The
ERQUIMANS
Weekly
Rec center gets new fitness
stations, page 7
"Neivs front Next Door"
NOVEMBER 2, 2011 - NOVEMBER 8, 50 cents
NOV 0 2 2011
Low income heating funds to be redirected
February check goes
to vendors this year
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Drastic state budget cuts
that caused changes to the
state’s Low Income Energy
Assistance Program may
leave some area residents
feeling like they are out in
the cold this winter. Local
departments of social ser
vices are notifying their
low income clients that the
once a year funding, better
known as the heating check
that comes in February,
will not come to individu
als this year. Instead checks
win be paid to vendors who
provide the households
heat such as electricity, gas,
or other types of fuel.
“In the past, this program
was an ‘automatic’ for many
Food & Nutrition Services
clients who were receiving
in September of the previ
ous year,” explained Susan
Chaney, director of Perqui
mans Coimty Department
of Social Services. “Begin
ning Dec. 1, households
will no longer receive a
LIEAP check. There is no
automatic eligibility AH en
ergy payments will be paid
directly to the household’s
heating provider.”
The old method of send
ing checks to individu
als had no way to control
where the money was
spent, Chaney explained.
V^Ue she admits the new
method still has kinks in it
that need ironing out, the
money now will go directly
to pay the heating bUls.
Chaney says there wDl
be an extended application
period with a “priority
group” applying first. Each
fuel type has a set payment
amount this year, and in
come limits for eligibil
ity have been increased to
130 percent of the poverty
level.
“Household members
must meet the reserve
limit, funding is limited,
and there is less funding
this year than last year,”
Chaney added. “The fund
ing for the state is approxi
mately $11 million less than
See HEAT FUNDS, 4
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A
STAFF PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
You look Just tike me! A princess (above) sees her
retiection in the giass while trick or treating in Hert
ford Monday evening.
May the force be with you. Young trick-or-treat-
ers exchange greetings as they make their way
downtown in Hertford on Monday.
iff
p-.-t
■x!
Beth Flutree hands out candy to trick-or-treaters in front of the Hall of Fame
Building in Hertford. Downtown merchants welcomed the Halloween trick-or- Devils, fairies, witches, princesses and even super heroes were seen in the down-
treaters with plenty of goodies. town district.
Jacobs’s family
lives in Belvidere
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
It is a text message that
wUl last a lifetime.
Just hours before he was
killed in
a training
accident.
Marine
Sgt. Chris
topher J.
Jacobs
texted his
wife Britta
ny that he
Jacobs
had enjoyed a good night’s
sleep the night before.
“I love you guys,” he
typed on the phone and hit
the send button, transmit
ting his last words to his
wife and young son waiting
in Belvidere.
“We love you too, baby,”
replied his wife.
Later that day, the 29-
year-old Marine was killed
in an amphibious assault
vehicle training exercise
at the Marine Corps An-
Ground Combat Center
at Twentynine Pahns, Ca.
According to the Marine
Corps Times, Sgt. Jacobs
was a crew-member with
Delta Company, 3rd As
sault Amphibian Battalion,
Marine Corps Air Ground
Combat Center when the
accident occurred Oct. 24
during a training exercise
at the Marine Corps’ desert
warfare training base.
Brittany received word
of his death the follow
ing day while planning a
trip to California to spend.
See MARINE DIES, 4
Elderly, beware of scams
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Perquimans Sheriff
Eric Tilley says he is
stiU receiving reports of
scams involving the el
derly and encourages se
nior citizens to be alert to
phone scams that claim to
be family members need
ing cash.
Some local residents
have been scammed out
of varying amounts of
89076"4
7144
cash up to $6,000, said TU-
ley.
The callers, he said, are
good at drawing out infor
mation from the elderly
person answering the
phone. ,
“They’ll start off by say
ing ‘Grandma?’ when the
elderly woman answers
the phone and when the
elderly woman answers
saying ‘Is this so and so
(grandchild)?’, the scam
mer then has the name
of the grandchild so the
scammer continues to talk
with the elderly subject
until he convinces her he
is in fact the grandchild
and to wire him money,”
said Tilley.
Often times, the scam
mer says he or she is out
of the country and has
been arrested for drunk
driving and needs cash
wired overseas as bail
money Other times, the
scammer says they have
been involved in a wreck
and needs cash for medi
cal bills. Places involved
include Mexico and Flor
ida.
“Whatever you do,
don’t ever wire money
overseas,” warned TH-
ley. “Just ask questions
first. If the caUer says it
See SCAMS, 4
Candidates: Hands tied
regarding police matter
By PETER WILLIAMS
The Daily Advance
Candidates for Hertford
mayor conceded Friday
night that not a lot can be
done right now about the
town’s police chief and an
officer who were convicted
of assaulting a man but
remain on the town’s pay
roll.
Because the town has a
manager/mayor form of
government, neither the
mayor nor the town coun
cil can fire a town employ
ee, candidates in the Nov.
Early voting
is slow
Election day is Nov.
8. So far, early voting
numbers have been
slow. See story,
page 3.
8 mayoral election told an
audience during a candi
dates forum at First Bap
tist Church of Hertford.
Hertford Mayor Sid Eley
and his two challengers,
Horace Reid and Lloyd
Hodges, attended the fo
rum. Also in attendance
were the five candidates
seeking two town council
seats: incumbents Anne
White and Carlton Daven
port and challengers BiUy
Laden, Quentin Jackson
and Frank Jaklic.
Much of Friday’s forum,
moderated by Tony Rid
dick, dealt with economic
issues. But the mayoral
candidates also responded
to questions about the
town’s embattled police
See POLICE, 4
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