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April 2, 2008
Vol. 76, No. 14 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
mews from Next Door
Buna Wov
SUBMITTED PHOTO
LOVE, HATE, MURDER AND revenge, forgiveness and re
demption - these themes resonate through all great lit
erature and theatre, and will be brought to the stage of
Perquimans County High School with the upcoming pro
duction of "Brother Wolf." This new play by Preston Lane,
originally written for Triad Stage in Greensboro, is a re
telling of the great Old English epic "Beowulf." Reset as
an Appalachian folk tale, this new version of the ancient
story is presented by a cast of storytellers who bring to
life the traveling preacher Brother Wolf, the monster Grin
Dell, his Maw, and the Speardane family, both narrating
the story and stepping into the action as needed, blurring
the line between past and present as they use the tale to
teach young Enoch to deal with his community's present
day tragedy. The play will run April 17 and 18,7:30 p.m. in
the school uditorium. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for
students. Tickets are available in advance from cast mem
bers and theatre students, as well as at the door.
Sunday reception will honor Mobley
A reception honoring
Fifth District Representa
tive Annie Mobley will be
held Sunday from 3—5 p.m.
at the Perquimans County
Recreation Center.
The public is invited to
the reception hosted by Mr.
and Mrs. Blake Harmon
and Mr. and Mrs. Donald
Morris.
“We wanted to offer the
people here a chance to meet
her and get to know her,”
said JoAnn Morris. “It’s an
opportunity to thank her
for all she has done for this
area.”
Rep. Mobley graduated
from Elizabeth City State
University with a degree
in business education. She
furthered her studies at
Morgan State University,
East Carolina University,
and North Carolina State
University.
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Prior to her election to
seiwe in the North Carolina
General Assembly. House
of Representatives, she was
retired from the position of
Chief Court Counselor in
the Administrative Office
of the Court, 6B Judicial
District. She has also taught
school in Bertie County
and worked as a probation
officer for the Supreme
Bench of Baltimore and as
clerk for the Baltimore City
Housing Authority.
Rep. Mobley serves on
several committees includ
ing aging, agribusiness and
agricultural economy (vice
chairman), financial in
stitutions, judiciary I, and
juvenile justice (vice chair
man).
She also serves in vari-
I ous other capacities in
cluding being sworn in as
director for the Southern
States representing Women
in Government and also
serves on its board of direc
tors.
After joining the Nation
al Foundation of Women
Legislators, she was cho
sen to travel with a United
States delegation to Taiwan,
the Republic of China.
Rep. Mobley was appoint
ed by the governor to serve
on Jan. 23,2007.
“As your elected official, I
learned quickly how to keep
pace with the work, dissect
issues and keep my focus on
what is most important for
the people of this district,”
stated Mobley in a recent
release. “There are so many
things government can do
to help make life better for
the people of Northeastern
North Carolina.
“We need more jobs, bet
ter roads, more teachers
and more money for educa
tion,” she continued. “We
need to be sure that the peo
ple who most need and de
serve our help get that help.
We need to ensure equitable
treatment for aU people. We
need to protect our children
from crime and from those
who would prey upon them.
We need to provide equal
access to good, affordable
health care.”
Since joining the legisla-^
ture. Rep. Mobley helped to
pass a budget that includes
more money this year for
expanded prekindergarten
programs, more reading
tutors in middle school,
and programs to help high
school students earn col
lege credits at no charge.
The legislature also estab
lished a new program that
in the next fiscal year wiU
give 25,000 students in the
state’s community colleges
and public universities
$4,000 a year grants to help
pay for their education.
She sponsored a new
law this session that will
help protect children in
the juvenile court system
by establishing a standard
procedure for the use of
physical restraints. She
also cosponsored new laws
that require sex offenders
to be tested for sexually
transmitted diseases and
computer technicians or
photo developers to report
child pornography found in
the course of their work.
Reception
honoring Rep.
Annie Mobley
Sunday, 3-5
Recreation Center
Rep. Mobley co-spon
sored a law that requires
insurance companies to
provide mental health cov
erage equal to the coverage
they provide for physical
ailments, as well as sup
ported a new law that better
protects people who receive
long-term care.
The state wfil spend al
most $2 million to expand
the state Health Care Per
sonnel Registry and, to
establish a rating system
for adult care homes. This
registry wfil now include
any unlicensed staff people
who work directly with pa
tients.
She sponsored bfils to
give recognition to the fa
mous Tuskegee Airmen as
well as to the late Represen
tative Howard Hunter, Jr.
She also was among the
sponsors of a bill that re
quired the state treasurer
to divest its holdings in
companies that do business
in Sudan. She was support
ive of legislation to make
local neighborhoods safer
by reducing gang violence,
to make voter registration
and early voting easier as
well as help males in com
munity colleges receive the
monitoring they need.
Hertford sewer
rates to rise
Interim
increase needed
to pay system
upgrade loans
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Hertford’s sewer rates
wfil go up on the next
monthly bfil.
Members of Hertford
Town Council last Monday
night approved an interim
sewage rate of $28.35 for
up to 3,000 gallons of wa,
ter used per month with
an additional $6 per 1,000
gallons used afterwards.
Town customers currently
pay a sewage rate of $15.65
for up to 3,000 gallons of
water used and an addi
tional $6 per 1,000 gallons
used afterwards. An aver
age town customer uses ap
proximately 5,000 gallons
per month meaning their
sewage bill wfil increase
from $27.65 now to $40.36
monthly under the interim
rate.
The new interim rate wfil
go into effect with the April
bfil for usage in March.
The vote passed 3-2 with
council members Horace
Reid and Anne White vot
ing against the measure.
Town Manager John
Christensen said the in
crease is needed to collect
funds now to pay for the first
payment on loans obtained
by the town to fund the new
wastewater treatment sys
tem improvement -project
currently under construc
tion. The first $150,000 pay
ment on the $3 mfilion zero
interest loan from the State
Revolving Loan Fund is due
in May 2009.
“I applaud council for
taking the positive step
of approving the interim
rate,” Christensen said
Tuesday morning.
However, that approval
didn’t come easily. AU coun
cil members voiced grave
concerns over raising any
rate at a time when citizens
are already being hit in the
pocketbook by a sluggish
economy, higher gas prices,
and paying more for just
about anything needed to
get by.
“With the country on
the verge of a recession, it
concerns me that the only
option we seem to be look
ing at is passing on the add
ed costs to the customers
whose budgets are already
stressed out,” said White.
Reid offered a second
option of using the $5 ser
vice fee tacked on to waste
collection four years ago
supplemented by addition
al funds from the town’s
general fund to help pay the
Robbery
Percy Davis’s Garage,
located at 229 Dobbs Street,
was broken into sometime
over the weekend.
According to Hertford
Police Chief Brian Riddick,
someone broke a pad lock
on the garage door some
time between Saturday and
Monday morning. Entry
to the building was gained
through the front door.
Police said the only item
reported missing is a car
buffer.
Investigation is continu
ing.
Old base rate:
$15.65
New base rate:
$28.35
Additional $6 per
1,000 gallons of
water used remains
same
debt service payment rath
er than raising rates. Reid
suggested using the general
fund money just this year.
“Once that rate increase
is in place, chances are it
won’t ever go down,” he
added. “We’re talking about
a greater situation than
most people can deal with.”
Reid and White also sug
gested the town cut expens
es rather than raising rates.
Reid even suggested cutting
out salary increases for
town employees.
Carlton Davenport,
JoAnn Morris and Mayor
Sid Eley struggled with
raising rates as well, but
said loan payments must be
made. .
“Council in the past was
always against raising rates
and now we’re stuck with
doing it,” Davenport said.
“Maybe we should have
raised them more 10 years
ago and we wouldn’t be in
this shape now.”
Christensen pointed
out that the water and
sewer fund is supposed to
be self-sustaining with no
funds crossing between the
town’s general fund and
the water/sewer fund. In
fact, he said, the Local Gov
ernment Commission, the
state’s watchdog over local
governments, wotfid prob
ably frown on it.
The town was forced by
the state to improve its ag
ing wastewater treatment
facility, and the town also
upgraded its capacity to
serve the local commerce
center in an effort to help
attract economic develop
ment in that area. So far,
approximately 40 jobs have
been created by businesses
locating in that area.
Total cost of those im
provements and upgrades
is $11.3 million with nearly
half obtained in grants and
payments. The remaining
funds are loans, which must
be repaid beginning in May
2009.
In addition to the $150,000
payment due next May, the
town wfil also have to begin
funding its $170,000 pay
ment on the USDA-RD bond
in November 2009. Coun
cil will have to address the
debt service in the next fis
cal budget with the possibil
ity of another rate increase
then.
HVtaAIMR
Thursday
High: 60 Low: 56
Few Showers
Friday
High: 74 Low: 57
Scattered Tstorms
Saturday
High: 70 Low: 53
Thundbisiorms