P The
ERQUIMANS
MWeekly
’'News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
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Schools fill vacant school positions
Jones to lead Central School
Assistant principals hired at PCHS
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Bonita Jones knew she wanted to
work with children and she found a
, way to make that happen.
Now she’ll have tire opportunity to
mold an entire school.
Last week Jones was named princi
pal at Perquimans Central School.
Her road started when she graduat
ed Northeastern High School in 1985.
She was accepted to Fisk University in
JONES
Nashville where she
attended two years.
“To be honest I al
ways knew I would be
doing something with
children,” she said
last week. “I was ac
cepted to Fisk and my
intent was to do child
psychology, but it’s a
private school and very expensive.”
See JONES, 2
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The management team
at Perquimans County High
School is back up to full
strength.
Two resignations and one
reassignment left the principal
and two assistant positions
vacant in August.
Chante Jordan, the former
principal, resigned to take a
JACKSON-HEARD PERRY
position in Gates County. Guy
Webb, an assistant principal,
resigned to take a position at a
charter school near Charlotte.
Laura Moreland was assigned
to the assistant principal’s role
at Perquimans County Middle
School.
The first vacancy was filled
by moving Melissa Fields from
Perquimans Central School to
the high school as principal.
Last week the assistant
principal positions were filled
See ASSISTANTS, 6
Chowan Credit Union holds Grand Opening
wind rules
tighten
somewhat
BY REGGIE PONDER
Chowan Herald
The Chowan County
Planning Board last week
recommended a text
amendment to the county’s
wind energy ordinance that
imposes stricter regulations
but does not include the
one-mile setback and other
specifics from the board’s
April proposal.
Both Chowan and Perqui
mans counties are included
in a proposed wind power
project.
Kevin Chandler of Apex
Clean Energy Inc., the com
pany planning the Timber-
mill Wind Energy project
said the company continues
to look forward to working
with local officials and the
community as the process
moves forward.
“We haven’t yet evaluated
the full recommendation,
but we do look forward to
working with the commu
nity throughout the next
steps in the process,” Chan
dler said when asked about
the planning board’s recom
mended text amendment.
The company’s website
says that Apex is “explor
ing the feasibility” of the
project. No formal building
See WIND RULES, 7
Algae blooms prompt warnings from state
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
State officials continue
to urge people to avoid con
tact with potentially harm
ful algae blooms that have
formed in the Albemarle
Sound due to hot weather.
Staff in the N.C. Divi
sion of Water Resources’
Washington Regional office
have tracked and evalu
ated the blooms as they
PHOTO BY CHUCK
PAGELS
Visitors tour the new State Employees Credit Union office in Hertford last month.
have been reported by resi
dents. North Carolina has
had no reports of adverse
health effects in people
associated with these al
gae blooms, which have
formed in recent months
covering coves, open water
and along shorelines in the
Albemarle Sound.
The agency first issued a
warning on July 23. Division
staff received complaints of
algae blooms described as
being like “smelly, green
pea soup” through the Albe
marle Sound and Chowan
River areas near Queen
Anne’s Creek.
While it is safe to boat or
fish in the affected areas,
the N.C. Division of Public
Health routinely encour
ages the public to avoid
contact with large accumu
lations of the algae and pre
vent children and pets from
swimming or ingesting wa ¬
ter in an algae bloom.
Susan Massengale, a
spokesman for the N.C. Di
vision of Water Resources,
urged people to be careful
around algae.
“It’s a plant and it’s going
to grow under the right con
ditions,” Massengale said.
Algae itself is not a bad
thing, she said.
“It’s an important thing
to support fish and other
aquatic life. It’s not like al
Bill Ross, an
advisory board
member for the
State Employees
Credit Union,
cuts the ribbon
opening the new
office in Hertford
on Aug. 26.
gae is inheritably bad,” she
said.
Massengale swims of
ten, in swimming pools and
lakes and rivers. She just
urges common sense. Don’t
swim or come into contact
with water unless you’re
healthy.
State health and water
quality officials reiterate
the following steps to safe-
See BLOOMS, 2
Agency
to look
at bridge
plans
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A federal advisory coun
cil wants a role in discus
sions about building a new
bridge in Hertford.
The N.C. Department of
Transportation wants to
replace the S-Bridge with
a fixed span that is 33-feet
high.
The Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation was
created with the National
Historic Preservation Act
(NHPA) of 1966. Section 106
of the NHPA requires fed
eral agencies to identity and
assess the effects of their ac
tions on historic resources.
The advisory council
“hopefully will expedite
the (106) process instead of
slowing it down,” said Bruce
Milhans, a spokesman for
the council. ,
The council got involved
when the U.S. Coast Guard
— the lead federal agency
on the project — issued a
finding that DOT’s plans will
have a negative effect. North
Carolina’s State Historic
Preservation Office asked
the council to intervene.
The findings of negative
impact were anything but
new. The N.C. DOT has
long acknowledged any
thing it does will have a neg
ative impact on the historic
district because anything it
does will involve removing
the historic bridge. The S-
Bridge was built in 1928.
The question remains
how to mediate that impact.
Last week Jay McIn
nis, the lead DOT engineer
on the project, was a little
unsure just what happens
next.
“This is where it’s a little
fuzzy to me,” McInnis said.
“I’ve never had a project
where the advisory coun
cil got involved. I’ve had
See BRIDGE, 2
16th annual Hunter ALS walk to take place Sept. 26
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The 16th annual Jim “Cat-
fish” Hunter ALS Walk on
Sept. 26 is expected to again
draw hundreds to Hertford
for the day to join together
to fight the disease.
For Helen Hunter, the
campaign never ends.
The widow of the M;yor
League Baseball pitcher
visits an ALS support group
in Edenton each month and
sends letters seeking dona
tions to people far away
from Hertford to raise mon
ey to fight the progressive
neurodegenerative disease.
Last year the walk and the
letter writing campaign
raised $28,000 to help pro ¬
vide help to people in the re
gion who are suffering from
ALS.
“The support group meets
on the first Monday of each
month and we go and meet
together. They’ll say if they
need help, and we’ve been
able to provide them wheel-
chairs, and remodel a bath-
room or provide a wheel-
chair ramp. Some need
different things.”
See ALS WALK, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The U.S. 17-
Bypass bridge
was renamed last
week in honor
of the late Jim
‘Catfish’ Hunter.
34th Anniversary
Indian Summer, Eiestiv.all s Higtnrito Hei^fjordi
Crafts, food, entertainment, Beer Garden & More Sept. 11th, 6 to 10:00 p.m.
Free Street Dance Friday Night-The Main Event Sept. 12th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.