THE
QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door"
THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021
$1.00
@SCAN ME
PAGE A6
Meet Pappy, a
Tri-County Animal Shel
ter Pets of the Week
PAGE Bl
Pirates defeat
North Pitt Panthers
Daylight Savings
Time starts
Sunday, March 14.
Make sure your
clocks are ahead
one hour.
Officials Discuss Agreement to Reopen Schools
BY CAROLINA JOURNAL
NEWS SERVICE
N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger,
R-Rockingham, says lawmakers
are negotiating with Gov. Roy
Cooper, a Democrat, on a plan to
reopen schools.
Berger, in a news conference
Tuesday, March 9, with Sen. Dean
na Ballard, R-Watauga, offered no
specifics about the plan. Berger
had scheduled a news confer
ence Monday,
but he canceled
it because of the
ongoing negoti
ations with the
governor.
An announce
ment on an
agreement, he
said at the time,
could come later
BERGER
that same day. Cooper, in a news
conference later Tuesday to up ¬
date people on
COVID-19 and
vaccinations,
said he’s continu
ing to work with
lawmakers on a
plan to reopen
schools.
COOPER “We have been
talking,” Coo
per said. “We all
share the goal of getting our chil
dren back into the classroom.”
He said it must be done safe
ly, however, and he had not seen
legislation, only saying something
may come “soon.”
A compromise on school re
opening would render moot Sen
ate Bill 37, which would direct all
public school districts to reopen
for in-classroom instruction. Par
ents would still have the option
of remote learning under the bill.
Cooper vetoed the measure Feb.
26. An attempt to override Coo
per’s veto fell short by one vote.
Berger said he and Cooper
have been talking on the phone
about the issue for a week, and
that House Speaker Tim Moore,
R- Cleveland, is aware of the dis
cussions.
“We seem to be very close
to an agreement in principle,”
Berger said Tuesday. “If we
have an agreement it will be
See SCHOOLS, A2
APG Names
O’Brien as
Publisher of
TDA, Weeklies
O’Brien to oversee papers in
EC, Chowan, Perquimans
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Sean O’Brien has been named
publisher for The Daily Ad
vance, the Chowan Herald and
Tire Perquim-
i ans Weekly,
\ Robin Quillon,
* president of
j j Adams Publish-
ing Group in
T Eastern North
^P||HMfm| Carolina, an-
■ nounced this
■ O’BRIEN week
As publisher,
O’Brien, cur
rently general manager for the
three newspapers, will continue
to oversee all editorial, advertis
ing and circulation operations at
the three publications, Quillon
said.
“I am very pleased to an
nounce the promotion of Sean
to publisher of The Daily Ad
vance and its sister weeklies,
The Perquimans Weekly and
Chowan Herald,” Quillon said.
“Sean is a true leader. His rich
experience in this business has
earned him the respect of his
peers and the conununity in
which he lives — he is a true
newspaper professional in ev
ery aspect. His dedication to ex
cellence in journalism shows by
his determination to be the very
best. I have no doubt that he will
succeed in his new responsibili
ties.”
O’Brien said he’s looking for
ward to his new role with the
three newspapers.
“I have been with our group
for over 15 years and I’ve seen
a lot of exciting changes during
that time,” O’Brien said. “Com
bined with our core products
and our ability to utilize our
websites and social media, our
audience and reader engage
ment has never been higher
than it is today.
“I look forward to what the
future holds and remain excited
with the direction our industry
has taken,” O’Brien continued.
“I would like to thank our read
ers and advertisers for being
loyal to what we do best: allow
ing us to provide news coverage
in the place we all call home.”
O’Brien was named general
manager of the three newspa
pers in February 2020. Prior
See O’BRIEN, A3
6 ■ 89076 47144
2
Vol. 87, No. 11
PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
"Social work makes that possible by allowing me to be the ‘bridge'
between the school, community and families we serve."
Latonia Johnson
Perquimans Schools Chief Academic Officer of Student Services
Planting Seeds
in the Lives of Others
Johnson talks about being a
social worker
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
National School Social
Work Week is this week,
so the Perquimans Weekly
wanted to touch base with
Latonia Johnson, who has
worked 23 years as a social
worker.
Perquimans Schools Chief
Academic Officer of Student
Services Kanika Griffin sent
me this tip Saturday morning
- much appreciated.
Johnson has served 14
years with Perquimans Coun
ty Schools - last 12 years
as a school social worker/
homeless coordinator or liai
son along with two years as
a school-based mental health
counselor.
A licensed clinical social
worker, Johnson has earned
a bachelor’s degree in Social
Work/Sociology from Eliza
beth City State University,
a master’s degree in Social
Work: Norfolk State Univer
sity, and a doctoral degree in
Human Services from Capel
la University.
Remember Rolling Stone
magazine when it was rele
vant. Well, let’s do Rolling
Stone question and answer
format
Why do you want to be a
social worker?
I feel that my gifts are to
foster relationships and pro
vide support to others out
side of the traditional teach-
NTSB: Pilot May Have Shut Off Wrong Engine
4, including pilot, killed in 2017
helicopter crash in Belvidere
*
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — The pilot of a
Duke Life Flight helicopter that
crashed in northeastern North
Carolina in 2017 may have acci
dentally shut off one of the air
craft’s engines just before the sec
ond malfunctioning engine failed,
federal investigators said.
An investigation by the Nation
al Transportation Safety Board
suggested pilot Jeff Burke likely
got confused by an array of emer
gency indicators about a problem
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans Schools’ social worker Latonia Johnson is in the
spotlight during this week’s National School Social Work Week.
For 23 years Johnson has worked as a social worker with the past
14 years serving the school system.
er role. Social work makes
that possible by allowing me
to be the “bridge” between
the school, community, and
families we serve.
Describe, in general
See JOHNSON, A3
with one of the engines, news
sources reported Friday. In then-
final report on the crash, which
was released last month, NTSB
investigators said damaged roller
bearings in the No. 2 engine likely
caused the engine to malfunction
during flight.
The helicopter was en route
to Duke University Hospital in
Durham from Sentara Albemarle
Medical Center in Elizabeth City
on Sept. 8, 2017, when it crashed
in a grassy field outside the town
of Belvidere on the Gates-Perqui
mans county line. In addition to
Burke, flight nurses Kris Harrison
See PILOT, A3
Round-up
Chili
Dawgs and
Crossroads
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all things Perqui
mans County...
. Perquimans County
Board of Elections Director
Holly Hunter has resigned to take
a new job in Virginia, according to
County Manager Frank Heath.
Her last day was Thursday, March
4.
Hunter started part-time in 2016
and full-time in 2018 at the Board
of Elections. Newspaper has asked
the Board of Elections for Hunter’s
letter of resignation.
There is no word as yet as to
who is/will be serving as interim
director of the Board of Elections.
In other news, Hertford Town
Clerk Lashonda Cartwright of
Bertie County has tendered her
resignation after only a few weeks
on the job. Her last day was Feb.
27. Newspaper has asked for her
letter of resignation.
Before Cartwright’s hire, she
worked as an administrative assis
tant at the Windsor-Bertie Chamber
of Commerce.
Prior to Cartwright, Town Clerk
Shoniqua Powell resigned in Sep
tember.
After Powell resigned, Town
Manager Pam Hurdle served as
clerk until Catrwright was hired.
To date, Hertford Town Hall is
seeking a new police chief, public
works director and now a town
clerk.
In November, Public Works
Director Dwan Bell was hired as
Elizabeth City’s Public Utilities
Director. In February, Police Chief
Dennis Brown was hired by the
City of Hamlet; his last day with
Hertford being March 31.
Speaking of Town Hall, I need to
clarify that Hertford is not neces
sarily going to eliminate its police
See ROUND-UP, A3
KEITH BAKER/WRAL
This aerial view shows the wreckage of a Duke Health System
medical helicopter that crashed near Belvidere, Friday, Sept. 8,
2017. Four people, including the pilot, were killed.