Polar Express
Page 8
New Hope UMC turns 200
Page 5
4-
December 31, 2008
Vol. 76, No. 53 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
**News from Next Door*^
Blount
guilty of
assault
with
deadly
weapon
CATHY WILSON
( Staff Writer
Tice Blount pleaded
guilty to two charges of as
sault with a deadly weapon
recently in Perquimans Su
perior Court.
As a result of a negotiated
plea bargain, Judge Jerry R.
Tillett sentenced Blount to
two 25-39 month jaU terms,
suspended both, and placed
him on supervised proba
tion for 60 months. He was
also ordered to pay a $250
fine, and perform 100 hours
of community service. The
two convictions will run
consecutively.
Blount must serve an ac
tive jail term of 75 days.
Blount must also have
no contact with the victims
in the case, Marvin or Tara
Moore.
Four other charges were
dismissed.
Assistant District At
torney Linda Shields sum
marized the case saying
Blount and Marvin Moore
have had an ongoing argu
ment that had been “broil
ing for a long time.”
On June 20, Shields said
Blount was involved in a
traffic accident and “went
after Moore,” striking him
with his vehicle, throwing
Moore onto the hood of his
car. Moore, she added, suf
fered no broken bones, but
did go to the hospital.
Then, on Sept. 16, Blount
and Moore got into another
argument, and this time
Blount struck Moore with
his car while Moore was
riding on a moped.
Blount was ordered by
Tillett to remain at least
300 yards away from Moore
except at athletic events
where their children play
on the same ball field.
“If you go into Food Lion
and you see Mr. Moore,
what do you do?” Judge Til
lett asked Blount.
“Move 300 yards away
from him,” Blount respond
ed.
“No,” Judge TiUet
warned. “You leave. Stay
away from him.”
WtaM
New Year's Day
High; 43 Low: 32
Sunny
Friday
High: 57 Low: 36
Showers
Saturday
High: 46 Low: 32
Sunny
•89076’'47143
ClIISTMAS
PIOPOSAl
Perquimans Weekly photos by CATHY WILSON
ANDREW ALMADOVA PROPOSES TO Kathy Link on Memorial Field on Christmas Day as family members look on. Almadova
and Link met in the very spot he knelt six years ago. The prospective groom thought it would be the perfect place to ask
Link to be his wife — and a perfect Christmas surprise.
%
Couple engaged at the place they met
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
While other folks were opening
presents under a Christmas tree on
Christmas Day, Andrew Almodova
was organizing quite a surprise at
the Perquimans High School foot
ball field.
Cars and pick-up trucks lined up
outside the fence surrounding the
football field. Family members and
friends hustled onto the field and
made their way over to the stands.
They stood or sat on the stands and
giggled, talked, and watched as he
showed them a special “rock” that
sparkled in the December sunlight.
At 3:15 p.m., everyone on the
stands stood silent as Kathy Link
was led onto the football field by
Almodova’s parents. She had been
blindfolded at the house in Hertford
and told that Andrew had one ad
ditional Christmas present for her.
She was driven, blindfolded, around
town and then to the field so she
wouldn’t know where she was.
She was led to the stands where
she turned towards the rows of
metal bleachers. Behind her was Al
modova, kneeling on one knee in the
muddy spot where he first met her
six years ago. When her blindfold
was lifted, she turned to see the love
of her life reaching for her hand and
proposing marriage.
“After six years, Kathy, will you
marry me?” he asked, holding a 1.5
kt. diamond ring that featured three
diamonds. Family members grinrted
from ear to ear as Link’s hand auto
matically flew to her mouth in sur
prise and the tears flowed from her
eyes.
“Yes!” she answered as they melt
ed into each other’s arms.
The Christmas day surprise pro
posal was the highlight of a day
filled with celebrations, eating, and
sharing Christmas joy.
“We had celebrated Christmas
very early that morning with our
daughter, Anaiya (age 2) and he had
already given me my gifts around 3
a.m.,” Link said. “We had enjoyed
the morning, eaten dinner, and was
winding down when he said he had
to go out on an errand.”
That errand was meeting other
family members at the football field,
including Grandma in her “cooking
clothes.”
Alrriodova’s parents explained to
Link that he had one more Christ
mas surprise for her, but that she
had to be blindfolded and taken to
it.
“When the blindfold went on,
there were two things that went
through my mind,” she said. “It
was either going to be a proposal,
or he had bought us a house! I really
didn’t expect the proposal, though,
because he had already told me that
he couldn’t get the ring that I want-
ed. Whatever it was, I knew it had to
be big.”
She was truly surprised, she said.
She didn’t have any idea she was at
the football field, or that he was pro
posing.
“I was on cloud 9,” she grinned.
Almodova admitted he was a little
nervous at first, but those nerves left
the moment she lifted the blindfold
and he saw her face radiant with
happiness and joy.
“This will be a Christmas we’ll all
remember,” he said.
New fire
truck here
Volunteer firefighters
in Winfall are benefitting
from a new, more efficient
fire truck.
The Rosenbauer truck
with a 1250 gallon-per-min-
ute pump and a 1500 gal
lon tank will enable the
Winfall Fire Department
to improve response time,
efficiency and possibly
their insurance rating. An
improvement in insurance
rating could mean insur
ance premium reductions
for the 554 residents in the
fire district.
USDA Rural Develop
ment provided a $222,950
low-interest loan and a
$27,027 grant for the pur
chase of the truck.
USDA Rural Develop
ment’s mission is to in
crease economic opportuni
ty and improve the quality
of life for rural residents.
The agency provides equity
and technical assistance to
finance and foster growth
in home ownership, busi
ness development and criti
cal community and technol
ogy needs.
Wanted
For information on rural
programs, stop by the lo
cal office in the Mbemarle
Commission Building off
Church Street^ Extended
or visit USDA’s website at
http://www.rurdev.usda.
gov.
Is suspect in
armed home
invasion
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A 17-year-old youth,
wanted in connection with
a violent Newport News,
Va. home invasion, was ap
prehended by a federal marT
shall and the local sheriff
on Meads Circle Dec. 23.
Sheriff Eric Tfiley said
he was contacted by the
United States Marshall Fu
gitive Task Forceregarding
the whereabouts of Hector
Alexis Pabon, wanted on
numerous felony charges
stemming from a Dec. 6
home invasion during
which one man was shot.
Pabon was believed to be
staying at 205 Meads Circle.
Tilley accompanied
Agent Kelly Jones to the
Miller and Meads Mobile
Home Park around 9 a.m. to
conduct what Tfiley called
a “knock and talk.”
“We knocked on the door,
talked with the subject who
opened the door, and told
them we believed Pabon
was staying in the resi
dence,” Tfiley said. “We re
ceived consent to search the
home, and found him in the
back bedroom.”
Pabon was taken into
custody without incident,
he added.
The teenager was ar
rested on a fugitive warrant
and held under a $200,000
secured bond.
'Tfiley transported Pabon
to Chowan County for an ap
pearance before Judge Ed
gar Barnes. Pabon waived
extradition and was trans
ported back to the Hampton
Roads area immediately.
Newport News police
say Pabon is one of three
teens involved in a morning
home invasion on Christian
Street in Newport News on
Dec. 6. According to news
accounts, one of the five
people inside the apartment
answered the door and was
forced back into the apart
ment at gunpoint.
The suspects demanded
money, and when the men
said they didn’t have any,
one suspect opened fire,
shooting 22-year-old Iri-
neo Castillo-Salazar in the
stomach. The other persons
in the apartment were not
hurt.
The three teens then left
the scene, taking nothing.
Castillo-Salazar was
treated and released from
an area hospital.
Police later arrested a
14-year-old and a 16-year-
old in connection with the
incident. They face charges
of attempted robbery, use
of a firearm to commit a
felony, conspiracy to com
mit burglary, possession
of firearm, minor abduc
tion, aggravated malicious
wounding, conspiracy to
commit robbery and armed
burglary.
According to police, both
teens remain in juvenile de
tention.
The same petitions have
been obtained for Pabon.