QU I M ANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door”
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021
$1.00
PAGE A6
Tri-County Animal Shel
ter Pets of the Week
PAGE Bl
Pirates claim AAC
volleyball championship,
head to state playoffs
PAGE B4
Newbold-White site still
teaches history
Jackson Files Lawsuit, Seeks Mayor’s Censure
Motion to Censure Fails
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Hertford Town Councilman Quen
tin Jackson announced Monday that
he has filed a lawsuit against Mayor
Earuell Brown and that he seeks a
public hearing to censure her.
Jackson’s plans come on the heels
Brown’s public statement during a
December council meeting about his
actions, some of which involve crim
inal conduct
“I have taken
out a lawsuit on
the mayor. I know
that’s not going to
sit well, but what
the mayor started
saying was that
everything she said
was facts. What
was so so funny is
that I went back
and researched all this stuff and
she lies. She constantly lies,” he said
during Monday’s council meeting.
Jackson’s motion to censure failed
3-2 with Brown,
Mayor Pro Tern
Ashley Hodges
and Councilman
Jerry Mimlitsch
opposing the mea
sure and council-
men Jackson and
Frank Norman
supporting it
Previously
during the Dec. 15 council meeting,
Brown urged Hertford town coun
cilors to take action against Jack-
son, claiming his conduct is reflect
ing negatively on the town. Brown
called for council to either censure
Jackson, seek to remove him from
office, or seek state legislation au
thorizing the town to hold a recall
election.
Hodges said while any criminal
and ethics policy violations should
be taken seriously, censure is a sim
ple gesture that doesn’t affect an of
ficeholder’s ability to vote or serve
on a board.
Hodges said though it is an action
that can be taken and recorded in
the official meeting minutes, “she
doesn’t stop being mayor and you
(Jackson) don’t stop being a coun
cilman. What I tell people is, if you
don’t like who’s up here, that’s what
the voting box is for.”
Hodges added that while council
should all be holding itself to ethical
standards, “there are so many prob
lems to solve that spending a lot of
time on this (censure) stuff to me is
not the most productive use of time.”
Mimlitsch said when council dis
cussed the possibility of censuring
See CHALLENGES, A3
Register
to Get
COVID-19
Vaccine
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Albemarle Regional Health
Services established a registra
tion system for those seeking
the COVID-19 vaccine, and resi
dents of the eight-county region
who are 75 and older will be the
first in line for the shots.
ARHS announced the new
registration system Monday. It
replaces the first-come, first-
serve system ARHS used at
eight regional clinics last week
to distribute 8,000 doses of the
COVID vaccine.
ARHS said persons 75 and
older will get first priority for
COVID vaccinations under
the new registration system.
They’re being asked to visit
ARHS’ website and register
for vaccinations at https://
www.arhsnc.org/information/
COVID-19/vaccines/.
The agency said that it has
300 vaccines allotted for Perqui
mans County.
ARHS said it’s currently
collecting names and contact
information for those 75 and
older to “document actual de
mand” for the vaccine among
that age group so clinics can
be scheduled next week. Right
now, those clinics are sched
uled to be held Jan. 19-22, the
agency said.
ARHS also plans to use the
registration site going forward
to schedule future clinics.
According to ARHS, it ex
pects to receive a total of 2,800
doses of the vaccine, and distri
bution will be divided among
its eight counties the follow
ing way: Pasquotank County
will get 600 doses; Currituck
County will get 500 doses; Hert
ford County 400 doses; Bertie,
Chowan and Perquimans coun
ties will get 300 doses each; and
Gates and Camden counties
will get 200 each.
“We have set the allocation
for each county and the first
individuals signed up and reg
istered through this link will be
contacted to receive vaccine,”
ARHS said. “You can only reg
ister for one county; if you reg
ister for more than one county,
your name will be removed.”
See VACCINE, A3
6
89076 47144 " 2
Vol. 87, No. 2
@2020 Perquimans Weekly
PerquimansWeekly.com
All Rights Reserved
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Many local people said they attended the event to protest what they view as an fraudulent election
and to support President Trump.
Locals Share What They Saw in DC
‘A long, hard day.’
BY MILES LAYTON
AND NICOLE LAYTON
Adams Publishing Group
Editor’s Note: We’ve talk
ed to local people who were in
Washington, DC, to learn why
they attended the Save America
Rally and what they saw during
this historical event that shook
the nation.
Much like other national sto
ries of interest, we did this to
learn more about what happened
so we could provide a local per
spective to our readers.
Based on negative feedback
from social media when first re
porting these events, we’re not
going to debate semantics as to
whether to define the Save Amer
ica Rally and the subsequent cha
os that ensued as a protest, rally,
riot or use words like sedition,
treason or insurrection.
Steinburg Tapped to Lead Committees in Raleigh
Influence Grows in Second Term
for Key Local Issues
FROM STAFF REPORTS
EDENTON - NC Senator Bob
Steinburg (R-Chowan) was ap
pointed to serve on the following
committees by Senate President
President Pro Tern Phil Berg
er, effective immediately and
throughout the 2021-22 bienni
um:
■ Chairman: Senate Select
Committee on Prison Safety
■ Chairman: Appropriations
on General Government
■ Chair: State and Local Gov ¬
And in contrast to the major
mainstream media, we’re not go
ing to demonize the people who
attended the protest because
they are part of our northeastern
North Carolina community.
To read an editorial about judg
ing people, see the editorial board
opinion on page A4.
People we interviewed said
they attended the rally to peace
fully protest what they view as a
fraudulent election and to sup
port President Donald Trump.
Elections results indicate that
74 million people voted for Trump
and 81 million people cast ballots
for President-elect Joe Biden.
None of the people we spoke
to participated in the Jan. 6
events inside the Capitol building
that echoed around the world.
When rioters breached police
perimeters, they then occupied,
vandalized, looted and ransacked
parts of the Capitol building for
several hours. The breach led to
ernment
■ Member: Agriculture, Ener
gy, and Environment
■ Member: Commerce and In
surance
■ Member: Judiciary
■ Member: Pensions
■ Member: Appropriations on
Justice and Public Safety
Each committee plays an influ
ential role in hearing legislation
related to its respective policy
area. Committee chairmen lead
the meetings and help facilitate
the amendment process before
bills go to the floor for a vote.
“I want to thank Sen. Steinburg
See STEINBURG, A6
the evacuation and lockdown of
the Capitol building, as well as
five deaths.
Later as these events trans
pired, everyone we talked to was
made aware of what was happen
ing based on news reports, not
firsthand knowledge.
Because of the bitter partisan
divide and cancel culture, we
are not publishing these peo
ple’s names so as to protect their
identities and their careers. To
illustrate this point about reper
cussions, one woman we talked
to was fired from her job because
she attended the rally.
‘A long hard day'
One man, a longtime conser
vative with strong ties to Eden
ton, shared his perspective about
what happened. He was leading a
group of people that he had trav-
See DC, A2
Rowell’s Words
Heroes
T |iis is the promised second
part from last week’s regard
ing the 1978 Winslow Oil Fire.
Early on a Tuesday morning Jan. 10 c
there was an explosion and subse
quent fire at the Winslow Oil Com
WILLIAM
ROWELL
pany facility just
off West Grubbs
St It engulfed the
entire business
and posed a threat
to the surrounding
area
Any event of
this magnitude
presents some
interesting individ
ual stories. I would
like to share a few
that I have learned of. I do not mean
to say these are all, or the most
important; simply, these are the one
I know of. My apologies in advance
to any omitted.
First, you need to know, that our
local fire department answered
a house fire call at 2:00 am that
morning prior to this going down at
7:55 am So much for a good night’s
sleep! Sid Eley was on that, call and
later was on his way to school to
teach his class when the explosion
occurred. He was dressed for the
indoors, but went straight to the site
and a long, cold day ahead.
Jimmy “Catfish” Hunter had
been hunting and heard the initial
blast He came to the scene and was
later talking with some fireman in
tire street Another tank exploded
sending a metal cap flying in their
direction. They scattered but one of
An oil tanker is consumed by
the blaze.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
NC Sen. Bob
Steinburg,
R-Chowan,
who was
sworn in
recently, was
appointed to
serve many
prominent
senate
committees.