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Lawmen called out over election issues
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Law enforcement has re
sponded three times since
Thursday over issues at the
Perquimans County Elec
tions Office involving early
voting and how close a can
didate could get to the front
door of the office to talk
with voters, other election
rules and photographing
people. No charges have
been filed as of press time.
Early voting has soared in
this municipal election for
candidates in Hertford and
Winfall.
As of late Monday morn
ing, 311 people had voted, a
number which Elections Di
rector Holly Hunter called a
“big turnout” so early in the
balloting. Early voting didn’t
start until Oct. 16.
Two years ago in the en
tire early municipal voting
period, just 221 ballots were
cast.
“I would say this is a big
turnout,” Hunter said.
Of the 311 votes, 264 were
cast in the Hertford races.
There are 1,290 people reg
istered to vote in Hertford.
There were 37 cast in Win
fall, where there are 384 el
igible voters.
The only contested race
in Winfall is a contest be
tween incumbent Mayor
Fred Yates and challenger
Preston White, a council
man for the past four years.
In Hertford Mayor Pro
Tern Quentin Jackson is run
ning against Earnell Brown
for the job as mayor. There
are also four people running
for two council seats; Jerry
Mimlitsch, Ashley Hodges,
Orlean Jones and Gracie
Felton. Felton was appoint
ed to the board early this
year. It is the first election
for all four.
Jackson said in the first
incident, he was the one to
call police.
It involved a dispute
Jackson said was between
him and a voter who didn’t
understand where the buf
fer zone is and somebody
taking a picture of him hug
ging a voter.
Jackson said Monday this
is his fourth election and a
previous elections director
showed him the 50-foot line
cuts through the parking lot.
“She was my 80-year old
aunt,” Jackson said. “Mr.
(Tim) Brinn started yelling
and I asked him to remove
a camera out of my face. I
felt threatened and I called
911. Mr. Brinn started yell
ing and said I was brealdng
the rules.”
Hunter said Jackson was
past the line and seemed to
think it was OK because the
voter was his Aunt.
“He came into the buffer
zone with his Quentin Jack-
son shirt on and hugged a
voter and someone took a
picture of him and he got
mad,” Hunter said. “He said
he didn’t do anything wrong
and threatened the voter “if
you take another picture of
me I will knock you out.”
Brinn said Police Chief
Dennis Brown told Jackson
“you are a public official in a
public place.”
Brown said officers were
called to a disturbance at
the elections office. Once
things calmed down, the of
ficers left.
Having his picture taken
driving the town’s Chevy
See ELECTION, A2
Rain
may
dampen
festival
Belvidere Day to still go on
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
If there were , a “No-Rain
Dance” Belvidere residents
would probably be dancing
it now.
“They are talking right
now about a 50 percent
chance,” Doug Layden said
Monday. He has been or
ganizing the Belvidere Day
event for the past seven
years'.
But the show, in whatever
fashion, will go on Saturday.
“Whatever happens, rain
or shine, we’re going to do
it. The store specials will
still be going and the cake
bake-off will be inside. We
will fit as many vendors as
we can inside.”
“If it rains, the classic cars
won’t be here, and I don’t
blame them,” Layden said.
Also the parade won’t
happen. All veterans are in
vited to take part if it does.
“This happened to us last
year, but it cleared up and it
was fine,” Layden said. “But
they are talking about rain
Friday and Saturday. We’re
going to go, rain or shine.”
“We’ve been really luck
ing since we’ve had this sev
en years,” Layden said.
He’s thought about post
poning the event, but the
logistics don’t work.
See FESTIVAL, A2
Rotary CONCERT RAISES SCHOLARSHIP Funds
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
The Durham-based band
“Johnny White and the
Elite Band” perform
recently at the annual
Hertford Rotary Club
concert at Perquimans
County High School. The
money raised from the
concerts go to provide
scholarships for local
students. At right, Tressa
Stunson, the opening act
of the annual Hertford
Rotary concert, dances
in the aisles with her
husband Chaz during
the event at Perquimans
County High School.
Stunson who sang
several Whitney Houston
and Aretha Franklin
songs to get the crowd
in the mood for as lively
evening of Mowtown
themed music.
Brady
found
guility
BY SANDY SEMANS ROSS
Correspondent
MANTEO — Prison in ¬
mate Mikel Brady could
face the death penalty af
ter a Dare County Superior
Court jury found him guilty
Monday of four counts of
first-degree murder and oth
er charges stemming from a
failed escape attempt from
Pasquotank Correctional
Institution on Oct. 12,2017.
BRADY
The sev
en-woman,
five-man
jury took
less than
an hour to
find Brady,
30, guilty
on all 14
counts with
which he
was charged, including the
murder of two correction
al officers, a sewing plant
manager and a prison main
tenance worker.
Jurors are expected to
begin deliberations in the
penalty phase of Brady’s
trial today. They will have
only two options for his sen
tence: the death penalty or
life in prison without parole.
Before they begin de
liberating, however, they
will hear from Brady him
self. Brady’s attorneys said
See BRADY, A2
New Dollar General scheduled to open store in November
PHOTO BY PAM HADDEN
Workers prepare to put up the sign at the new Dollar
General store near Albemarle Plantation.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
r
A new Dollar General lo
cation in Perquimans Coun
ty is set to open soon.
“Based on our current
timeline, we anticipate the
store to open by early No
vember with a grand open
ing in the following weeks,”
said Crystal Ghassemi, a
spokesman for the compa
ny
The store at 1035 Holiday
Island Road will employ
between six and 10 people.
She said individuals inter
ested in applying should vis
it www.dollargeneral.com/
careers.
Ghassemi said the com
pany looks for places where
it can serve customers with
in a three to five mile radius,
or 10-minute drive.
“We also take competi
tive factors, traffic patterns
and community concerns
into consideration.”
Plans for the store gen
erally got a warm reception
when a rezoning request for
it went before the Perquim
ans County Commission in
January. r flie property was
changed from rural agricul
ture to rural commercial.
The largest issues at the
time were about the size of
the sign outside and how it
would be illuminated.
The 9,100 square foot
building will include exteri
or signs that are illuminated
not from lights inside the
sign, but instead by goose-
neck lights that that hang
down and shine only on the
sign. Light pollution was
one of the issues area resi
dents wanted to avoid.
County Planner Rhon
da Money said under the
See STORE, A2
Group hopes to make Christmas brighter for seniors
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Albemarle Com
mission is gearing up to
make Christmas brighter,
especially for some seniors
that may spend the holiday
week alone.
The Santa For Seniors
program started to serve
older adults who receive
home-delivered meals
from the commission and
who live alone with no
family or friends nearby,
said Ashley Lamb, a aging
programs specialist for the
Area Agency on Aging.
“We deliver meals Mon
day through Friday, but for
the week of Christmas we
shut down our meals pro
gram,” Lamb said. “We do
provide those people with
shelf stable meals they
can eat during the week,
but for many they may not
see another person for that
whole week during Christ ¬
mas because we’re not de
livering food,” Lamb said.
Last year there were 40
people in the 10-county
area that were in the home
food program and also
didn’t have family. Nine of
those were Perquimans
County residents.
For those, the
See SENIORS, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Betty Jones
and Ann Reid
stand next to a
collection box at
the Perquimans
Senior Center
where people can
donate items like
lotion, toilet paper,
paper towels,
hand soap, candy
and lap blankets
that will In turn
go to seniors this
Christmas.