I The oct o 1 RETD
ERQUIMANS
^WEEKLY
"News from Next Door"
OCTOBER 1, 2014 - OCTOBER 6, 2014
Perquimans volleyball preps
for Camden rematch, 7
50 cents
Walking For A Cure
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A sea of walkers start out down Edenton Road Street for the annual Jim “Catfish” Hunter ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis, better know as ‘Lou Gehrig’s disease’) Walk in Hertford on Saturday.
Robber
pleads
guilty
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
ALS events draw large crowds
A 27-year-old man charged with robbing
Hertford convenience stores in
January plead guilty last week
to two charges of robbery with
a dangerous weapon and was
sentenced to jail.
Lamell Archer had been fac
ing those charges as well as first
degree kidnapping and second-
degree sexual offense. Another
robbery charge, this one involv ¬
ARCHER
ing the Highway 55 restaurant in Winfall had
been dismissed earlier.
Judge J.C. Cole consolidated the two weapons
charges Thursday so Archer is to serve 59 to 83
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A weekend of events to support
victims of ALS could end up
raising $50,000 when all is said
and done, organizers said Monday.
Upwards of 300 people walked the
streets of Hertford Saturday and just
as many attended a softball tourna
ment across the river in Winfall over
the weekend. They were raising
money to fight ALS and support those
who have the progressive neurode-
generative disease.
The 15th annual Jim “Catfish” Hunt
er ALS Walk itself raised more than
$27,000 as of Monday and is poised
to hit $30,000 or more. Ashley Stoop,
one of the organizers, said typically
between $3,000 and $5,000 comes
once the event is done.
“We have the potential for raising
$30,000,” Stoop said.
That won’t set an all-time record.
That was done in the early days of the
walk “when the economy was much
See ALS WALK, 3
PHOTO BY CHUCK PAGELS
Joan Hunter (left) and Guy Webb go over details Saturday at the Jim “Catfish”
Hunter ALS softball tournament in Winfall.
See GUILTY, 2
Two brothers to
remain jailed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Twin 19-year-old brothers charged with having
sex with their sister over more than a decade ap
parently will remain in jail for the time being.
On Thursday, ajudge denied requests by attor
neys for Aaron and Benjamin Jackson to reduce
their bonds. As a result, both Jacksons remain at
Albemarle District Jail in lieu of $150,000 secured
bonds.
Danny Donahue, attorney for Aaron Jackson,
and John Parker Jr., attorney for Benjamin Jack-
son, both asked Superior Court Judge J.C. Cole
to reduce the bonds for their clients. Donahue
See BROTHERS, 2
Boys & Girls Club seeks funding for county
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Supporters of a plan to
bring a Boys and Girl’s Club
to Perquimans County are
to the point where they will
be raising money to make it
possible.
Dave Goss, one of the
local organizers, said the
group needs to come up
with about $150,000 to
show the project has sup
port. That’s how much it’s
estimated to cost to operate
the club for the first year.
The group does have
moral support from the
existing club in Edenton.
Under the rules set forth
by the national Boys and
Girls Clubs, a new chapter
needs to operate under the
auspices of an existing club
nearby.
The Edenton club will
handle administrative func
tions and the Perquimans
County will take care of
day-to-day activities.
“We’re responsible for
doing the fundraising and
coming up with the pro
gram,” Goss said. “Nothing
can happen until we raise
the first year’s funding. It
sounds like a lot but you
think about, it’s not.”
The plan is to locate the
club in a 5,000 square-foot
house Hertford United
Methodist Church owns on
Market Street. The Perqui
mans club would have to
provide insurance, pay for
the utilities and provide the
programs.
The new club will also
have to come up with mon
ey to transport children to
and from the club.
The Edenton club was
created a dozen years ago
under the auspices of the
Boys and Girls Clubs of
Southeast Virginia. Today
about 100 students are en
rolled in the program.
Elizabeth Spruill has
been the Edenton director
for the past year.
She said their group
focuses on three things:
academic success, helping
develop character and citi
zenship and learning to lead
See FUNDING, 2
SUBMITTED
PHOTO
Participants
in a Boys
and Girls
Club
program
in Edenton
work on
drawing
recently.
Perquimans
County
organizers
want to
create a
similar
program in
Hertford.
Business Expo set
for October 9
Candidates agree more jobs needed
From saff reports
The 2014 Business Expo,
Sailing Into Success will be
held on Oct. 9 from 14:30
p.m. at the Perquimans Rec
reation Center. It will fea
ture more than 35 vendors
both inside and outside.
From 5:30 p.m. until 7:30
p.m. the Expo will feature
The Tastings From the Gal
lery with 15 area restaurants
and caterers.
Admission to the Expo is
$1. Admission to the Tast
ings is $10. Tickets to the
Tastings are available at the
Perquimans Chamber office
on Market Street.
This year’s Expo features
a free spa corner (chair mas
sage, manicures, and glitter
art), heated duck and deer
blinds, live entertainment
and food.
“From retirees to school
students, we have a sched
ule of vendors and par
ticipants that should be
interesting to just about
See EXPO, 2
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The four candidates run
ning for three seats on the
Perquimans County Com
mission seem to agree
that the existing board
has placed the county in a
strong financial position,
but they all agree that some
thing needs to be done to
spur the local economy and
create jobs.
Two incumbents, Tam
my Miller White and Ben
Hobbs, decided not to
seek office. That means the
name of just one incum
bent, Ed Muzzulin, appears
on the ballot. Muzzulin, 70,
has served on the county
LEIGH MUZZULIN NELSON NIXON
INSIDE
■ Candidates Question and
Answer page - 8
board since 2011.
The three other candi
dates include one candidate
who can’t really be called a
newcomer. Wallace Nelson,
61, served on the county
commission in 2000-2004 in
between stints as a member
of the Perquimans County
School Board. He was on
the school board from 1992
until 2000 and then again
from 2006 through 2014.
The other two candi
dates, Fondella Leigh, 48,
and Stanley Nixon, 64, have
not held elected office in
the past.
All four
of the can
didates
were asked
by The Per
quimans Week
ly to respond to questions
about the county board,
the challenges it faces and
how they can tackle them.
Their responses appear in
full in the Oct. 1 issue of the
Weekly.
Nixon, a retired instruc
tor at College of The Albe
marle and pastor of Merry
Hill Baptist Church, said
the county must do more
to offer opportunities to
See CANDIDATES, 8