The ERQUIMANS Weekly Holiday Island Yacht Club celebrates Mardis Gras, 7 "News front Next Door” MARCH 16, 2011 - MARCH 22, 2011 50 cents Hertford council opposes House Bill 117 By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Hertford Town Council went on record Monday night opposing a biU intro duced in the House of Rep resentatives that would prohibit towns from trans ferring revenues from elec tric funds to other munici pal funds. Council, with only three of five members present, passed a resolution oppos ing House BiU 117. The opposition resolution basi cally says councU believes municipalities should be aUowed to make such fi nancial decisions on the local level as long as fund transfers are in accordance with guidelines set by the state’s Local Government Commission (LGC). “Hertford has been meeting these guidelines for quite a few years,” said Town Manager John Chris tensen. “I don’t feel that state legislators should meddle in our business.” House BUI 117, sponsored by WiUiam L. Wainwright (Craven/Lenoir counties) and Leo Daughtry, (John ston County), would pre vent Hertford and all other municipalities in the state that own electric systems from transferring funds from the electric fund to any othm' fund operated by the town. “BasicaUy, the state’s trying to teU us how to run our business,” added Mayor Pro-Tern Carlton Davenport. Christensen explained that municipalities across the state have been making transfers from electric to municipal funds for many years. Hertford leaders ad opted a policy back in 1996 aUowing such transfers based on guidelines set by the LGC. The LGC, he pointed out, recommends such transfers be limited to three percent of the gross fixed assets of the electric funds. Such transfers, he ex plained, help the town make capital investments, especiaUy during tough economic times. “Given the current fi nancial climate and the budget chaUenges facing mimicipalities in North Carolina, prohibiting transfers as provided by HB 117 could endanger the financial well-being of mu nicipalities in North Caro lina and impose additional financial hardships on the citizefts of such munici palities,” states the town’s resolution. Sfe,-: •«Jl L'r Storyteller excites students with wori By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer E ven with your eyes closed, you can feel what Donna Wash ington is saying just by listening to her voice. Her slow, melodic storytelling grew louder and more excited as she reached a climax in her story that excited not only the students listening at local schools last week, but teachers and other observers as well. Seated on the cafeteria floor, students at Hert ford Grammar School squealed, laughed, gasped, and happily participated in Washin^on’s stories punctuated with what’s described as “vocal pyro technics, extreme facial expressions, and physical- ity”. Each of her multicul tural folk and fairy tales included a hidden mes sage for the students. She entertained them with tough tongue twisters said at lightening speed. Washington, a profes sional stor3d;eUer for nearly 20 years, says she has the best job in the world...because she loves to talk! It was obvious by the reaction from the students that they love to listen to her. Students at Perquimans ^ I ? Jj V STAFF PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON Hertford Grammar fourth-graders Samantha Midgett and Lauren Winslow laugh while listening to an action-packed story told by professional storyteller Donna L. Washington (top photo) last Thursday. Washington entertained the students at Hertford Gram mar and Perquimans Central schools last week thanks to the Perquimans Arts League and the N.C. Arts Council. Central and Hertford Grammar schools were treated to the profes sional storyteller thanks to the efforts of the Perquimans Arts League and funded by a Grass roots grant provided by the North Carolina Arts Council. Washington has been featimed at the National Storytelling Festival and numerous other festivals across the country. Wash ington has seven multiple award-winning CDs, and is also an accomplished author of four children’s books. reduced From staff reports Travis DoneU Reaves, 27, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Beaufort County Superior Court last week in connection with the 2008 shooting death of his first cousin, Jamar Fletcher. As a result of a negotiat ed plea agreement. Reaves received a sentence of a minimum of 61 months to a maximum of 83 months in prison. He was given 974 days credit for time already served and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $4,770 as a condition of his work release. Reaves was originally charged with first degree murder in connection with the July 6,2008 shooting. Fletcher, 21, was shot in the chest with a hand gun while standing on the corner of King Street and Stokes Drive in Hertford in the early morning hours. Police said they believed the shooting occurred as a result of an argument fol lowing a party in a Hert ford home. Fletcher’s body was found lying in the street when police arrived around 3:40 a.m. that early Sunday morning following the July 4th holiday Fletcher had attended a family reunion with his mother in the Hertford area earlier that day. His mother tried to talk her son into traveling back to her home in Raleigh with her that day, but he refused. She received a phone call later after she had returned home and gone to work no tifying her that her son had been shot. Reaves turned himself in to police on July 10,2008 after warrants were issued for his arrest. He has re mained in jail since then. Hearing on wind farm generates support By RE6CIE PONDER The Daily Advance More than half a dozen speakers at a public hear ing last Thursday night on the proposed Desert Wind Energy Project said they were eager to see the $750 million investment in Pas quotank and Perquimans counties. Tim Ivey, who works on behalf of 16 counties in northeastern North Caro lina for the N.C. Depart ment of Commerce, said the department supports 89076 47144 the project. He said the $750 million initial invest ment would be the larg est single investment by a company in northeastern North Carolina ever. “We know it’s not going to happen overnight but we know it has to start somewhere,” Ivey said. Wayne Harris, direc tor of the Albemarle Economic Development Commission, echoed the statements of other proj ect supporters when he told representatives of the N.C. Utilities Commission at the commission’s pubic hearing in the Pasquotank County Courthouse that the proposed 300-megawatt wind turbine project in the See HEARING, 13 Head ’em up, move ’em out: Yeehah! Friends to Freedom Wagon Train is this weekend By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Wagon train organizers Sarah Weeks and Teresa Hurdle are keeping their fingers crossed. They are hoping for good weather this weekend as the Friends to Freedom Wagon Train rolls through Perquimans County Fri day and Saturday, it was originally scheduled for last October but was post poned because of inclem ent weather. This time, the wagons wUl roU, rain or shine. “I feei a lot less appre hensive about the weath er this go round,” said Weeks, wagon master for this weekend’s event. “We aU have slickers and foul % iji weather gear just in case though. Rain or shine the wagons will roU.” As of Monday, the Na tional Weather Service is predicting sunny or most ly sunny weather for Fri day, Saturday, and Simday with highs ranging from 78 on Friday to 63 on Sun day. Even so, registration is going slowly so far, but Weeks says that is typical for trail rides. “It’s expensive to move these rigs, horses, and STAFF PHOTO BYTHOMASJ.TURNEY Karl Eure and his wife Suzy drive a covered wagon across the S-Bridge in Hertford fol lowed by horse riders during an earlier test run.The actual Friends to Freedom Wagon Train will travel through Perquimans County Friday and Saturday. gear,” she explained. “Ev eryone is just waiting on the five-day forecast.” Weeks says at least 30 “diehards” have verbally agreed to ride including five wagons so far. “The final head count remains to be seen on check-in day,” she added. “Fm still anticipating See WAGON, 2

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