Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Aug. 8, 2007, edition 1 / Page 1
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V >':> Back to school series^ part 2 Page 2 Historic organ gets overhaul Page 4 ALS tourney, foundation info Page 7 I i^iSSK^ ‘ ;i*'SJ*i*C.S.R:RT LOT*' CDUHTY HERTFORD, RO 2?y4«-130^ 'J -—.' n -I /n ****** pkoUIMAKS CDUp^ 1 110 W ftCftDEri'/_M , i-iWpnKn. HC 2/':>‘i‘i- -001 ^ 8 2887 'HE CIMAr August 8, 2007 Vol. 75, No. 53 Hettfonl Nortll Carolina 27944 County gets PARTF j?V“ ; 7-ji AAusi.o iliidkovs grant SUSAN HARRIS The county hit a home- run with the receipt of nearly $500,000 in grant money for expansion of sports facilities at the recreation complex off Harvey Point Road. County Manager Bohby Darden told commission ers Monday night during their regular August meet ing that he got a letter con firming that the county received a $431,125 Parks and Recreation Trust Fund — commonly short ened to PARTF and pro nounced “par-teef” — grant to add lighted youth softball and T-ball fields, picnic/concessions/rest room facilities, play ground equipment and a skateboard park at the site. The PARTF is a 50-50 match grant, and the county will use a $341,750 clean water trust fund grant as part of the match, with $89,375 com ing from county coffers. The clean water trust fund project is underway. That project will help repair erosion and site damage from Hurricane Isabel and construct wet lands to filter stormwater runoff from the paved parking lot and ball fields. Vegetation will be added and a breakwall will be built 20-30 feet offshore, Darden said, to prevent future erosion. Albemarle RC&D, Perquimans Soil and Water Conservation and NRCS are providing tech nical assistance^ with the projects. The county has applied for a CAMA grant to install a public fishing pier and small boat ramp at the facility. Darden said the county should hear from that grant by year end. Phase I of the recre ation project included building a gymnasium/community center, a lighted baseball field, a lighted soccer/football field, a pic nic/concessions/restroom facility and parking. Next year, the county will begin preliminary work on a wellness center at the site. PHOTO COURTESY DAVE SILVA There are may signs that school bells and fall are just around the corner, but none more melodic than the sounds of the PCHS Marching Pirates during band camp as they prepare in the heat of summer for the upcoming season. PCHS auditorium gets facelift SUSAN HARRIS Hairstyles have changed. Lifestyles have changed. The folks who are still with us who can say they were among the first to tour the building have changed. But unchanged over nine decades is how important the high school auditorium is to the com munity. The last remaining component of the 1924 structure, the auditorium is getting a facelift that will retain its character while smoothing out its deficiencies and giving it some 21st century ameni ties. The outer banks of seats have been removed and the walls stripped to reveal the brick veneer. New plaster walls are going up and the wood floors will be spruced up, as will the 660-odd seats. The original tin ceiling will remain intact. A new coat of trim paint — per haps burgundy. Principal James Bunch is thinking —- will replace the mauve that was rolled on in the 1980s. New lighting and a new sound system will be installed. School officials hope the work will be complet ed by the time students return to the halls of PCHS on Aug. 27. Over the years, the auditorium has seen hun PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS Continued on page 10 The PCHS auditorium is presently getting a facelift, having been stripped down to the brick veneer in preparation for new plaster walls. Grant helps HPD patrol town’s highest crime areas more CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Hertford police will spend more time in high crime areas, thanks to a federally funded grant through the North Carolina Governor's Crime Commission. The $10,000 Operation Safe Street Grant will pay off-duty police officers to work overtime in problem areas, patrolling in cars and walking the streets. Regular officers on duty will continue to patrol the town in addition to the concentrated police pres ence in the troubled areas. “This is the first time we have received an over time grant,” said Chief Dale Vanscoy. “It's been awhile since we've been able to provide additional officers on the street.” Officers in cars and on foot will spend time mak ing contact with the area residents, opening up the lines of communication, and setting up check points to see who's going in and going out of areas. They will be watching for troublemakers, especially those who don't live in the neighborhood. Police will focus on King Street and Stokes Drive, an area that is part of the Hertford Housing Authority. Police tracked the location and nature of their complaints for about a year and entered that data into a computer soft ware program that deter mined the town's high Continued on page 10 Chestnut pleads to murder The house condemned by local officials on Market Street was the source of numerous criminal activities over the years. William Stanley Johnson was found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest Aug. 11, 2005 around 1 a.m. near the residence. Clarence A. Chestnut, 28, of Winfall, pleaded no contest in superior court in July to second-degree murder in connection with the shooting. Chestnut .was sentenced in Perquimans County Superior Court to a mini mum of 10 years and a maximum of 12 years, 9 months in prison as a result of a plea agree ment Police believed the two men had been in a dis pute earlier in the day. Teens confess to crime spree SUSAN HARRIS Two 14-year-olds face the next few years in detention after allegedly confessing to a string of offenses over the past 10 months in three counties. The minors admitted to an array of felonies including stealing vehi cles, break-ins and rob beries, according to Sheriff. Eric Tilley, Hertford Police Chief Dale Vanscoy and Winfall Police Chief David Shaffer. Officials began to close in on the minors the day after a vehicle was stolen and another vehicle was vandalized at Northeast Dragway on Aug. 1. Tilley said the stolen vehicle belonging to dragway owner Curtis Trueblood was recovered by Shaffer on River Street in Winfall. Based on a description of a suspicious young man seen in the area around the time of the incident at the dragway, the sheriff’s department had a suspect, but insuffi cient evidence for charges. Shaffer said he and DMV Officers Hardy Gilliam and Roy Bateman interviewed the suspect. During that interview, Shaffer said the suspect admitted involvement in crimes committed across Perquimans, Chowan and Gates counties. An accom plice was also named. The juveniles’s grand parents took him to the Hertford Police Department and the sus pected accomplice was picked up. Both suspects were questioned by offi cers from all three local agencies, and a number of open cases under investi gation in all three juris dictions were cleared as a result of admissions by the pair, Tilley, Vanscoy and Shaffer said. The sheriff’s depart ment issued four juvenile petitions for one of the youth for his alleged role in three incidents, includ ing: Continued on page 10 Weekend Weather Thursday High: 97, Low: 77 Parry Cloudy Friday High: 96, Low: 76 Parry Qoudy Saturday High: 88, Low: 70 Isolated Tstorms
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Aug. 8, 2007, edition 1
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