If a formula stands pat, Halifax County, Pittsylvania County and Danville could receive an estimated $700 million over the next 25 years from the tobacco settlement.
A formula hammered out Wednesday night would give Halifax County 17 percent of the $1.3 billion Virginia is expected to receive over the next quarter centery.
Danville would get about 11 percent while Pittsylvania County would get 25 percent.
A subcommittee of Virginia's Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission adopted the formula Wednesday night and the full commission was expected to adopt it today.
The commission is charged with distributing the estimated $2 billion share of the Master Settlement Agreement between state governments and cigarette makers.
The subcommittee is responsible for the 73 percent that is targeted for Virginia's flue-cured tobacco belt.
Halifax County Supervisor Tom West, a member of the commission, was at the meeting yesterday and could not be reached for comment.
Extension Agent Larry McPeters said Virginia producers and quotaholders are in better shape than other states because of the commission.
"We're in good shape," he said.
Halifax County producers and quotaholders will receive a little over 66 cents a pound from the Phase I part of the master settlement this year.
These funds will come in handy now for producers needing to pay bills on the crop in the field.
Quota cuts have hurt tobacco producers, he said. These funds will go where they can help keep producers afloat.
Once the formula is adopted, the commission will begin work on guidelines for consideration for the money.
In the meantime, over 120 area growers and quotaholders were at the high school Wednesday night to meet with representatives of Mays and Valentine, the law firm charged with distributing the Phase I money.
"And all of them had problems," McPeters said.
Most of the problems were caused by incorrect data on Phase II forms, forms that are used to determine distribution of Phase I money.
Those with problems need to get with McGuire and Woods, the law firm in charge of Phase II distribution, McPeters said, he said.
Phase I problems cannot be corrected until the Phase II forms are correct, he said.
"Don't expect Phase I problems to correct themselves as long as there are problems with Phase II," he said.

By Doug Loftis
Not only is Virginia International Raceway back, it just might be the greatest class act in road course racing to be found anywhere else in the U.S. if not the entire globe. "There is nothing that can rival this place," Peter Krouse, a Durham, N.C., sports car driver, car builder and now VIR consultant, said yesterday.
Krouse and other VIR developers and promoters hosted media representatives from throughout the region and state yesterday to tour the facilities and hear unveiled plans to develop the property.
The press was even given a three minute tour of the racetrack itself.
Virginia International Raceway (VIR) introduced the Old Dominion to sports car racing in 1957. Situated in the southwestern corner of Halifax County near the Pittsylvania County line, the 3.27-mile ribbon of asphalt made racing history with such legend drivers as Roger Penske and Carroll Shelby before riotous teens and college kids turned it into playground.
By 1974 the racing and the party ended and VIR owners, the Foote family, turned their cows back onto the 1,200 acres of rolling countryside along the Dan River lowgrounds.
Harvey Siegel never forgot VIR.
Siegel, born in New York and educated at Tulane,La., drove his car at VIR back then. He'll drive it again this weekend when VIR features Gold Cup Historic Races sanctioned by the Vintage Drivers Club of America.
Siegel is not just a vintage sports car owner and driver, he's the driving force behind the new VIR.
The New York real estate developer is responsible for the rebirth of the new VIR and if all goes according to plans, the speedway will become the hub in a sprawling raceplex that includes a motorsports-related industrial park that would create an estimated 250 jobs.
Two motorsport racing entities, SASCO Motorsports, a Connecticut-based firm that sells racing tires, and GMW, builder of Porsche racing cars, are already committed tenants in the 26-acre park.
As for the three-minute track tour, professional drivers at the wheel of British-built racers showed members of the press just how it feels to negotiate hairpin turns and zip through the 4,000-foot straight stretch, said to be the longest and fastest of any course in the world, at speeds upwards to 135 m.p.h..
Fastest official time around the course is two minutes, 28 seconds.
Just whatis a raceplex?
VIR developers believe that by creating a motorsports racing industrial park in proximity to the racecourse itself, it will give them a leg up on the competition. "They'll be right on site to take cars to the track for testing," Peter Krouse, a Durham, N.C. sports car driver, car builder and now VIR consultant, said yesterday.
"Time is money. People who locate here will save time!" That time saved, said Krouse, might well mean the difference between competing and not competing in a sport that has become intensely competitive and expensive.
Being able make changes and modifications and instantly evaluate the same is the attraction VIR is using to lure more companies into the raceplex.
Since becoming operational earlier this year, VIR has been used by General Motors to test vehicles which will be competing next week in LeMans, France. Attracting such heavyweights as GM, said Krouse, "is a vote of confidence" for VIR's facilities.
More recently, some of NASCAR's Busch Craftsman Truck Series drivers took to the VIR road course.
Is it possible that VIR will host a NASCAR event and, if so, which one?
"That (truck series) has been the greatest interest shown so far," Krouse responded.
In addition to developing its racing agenda, VIR is in the process of restoring the 1850s Foote plantation home to be used as club house for VIR members and guests.

Other amenities will include a swimming pool, tennis courts, an equestrian center, restaurant, residential complex and more.
Officials say that over $7 million has already been spent and before current plans are completed, as much as $28 million will be spent.
VIR is in the process now of building a wastewater treatment plant that must be in place before other plans of development can proceed.

The South Boston plant of JPS Apparel will celebrate its 60th anniversary on June 11 with a "carnival type" party on its grounds for employees, retirees and their immediate families.
J.R. Griffin, a native of South Boston, has been with JPS Apparel for 21 years and has served as the plant manager since 1991.
"The plant is doing well. We're the oldest major industry in the county still in full operation," Griffin said.
"We appreciate the approximately 360 people making it happen."
Griffin added that the future looks good for JPS Apparel, with an operation that focuses on a specific segment of the volatile textile industry.
"We're in a niche market, making fabrics for ladies' apparel, the primary materials being acetate and rayon," added Griffin.
"Off-shore people do commodities real well. We concentrate on short-run styles and customer service - we're fashion driven."
The local plant on Vaughan Street began production in 1940, with a plant occupying 143,000 square-feet of floor space. An 84,000 square- foot expansion took place in 1945 and an additional 60,000 square foot expansion took place in 1965.
Roots
The South Boston plant traces its roots back to two old mills. The first cotton mill in the United States was founded by Samuel Slater in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1790.
The JPS Slater Plant in South Carolina was one of the family assets.
The other plant was a small broadcloth woolen-goods mill that was established in 1813 at North Andover, Massachusetts.
Captain Nathaniel Stevens and two partners started their manufacturing business in an old stone grist mill where they pioneered woolen manufacturing in America.
This firm later became known as M.T. Stevens & Sons Company.
The firm later became known as M.T. Stevens & Sons Company. When Nathaniel Stevens' grandson, John P. Stevens, took over in 1899, he set up his business in New York City to be his company's selling agent.
In 1946, J.P. Stevens & Company merged with Carter Fabrics Corporation, which was founded by W.J. Carter in 1937.
In October 1939, the Carter Fabrics Corporation had broken ground for the construction of a new rayon plant in South Boston, a project costing $1 million.
The local plant began production in 1940, with 480 46-inch Draper looms that produced annually approximately 1.4 million yards of fabric.
The first year's payroll was $317,000.
By 1945, one year before the merger, the plant had added 480 additional looms and registered a substantial increase in employees and payroll.
By 1948, the plant had doubled the production of its first full year of operation, and for the next 10 years, enjoyed much success without major retooling.
Between 1959 and 1962, 104 Draper looms were added to bring the total number of looms to 1,176. During the 1965 expansion, more looms were added after retooling.
At the end of 1965, the plant had 1,596 looms, and employed 700 people with an annual payroll of $3.6 million.
The period from 1978 until 1988 saw the advent of water-jet looms, as well as additional yarn preparation equipment. In 1984, the first air-jet looms were purchased, representing another major advance in plant machinery.
In 1988, the South Boston plant became a part of the JPS Converter and Industrial Corporation after J.P. Stevens & Company was bought by Westpoint Pepperell, which sold five divisions to a group of investors who formed JPS Textile Group, Inc.
Since July 1989, a $22 million capitalization program has resulted in the addition of computerized loom monitoring, a computerized camera-aided cloth inspection system, and upgrades to the electrical system, air conditioning and compressed air capacity.
In 1999, the company name was changed to JPS Industries, Inc., with the South Boston plant being a part of the JPS Apparel Division.
Future Growth
As of June 2000, there are 363 high-speed weaving machines producing 835,000 yards of fabric each week for an annual output of approximately 4.5 million yards.
The South Boston plant has 360 associates with a yearly payroll of over $10 million.
According to Griffin, the plant has fully recovered from layoffs in 1998, adding 70 jobs and investing well over $1 million since that time.
"Michael Fulbright is our new CEO since 1999," Griffin said.
"He has some exciting things going on, such as adding (employee) benefits, implementing a pay increase and adding a profit-sharing program for all associates top to bottom. He has also instituted an additional paid holiday (Memorial Day).
"We just had a third consecutive quarter of solid improvement."
According to Griffin, training is the name of the game in his business, with associates being trained on the new equipment purchased as recently as last year.
Griffin is also appreciative of his associates' safety record. The South Boston plant is widely recognized within JPS and the entire textile industry for its excellent safety record.
According to a history of the South Boston plant, the extensive JPS Capitalization/Modernization Program has enabled it to establish itself as a world-class weaving plant of filament acetate and rayon fabrics for the ladies' apparel market.
Today, the JPS South Boston plant is one of the most modern plants of its type in the United States.
It is a combination of people and equipment that has allowed the South Boston plant to remain competitive in a very competitive world economy.

Convicted drug kingpin Rober James Graves, of Cody, was sentenced to life in federal prison yesterday for his role in a crack cocaine conspiracy in the northern part of Halifax County.
Graves, 56, was convicted on eight counts of crack cocaine distribution, conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and operating a continuing criminal enterprise by a jury in January.
The investigation into the conspiracy focused on the northern end of Halifax County and the Naruna area of Campbell County.

Bomb sniffing dogs of the Virginia State Police were in the halls of the Halifax County Middle School Thursday morning after a bomb threat was telephoned to the school.
Lt. Loftis, of the South Boston Police Department, said the threat was a hoax and that there were no leads as to who made the 7 a.m. call to the sheriff's office to convey the bomb threat to the school.
While South Boston police and county deputies combed the school area, students on buses were rerouted to the high school to wait while the building was searched.
"Why the call went to the sheriff's office, we don't know," said Bill Godwin, assistant principal, who said the building was locked at the time of the call and that only the custodians were in building.
Godwin said the police departments responded well and that the building was considered safe at 8:30 a.m., which allowed students to enter their first-period classes.
"We couldn't ask for more from them," added Godwin, after students lost ten minutes at the most from the incident.
· Two 14-year-old male students were arrested Thursday for setting a small fire in the gym of Halifax County Middle School on Wednesday afternoon.
Lt. Loftis said the youths face a felony charge of attempting to burn an occupied public building.
Gerald Powell, engineer of the South Boston Fire Department, said three trucks and 11 firemen responded to the call at 12:22 p.m. and that the fire was started by a match set to some papers behind some bleachers.
Bill Godwin, assistant principal, said a gym teacher noticed something burning and found some paper smoldering behind the bleachers.
The students were evacuated in an orderly manner and the incident was contained within minutes by the fire department.
There was no damage by the fire, according to Powell.
The youths are being held at W.W. Moore Detention Center in Danville and await an advisement hearing before appearing in Halifax County Juvenile and Domestic Court.
· A 12-year-old female was charged with communicating a bomb threat to Wal-Mart in South Boston, which occurred Tuesday evening.
Lt. Loftis, of the South Boston police said the youth made the threat at 6:50 p.m. from Halifax Regional Hospital, which caused the store to be cleared of customers for about 45 minutes.
The youth has been issued a petition to appear in Halifax County Juvenile and Domestic Court.

Robert Carston Hunt, 37, of Alta Vista, was charged with reckless driving Saturday after a crash on the Banister River Bridge.
Sgt. D.E. Martin, of the Town of Halifax Police Department, said a 1990 Mitsubishi, driven by Hunt, attempted to pass a vehicle while travelling south on Route 501.
Hunt's vehicle hydroplaned and hit the Banister River Bridge, five-tenths of a mile north of North Main Street, knocking a section of the bridge railing into the river.
Martin estimated $2,500 in damages to the vehicle and $3,000 in damages to the bridge from the 5 p.m. crash.

The investigation is continuing into the shooting death of Hyco Road store-owner Henry Lionel Link on Wednesday, May 31.
According to Commonwealth's Attorney John E. Greenbacker Jr., his office is waiting for the investigation into the shooting to be completed and all forensic evidence to be evaluated before proceeding.
"I do not expect this matter to be resolved before the middle of July," said Greenbacker.
"There is a likelihood this matter can be presented before the grand jury in July, if all lab work is completed.
"We want to be absolutely certain of everything before we proceed."
Link died of a single gunshot wound following a domestic argument, according to a Halifax County Sheriff's Department report.

Increases in employee health insurance premiums and school meals are two items the Halifax County School Board will consider Monday night.
Monday night's meeting of the Halifax County School Board will be held at 7 p.m. in the second floor public meeting room of the Mary M. Bethune Office Complex in Halifax.
Bill Covington, the school system's finance director, said employee group health insurance premiums for the coming school year will increase from 14 to 20 percent depending upon the insurance plan the employee selects.
Premiums for one of the three insurance plans will go up 14 percent. The middle option's premiums will increase in price by 15 percent. And, the top premium will increase by 20 percent.
Putting that in terms of real dollars, Covington said that based upon the middle option with the 15 percent increase, the employees' out-of- pocket expense for the premiums will be $50 a month over the current year.
That, Covington said, is the final figure after the school system's contribution to the health insurance premiums has kicked in.
Two factors underlie the increase in premiums.
First is the fact that the school system's insurance group experienced a 38 percent loss during the current school year.
"They took in 38 percent less in premiums than what they paid out in benefits," Covington said.
"Obviously something has to give."
Making that increase more painful is the fact that the school system, for the past three years, has been kicking in a percentage of its proceeds from the sale of its Trigon stock to help offset some of the employees' health insurance premium costs.
The stock sale, however, has now ended.
"For the past three years we had some proceeds from the sale of Trigon stock to kick in over what the school board put in," Covington said.
"We don't have that any more."
Covington said that to paint a better picture, $30 of the $50 added expense results from the increase in the insurance premium and $20 represents the loss of the benefits of the Trigon stock sale.
The insurance program the school system will offer next year is the same one that is in place this year.
This coming school year will mark the second year of a three-year contract that the school system has with its insurance provider.
School system officials will ask the School Board to hike student and adult meal prices for the coming school year.
Carolyn Higgins, the school system's food services director, said yesterday that a 15-cent increase in meal prices is being sought.
What is being proposed is to hike the price of full-price student meals from $1 to $1.15 and to raise the price of full-price student breakfasts from 60 cents to 75 cents.
Also, school system officials will seek to raise the price for adult lunch meals from $1.75 to $1.90 and to raise the price of adult breakfast meals from 95 cents to $1.10.
The increase, Higgins said, is needed to cover cost increases for food supplies, labor and equipment repair.
In addition to those two items, the School Board will tackle other topics including the sale of mobile units at Scottsburg Elementary School and attendance requirements for Halifax County High School.
The School Board will also hear a number of reports including preliminary reports on the spring SOL tests and the recent Virginia High School redistricting.

BY JOE CHANDLER
Today is the day for the "big show," the Group AAA State Track and Field Championships.
And, Halifax County High School's Jennifer Claud is hoping to stage her best performances before the multitude of athletes and coaches that will gather at the Arthur Ashe Center.
Claud finds is in an elite position entering today's state championship meet.
This is Claud's third straight trip to the big show.
And, this is the third straight year that she will have qualified for the state meet in both indoor and outdoor track.
The theme of threes continues in another way.
Claud will compete in three different events, having qualified in the 400-meter race, 100-meter dash and the triple jump.
She won the 400-meter race in the Northwest Region meet with a time of 58.63 seconds. Her best mark of the season was 57.66 seconds.
And, she placed fifth in the Northwest Region meet in the triple jump with a mark of 35 feet and five and a half inches.
Earlier this season, in the Vince Bradford Relays, Claud posted a time of 12.51 seconds in the 100-meter race, breaking the standard that qualified her for the state competition.
Last spring Claud competed in the state meet as a member of the Comets 4x400 meter relay team and in the 100-meter dash.
This past winter, she competed in the state meet in the 100-meter race and the triple jump.
Claud, needless to say, is excited about today's competition.
"It's special," Claud said.
"This has been a hard season to get through."
Comets coach Mary Bostick Douglas says Claud is an outstanding and talented athlete.
"She has a lot of potential," the Comets coach said.
"She could be another Tisha Waller. She has dealt with a lot of things this year. I think now she's focused and will do well."
One of the big highlights to all of this is that Claud goes into the Group AAA state meet with a Northwest Region title under her belt.
"That was a big surprise," Claud said of winning the 400-meter event in the Northwest Region meet.
"I had won in the district meet before but I had never won in the regionals."
Eventhough Claud is only a junior, her accomplishments on the track are already being noted by a handful of colleges.
Claud says she has had contact from a handful of colleges including the University of South Carolina, Elizabethtown University and Tennessee State.
The contacts, Claud says, have come from schools and colleges from South Carolina to New Jersey.
"She has good potential as a college athlete," said Douglas.

"If she does well in the state I think several colleges would want to talk to her."
Not only is Claud an outstanding athlete, she is a good student academically, carrying what she describes as an "A-B" average.
"I hope to get a scholarship," she said.
"Hopefully I can get some good times and if I work hard and run hard, hopefully I can get a scholarship next year."
When asked what is the most exciting part of track, Claud says it's the finish of the 400-meter race.
"I just like it," she said.
"I like it after it's all over and you get the reward for it."
Bostick says that the good 400-meter runner is a runner that many college track coaches look for.
"Most colleges look for the 400 because in many instances they can move the runner up or down," explained Douglas.
"If they need to they can move the person down to the 200-meters or up to a longer distance.
"Jennifer does well in the 100 but when you look at her times, the 400 is her better event."
Not only is track and field a sport that Claud is a success in. It is a sport that she genuinely loves.
"I always like running, even back through elementary school," Claud said.
"I really didn't like the other sports. When I got to high school I felt that running track would be a good opportunity for me."

Walter Eddie Crawley, age 75, of 3057 Ball Park Loop, Halifax, died June 4, 2000, at Danville Regional Medical Center.
Mr. Crawley was born in Halifax County on October 31, 1924, the son of Eddie Crawley and Okary Adams Crawley. He was a member of Cross Roads Baptist Church.
Survivors include four sisters, Nacissie Lipscomb of Baltimore, Md., Addie Sims of Halifax, Juanita Newman of South Boston and Louise McCoy of Richmond.
Funeral services for Mr. Crawley will be held June 10 at 1 p.m. at Cross Roads Baptist Church with the Rev. Nelson Stamps officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Allen Lacy Wright, age 69, of Brookneal, died June 8, 2000, at his home. He was the husband of Catherine Clay Wright.
Mr. Wright was born November 3, 1930, in Halifax County, the son of Joe L. Wright and Ollie Barksdale Wright. He was a farmer, but had been disabled for the past nine years, and was a member of Clover Bottom Baptist Church.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Neil Wright, Nelson Wright and his wife, Elizabeth, Michael Wright , Jeffrey Wright and wife, Carol Ann and Barbara Maxey and her husband, Tim, all of Brookneal, Rhonda Crews and her husband, Henry and Cathy Tuggle and husband, Bruce, all of Nathalie, Karen Wright of Lynchburg; one brother, Joe Wright of Nathalie; one sister, Nellie Wyatt of Keysville; 18 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Josh Wright.
Funeral services for Mr. Wright will be conducted at 2 p.m. June 10 in the Woodall-Wright Chapel in Brookneal with the Rev. James E. Griffin officiating. Burial will follow in Clover Bottom Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends this evening, June 9 from 7:00 until 8:30, at the funeral home and other times at the home, 114 Maddox Street, Brookneal.