The
ERQUIMANS
"Neivs front Next Door”
June 9, 2010 - June 15, 2010
Summer Breeze set for Sunday, page 3.
Good year for sports for PCHS, page 9.
EECEIVED
JUN 0 9 2010
HPD investigated for excessive force
DA requests SBI to
look into complaints
By CATHY WILSON
Staff" Writer
The Hertford Police De
partment is under investi
gation by the State Bureau
of Investigation amid alle
gations of use of excessive
force.
Child
found
safe near
Causeway
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The Causeway was
closed for about an hour
Sunday afternoon while
officials searched the adja
cent water for a child after
a bicycle was found on the
grass, a few feet from the
Perquimans River.
Police later discovered
that the child apparently
left the bike on the Cause
way and walked home.
Hertford Police Chief
Joe Amos said police re
ceived a report from a
woman who saw a young
girl walking a bike on the
Causeway just past the S-
bridge as the woman was
traveling from WinfaU to
Hertford. However, when
the woman returned home
via the Causeway about 25
minutes later, the bike was
seen lying on the grass be
side the road with no girl
in sight.
“The caller was con
cerned about the girl be
cause of the water in that
area,” Patrolman David
Putnam wrote in his po
lice report.
Police searched the
ground area and found
nothing, and there were
no visible signs that any
one had gone into the river
or signs of a collision. The
bike was not damaged, po
lice reports state.
Area residents and the
S-bridge tender were con
tacted, and there were no
reports of a child missing
in the area.
“I didn’t think anyone
was in the water, but you
just have to check it,”
Chief Amos said.
See CAUSEWAY, 10
Weekend
Weather
Friday
High: 88 Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 90 Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Sunday
High: 89 Low: 74
Scattered T-Storms
District Attorney Frank
Parrish confirmed Tues
day morning that his ofiice
requested the SBI investi
gation involving more than
one incident.
A complaint made by
the Perquimans County
NAACP was received by
Parrish on Monday
“When that complaint
was received by my ofiice,
I had already made the re
quest to the SBI,” Parrish
noted.
Vanora Brothers, chair
man of the legal redress
committee of the local
NAACP chapter, said she
could not comment on the
matter since it w^ under
investigation.
Parrish would not say
which incidents or officers
are included in the investi
gation or complaints.
The investigation follows
a May 22 incident during
which a Hertford black
man was injured during a
scuffle with two Hertford
police officers who were
responding as members of
the Hertford Fire Depart
ment to a reported gas leak
on Dobbs Street. The man,
Kenneth Ferrbee, received
a cut on his head when he
reportedly head-butted one
of the officers who was
wearing a fire helmet at the
time.
According to police re
ports, Chief Joe Amos
and Sgt. Shawn Swindell
responded to the Dobbs
Street residence with the
fire department and found
that the gas leak came from
an outside gas meter, which
Amos believed had been
damaged intentionally The
The top of the class
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT A. CWRK
The top 10 members of the graduating Class of 2010 at PeTquimans County High School include: (front row, from left)
Kendall Spaugh, Btyana Bass, Bradley Miller, Kahliah Gordon, Brittany Cartwright. (Back row, from left) Raeann Gates,
Jazmin London, Casey Dail, and Colby Brooks. Not pictured is Savannah Black. Approximately 120 seniors will graduate
Thursday evening at PCHS.
Graduation day is Thursday at PCHS
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A S local graduates receive
their high school diplomas
Thursday, several of them
have their sights set on futures
that include the medical/health
profession.
An estimated 120 seniors at
Perquimans County High School
wfil walk across the graduation
stage on the school’s football field
and be^ their quest towards
the future. Out of the top 10
academic students of the Class of
2010, seven say they plan to seek
a future career in some sort of
health-related field.
Bradley Miller plans to foUow
a career path to sports medicine
and wfil begin at either College of
the Albemarle (COA) or Eliza
beth City State University while
Brittany Cartwright and Raeann
Gates both plan to attend COA to
study nursing. Kahliah Gordon
and Savannah Black wfil attend
the University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hfil to focus on a medical
major. Jazmin London has her
sights set on becoming a pediatri
cian and will begin with studies at
UNC-Chapel Hfil as well.
Casey Dail plans to work
towards a degree in health sci
ences next year at Pitt Community
College.
While the health-related field
seems to be popular with some
members of this class, other
students plan to enter a variety of
studies at selected institutions of
higher learning.
Colby Brooks wfil attend East
Carolina University to become a
computer engineer and hopefully,
one day, design video games.
Salutatorian Bryana Bass wants
to become a college professor.
She’ll start by attending Meredith
College.
Kendall Spaugh, valedictorian,
is planning to work towards an
aeronautical engineering degree
See GRADUATION, 5
homeowner indicated she
had experienced problems
with a man who was stay
ing at a vacant house near
by, police reports state.
Stfil wearing his fire turn
out gear, Amos found Ken
neth Ferrbee in a neighbor-,
ing house and talked with
him. Neighbors in the area
told Amos that Ferrbee
See HPD, 10
Woman
rescued
from
wreck
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Firefighters and emer
gency medical personnel
had to walk underneath
a live electric line to free
a woman trapped in a
wrecked vehicle on Swamp
Road Monday night.
Lewis Smith, assistant
chief for Winfali Volunteer
Fire Department, said the
Mercury Grand Marque
traveling on Swamp Road
apparently hit a drive-way
culvert before striking
a utility pole, breaking
the polb and causing live
electric wires to hang low
between the road and the
car.
Four people were inside
the vehicle at the time of
the accident, he said.
Hertford firefighters re
sponded with their crash
truck and used extrication
equipment to cut the wom
an out of the vehicle.
She was transported
by Perquimans EMS to a
landing zone manned by
Belvidere firefighters and
flown to a Norfolk hospital
by Nightingale helicopter.
Perquimans EMS, re
sponding with three am
bulances, transported the
remaining injured to a
nearby hospital.
Albemarle Electric
Membership Cooperative
responded to the scene
quickly and cut the power
off, putting 270 area resi
dents in the dark for about
three and a half hours.
“It was a real hazardous
situation for emergency
responders there for a
See WRECK, 2
Tax up 1 cent on $11.9M budget proposal
Area still affected
by tough economy
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
While preparing the
coimty’s budget for next
year, it didn’t take County
Manager Bobby Darden
very long to realize that
the next fiscal year wfil
be worse than the current
one.
“The economic recession
continues to take its toll on
local governments’ operat
ing budgets,” said Darden
as he presented his pro
posed $11.9 mfilion budget
to commissioners Monday
night.
Revenues such as sales
tax, land transfer tax, and
building inspection fees re
main down because of the
economy, so the county has
to rely on generating more
property tax revenue to an
chor the budget. The budget
proposes a one cent prop
erty tax increase, giving
the county an ad-valorem
tax rate of 42 cents per $100
valuation. A one cent tax
increase generates about
$165,000 in revenue that wfil
be used to give schools a 3.7
percent increase in operat
ing funds, pay for a coimty-
wide drainage study, and
provide county employees
with a 1.5 percent increase
in pay.
“The one cent tax in
crease is not intended to
resolve aU of the coimty’s
budget problems for next
year, nor is the increase
intended to fulfill every re
quest received by the board
of commissioners,” Darden
pointed out. “The proposed
budget stfil eliminates over
$800,000 in requests for'
county funding for next fis
cal year, which I venture to
say is the largest amount
of budget reductions ever
made by Perquimans Coun
ty”
With the one cent tax in
crease, the typical taxpayer
should see their annual tax
bill increase by about $18,
Darden said.
Slow growth in the prop
erty tax base due to the
economy, coupled with
sales tax projections at the
same current level account
for the dim revenue picture
needed to support opera
tional costs for the county.
The county’s tax base
growth slipped to less than
a one percent increase from
last year, compared to a 10
percent growth just three
years ago. Local sales tax is
expected to generate about
$278,500 next year, com
pared to almost $600,000 in
2008-09.
County departments will
see a number of proposed
cost-saving measures im
posed including a 20 per
cent reduction in travel
and training budget, over
$200,000 in reduced capital
expense requests, eliminat
ing a part time fire mar
shall position, and cutting
out an optional retirement
supplement for employees.
The proposed budget
calls for a $75,000 increase
See BUDGET, 5
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426-73 I I
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I
Over 57 Years of
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Community