+
+
P , The
ERQUIMANS
Weekly
"News from Next Door”
AUGUST 26, 2009 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
causes
outage
A crop duster owned by Craft
Air Services of Perquimans
County clipped three power
lines over a field off Wynne
Fork Road Aug. 18 around 4:40'
p.m. leaving several thousand
residents in the dark.
The plane did not crash and
no injuries were reported.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
Tilley said a county dispatch
er informed him the plane did
not sustain serious damage
and was able to return to its
hangar on Swamp Road.
The downed power lines are
owned by Dominion Power.
The outage did leave about
2,100 of Albemarle Electric
Membership Corp.’s custom
ers without power, spokesman
Chris Powell said. Dominion’s
power lines feed electricity to
AEMC’s substation off Har
vey Point Road. They also sup
ply power to AEMC customers
in the Albemarle Plantation
subdivision.
Tilley said the incident has
been ruled accidental and no
further investigation is re
quired.
One of the defendants
needs a new attorney
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
The murder trial of a local
mother and daughter original
ly scheduled for next month
has been postponed after one
defendant’s attorney was ap
pointed to a judgeship in an
other county
Superior Court Clerk Todd
TiUey said the Sept. 21 trial
for Jennie Lee White, age 61,
and daughter Katherine Ann
White, 43, will be resched
uled at a later date. Both are
charged with first-degree
murder in the death of Thom
as White, Jennie’s husband, in
their Mill Drive home on June
22,2007.
Tilley said Wayland Ser
mons, Katherine’s attorney,
was recently appointed to a
superior court judgeship in
See TRIAL on Page 8
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 89 Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 84 Low: 70
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 83 Low: 69
Isolated
Thunderstorms
6 "89076 47143
Back to school
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
FROM APPREHENSION TO FINDING A FRIEND. Eight-year-old Adrienne Davis (right) and her mother Racquel Gibbs seem a little appre
hensive over her first day in the third grade at Hertford Grammar School as Safety Patrol member Autumn Bateman gives them direc
tions to her new classroom. It didn’t take long for Autumn to find a friend in Cindy Martinez, after-school coordinator, who welcomed
her excitedly with big smiles and a warm hand.
Opening day goes smoothly
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
F athers toting pink
lunch boxes. Mothers
wearing big smiles
but protectively holding
little hands. The stream of
parents and yellow school
buses bringing children
back to Perquimans County
Schools Tuesday morning
kept school personnel busy
'The opening of the first
day of school here went
extremely well, according to
Superintendent Dwayne K.
Stallings.
What’s inside
Cynthia Stallings wins
Order of the Long Leaf
Pine award, see Page 8.
“School employees have
been working diligently
to prepare for the start of
school and it paid dividends
this morning,” said Stall
ings. “1 visited each of the
schools in the district and
it was exciting to see the
W-.' W. 'v?. SMr-iiut iHMP- • -
4MIM
“1* ;
MUf- -dna*.
m-ws,
*7 -a*.
I
^sesiifc.
'wvi 7? • f
>' - !*** j**,
I2»i
tmm
enthusiasm of parents, stu
dents and school officials.”
Student safety patrols
and school employees were
stationed in the hallways
and breezeways at Hertford
Grammar School, welcom
ing students back to class,
and offering directions to
classrooms.
For 10-year-old fifth-grad
er Autumn Bateman, an up
perclassman this year, the
morning was busy pointing
the way to third and fourth
grade hallways.
“It’s mainly the third
graders who don’t know
where their classrooms
See SCHOOL on Page 9
PIRATES
FALL IN
OPENER
See Page 7
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
The cost of fixing the 200-
foot section of causeway that
failed recently was estimated
around $865,000, highway-of
ficials told local government
representatives recently
In fact, cost of construc
tion needed to fix failures on
the causeway over the last six
to seven years has totaled al
most $2 million.
So far, about 800 feet of
roadway has been repaired
just over the last three years.
“That leaves about 1,500 feet
out there,” said North Caro
lina Department of Trans
portation’s Division Engineer
Jerry Jennings. “It may hold
over the next few years, or it
may not. The challenge is, we
don’t know where it will fail
next.”
Get involved
A public meeting on the
TIP project is planned on
Oct. 22.
Transportation officials
met with town, county and
school representatives recent
ly at the request of Hertford
Commissioner Carlton Dav
enport who thanked the state
transportation leaders for
their efforts in fixing the wa
terlogged shortcut between
Hertford and Winfall. But.
Davenport reitfinded them
that closing the causeway im
pacts not only the downtown
businesses, but local tourism
as well.
“This is the third year in a
row that you have closed it,”
Davenport said. “I hope this
is it.”
The causeway was closed in
September of 2007 and again
in September of 2008'for re
pairs.
Jennings explained that
the causeway was built in
the 1920’s by dumping trees,
stumps, and other fill matter
into the river and then pour
ing concrete layers on top.
Basically, the river running
underneath is washing the
causeway away, he said.
Repairs in the past have
concentrated on areas of con
crete that had broken; but
this time, the concrete slab
was still intact.
Construction workers drove
See CAUSEWAY on Page 8
Soybean summer
fv:--
%
n
ii
A sj
DAILY ADVANCE PHOTO BY BREH A. CLARK
Tommy Harrell checks the growth and health of his soybean crop in Perquimans County. As of Aug.
25,7.37 inches of rain have fallen at his farm. Other farmers in the area say they have gotten even
more rain in the past couple of weeks.'Farmers are looking for a little dryer weather to give local
crops time to dry out for a better haivest.
Get the flu facts
Local agencies prepare
as flu season arrives
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
With the upcoming flu sea
son right_ around the corner,
school system and local gov
ernment officials are taking
action to educate employees
and the public on how to help
prevent the spreading of ill
nesses.
Last Wednesday, the federhl
government released guide
lines designed to help employ:
ers prepare for the impact
both the normal seasonal flu
and Swine Flu might have
on employees and operation
of businesses. While it’s not
known whether the Swine Flu
virus wiU cause more illness
or more severe illness in the
coming months, the Centers
for Disease Control and Pre
vention (CDC) recommends
that everyone Ibe prepared for
influenza.
The Albemarle Regional
Health Services (ARHS) is
distributing information
throughout the area, and up
dating local governments on
how to prepare.
ARHS representatives
provided training for local
school employees last week.
They appeared before mem
bers of Winfall Town Council
recently and are scheduled
to appear before county com
missioners Sept. 8. Hertford
Council members will bear
their flu presentation on Sept.
14, and members of the local
Board of Education will in
the near future.
According to Jill Jordan,
health education director and
public information officer for
ARHS, Pandemic HlNl 2009
(formerly known as Novel
HlNl and as Swine Flu) is the
predominant strain of influ
enza in our communities as
well as in North Carolina. She
could not provide an accurate
count of confirmed cases in
Perquimans County because
See FLU on Page 9