QUIMANS EEKLY “News from Next Door” THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 $1.00 PAGE A6 Tri-County Animal Shel ter’s pets of the week PAGE Bl Hurdle inspires scholarship PAGE B2 Vote for your favorite pumpkin Hertford FD Awarded $26K Grant BY MILES LAYTON Editor North Carolina Insurance Com missioner Mike Causey paid a visit to area fire stations during a recent trip to listen to firefighters’ concerns and discuss the need to improve volunteer recruitment and retention. During that visit, Commissioner Causey, who is also the State Fire Marshal, presented a ceremoni ¬ al grant check for $26,550 to the Hertford Fire Department. Tire grants are part of $8.5 million giv en to more than 500 volunteer fire departments statewide. HFD will use the grant to pur chase eight sets of firefighting gear, a thermal imaging camera, a hose reel, traffic cones and flash lights. “Yes, the equipment will come in handy and save lives,” Assistant Fire Chief Robbie Reed said. “The PPE protects our firefighters safe ty as well as the traffic cones. The thermal imaging camera is used to search in reduced visibility for vic tims in fires and also hidden fires. The booster reel hose is a quick er deployed hose line that can be used on smaller fires. All this was made possible by the grant as in the flashlights, everyone now has there own flashlight attached to See GRANT, A2 SUBMITTED PHOTO North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey presented the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) Northeast Region Coordinator of the Year award to Jewel Winslow. State Asks Chowan to up COVID Restrictions BY JULIAN EURE AND NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON Adams Publishing Group EDENTON — With COVID-19 cases on the rise, state officials are urging Chowan County and 35 other counties to adopt stricter re strictions to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Chowan County Manager Kev in Howard confirmed Thursday, Oct 22, the county received a ! letter from state health and pub lic safety officials Oct 21 asking it consider new measures, such as fining businesses that fail to enforce the state’s mask-wearing mandate. N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Mandy Cohen and Secretary of Public Safety Erik Hooks sent the letter to county managers and com mission board chairs in 36 coun ties, asking they consider “local actions to improve compliance” with existing COVID restrictions and “better position our health systems and first responders to respond to the challenges of ris ing cases.” The letter asks officials to con sider adopting a pandemic-specif ic ordinance that imposes a civil penalty or fine — separate from a Class 2 misdemeanor—on those who violate its provisions. It also asks them to support their local health department dir ector in is suing and enforcing “an Imminent Hazard Abatement Order” against anyone whose actions, “including failure to comply with the gover nor’s executive order,” pose an “imminent hazard to your com munity.” Actions Cohen and Hooks suggest the governments take in clude imposing fines on business es that fail to enforce mask-wear ing requirements; setting lower mass gathering limits; suspending the sale of alcohol after 11 p.m.; closing “high-risk” venues like i bars and nightspots; and “limit ing” restaurant service. The letter was sent to Chowan and the other counties because they met one of three criteria, Cohen and Hooks said. Either the county has reported 300 or more new COVID cases in the past two weeks and been identified as a “county of concern” by the White House Coronavirus Task Force; it has a rate of cases greater than 50 per 10,000 people; or it’s one of the See CHOWAN, A3 6 89076 47144 2 Vol. 86, No. 44 @2020 Perquimans Weekly All Rights Reserved ‘Get Up, Get Out and Go Vote’ BY MILES LAYTON AND PAUL NIELSEN Adams Publishing Group The clock is winding down to ward the general election, Nov. 3. Local civic activists like Connie Brothers are doing their best to get people to the polls to cast their votes. An advocate for Perquimans County, Brothers along with Spirit and Tfruth United Methodist Church in conjunction with Democracy NC will provide 100 free lunches to vot ers between 10:30 am. and 3 p.m. Saturday (Oct 31) at the Perquim ans Board of Elections’ parking lot on First Street From “Owl Feed Ya” catering, the meal includes hamburger/ cheeseburger and fries, plfilly cheese steak, brisket sliders along with coleslaw and sauce, and piled up fries with three-cheese blend topped with bbq sauce. And there will be free giveaways. For more in formation, contact 252-333-9662 or 252812-9420 or 2523338959. “Get up, get out and go vote!” Brothers said. “It’s our responsibil ity as a citizen to vote. We have the opportunity to choose leaders of this country who would lead and represent the people to the best of the abilities.” Brothers said on Election Day there will be entertainment featur ing alocal DJ and Fat J’s catering as well as Free Food Lion gifts cards and other giveaways. Anyone in need of transporta tion to the polls should contact one of the above mentioned phone numbers for a ride to the polls. Early voting for the Nov. 3 elec tion started Oct 15 and ends Sat urday at the Perquimans Board of Elections office along with two oth er sites: New Hope Ruritan Build ing 2151 New Hope Rd. and the Bethel Ruritan Building, 392 Snug Harbor Rd. Election Day, everyone has to go to their precinct to vote. Polls open up at 6:30 am. on Election Day and close at 7:30 p.m. See VOTE, A2 , Hertford Man Receives NCWorks Award of Distinction FROM SUBMITTED REPORTS RALEIGH—A Hertford residents was among those who recently re ceived NCWorks Awards of Distrinc- tion. The recipients were recognized during the 33rd annual NCWorks Partnership Conference, organized by the N.C. Department of Com merce and held this year in a virtual format “These award winners are fo cused on getting North Carolina job ready, connecting workers to the skills they need as well as employ ers who need those workers. Each of these honorees stand out for their contributions to develop our state’s workforce and has a big role in help ing our state recover from economic challenges that we face,” said Gover nor RoyCooper. SUBMITTED PHOTOS A strong advocate for Perquimans County, Connie Brothers (center) is among those who have organized a get-out-the-vote drive to help folks cast their ballots on or before the Nov. 3 general election. Early voting ends Saturday. Brother’s daughter Courtney Smith holds up a sign that provides a phone number to assist anyone who has questions or needs help voting. Per Ed Sanford, “while the rest of y’all argue over politics or fret over the virus, I fish. When the going gets tough, the tough go fishing! To those of you who give AMENS, I will take one.” Wise words, very wise words! Did you know that Sanford, in addition to being a business owner with a long and successful career in marketing, is an alumnus of Towson State (undergraduate) and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law? Yep! PQ County attracts the most amazing people. The Governor’s NCWorks Awards of Distinction honor outstanding ex amples from the state’s workforce development system — including the students and jobseekers who re ceive training, the professionals who provide career services, and the em ployers and other organizations that support a skilled workforce. David Meads received the Out standing Young Adult award. After enrolling in the NCWorks Next- Gen youth services program of the Northeastern Workforce Develop ment Board, Meads received career guidance and identified welding as a promising occupation. He com pleted Ifis high school equivalency diploma and received support for See NCWORKS, A3 Round-up Newlyweds & Halloween Festivities BY MILES LAYTON Editor A round-up of all things Perqui- mans County... jLjL Offer congratulations to County Commissioner Kyle Jones and his lovely bride Grace Swain who were married Friday, Oct 23. Their- honeymoon was spent in snowy Colorado. A Republican, Mr. Jones, is running unopposed for I re-election. Mrs. Jones is a music teacher across the Albemarle Sound at Tyrrell Elementary School On that note, local Perquimans races of note, albeit uncontested, See ROUND-UP, A3 SUBMITTED PHOTO Congratulations to this year's Outstanding Young Adult Award recipient, David Meads, nominated by the Northeastern Workforce Development Board.

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