The
ERQUIMANS
■ WEEKLY
PCHS celebrates seniors on Senior
Night, pages 5 & 9
"News from Next Door"
NOVEMBER 5, 2014 - NOVEMBER 11, 2014
50 cents
Schools
Halloween Downtown
looking
at ROTC
program
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Schools is considering
bringing a Junior ROTC
program to the high
school.
The school board agreed
last week to continue jo
study the issue. If enough
students want the program
and if the money can be
found to pay for it, it could
be one or two years before
it’s in place.
Perquimans has not had
an on-site junior Reserve
Officer Training Program
program in the past but it
did partner with the Eden
ton-Chowan schools to
send Perquimans County
students that wanted to
participate to Edenton.
But now a vast majority
of students in northeastern
North Carolina do have ac
cess to a JROTC program
and Perquimans officials
want to see if there is inter
est locally.
Perquimans, with 1,772
students, is the largest
county in the northeast
that does not have one.
The others without a pro
gram are Gates County
with 1,652 students, Hyde
with 588 and Tyrrell with
549.
Each branch of the
military offers a JROTC
program, but the Army’s
program is the largest. Of
the 12 high schools that
offer JROTC in the north-
east, eight are aligned with
the Army. Three — North-
eastern, Pasquotank and
Currituck — are Air Force
programs. Camden’s works
with the Coast Guard.
It appears unlikely that
the Perquimans County
program would be associ
ated with the Army. For
now, the Army has put on
hold on any new programs,
said Lt. Col. George Nel
son, the instructor at John
A. Holmes High School.
The Army has 1,731 JROTC
units in 50 states, but has
reached its funding limit.
Nelson said no matter
what branch of the mili
tary that’s involved, the
programs are all similar.
“In the military the truth
changes pretty quickly,
but if it is Air Force, Army
or Navy, they’re all about
the same,” Nelson said
last week. “All of them
focus on citizenship and
Shayon Richards (bottom
photo) dressed as a doctor
to go trick or treating in
downtown Hertford Friday.
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
Dr. Robert Lane (top photo,
right) and Devin Gregory
escort Lane Gregory down
Market Street during
Halloween in Hertford on
Friday.
NCDOT
sets
hearing
date
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The N.C. Department of
Transportation is scheduled
to hold a hearing Nov. 13 on
plans to replace the S-Bridge
in Hertford.
The open house event
will run from 5 p.m. until
7 p.m. at the Perquimans
County Recreation Center.
A presentation will be made
at 5:30 p.m.
In September 2013 DOT
held a hearing in Hertford
and based on previous stud
ies and public reaction, it
selected an option that in
cludes a 33-foot-tall fixed
bridge that would extend off
Church Street. In July, DOT
presented more detailed
plans of what is known as
Alternative D-Mod.
However some Perqui
mans residents told ocal of
ficials and DOT they wanted
to see more detailed plans
for an option known as Al
ternative B. It would involve
a swing-span bridge similar
to the S-Bridge, but would
have 15 feet of clearance for
boats. The S-Bridge has less
than six feet of clearance.
The Nov. 13 meeting will
include updated designs
for both Alternative B and
Alternative D-Mod. The
presentation will include 3-
D renderings showing what
the bridges would look like.
The towns of Hertford
and Winfall requested DOT
hold off on moving forward
on D-Mod last spring until
another meeting could be
held. That was done in July.
DOT has favored Alterna
tive D-Mod in part because
See HEARING, 2
Child service agencies hold mixer in Edenton
From staff reports
See ROIC, 2
The Chowan/Perqui
mans Smart Start Partner
ship held an Albemarle area
agency mixer Oct. 27 to give
representatives of different
agencies that work with
children the opportunity to
get to know each other and
learn more about what the
other agencies do.
There were 74 people
who attended, representing
45 agencies. The
event, held at Leon Nixon
Catering in Edenton, was
sponsored by the Transfor
mation Zone grant and the
East Carolina Behavioral
Health Chowan County
PHOTO COURTESY SARAH WILLIAMS
Representatives from
Albemarle area agencies
participate in “agency
speed dating” during the
Albemarle Area Agency
Mixer on Oct. 27.
Collaborative Committee. be like to know where to
“When I was inviting send a family for help,” said
someone to the event, I Sarah Williams, implemen-
described some of the tation coach for Chowan
goals and tried to get them County’s Transformation
to visualize what it would Zone grant.
The grant is part of the
Race to the Top grant and
was awarded to
Chowan, Bertie, Beau
fort and Hyde counties.
The agencies that partici ¬
pated in planning the event
were
Chowan/Perquimans
Smart Start Partnership,
ECBH, Albemarle Regional
Health Services Triple P,
Our Place and the Albe
marle Pregnancy Resource
Center.
Williams said partici
pants were mainly from
See MIXER, 2
Lack of meeting space holding library back Hundreds turn
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Public libraries may be all
about books and words, but
supporters of a plan to build
a new one in Perquimans
County say it’s the numbers
that show the need for more
-
space.
With 5,900 square feet,
Perquimans is the small
est of the four libraries in
the Pettigrew library sys
tem. The branch in Tyrrell
County has 7,500 square
feet, Washington has 8,900
square feet and Edenton’s
Shepard-Pruden has 12,000
square feet.
The other three libraries
also have something that
Perquimans County lacks
—a place for meetings. That
also shows in the numbers.
In the fiscal year that
ended in June, Perquimans
County had 93 people par
ticipate in meetings at the
library. The Washington li
brary by comparison had 10
times that amount and meet
ing attendance at the Eden
ton library totaled 2,560.
Even Tyrrell County, with a
county population less than
a third of Perquimans, had
1,759 people attend library
programs.
“We have no place to
meet,’ said Anita Bennett,
the librarian in Hertford.
The county has put a new
library on its 10 year capital
improvement program but
so far the $2.5 million to
build it hasn’t been commit
ted.
It’s not just about meet
ings. Libraries in the Petti
grew system still do a brisk
business when it comes to
books. In the fiscal year that
ended in June, Perquimans
circulated 32,000 books. It
See LIBRARY, 2
out early to vote
From staff reports
Perquimans County
Democrats made a strong
showing in early voting
for Tuesday’s general
election.
Through the end of
early voting Saturday, 751
Democrats had cast a bal
lot. That compares to 472
unaffiliated voters and
453 Republicans.
Women outnumbered
men by a margin of 882-
to-795. Whites also out
numbered blacks by a
margin of l,326-to-343.
Election results from
Tuesday were not avail
able due to the Perqui
mans Weekly deadline.
Results will be published
in the Nov. 12 edition.
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