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HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
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Weekly
ECU planning outreach, 4
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019
75 cents
Governor seeks $14.8 million for park
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Gov. Roy Cooper’s pro
posed state budget would
allocate $14.8 million to the
Perquimans County Marine
Industrial Park.
If the proposal makes its
way through the N.C. House
and Senate and becomes
part of the final budget, it
will be the single largest ap
propriation for the project.
It would provide a serious
jumpstart to a plan that that
has been in the works for 10
years.
“It further shows how se
rious this endeavor is and
that our elected officials
are realizing the promise of
the park,” said Perquimans
County Manager Frank
Heath. “We will be work
ing with our legislators to
ensure that this carries for
ward into the final budget.”
Heath said he knew the
funding was being dis
cussed, but it wasn’t official
until Cooper released his
budget last week.
To date Perquimans has
received a $2.8 million grant
from the N.C. Department
of Commerce plus more re
cently $750,000 from Golden
LEAF.
While significant, the dol
lars fell short of the estimat
ed $7 million cost of the first
phase if the project. The
original estimate for the en
tire project was $20 million,
but Heath said he wouldn’t
know for sure until the win
ning bidder is named.
The project involves
building a 350-foot wide,
2,500-long boat basin from
the Perquimans River inside
a 72-acre piece of land the
county owns near the Per
quimans Recreation Center.
Once fully developed, some
estimates say up to 500 peo
ple could be working in the
park.
Because of limited fund
ing, the county was look
ing to dig only the first 900
feet of the basin. Health said
if the $14.8 million is ap
proved, the county will be
able to do a lot more and get
the projected started this
year.
When complete, marine
related industrials will be
able to build facilities ad
jacent to the basin so they
would have easy access to
get boats in and out of the
water.
Heath was in Raleigh
last week meeting with the
two people who represent
Perquimans County in the
General Assembly, Sen.
Bob Steinburg and Rep. Ed
See PARK, 2
Jackson
to face
charge
March 25
Hertford House
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford Town Council
man Quentin Jackson is
scheduled to appear in Su
perior Court on March 25 |
to face a felony charge of
Jackson
was freed
on $14,000
cash bond
on Mon
day after
spending
11 nights
in Albe- [
marle Dis
trict Jail i
perjury.
JACKSON
for failure to appear in a
Perquimans Superior Court
case.
Jackson was indicted by ।
a Perquimans County grand
jury in late April 2018 for ly
ing in court. The grand jury
found when he was asked
in court if he was on pa
role when he was stopped i
by a Hertford police officer
on Feb. 1, 2018 he told the
court he wasn’t on parole.
Court records show he was.
He had been convicted in
Dare County in 2016 for ac
cessing a computer without
proper authority and was
still on probation for that
conviction at the time of the
traffic stop on Feb. 1.
A Hertford police officer
had pulled over Jackson’s
SUV on Feb. 1 after observ
ing that instead of a license
plate, Jackson’s vehicle bore
a makeshift tag made of a
popcorn box with letters
and numbers written on it.
Besides charging Jackson
with displaying a fictitious
license tag, the officer also
charged him with resisting
a police officer. The officer
did so after the councilman
refused an order to get back
in his vehicle. Jackson also
had a pistol in the car, which
was a violation of his proba- (
tion terms.
When the traffic stop
matter was heard at trial,
District Court Judge Edgar
Barnes ruled there wasn’t
enough evidence to convict |
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Site development is well under way for the Hertford House assisted living facility on Church Street. The 100-
bed project is expected to be complete by early 2020.
Hunter charged with cyberstalking
See JACKSON, 2
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A former candidate for the N.C.
House who was charged with cyber-
stalking last year, has been charged
with the same crime by her land
lord.
Candace Hunter, 46, rents proper
ty in the 100 block of North Church
Street where she has an apartment’
and her office.
She has had an ongoing dispute
with her landlord, Vincent Burgher,
over the conditions of the property.
That played out in claims and coun
ter claims in small claims court.
In the new filing, Burgher claims
Hunter communicated with him
electronically for the purpose of an
noying, harassing and embarrassing
him. He said the texts and e-mails
have been going
on from Sept. 18.
to the present. Bur
gher lives in Eden
ton.
• Hunter was
served with the
criminal summons
on March 6.
HUNTER Hunter ran in
the Republican
primary in State House District 1
and lost in the May 8, 2018 primary.
She was charged with cyberstalking
Garry Meiggs, a member of the Cam
den Board of Commissioners a few
days after the election, court records
show. In late 2018, the District Attor
ney’s office voluntarily dismissed the
charge.
Hunter is a marketing company
owner and a former television an ¬
chor. She lost her bid for the GOP
nomination in the 1st House District
to Ed Goodwin, a former state ferry
director and Chowan County Com
missioner by a margin of 55 percent
to 45 percent.
In an interview with The Daily Ad
vance last year, District Attorney An
drew Womble said the charge in the
dispute between Hunter and Meiggs
was “mainly political” and that his
office asked to have it dismissed af
ter consulting with Meiggs.
“Commissioner Meiggs — to his
credit — realized that a better out
come for the community was to
leave these matters in the political
realm and not inside the walls of
the courtroom,” Womble said. “We
reached what I believe is the right
result for the community — leaving
political things political.”
Man, 44,
killed by
deputy
in Cofield
From Staff, AP Reports
COFIELD — A North
Carolina sheriff says his
chief deputy shot and killed
a Perquimans County man
after he and other law en
forcement officers respond
ed to a report of a person
with a handgun.
Hertford County Sheriff
Dexter Hayes said Monday
that deputies and other
agencies responded Sunday
to a call at a location on N.C.
I Highway 45 South involv
ing “a man combative and
irate.”
Sheriff Hayes says Chief
Deputy William Liverman
killed 44-year-old Philip
Wayne Outland. Liverman is
now on administrative leave
with pay.
Just the day before, the
N.C. Highway Patrol had
I arrested Outland for div
ing under the influence. He
posted bond at 6:09 p.m.
Hayes said both the chief
deputy and the suspect are
white. Liverman is a 20-year
veteran of the sheriff’s of
fice. Outland’s address was
listed as in the 100 block of
Cove Road.
The Hertford sheriff’s of-
i fice says the State Bureau
of Investigation has been
See DEPUTY, 2
Water line to
be upgraded
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County Com-
I missioners have agreed that
’ while DOT is doing work on
Woodville Road the county
will pay part of the cost of
upgrading the water line
I there and add four new fire
hydrants.
The total estimated cost
is $116,530. The money will
come from water depart
ment revenues, not tax dol
lars.
County Water Depart
ment Supervisor Nick Lolies
See WATER, 2
Twenty-six candidates file for Congressional seat
BY GINGER LIVINGSTON
The Daily Reflector
GREENVILLE — The fi
nal number is 26.
In Friday’s furious final
filing frenzy, seven more
people declared their candi
dacy for the special election
to fill the empty 3rd Congres
sional District seat, bringing
the total number of candi
dates to six Democrats, 17
Republicans, two Libertar
ians and one member of the
Constitution Party.
“We asked a bunch of
people at the state board
today, who have been here
a long time if they remem
ber 26 candidates in a con
gressional election and
they said no,” said Patrick
Gannon, public information
officer with the state elec
tions board. He was speak
ing during a Facebook Live
broadcast of a drawing and
coin flip that was held to de
termine the order of candi
dates on the ballots for the
primary, likely second pri
mary and general election.
Gannon said the state
board had not done a lot of
research, that no one had
looked “decades long ago,”
but there hasn’t been such a
large field in recent history.
Four candidates are from
the Greenville area. They
include Republicans Greg
Murphy, a state representa
tive and surgeon, and Gary
Ceres, a librarian technician
at East Carolina University.
The Democrats are Allen
Thomas, Greenville’s former
mayor, and Ernest Reeves, a
retired U.S. Army captain
who ran against Thomas
in 2017 and the late Walter
Jones, who held the 3rd Dis
trict seat, in 2016.
Three of the candidates
are from Currituck County.
Two are Republican mem
bers of the Currituck Board
of Commissioners: Paul
Beaumont of Shawboro and
Michael Payment of Grandy.
The third is Dr. Kevin Patrick
Baiko, a physician specializ
ing in canabinoid medicine
who lives in Moyock.
Three candidates also
live in Kinston. They are Re
publicans Michele Nix, Joan
Perry and Eric Rouse. Three
others live in Jacksonville.
They are Republicans Phil
lip Sheppard and Phil Law
and Democrat Ike Johnson.
Sheppard is a state lawmak
er.
Four candidates are from
New Bern. They are Re
publican Michael Speciale,
Democrat Dana E. Outlaw,
Libertarian Tim Hanis, and
Constitution Party member
Greg Holt. Speciale is a state
See SEAT, 2