Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / March 31, 2010, edition 1 / Page 1
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p fir;1 MAS 3 I i P , The editioi ERQUIMANS Weekly READ OUR PROGRESS 2010 EDITION INSIDE TODAY'S PAPER "News from Next Door" Points chase off, running at Northeast. Page 7 MARCH 31, 2010 - APRIL 6, 2010 Change needed for wind towers By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Next month, county commissioners will con sider changing a county ordinance to allow the con struction of a temporary meteorological tower that could pave the way for a fu ture wind energy project. Iberdrola Renewables (IR), a global company that already has wind power projects in 13 states, is cur rently talking to landown ers in the northern part of Perquimans County about leasing land on which to possibly buUd wind tur bines in the area common ly known as “the desert”. Before that can occur, how ever, the company must test the winds in that area to see if the wind coidd sustain any future wind energy project. On April 5, commission ers will consider changing language in the county’s ordinances that would allow construction of a temporary meteorological tower in that area. Such towers would not be al lowed under the county’s current ordinance, said County Manager Bobby Darden. The tower, called a met tower, would be just under 200 ft. taU, 10 inches in di ameter, and would serve as a platform for instruments like anemometers, wind vanes, barometers, and thermometer that woidd measure wind speed, di rection, and other atmo spheric conditions. A met tower has no moving parts and is not an actual wind turbine. “We’re trying to figure out if there is enough wind there,” explained Craig Poff, senior business devel- See TOWERS, 2 Putting Down Roots SUBMinED PHOTOS Celly Vandermeulen, Marjorie Rayburn and Jane Barckholtz plant a piece of the Mothervine donated to the growing vineyard at fhe Newbold-White House. ~ Mothervine sample planted at NWH By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer T he small cutting from the historic grape Mothervine growing on Roanoke Island since 1584 was planted recently in the vineyard at the Newbold-VWiite House (NWH). Volunteers gathered to dig holes and erect the likeness of a “histor ic trellis” to support the Scupper- nong sampling that was donated over a year ago to the Perquimans County Restoration Association (PCRA) by Horace Whitfield, ex ecutive director of the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo. Marjorie Rayburn, a local retired Extension agent in com mercial horticulture and the vineyard’s adviser, lead the vol unteer effort that installed posts with railings instead of wire and nails to support the arms of the historic grapevine as it grows over the years. “We built a separate treUis for the planting like one that would have been used to grow the vine back in 1730,” Rayburn explained. “The new planting has a good root system on it, so it should do really weU.” The Mothervine growing in Dare County is the oldest culti vated grapevine in the world. A Scuppernong grapevine growing from a trunk two feet wide, it is believed to be over 400 years old. According to themothervine. com, opinion as to the origin of See MOTHERVINE, 2 Marjorie Rayburn carefully displays the sampling of the historic grape Mothervine that was planted recent ly at the Newbold-White House. Former lawyer pleads guilty Gunther may face 30 years in prison By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Stephen M. Gunther, a Hertford resident who formerly practiced law in Virginia Beach, pled guilty to one felony count of wire fraud March 25 in federal court in Norfolk. In a federal plea agree ment, Gunther admitted taking part in the real estate closings of four homes in 2006 totaling nearly $1 million using straw purchasers, and failing to identify third parties to the mortgage companies. Those mort gages eventually ended up in foreclosure with the lending institutions los ing about $210,000. The plea agreement also stipulates that Gun ther cooperate with au thorities in ongoing mort gage fraud investigations conducted by the FBI, and in return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed not to prosecute Gunther for other alleged federal criminal violations. Gunther, 39, is sched uled to be sentenced June 21 and could face up to a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and full restitution. His license to practice law was revoked by the Vir ginia State Bar on March 23. He remains free on a $25,000 PR bond, court re cords show. Court records indicate that Gunther was the settlement agent dur ing the closings on two homes in Norfolk, one in Virginia Beach and one in Chesapeake that in volved financing by four separate mortgage insti tutions: Fremont Invest ment & Loan, American Home Mortgage, Diver sified Mortgage, and See GUNTHER, 2 Local schools are set to go wireless By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Three coimty schools wUl become totally wire less internet environ ments this spring. Members of the Perqui mans Board of Education recently approved the in stallation of wireless lo cal area network (LAN) provider equipment in both Perquimans County high and middle schools as well as Hertford Gram mar School. Xirrus, out of Raleigh, will begin installing the equipment in the next two weeks. Installation should take about two days per school. Once installed, laptop computers, as well as any other internet-ready de vices in the schools, will function from any loca tion within the building. “This is a pretty big step for us,” said Victor Eure, technology director for the schools. “We hope to have it up and running before the end of school (year).” Out of the eight com panies that bid on the project, Xirrus was one of only two companies that actually made site visits in the schools and checked internet signals in each room. The com pany has also performed the same work in other See WIRELESS, 2 Weekend Weather Friday High: 71 Low: 50 Sunny Saturday High: 73 Low: 53 Mostly Sunny Sunday High: 70 Low: 50 Cloudy Localities compete to return Census forms From staff reports Which locality will have the highest percentage of 2010 Cen sus forms turned in: Perquimans County, Hertford, or WinfaU? As of Monday, the three locali ties are running almost neck and neck in the race to get those forms turned back in by May 1. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38 percent of residents in Hertford have already mailed in their census forms. Thirty-seven percent of county residents have mailed them in as of Monday, and 31 percent of thoseTiving in Win- faU have done so as well. Citizens can keep track of the percentage of residents in their localities that have mailed the forms back in thanks to an inter active map launched recently by the Census Bureau. '‘yNe’re urging government officials, complete count committees, as well as census partners and stakeholders in North Carolina to issue a Take 10 Challenge” William W. Hatcher Regional director for the Census Bureau The “Take 10” Map of the Unit ed States allows site visitors to see the percent of people in the nation, a state, a city or even a neighborhood who have com pleted and returned their 2010 Census forms by mail. The rates win be updated daily “We’re urging government offi cials, complete count committees, as well as census partners and stakeholders in North Carolina to issue a Take 10 Challenge,” said William W. Hatcher, regional director for the Census Bureau. “The idea is to create friendly competition among states, towns, organizations and even neigh borhoods to encourage people to complete and return their ques tionnaires. In the end, everybody wins.” Nationally, 34 percent of citi zens have responded so far, com pared with 36 percent in North Carolina. Comparing the local counties, Pasquotank County leads the way as of Monday with 38 percent, fol lowed by Perquimans and Chow an counties with 37 percent, and Camden with 36 percent. Curri tuck brings up the rear with 31 percent responding by March 29. Thirty-six percent of Edenton residents have mailed in their Census forms so far. Census results are used to de termine the number seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for each state, the shape of legis lative and local government dis tricts, and how more than $400 billion in federal funds is dis tributed annually to communi ties across the country. The U.S. See CENSUS, 2
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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March 31, 2010, edition 1
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