The
ERQUIMANS VYj^jiKLY
October 3, 2007
Vol. 75, No. 40 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
'*News from Next Door'*
PCMS
raises
test
scores
Perquimans County
Middle School has been
recognized as a School of
Progress by the state after
students there met expect
ed academic growth and at
least 60 percent of students
scored at or above achieve
ment level during the 2006-
2007 school year.
Students attending
PCMS demonstrated the
highest academic growth
in local schools, according
to the ABCs of account
ability released recently
by the state Department
of Instruction. PCMS stu
dents raised their overall
proficiency from 67.8 in
2005-2006 to 76.3 last year.
Principal Jamie Liver-
man credits his entire
staff, students and parents
for the continued success
demonstrated by his stu
dents.
“Teachers are work
ing more diligently than
ever,” said Liverman. “As
the standards continue to
rise under the No Child
Left Behind law, it will be
imperative that school offi
cials and teachers remain
vigilant in their efforts. We
will constantly examine,
refine, and improve what
our teachers are doing in
the classroom.”
The news wasn’t as good
for Perquimans County
High School, however.
Students there dropped
slightly from 58.4 in 2005-
2006 to 57.8 scored last
year, keeping the local
high school designated as
a priority school by the
state, or one where less
than 60 percent of students
scored at or above achieve
ment level. Students did
meet expected growth as
determined by the state ac
countability program, and
they met 13 out of 13 target
goals for the year under
the Adequate Yearly Prog
ress criteria.
“Academic success
doesn’t just happen,” said
Principal James Bunch.
“You make it happen by
identifying weaknesses
that ^ect your perfor
mance and then provide
assistance in achieving
academic success. Extend
ed learning opportunities
are provided for students
to participate in individ
ual and group tutorials or
workshops such as SAT
tutorial sessions, Saturday
writing academies, and
after-school tutorial ses
sions. Our goal is to assist
students in becoming ef
ficient and effective learn
ers.”
Bunch believes academ
ic success for students is
achieved by providing an
environment that is safe,
friendly, and conducive to
learning.
“It is my goal to do ex
actly that for students at
tending PCHS,” he added.
Students at Hertford
Grammar demonstrated
69.5 percent proficiency
in 2006-2007, slightly high
er than the 68.5 percent
scored the year before.
Neither Hertford Gram
mar nor Perquimans Cen
tral met their expected
growth standards.
Sports greats
Perquimans Weekly Photo by
PHIL HARRIS
THE PERQUIMANS
COUNTY ATHLETIC
Boosters inducted
the third class into
the Hall of Fame Fri
day night. Inducted
were the 1963 state
championship base
ball team (above) and
Sid Eley, Hazel "Skip"
Matthews, Paul
"Matt" Matthews,
Keith Rouse and Gary
Stubbins (right). For
more about the con
tributions of these
inductees to sports
programs, see page
8.
County board opposes OLF again
SUSAN HARRIS
Editor & Publisher
Perquimans County
Commissiopers approved
a resolution Monday night
reaffirming their opposi
tion to the navy siting an
outlying landing field in
northeastern North Caro
lina.
The possibility of
an OLF in the area re-
emerged recently after six
more North Carolina sites,
including two in Gates
County and two in Camden
County, were discussed
at a joint meeting of the
Governor’s OLF Study
Group and navy officials in
Raleigh. The Perquimans
County site is still on the
list of possible locations.
In addition to the com
missioner’s resolution,
the grassroots No OLF
Committee reactivated
last week to oppose con
sideration of any site in
northeastern North Caro
lina and specifically in
Perquimans. The group is
hosting a public meeting on
Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Bel-
videre Fire Department to
discuss the issue and help
local residents prepare for
a visit to the area from
the Governor’s OLF Study
Group on Oct. 23. The site
of that meeting has not yet
been announced.
Emergency notification system coming
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A tanker truck traveling
Highway 17 southbound
loses control and runs off
the roadway, overturning
into the parking lot of the
ABC Package Store at 2
a.m. The tanker explodes,
spewing poisonous gas
into the air.
The first policeman or
firefighter on the scene as
sesses the situation, and
immediately determines*
that all homes within a
five-mile radius must be
evacuated.
Instead of sending po
lice or firefighters door to
door to notify residents of
the necessary evacuation
in the middle of the night,
which takes up precious
time, Perquimans County
officials will soon be able
to caU each resident by
phone within minutes.
County commissioners
recently approved taking
part in the First Call Net
work, Inc., a web-based
emergency notification
program that can deliver
up to 20,000 30-second mes
sages via telephone within
10 minutes. Coxmty emer
gency service officiads be
lieve getting important
information out' to county
residents quickly can save
lives and property. The
program can be used in the
event of natural disasters
like hurricanes or torna
dos, or local emergencies
like hazardous materials
spiUs, or for something as
simple as notifying resi
dents of a broken water
line.
“Back when Hurricane
Isabel hit, getting informa
tion out to the public was an
issue,” remembered Coun
ty Manager Bobby Darden.
“This program will call
residents, leave messages
on answering machines if
no one answers, and it will
let us know who they were
not able to get in touch
with. It’s something we
hopefully will never have
to use.”
The program is similar
to the one used by the coun
ty schools. A database of
phone numbers wiU be in
fused into the system from
the local telephone carrier,
and those who have unlist
ed phones or use only cell
phones can register their
phone numbers on a web
site for inclusion. The pro
gram is web based, so the
county can activate it from
any location as long as the
employee has access to a
phone or a computer.
Jarvis Winslow, the
county’s emergency man
agement coordinator, re
searched emergency noti-
CONTINUED on page 2
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 82
Low: 68
T'showers
Football Friday
High: 83
Low: 67
Few Showers
Farm Tour Saturday
High: 82
Low: 67
Scattered Rain
Sunday
High: 83
Low: 66
Sunny
Farms
can get
drought
help
Winter crops
may also be
adversely
affected by
dry weather
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Perquimans County is
one of 85 counties across
the state declared eligible
for federal disaster assis
tance for farmers who lost
crops or received damage
due to the drought and
high temperatures this
past summer.
The state was declared
a natural disaster last
month because of the heat
and drought that has im
pacted crops. And, local
agricultural officials say,
the drought is continuing
so far this fall.
“It’s as dry now as we’ve
been all year,” noted I^ew-
is Smith, director of tne
Perquimans County Coop
erative Extension Service.
Perquimans County is'
down about 25 inches in
rainfall for the year, he
pointed out. Not only has
the drought affected crops
that have grown or are in
the process of growing
now, but it’s expected to im
pact crops not even planted
yet as well.
Smith explained that
the county’s corn yields
are down about 25 bushels
per acre.
“Usually, we see about
130-135 bushels per acre in
corn yields,” said Smith.
“This year, we’ve seen
about 80-90 bushels per
acre.”
While cotton, peanuts
and soybeans are still in
the field. Smith expects
yields in those crops to be
off this season as well.
“Some are pleased with
the cotton so far,” he said.
“But, I’m afraid overall,
the cotton is going to be
on the short side with the
yields.”
Wheat is usually put in
the ground mid October,
but some farmers may
have problems getting the
seed to germinate.
“I don’t know if we have
enough moisture to get
the wheat crop going,” he
added.
While some areas in the
county have received rain
throughout the summer.
Smith says rain has been
very spotty.
“The showers that did
come hit at the right time,”
he said.
Farmers in Perquimans
County may apply for
Farm Service Agency
emergency loans for physi
cal and production losses
up until May 12, 2008. The
local FSA office is located
at 512 South Church Street
in Hertford.
Any farmer who has suf
fered a production or phys
ical loss should contact the
local office for additional
information.