrying
more than $400. ,
Dunbar was charged
with careless and reckless
driving, placed on an $800
secured bond and taken to
Albemarle District Jail.
He is set to appear at
Perquimans County
District Court on Dec. 6.
Schools take buses off S-bridge
MARGARET FISHER
Perquimans County
Schools) Superintendent
Kenneth Wells announced
that school buses are no
longer trekking across the
causeway and S-bridge as
of Nov. 1.
Instead, they will take
the long way to and from
home traversing the high-
rise bridge.
“Recently, county and
town officials have dis
cussed our sincere con
cern for the safety of the
causeway,” Wells wrote.
“Personal observations
and comments by those
who use the causeway and
S-bridge frequently led to
this decision.”
Town, county and
school officials met last
month and discussed top
priorities such as the safe
ty of the causeway, said
Dwayne Stallings, assis
tant superintendent. The
matter was also discussed
at a previous meeting with
state legislators.
“With the causeway
seeming to continue to
sink, it became a matter of
the safe passage of buses,”
Stallings said.
Concerns were
addressed about the patch
ing of the road that’s been
done over the years and
how the road conditions
may lay the groundwork
for a bus loaded with chil
dren to hit something or
get hit and end up in the
Continued on page 12
Postal worker charged in two-car 'wreck
^MARGARET FISHER
A two-car Wreck on
Woodville Road last
Wednesday caused
injuries to and involved
charges against a mail car
rier, said Trooper K.R.
Briggs of the N.C.
Highway Patrol.
At about 2.20 p.m., a
rural carrier for the U.S.
Postal Service, Judy
Overton, 49, was traveling
north on Woodville Road
in a 1975 AMC Jeep. She
began slowing down as she
neared mailboxes to the
right and a group of hous-
* es - called Stockton - on a
lane on the left.
Abe Godfrey Jr., 17, was
driving a 2001 Ford pickup
and following behind her.
Overton told Briggs that
she was planning to turn
A postal worker was airlifted to a Norfolk hospital
after being involved in a two-car collision on
Woodville Road last Wednesday.
left to deliver a package too
large to fit in a mailbox.
Godfrey was preparing to
pass Overton in the pass
ing zone when she began
turning. Overton told the
officer she had her turn
signal on, while Godfrey
said that he didn’t see the
signal on. Neither was con
firmed, Briggs said.
Godfrey’s truck hit the
side of the Jeep and both
ended up on the left side of
the road past the lane at a
ditch.
LuAnn Cobbs, who lives
in Stockton, said that she
was just beginning to walk
down the lane to get her
mail from the box across
the road.
“I was walking out to
pick up my mail, and I did
n’t see (the accident) hap
pen. But I heard this hor
rendous crash,” Cobbs
said.
Overton was charged
with a safe moving viola
tion, for not making sure it
was safe to turn, and hav
ing an expired license
plate.
Both said they were
wearing restraints.
Because the Jeep was a for
mer Postal Service vehicle.
Continued on page 12
County 'water rates
to rise in March
MARGARET FISHER
Most Perquimans
County residents can
expect their water rates to
go up beginning March 1.
County commissioners
approved a rate change that
will increase most water
users, although residents
using less than 1,000 gal
lons a month will see a
decrease.
“'We’re selling water for
less than it costs to produce
it,” said County Manager
Bobby Darden about the
current rates.
The rate will be a flat $6
per 1,000 gallons for using
more than 1,000 gallons a
month. For people who use
1,000 gallons or less, the
rate will be $10 - a savings
of $2.50.
High water consumption
users, such as irrigated
farms, will see the biggest
increases, Darden , said.
That’s because under the
current rates, large water
consumers pay less. The
rates are $4.60 per 1,000 gal
lons, but they decline as the
use increases until they
level out at $2.50 for 20,000
or more gallons.
Average consumers that
use about 4,000 to 5,000 gal
lons a month will see about
a 29 percent increase.
“It’ll increase conserva
tion,” said Commissioner
Sue Weimar.
This March, the water
rates won’t have changed
for 11 years. At the last
increase in 1996, the aver
age user experienced about
a 60 percent increase, but
the dollar amount of
increase will be about the
same as it was then,
Darden said.
About 40 percent of cus
tomers use less than 2,000
gallons a month. Users of
2,000 gallons a month will
see an increase of 28 per
cent.
Continued on page 12
WEAiHER
Thursday
High: 73, Low: 51
AM Showers
Friday
High: 71, Low: 53
Sunny
Saturday
High: 74, Low: 56
Partly Cloudy