SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2023 $1.50
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“News from Next Door"
0 SCAN ME
PAGE 2
2022 playoff
run gives Pirates
something to
build on
PAGE 4
Sheridan: Every
day’s a dog day, no
matter the temp or
season
PAGE 5
Throckmorton:
The 14 eras of
the Bible, Part I
Winfall election candidates eye new post-Yates era
Mayoral, council hopefuls
weigh in on town's future
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Candidates for mayor and
town council in this fall’s
Winfall election offered
varying views when asked
recently about the town’s
impending transition to a
new era following longtime
Mayor Fred Yates’ decision
CUNNINGHAM ORMOND RICHARDSON RITTER
to not seek re-election.
Yates, who has been the
town’s mayor — and guid
ing force — since the ear ¬
ly 1990s, decided not to
file for a new term during
the recently ended filing
period. Two candidates,
Pres
ton
White
and
Jim
mie
Ritter
Jr.,
filed
WHITE t o
S U C -
ceed him.
Besides White and Ritter,
The Perquimans Weekly
also asked three candidates
seeking the two open seats
on the Winfall Town Coun
cil — Christopher Richard
son, Cynthia Gayle White
Cunningham and Arnetta
Ormond — the following
question: “With longtime
Mayor Fred Yates not seek
ing reelection, how might
that change how town gov
ernment in Winfall oper
ates? What should change
or not change in how the
town is run?” Their re
sponses follow:
Mayor
White: “Change opens
your mind to new ideas. It
makes you question the sta
tus quo and gives you the
willingness to to go against
convention. Adaptable peo
ple aren’t scared of change
as they will first make neces
sary plans to handle it. The
world is changing in many
ways. Some of the changes
See ELECTION, A3
Ammo for opioid fight
REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Trillium Health Resources Community Liaison Tracey Webster (second from left) and Trillium Northern Area Director
Bobbie Lowe (second from right) present a check for $9,868.32 to Perquimans County Emergency Services
officials Monday to replenish the county’s stock of the lifesaving medicine Narcan. Flanking the Trillium officials are
Emergency Services Director Jonathan Nixon (left), Perquimans Mobile Integrated Healthcare Coordinator Bethany
Buttram (center) and Perquimans Assistant Emergency Services Director Julie Solesbee (right).
Open Door gets
$97.7K grant for
new equipment
Freezers, other equipment
will be used in new facility
BY JULIAN EURE
AND REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writers
HERTFORD — The
Golden LEAF Foundation
has awarded The Open
Door Food Pantry of Per
quimans County nearly
$100,000 to use purchasing
new freezers, refrigerators
and other equipment for its
still-under-renovation new
facility expected to open
early next year.
The board of directors
for the Rocky Mount-based
nonprofit said Thursday
that the $97,774 grant to
The Open Door was one of
24 grants totaling $2.78 mil
lion being awarded during
the first round of funding
from its Food Distribution
Assistance Program. The
remaining $7.22 million
from the program will be
awarded at the board’s De
cember meeting, the agen
cy said.
Dina Hurdle, chair of
The Open Door Food Pan
try of Perquimans County
Board of Directors, said
the agency’s board and
volunteers were “elated”
about the grant and offered
the Golden LEAF board its
See DOOR, A3
DSS board to
expand to five
Trillium $9K grant to help restock Narcan
Narcan helps responders,
families reverse overdoses
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Trillium Health Resourc
es has awarded Perquimans
County Emergency Services
more than $9,000 to enable
the agency to restock life-
saving Narcan for distribu
tion to local first respond
ers and trained community
members.
“Hopefully it will save a
lot of lives,” Trillium North
ern Area Director Bobbie
Lowe said Monday.
Bethany Buttram, co
ordinator of Mobile Inte
grated Healthcare for Per
quimans County, said that
when emergency medical
staff respond to an opioid
overdose they encourage a
family member — or some
one else close to the person
who has overdosed—to get
trained in how to administer
Narcan. Once the person
has been trained, ^arcan is
made available to that per
son so they can provide life-
saving emergency response
in the event of another over
dose.
And the lifesaving an
tidote is available to con
cerned members of the
community who request it,
she said.
“Anybody who asks for it,
we give it to them and make
sure they know how to use
it,” Buttram explained.
All county fire depart
ments have Narcan avail
able and Perquimans Coun
ty Sheriffs Office deputies
carry it with them. It’s also
on-site at county buildings
where there are automat
ed electronic defibrillators
present, and discussions are
underway with Perquimans
County Schools officials
about having it on-hand at
schools.
“That’s a really big deal,”
Lowe said of the discussion
with school officials.
Perquimans County
Emergency Services Direc
tor Jonathan Nixon said
that administration of Nar
can and implementation
of hands-only CPR are the
difference between life and
See GRANT, A3
Woodard: Move follows DSS
oversight trend across state
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — Perqui
mans County is increas
ing the size of its social
services board from three
members to five.
The Perquimans County
Board of Commissioners
voted unanimously Mon
day night to make the lo
cal social service board
a five-member board —
the most common board
makeup across the state.
Commissioner Charles
WOODARD
Wo o d -
ard, who
currently
serves as a
county ap
pointee on
the social
services
board,
cited the
statewide
trend of five-member
boards in proposing the
switch.
Woodard said Perquim
ans should follow the prac
tice of most other counties
and move to a five-mem
ber social services board.
See BOARD, A2
Local man faces
child sex charges
Possible school site still a mystery
BY JULIAN EURE
Managing Editor
HERTFORD — A Perqui
mans County man is facing
charges he took indecent lib
erties and engaged in a sex
act with a child late last year.
Michael Andrews, 42,
6 1 89076 47144
Vol. 88, No. 32
WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
of the 200
block of
Cartwright
Swamp
Road, Hert
ford, was
arrested
July 31 fol
lowing his
i n -
ANDREWS
dict-
ment by a grand jury.
2 Andrews was in
dicted July 17 on two
felony counts of tak
ing indecent liberties
See CRIME, A3
High: More than one site
being considered for school
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — Perqui
mans County officials may
soon have a public an
nouncement of a proposed
site for the county’s new
intermediate school.
Perquimans County
Manager Frank Heath said
recently that he hopes “to
have an announcement
soon” regarding the site.
Perquimans county and
school officials are looking
at a potential site for the
new school but are not dis
closing the location.
The Perquimans Board
of Education met in closed
session at its July 21 meet
ing. Before entering the
closed session, board mem
bers indicated their interest
in discussing a potential
site for building the new
school.
Asked last week about
the location of the potential
site, Perquimans County
Schools officials referred
questions to Heath, stating:
“That is in the hands of the
county commissioners.”
When asked about the
location, Heath responded:
“Any sites are subject to
internal negotiations, so I
am not at liberty to discuss
those at this time.”
State law allows local
governing boards to meet
in closed session for spe
cific purposes, including
“to establish, or to instruct
the public body’s .staff or
negotiating agents con
cerning the position to be
taken by or on behalf of the
public body in negotiating
(i) the price and other ma
terial terms of a contract or
proposed contract for the
acquisition of real proper
ty by purchase, option, ex
change, or lease.”
The Perquimans Weekly
asked Hackney High, coun
ty attorney for Perquimans,
whether the location and
ownership of the property
in question should be con
sidered “material terms” un
der that provision of the law.
High told the newspaper
Monday that the county’s
position is that it’s legal and
appropriate for the board
not to disclose the location
at this time. He did confirm
that more than one site was
under consideration.
In September of last year
the Perquimans County
Schools was awarded a
state needs-based school
facilities grant of nearly $37
million for a new school to
serve grades 3-8.
The new school would
replace Hertford Grammar
School and Perquimans
Middle School.