Emergency training, 5
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2018
75 cents
Board praises Ed Muzzuiin
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County Com
missioners bid farewell
Monday to veteran commis
sioner Ed Muzzulin and wel
comed a new member, Alan
Lennon.
After two four-year terms
on the board, Muzzulin de
cided not to seek reelection
this year.
Perquimans County Man
ager Frank Heath and each
of the fellow board mem
bers who served with him
praised Muzzulin for his
contributions.
Kyle Jones also focused in
on all of the outside boards
Muzzulin served on.
“When you look at the list
of committees he’s serving
on, it’s twice the number
of many of us,” Jones said,
admitting he was as guilty
as any. Jones serves on four
boards or committees. Muz
zulin was serving on 12 of
them. Fondella Leigh runs
second by serving on eight.
“The county is better
off for Ed’s service,” Jones
said.
Chairman Wallace Nelson
also alluded to the service
on outside board.
“Most people think you
get elected and that’s that,
but that just scratches the
surface of what commis
sioners do.”
Nelson serves on five
boards or committees, in
cluding the College of The
Albemarle.
Muzzulin thanked the
board and listed some of the
accomplishments that have
happened in the past eight
years. That includes an out
reach effort to make sure
citizens can get agendas of
what the county is doing.
There was also the con
struction of a new public li
brary, the creation of a new
See MUZZULIN, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Outgoing Perquimans County Commissioner Ed
Muzzulin (right) accepts a plaque from Chairman
Wallace Nelson on Monday night.
Holiday Cheer
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Magistrate
rejects
Jackson’s
claims
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Children on Big Wheels ride in the annual Winfall Christmas
Parade.
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus wave to the crowds at the annual
Perquimans County Christmas Parade in Hertford on Saturday.
Submitted photo
Members of the JROTC unit from Northeastern High School,
pose Saturday with World War II veteran Rufus Rouse, the
Grand Marshal of the Winfall Christmas parade.
On Wednesday a magistrate dis
missed charges filed by Hertford Town
Councilman Quentin Jackson against
the Town of Hertford and a town em
ployee.
Pasquotank County
Magistrate Lee Custis
heard the small claims
cases in a Perquimans
County courtroom.
An out of town mag
istrate was brought in
because Jackson is a
local elected official.
Custis only heard
one case, the one
JACKSON
against Judy Bateman, a town employ
ee who handles duties in the N.C. DMV
office in town hall. The office handles
people renewing car titles, getting tags
and transferring vehicles.
Custis dismissed the Bateman case
“without prejudice” — which means
Jackson is free to refile the complaint.
Jackson also has 10 days to decide if
he wants to appeal the case to District
Court.
“I can’t establish that Miss Bateman
See JACKSON, 2
Board denies
Perquimans County High School Volleyball Coach Kristie Thach
rides a float as the Grand Marshal for the 2018 Perquimans
County Christmas Parade.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Santa and his helpers get ready to receive guests inside the
Historic Perquimans courthouse.
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Members of the Student Government Association ride their
pirate ship in the annual Perquimans County Christmas
Parade in Hertford.
town request
on gym use
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County Commis
sion gave a “respectful” answer of “no”
to Hertford officials who wanted to be
able to allow Hertford town employees
use the gym at the Perquimans County
Senior Center during off hours.
Hertford Councilman Quentin Jack-
son had made the suggested at the pre
vious town board meeting. He viewed
it as an incentive for town employees.
Jackson pointed out county govern
ment workers are allowed to use the
See GYM, 2
Veteran Chowan Herald journalist Rebecca Bunch dies at age 64
BY MILES LAYTON
Chowan Herald
EDENTON — Longtime
Chowan Herald journalist
Rebecca Bunch is being re
membered not only for her
four decades of newspaper
work but also for her tire
less advocacy of the com
munity she called home.
Bunch died Sunday at Vi-
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dant Medi
cal Center
in Green
ville. She
was 64.
Mike
Goodman,
publisher
of The
Daily Ad
vance, the
BUNCH
Chowan Herald and The
Perquimans Weekly, said
Monday he mourns the loss
of a valued colleague.
“I am saddened person
ally by Rebecca’s passing
and will miss her kind, car
ing nature,” he said. “The
community where she lived
and worked, and which she
loved, also will miss her
dearly, I’m sure.”
Many of those who knew
and worked with Bunch in
Edenton for decades are
also mourning her death.
Town Manager Anne-
Marie Knighton said she
considered Bunch more
than a newspaper reporter;
she also thought of her as a
friend.
“I am heartbroken over
the loss of Rebecca Bunch,”
she said. “Edenton has lost
a special journalist who was
the eyes and ears of our
community for decades. She
told Edenton’s story week
after week and she strived
to write the complete story.
And citizens trusted her to
write the important news
stories of the week.”
Knighton praised Bunch’s
skill at capturing the human
element of a story.
“She had this incredible
skill of being able to capture
the human side of news sto
ries,” Knighton. “One of the
last articles Becky wrote,
about the 15-year anniver
sary of Hurricane Isabel,
was an example of her out
standing ability to weave
individual people’s recol
lections into an interesting
narrative.”
Bunch, a Burlington na
tive who graduated from
John A. Holmes High School
in 1973, didn’t start out her
newspaper career as a writ
er and reporter. When she
was first hired at the Chow
an Herald by then-Publisher
Bud Amburn in 1978, Bunch
initially sold advertising and
worked in production of the
newspaper.
Amburn, who left the
newspaper in 1985, said
he hired Bunch because
she “showed a compel
ling desire to work, doing
anything.” Amburn said he
was “shocked” to learn of
Bunch’s death, saying he
considered her family.
Pete Manning, who was
working as the Chowan Her
ald’s general manager when
Bunch arrived, recalled how
she was working in the ad
vertising department when
she decided she wanted to
be a writer for the paper.
“She constantly inquired
and observed experienced
writers and editors at the
Herald, learning everything
See BUNCH, 2