The
QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door”
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2023
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PAGE 2
Masons fund
raise for youth
camp trip
PAGE 3
Conner,
Russell earn
Honeyblue-Tol-
son, Byrum
scholarships
PAGE 6
Lady Pirates
knock off
Knights in 2nd
round of playoffs
District has unpaid fines, but not discharging raw sewage
Flores: No discharge from
Minzies Creek into canal
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — As state
environmental officials
pursue action to recover
$152,000 in unpaid fines as
sessed against the Minzies
Creek Sanitary District,
its officials are getting the
word out that none of those
penalties resulted from dis
charge of untreated waste-
water.
Standing next to the treat
ment plant on Friday, May
12, Minzies Creek Sanitary
District Commissioner Dan
iel Flores said the plant has
never discharged untreated
wastewater — raw sewage
— into a nearby canal.
The Minzies Creek plant
is designed for a treatment
of capacity of 30,000 gallons
of wastewater a day, but
actually processes 3,000 gal
lons or less each day, Flores
said.
Flores said that while the
plant has sometimes been
cited for violations, those
have never involved dis
charging raw sewage into
canals.
Officials with the state’s
Division of Water Resourc
es have told The Daily Ad
vance that some of the vi
olations involve discharge
of water that has not been
treated fully according to
pennit requirements.
Although no specific fish
kills or algal blooms are
known to have been linked
to the violations, DWR of
ficials say that falling short
of treatment requirements
could result in fish kills or
the growth of algal blooms.
Flores noted that there
are numerous chemicals
and compounds that are
subject to state-mandated
limits and testing, and some
of those levels may be ex
ceeded at some times.
“It’s an important process
and there is testing for ev
erything,” Flores said.
N.C. Division of Water
Resources spokeswoman
Anna Gurney said last week
that the Minzies Creek San
itary District’s unpaid civil
penalties total $152,256, in
volving violations from 1992
to this past January.
“Penalties paid total
$2,079, so a total of pen
alties assessed would be
$156,199.51,” Gurney said.
“In addition Minzies Creek
paid a $2,000 penalty as part
of a Special Order by Con
sent in 2016.”
Gurney said DWR refers
unpaid penalties to the NC
Attorney General’s Office
for collection as set forth in
state statute.
See CREEK, A6
REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Minzies Creek Sanitary District Commissioner Daniel
Flores holds a container of treated wastewater
next to the district’s treatment plant on Friday, May
12. Although the district owes the state more than
$152,000 in unpaid fines, the fines are not for
discharging raw sewage into a nearby canal, Flores said.
Author! Author!
Patrol: Edenton
man hit, killed
walking on US 17
VERNON FUESTON/CHOWAN HERALD
D.F. Walker teacher Latavia Thomas (left) holds a copy of the book, “Finding Out Fifth Grade,” and poses with its
authors: fifth-graders at the school. The students recently penned a book of essays on the challenges and stresses
of fifth grade that was published by Student Treasures.
Walker 5th-graders pen book of essays
‘Finding Out Fifth Grade’
details challenges, stresses
BY VERNON FUESTON
Staff Writer
EDENTON — Latavia
Thomas said she could see
the difference in her incom
ing class of fifth-graders this
year at D.F. Walker Elemen
tary School in Edenton. Af
ter two years of pandemic
lockdowns, her students
were behind emotionally,
socially and academically.
“Post-COVID, I was find
ing that a lot of students
were struggling to connect,
both socially and emotion
ally, even for basic human
relationships like they expe
rienced pre-COVID, their in
teractions with each other,”
Thomas said.
When her students test
ed at 40 percent on reading
skills at the beginning of the
year, Thomas said she found
that unacceptable. A score
of 40 percent meant that
only 40 out of 100 students
scored higher on the test
than the mean test score. A
score of 50 percent would
mean her students were, on
average, at grade level.
Thomas’ students needed
to increase their proficiency
in language arts and learn how
to work collaboratively at the
same time if they were going
to overcome the learning defi
cits caused by COVID-related
lockdowns and periods of re
mote schooling.
So Thomas partnered with
a company called Student
Treasures to publish a book of
her students’ essays and art
work. The company gave her
two options: the class could
publish their book online, or
they could go to the trouble
and expense of printing a pa
per book.
Thomas chose the book.
“I always tell them there is
nothing like reading a book
you can hold in your own two
hands,” Thomas said.
She said there is a differ
ence between reading from
a screen and reading from a
physical book. That is why
she encourages her students
to read both ways.
Most kids get more than
enough screen time, so they
are used to reading things on
the internet But Thomas said
she encourages her students
to check out books from the
See WALKER, A6
Patrol: Cooper stepped into
roadway, struck by vehicle
From staff reports
HERTFORD — A
36-year-old Chowan Coun
ty man was struck and
killed by a vehicle after
stepping into traffic on
U.S. Highway 17 in Per
quimans County Tuesday,
May 9, the N.C. Highway
Patrol said.
Torry Cooper, 36, of
Edenton, was pronounced
dead at the scene near U.S.
17 and N.C. Highway 37
in southern Perquimans
Comity, said patrol Sgt.
Blake Fisher.
The accident occurred
in the northbound lane of
U.S. 17 not far from the
Chowan County line just
after 5:30 p.m. May 9. Ac
cording to Fisher, Cooper
stepped into the highway
Food trucks OK’d
at Colonial Park one
Sunday a month
and was struck by an on-
coming vehicle.
Fisher said the High
way Patrol is still trying to
understand why Cooper
was walking along U.S.
17. There were no vehicles
parked on the shoulder or
other signs to suggest why
he might have been there,
he said.
“At this time we’re not
sure why he was in the
road,” Fisher said.
No charges will be filed
against the driver of the ve
hicle, Morgan Chase, 25, of
Hertford, Fisher said.
Perquimans Emer
gency Services said in a
press release Tuesday,
May 9, that the county’s
911 center received mul
tiple calls around 5:41
p.m. of a vehicle striking
a pedestrian. Deputies
were the first to arrive
See PEDESTRIAN, A6
Hughes went from pitmaster to eatery owner
Council OKs health policy
renewal, timber sale at airport
Old Colony Smokehouse owner
spoke at History for Lunch
BY PAUL NIELSEN
The Daily Advance
Attendees received a
treat both during and after
last Wednesday’s History
for Lunch program at the
Museum of the Albemarle in
Elizabeth City.
First they got to hear pit-
master Adam Hughes detail
his journey from traveling
the country competing in
weekend barbecue compe
titions to opening the popu
lar Old Colony Smokehouse
6 " 89076 47144
Vol. 88, No. 20
WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
restaurant in Edenton with
wife, Elizabeth, in 2019. '
Then they were treated to
a free barbecue lunch cour
tesy the Hughes’ Old Colony
Smokehouse.
Hughes’ passion as a pit-
master started in college
at East Carolina University
when he pulled an old grill
from a dumpster and start
ed cooking for Elizabeth
— who he was dating at the
time — and friends.
Hughes graduated from
ECU and began a career in
construction management.
But he continued to grill
on the weekends while al
ways looking to perfect his
recipes while always
seeking out new ones.
Hughes entered
2 his first pitmaster
competition in 2015
in Richmond, Va.
and despite finishing
See HUGHES, A6
PAUL NIELSEN/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Old Colony Smokehouse co-owner Adam Hughes
discusses his journey from traveling pitmaster contest
competitor to Edenton restaurant owner during the
History for Lunch program at Museum of the Albemarle,
Wednesday, May 10.
BY VERNON FUESTON
Staff Writer
EDENTON — Edento-
nians and visitors will be
able to sample food from
food trucks at Colonial
Park one Sunday a month
this summer.
Town Council approved
the idea at its meeting
last week, with members
expressing pleasure that
another vendor will be ca
tering to Edenton’s visitors
during the summer months.
Councilors also agreed
to renew the town’s health
insurance programs for
employees following a re
port from Lynne Goodman
of One Digital, the compa
ny negotiating the policy’s
renewal.
Goodman said the town
will see a 4 percent in
crease health insurance
costs, but said she also ne
gotiated an $11,000 credit
for the town. Dental insur
ance will go up 4.5 percent,
she said.
Councilors seemed
pleased, saying the cost
was less than they had ex
pected.
“Thank God for good
news” First Ward Council
man Hackney High said.
The proposal was pre
sented to council on April
24 and unanimously ac
cepted at its May 9 meeting.
Council also approved
natural gas easements for
the alleys on Norcross and
East Edenton streets. The
additional service is being
added at the request of lo
cal downtown businesses,
but it was unclear which
companies will be taking
advantage of the service.
Councilors also ap
proved the sale of timber
on a 24-acre parcel of
land the town owns on
the east side of the air
port. The standing trees
are being cleared to allow
See COUNCIL, A6