EROI JI V1 ANS rf “News from Next Door" N 008 A °° 04 P9/C9****** C ^' inin.mil..h’lh , "”’ ,, "''“'''"""a^SCOUNLIBRARY PERQUIMANS COUN 514 5 NC 27944-1225 HERTFORD NO , ) offer new Richardson scholarship, 3 $1.00 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.