P , THE
ERQ
ssS""“
^EEKLY
Pets of the Week, 5
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2019
75 cents
Jackson demands Eley return money to town
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford Mayor Pro Tem Quen
tin Jackson called on Councilman
Sid Eley on Monday to return
money he got from the town as a
volunteer firefighter or risk a law-
suit.
That comes a week after Jack-
son called for Eley to be kicked
off the Hertford Fire Department
for undermining the council and
ELEY
being unfit. Eley
has served on the
fire department
for 49 years and
is 72-years-old.
Jackson said
town rules say
board members
cannot take any
money from the
town outside
their town board salary.
Firefighters don’t get a salary
but they are paid each time they
respond to a fire. They also get
money for a pension fund.
Jackson said Eley owes $4,600
he was paid for responding to fires
plus $1,500 that went to his pen
sion account.
If he doesn’t pay, Jackson said
the town should get an outside
attorney to sue Eley in court and
demand damages.
It is unclear if the dollar figures
Jackson cited were only for Eley’s
current term in office. There was
a period where Eley, a Mayor for
14 years, did not serve on the town
board after he was defeated by
current Mayor Horace Reid. Eley’s
council term expires in Decem
ber.
At least one other town fire-
fighter has served on both the fire
department and the town board,
Ed Lane. Lane was defeated in
the same election that brought
Jackson and Frank Norman into
power.
As for kicking Eley off the fire
department, Town Attorney John
Leidy said the fire department is
a separate organization from the
town. The town simply provides
equipment, like trucks, and pays
the firefighters a small amount
based on calls plus the pension.
Jackson has pending charges
for punching Eley in the head
See JACKSON, 2
Board
delays
electric
increase
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Hertford Town Coun
cil voted last week to ab
sorb the cost of a wholesale
electric rate increase for a
month because they hadn’t
alerted customers it was
coming.
The 1.1 percent increase
amounts to $5,500 a month
for the town. For residential
customers with a $500 bill,
the increase will amount to
an extra $6.
On March 18, the town
council agreed to pass along
the cost, but it did not set
an effective date for the in
crease. That’s why the issue
came up April 8.
When asked what they
wanted to do, Councilwom
an Gracie Felton said “I say
next month.”
Councilman Frank Nor
man said “I say we eat the
first month.”
Norman did want some
thing in the next town bill
to let customers know the
town was absorbing the
cost of the first month and
an increase was coming. In
the past, the town has print
ed flyers that insert in town
utility bills on issues like a
survey of when the council
should meet.
Mayor Pro-Tem Quentin
Jackson asked if the mes
sage could just be printed
on the bill itself, and not be a
separate sheet. He was told
it could, but it could only be
See ELECTRIC, 2
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
JoAnne Jones holds one of the dresses in her store Monday. The shop on Church Street survived a fire
that gutted the building above it. Below, Tarps cover some of the items inside White’s Dress Shoppe.
Store owner credits miracle
From Staff Reports
A Chowan County truck
driver has died from inju
ries he suffered April 8 after
his tractor-trailer collided
on U.S. Highway 17 with
an SUV whose driver had
| stopped for a turtle in the
roadway.
Arthur
Ray Turner,
68, of Mex
ico Road,
Edenton,
died at Sen-
tara Norfolk
General
Hospital on
Tuesday,
hours after
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An iconic dress store in
downtown Hertford sur
vived a fire on April 6 that
ruined offices above it and
another building beside it.
JoAnne Jones, the owner
of White’s Dress Shoppe,
credited God for providing
a “bubble” of protection for
the business as well as fire-
fighters and her loyal cus
tomers who came to help in
any way they could.
Some had feared the
clothing might have suffered
smoke damage, but Jones
said it was spared. The busi
ness was back open for busi
ness two days later on that
Monday.
The fire was detected
about 2 a.m. and Jones said
Trucker
killed
in crash
TURNER
she got the message about 3
a.m.
“That’s a call you never
want to get.”
“Literally community
friends and family came and
we just had people show
ing up. I can’t say enough
about the firemen. They had
us unlock the doors, they
had broken down one next
door, and the young men
said ‘Miss JoAnne, what do
you want to do?’ Water was
literally running down the
walls.”
Clothes and cases were
moved to the center of the
room, away from the walls,
and the firemen said they
would bring tarps to cover
them.
“When they said ‘tarps’ I
See STORE, 2
the wreck that happened 4
I 1/2 miles north of Edenton,
near the Chowan-Perqui
mans county line, according
to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Turner was driving an
18-wheeler north on U.S.
Highway 17 about 1:28 p.m.
when it collided with a 2013
Nissan SUV driven by Patri
cia Ann Signor, the patrol
said. According to the pa
trol, Signor, 69, of Hertford,
had stopped her vehicle to
allow a turtle to cross the
road. Turner was unable to
stop his truck in time and it
hit the rear of her SUV, the
patrol spokesman said. The
area is near a curve where
traffic goes from 55 mph to
70 mph.
The SUV came to rest in
the median, while the trac
tor-trailer ran off the road to
See TRUCKER, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans County native and cancer survivor Preston
Felton talks April 8 in Edenton during the Relay for
Life of Chowan/Perquimans counties survivor and
caregivers dinner.
Veteran talks about cancer battle
BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON
The Chowan Herald
A Perquimans County native and
Air Force veteran talked about the
care he received while battling cancer
during a recent event at Leon Nixon’s
Catering.
Preston Felton, a 34-year cancer
survivor, spoke April 8 during the Re
lay for Life of Chowan/Perquimans
Counties Survivor and Caregivers Din
ner.
Before his cancer diagnosis, Felton
worked out every day and was a mar
tial artist'.
“I thought I was super,” he said.
“Then my wife said, ‘Wait. Maybe we
need to take these numbers serious
ly.’”
He said the diagnosis was humbling
and a lesson of faith.
“God is a giver,” he said. “If we have
faith, He has the power.”
During his treatments in Greenville,
he and his wife, Rosa Felton, stayed
at the Hope House, a program of the
American Cancer Society. It allows
cancer patients and their caregivers to
stay in a home-like environment while
patients undergo treatment. It is run
totally by donations.
The Hope House staff was amaz
ing and so friendly, he said, noting
the place was like a home away from
home.
“It was more than just a roof over
our heads,” Felton said. “It’s a commu
nity that helps patients.”
He believes that love, especially
the love he received at Hope House,
helped in his healing. He recalled one
night when a group of people visiting
Hope House gathered in a patient’s
room where a man was playing mu
sic.
See VETERAN, 2
AEMC awarded $15 million loan for upgrades
EASTER Lambs
From Staff Reports
Albemarle Electric Mem
bership Corp, has been
awarded a $15 million fed
eral loan to build two new
substations, including one
in Bethel, and make other
equipment improvements
across the five counties
where it provides electric
service.
Last week, the U.S. De
partment of Agriculture
announced it’s financing
upgrades to rural electric
systems across 13 states,
including to AEMC, the only
entity in North Carolina to
receive any USDA funding.
“These loans will enhance
rural economic develop
ment and help improve the
quality of life for people
who live and work in rural
America,” said Joel Baxley,
acting assistant to the secre
tary for rural development.
The USDA also reported
the upgrades AEMC will
perform will improve ser
vice to the electrical co-op’s
nearly 13,000 residential and
industrial customers.
“The $15 million loan ...
will help AEMC fund the
next four years of construc
tion to better serve our
v *
membership,” AEMC Gen
eral Manager Gary Ray stat
ed in an email Thursday.
AEMC spokesman Chris
Powell specified the loan
will be used to construct
two new substations, the
West Albemarle Substation
in Chowan County, and the
Bethel Substation on Per
quimans County. It will also
pay for a 34.5-kilovolt line to
connect them, he said.
See LOAN, 2
SUBMITTED
PHOTO
Children from
the Hertford
Baptist
Church
pre-school
got to pet
dyed lambs
recently.
The animals
were raised
by Drew
and Tammy
Byrum.