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Tri-County Animal
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PAGE Bl
Cheerleaders
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PAGE B5
Puzzles
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Mayor Rejects Jackson's Disruption of Meeting
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Monday’s four-hour Hertford
Town Council meeting started off
raw with Councilman Quentin Jack-
son and Mayor Earnell Brown en
gaged in verbal combat
When Jackson started playing
Sam Cooke’s “A change is gonna
come” over his microphone, Brown
countered that the loud music was
disrupting the meeting and she
asked Jackson - again - to stop.
When Jackson didn’t stop, Brown
asked Hertford Police Chief Edwin
Roman to remove Jackson.
“Please respect this meeting,”
Brown said to Jackson. “I am the offi-
ciator of this meeting and we will not
do that again, so if I have to ask a third
time - according to the regulations...”
During these heated delibera
tions, Chief Roman escorted Jack-
son outside for a few minutes.
Later, Jackson cut Brown off
as he said the rules from the UNC
School of Government state that the
mayor does not have the power to
eject a councilman from a meeting.
He said his music is not disrupting
the meeting.
Speaking over Brown, Jackson
called the mayor an “Uncle Tom”
twice. Brown countered that Jack-
son was completely disrupting the
meeting.
Jackson responded by saying,
“I’m not disrupting nothing.”
Brown reminded Jackson that
disrupting a council meeting is con
sidered a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Mayor asked Jackson again if he
could turn his music down or off.
When Jackson ignored her,
Brown asked councilors to turn up
their microphones.
As council discussed approving
the minutes from previous council
meetings, Jackson’s music stopped
playing but that didn’t dampen his
resolve to disrupt the meeting.
Jackson asked if “racist” com
ments said about him would be in
cluded in the official record.
Jackson accused Brown of calling
him a “special needs person” during
See MEETING, A3
Gas
Prices on
the Rise
BY STAFF, SUBMITTED
REPORTS
Perquimans County res
idents waited at local gas
stations Monday event to
fill up on gasoline in light
of a cyber-attack that shut
down a gas line.
The price of regular
gas rose 10 cents over the
course of 24 hours during
the weekend, and was $2.64
cents at the Duck-Thru in
Edenton Sunday morning.
At 6:22 p.m. Monday, the
price of regular gas at the
Exxon in downtown Eden
ton was $2.79.
Meanwhile in Hertford
around 7 p.m. Monday, gas
was $2.95 per gallon at the
Exxon.
In response to the tem
porary shutdown of the Co
lonial Pipeline, Governor
Roy Cooper Monday signed
an Executive Order declar
ing a state of emergency in
North Carolina and tem
porarily suspending motor
vehicle fuel regulations to
ensure adequate fuel sup
ply supplies throughout the
PHOTOS BY MILES LAYTON/
Retired Major League Baseball star Darryl Strawberry (center/back row/red shirt) spoke to students
and staff last week at Perquimans High School.
Major League Star shares
inspiring faith journey
HPD’s
Future
Discussed
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
The Hertford Police Department
is down to two officers and the po
lice chief—less than half the num
ber of officers it employed during
much of2020.
Hertford town officials acknowl
edged the dramatic decrease in the
police department’s staffing during a
community forum Friday organized
by Town Councilor Frank Norman.
The purpose of the forum was
to update citizens on a proposal by
town officials to study dissolving the
See HPD, A3
See GAS, A3
PHOTO BY CONNIE BROTHERS
Gas prices in Hertford,
Edenton and in places near
and far increased sharply over
the weekend in the wake of
a cyber-attack on a major
pipeline.
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Former MLB star Darryl
Strawberry visited Perquim
ans High School and Piney
Woods Friends to give spiri
tual advice that served to in
spire and fortify the sould.
Strawberry spoke to Pi
rates’ students and Fellow
ship of Christian Athletes
during his speech Wednesday
(May 5) at the high school. He
gave them good life advice
about how to make the right
decisions instead of pursuing
dead ends that can lead to
ruin.
Wednesday evening, hun
dreds of people attended
Strawberry’s rally at Piney
Woods Friends. He shared
his spiritual journey; rich but
poor in faith; then his rise to
God’s grace. Holding a Bi
ble, Strawberry asked people
to approach the front porch
where he was speaking. Folks
gathered to embrace the light
and Christ’s love; a moment of
grace and salvation for many.
Pastor Strawberry asks people to approach the front porch and
embrace Christ’s love and salvation at Piney Woods Friends in
Belvidere. Several hundred people from across northeastern
North Carolina attended the spiritual revival.
Round-up
Turtles
and Peter
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
round-up of all things Per
quimans County...
Remember when there
used to be a turtle log near the
S-Bridge where the creatures
would sun themselves while
See ROUND-UP, A6
PHOTO BY CONNIE BROTHERS
For more about Straw- web page at chowanherald.
berry’s time in Perquimans com and/or perquimansweek-
County, see the newspaper’s ly.com
Peter Williams, former editor of
The Perquimans Weekly, died
July 25. He was 63.
Mayor Pro Tern Cited for Trespassing
Former Editor’s Funeral
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A Hertford town councilor
has been cited by the town’s
police department for trespass
ing.
Councilor Ashley Hodges,
the council’s mayor pro tern,
6 1 89076 47144
2
Vol. 87, No. 20
www.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
HODGES
and his wife
Sonya were
cited April 13
for 2nd-degree
trespassing, ac
cording to Per
quimans court
documents.
The cita
tion written by
Detective H.
Chitwood accuses the Hodg
eses of trespassing on April 2
at 12:25 p.m. but doesn’t state
where the alleged trespassing
took place.
Reached Thursday, Ashley
Hodges said he doesn’t com
ment on pending legal matters.
Second-degree trespassing
is classified as a Class 3 misde
meanor, according to state law.
Convictions carry a maximum
of 20 days in jail and a $200
fine.
Hodges is the second Hert
ford councilor to be cited or
charged by Hertford police
with trespassing in the past
three months.
On Jan. 28, Councilman Jer
ry Mimlitsch was charged with
misdemeanor second-degree
trespassing and breaking and
See CITED, A3
Former editor of the Perquimans Weeky, Peter Williams was
beloved by all. His funeral was held Tuesday.