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