QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door”
SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 2023
$1.50
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O
CMS
@ SCAN ME
PAGE 2
Perquimans High
School’s Blanchard
moving to ECPPS
PAGE 6
Lady Pirates’
season again
ends in playoffs’
third round
PAGE 7
Throckmorton:
Ducking jury duty,
voting leaves our
democracy in
default
First electric chargers in county close to operational
AEMC hopes to have slow,
fast chargers ready in spring
BY TYLER NEWMAN
Staff Writer
The first electric vehicle
chargers in Perquimans
County will soon be opera
tional at Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation,
courtesy of funding from
North Carolina’s share of
the national Volkswagen
Settlement Program.
The electric membership
cooperative, headquartered
in Winfall, is currently in
stalling two ChargePoint
pedestals in its north park
ing lot at 125 Cooperative
Way, just off U.S. Highway
17. One will feature a fast
charging port, the other a
slow charging port.
The difference between
the two chargers is that
slow charging stations take
several hours to charge an
electric vehicle battery to
maximum capacity while
fast charging stations can
boost a battery to about 80
percent in approximately 30
minutes.
“The slow charger will
have two charging ports,
and the fast charger will
have one charging port,”
AEMC spokesman Chris
Powell said. “The Charge-
Point chargers can charge
several different models of
electric vehicles, including
Teslas.”
Powell said that Albe
marle EMC has been work
ing on the electric charging
project since August 2022.
Both chargers are being
partially paid for through
grants awarded by the N.C.
Department of Environ
mental Quality.
“For the slow charger, we
received an $8,000 grant,
and the total cost for char
ger and installation will
be an estimated $16,000,”
Powell explained. “For the
fast charger, we received a
$48,000 grant, and the total
cost for the charger and in
stallation is estimated to be
$93,000.”
See AEMC, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation plans to
install two new electric vehicle chargers this spring in
the north parking lot of AEMC’s headquarters in Winfall.
Revitalization jumpstart
Without town cops,
sheriffs office now
PHOTOS BY TYLER NEWMAN/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Ellis Everett (left) and James Williams work to complete the roof over an addition to a dilapidated house on South
Edenton Road Street in Hertford. Everett recently purchased the house and two others nearby. He plans to fix up
the houses and rent them to families and those struggling to make ends meet.
patrolling Winfall
Everett turning eyesores into housing
Shown are two of the three dilapidated homes Ellis
Everett purchased on the west side of Hertford. Everett
plans to fix up the houses and rent them to families
and those struggling to make ends meet.
Author Dunn weaves history into novels
Dunn discussed genealogy,
writing with Friends of Library
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Author Deborah Dunn
says finally living out her
long dream of writing nov
els has been a joyful expe
rience.
Dunn, who’s first book
was titled “The Coffins,”
said local historian Phil Mc
6 ■ 89076 47144
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Mullan’s nonfiction work,
“Beechland and The Lost
Colony,” helped inspire and
inform the book.
McMullan’s book men
tions coffins that were
discovered in the Alligator
River National Wildlife Ref
uge in the 1950s. The coffins
were made from canoes and
were thought to have con
tained the remains of colo
nists connected to the Lost
Colony, she said.
Addressing the Perqui
mans Friends of the
Library group Feb.
23, Dunn explained
2 that she came up
with a fictional story
about those coffins,
and chose to make
See DUNN, A3
Native: Restoring housing
for others lets him give back
BY TYLER NEWMAN
Staff Writer
Perquimans native Ellis
Everett is on a mission to
restore ^dilapidated homes
in his hometown, one nail at
a time.
An alumnus of both Per
quimans County High and
Elizabeth City State Uni
versity, Everett moved to
REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Deborah Dunn, author of “The Coffins” and “The Vessel,”
addresses the Friends of the Perquimans County Library
about her research and writing of historical novels, Feb.
23.
New York after he finished
school.
Now he’s returned home
to give back to the commu
nity he says raised him by
fixing up dilapidated homes
and renting them to fami
lies and those struggling to
make ends meet.
“I’m retiring in a year or
two, so I wanted to come ■
down and give people
something decent to live in,”
Everett said. “I’ve got some
See EVERETT, A3
White, Heath: No move by
Winfall to formalize services
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
WINFALL — The Per
quimans County Sheriff’s
Office is currently respond
ing to law enforcement
emergencies in Winfall
because the town doesn’t
have any law enforcement
officers.
“We are responding to
calls the same as we do
anywhere in the county,”
said Perquimans County
Sheriff Shelby White.
But unlike town officials
in neighboring Hertford,
Winfall town officials thus
far have not entered into
a formal contract with the
Perquimans County Sher-
See WINFALL, A3
PHOTO COURTESY INTER-COUNTY VFD
Inter-County Volunteer Fire Chief Michael Cartwright
(left) and Assistant Fire Chief A.J. Moore (right) pose
with J.R. Beard after he was named the department’s
Firefighter of the Year for 2022 at the department’s
annual banquet in January.
Beard Inter-County’s
Firefighter of Year
Overton, Hcwaid, Rountree also
honored at annual banquet
From staff reports
A captain with the In
ter-County Volunteer Fire
Department was recently
named the department’s
Firefighter of the Year for
2022.
J.R. Beard received the
honor during the depart
ment’s annual banquet in
late January.
The banquet was held
to honor current and for
mer Inter-County mem
bers for their service and
accomplishments over the
past year. The event was
attended by Inter-Coun ¬
WHITE
iffs Office
to provide
law en
forcement
services in
the town.
H e r t f
o r d offi
cials en
tered into
a contract
with the sheriffs office for
law enforcement services
nearly two years ago, in
July 2021.
According to its contract
with the county last year,
Hertford gave the sher
iffs office five additional
sworn officers — four road
deputies and an investiga
tor — plus an administra
tive employee. Those six
employees provide service
ty members and retirees,
their guests, and county
commissioners and county
managers from both Per
quimans and Pasquotank
counties.
Other honorees at the
Jan. 21 event included
Brandon Overton, who
was named Rookie of the
Year; Hunter Howard, who
was named Junior Fire-
fighter of the Year; and
Eugene Rountree Jr., who
was recognized for his
more than four decades of
fire service following his
recent retirement.
According to a press
release from Inter-County
VFD, the Firefighter of the
See VFD, A3