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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
514 S CHURCH ST
Ruritians carry scholarship of $10,000,3
"News from Next Door”
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
$1.00
Jury finds Jackson not guilty of perjury
BY PETER WILLIAMS
AND REGGIE PONDER
Adams Publishing Group
Hertford Mayor Pro Tern
Quentin Jackson was found
not guilty of perjury by a
12-member Superior Court
jury last week.
The jury spent just under
an hour Tuesday to reach
the unanimous verdict on
the second day of a two-day
trial in Hertford.
Superior Court Judge
Wayland Sermons and
defense attorney Michael
JACKSON
beyond
Sanders
both told
the jury
that there
were five
things the
state had
to prove
in order to
find Jack-
son guilty
reasonable
doubt. One was that the
false statement was ma ¬
terial to the original trial
and the other was that
Jackson had to have bed
willfully.
Jackson was seated at the
defense table and when ver
dict was read, he dropped
his head down into his arms
and stayed that way for
about a minute. Jackson
quickly left the courthouse.
Contacted after leaving
court, Jackson would not
comment.
Jackson took the stand
in his own defense Tuesday
morning and testified that
he believed the statement
to be true when he told a
district court judge in Feb ¬
ruary of last year that he
was no longer on proba
tion.
He is charged with per
jury in connection with a
statement to District Court
Judge Edgar Barnes on
Feb. 14, 2018, that he was
no longer on probation.
In that trial Jackson was
charged with fictitious
tags and resisting an offi
cer.
Jackson said he had hired
local attorney Johnnie Finch
See JACKSON, A2
Hertford Mayor Reid
withdraws from race
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford Mayor Horace
Reid filed for re-election
last week then had second
thoughts and withdrew
his application on Monday
for fear he would get in a
physical altercation with
some council members.
“I was thinking if I turn
around and hit someone
I have to go to jail,” Reid
said Monday.
Reid has been involved
See REID, A2
Seminar
planned on
voter ID law
From Staff Reports
The Perquimans Coun
ty Board of Elections will
hold an educational semi
nar about voter photo iden
tification requirements at
2 p.m and 6 p.m on July 25
at the Perquimans County
Board of Elections
The seminar is free and
open to the public.
Beginning in 2020, vot
ers will be required to pro
vide photo identification
before they vote. This in
cludes both in-person and
by-mail voting, with some
exceptions. In November
2018, North Carolina voters
See VOTING, A2
Jackson
ticketed in
town Tahoe
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford Mayor Pro-
Tem Quentin Jackson was
charged with speeding early
Sunday morning while driv
ing the town’s 2019 Chevy
Tahoe in Tyrrell County.
Jackson was cited by
N.C. Highway Patrol Troop
er M.A. Myers for going 76
mph in a 55 mph zone on
U.S. 64 at 12:49a.m. His
court date is Sept. 18.
Jackson said he was re
turning after attending a
function, but would not say
where the meeting was or
what it involved. He said he
would be leaving this week
See TICKET, A2
PETER WILLIAMS/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
A crane prepares to drive a piling at the future site of the new Hertford S-Bridge.
Bridge work starts and stops
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The project to build a
replacement for Hertford’s
S-Bridge hit a snag Mon
day when the crane that
was driving a piling had a
hydraulic leak that spilled
into the river. A boom was
placed around the liquid to
try and contain it.
The initial plan is to drive
five pilings and test them.
In most respects, the
$57 million replacement
for Hertford’s S-Bridge will
look and operate the same
as the old version, Depart
ment of Transportation
spokesman said last week.
One thing that will change
will be the causeway. It has
been settling for decades
because of the poor soils un
der it. It will replaced with a
low bridge that will parallel
the path of the old cause-
way. The old asphalt and
any man-made things under
the old causeway will be re
moved, said Tim Hass, a DQT
spokesman for Division 1.
“The biggest difference
See BRIDGE, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A boom is extended out to contain a spill of what
appears to be hydraulic fluid from a barge working on
the new bridge.
Football
field’s
funding
falls short
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
(First of two parts)
The Perquimans Coun
ty Schools has found itself
$146,000 in the hole because
of an accounting error that
arose from the construction
of a new football field.
Superintendent Tanya
Turner and some school
staff made their case Mon
day night to the Perquimans
County Commission. Turn
er asked the board to OK
releasing the $146,000 from
the school system’s lottery
account to make up the dif
ference.
Turner was only took
over as superintendent on
May 1. The history of the
athletic complex project
dates back almost 10 years.
“This project has been
through four superinten
dents and three finance
officers,” said Assistant Su
perintendent James Bunch.
“I know I’ve seen more than
five plans that were drawn
up.”
The football field has
been built without the use
of tax dollars. The 32-acre
parcel was donated by
Dr. William Nixon, a Per
quimans native. The late
Charles Ward, left $600,000
in his will to the Perquim
ans County Commission
for use on either a football
field, or a new library. Since
the commission had already
financed the construction
on the new library, they ear
marked it for the schools
for a football field on the
See FIELD, A2
PETER WILLIAMS/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Sid Eley speaks at his retirement party last week at
Louise’s Event Center.
Party held for retiring director Eley
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Sid Eley likes to tell sto
ries, and there were plenty
of them told Wednesday at
Iris retirement party.
Eley, 72, has stepped
down after serving 19 years
as executive director of the
Perquimans County Cham
ber of Commerce. About 50
people attended the event at
Louise’s Event Center.
Susan Cox, a former
president of the chamber
and classmate of his, spoke
about her friend. She’s a
year older than Eley and
was asked to do the honors
for Wednesday’s ceremony
when she was at a meeting
at the chamber.
“My only qualifications
were I was the oldest per
son in the room at the time.”
She attended the old
Hertford Grammar School
with Eley when it caught
fire.
“I don’t remember the
details, but Sid does,” Cox
said. “Sid is a great storytell
er. It’s like he has a Rolodex
in his head.”
He’s also an ambassador
for he town. Cox said when
a new boat ties up at the
Hertford Town Docks, Eley
makes a point to greet them
and give them a tiny toy tur
tle as a gift.
“Some people call him
‘Mr. Eley’ from his days
as a teacher. Even today
former students call him
that. Some people call him
‘Firefighter Eley’ or ‘Chief
Eley’ or ‘Councilman Eley’
or ‘Mayor Eley’ or “Director
See ELEY, A2
Hertford is on the list for ferry trial, but Elizabeth City is not
BY JON HAWLEY
Staff Writer
A trial run of an Inner
Banks ferry service is mov-
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2
ing forward, with stops
planned in four towns —
but not, apparently, in Eliz
abeth City.
That’s according to a
recent email update from
UNC-Chapel Hill business
professor Nick Didow,
who’s leading the effort to
start a Harbor Town proj
ect aimed at boosting tour
ism and economic activity
in Edenton, Hertford, and
other small towns along the
Albemarle Sound.
To help drive the proj
ect forward, state Rep. Ed
Goodwin, R-Chowan, is
also pushing for a trial run
of a ferry boat or boats this
fall, despite reservations
from Elizabeth City and
Pasquotank Comity offi
cials.
Now it appears uncertain
that Elizabeth City will be
one of the stops in the fer
ry’s trial run. That’s based
on an email last week from
Didow to Harbor Town Ad-
ory Board members and
idlers.
“As of today, participa
tion in the trials has been
requested by the towns of
Plymouth, Columbia, Hert
ford and Edenton,” Didow
said in the email, while in
dicating the trial run is still
aimed for September and
October. He also asks par
ticipating communities to
provide lists of events and
attractions they have going
on, so as to help with mar
keting and planning the fer
ries’ times and routes.
He also notes he and his
See FERRY, A2