Halifax County and South Boston's rate of growth soared to record highs in 1998 as construction values peaked at $69.5 million. Accounting for almost half of that total value were projects at historic Berry Hill plantation-$20 million-and Dollar General Distribution Center-$16 million.
From new custom-built homes, to manufactured homes, to commercial and industrial expansions and alterations, the rate growth compared to 1997 was significant.
The largest single project in the county, based on building permit values, was Berry Hill which is scheduled to be complete in July-1999. Now owned by the international investment firm AXA, the parent firm of The Equitable Insurance Company, Berry Hill was purchased for approximately $3.1 million in 1997.
Dating back to 1844, Berry Hill is often described as the finest example of Green Revival architecture in the South and every detail of its splendor is being restored to perfection.
Approximately 250 to 300 construction workers are transforming Berry Hill into a training and conference center for AXA's worldwide managers. In order to accommodate AXA's associates, residential wings, a restaurant, classrooms, entertainment provisions including an amphitheater, a fitness center complete with indoor swimming pool, tennis courts and the like are being built.
Dollar General Distribution Center had no more than been dedicated last spring when corporate executives announced a $16.3 million expansion. When completed, Dollar General will have approximately 27 acres of total space under roof in the Halifax County Industrial Park and employ an estimated 525 persons.
South Boston grew and Halifax County shrank on the first day of 1998 when the town assumed management responsibilities for major trade areas such as Centerville and Riverdale. Even with the changes, both entities enjoyed impressive gains.
South Boston's growth came in the form of health care providers. Halifax Regional Hospital's ICU administration addition was permitted at $2.6 million and South Boston Urologic Clinic (structure only) has permit value of $750,000.
New conventional home construction permits were down from 13 to 8 compared to 1997 but the cost of those eight homes ($1,191,977) was more than 30 percent compared to total permits issued a year earlier.
In the county, 76 new stick-built homes valued at $7.26 million was 52 percent higher in value than a year ago when 64 new housing starts were permitted.
Manufactured housing was down slightly in the county but because of annexation, areas in South Boston are allowed to have relocatable units. A total of 305 permits valued at $10.1 million was issued in the county while 23 permits valued at $446,774 came to South Boston.
The Town of Halifax had no new housing starts in 1998 but remodeling and repair permits totaled $274,000, up 52.2 percent over 1997.

Three children remain hospitalized at Duke University Medical Center following a automobile crash last Thursday afternoon that claimed the life of their mother, 33-year old Evelyn Alesia Edmonds.
The South Boston family were on their way to Danville when she lost control of her 1996 model sedan on Route 729 in Pittsylvania County. Although icy road conditions had prevailed earlier in the day, no ice was on the road at the time of the accident around 1:30 p.m.
State Trooper D.B. Richardson told reporters that the Edmonds car went out of control on a bridge before traveling down an embankment and striking a tree. Mrs. Edmonds was apparently killed instantly.
First to arrive at the crash scene was Game Warden J.S. Blanks who had to remove the deceased woman in order to assist the injured children.
The injured children, all said to be in satisfactory condition yesterday, were listed as Gerald Jr.-7, Corey Lamar-6, and Christopher-1.
Gerald Edmonds, husband and father to the children, said that he received word of the accident while at work at RTP. He arrived at the crash scene not long after all the victims had been removed only to learn that his wife had been killed.
Mrs. Edmonds was employed at Presto in the Halifax County Industrial Park.
Gerald Edmonds said that his wife frequently traveled to Danville along the same highway the accident occurred.

Hog farmers, struggling with their lowest prices in 40 years, are doing their best to stay afloat until a pig oversupply problem eases.
''It's just been a tough situation. It's just a tremendous, grave situation,'' said Steve Baker, an independent hog farmer from Mount Jackson who said he is losing $75 a head.
The oversupply of hogs has caused pork prices to drop to less than $10 per hundred pounds in some areas of the country, down from $46.50 just a year ago.
In Virginia, prices are a bit higher, about $16 per hundred pounds, according to figures this week from the U.S. Agriculture Department. Still, that's a far cry from the roughly $52 per hundred pounds that Virginia farmers were getting last year.
Cindy Cunningham of the National Pork Producers Council said part of the problem is a lack of killing capacity: Four significant meat packing plants closed in the Midwest last summer, leaving the nation with more hogs than the industry can slaughter.
Because of the oversupply, plants can pay hog producers extremely low prices while retail pork prices and packaging plants' profits remain steady.
Pork producers have turned to the government to help correct the profit imbalance. In response, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has pledged to work with Congress, governors and the heads of major slaughterhouses to try to increase the number of hogs that are butchered.
Glickman has announced that the USDA would temporarily stop lending money for new pork production plants. In addition, he has asked other federal agencies to boost their purchases of pork. Already, 50,000 tons of pork are headed for Russia under a current aid program.
But John Lawrence, a livestock economist at Iowa State University, said there is little the government can do right now to turn around pork prices. Instead, he is urging lawmakers to focus on long-term issues such as restructuring the debt of farmers who have lost equity as their revenues have tumbled.
One bit of good news for farmers: This year's losses haven't wiped out profits hog producers made in 1996 and 1997, Lawrence said.
He predicted that seasonal variations will begin to reduce the number of hogs being sent to slaughter, a change that is likely to begin moving prices back up.
''We're in a waiting game, waiting for the numbers to decline,'' he said. ''There's not a lot we can do in the short run.''

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Although the state's coffers are  overflowing with the fruits of a booming economy, the 1999 General  Assembly will face budget pressures as it tries to balance spending priorities with politically popular tax cuts.
Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore already has proposed $860 million in budget amendments, which would virtually wipe out the surplus in the two-year, $40 billion budget the legislature approved last year.
But many legislators and special interests have their own ideas about how the money should be spent, and some are not pleased that partisan tax cut one-upmanship has shrunk the available resources.
First came Gilmore's proposal last year to begin phasing out the personal property tax on cars. A handful of Democrats pushed a grocery tax cut as an alternative, saying it would do more for the poor, but Gilmore prevailed.
State revenues continued to grow at breakneck pace, convincing  Gilmore the state could also cut the food tax. That move, which the  assembly will consider at a 46-day session beginning Jan. 13, would burnish Gilmore's tax-cutting credentials and take the food tax issue off the table for next November's legislative elections.
John T. ''Til'' Hazel, a northern Virginia developer who is an outspoken proponent of more spending for colleges and transportation, doesn't like what he sees happening in Richmond.
''It is devastating for the future of the state to be thinking of nothing but how fast we can cut taxes,'' Hazel said. ''To suggest we have all this surplus when we have these enormous unmet needs is wrong.''
Hazel, a founder of an organization of business executives promoting higher education, said the state's public colleges need about $125 million a year more for maintenance, technology upgrades and salary increases.
''We've just been short of money for so long that the colleges have been hanging on by their fingernails since 1990,'' he said.
Gilmore has proposed $106 million in new money for operating the state's colleges, but that includes $75 million to offset his proposed 20 percent tuition reduction. That means the net gain for colleges is $31 million.
Hazel also said the state needs about $1 billion a year more for highways, $215 million in traffic-choked Fairfax County alone.
Gilmore spokeswoman Lila Young said the state already is spending unprecedented sums on transportation, and there's nothing wrong with returning some of the state's wealth to the people who generated it.
''There's more money to go around than anyone's ever seen before,'' she said. ''That situation was created by working men and women, and the governor feels in this time of plenty they should partake of the rewards of that hard work.''
Del. Paul Councill, D-Southampton, said he worries that the economy will sour after the tax cuts are implemented.
''There's no question we will have belt-tightening down the road. It's just a question of who gets cut then,'' he said.
Councill, co-chairman of the House Education Committee, is among the legislators whose spending priorities will differ from Gilmore's. He will propose a raise - perhaps up to 6 percent - for teachers. Such a raise would cost about $120 million a year.
''We're asking our teachers to do more with the new standards of learning, and I think they should be compensated for it,'' Councill said.
He said he supported Gilmore's proposals to raise salaries for state employees and deputy sheriffs, but felt teachers were being overlooked.
Some Democratic legislators are likely to push for more money for school construction, an issue on which they had limited success in the 1998 session. Gilmore wants to funnel all lottery profits - an additional $123 million a year - into schools, but let localities decide how to spend it.
Other legislators and special interests will lobby for money for community-based mental health treatment, the arts and a wide array of local pork-barrel projects.
''There are only so many dollars in the pie,'' Councill said. ''You can't give everything to everybody. There's just not enough money to do it all.''

It was the storm that could have been, but didn't.
Saturday night's ice storm failed to live up to the advance billing locally, causing nowhere near the problems that hit the midwest over the weekend.
This was a far cry from the Christmas week storm that knocked out power for thousands of Virginians.
In Halifax County, only 16 people were without power Sunday, all near Route 607, ironically near the Clover Power Station, and crews were being dispatched to repair these lines, said Virginia Power spokesman Sue Lewis yesterday.
It was not nearly as bad as expected or predicted, she said.
Most of the outages reported around the state were from either branches falling on lines, or high wind. Very little was caused by ice.
With temperatures hovering at or below the freezing mark Saturday afternoon, rain that fell froze.
Although there were some problems with freezing roads reported by the local Virginia Department of Transportation office, rising temperatures about 10 p.m. Saturday helped to reduce the freezing problem.
VDOT spokesman Zack Weddle said the local office had 30 to 40 men out all night spreading abrasives and chemicals on the roads.
By Sunday morning the primary roads were clear of ice and the secondary roads were in good shape.
"We were able to get the chemicals underneath the ice and that helped keep it slushy," Weddle said.
We had a full contingent of people out all night, with the worse problems between 7 and 10 p.m.," he said.
There were scattered reports of tree limbs falling, but no roads were blocked, he continued.
Sunday morning there were still some problem spots in the Volens area where the temperatures were slow to rise.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Another winter storm hit Virginia on Saturday, but forecasters said the latest storm won't pack quite the punch of the Christmas Eve ice storm that left tens of thousands without power.
Nevertheless, the first hours of the storm were marked with numerous minor traffic accidents.
The National Weather Service had issued a winter storm warning for most of the state except for the southeast and east-central portions.
By 7:15 p.m., freezing rain had begun to fall in Charlottesville. Reports were the same in Roanoke and parts of southwestern Virginia. State police in Fairfax reported freezing rain in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.
''The best advice is if you don't have to go out, don't,'' said Sgt. John White of the Albemarle County Police Department. ''I'm just hoping everyone will stay home and behave themselves.''
State police in northern Virginia said troopers were working at least nine accidents on the interstates, and several more accidents were called in while a dispatcher talked to a reporter.
Interstates 77 and 81 in southwest Virginia were covered with ice and sleet and the site of numerous accidents, according to a state police dispatcher in Wytheville.
Forecasters expected at least one-quarter inch of frozen rain in most areas, an accumulation that could lead to downed trees and power lines. At the height of the Christmas Eve storm, more than 285,000 Virginia Power customers were without lights. The last 86 of those customers got their power back on Saturday night.
The good news was that Williamsburg, Gloucester County and the Petersburg area - the parts of the state hit hardest by the Christmas Eve storm - were expected to dodge most of the latest storm.
''It's going to be much less severe for the areas hardest hit last week,'' said Brian Cullen, a weather service forecaster. ''It looks like most of the ice will be northwest.''
The weather service placed Henrico, Caroline, Westmoreland, Richmond, Essex, Powhatan and Lunenburg counties in east-central Virginia under a winter weather advisory. Some ice was expected but little accumulation.
Cullen said the ice won't stick around for very long. The freezing rain in most areas were expected to change to rain by morning and highs were forecasted in the 50s in some areas by Sunday afternoon with rain likely in the afternoon.
Virginia Power officials said repair crews were on standby. The utility has also hired tree trimmers to help with any downed trees and power lines.
''We normally go through this ... the only thing that's different is we would call contractors and see if they are available,'' Virginia Power spokesman Dan Genest said. ''Now we have them on site and ready to go.''

A trio of Southside legislators will be seeking 60 percent of Virginia's share of the proposed tobacco settlement be returned to help tobacco-dependent communities with economic development and another $1.2 billion to be used to help compensate tobacco farmers for lost income.
Halifax County Del. Ted Bennett was joined by Del. Whitt Clement and Sen. Charles Hawkins last Thursday to announce their proposal to seek the estimated $1.2 billion.
Their proposal would bring 60 percent of the state's $4 billion share to the A.L. Philpott Southside Economic Development Commission who would then have the authority to distribute the money for economic development in tobacco dependent communities.
It would also give money to public health groups for initiatives to prevent youth smoking.
The proposed $1.2 billion would help compensate farmers and allotment holders who have seen their crop shrink 35 percent over the last two years through quota cuts.
How farmers could be compensated has not been established, but legislators said something similar to a proposed quota buyout could be put into place.
With the $1.2 billion, allotment holders could be paid $8 per pound and growers $4 per pound.
The legislators will push for passage during the General Assembly's upcoming 46-day session.
A letter has been sent to Gov. Jim Gilmore informing him of the legislation and urging his support.
the group feels it would be better to put the money in a regional authority rather than the state's general budget where it would be used by other regions of the state.
The Philpott Commission would consider tobacco dependent areas a priority.

Ludie Blanks Anderson, 83, of Leda-Grove Road, Nathalie died Thursday, December 31, 1998 at her home. She was the wife of the late Whitt Talvin Anderson.
Mrs. Anderson was born in Halifax County on October 17, 1915 the daughter of Earnest Goldman Blanks and Ludie Clements Blanks. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Republican Grove and a member of the Joy Group at the First Baptist Church of Republican Grove.
Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Earl and Margaret Anderson of Nathalie and Bob and Linda Anderson of Nathalie; one daughter and son-in-law, Shela and John Stevens of Nathalie; two brothers, E.G. Blanks and Ryland Blanks, both of Nathalie; one sister, Grace Wilkins of Wytheville; four grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a brother, Luther Blanks.

A funeral service for Mrs. Anderson was held at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 3, 1999 at First Baptist Church of Republican Grove with Rev. Shelton Miles officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Anna Graves Ferguson of 841 Kentuck Road, Danville died January 1, 1999 at Danville Regional Medical Center at the age of 68.
Mrs. Ferguson was born in Danville on February 24, 1930 the daughter of Howard Graves and Sallie Beck Graves. She was married to Percy E. Ferguson.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Renee Valentine of Reidsville, NC and Cheryle D. Ferguson of South Boston, a teacher at Halifax County Senior High School.

Funeral services for Mrs. Ferguson will be held Tuesday, January 5 at 11 a.m. at Camp Grove Baptist Church in Danville with Rev. W.J. Toomer officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Burial Park.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Eddie Junior Carrington of 1123 Rev. Coleman Road, Clover died Wednesday, December 30, 1998 at his home at he age of 63.
Mr. Carrington was born in Halifax County on May 2, 1935 the son of Eddie Oakley Carrington and Ruth Palmer Carrington and was married to Margaret Edmondson Carrington. He was a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife; one daughter, Shelia Carrington of Clover; two sons, Dion Edmondson and Feliciano Carrington, both of Clover; one grandchild; three sisters, Ruby Carrington and Linda Baker, both of Nathalie and Mary P. Carrington of Halifax; and one brother, Franklin M. Carrington of Nathalie.

Funeral services for Mr. Carrington were held Saturday, January 2 at 2 p.m. at Bethlehem Baptist Church with Rev. Ronald Claiborne officiating. Burial was in Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery.

Willie Bowman Majors of 119 Hedderly Street, Halifax died Friday, January 1, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 63.
Mr. Majors was born in Halifax County on July 29, 1935 the son of Abner Majors and Dorothy Edmondson Majors. He was a member of St. Paul EMC Church where he served as chairman of the Steward Board and president of the Usher Board. He was employed by Barlow's Union 76.
Survivors include one sister, Margaret Carter of Halifax; five brothers, Henry Majors of South Boston, Robert Majors of New York, Artie Majors of Halifax, Lawrence Majors of Nathalie and Victor Majors of South Boston; one aunt, Virgie Chaney of Nathalie; and one uncle, Frank Edmondson of Baltimore, MD.
Funeral services for Mr. Majors will be held Thursday, January 7 at 2 p.m. at St. Paul CME Church with Rev. George Brown officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the home.

Deacon Hampton Lee Davis of 1202 West Store Road, Halifax died Thursday, December 31, 1998 at Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg. He was 63 years of age.
Deacon Davis was born in Halifax County on January 8, 1935. He is survived by his wife, Mary Coles Davis of Halifax; three sons, Hampton Davis Jr. and Kevin Davis, both of Halifax, and Gary Davis of Lynchburg; two grandchildren; two sisters, Eleanor Clark of Newark, NJ and Arlene Hamlett of Nathalie; and two brothers, Charles Davis and John Davis, both of Nathalie.
Funeral services for Deacon Davis will be held Tuesday, January 5 at 1 p.m. at Ellis Creek Baptist Church with Min. Johnnie Hunt officiating. Burial will follow at Ellis Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Ruby Kent Bane, 81, of Richmond died Friday, January 1, 1999 at St. Mary's Hospital.
Mrs. Bane was born June 14, 1917 in Vernon Hill the daughter of Charles Howard and Osie Moore Bane. She was a graduate of Longwood College in Farmville, where she received a bachelor's degree in biology and general sciences. She also received advanced studies in nuclear medicine at Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility in Oak Ridge, TN.
She was a science teacher at Halifax High School in Halifax; a chemist for American Tobacco Company in Richmond; a chemist in cancer research at the Medical College of Virginia; a chemist in research and diagnostic medical procedures at McGuire Veterans Hospital; and a chemist in nuclear medicine, also at McGuire Veterans Hospital.
Mrs. Bane was a member of the American Chemical Society and the first woman admitted to the Virginia Academy of Science. She was a member of St. Marks Episcopal Church in Richmond.
Survivors include one brother, Sanford Bane of Greenville, SC and Vernon Hill. She was preceded in death by a brother, Robert Howard Bane, of Vernon Hill.
The funeral will be conducted at 11 a.m. today, January 4 at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Richmond with Rev. Dr. Sandra M. Levy officiating. Following the service in Richmond, she will be transported to Powell Funeral Home in South Boston for visitation from 7 until 9:00 tonight.
A funeral will be held at Powell Funeral Home chapel on Tuesday, January 5. Burial will be in Mount Vernon Baptist Church Cemetery in Vernon Hill.

Dawne Branscome Norris of 1234 Old Mayfield Road, Danville died Wednesday, December 30, 1998 at Danville Regional Medical Center. She was 34 years of age at the time of her death.
Mrs. Norris was born August 15, 1964 in Williamsburg the daughter of Charlie M. Branscome Sr. and Jean Satterfield Branscome. She was married to Irvin T. Norris.
Graveside services will be held Tuesday, January 5 at 2 p.m. at Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Turbeville with Rev. Clay Knick officiating.
Survivors of Mrs. Norris include her husband; two daughters, Jennifer D. Emerson and Virginia Mae Norris, both of Danville; one son, John David Emerson of Danville; one sister, Nicki B. Granger of Halifax and one brother, Jason E. Branscome of Roxboro, NC. She was preceded in death by a brother, Charlie Mattison Branscome Jr.

Martha Martin Smith of Box 46, Cluster Springs, died Sunday, January 3, 1999 at Woodview Nursing Home. She was 82 years of age at the time of her death.
Mrs. Smith was born in Halifax County on April 17, 1916 the daughter of Lucius I. Martin and Bertha Martin Martin and was married to Thomas Edward Smith. She was a member of Bethel Baptist Church.
Survivors include eight daughters, Bertha S. Terry of Oak Level, Edith S. Allen and her husband, Sonny of Mechanicsville, Martha S. Thompson and her husband, Joseph of Rocky Mount, NC, Doris S. Marable of Midlothian, Betty S. Sneed of Halifax, Deborah S. Rudder and her husband, Ernest of South Boston, Virginia S. Roberts and her husband, Roy of Cluster Springs and Nancy S. Chrisman of Apopka, FL; two sons and daughters-in-law, Henry Lee and Wanda S. Smith of Scottsburg and Kenneth and Tammy B. Smith of Halifax; one brother, Charles Martin of Richmond; 26 grandchildren; 29 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband and one son, Melvin Thomas Smith.
Funeral services for Mrs. Smith will be held Tuesday, January 5 at 3 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church with Rev. Tony Brooks officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home.