Students write about Thanksgiving Pages 10 and 11 Sports Page 9 Subscriber of the Week: Clara Hollowell I^J / lot November 21, 2007 Vol. 75, No. 47 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 ^*News from Next Door** 35 cents Zoning Search of house leads to drug arrest okayed CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Hertford Town Coun cil approved two rezoning requests last week, pav ing the way for riverfront luxury condominiums and townhouses on Church Street Extended. Based on the earlier rec ommendation of the town’s planning board of adjust ments, the town commis sioners agreed to rezone approximately 17 acres located near 700 Church Street from R-10 to TR and they rezoned 15 acres at 200 Ocean Hwy. South from residential to commercial. The rezoning request was made by Tugboat Properties, LLC, a Green ville partnership. Tugboat Properties is planning to create Hertford Bay Marina, a project that not only includes town- houses and condominiums, but a protected harbor and boat slips. In addition, they hope to create commercial acreage that faces U.S. 17 to include a motel, restau-' rant, and retail stores. “We are continuing to work with CAMA and the related government agencies on the marina,” said Jim Midgette, one of six partners involved in Tugboat Properties, LLC. “Now that the town coun cil has approved the zon ing, we can move forward with the engineering for these projects. “The investment team is sincerely appreciative of the support and encourage ment that we have received from the town, the plan ning board and the town council,” he continued. In other matters last week, council learned that the town has received a $64,000 Clean Water Man agement Trust Fund grant' to conduct a study to de termine where and if any stormwater is infiltrating into the town’s wastewater system. The town will add $10,000 of its own funds towards the cost of this study. Basically, the study will look for leaks in the sys tem, and if future repairs are needed, the town wUl then seek additional fund ing. Also, council agreed to accept Charles Skinner’s recommendation that the John Harris Monument be placed in the park located adjacent to the library. The monument was located on the courthouse green, but was moved in order to lo cate the new veterans mon ument there. Initial plans were to move the marker to Harris’s grave side at Cedar Wood Cerrietery, but there is already a marker there. The town agreed to let the county know they town will accept the monument in its park adjacent ot the library. Other actions by council last week included: *Accepted a leave of ab sence for Gregory Benton from the town’s Planning Board of Adjustments. *Agreed to purchase a 2008 Chevrolet Impala for administrative use at a cost of $15,535. CATHY WILSON Staff Writer A Hertford man faces drug charges after law en forcement officers searched his home on Harvey Point Road recently. Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley said Marvin Ray Moore, 33, of 1770 Harvey Point Road, faces charges of posses sion of a Schedule VI drug with intent to sell or de liver as well as possession of a Schedule II drug with intent to sell or deliver. Moore also faces a charge of maintaining a dwell ing for the sale of illegal drugs. He was held under a $15,000 secured bond, but has made bail, Tilley said. According to the sheriff, Moore was on probation for unrelated matters. Part of Moore’s previous court judgment was allowing warrantless searches to be conducted in cooperation with the probation office, Tilley explained. Probation Officer Roger Chips, along with sheriffs Investigator Shelby White and “Boaz,” a drug-sniffing dog, conducted the search. During the search, approx imately 169 grams of a sub stance believed to be mari juana was found as well as five grams of a substance believed to be “crack” co caine and three grams of a substance believed to be powdered cocaine. Moore is scheduled for a court hearing in January. In other police action over the weekend, three junk vehicles were stolen Distbict Champs! m m \. Perquimans Weekly Photo by PHIL HARRIS THE PIRATES CLINCHED THE district title in the second round of the state 1-A football playoffs Friday night in Hertford by defeating Northampton West, 19-6. A mid-field celebration followed the victory (above). Quarterback Forrest Monty stepped up big Friday, taking numerous hard hits, but continuing to make things happen for the Pirates. At bottom left, he heads for the end zone as his teammates clear a path. Another offensive play-maker was Jamel Warren (right), who bulled through the Hurricane line for over 150 yards Friday evening, getting some big holes made by the offensive line. The win set up a second match-up between Roanoke and Perquimans in Robersonville Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in round three. For more on the Pirates, see page 9. Local schools make the grade CATHY WILSON staff writer By all accounts, Perquimans County schools passed this year on the Education First North Carolina School Report Card. Released last month by the North Carolina Depart ment of Public Instruction, the report card details how the local school system did last school year on ev erything from class sizes to financial support to the quality of teachers. The average local class size of kindergarten, and fifth through eighth grades were larger than the state averages while grades one and four tied with the state average. The average class size in the third grade was smaller than the state aver age. On the high school level, the only classes that were larger than state averages were English 1 and Alge bra II. Algebra 1 classes were tied with the state av erage. Geometry, biology, civics and economics and US history classes were all smaller than the state aver ages. Perquimans County Schools spends more per student in state and feder al funds than the state av erage. Local spending per student, however, is lower than the state average by $355. The local school district met 30 out of 34 adequate yearly progress targets as set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Perquimans High School met its targets for adequate yearly progress while the middle and elementary schools did not. All the county schools are connected to the inter net with an average of 2.47 students per connected computer, compared to the state average of 3.22. According to the report card, there was one act of crime or violence reported per 100 students last year on all school levels. The average number of short term suspensions per 100 students in the local schools last year was: two on the elementary level, 12 on the middle school level, and 45 on the high school level. There were no long term suspensions or expulsions reported on the report card for the local schools. Under quality of teach ers and administrators, 98- percent of the elementary schools teachers were fully licensed, 83 percent on the middle school level, and 88 percent of the teachers on the high school level. Forty percent of the teachers on the elemen tary level hold advanced degrees such as masters or doctoral degrees. Only 10 percent of the teachers on the middle school level earned advanced degrees, and 13 percent of the teach ers on the high school level had higher degrees. The local school system employs 31 staff mem bers, including teachers. from the New Hope area. Apparently someone is loading the scrapped vehi cles onto a dolly and haul ing them away without the owners’ permission. Sheriff Tfiley said metal from junk vehicles is sell ing at a high price now, and police suspect the thief is selling the junked cars at salvage yards. Investigation continues. administrators and guid ance counselors, who have received national board certification. According to District Superintendent Dwayne StaUings, the dis trict continues to rank first in the state in percentage of national board teachers in the classroom. The district fared very well in the category of highly qualified teach ers. One hundred percent of the teachers on the el ementary level were noted as highly qualified while 97 percent of the teachers on the middle school level received the same designa tion. Ninety-nine percent of the teachers on the high school level were deemed highly qualified teachers. The state average for high and middle school is 96 per cent, while the state aver age for elementary schools is 99 percent. Other highlights of the past school year that were not mentioned on the school system’s report CONTINUED on page 16 slapping minister A local minister trying* to help juvenile offenders was slapped by one recent ly when the juvenile appar ently tirejd of the minister’s talk against gangs. Perquimans Sheriff Eric Tilley said Juan Santi ago faces an assault charge after the Nov. 8th incident which happened inside the Perquimans Juvenile Detention Center. Santia go, Tilley said, is 16 years old and was charged as an I adult. He was moved from. the juvenile detention cen-'. ter and transferred to the* Albemarle District Jail. Santiago is being held under a $10,000 secured bond. TiUey said the minister was talking to the juve niles about gangs when the 16-year-old jumped up and slapped the minister. Also recently, an Eden- ton man was charged with breaking into a home on U.S. 17 on Nov. 4. Curtis Stanley, 103 Blade Street in Edenton, report edly broke down a door in the residence, believing no one was home. The woman living there was grabbed by the man, but not in jured before he fled from the scene. Tilley said Stanley was later found in Edenton and is currently being held un der a $25,250 secured bond on charges of first degree burglary and injury to per sonal property. Weekend Weather Thanksgiving High: 74 Low: 43 Scattered T'Showers Football Friday High: 54 Low: 33 Partly Cloudy Saturday High: 57 Low: 41 Parly Cloudy