SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 2023 $1.50 1 ¥ “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.

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