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"News front Next Door”
OCTOBER 13, 2010 - OCTOBER 19, 2010
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Officials visit wind turbine farm
By CATHY WILSON
Stajf Writer
A county commissioner
and two county employees
visited a Pennsylvania wind
farm last week in an effort
to get a first-hand look at
the industry.
Commissioner Tammy
MUler-White, County Man
ager Bobby Darden, and
County Planner Donna
Godfrey travelled to Somer
set County, Pa. along with
11 others from Pasquotank,
Camden and Currituck
counties. They visited Cas-
selman Wind Power Project,
owned by Iberdrola Renew
ables (IR), the same compa
ny that has already erected
one wind testing meteoro
logical tower in both Per
quimans and Pasquotank
counties in the area known
as “the desert”. Darden said
the company is also looking
at sites in Camden and Cur
rituck counties as weU.
“Somerset County has
had wind energy projects
in production for 10 years,”
said Darden. “We received
information about wind
farms as well as good back
ground information on the
environmental studies that
4 candidates seek 3
commissioner seats
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
One Stop absentee voting
for the Nov. 2 general elec
tion begins Oct. 14 at the
Perquimans County Board
of Elections office.
Those who wish to vote,
but have not registered,
m'ay stUl do so by register
ing and voting at the One
Stop site provided they fill
out an application and pro
vide proof of residence.
One Stop absentee voting
continues until Oct. 30 at
1p.m.
Among the seats to be
'dfebi'ded ne^ month are
three seats on the board
of county commissioners.
Three incumbents and one
challenger are vying for
the three seats.
A political newcomer is
challenging three incum
bent county commission
ers in the Nov. 2 election
Hobbs Miller-White
to decide three seats on the
board.
Democrat Edward Muz-
zulin is vying for one of
three seats currently held
See CANDIDATES, 9
Cohee challenges
Tilley for sheriff
By WILLIAM F. WEST
The Daily Advance
A political newcomer
says he challenging Per
quimans County’s incum
bent sheriff in the Nov. 2
election because he wants
to give voters a choice and
because he wants a shot at
tackling the county’s drug
trafficking problem.
Jody Cohee, a Republi
can who served in Iraq as a
member of the N.C. Nation
al Guard, says he doesn’t
Weekend
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Friday
High: 65 Low: 49
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Saturday
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Sunny
Sunday
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6 89076 47144
have any disagreements
or criticism of incumbent
Sheriff Eric Tilley, who’s
seeking re-election to a
third full term.
But Cohee indicated he
believes the county contin
ues to have a large drug
trafficking problem. He
says that when he was in
high school, he often heard
that Hertford was “one of
the... biggest drug-traffick
ing areas in the world.” He
said he stiU hears talk from
friends about the presence
of illegal drug farms in the
area.
Cohee, a stay-at-home
father, says if he’s elected
sheriff he will confront
“the big drug problem in
the area” by “actually go
ing after these people”
committing drug crimes.
He said he would do this
by using the N.C. National
Guard’s counter-drug task
force. Cohee says he has a
coptact with the task force
See SHERIFF, 10
U EVENT BEGINS AT 6 PM, DOORS OPEN AT 5:30 PM hwy. 32 n, EDENTON Annette 333-bObb or Hardy 33i-8l84.
This year's event will honor the memory of Deputy Charlie Brown, of Martin County, who was tragically killed in the line of duty just weeks after attending last years event
are typically performed by
the wind energy companies
prior to sighting the tur
bines.”
They visited the moun
tainous areas of Somerset
where 121 turbines are lo
cated, 23 operated by Iber
drola at the Casselman site.
The Casselman project pro
vides enough wind energy
to power 10,000 homes, he
noted.
“Our first impression was
how very technologically
advanced they are,” noted
Darden. “They are all run
by computers. From what
I saw and heard, the noise
was very minimal.”
“From an economic de
velopment standpoint, how
ever, there’s not a lot of job
creation except during con
struction,” he added. “It’s
not a big job generator, but
during construction, a wind
turbine project could gener
ate 200-400 jobs.”
Darden said he also
learned that in an area
such as Perquimans County
where wind is not as preva
lent as on a mountain top or
on the coast, larger turbines
would be needed to capture
See TURBINE, 2
SUBMIHED PHOTO
Representa
tives from
Perquimans,
Pasquotank,
Camden, and
Currituck coun
ties visited the
Casselman Wind
Povi/er Project
in Somerset
County, Pa., last
week to get an
up close look at
wind farms.
Record Breaker
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Mike Hardison (right) recently competed at the N.C. Senior Games State Finals held in Raleigh, breaking one state
record and tying another. His wins qualify him for the 2011 National Senior Games Championship in Houston, Texas.
Hardison qualifies for nationals
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A Perquimans County man
recentiy broke the state
record in running long
jump during the North Carolina
Senior Games State Finals held
in Raleigh.
Mike Hardison broke the state
record in his age group by a foot
with a jump of 16 feet 2 inches.
In addition, he tied the lOOM
dash state record held since 1990
with a time of 12.84 seconds.
He also won the standing long
jump, missing the state record by
2 inches, and won both the 200M
and 400M dashes in his age group
(60-64).
His wins qualify him for the
2011 National Senior Games
Championship slated in Houston,
Texas next summer.
Definitely no rocking chair for
this retiree!
Hardison tries to train every
other day utilizing both stren^h
training and running.
“I try to run cycles, sprint,
work in some distance running,
then sprint again,” he explained.
“I enjoy competing in both the
long jump and sprints because it
See HARDISON, 2
No smoking on courthouse grounds
New policy will be
effective on Nov. 1
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Nervous courtroom
visitors will have to find
another place to smoke ef
fective Nov. 1.
County commissioners
adopted a policy last week
that restricts smoking out
side county properties in
cluding the historic court
house and courthouse
annex. Smokers will no
longer be able to puff
on the front stoop of the
courthouse, in front of the
annex area, on the lawn,
and in the parking lots be
hind the courthouse.
Instead, smokers will
have to move to town side
walks to light up begin
ning next month.
Smoking inside county
buildings is already pro
hibited.
“The aim is to mini
mize the harmful effects
of smoking among staff
and eliminate secondhand
smoke exposure for staff
and the public in those
buildings controlled by
the county,” states the ■
policy.
County Manager Bobby
Darden said smokers hang
out at the front door of the
courthouse, especially on
cold or rainy court days.
When the doors open,
smoke enters and fills
the courthouse and rises
upstairs, also filling the
county administration of
fices.
Signage prohibiting
smoking at the courthouse
and annex building will be
in place soon.
The new policy does not
apply, yet, to the grounds
at the county recreation
See SMOKING, 5
HWY. 32 N, EDENTON
For more information, tickets or donation,
contact: Steve 312*3031, Winnie 312-3021,
Dean 333-8133, Peter 482-8215,
Annette 333-6066 or Hardy 333-8184.