1 P9/C9******CAR-RT LOT**R 008 A0004 PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY 514 S CHURCH ST HERTFORD NC 27944-1225 .' W11K1Y “News from Next Door” WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 Chamber director speaks to Rotary, 2 $1.00 Late decision consolidates two precincts in Perquimans Sunday voting proves popular BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Perquimans County vot ers who would normally cast a ballot at the Perqui mans County Courthouse were instead directed to go to Louise’s Event Center because the Chief Judge for the courthouse “backed out.” *; Elections Director Holly Hunter said the situation happened about 6 p.m. Mon day night so the decision was made to consolidate precincts. The event center is at 1132 Don Juan Road about three miles away. During the first three hours of voting, poll workers redi rected about nine people to the temporary location. Hunter said the Chief Judge “basically controls everything that happens at the precinct.” She declined to name the judge because “I don’t want to put them See PRECINCTS, A2 BY REGGIE PONDER AND JULIAN EURE Staff Writers Democrats and Repub- licans may not agree on much anymore. But there could be one thing that brings them together: Sun day voting. Voters in six area corm- ties got a rare chance to vote on a Sunday last weekend, casting early ballots at their local board of elections office for Tuesdays special election in the 3rd Congressional District. The State Board of Elections approved Sat urday voting in 11 of the 3rd District’s 17 counties, and Sunday voting in the other six after all election offices in the district were forced to close at least some portion of Thurs day and all of Friday as Hurricane Dorian neared and then passed over the state. Five of the six counties approved for Sunday vot ing were given three ex tra hours — from noon to 3p.m. — to accommodate voters. The other county, Dare, was allowed an addi tional eight hours — from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — of early voting. While not every coun ty’s voters took full ad vantage of the extra hours — Currituck reported 50 and Camden reported 27 — Pasquotank and Perqui mans reported 210 and 89 voters, respectively. Per quimans Elections Director Holly Hunter said the 89 was the most of any early voting day. Tim Corprew said he had planned to vote late week but was unable to because of the storm. He said he came in Sunday to “avoid the rush” and get his ballot cast before election day. See VOTING, A2 County escapes major storm BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Perquimans Coun ty weathered Hurricane Dorian with little serious damage compared to other areas in eastern North Car olina, officials say. “We were very fortu nate,” said Perquimans County Manager Frank Heath. “We were blessed. We had water on the usu al roadways but the winds weren’t too terrible. We had some tree limbs in the road, but the fire departments, N.C. Forestry and DOT did a pretty quick job cleaning it up.” A tornado did touch dqwn early Friday morning near Belvidere, but appar ently missed any people or buildings. “We should have more information in the future,” Heath said. “The National Weather Service is coming to take a look at it and don’t have the full story right now.” Julie Solesbee, a spokes person for Perquimans EMS, said the weather service reported that the tornado appeared to touch down near Poplar Neck and Chinquapin Roads. “Based on the maps at the NWS, they felt the im pact was mainly to farm land,” Solesbee said. Power was cut off for more than 1,000 Albemarle Electric Membership cus- Four child sex offenders set to face new charges BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Four men with a history of child sex offenses were either arrested or are be ing sought for not properly notifying the state about tomers because the service from Dominion Power was cut off to AEMC. Likewise, Hertford customers were without power for more than three hours Friday af ternoon when power was lost from Dominion. “Based on a report from the National Weather ser vice, we picked up between 4.5 to 5.5 inches of rain, on a countywide average,” said Emergency Services Director Jonathan Nixon. “We probably had frequent gusts of 60 to 65 mph with sustained winds around 40 to 45 mph for a time.” A local State of Emer gency was declared effec tive noon Thursday. There was a curfew declared for Thursday night at midnight until Friday morning at 6 a.m. It did not include ve hicles traveling on U.S. 17 and 37. A voluntary evacuation for low-lying areas and manufactured homes was called for. All county offices were closed on Friday. Schools were closed Thursday and Friday “in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian and out of an abundance of caution,” said Perquimans County Schools spokesper son Michelle Maddox. Superintendent Tan ya Turner said Friday the schools appeared fine. “A few minor leaks and where they lived,' said Per quimans County Sheriff Shelby White. White said there are 41 people on the list in the county. They routinely are sent out certified letters from the state to their last STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS Employees of Perquimans County Social Services and the.Eteri Cross prepare to serve lunch Friday to the 23 people who sheltered overnight at Perquimans County High School. The meals were prepared by Captain Bobs and delivered to the site. some debris seem to be only noticeable effects,” she said. “Hopefully that will hold true.” The Red Cross opened at emergency shelter at Perquimans County High School about 5 p.m. Thurs day. Eight employees of Per quimans County Social Ser vices arrived at the shelter 4p.m. Thursday and they stayed the night. They were still there until the shelter closed at 3 p.m. on Friday. “I hate it, but it was their call,” said Susan Chaney, See STORM, A2 STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS Johnny Greene puts up metal storm shutters Thursday morning at the Food Lion store in Hertford. The store was open, but had few shoppers at the time. known address. If the person gets a letter, they are supposed to take it to the sheriffs office and sign a form. Those with more serious See'OFFENDERS, A2 RUE JENSEN PREBLE DEGLAU Schools earn “C” grade BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Perquimans County High School slipped from a “B” to a “C” in the latest state test ing and Perquimans County Middle School and Hertford Grammar School main tained their “C” grade. The high school and mid dle school met expected academic growth, but the grammar school did not. None of the schools were considered low performing. “While there are many successes in our schools to celebrate, there are also many opportunities for im provement,” said Superin tendent Tanya Turner. “We will be focusing instruction al efforts on increasing math rigor and integrating read ing into all subject areas this school year. I look forward to working with our teach ers, school leaders, and par ents towards maximizing our students’ potential in all subject areas.” Michelle Maddox, the spokesperson for the school system, said the state test ing for 2018-19 is far more in depth than just grades, like B, C and D. The schools were closed two days last week because of Hurricane Dorian. “We haven’t really had a chance to to through every thing like we would like to,” Maddox said. But she said the state had a new high school math test this year and because it was new, students weren’t allow retest a second time like they could last year. “I do think the inability to retest effected the high school’s letter grade.” BY PETER WILLIAMS/NEWS EDITOR The George E. Major House. Jollification to focus on Hertford BY PETER WILLIAMS , News Editor The fourth annual Jollification — a tour of historic homes and dinner - will be held Sept. 28 in Hertford. In previous years, the event has fo cused on either Belvidere, Bethel or New Hope. There are 14 homes and three other sites planned for this year. All are cen trally located on Church, Front, Grubb and West Market streets and Punch Alley. The buildings range in age from 1775 through the very early 1900s. One on North Front Street was once rented by bank robbers. The husband was killed in a robbery and the wife sent to prison. She wrote a letter to the conununity thanking them for be ing so kind to her children who were in school at the time of the robberies. Another house was once a funeral home and another served as a Temper ance Hall. The tour this year focuses on histor ic homes that have been restored and renovated to preserve their history See JOLLIFICATION, A2 Camp Cale acquires land for expansion BY PETER WILLIAMS News Editor Camp Cale used some of proceeds of selling 6 89076 47144 2 land it couldn’t use for 10 acres of land that it can near the entrance to the facility. The deal was finalized late last month. It brings the total size of Cale to about 86 acres. The late Carolyn Mc Nair Carl left Cale two lots totaling about 20 acres in Grassy Point. But the property came with a deed restriction that limited its use for single-family hous ing. “We really didn’t want to sell them, but we couldn’t use them,” said Director Matt Thomas. One of the 10 acres lots was sold about three or four years ago. The new purchase is a triangle-shaped plot with the narrow end near the en trance. “We are working on a long-range plan for what to use it for, but right now we just plan on cleaning it up. See CAMP, A2 Camp Cale purchased the 10-acre triangle-shaped piece of property last week. V

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