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“News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020
$1.00
PETS
See what animals are
available at the Tri-County
Animal Shelter — A6
SCHOOLS
Several groups announce
scholarship winners — Bl
THIS WEEK
Effort to save
Jockey’s Ridge started on
Aug. 15, 1973 — B4
Waterfront, ABC Board Appointment Discussed
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
By the time our valued subscrib
ers read the news about Monday’s
Hertford Town Council meeting, it
may be a bit different as council opt
ed to recess that multi-hour meeting
to Tuesday night rather titan burning
the midnight oil
Because of press deadlines, more
on these matters will appear in a
future edition of the Perquimans
Weekly.
Still, here’s some of what’s
being discussed this week
among council members /
at the town’s commu- .
nity center where the
sound quality can be
poor at times, particu-
lariy when compared to
Zoom meetings posted to
Facebook earlier this year.
During citizen’s concerns, Tim
Brinn of Front Street issued forth a
call to action that began with seeking
answers about any progress Town
Hall has made to make
sure that plans for
West Hert
ford Historic
move
o r w a r d
rather than
collecting dust
in a file cabinet. A
plan was approved by
the state historic preservation office
for Hertford to hire a firm and begin
the process of documenting historic
significance of this area.
Brinn noted the time, money and
volunteer work that got that plan ap
proved in 2019 but the clock seems
to have stopped. Back in 1998, it
took two years to do all the work and
many volunteer hours.
Brinn also said while property
value has increased countywide,
the same can not be said of Hertford
which lost $15 million in value last
year because of distressed housing
and other factors. He spoke of the
citizens’ support for the 18 percent
property tax increase to balance the
budget, but added that town needs
to help itself by taking control of the
blight which affects property values.
Also, Brinn said Missing Mill park
is not being used, but the state has re
sources available to revive the park’s
usefulness.
Though the sound quality trans
mitting Murielle Harmon’s speech
was poor, no one could doubt her
passion for defending her Front
Street neighborhood from those
See WATERFRONT, A3
Stallings,
Former School
Leader, Joins
God’s Faculty
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Former Perquimans Coun
ty Schools Superintendent
Dwayne Stallings died Sunday
after a long illness at Sentara
r ; Norfolk Gener
al Hospital.
S t a 11 i n g s ,
. 63, of Hertford
had over 30
years invested
in public edu-
. cation in North
. JH Carolina and 21
STALLINGS of those years
he served as an
administrator in Perquimans
County.
“One of my favorite sayings
is ‘Your walk talks and your
talk talks but your walk talks
louder than your talk talks,’”
Superintendent Tanya Turner
said. “This is so very true of
Dr. Stallings. He was a gen
uine person and it showed
through everything he did. He
was well respected by all be
cause of his strong character
and compassionate heart.”
Turner taught in Perquim
ans for 10 years, first at Per
quimans Central and then at
Perquimans County Middle
School before moving to the
Chowan school system.
Turner had kind words for
the man who spent his life
serving the school district.
“He always encouraged me
throughout my career and
was extremely supportive of
me when I became superin
tendent of Perquimans Coun
ty Schools,” said Turner who
was hired as superintendent
in 2019. “He would freely lend
a listening ear and always of
fer valuable words of wisdom
and support. Dr. Stallings
touched the lives of many.
His memory will live on in the
hearts of countless students,
school system employees, and
community members. I am
blessed to have known him.
He will be missed!”
Funeral services will be
held at 2 p.m. Friday in the
Perquimans County High
School Gymnasium and will
be conducted by the Rev. Dar
ryl Stallings. A private burial
will follow in Westlawn Me
morial Park Cemetery in Eliz
abeth City.
In lieu of flowers, contribu
tions in his memory may be
See STALLINGS, A2
89076 47144
2
Vol. 86, No. 33
@2020 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
Congratulations, Class of 2020
Congratulations Class of 2020! During the course of the last several days, Pirates’ parents have
submitted photos of newly minted alumni hailing from the Perquimans County High School Class
of 2020. Note the smiling faces filled with optimism about the future. To see more, check our our
photo collage on page Bl. Lady on the ground Katelyn Sharber; left of picture — Danielle Hurdle,
Macee Russell, Madison Jennings, Elizabeth Story, Shelly White, Allison Copeland, Jenna O'Neal
and Maggie Williams.
COVID Claims 2nd Death in Chowan County
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Albemarle Regional
Health Services (ARHS) fe-
1 ported a second death asso
ciated with COVID-19 in a
' Chowan County resident on
Monday.
The individual was over
the age 65 and succumbed
to complications from
COVID-19. To protect the
family’s privacy, no further
information about this pa-
I tient will be released.
Also, ARHS Director Bat
tle Betts rebutted the sug
gestion that the transparen-
I cy and manner of CQVID-19
counts is politically moti
vated. He provided answers
as to why the most up-to-
date numbers are available
to the public via phone, but
not necessarily released on
a daily basis via email to the
media or posted to social
media for public awareness.
As of Tuesday’s press
time, this is the COVID-19
count:
■ Pasquotank County -
388 lab confirmed cases —
67 active, 300 recovered,
and 21 deaths
■ Perquimans County -
80 lab confirmed cases - 25
active, 53 recovered, and 2
deaths
■ Camden County - 68 lab
confirmed cases - 28 active,
38 recovered, and 2 deaths
■ Chowan County - 150
lab confirmed cases — 35
active, 114 recovered and 2
deaths
■ Currituck County - 72
lab confirmed cases - 9 ac-
BETTS
tive and 63 re
covered
■ Ber
tie County -
263 lab con
firmed cases
- 34 active,
224 recovered
and 5 deaths
■ Gates County - 46
lab confirmed cases - 2 ac
tive, 42 recovered, and 2
deaths
■ Hertford County - 316
lab confirmed cases - 47 ac
tive, 257 recovered, and 12
deaths
In an email exchange with
the Chowan Herald/Perqui-
mans Weekly, a concerned
citizen asked why ARHS
doesn’t share the most up-
to-date information on so
cial media each day as it
would make it easier for all
to stay informed.
As the numbers may
change daily, if someone
wants calls ARHS and se
lects option 1, folks will hear
a daily update, by county, of
total cases - active, recov
ered and deaths.
Responding to the email
exchange from concerned
citizens seeking answers
and the Chowan Herald/
Perquimans Weekly, Betts
said this information line is
updated every 24 hours, in
cluding Saturdays and Sun
days. The North Carolina
Department of Health and
Human Services also pro
vides links to cases by zip
code on its site.
Another question from a
concerned citizen was why
doesn’t ARHS include coun
ty hospitalization counts
like Dare County does.
Vidant Health does give
a daily census of COVID in-
patients across their entire
system on their website, but
the count lags one day.
Responding to these in
quiries, Betts issued this
statement.
“I would encourage cau
tion using that data how
ever, as the cases are often
assigned to an improper
county by the state and have
to be corrected at the local
level,” he said. “The data we
provide locally is real time
as we are informed by the
surveillance system and re
porting labs.”
Betts said the ARHS is
committed to transparency.
“ARHS prides itself with
our utmost transparency
and commitment to educate
and inform the citizens we
serve,” he said. “I would be
more than happy to further
discuss any issues or con
cerns you may have. ... All
total and active case counts
as well as deaths are up
dated daily. Our website,
arhs-nc.org, is also a valu
able tool to utilize for the
most current information.
We have also established
338-WELL for citizens to ob
tain the most current case
numbers, active cases, and
deaths.”
July 24, Chowan County
See COVID, A2
Round-up
Word of
Thanks
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all things Per
quimans County...
School starts Monday,
Aug. 17 - good luck!
This will be the weekly
schedule as long as Perquimans
Schools are in Plan B.
Perquimans Central: 8:05-
3:15
Hertford Grammar: 7:55-3:10
Perquimans Middle School:
■ Tuesday through Friday is
5th and 6th grade at PCMS 7:55-
3:00
■ 7th and Sth grade on Tues
day and Wednesday at PCHS is
9:30-1:30
Perquimans High School:
7:55-3:05
Monday: 9-12 is Face to Face
at PCHS and K-8 is remote.
Tuesday: K-6 is Face to Face
(K-2 at PCS, 34 at HGS, and 5-6
at PCMS)
■ 7-8 is Face to Face at PCHS
(9:30-1:30)
■ 9-12 is remote.
Wednesiday: K-6 is Face to
Face (K-2 at PCS, 34 at HGS, and
5-6 at PCMS)
■ 7-8 is Face to Face at PCHS
(9:30-1:30)
■ 9-12 remote
Thursd ay: K-6 is Face to Face
(K-2 at PCS, 34 at HGS, and 5-6
at PCMS)
■ 7-12 is remote
Friday: K-6 is Face to Face
(K-2 at PCS, 34 at HGS, and 543
at PCMS)
■ 7-12 is remote.
Last Thursday, St. Paul’s AME
Zion Church gave away food and
offered free COVID-19 testing.
Partne ring with HUB Labora-
tories/Ottendorf, free testing was
conducted by nurses/health care
professionals.
Pasto r Todd French said,”It
went GREAT!! We serviced
around 100 families getting food
and had around 50 or so get test
ed! Very nice event.”
More Perquimans Class of 2020
See LAYTON, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Last week, the crew at St. Paul
AME Zion Church did God’s work
by distributing free food while
health care professionals were
testing folks for COVID-19.