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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