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1 HERTFORD NC 27944-1306
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"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2017
50 cents
Work continues on library
■ Crews are working
inside and finishing up
some of the exterior trim
on the outside.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Construction on the new
Perquimans County Library
is proceeding, but it will be
a while before it opens to
the public according to Per
quimans County Manager
Frank Heath.
When county commis
sioners approved the $2.5
million contract, the project
was supposed to be com
plete by around the first of
September. The contractor,
Aarene Contracting, LLC,
was given credit for some
weather delays including a
hurricane in September.
“It seems we’re a little
behind at this point, but I
still feel pretty good about
where we are,” Heath said.
He said crews are work
ing inside and finishing up
some of the exterior trim on
the outside.
“They’re pouring the side-
walks right now,” he said
Wednesday. “They’ve done
the tile in the entrance way
and the drywall is in and
ready to prime and then
paint. The windows are
doors are coming next.”
But just because the
building is complete doesn’t
mean it will be ready to open
to the public, Heath said.
“We will still have a ways
to go,” he said.
He said once the contrac-
’ See LIBRARY, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Top, work
continues inside
the main area
of the new
Perquimans
County Library.
Right, crews
work on the
concrete
sidewalk
at the new
Perquimans
County Library
on Church
Street last
week.
Book donations help expand collection
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
What’s a library without books?
With the completion of the
new Perquimans County Library,
Librarian Michele Lawrence will
have more space to house a wider
selection.
She just doesn’t want the dona
tions quite yet.
“Since it shouldn’t be long until
we move, we are asking people
“Since it shouldn't be long until we move, we are asking
people with books to donate to please hold on to them
until after the move. ”
Michele Lawence
Librarian
with books to donate to please
hold on to them until after the
move,” she said last week. “We re ¬
ally have no space to store them
in this building. We haven’t even
been able to do much packing yet
for the same reason. The less we
need to move, the better.”
Lawrence would love to see is
a return to the days when people
would donate a new book in hon
or of or in memory of somebody
or some group. She said she’d still
get that from time to time, but not
as often as in times past.
“We just got one this past
month,” she said. “Sadly, usually
See BOOKS, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford Mayor Pro Tern Lillian Holman (left)
and Mayor Horace Reid listen to N.C. Insurance
Commissioner and State Fire Marshal Mike Causey
during his visit to the Hertford Fire Department.
Fire Marshal tours region
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Insurance Commissioner and State
Fire Marshal Mike Causey met informal
ly with local officials Wednesday at the
Hertford Fire Department.
Causey made no formal speech, but
instead walked around and spoke with
individuals from the six volunteer de
partments in the county.
Causey seemed pleased that Perqui
mans County High School has a Fire
Academy that trains students how to
be a certified fire fighter. He said in his
travels across the state, the lack of vol ¬
unteers at small local fire departments is
a problem.
“That’s what we need,” Causey said
about the high school program. “A lot of
high schools don’t have that.”
Michael Cartwright, who teachers the
high school program, estimates he’s had
about 25 students graduate from high
program, nine of them just this year.
The program has been running for four
years.
He said about 75 percent of those
grads have gone on to join local volun
teer fire departments.
See MARSHAL, 2
Grant aims
to help
workers,
employers
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Albemarle Commis
sion and two other work
force agencies will share in
a $250,000 grant designed to
help people find jobs and help
businesses find workers.
In all, the grant is aimed
at a 17-county area of north-
eastern North Carolina. The
Hertford-based Albemarle
Commission, which covers 10
counties.
Emily Nicholson of the Al
bemarle Commission’s North-
east Workforce Development
Board said the grant will al
low the hiring of three mobile
career advisors. The advisors
will be able to help those
seeking jobs and employers
with the resources available
through the NWDB and the
NC Works career centers.
“They’ll be on the road, go
ing to wherever a job seeker
might be as well as helping
employers,” Nicholson said.
The grant runs through
December 2018 and comes
from the NC Division of Work
force Solutions, a department
within the Commerce Depart
ment.
Also sharing in the grant is
the Region Q Workforce In
vestment Consortium, a pub-
lic-private partnership based
in Washington and the Turn
ing Point Workforce Develop
ment Board based in Rocky
Mount.
Region Q, administers a
five county system of work
force development programs
in Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford,
Martin and Pitt counties.
Turning Point covers area
around I-95.
Nicolson said in a way, the
new grant dove-tails with one
the Pettigrew Regional Library
system received. That $32,000
grant will be used to help train
the staff at all four libraries in
the system how to use the NC
Works system.
The concepts revolve
around one theme, which is
to access job seekers and em
ployers by building traditional
and electronic outreach meth
ods, leveraging the relation
ships with partner agencies
and erasing barriers that dis
parage the most needful indi
viduals of the workforce.
This “A.B.L.E.” theme fo
cuses on enhancing the abili
ties of career centers across
the most rural regions of NC
so that job-seekers and em
ployers are more aware of the
resources available to them
through NWDB.
“We’re very excited about
expanding the outreach of our
career centers,” she said. Ap
plications are being accepted
for three Mobile Career Advi
sor positions. For more infor
mation, contact Nicholson at
NWDB at 426-5753, Ext. 233
or by e-mailing enicholson@
accog.org.
Baugher joins extension service staff
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Nettie Baugher grew up
around horticulture, so it
may just be natural that
when she graduated college
she decided to be an exten
sion agent.
Baugher, 22, joined the
N.C. State Extension Ser
vice on July 3, and will serve
BAUGHER
as the com-
mercial
horticul
ture agent
for Per
quimans,
Gates and
Chowan
counties.
She will be
based at
89076
47144
2
the Gates County office.
She is originally from
south central Pennsylvania.
“I grew up and worked
on my family’s tree fruit
farm and nursery. There is
a fruit research center in
my hometown as well, and
that’s why I started looking
at extension. I knew N.C.
State has a very good exten
sion program.”
She graduated Pennsyl
vania State University and
studied plant science.
“It allowed me to partici
pate in internships with the
Penn State Research and
Extension Center’s entomol
ogy department, the Penn
State — Engaging and Phil
adelphia Extension Center,
and Monsanto’s corn breed-
See BAUGHER, 2
Habitat House
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Hertford Mayor
Horace Reid presents
two energy efficiency
kits including LED
light bulbs to Mike
Lyens, a new Habitat
for Humanity partner
in Hertford. Lyens and
his wife Rebecca will
be moving into the
home at 608 Dobbs
St. The dedication of
a new house will be
held Aug. 16 at 10:30
a.m.