QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Doof'
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 $1.50
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PAGE 2
Vidant Chowan
gives $5K to Open
Door Food Pantry
PAGE 7
Pirates stay
unbeaten with
wins over Aces,
Manteo,
Camden
PAGE 9
Regalia dress
highlight of
‘Guardians of
the Land’
4 GOP hopefuls in new congressional district stump in EC
Murphy, Roberson, Aiken,
Smith address Pasquotank PAC
BY PAUL NIELSEN
The Daily Advance
ELIZABETH CITY — Four of
the eight Republican candidates
seeking their party’s nomination
in the state’s new 1st Congressio
nal District that includes Perquim
ans County attended a candidates
forum in Elizabeth City last week.
Brad Murphy, Brent Roberson,
Will Aiken and Sandy Smith all
took part in the forum hosted by
the conservative Pasquotank Po
litical Action Committee at Towne
South Church of Christ. Around
75 people attended the event.
Four other candidates — Sandy
Roberson, Ernest Reeves, Henry
Williams II and Billy Strickland
— are also running in the May 17
GOP primary. They did not attend
Tuesday’s forum.
Democrats Julian Bishop, Ja
son Albert Spriggs, state Sen. Don
Davis and former state Sen. Erica
Smith are seeking their party’s
nomination in the May 17 primary.
Incumbent U.S. House Rep.
G.K. Butterfield is not seeking
re-election after serving nine
terms representing the 1st Dis
trict. Butterfield announced his
plan to retire after GOP lawmak
ers, who hold the majority in the
Legislature, drew the 1st District
to include more Republican-lean
ing voters. The district has since
been redrawn to be more Demo-
crat-leaning after critics success
fully challenged all of the state’s
congressional districts as an ex
treme partisan gerrymander.
The new 1st Congressional
District comprises 18 full corm-
ties and one partial county in
northeastern North Carolina. The
counties include Bertie, Chow
an, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates,
Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Martin,
Nash, Northampton, Pasquotank,
See GOP, A3
PAUL NIELSEN/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Republican 1st District U.S. House candidate Sandy Smith answers
a question during a candidates forum hosted by the Pasquotank
Political Action Committee Tuesday, March 8, in Elizabeth City. GOP
1st District candidates (l-r) Brad Murphy, Brent Roberson and Will
Aiken also took part in the event.
Cub Scouts Pack ’em in
JOHN FOLEY PHOTO
Zachary Garden, Kit Cornish and Paige Scheidler prepare take-out meals at the Cub Scout Pack 150 pancake
and sausage breakfast Saturday at United Methodist Church in Hertford. The Scouts served nearly 200
breakfasts during the fundraiser and recruiting event. See additional photos from Saturday’s breakfast on A6.
Board to consider
2 Libertarians for
commission seat
Richardson, Finch-Copeland
submit letters of interest
BY JULIAN EURE
Staff Writer
Perquimans commission
ers will have two choices
when they meet next week
to discuss filling a vacant
commissioner seat with a
registered Libertarian voter.
Christopher Richardson,
who works as a senior op
erations research reliability
data analyst at U.S. Coast
Guard Base Elizabeth City,
submitted a letter to County
Manager Frank Heath last
week, expressing interest
in the vacancy created by
former commissioner Alan
Lennon’s recent resignation.
Thelma Finch-Copeland,
a retired public school
teacher, submitted a letter
to Heath earlier this month,
also expressing interest in
the seat.
Richardson and Thelma
Finch-Copeland were the
only two Libertarians regis
tered in the county who re
sponded to the county’s re
quest for a letter of interest
in the vacancy, Heath said
Monday. Because Lennon
was a registered Libertari
an when he won election,
state law requires that he be
replaced with a registered
Libertarian.
Typically commissioners
See BOARD, A3
Harrell named new
Workshop to discuss biz safety, security
Extension director
Two-hour event will be at
PCHS media center Tuesday
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
While most consumers
are familiar with home se
curity and safety measures,
that’s not always the case
with business owners.
And while business
crime in Hertford is not a
major concern, security
and preparedness are top
ics local public safety agen
cies think business owners
should be familiar with.
It’s why they’re hosting
WHITE
media center.
a securi
ty work
shop for
business
owners
on Tues
day at the
Perquim
ans Coun
ty High
School
Sponsored by the Perqui
mans County Sheriffs Of
fice and Perquimans Coun
ty Emergency Services, the
two-hour workshop, which
starts at 6p.m., will high
light safety essentials every
business owner should re
member, but often forget.
“Our goal is to have a
proactive approach to the
crimes in our communi
ty versus reacting once a
crime has occurred,” Sher
iff Shelby White said.
While many of the work
shop topics may make
common sense — does
your business have a sur
veillance or alarm system?
Do you have an evacuation
plan? — the day-to-day
challenges business own
ers face frequently move
safety and security con
cerns to the back burner.
The workshop is de
signed to offer more than
a “turn on the alarm, lock
the door” policy prescrip
tions found in an employee
manual. The workshop will
highlight evacuation plans, I
ways to shelter in place,
what to do in medical emer
gencies, how to respond in
fire emergencies, and how
to identify hazards and re
spond to specific threats |
like severe weather.
White also plans to dis- i
cuss online security mea- I
sures businesses should
take to defend themselves
from cyber attacks and
criminals.
See WORKSHOP, A3
Harrell will continue to serve
as area livestock expert
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
You might say the new
est director of Cooperative
Extension in Perquimans
County is homegrown.
Jared Harrell, a county
native, was recently named
director of Cooperative
Extension in Perquimans,
succeeding Jewell Winslow,
who retired last August.
Harrell, who holds a
bachelor’s degree in ani
mal science and a master’s
HARRELL
degree in
agricultural
and Exten
sion educa
tion, most
recently
worked as
the area
livestock
agent,
serving a
three-county area that in
cludes Perquimans, Chow
an and Gates since 2010.
“I’ve been tagging cattle
in Gates County all morn
ing, preparing for the up
coming livestock shows,”
See HARRELL, A3
American Legion to honor Vietnam vets with open house
2022 marks 50th year since US
involvement in Vietnam War ended
BY JOHN FOLEY
Correspondent
American Legion Post 126 will
honor local Vietnam veterans in
Hertford next weekend during an
open house marking the 50th anni-
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Vol. 87, No. 11
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versary of the end to the Vietnam
War.
While most of the post’s work
is typically related to fundraising
or community service, the open
house on Saturday, March 26, is
“specifically to honor those who
served,” says Gary Kollman, event
organizer and a post member.
“I have stressed to our member
ship that we need to do this,” Koll
man said. “This is all about those
who served during that period
whether they were in Southeast
Asia or not.”
According to Kollman, American
Legion Post 126 has just over 140
members and more than half — 80
— are Vietnam War-era veterans.
Organizers have scheduled a
brief program to recognize those
Vietnam veterans in attendance at
the open house, which will be at
111 West Academy St., Hertford,
from noon until 3 p.m.
Besides words of appreciation
from Kollman and other post
members, Vietnam veterans in at
tendance will be given a special
Vietnam lapel pin issued by the
U.S. Department of Defense.
Perquimans County, Hertford
and Winfall officials have been in
vited to attend, as have represen
tatives from the N.C. Division of
Veterans Affairs.
“We will be setting up a
booth display and will have
See VETS, A3
SUBMITTED PHOTO
American Legion Post 126 in Hertford will host an open house
commemorating the end to the Vietnam War and honoring those
who served in the war on Saturday, March 26.