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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
75 cents
Judge finds Jackson guilty of resisting
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A judge found Hertford
Town Councilman Quentin
Jackson guilty of resisting
a public officer on Wednes
day. He was ordered to
spend 10 days in jail but the
sentence was put on hold
because Jackson is appeal
ing the case.
Jackson was pulled over
on Feb. 1 by a Hertford Po
lice Detective A.J. Awad for
having a
fictitious
tag on his
SUV. Dur
ing the
process,
Jackson
got out
of his ve
hicle and
walked
JACKSON
towards the Awad and was
yelling at him, Awad said.
When Jackson wouldn’t get
back in his car after being
told to at least five times,
Awad charged the first-term
councilman with resisting
a public officer, Awad testi
fied.
District Court Judge Ed
gar Barnes found there was
probable cause to pull the
vehicle with a cardboard
popcorn box as a license
tag. However Barnes said
the particular law cited by
police did not match the
fictitious tag charge the DA
used.
Jackson, dressed in a tan
suit, defended himself. For
his part, he argued the sto
ries the two officers did not
match up. He also argued
that Det. Awad did not fol
low proper procedure.
Assistant District Attor
neys Zach Beasley and Jef
frey Moreland represented
the prosecution.
Jackson maintained that
the testimony of Awad
and Sgt. Kenneth Lynch
who came to assist, didn’t
match.
Jackson said the arrest
was part of a plan to derail
his political career. Jackson
has said he may run for N.C.
House.
But Barnes found there
was evidence to support the
one charge.
“You’ve got a lot of is
sues,” Judge Barnes said
before entering the guilty
verdict.
At that point Assistant
District Attorney Zach Bea-
TO
sley was totaling up the
number of points Jackson
has against him in the court
system.
Jackson present his case
that some of those charges
on his record from Dare
County may not be valid
and should not be included
in sentencing.
That Feb. 1 traffic stop
wasn’t the first time Jackson
has been arrested. Accord-
See JACKSON, 2
Trooper
to seek
sheriffs
position
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A veteran N.C. Highway
Patrolman planned to file
Tuesday for the race for Per
quimans County Sheriff.
Jim
Bray, 50,
is retiring
from the
highway
patrol as a
sergeant.
He’s a Per
quimans
DAILY ADVANCE PHOTO
Top, the Lady
Pirates celebrate
after winning the
AAC tournament
final at
Perquimans High
School on Friday.
BRAY County
resident,
but was born in Chowan
County. Bray is a Republi
can.
The filing period runs
through Feb. 28 at noon.
With Bray’s introduction
in the race, Sheriff Shelby
White will face a challenger.
White was appointed to the
post in 2017 and is running
for the first time. White is a
Democrat.
Bray said political par
ties shouldn’t matter in the
sheriff’s race, but said if he
won, he’d be Perquimans
County’s first Republican
sheriff.
“I know I have an uphill
battle,” he said.
Bray served four years
in the Marine Corps before
becoming a trooper 26 years
ago. About four years ago he
was promoted to sergeant
and transferred to the Dare
County beat which also in
cludes Currituck County.
Bray’s official retirement
date is May 1, but he’s accu
mulated enough leave time
he’s only working one day a
week until then.
“I’m running because I
want to make Perquimans
a better place to live for citi
zens,” Bray said Monday. “I
feel like tlie county needs
stronger leadership, espe
cially in addressing things
like drugs. Drugs are the
underlying cause of almost
everything. I think people
are tried of the good old boy
system.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Right, he
Perquimans
County High
School girl’s
basketball team
jokes around
while Coach Aaron
Burke holds up the
conference trophy
Friday night.
See TROOPER, 2
Girls win conference title
BY CRAIG MOYER
The Daily Advance
The Perquimans girl’s basket-
ball team pulled away in the sec
ond half on their way to a 5845
win in the Albemarle Athletic
Conference championship game
Friday night in Hertford.
The conference tournament ti
tle was a first for the Lady Pirates
since 2002.
Perquimans head coach Aaron
Burke said the tournament cham
pionship is a boost for the current
team and future players at the
school.
“It’s very big, big for the girls, it’s
big for the program,” Burke said.
Perquimans (13-11) jumped out
"It's very big, big for
the girls, it's big for the
program.".
Aaron Burke
Perquimans head coach
to a 6-0 lead less than two minutes
into the game on a pair of three
pointers from McCrae Knapp and
McKayle Knapp.
Gates fought back to take a 13-
12 lead at the end of the first quar
ter, but the Lady Red Barons were
unable to hold the lead for long.
Perquimans came out strong
in the second quarter, taking a 28-
22 lead with just under two and a
half minutes left to play in the first
half.
A Gates 6-0 run in the final min
ute cut into the deficit, as the Lady
Pirates led 31-28 at the half.
Burke said he continuously
stresses the importance of com
ing out strong in the second half
of games.
“I preach to my girls all the time
that the third quarter is the most
important quarter,” Burke said.
The team clearly heeded their
coach’s lesson Friday, as they
quickly shut down any momen
tum the Lady Red Barons had
gained before the half.
See TITLE, 4
Human
remains
identified
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Human remains found along
the shore in New Hope in January
belonged to a 57-year-old Wayne
County man who went missing in
July 2016.
Perquimans County Sheriff
Shelby White confirmed the medi
cal examiner in Greenville made
the identification last week.
John Poandl was last seen alive
when he and another man went
swimming from their pontoon
boat but were unable to return to
it after it drifted away. The other
man was rescued by the N.C. Wild
life Service.
The skull was found near Webb
Street in New Hope, about 13 miles
from where Poandl was last seen.
N.C. Wildlife Service Master Of
ficer John Beardsley said he noti
fied the family of the victim on
Thursday.
“They were very thankful for
all the work that was done to find
him,” Beardsley said.
The intensive search for Poandl
involved helicopter crews from
Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City
and vessels from the U.S. Coast
Guard, N.C. Marine Fisheries,
Harvey Point Defense Testing Ac
tivity, Gates County Emergency
Management, Hertford County
Emergency Management and
Perquimans County Water Res
cue. Private boaters also helped
out.
Perquimans County Emergency
Management set up a base of op
erations on Holiday Island.
Beardsley said it’s not unusual
that a body is found miles from
where it was last seen.
“Tides and the wind play a big
deal and it was real windy that
day.”
He said there were two women
on pontoon boat at the time. When
they saw it was drifting away from
the men, one of them started the
motor but a rope wrapped around
the prop and caused the engine to
die.
While the medical examiner
was able to wrap up the investiga
tion on Poandl, Beardsley is still
trying to find out what happened
to another boater who was lost in
November 2014.
Some duck hunters found a ca
noe upside down just outside Big
Flatty Creek in Pasquotank Coun
ty. It apparently belonged to Dick
Conant, a New York resident
State program to offer $12 million
Joyner named as new engineer
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County of
ficials are hopeful they can
tap a new $12 million state
program designed to get in
dustrial sites in rural coun ¬
ties ready to attract new
jobs.
Gov. Roy Cooper an
nounced the Rural Ready
Sites program this month.
Perquimans County
Manager Frank Heath said
the county would be apply
ing for a share of the funds.
He the money could be
used to help build the first
phase of the Perquimans
Marine Industrial Park. If
that didn’t qualify, he said
he would seek funds for
site work at the 100-acre
industrial park across Har
vey Point Road.
“We’ll have something to
submit, regardless,” Heath
said.
The criteria for the Rural
Ready program seem to fit
Perquimans perfectly.
In order to qualify for the
program, applicants must
have a well-developed strat
egy to market the site to
See PROGRAM, 3
*
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The new district engineer for the two-
county Soil and Water Conservation Dis
trict didn’t grow up on a farm.
Caitlin Joyner admits her family also
didn’t have a farming background, but in
Bedford County, Va, she grew up with
farms all around her and in high school
she was a member of Future Farmers of
America.
“That sparked my interest.”
When it came time for college, she went
to Virginia Tech University.
In her second year,
she was a state officer
for FFA from Virginia
and got more interested
in crop and soil science.
She earned a degree in
that and graduated from
Tech last spring and
moved to Edenton in
JOYNER September.
Joyner replaces Scott
Alons who served as district engineer for
the area for 28 years. His retirement was
See JOYNER, 2