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"News front Next Door"
September 22, 2010 - September 28, 2010
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Mother, (laughter guilty of murder
By WILLIAM R WEST
AND CATHY WILSON
Staff Writers
A Perquimans County Su
perior Court jury found a
mother and her daughter
guilty of first degree murder
Monday afternoon. Judge Cy
Grant sentenced both women
to life imprisonment without
the possibility of parole.
Jennie White, 64, and Kath
erine White, 45, both were
found guilty in connection
with the June 2007 shooting
death of Thomas Woodrow
White in his Mill Drive home.
The jury deliberated about
two hours before reaching the
verdict.
“I feel that justice has been
done,” said a teary-eyed Bar
bara Rios, a stepdaughter of
the slain man. “And it’s been
a very, very long time com
ing.”
The slain man’s son, Thom
as Lee White, said, “I’m so
happy this is over with and
closure has finally come and
a great man - my father - has
finally gotten justice.”
District Attorney Frank
Parrish, who prosecuted the
case himself rather than by
an assistant, said he was hap
py to see closure and is satis
fied justice was done.
After the verdict, Katherine
White’s attorney, Jamal Sum-
mey, and Jennie White’s at
torney, Sam Dixon, indicated
both women will appeal the
jury’s verdict.
Thomas Woodrow White
was 58 when was shot once in
the head June 22, 2007 while
lying in his own bed in the
See MURDER, 8
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.id
STAFF PHOTO BY
THOMAS J. TURNEY
Jennie (left) and
Katherine White
are led from
the courthouse,
Monday after
being found guiity
and sentenced to
iife without paroie
for the murder of
Thomas Woodrow
White.
Candidates
air views
at forum
by NAACP
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Local and state political
candidates each told why
he or she should be elected
during a NAACP politi
cal forum held at the Per
quimans Courthouse last
'Thursday night.
All state and local can-
Decision
2010
didates appearing on the
November voting ballots
in Perquimans County
took part in the forum ex
cept for Jody Cohee-R who
is challenging incumbent
Sheriff Eric Tilley (D). No
candidates running for the
U.S. Senate or House of
Representatives, District 1,
appeared.
In the Nov. 2 general elec
tion, four people are vy
ing for three seats on the
Perquimans County Board
of Commissioners. Incum
bents Tammy Miller-White-
D, Charles H. Ward-D, and
Benjamin (Ben) C. Hobbs-R
are trying to retain their
seats on the board against
challenger and local politi
cal newcomer Edward R.
Muzzulin-D.
Mfiler-White, who said
she got her start in local
politics through the local
NAACP chapter, is seek
ing her third term on the
board. She has served as
vice-chairman since 2007.
“My first term on the
board was a learning ex
perience,” she said. “My
second term was an oppor
tunity to see things move
forward. We have to con
tinue to work together to
See CANDIDATE, 2
Weekend
Weather
Friday
High: 86 Low: 67
Sunny
Saturday
High: 85 Low: 66
Partly Cloudy
Sunday
High: 81 Low: 63
Isolated T-Storms
89076 4
7144
SplHiiB out breast
“O.wmaar ■
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STAFF PHOTO BY THOMAS J. TURNEY
The Perquimans County High School varsity volleyball team will be raising money to fight breast cancer at the Volley for the Cure benefit on Sept. 29.
Benefit game to fight breast cancer
By CHIC RIEBEL
The Daily Advance
F or Rachel Phthisic, every,
voUeyball hit into the rear
end of the defense becomes
a passion play.
Six inches off the floor? The
Perquimans senior will dive for
it. Deflected backwards off a
teammate? Phthisic wfil track
it down and send it forward.
Headed for a crack in the Lady
Pirates defense? The team’s
libero -- a defensive specialist on
the back row - displays a-will
that finds a way to keep the hall
alive.
“Rachel is excellent on de
fense, she gets everything that’s
hit near her,” Lady Pirates
coach Kristie Thach said. “Even
when she can’t, she knows what
to do to get to it the next time.
“She’s the fire behind the
team, just a ball of energy”
“That sounds like me,” Phthi
sic said when Thach’s assess
ment was relayed to her. “I’m
very competitive. I don’t like to
lose.
“I love the fast pace of volley
ball. Hitting the floor, digging
the baU, saving it. When I do
good, it’s ‘Yeah, I love this.’ It’s
so awesome.”
The emotional and demon
strative Phthisic (pronounced
“Tiss-ick” — it’s Russian) sets
the tone for the rest of the team.
“She’s always talking and
picking people up,” Thach said.
“She’s going to be irreplace
able next year because of her
leadership and her ability to get
everybody together.
“She‘has that go-get ‘em atti
tude about everything she does.
She always does the best she can
do.”
See CANCER, 8
United Way comes through in times like these
Live United is the slo
gan for the United Way of
America. It speaks for it
self. Now it’s time for aU of
us to walk the talk.
The Albemarle Area Unit
ed Way launched its annual
fund-raising campaign last
'Tuesday with a goal of rais
ing $400,000, Most of the
donations come through
employer campaigns. For
example. Piedmont Gas
recently completed their
workplace campaign with
100% participation. The
employees of our banks,
hospitals, government
United
Way
agencies aU support the
area United Way with pay
roll deductions.
Many of us, however,
are self-employed, work for
small firms or are retired
and do not have the oppor
tunity to participate in an
employer-based campaign.
Today, we’re making it easy
for anyone to donate. You’ll
a find self-addressed AAUW
envelope in today’s newspa
per that you can use to mail
your contribution, or you
can drop it off at The Per
quimans Weekly office.
The $400,000 goal may
seem like a lot of money
but the AWUW has to
stretch those dollars across
25 agencies in nine coun
ties.
If you’re reading this,
you most likely live in one
of those counties, or have
friends and relatives who
do. That means AAUW is
working for you.
Last year, 60% of the
funds located went to
non-profit organizations
that provide emergency ser
vices. We’re talking about
food, shelter, clothing - the
very basics of life. Agen
cies such as the Albemarle
Chapter of the American
Red Cross, Food Bank of
the Albemarle, Catholic
Charities in Hertford, the
Chowan/Perquimans Hab
itat for Humanity, PUmoor
UMC Food Center in Curri
tuck County and the Salva
tion Army rely on United
Way funds to meet the
needs of the less fortunate
who live in Northeastern
North Carolina.
The economy is strug
gling to recover. The need
for services continues to
grow. .
The latest poverty data
released by the U.S. Census
Bureau show the percent
age of people living in pov
erty in North Carolina rose
from 13.9 percent in 2008 to
16.9 percent in 2009. Almost
300,000 more North Caro
linians joined the ranks of
the poor in 2009.
Stephanie HarreU, ex-
See UNITED WAY, 8