Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / June 11, 2014, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE ERQUIMANS Weekly "News from Next Door" JUNE 11, 2014 - JUNE 17, 2014 JUN 1 1 RECTI 50 cents Perquimans awarded $1.2M in grants BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor By this fall more than 1,400 local students will have com puters they didn’t have before and by next year the county should have an industrial- sized boat ramp thanks to Golden LEAF. The Rocky Mount-based or ganization met last week and awarded Perquimans nearly $1.2 million to fund the two local projects. “Perquimans County had a good day at the races,” said Dan Gerlach, the executive director of Golden LEAF. The decision by the Golden LEAF board caps a process that started in September when the agency opened up the competition to 20 coun ties. The group that distributes the proceeds from a.tobacco settlement asked for applica tions up to $1.5 million from each county and set aside $10 million to distribute. All five counties in the Albemarle area submitted applications. One of the Per quimans County requests — money for a marketing ef fort to bring boat builders to North Carolina — was nixed in the early rounds as were all of the applications from Cur rituck, Camden, Pasquotank and Chowan counties. The Perquimans requests included $864,000 for the start-up cost to buy tablet computers for every stu dent in grades three through See GRANTS, 10 “June 5th will become one of those benchmark days that will be remembered for years to come..." Dwayne Stallings Superintendent, in a memo to school staff about the grants Hundreds of students will benefit BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor After more than 25 years in educa tion, Victor Eure was ready to retire. Then came Golden LEAF. The Rocky Mount non-profit dangled the prospect of $1.5 million grants to 20 counties in eastern North Carolina There was a hitch. EURE See BENEFIT, 10 Teachers upbeat over work conditions BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Teachers in Perquimans County have a better feel ing about their working conditions than teachers elsewhere in the state but a third of local teachers say students aren’t following the rules, according to a survey released last week by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The report is compiled every two years to measure how teachers ’view what they do and where they do it. The first survey was in 2002. Schools use the survey to spot issues and improve problem areas—something a majority of local teachers say is done. Overall, 86 percent of Per quimans County teachers answered yes to the ques tion “my school is a good place to work and learn.” That compares to a 85.1 per cent response statewide. When it came to a ques tion asking if their school used the teacher’s survey as a tool for school improve ment, 86.1 percent of Per quimans teachers said yes. The statewide figure was 81.2 percent. Out of 86 questions in the survey, Perquimans teachers answered more positively than their state counterparts on 78 of them. On the eight responses that were lower, four of those were in the area of manag ing student conduct. Just 66.1 percent of local teachers answered yes to “students at this school fol low rules of conduct.” State wide the figure was 71.9 per cent. At Perquimans County See TEACHERS, 10 Edenton hosts HISTORICAL DOCUMENT STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS John A. Holmes High School students Madison Nance, Hadiya Bembry, Hillary Morgan and Caston Young look at North Carolina’s original copy of the 13th Amendment, which was a display Thursday at the historic Chowan County Courthouse in Edenton. A portion of North Carolina’s copy of the 13th Amendment (inset) is shown (chowan herald photo). See story on page 2. Former Hertford candidate arrested BY PETER WILLIAMS Perquimans Weekly A man who twice ran for Hertford Town Council I and lost was arrested June 5 on charges ofextortion. Quentin Jackson, 28 of South Church Street, Hertford, was jailed under $10,000 secured bond. Per quimans County Sheriffs : deputies made the arrest based on a Pasquotank County warrant. According to Pasquo tank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright, Jackson worked for Carolina Radio Inc. on Parsonage Street until he was let go in Decem ber. “What he was doing was hacking JACKSON into their computers and trying to extort them for money,” Cartwright said Friday. It was first reported to the Pasquotank Sheriffs Department on April 25. Cartwright could offer no oth er details, but he said more charges could be coming. Jackson fin ished last in a four- person race for Hertford council in 2013. In 2011, Jackson lost an other race for the office. In that case then Police Chief Joe Amos was fired for posting a link to the Hert ford Police Department’s Facebook page about the fact that Jackson had been arrested for failure to pay child support. In the 2013 race, Ed Lane and Lillian Holman won new four-year terms on Hertford council. Lane picked up 247 votes and Holman 223. Following close behind with 203 votes was Archie Aples III - a first-time candidate. Jackson finished with 83 votes. Activities planned for pro golfers BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Before they get down to work, the NGA professional golfers visiting Albemarle Plantation for a tournament this month will get to have a little fun. The players will start ar riving June 22 and check into homes at the devel opment. The tournament wraps up on June 29. In addition to golf on The Sound Links, players will have the opportunity to sail on a replica of an 18th century boat, participate in a fishing tournament and BBQ and go kayaking. “They play golf for a liv ing and they like to do other stuff as well,” joked Kenny Saunders, the golf pro at The Sound Links. “We’re trying to give them something to do as well. Otherwise they’ll just sit around and look at themselves.” But there will be plenty of golf and the chance for one of the pros to win $1 million. At 7:30 p.m. on June 24 all of the pro golfers will go to the 18th fairway and take a shot during the pairings par ty. The winner of that gets the chance to shoot again from 180 yards out. “They get one crack at it and if they knock it into the cup, they win $1 million,” Saunders said. The Plantation has hosted tournaments before, includ ing celebrity tournaments, but Saunders said this will be the first pro event held there. Organizers floated the idea in October when it ap peared Scotch Hall in Bertie See GOLFERS, 10 Long-time school spokeswoman retiring Weevils released to help control weed BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor When the Perquimans County High School Class of 2014 walks across the stage Friday night, Brenda Lassiter will be there. Lassiter has always been there for this batch of seniors and others over her 20-year career. Her title is “public informa tion officer” (PIO) for the Per quimans County Schools, but friends, family and colleagues say she’s far more than that. 6 89076 47144 2 Given that the school system is the largest employer in Perquimans County, Las siter is in effect the public face of the largest “industry” in the county. But the Class of 2014 is her last. Lassiter is retiring as of Sept. 1. In the school system’s or ganizational chart, Lassiter is also listed as the contact for business partnerships, com munity relations, convoca tion planning, the educational foundation, the principal of See LASSITER, 8 BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor State officials released tiny bugs last week in the ! hopes that they can con- , trol an invasive weed that has shown up in northern Pasquotank and Perqui mans counties. The plant, known as Mile-A-Minute weed, was known to be in Suffolk, I Va., but recently has been spotted in northern parts of the two counties along Turnpike Road. The plant can spread up to six inch- esaday. The weevils that were [ released last week have been used elsewhere with | success to slow the spread of the vine. The plant con tains thorns and the blue berries. The spread of the weed into northeastern North Carolina was under study by crop scientist Richard Iverson. Iverson, 64, of Durham, died at a Norfolk hospital in April from injuries sus tained in a biking accident in Camden County. Tak- PHOTO COURTESY OF BUG GUIDE.NET The Rhinoncomimus latipes controls the Mile-A-Minute weed. ing over the investigation is Dr. Kathleen Kidd of the NC Department of Agri culture. The vine is native to Asia as is the weevil that is be ing released to control it. Kidd said chemicals can be used to kill the weed but they are broad-spec trum herbicides that will kill virtually everything else as well. The weevils released last- week went straight to eating the weeds, Kidd said. Tom Campbell, an ag- riculture extension agent See WEEVILS, 10
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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June 11, 2014, edition 1
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