Happy Thanksgiving
Pirates end gridiron season
Page 9
Memories of WWII act warm heart
Holiday Events
Students use remotes to learn
Page 10
November 26, 2008
Vol. 76, No. 48 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
^*News from NextDoor*^
money
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Perquimans County
Schools have to give $73,000
back to the state to help al
leviate the state’s budget
crunch.
Superintendent Dr.
Dwayne Stallings notified
staff last week that the
state asked each local edu
cation agency to return 0.75
percent of their general
state funds received this fis
cal year.
According to a direc
tive from the state Depart
ment of Public Instruction
(DPI), lack of current and
anticipated revenues into
state coffers has caused the
Office of State Budget and
Management to tell DPI to
reverse over $100 million in
state public school funds.
WhUe approximately
half of the funds wiU be
covered by normal rever
sions. such as differences
between budgeted and actu
al teacher salaries, the rest
must be made up by rever
sions from both school dis
tricts and charter schools.
DPI stressed that school
systems make every effort
to reduce spending without
impacting classroom ser
vices or services for at-risk
or special needs children.
“Let me again emphasize
the importance of being
frugal in our school opera
tions,” wrote StaUings re
cently in a memo to staff.
He is requesting that the
school system send only a
minimum number of staff
to conferences, thereby re
ducing not only registra
tion fees and travel costs,
but reducing the cost of
hiring substitute teachers
as weU.
Staff members are being
asked to drive a state car
to conferences rather than
personal vehicles, reducing
CONTINUED on page 12
Wmubi
Thanksgiving
High: 57 Low: 37
Sunny
Friday
High: 59 Low: 39
Mostly Clouody
Saturday
High: 61 Low: 34
Showers
6''"89076''47143
Let it snow!
.(
Perquimans Weekly photos by CATHY WILSON
PERQUIMANS AWOKE FRIDAY TO swirling snow
showers that blanketed thre area in a fluffy white
blanket, then quickly melted away due to the warm
ground and roadways. While it snowed in showers.
for several hours and came down furiously, it did
not stick on the warm highways, thereby averting
the flurry of accidents that often accompanies snow
flurries. For more snow scenes, log onto www.daily-
advance.com. Choose photos/videos from the menu
bar. Click on Perquimans.
Hertford cops get tazers
SUSAN HARRIS
Resisting a Hertford police officer
could be a shocking experience.
Chief Joe Amos said last week that
his department has purchased three
tazers at a cost of about $2,400 for use
by officers.
Tazers look like handguns and shoot
a 5-second, 10,000-volt electrical charge
as far as 21 feet. Those “shot” with a taz-
er are physically incapacitated whUe
being shocked and for a second or two
afterwards. The electrical impulses go
through muscles and seize them so the
person who has been hit with the tazer
cannot resist. When the shock stops,
the muscles relax, so the victim tends
to fall, Amos said.
The chief said there are no long-term
affects from being tazed.
Amos carries a tazer now, but he said
all officers will be trained in their use
and tazers will become a part of the
equipment carried by officers.
Tazers are actually safer for both the
officer and others who may be in the
vicinity of someone who may resist
an officer’s attempts to restrain him or
her than conventional measures, Amos
said.
Batons are made of materials that
can inflict serious injury, according
to the chief, and are difficult to use in
confined quarters. A situation that re
quires the officers to use a baton may
involve physical contact by both the of
ficer and the person the officer is trying
to restrain, and therefore, the possibil
ity of an officer using too much force
can be a concern.
Using a gun can not only be fatal to
the person the officer is trying to re
strain, but can put anyone in the area at
risk of injury, he said.
But a tazer inca
pacitates someone for
just a few seconds, giv
ing the officer time to
handcuff the person
and get them safely
into a patrol car and
away from others who
might be in danger.
The department has a policy that re
quires a report to be filed with the chief
whenever an officer uses force to re
strain or detain someone, so each time
the tazer is fired, a report will be filed
with the chief.
Every time the weapon is fired, an in
formation trail is created that wfil allow
Amos to tell when the tazing took place,
the duration of the shock delivered and
other information, Amos said.
The tazers are just one change that
has taken place in the few weeks Amos
has been on board with the department.
There are now six full-time and one
part-time officers patroling the town,
with a Hertford officer on duty at aU
times. Before Amos came on board, off-
duty sheriff’s deputies were covering
some shifts due to a lack of manpower.
Officers work 12-hour shifts, and
Amos said he generally works days,
but checks in and out on aU shifts as he
learns the town and its people, his offi
cers, and crime patterns.
Officers are expected to turn in aU in
cident reports at the end of their shift,
he said.
Manning the department in addiiton
to Amos are Sgt. Kevin Worster, back
from medical leave, and patrolmen Josh
Turpin, Erik Priebe, Melissa Right and
Cliff Johnson. Mark Gray works part-
time.
County
Food bank,
newspapers
team to feed
the hungry
SUSAN HARRIS
Many of us wfil eat until it
hurts this Thanksgiving, shar
ing our bounty with family
and friends gathered on this
traditional day of counting
our blessings. •
But some may hurt because
they do not have enough to
eat.
In these times of economic
uncertainty — of lay-offs and
rising prices — there are fami
lies in our community strug
gling to put food on the table.
Our young families find it
difficult to feed their children
while also trying to pay rising
utility costs and keep a vehi
cle running so they can work,
sometimes at jobs that do not
pay enough to provide health
insurance.
Our senior citizens, like
wise, find it difficult to make
ends meet, sometimes having
to decide whether to buy gro
ceries or medication.
Most of us in Perquimans
County are not rich, but many
of us can spare a little from
our budgets to help those who
find themselves in need. With
Continued on page 14
From staff reports
A69-year-oldPerquimans
County man was sentenced
last week to serve five to six
years in prison for taking
indecent liberties with a f5-
year-old Bertie County girl.
James Dunn, of 128
County Line Road, pleaded
no contest to four counts
of taking indecent liber
ties with the child this past
April.
Superior Court Judge
Richard Parker sentenced
Dunn to a minimum of 19
months and a maximum of
23 months on each of three
convictions, with the. sen
tences to run consecutively.
He suspended the fourth
identical sentence. Dunn
received credit for time
served and must undergo
psychiatric evaluations.
Parker ordered Dunn to
be on supervised probation
for 60 months following his
release from prison. Dunn
must also register as a sex
offender.
Family members of the
child told Parker that she
suffers from nightmares
and is undergoing therapy.
They also asked that Dunn
receive therapeutic help
while in prison.
In other matters, Jessie
James Twine, 44, was sien-
tenced to a minimum of 22
months and a maximum
of 27 months for felony as
sault.
As a result of a negoti
ated plea agreement. Twine
pleaded guilty to felony as
sault and misdemeanor as
sault on a female. Five other
misdemeanor charges were
dismissed including three
counts of communicating
threats, as well as one count
each of being intoxicated
and disruptive, and resist
ing a police officer.
A summary of the evi
dence showed that Twine
was intoxicated during
a domestic altercation at
Wynn Fork Court on April
18. He yanked the arm of a
woman, pulling her shoul
der out of its socket.
Noting at least five prior
convictions on Twine’s re
cord, Parker also sentenced
him to serve 120 days on the
misdemeanor assault on
a female conviction. Upon
his release. Twine must be
on supervised probation for
36 months plus make resti
tution.
Other sentencings last
week included:
Zack Maddry, possession
of a Scheduled II controlled
substance, 6—8 months sus
pended, supervised proba
tion 24 months, $200 fine.
Dennis Stallings, posses
sion of drug paraphernalia,
45 days suspended, super
vised probation 12 months,
$200 fine.