Monday, January 22, 2007

Ex-IDA Director Brought Back
To Face Charges

The former executive director of the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority will spend at least the rest of the month in Halifax Regional Jail after being returned to Virginia from Georgia to face 20 counts of child pornography offenses.
Kevin Scott Morris, 34, of Covington, Ga. and formerly of South Boston, was arrested Wednesday following a Jan. 8 grand jury that indicted Morris on one count of the possession of child pornography and 19 counts of the subsequent offense of the possession of child pornography.
Later that morning, Commonwealth’s Attorney Kim White said Morris had waived extradition and would be returned to the county to face a bond hearing Friday.
The possession charge carries a maximum of 5 years in prison and the subsequent possession charges each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to White.
According to the Commonwealth’s Attorney, South Boston investigators have been in Georgia since Tuesday in relation to the case.
The subjects of the alleged photos have been identified by prosecutors only as “young females,” White said. “No identification has been made on the photos, but we have no reason to believe they’re local,” she added.
According to White, current IDA Director Mike Eades and IDA Chairman Larry McPeters discovered the alleged photographs on a laptop computer owned by the IDA in December 2005 and immediately reported their findings to the South Boston Police Department.
“We had the computer evaluated by a forensic expert in the Richmond Police Department, but unfortunately our case was put on the ‘back burner’ because of the forensics necessary to complete a high-profile murder case,” White said.
During Friday’s bond hearing, Morris’ defense attorney Bill Watson told Circuit Court Judge William Wellons that Morris had been “very cooperative” with the arresting officers and had a stable home life in Georgia and should be granted bail.
“He has zero criminal record, he is married and owns a home in Georgia,” Watson said. “We’re asking that a reasonable bond be set.”
Morris pointed to the fact that Morris’ wife, parents and in-laws were in the courtroom to support the defendant.
“I believe I can state with accuracy that this gentleman has been uniformly cooperative in every aspect,” he said. “Will he appear for trial? Is he a danger to society? No. He simply looked at pictures. This man should be granted bond.”
But White maintained that without court supervision, Morris could re-offend while out on bail and out of the state.
“The nature of the Commonwealth’s objection to bond is each time child pornography is viewed, it provides an avenue for the exploitation of children,” she said. “We have no way to monitor his use of the Internet and given the nature of the evidence we have, it greatly concerns me that we can’t be sure he won’t continue to view this type of material.
According to White, the forensic examination of the computer revealed numerous images depicting child pornography.
She said the subsequent forensics report consisted of two images per printed page and the report was 1,100 pages.
“Some of those images could be considered child erotica,” White conceded, “but there were literally hundreds of images that would be classified as child pornography and depicted very young girls that appear to be between the ages of 8–11 years old.”
After hearing the testimony from the prosecution and defense, Wellons said the court needs more assurance Morris wouldn’t re-offend while out on bail.
“The nature of the charges are very, very serious,” he said. “ The Court understands the concern the Commonwealth has that one who is addicted to child pornography could continue and it certainly exploits children everywhere when a photo is viewed.
“The Court feels it needs more assurance and control,” he added. “We will not completely close the door to bond, but will give the defense the opportunity to develop a supervision plan.”
Wellons denied Morris bond but said the matter could be reviewed again on Jan. 30.

County Planners To Elect Officers, Hold Public Hearings Tuesday

Two public hearings, one for a telecommunications tower and the other for a recycling center, will lead the Halifax County Planning Commission’s agenda Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
The meeting will be held at Riverstone Technology Park, Building One, Conference Room B, due to a broken elevator at the Mary Bethune Complex
Leading the agenda is Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative’s application for a conditional use permit for a telecommunications tower, 190 feet in height, in District I. The tower would be located on the north side of Stage Coach Road (Rt. 40), east of Perth Road (Rt. 638).
The second public hearing addresses Emswiler Diesel Inc.’s application for a conditional use permit for a recycling center at 2171 Bill Tuck Highway.
During the Tuesday meeting, planners will also address organizational issues, electing a chairman and vice-chairman, designating a secretary and setting the meeting calendar for the year.
Planners will also be advised the Grace-Venable Community Center has withdrawn its permit application via letter to the Board of Supervisors. A proposed community center was to be located on Route 360 west of Halifax. However, at supervisors’ meeting last week, supervisors Doug Bowman and James Edmunds said the process of addressing community centers in county code should continue because the issue would likely surface again. The Board agreed to move forward with the zoning amendment and hold its scheduled public hearing.
During planners’ meeting tomorrow, there will also be a staff report on a request by Founders College to bring all the Berry Hill and Harris property into South Boston. Supervisors and South Boston Council agreed last week to hold a public hearing at their next joint meeting scheduled March 19. On Feb. 12, South Boston Council will vote on a request to rezone 223 acres already located within town limits from R-1 to planned development residential. Tamara Fuller, chief strategy office for Founders College Development, sought rezoning.
Staff will also address the following topics, the Board of Zoning Appeals, ABB variance, a land use workshop scheduled Feb. 22-23, and the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
Under new business, planners will address Boston Speedway and VIR’s 2007 operating schedules and a conditional use permit application from Robert H. Carter Jr. for an outdoor amusement/entertainment area - motor vehicle competitions (mud bog) on the south side of Chatham Road (Rt. 57) at the intersection of Cheerful Lane (Rt. 756) and Ridgeway Road (Rt. 675).

Panel Proposes ‘Superfund’

During their January meeting, Board members of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission voted to cash in the full share of future proceeds from the national tobacco settlement, effectively creating a “superfund” of on-hand cash to be distributed in Southside and Southwest Virginia.
While the decision is subject to approval by Gov. Tim Kaine, Tobacco Commission Executive Director Neal Noyes said there is no indication the move will be rejected by Kaine.
Pending approval by the governor, Noyes said the bonds could be issued as early as this spring. He added that daily market fluctuations will determine the exact dollar figure the sale will net.
The vote earlier this month is the second issuance of bonds secured by future proceeds from the national tobacco settlement.
In May 2005, Virginia became the first state to sell bonds backed by the settlement money, offering $448.3 million in tax-exempt bonds. Known as securitization, the sale netted the Commission around $389 million.
At the time, the 31-member panel issued only half of the expected proceeds of the settlement due to the fact that tax-exempt bonds are restricted to use for capital projects and couldn’t be used for other projects, according to Noyes.
“The decision will result in an unrestricted endowment of funds which affords the commission greater flexibility,” he said.
In order to retain the flexibility to use the funds as they see fit, the Commission will now issue taxable bonds that carry no use restrictions.
But local Commission members were split on the decision to issue taxable bonds.
State Sen. Frank Ruff said he voted for the move simply because he feels it was the best option for securing money for economic development.
“The market for the bonds is much better now than it was in 2005 and we made some money,” he said, adding that there is no guarantee of future funds in the current climate.
“It’s a question of the long-term situation regarding the number of people who continue to smoke,” he said. “There’s a continued decline that could affect our income in the future.”
The bottom line, Ruff said Friday, is securitization gives the Commission the funds to undertake larger economic development projects.
“Our problems are here now today and we need to have all the tools in our toolbox to revitalize the region,” he said.
But Del. Thomas Wright Jr. of Victoria, a Commission member, said he voted against the move in January, although he voted for securitization in 2005.
“There’s a good argument to be made for securitization, you’re taking a lump sum payment up front and know what you have,” he said. “It removes the uncertainty and you’ll have a large sum of money to work with. I can see the argument.”
But citing inadequacies in the distribution of the money between Southside and Southwest Virginia, he said Southside is receiving less than its fair share of the proceeds.
“From 1995 to 1998, Southside produced 77.2 percent of the region’s tobacco while Southwest produced only 22.8 percent,” he said. “The distribution of the settlement money should reflect that ratio.
“The reason I voted against it this time is because Southside isn’t getting its fair share of the money. If we get it in a lump sum, it’ll be spent quicker and Southside will lose money faster,” he added.
Wright also said he disagrees with the fact that “the Commission has no logical formula for dividing the funds between the Southside and Southwest regions.”
“It’s a complicated issue, but the bottom line is Southside Virginia is tobacco country,” Wright said.

Obituaries

Eunice Bomar Maddox

Eunice Bomar Maddox, 101, of Naruna died January 18, 2007, at Heritage Hall Nursing Home, Brookneal. She was the wife of the late Earnest Edward Maddox.
Mrs. Maddox was born in Campbell County February 4, 1905, daughter of the late John Peter Bomar and Louisa Hunter Bomar. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Brookneal Rebekah Lodge, and was owner of Maddox Motor Co. where she worked as a bookkeeper and clerk.
Survivors include two daughters, Marjorie M. Martin and husband, Lee, and Martha M. Owen; four grandchildren, Marvin Ray Owen and wife, Debbie, James Gregory Owen Sr. and wife, Casey, Angelia O. Smith and husband, Phillip, and Jason W. Owen, all of Naruna; six great-grandchildren, Vicki Sours, Kevin Owen, Brandon Owen, James Owen Jr., Heather Fisher, and Austin Fisher; two great-great-grandchildren, Devin Owen and Megan Owen; and one daughter-in-law, Peggy Maddox, of South Boston. One son, James Edward Maddox; and a son-in-law, Marvin B. Owen, preceded her in death.
Graveside services for Mrs. Maddox were held January 20, at 4 p.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery by the Rev. Johnny Roberts.

Hayward Thomas Barbour

Hayward Thomas Barbour, of Peaks Trail in Nathalie, died Saturday, January 20, at his home.
He was born on June 13, 1935 in Pittsylvania County the son of the late William Anderson and Barbour and Mary Farley Barbour and was 71 years old.
Mr. Barbour was born to Beulah Eanes Barbour, was retired from the shipping department of Sunshine Mills and was a retired farmer. He was a member of Mulberry Baptist Church, was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a member of the North Halifax Volunteer Fire Department.
Survivors include his wife; six daughters, Judy B. Rowland and husband Jerry of Nathalie, Tammy B. Holt and husband Carl of Nathalie, Barbara B. McCormick and husband Douglas of Halifax, Vickie B. Waller of Nathalie, Shirley B. Hodges and husband Alvin Jr. of Nathalie and Donna B. Short and husband Steve of Nathalie; three brothers, William Barbour of Massachusetts, Herman Barbour of Illinois and Lloyd Barbour of Mt. Airy, N.C.; three sisters, Rosa Barbour of Mt. Airy, N.C., Hazel Adkins of Chatham and Faye Haskins of Chatham; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. today, January 22, with services at the Mulberry Baptist Church with the Rev. Richard Saunders officiating.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home, 1171 Peaks Trail, Nathalie.
For memorials, please consider the Halifax Regional Hospice, 2204 Wilborn Avenue, South Boston, Va., 24592.
Online memorials may be directed to Powell@gcronline.com.

SBS Crowns Track Champions

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
It has been almost four months since Drew Herring wrapped up the 2006 South Boston Speedway NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car division championship.
Still, the young Benson, N.C. driver is just s excited as he was when he stepped out of his car following the season’s final points race last September.
“I can’t really describe or put into words what it means to me, my family and everybody that has been an instrumental part of this past season,” Herring said following South Boston Speedway’s annual awards ceremony.
“It’s my first series championship ever, and to do it at South Boston Speedway with the competition I had to race against this year, it’s unbelievable to me.”
Herring had a very good year in 2005, finishing as the runner-up to South Boston Speedway track champion and NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series National Champion Peyton Sellers.
He entered the 2006 season with high hopes of winning the track crown but encountered difficulties at the start of the season that saw him have a pair of seventh-place finishes as his best finishes in the first four races of the season.
“You couldn’t ask for a worst start,” Herring remarked.
“It was terrible.”
At the midway point of the season, Herring was 60 points out of the lead. Yet he staged a remarkable rally, winning nine of the season’s last 13 races and edging runner-up Owen Miller of Emporia by a mere dozen points.
At the end of the track’s points season, Herring had notched nine wins, 10 top-five finishes and 13 top ten finishes in his 17 starts.
“To win two or three races at South Boston Speedway in a season is a great year,” Herring pointed out.
“ To win nine of them and win five in a row is just astounding to me. I can’t believe it. I’m just ecstatic about it. I don’t know that I will ever get over it.”
Herring took home over $10,000 in prizes and awards Saturday night as South Boston Speedway officials feted the track’s top drivers and other honorees from the 2006 season by presenting over $60,000 in awards in awards and prizes.
In addition, Herring received the division’s Most Popular Driver Award as well as the division’s award for the most wins and top lap leader.
South Boston’s Bruce Anderson was crowned as the track’s Limited Sportsman Division champion and received $3,245 in awards and prizes.
Anderson also received the division awards for the most wins, most poles, the division lap leader award and the division’s Most Improved Driver Award.
The South Boston driver had an outstanding season in the Limited Sportsman division, scoring 10 wins and finishing outside of the top five only once in his 17 starts.
“You couldn’t have asked for a better season,” Anderson said.
“ We finished outside of the top five only once. It was a remarkable year. You don’t have that happen much.”
In winning the championship, Anderson has become one of only a small handful of South Boston-Halifax County drivers that have won a division championship at the local speedway.
“It’s awesome,” Anderson said.
“I grew up three miles from South Boston Speedway and I’ve watched a lot of people race here and move on to higher level. We race Limited Sportsman. We don’t race at the highest level, but to win a track championship here at South Boston is pretty awesome.”
Chuck Watkins of Stem, N.C. the Pure Stock Division champion, took home $1,845 in awards and prizes.
Watkins had a stellar season competing in the division that features four-cylinder sub-compact cars, scoring five wins and 16 top-five finishes in his 17 starts.
In addition to receiving the awards for the championship, Watkins also received the division’s awards for most race wins and most pole wins.
Jeremy Cook, the champion of the INEX Legends Cars division at South Boston Speedway in 2006, took home $1,165 in awards and prizes.
Cook won two of his five starts and finished in the top five in all five of his starts.
Motorsports Academy Honorees
South Boston Speedway officials and Halifax County School Superintendent Paul Stapleton crowned the champions of the inaugural season of go-kart racing staged under the auspices of the school system’s Motorsports Academy.
Cody Lawson, Brandon Bollinger and Luigi DiTommaso each were presented a $500 Mattiolib Foundation Scholarship Fund and an award plaque from South Boston Speedway.
The students will be able to cash-in the $500 award at the end of their senior year of high school and apply that money towards their college tuition.
Other Special Awards
Dolly Fallen, the wife of the late Floyd “Goo” Fallen, a Halifax County business owner and racing team owner, presented the annual “Goo” Fallen Spirit Award to Late Model Stock Car division competitor Jonathan Cash of Oxford, N.C.
Cash received a set of racing tires and an award plaque.
NASCAR representative Meghan Miley presented Ricky Johnson of Richmond the Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award. Johnson, the brother and crew chief of Late Model Stock Car division veteran driver Eddie Johnson, received a $100 from NASCAR, a $350 credit towards the purchase of Craftsman Tools and an award plaque from NASCAR.
DRIVERS RECEIVING HONORS
(Shows Awards For Finishing Position and Special Awards)
Late Model Stock
Car Division
Champion – Drew Herring, Lap Leader Award, Most Wins, Most Popular Driver
Second Place – Owen Miller, Sportsmanship Award
Third Place – Eddie Johnson, Most Improved Driver Award
Fourth Place – Jonathan Cash, Goo Fallen Spirit Award
Fifth Place – Nick Smith, Rookie of the Year
Most Poles Award – Jon Denning
Limited Sportsman Division
Champion – Bruce Anderson, Most Poles, Most Wins, Lap Leader Award, Most Improved Driver Award
Second Place – Tommy Peregoy
Third Place – Dany Willis, Jr., Most Popular Driver Award
Fourth Place – Charles Barnes, Sportsmanship Award
Fifth Place – Brian Pembleton
Rookie of the Year – Wesley Falk
Pure Stock Division
Champion – Chuck Watkins, Most Wins, Most Poles
Second Place – Quain Moore – Sportsmanship Award, Most Popular Driver Award
Third Place – Lee Anderson – Lap Leader Award
Fourth Place – Courtney Crosby
Fifth Place – William Ridgeway – Most Improved Driver Award
Rookie of the Year – Randy Hupp
Most Poles (Tie) – Jeff Wilson, Nick Igdalsky
INEX Legends Cars
Champion – Jeremy Cook

Comets Fall To Cellar

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Halifax County High School varsity boys basketball coach Ron Parson admits his team is in deep trouble in terms of the Western Valley District chase.
The Comets dropped their fifth game in a row Friday night, losing 83-65 to Patrick Henry in Roanoke and looked bad doing it.
Halifax County (6-10 overall, 0-4 district) is winless in district play and is at the bottom of the Western Valley District standings with half of the team’s district games having now been played. Three of the final four district contests will be played on the road.
Where do the Comets go from here?
“I really don’t know,” Parson replied.
Instead of improving, the team appears to be playing worse now than it was earlier in the season.
“We’re worse now than we were a month a go,” Parson said.
“ We’re nowhere near the team we were that played Martinsville (and won against the defending Group AA state champions in Martinsville on Dec. 15). Why? I cannot tell you why. I honestly don’t know. W e were 5-3 at one point and now we’re 6-10. We’ve been playing some real good teams, but we should have won at least a couple of them. We’re going to have to go back and change some things.”
Parson explained that ,for whatever reason, the team is not tranferring the good things it has done in practice onto the floor in game situations.
“I’m just amazed at how well we can practice and not transfer it to the floor,” he explained.
“ I would have bet a month’s teaching salary that we would have won this game (against Patrick Henry) based on our last two days of practice. To come out here and do this is just unbelievable. It didn’t even look like the same group of kids.”
That, it didn’t.
The Comets went almost four and a half minutes at the start of the game without scoring and fell behind 8-0 before Allen Stephens hit a short shot from down low on the post with 3:39 left in the first quarter to make it 8-2.
The closest the Comets got the rest of the night came when Michael Ferrell canned the first of four three-point shots of the night with 1:56 left in the first quarter to pull the Comets to within there points at 10-7.
Halifax County struggled both offensively and defensively in the first quarter, which ended with the Comets trailing 14-9.
The Comets opened in a man-to-man defense but changed to a zone. That didn’t work either.
Patrick Henry (9-7 overall, 1-3 district) quickly chased the Comets out of the zone by hitting the long ball. A 12-2 run in the first two minutes and 16 seconds of the second quarter put the Comets down 26-11 and they never bounced back.
When the quarter was over, Patrick Henry had outscored the Comets 30-14 and had canned five three-point shots in the process.
Having victimized themselves with numerous turnovers and a miserly 8-25 shooting mark from the floor, the Comets trailed 44-23 at halftime.
By contrast, Patrick Henry had canned seven three-pointers in the first half, had stolen the ball from the Comets nine times and had turned the ball over only three times.
Halifax County continued to trail by a big margin in the third quarter and trailed 57-37 entering the final eight-minute quarter.
Trailing 62-41, the Comets made a 12-2 run early in the fourth quarter, with half of the points coming on a pair of three-pointers from Durrell Chandler, to get to within 13 points at 64-51 with 5:02 left in the game. That was as close as the Comets got.
With time beginning to run out, the Comets were forced to begin fouling the Patriots in order to stop the clock. Patrick Henry hit 13 of its 14 free throw attempts in the final three and half minutes to maintain its large cushion.
“That last group we had on the floor played hard, but we were just too far gone,” Parson noted.
The Comets had three players to hit double figures in the agme with Ferrell leading the team with 15 points. Chandler finished with 13 points and Morgan Brown chippedin 10 points.

HALIFAX COUNTY
NAME FG FT F TP
Glenn 2 0-0 3 4
Ferrell 5 0-1 4 15
Pippen 3 0-0 0 8
Chandler 5 0-2 0 13
Brown 3 3-4 3 10
Brandon 0 0-2 1 0
Ager 0 0-0 1 0
Bumpass 2 4-4 0 8
Waltman 0 0-0 0 0
Stephens 1 0-0 3 2
Stovall 0 5-6 0 5
White 0 0-0 3 0
Totals 22 12-19 18 65
PATRICK HENRY
NAME FG FT F TP
Statum 5 2-2 1 16
Smith 2 2-2 0 8
Elliott 5 4-4 4 16
DeJesus 0 1-2 2 3
Asante 1 2-2 2 5
Payne 5 24 1 12
Battle 1 0-0 4 2
Banks 3 5-6 2 11
Webb 0 0-0 0 0
Nowlin 4 2-3 3 10
Totals 21 20-25 19 83

Three Point Field Goals: Ferrell (HC) 4, Chandler (HC) 3, Pippen (HC) 2, Brown (HC) 1,Statum (PH) 4, Smith (PH) 2, Elliott (PH) 2, Asante (PH) 1

Halifax County 9 14 14 28-65
Patrick Henry 14 30 13 26-83

Patriots Missiles Sink Lady Comets 58-54

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
The Comets varsity girls basketball team let a golden opportunity for a big Western Valley District win slip away here Friday against Patrick Henry, the Patriots sinking eight three-pointers in a 58-54 win.
A three-pointer by Latoya Flint sparked a 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter to give the Patriots a 50-40 lead, and Halifax could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Kemper Russell led Halifax with 16 points, while Shauna Harris had 12, including eight in the fourth quarter rally, while Taniqua Younger hit double figures with 10 points.
Lashunda Davis finished with six and Key Ferrell and Ashley Coleman with four points apiece, while Talesha Medley added a field goal for the Comets (2-2 WVD), who hit eight of 13 free throw attempts.
Bianca Jones led Patrick Henry (2-2 WVD) with 19 points, while Flint had 13 and Anna Perez 10 points. Flint and Perez combined to hit six treys, while Brittany Burns hit two more.
Patrick Henry was eight of twelve from the charity stripe, with Jones hitting seven of eight foul shots.
No more than four points separated the teams until the end of the third quarter. The game was tied 19-19 after one period and Patrick Henry held a 30-29 lead at halftime.
The difference between winning and losing the game came down to turnovers and execution on both offense and defense, according to Comets coach Ray Reaves.
“We made too many mistakes on offense, forced too many passes and took too many bad shots,” began Reaves.
“If we have to stop and think about what we’re doing, we’re a step behind and that’s what happened in the first half.”
Reaves said that the Comets, whose team strengths are quickness and speed, were sluggish in the man-to-man defense against the Patriots and had to switch to a zone.
That opened things up for the Patriots’ three-point shooters.
“They got open shots because they reversed the ball quicker than we could recover on defense, and because they got offensive rebounds and passed the ball out to an open shooter,” noted Reaves.
The game started well enough for the Comets, who got scoring from six players in the fast-paced first quarter.
Russell scored six points, Coleman four points, and Younger hit three of four foul shots, while Davis, Harris and Ferrell added baskets, as Halifax held as much as a four-point lead before settling for the 19-19 tie.
The scoring pace slackened in the second quarter, Medley, Harris, Ferrell, Russell and Younger hitting baskets for Halifax. Russell’s bucket made it 29-28 with a minute remaining, but Jones was fouled inside with seconds remaining and hit two free throws to give her team the one-point halftime lead.
The game was tied for the final time at 33-33 on a Davis jumper early in the third quarter, but a Flint trey gave the Patriots the lead for good.
Russell’s three-point play brought the Comets to within 41-40 with three minutes remaining, but Patrick Henry cashed in on Flint’s trey and points off Halifax turnovers to take the 50-40 lead after three quarters.
With Harris scoring eight points and Davis, Younger and Russell two apiece, the Comets rallied in the final quarter, pulling to within six points early on and to within 54-50 on a Harris steal and bucket with little more than a minute remaining.
A Perez three-pointer and one of two foul shots from Flint were enough to hold off the Comets, who got another bucket from Harris and a putback by Younger at the buzzer for the final margin.
The Comets finish their three-game stretch of home district contests Friday against Franklin County, and the Comets need a win to stay in the hunt for a top- tier seed in the district tournament.
For that to happen, and for the Comets to win their next game- tonight at Person High School - they need to correct the mistakes they made against Patrick Henry, according to Reaves.
“We have to execute better, and Person is an excellent team to play before Franklin County,” he explained.
“Person has an excellent half-court defense and that’s where we struggle. If we can execute against Person, that makes us so much better.”