P The ERQUIMANS Weekly "New'S from Next Door” \H- JUNE 15, 2011 - JUNE 21, 2011 MiEMWE mmmm Available at area ■jfl^wsstands today! / s 50 cents County approves permit for wind farm By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer County commission ers have approved a con ditional use permit for a 300 megawatt wind farm planned for the Desert area spanning both Perquimans and Pasquotank counties. In a imanimous vote, commissioners approved the permit with conditions following a quasi-judicial hearing last week. On Monday, the Pas quotank County Board of Commissioners also granted a conditional use permit (CUP) for the proj ect in their county, paving the way for planned con struction that could begin as early as next spring. If buUt, the project would be the first utility- scale wind project not only SUBMITTED COMPUTER RENDERING This visual assessment shows what the view of the proposed wind farm would look like looking north from Two Mile Desert Road just south of the intersection with Swamp Road. in North Carolina but in the southeast portion of the United States. Atlantic Wind LLC (AW), a subsidiary of glob al wind energy company Iberdrola Renewables, plans for the Desert Wind Energy project to include up to 150 utility-scale wind turbines capable of gener ating enough electricity to power up to 75,000 homes. Up to 68 wind turbines are slated to be buUt in Perqui mans County. A host of witnesses for AW testified during the hearing that was con ducted by county board Vice-Chairperson Jan ice Cole at the request of Chairman Ben Hobbs. Cole, a local attorney who See WIND FARM, 8 of scams From staff reports Perquimans Sheriff Eric Tilley warns area residents of various scams that have impacted local residents, especially the elderly. Tilley said elderly resi dents are receiving phone calls from someone claim ing to be a family member asking for help and need ing money The caller uses trickery to first obtain a family member’s ’ name, such as a grandchild, and then uses that name to con vince the elderly person on the other end to wire mon ey to the scam artist. “If you receive a caU, check with your fam- Uy first,” Tfiley urged. “If the caUer says he is your grandson, hang up and caU your grandson first to see if he reaUy caUed you before you wire any money.” TUley says the origin of such caUs come from out side the coimtry “There’s just no recourse if the scam involves other countries,” he added. In stead, Tfiley encourages residents to simply hang the phone up if someone caUs and tries to get you to send them money Another scam is fake lotteries or sweepstakes letters being sent to local residents through the maU, including a recent fake lot tery letter from Madrid, Spain. Tfiley encourages residents to look for red flags in such letters, like sentences that encourage you to keep the notification See SCAMS, 8 Class of 2011 weathers graduation \ri I STAFF PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON The Class of 2011 is led onto the football field at the start of gradua tion exercises Friday at Perquimans County High School. With threatening skies gathering behind them, an enthusiatic crowd ex citedly greets the PCHS graduates. V ; By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer O ne word best described Friday night’s com mencement exercises at Perquimans County High School. Weather. Held outside on the school’s football field, threatening skies and windy weather caused 122 graduates wearing caps and gowns to liter ally grab their diplomas from Perquimans Board of Education Chair man Amy Spaugh and almost run for cover as an impending storm cut the outside ceremony short. Graduates, parents and guests got to hear both class speakers as well as state Senator Ed Jones before the storm caused school officials to quickly hand out diplomas and head for cover. Within 15 minutes of clearing the field, heavy rain, strong winds, and lightening covered the area. School officials continued handing out diplomas to the gradu ates inside the gym. State Senator Ed Jones briefly congratu lated the class and their parents. “When you look at the state’s drop out rate, you are the proud and the few,” he told them. “But it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the support of your parents throughout the years. It’s like a good soup. You put a little bit See CLASS, 8 Friday is strolling time! By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Get ready to stroll again this Friday night during the second of fom: summertime Friday Night Strolls in downtown his toric Hertford. This Friday’s line-up in cludes comedy, musical enter tainment, old-fashioned games, vendors, food, and book sign ings. The fim runs from 5-8 p.m. Select downtown merchants wifi be open late as well. Chris and Mandy Whitehu rst highlight this event with the musical entertainment. Or ganizers say a comedy act and games such as corn-hole, pie eating and watermelon seed- 89076 47144 Long Cherry spitting contests wifi provide fun-filled activities to enjoy on the spacious courthouse lawn. Three book signings wfi.1 take place during the event. Corbin Cherry wifi hold a book signing for his new book “Here By The River” on the courthouse green. A resident of Hertford, Cherry’s seventh book is a book of prose writ ten about the river waters that embrace both the tovras and county It is his first book of prose written in a few years, he said. See FRIDAY, 8 5 bridge options up for discussion By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer The nine options of fered over a year ago to replace the historic S-bridge and Cause way have now been re duced to five. The North Carolina Department of Trans portation wifi present those five alternatives June 21 during a public meeting at the county recreation department from 4-7 p.m. The five options in clude: Alternative A-NEW- building a new swing span at the same loca tion as the current S- bridge is located along with a new low struc ture on the causeway The new swing span bridge would open and close for boat traffic but would not have a steel truss like the cur rent bridge. Alternative A-RE- HABILITATE-rehabil- itate the existing swing span bridge and build a new low structure on the causeway. NC- DOT officials say this alternative might not be feasible because the existing truss bridge does not meet current safety requirements. Alternative D-re- place the bridge and causeway with a new 33’ high fixed bridge on a new location east of the existing facil ity. The northern end of the new bridge would connect with the existing US 17 Business/NC 37 just south of Larry’s Drive rfpSBT ^ mitibitt !a SUBMIHED IMAGE This map shows the route of the S-bridge alternatives now See BR^GE, 8 under consideration. ^

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