P The ERQUIMANS WEEKLY "Neivs front Next Door” DECEMBER 7, 2011 - DECEMBER 13, 2011 See more photos from Saturday’s Christmas parade, P.IO 50 cents Attempted murder, rape trial begins By WILLIAM F. WEST Staff Writer Jury selection continued Tuesday morning in Per quimans County Superior Court for a man accused of attempted first-degree murder of a woman in the New Hope area more than a year ago. Herbert Anthony Wil son, 29, of the 3200 block of New Hope Road, also is charged with first- degree rape, first- degree sexual of fense, as sault with a deadly Wilson weapon and first- degree burglary in the case. The woman, who was 30 years old at the time, re portedly was left for dead in the early morning hours of Aug. 28,2010. According to authori ties, Wilson stopped at a house about 4:30 a.m., knocked on the door and asked for a piece of gum. Wilson’s claim was he was concerned about encoun tering a traffic stop in the vicinity. The woman, who knew Wilson through a prior acquaintance, opened the door, but when she turned to get the gum, Wilson al legedly ran in the house and allegedly began attack ing her, authorities said. The woman was alleg edly raped and then alleg edly strangled and also lost consciousness at one point whUe trying to fight off Wilson, authorities said. Authorities also said that Wilson allegedly tried to contaminate the crime scene, covered the woman with a sheet, stole her cel lular phone and ripped telephone cords from the wall before fleeing the house. Authorities said the woman, after playing dead, managed to walk to a neighbor’s house to call for help. Officers took her to a hospital. Wilson was later arrest ed at his home. He has been held in lieu of $1.46 million secured bond at Albemarle District Jail. Judge Richard Dough- ton of AUeghany County is presiding in court this week. Assistant District Attorneys Nancy Lamb and Josh Quidley are rep resenting the state. Chief See WILSON, 11 Santa Mives; Town Illuminates The Christmas season is here! By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer C hristmas of ficially arrived in Hertford last week. The well-attended Grand Illumination lit up the town from the riverfront through out Church Street Thursday evening. On Satiarday, a large crowd watched over 60 units ranging from dogs and horses to decorated floats and marching bands parade through town bringing Christ mas cheer. Chamber Direc tor Sid Eley said the parade was one of the longest held in several years. He expressed thanks to the many people who helped make it possible. “People think when they see a parade, it just happens,” Eley • said, “but there is a lot of work behind the scenes. We appreci ate all who had a part in putting this year’s parade together...espe cially those who took part in the parade.” Local volunteer Steve Burkett was the parade’s grand mar shall this year. Burkett is known for helping local organizations with website creation and design free of charge. Also participating in the parade were state Representative Annie Mobley and Senator Ed Jones. Three bands partici pated this year includ ing the Perquimans County High School Marching Pirates, the Perquimans County See PARADE, 11 If X. f f hi’ D1 STAFF PHOTO BY CATHYWILSON Santa arrives during Saturday’s annual Christmas parade in Hertford. Santa stayed around to take photos with children at Inteliport. \ STAFF PHOTO BYBRErTA.ClARK Members of the Perquimans County High I School Band perform Christ mas music dur ing the'Hertford Grand lllumina- I tion, Thursday. See more photos from Hertford’s Christmas parade online at DailyAdvance.Com. STAFF PHOTO BY CATHYWILSON Area school children, like these from Hertford Elementary, brought their holiday greetings to Satur day’s parade. HERTFORD ORMHAR SCHOOL Audit: By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Despite a tough econo my, Perquimans County remains in stable financial condition. Monday night, county commissioners learned that the county’s general fund balance of unassigned funds totaled $3,088,081 for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Auditor Donna Win- borne of the firm Douglas A. HoUoweU, PC. said the county’s general fund bal ance, which now includes tourism development as well as economic develop ment funds, increased by $21,478. The amount of unassigned general fund balance is 25 percent of general fund expenditures, weU above the 8 percent minimum required by the state’s Local Government Commission. Winborne also said the county’s water and solid waste budgets remain in good shape. The water fufid ended with an increase of just over $400,000 whill the solid waste budget ended the fiscal year with an ad ditional $101,089. Interim County Manag er Frank Heath said coun ty tax collections last year was up. The county’s tax rate, which increaseC^hy 2 cents last year, also pro duced additional revenue. Also Monday night, Ben Hobbs and Janice Cole were re-elected as chair man and vice-chairwoman of the board of commis sioners for another year. The leadership duo was unanimously elected. County’s Tier 2 status unchanged From staff reports Perquimans County’s Tier 2 designation wiU re main the same in 2012. Two other county designations in the region changed. Chowan County’s desig nation dropped from Tier 2 to 1 while Gates County’s rose from Tier 1 to 2. Else where in the region, Pas quotank and Currituck remained Tier 2 counties while Camden remained a 89076 47144 Tier 1 county. According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the designa tions, which are mandated by state law, determine a variety of state funding opportunities to assist in economic development. “Our goal is to encour age economic development statewide so all of our resi dents can find good jobs re gardless of their location in our state,” N.C. Com merce Secretary Keith Crisco said. “These tier rankings provide impor tant tools that help attract See STATUS, 11 f Donahue opens law firm in Hertford By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Most kids spend their summers on a baU field or in a swimming pool. Daniel Donahue spent his youthful summers inside a courtroom. The 34-year-old Eliza beth City native loved be ing inside a courtroom while spending summers with an uncle who was a state’s attorney in Mary land. He feu in love with opening arguments, ju ries, testimony, and clos ing statements. Donahue continues that love affair today as a criminal de fense attorney who recent ly opened his law practice in Hertford. “I never remember *«Te>, STAFF PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON Attorney Daniel Donahue has opened the Donahue Law Firm PLLC on Market Street. thinking there .was any thing else I wanted to do other than become a law yer,” said Donahue. “I love it. If! could do it for free, I would. That’s how much I love the law.” He doesn’t practice law y for free, but he does like the smaU-town warmth and atmosphere that comes with hanging out his shingle on Market Street. “I envision myself as a kind of a country boy,” he said. “There is a sense of community here. Be ing able to wake up and walk to work or walk my dog over the historic S- bridge...these things you just can’t put a price on. It’s wonderful.” He is married to the former MicheUe Nixon of Hertford. They have cho sen to come back home to be closer to famUy. In fact, Donahue says he picked out the budding in which See DONAHUE, 11

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