"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, Mm^H 27, 2019
75 cents
Town Council calls for probe
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Hertford Town Coun
cil claims between 18 to 25
police department weapons
were are missing or were
improperly sold and called
the N.C. Attorney’s Gener
al’s office to investigate.
In a press conference
Friday, Hertford Mayor Pro
Tern Quentin Jackson said
the State Bureau of Inves
tigation has already con
ducted an investigation and
turned it over to the office
of District Attorney Andrew
Womble but nothing ever
happened.
“The DA has already
proven he doesn’t care to
prosecute,” Jackson said.
“We have no trust in DA An
drew Womble.”
Jackson said some of the
guns were ordered but not
needed, or were defective
but not returned to the man
ufacturer for repairs.
“People put a price on
something and then sold
it to themselves,” Jackson
said. “A lot of this has been
swept under the rug.”
Jackson said he spoke
at the press conference be
cause Mayor Horace Reid,
Councilman Sid Eley and
Town Manager Pamela
Hurdle have all been re
cused from taking part in
the investigation. Jackson
said that is not because
they have been accused of
anything. Mayor Reid was
sitting on the front row dur
ing the press conference but
did not say anything.
Jackson said Chief Den
nis Brown is the point per
son for all contact on the
matter and as Mayor Pro
Tem, Jackson will head the
administration of the inves
tigation.
Without naming names,
he said some of those
See PROBE, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford Mayor Pro Tem Quentin Jackson speaks at a
press conference Friday.
Firefighters battle cotton seed fire
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Some 40 firefighters along
with EMS and Perquimans
Emergency Management
spent more than nine hours
last week at a fire inside a
building used to store cot
ton seed in Winfall.
The blaze at the Ward
and Nixon Cotton Gin was
reported at 1:15 p.m. on
March 19. Firefighters from
Winfall, Hertford, Bethel,
Belvidere and Inter-County
responded to the blaze.
The fire was inside a
metal build that was 300
feet long, 100 feet wide and
40 feet tall. The seed was
piled up nearly to the ceil
ing of the structure in some
places.
The fire apparently was
started by a small bulldozer
used to carry seed.
“Nobody was hurt and
everybody was able to go
home that night, and that’s
what is important,” said
Winfall Fire Chief Thomas
Roach.
After cotton is ginned
to remove the cotton fiber,
some of the fiber still clings
to the seed. It’s the fiber that
burns, Roach said.
“It’s not a conventional
fire. You have to think out
side the box. You may not
see much, because it’s going
to smolder and smoke.”
The Hertford Fire De
partment ladder truck was
used to allow firefighters
to spray water down on the
fire through holes that were
burned through the roof.
Roach said that was limited
use because the roof was
too unstable to support fire-
See FIRE, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Top, irefighters
use the Hertford
Fire Department
ladder truck to
try and shoot
water down
inside a fire in a
storage building
used to house
cotton seed on
Tuesday. Right,
Tyler Colson
bends down so
Tony McLawhorn
can replace his
air tank Tuesday
at a fire at a
cotton gin in
Winfall. Both are
with the Winfall
Fire Department.
Billing error
may be costly
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A billing error means Perquimans
Comity may be on the hook for $118,000
in landfill fees.
The county has an agreement with
Chowan and Gates counties for waste
disposal. Perquimans operates a central
transfer station on Perry’s Bridge Road,
but the waste is ultimately taken to a land-
fill in Bertie County.
The error occurred over a nine-month
period between November 2017 and July
2018. The billing mistake meant Perqui
mans was charged too little and Chowan
and Gates counties were charged too
much. Chowan may have been over
charged $51,900 and Gates $66,170 and
Perquimans will be asked to reimburse
them.
“This is a punch in the gut,” said Perqui
mans Comity Manager Frank Heath. “PCG
See BILLING, 2
Jackson case
is postponed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The felony case against Hertford Mayor
Pro Tem Quentin Jackson has been post
poned until May at the request of his at
torney.
A Perquimans County Grand Jury
found cause to charge Jackson with per
jury in April 2018 for statements he made
in court. Jackson was in court for a num
ber of things, but one was failing to obey a
police officer.
Jackson was asked if he was on proba
tion at the time of the Feb. 1, 2018 traffic
See JACKSON, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Rotary Club of Hertford was awarded NC Main Street Champion for Hertford at
the NC Main Street Conference in Salisbury on Thursday.
Rotary wins state award
From Staff Reports
The Rotary Club of Hert
ford was awarded NC Main
Street Champion for Hert
ford at the NC Main Street
Conference in Salsibury on
March 14. They were hon
ored for the support of all
activities in Hertford.
Most recently, Rotary
partnered with Historic
Hertford Inc to put on the
first ever “Dine, Drink &
Dance” event on the Hert
ford waterfront. They have
also been very active in the
annual car show sponsored
by HHI, and “Toast the
Perquimans”, another HHI
event.
Hertford Rotary actively
promotes the community
by providing scholarships to
college students, provides
books to the elementary
schools, and sponsoring a
leadership program in the
high school. They also spon
sor essay contests for local
students, as well as a speech
competition, actively men
toring participants.
Alexander wins big
at NC Press Awards
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Advertising representa
tive Bev Alexander won
multiple N.C. Press Asso
ciation awards last week for
the three newspapers she
represents.
“The number of awards
she won
speaks to
the quality
and effort
that Bev
brings to
her job.
She has al
ways been
a high-per ¬
ALEXANDER
89076 47144
forming,
caring sales representative,”
said Mike Goodman, the
SUBMITTED PHOTO
One of the panels in the historic Albemarle series
talks about how the precincts were formed.
publisher of the The Daily
6
2
See AWARDS, 2
History exhibit
to be displayed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A traveling exhibit on the
Albemarle region 350 years
ago will be on display at
the Newbold-White House
Visitor’s Center starting on
Saturday.
The exhibit was cre
ated by a 350th Anniver
sary Committee to mark the
event. It has been traveling
around the region and will
be in Perquimans County
through June 30.
By 1670, four precincts
of Albemarle County had
been formed: Shaftesbury,
Currituck, Pasquotank, and
Berkeley. In 1681, Berkeley
was renamed Perquimans,
and by 1685 Shaftesbury be
came Chowan.
The location of the ex
hibit in the visitor’s center
place it near where some of
the early history of the re
gion was written. The New
bold-White House dates to
See EXHIBIT, 2