Students go to Timbuktu
Page 2
4-Her enjoy equestrian adventure
Sports update
The
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April 25, 2007
Vol. 75, No. 17 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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t.EKLY
NEAT
idea
Officials look
to enhance
transportation
programs
MARGARET FISHER
Project money is get
ting harder to find. So
when Carter Dozier,
director of Northeast
Workforce Development
at Albemarle
Commission, found grant
money for transporta
tion, he jumped on the
chance to enhance trans
portation collaboration
within the 10-county
region.
In August, the
Commission formed a
North Eastern Area
Transit of North.
Carolina team to repre
sent the Northeast
Region. This initiative
joins the 10 counties into
a cohesive group to help
meet transportation
dilemmas such as
employees needing to get
to jobs or training across
transportation system
lines.
Grants totaling $60,000
were awarded for the
NEAT-NC initiative.
A $15,000 grant from
the Community
Transportation
Association of America
through Albemarle
Commission and a $10,000
grant from the U.S.
Department of
Agriculture through
Hyde County Transit
were awarded to support
the NEAT-NC team.
These are short-term
grants to be used to hire a
consultant, create maps
and meet other immedi
ate needs.
A $35,000 non-cash
grant was awarded
through the Edenton-
Chowan Development
Corporation to provide
long-term technical assis-
tsric©
The NEAT-NC team
was chosen along with 19
Continued on page 14
loss
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
A fire engulfed a home on Snug Harbor Road, leaving it unlivable and possibly killing two cats and injuring at
least one other.
Fire leaves Bethel couple homeless
MARGARET FISHER
A fire in Snug Harbor
completely gutted a home
on Monday, leaving a cou
ple with just the clothes on
their backs and a vehicle.
Sometime before 5 p.m.,
Barbara Thorne was mow
ing the lawn in the back of
her house at 1228 Snug
Harbor Road. Her husband,
Chester Thorne, was sit
ting on their swing, enjoy
ing the pleasant afternoon
weather.
When Barbara Thorne
opened the back door to go
inside, she was confronted
by thick smoke. Alarmed,
she gathered up three of
her five cats and hurried
outdoors. Two remained in
the house and their condi
tion was unknown.
Bethel Fire Department
arrived in less than five
minutes and Hertford
arrived as backup.
“It was fully involved
when we got there,” said
Bethel Fire Chief Jeff
Proctor.
What was left after fire
fighters fought the blaze
was the charred frame of
the home.
"I don’t see anything that
can be salvaged - not a
thing," said Perquimans
County Emergency
Management Coordinator
Jarvis Winslow.
The fire was so hot that
it melted the siding on a
house being remodeled
next door.
The couple said that they
didn’t know what started
the fire.
Proctor said that the
cause of the fire couldn’t be
determined. Because of the
extent of the fire and high
ceilings, it may not be pos
sible to know what caused
it, he said.
A neighbor, Brenda
Mitchell, who lives on the
street behind the Thorne’s
house, said that she heard a
noise but didn’t know what
it was.
"I kept hearing this pop
ping noise and I thought
that Harvey Point was
working late," she said.
Then she thought it must
be kids playing with fire
crackers. She found out
what it was when her hus
band drove quickly up the
driveway and told her that
the house behind them was
on fire.
The popping noises
could have come from a
variety of sources, Proctor
said.
Chester Thorne said that
he heard the windows
bursting out. He wept as he
wondered what he and his
wife will do. They recently
had to give up their
Hertford business. Lady
and Mr. Goodstuff. Now,
they are left with a plot of
land and no insurance.
Barbara Thorne said that
they were remodeling and
hadn’t taken out insurance
on the home, yet.
Winslow made arrange
ments for the American
Red Cross to meet with the
couple to arrange a tempo
rary stay at a hotel. As the
couple sat in their truck in
the parking lot across the
street and watched fire
fighters hose down the
house, Mitchell offered her
home for them to stay.
Snug Harbor Property
Owners Association and
Stanley Nixon, pastor of
Snug Harbor Community
Church, provided assis
tance so the couple can pur
chase some basic necessi
ties. They also are setting
up a fund to help them
either rebuild or find a per
manent home.
Anyone interested in
contributing financially to
the Thorne fund can call
Don Williams at 426-1043 or
Nixon at 426-5971.
CMld
abuse
cases
rise
MARGARET FISHER
Since September, child
abuse cases have risen
dramatically throughout
the county, according to
the local Department of
Social Services reports.
The issue is being
brought into the limelight
as part of Child Abuse
Prevention Month.
During fiscal year 2003-
2004, 87 cases of abuse,
neglect and dependency
were reported and found
to be substantive. In 2004-
2005, there were 114 cases.
In 2005-2006, there were 82
cases.
From July to March
2006-2007, there have been
73 actual cases out of 143
reported to DSS.
September and February
each had 28 reported inci
dences. As of last week,
there have been 15 report
ed in April, so far.
Not all reported inci
dences turn out to be actu
al cases. But all are taken
seriously and investigat
ed, said director Susan
Chaney.
"Each report we get we
have to carefully screen to
see if it meets state man
dates for assessment,"
Chaney said. Too often,
reports are made in retal
iation and cannot be sub
stantiated.
DSS reports break the
figures down into types of
cases, ages of the chil
dren, gender and race.
Cases are fairly evenly
distributed between male
and female children. The
zero to 6-year-olds consis
tently rank higher in
numbers than 7 to 12-year-
olds or 13 and above,
which usually has the
least numbers.
Since July 2003, whites
have been consistently
Continued on page 14
Safety prime concern in Perquimans County Schools
1 r-vr>»l r* O C
MARGARET FISHER
Courtney Brothers, 16,
knows almost firsthand
how a school shooting can
tear up a family. Her cousin
was shot in the head at
Virginia Tech last week
and is currently in inten
sive care. She found out
when she returned home
from a trip to Raleigh.
"I was broken-hearted.
Why would someone want
to shoot innocent people
like that?" she wondered
aloud.
With 32 people dead at
Virginia Tech and bomb
and shooting threats hap
pening in numerous
schools in Virginia and
North Carolina, school
safety issues are at the fore
front of many people’s
minds.
PHOTO BY MARGARET FISHER
Uould more
be done?
j Local resident Brad
iKime spent 22 years as a
to.S. Navy intelligence ana-
^st and nearly five years as;
a civilian employee for thei
Navy currently doing the
■same type of job. He sits on
ithe courthouse security-
icoramittee offering high-
itech security
ladvice.Perquimans County
Ischools are already practic
ing a number of safety
High school officials believe that they are prepared as ^
well as possible for such events as the shooting inci- iContinued on page 14
dent that occurred at Virginia Tech last week.
Bryana Bass, 14, said her
mother phoned her brother
at N.C. State University
simply to make sure he
knew what had happened
at Virginia Tech in case
anything happened at his
college.
A school shooting is
basically an act of terror
ism when it comes to how
Emergency Management
would handle it, said Jarvis
Winslow, county coordina
tor.
Perquimans County
Schools makes safety a
prime concern, said
Brenda Lassiter, public
information officer."One of
the things we always do is
plan for the worst, hope for
the best and pray that noth
ing like this happens in our
school system," she said.
Pasquotank County par
ents waited outside three
schools after a shooting
threat and worried about
how their children were
faring, and Virginia Tech
students had no idea what
was going on at their cam
pus. That just wouldn’t hap
pen here, Lassiter said.The
schools have a calling sys
tem - Connect-Ed -
Continued on page 14
Weather
Thursday
High: 79, Low: 65
Mostly Qoudy
Friday
High: 83, Low: 64
Scattered'Tstorms
Saturday
High: 78, Low: 58
Isolated Tstorms