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"News front Next Door”
MARCH 20, 2013 - MARCH 26, 2013
Inside
Today
See our annual
Progress &
Review edition.
50 cents
County to stick with insurance pooi, iook at options
By PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
For now Perquimans
County will keep dancing
with the one that brought
them — a county consor
tium that handles health
insurance claims for hun
dreds of area government
workers.
Chowan County on the
other hand has announced
it’s leaving the party for
cheaper rates elsewhere.
Both Perquimans and
Pasquotank officials say
they’re keeping their op
tions open.
Chowan was the original
member of what became
the Northeast Albemarle
Health Group. In 1990 it
grew to include Pasquo
tank and Perquimans
counties and employees of
Albemarle Regional Health
Services. The group col
lects premiums and pays
claims like a health insur
ance company would. It
handles the day-to-day
claims for drugs and doc
tor visits and pays for them
from premiums collected
within the group. An out
side umbrella policy is the
safety net for truly cata
strophic problems.
When the consortium
was formed the only other
viable option was to buy
commercial insurance
and that was considered
too expensive. By forming
a group, the governments
felt they could profit dur
ing the good years and
weather the bad ones to
gether and save tax dollars.
As a group with more than
750 employees, it could
spread the liability out. By
itself Perquimans County
has about 91 workers.
Perquimans County
Manager Frank Health
said with the arrangement
comes an understanding
that some years claims will
be high and some years
they won’t. He said there is
strength is in numbers.
In the past five years.
See INSURANCE, 2
Lawmaker
opposes plan
to derail green
requirement
Steinburg
By PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Legislation that could
derail plans for wind
farms like the 20,000-acre
Desert Wind project in
Perquimans and Pasquo
tank counties is being re
drafted according to a lo
cal member of the General Assembly.
Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan, said last
week he’d spoken to the bUTs chief spon
sor, Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, about
his concerns. As it stands, Steinburg op
poses the bUl.
Hager’s HB-298 would remove a require
ment that public utilities buy or generate
a portion of their power from renewable
energy sources.
The $750 million Desert Wind project
is on hold in part beranse the. developer
Iberdrola Renewables, hasn’t found a com
pany willing to contract for the power that
will be produced.
Under the 1998 law. North Carolina says
investor-owned utilities in North Carolina
win be required to meet up to 12.5 percent
of their energy needs through renewable
energy resources or energy efficiency
measures by 2021. Rural electric coopera
tives and municipal electric suppliers are
subject to a 10 percent requirement. The
bin means utilities can either build renew
able energy resources themselves or buy
power from those utilities that do. There
is a third option to cut demand through
load management and lighting options.
“The goal with the bill is to wean these
companies off subsidies, but I will teU you
this Desert Wind projects is one in which
I have great confidence,’’ Steinburg said.
“I know Mike Hager. His office is right
across the haU from mine. I’ve spoken to
him about it.
“We’ve got to make a decision,” Stein
burg said. “These people (like Iberdrola)
are going to buHd projects somewhere. If
they perceive that North Carolina doesn’t
want them, they are going to take their in
vestment dollars and go elsewhere.”
In addition to the Desert Wind project,
Steinburg said he also supports one pro
posed in Camden and Currituck counties.
Perquimans County Manger Frank
See REQUIREMENT, 2
r n . * -
r-
■ '"1
STAF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Police Chief Douglas Freeman speaks at Hertford Grammar during a Drug Abuse Resistance Education meeting in the school’s library earlier this month.
Program takes a twist at grammar school
By PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
S it in for a few minutes,
and you can see that the
DAE^ program at Hert
ford Grammar School isn’t
what you were taught back in
the 1980s.
With the help of the
Hertford Police Department,
the school is giving new life
to Drug Abuse Resistance
Education.
Critics of the original
DARE program claim it was
ineffective at best. True op
ponents said it actually ended
up with more students using
drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
Four years ago the national
DARE adopted the “keepin’
it real” curriculum.- The
group says it is evidence-
based, culturally grounded
substance use prevention
program. “Real” teaches the
"Back then there
were three main things,
alcohol, marijuana and
cigarettes. Now, we're
incorporating other
things, like making good
decisions, choosing
good friends and ways
to deal with stress."
Chief Douglas Freeman
On changes in DARE
program over the years
importance of cultural differ
ences and similarities in the
effectiveness of communica
tion strategies and norms
surroimding substance use.
It a nutshell, Hertford Po
lice Chief Douglas Freeman
said the new program does a
better job.
He first became certified as
a DARE trainer when he lived
in Onslow County in 1997.
“Back then there were
three main things, alcohol,
marijuana and cigarettes,”
Freeman said last week.
“Now we’re incorporating
other things, like making
good decisions, choosing good
friends and ways to deal with
stress.”
The “getting it real” part
is because creators of the
program went out and talked
with real students and got
their stories. Stress was a big
issue for kids.
“We’re teaching kids how
to calm down, sit back and
think through things before
they make a hasty decision,”
he said. “That’s something
everybody can use.”
And so far, the program has
been free. At first Freeman
planned to use money con
fiscated in drug deals. That’s
how he acquired a K-9 officer
for the police force. But when
DARE organizers realized the
program was starting after
eight years, they gave the
materials to the school for
free for this year. Freeman
already had the training.
“Now it touches on the
health effects, but not only
the criminal aspect, but how
the substances effect you both
mentally and physically,”
Freeman said.
HGS Principal Linda White
said one of the things she
likes about the program is it’s
scripted. AH fifth graders get
the training, but not at the
same time.
“Every classroom gets the
same information,” White
said. “I think it’s really posi
tive.”
The school is using DARE
as part of a larger plan to be
bully free.
Jobless to get tips, a ride to fair
By PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Some potential employ
ees in Perquimans County
looking to go to a job fair in
Elizabeth City this month
will have a few more tools
for their job search plus a
ride to get there.
Free transportation is
available to take Perqui
mans County residents to
a business expo and job
fair at the K.E. White Cen
ter on March 26.
6 89076 4
7144
The trip is sponsored
by the Hertford Small
Town Economic Prosper
ity (STEP) program.
Steven Magaro, the or
ganizer of the event, said
the hope is to break down
barriers, both physical
and otherwise for people
who want to work but
can’t find a job.
The STEP program did
a similar field trip last fall
to a large job fair in Vir
ginia. Beach. One of the
lessons learned was just
taking people to meet po
tential employers doesn’t
make the person pre
pared for the interview
and what happens next.
“Some people ques
tioned bringing people
up there without giving
them more tools in their
tool bag,” Magaro said
last week. “The challenge
is getting everybody coor
dinated to put something
like that on.”
This time around, the
Hertford STEP group
worked with the Edenton
Enfployment Services
and provided transporta
tion to a re-employment
seminar on writing an
effective resume on Tues
day in Edenton.
Participants for the
March 26 event should
reserve a space now by
See JOB FAIR, 2
Volunteers Needed
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Dorothy Matthews speaks to Perquimans County Manager Frank Heath in her home in Winfall
on Tuesday. Heath was delivering meals to seniors. More volunteers are needed for the Meals on
Wheels Program. For more information, call 426-7093 extension 230.
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