Uranium Mining Study Bill Introduced

Some old and some new players are on the fast track to mine a $10 billion uranium deposit near Chatham.
And these players are wasting no time.
On Wednesday, the 2008 General Assembly session was only hours old when three Democrats and one Republican in the Senate co-sponsored Senate Bill 525 - a uranium mining study bill.
The Richmond lobbying firm Vectre Inc., with six agents, is representing Virginia Uranium’s effort to win approval of the study. The bill’s cosponsors include Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Springfield, and the Democratic caucus chairwoman, Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple of Arlington.
The bill, which calls for the establishment of a 15-member executive branch commission to assess the risks and benefits of developing uranium resources in Virginia, was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources.
According to the bill, the Virginia Uranium Mining Commission (the Commission) is established as an advisory commission.
The purpose of the commission is to assess the risks and benefits of developing Virginia’s uranium resources and to advise the Governor and General Assembly concerning the following:
1. Whether uranium mining and milling in Virginia can be undertaken in a manner that will safeguard the Commonwealth’s environment, natural and historic resources, agricultural lands, and the health and well-being of its citizens;
2. If appropriate, on recommendations for legislation establishing necessary regulatory controls and safeguards under which mining and the processing of uranium resources could be permitted; and
3. On other related matters as requested.
This study is charged with examining the benefits and risks of the same mining project discovered 25 years ago at a site northeast of Chatham in Pittsylvania County.
At that time, Virginians opposed the mining of uranium citing fear of ground and surface water pollution as well as concern about the storage of radioactive tailings, a mining residue.
In the fall, newly formed Virginia Uranium Inc. announced its plans to resurrect uranium mining at the site.
The company was formed about a year ago by the Coles and Bowen families, which own adjoining property. Norman Reynolds, a former Marline president, was hired as chief executive to oversee company operations of an area that has an estimated 110 million pounds of the material, worth at least $10 billion.
Before the mining can take place, a state moratorium on uranium mining must be lifted, and this study is one step toward accomplishing that goal.
According to Senate Bill 525, the commission that will perform the study will consist of six legislative members including two senators, four delegates, six nonlegislative citizen members and three ex-officio members.
This commission will have the following powers and duties while conducting the study that will include an analysis of:
n The extent of any increase in health risks to residents where mining and the processing of uranium would be conducted in Virginia;
n Uranium mining’s potential for degradation of surface and ground water; potential effects on air quality; risks to public health, both acute and chronic; occupational health impacts to mining industry workers; potential damage to crops, food sources, livestock, fish and wildlife; potential impacts to open space, historic and archeological resources; and impacts, both positive and negative, on future economic development and tourism;
n Long-term and short-term impacts to the state and local economies, both positive and negative, posed by development of a uranium mining and processing industry;
n The current state of technology and management techniques for mining, milling, and tailings management in the uranium industry, including the availability and effectiveness of technology, design and management techniques to protect natural resources, the environment, public health, and other potential receptors from potential adverse effects related to uranium mining and milling;
n Information concerning the safety and health record of the uranium mining and processing industry in the United States and elsewhere;
n Regulatory measures in place in jurisdictions both inside and outside the United States to control the impacts of uranium mining and milling;
n The nature, type, and extent of site-specific studies that would be necessary prior to authorizing any specific proposal for mining or milling of uranium, including the management of tailings;
n Information concerning uranium mining and milling operations that are being or have been conducted in net precipitation areas and in areas with population densities comparable to or greater than Virginia’s;
n The statutory and regulatory mechanisms necessary to ensure that any entity permitted to mine or mill uranium in Virginia has adequate financial resources to (i) conduct operations in accordance with regulatory standards, (ii) properly reclaim mining sites, and (iii) ensure safe long-term management of tailings and other waste material;
n The time, personnel needs, and financial resources necessary to establish and administer a program for the permitting and strict regulation of uranium mining and processing;
n The feasibility of funding a program for regulating uranium mining and processing through permit fees or other fee mechanisms targeted to those entities mining and processing uranium;
n Statutory provisions necessary to allocate liability and ensure that adequate financial resources are available to provide reimbursement for adverse environmental impacts, cleanup costs, personal injury, and property damage caused by or attributable to the mining or milling of uranium and uranium wastes; and
n Use of severance taxes and other mechanisms to provide monetary allocations to localities impacted by uranium mining and milling operations.
The study also calls for the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Health to provide staff support to the commission.
As part of SB 525, a special nonreverting fund known as the Uranium Study Fund will be established on the books of the comptroller.
The fund will consist of gifts, donations, grants, and bequests on behalf of the Commission and such other funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly from time to time and designated for this fund.
The total costs for the operation and administration of the commission will be funded from the fund, Senate Bill 525 states.
Cathryn McCue, Communications Manager for the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), said the Law Center opposes SB 525, which according to McCue, “inappropriately creates a political process for deciding whether to lift the long-standing ban on uranium mining.”
There is no requirement in the bill that any such decision must be based on an impartial scientific analysis conducted by a qualified, independent institution, such as the National Academy of Sciences, to determine whether uranium mining can be done safely, she pointed out.
An independent study and objective analysis is essential before consideration can be given to lifting the ban, McCue continued.
SELC Staff Attorney Cale Jaffe commented on the study bill saying, “We must guard against a process that pre-judges the outcome by trying to develop regulations without any guarantee of an answer to the fundamental question – can it be done safely.”
On Friday, state Sen. Frank Ruff said he has not had an opportunity to read the study bill, however he anticipates he will oppose the measure.
He predicted the bill will show up in committee later in the process since there has and continues to be much controversy surrounding the issue of uranium mining.

‘Keeping The Dream Alive’

“Keeping The Dream Alive,” members of the Halifax County Business & Professional Council hosted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday celebration at The Prizery Sunday afternoon.
The Rev. Dr. Ralph Reavis was the guest speaker for the event that attracted a large crowd, with some of the participants having taken part in the Civil Rights movement, including the guest speaker.
Reavis, president of Virginia University of Lynchburg, spent many years in the struggle for civil rights and community development. During the 1960s he spent 21 days in jail in an effort to desegregate lunch counters in Lynchburg, walked many picket lines and marched many miles for freedom.
Reavis said King used civil disobedience as a way of liberating an oppressed people in this country.
“He felt that we could change the present trend of this nation by using Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance to evil with the ethic of Jesus known as love. If anything could remedy the situation, that process could,” he said.
He told of influences in King’s life, beginning at an early age when he grew up with a “bitter dislike for segregation,” realizing that the poor white also was exploited.
King could not look upon the economic exploitation of his people, or any people, Reavis said, without feeling that he was somehow involved in that suffering.
With a broadened perspective, King shared a concern for all people, Reavis said, noting that at one point in King’s life, the civil rights leader stated, ”I had come perilously close to resenting all white people.”
However, until King was sure where he could best help downtrodden people, he did not commit himself.
It was as a college student King would read Thoreau’s “Essay on Civil Disobedience” and be gripped by what the author had to say about refusing to cooperate with evil.
He was so deeply moved that he reread the work several times, Reavis said, as well as studying other philosophers.
“The quest continued through Karl Marx, where he learned something about the evils of capitalism based on the profit and gain motive,” Reavis said noting that King rejected Marx.
For King, religion was of little value if it did not concern itself with the conditions and evils that destroy the soul of man and treat the poor unjustly, the speaker said. Yet, King had some misgivings about using the power of love to eradicate evil and the social problems evil caused.
“Three of King’s heroes were Jesus, Thoreau and Ghandi. Armed with their spirit, King set out to make this nation actualize its ideals as they are written in the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States,” he continued.
However, King found a problem with those in power misrepresenting the intent of the ideals, and the greatest misuse of the law, according to Reavis, was segregation.
With this position, King began to offer suggestions for reform – a reform directed toward making the written law become a life experience for black people as it was for white people, Reavis said. “Before the Negro could have equality, the monstrous policies of segregation and discrimination had to be removed.”
In other words, the speaker said, King wanted for the Negro the same opportunities that white Americans had under the true ideas of democracy.
The rest of his life he insisted on reforms in the schools, equality of opportunity in jobs and housing, and the need to protect democratic rights which already had been won.
“King believed that if evil were to be eradicated, neither man nor God could work alone. But man and God working together could ultimately do the job.”
Reavis compared King to Jesus saying, “He was a member of an oppressed group, and he knew that his dream of the beloved community could not come to pass through violent means.”
The college president said on Aug. 28,1963, he was in the nation’s capital when the Word of God was given by Martin Luther King in his American dream speech.
“It was as though all of the hopes of the dead unfulfilled blacks came forth in the words of that one man that day,” Reavis said concluding with King’s famous words:
“When we let freedom ring…we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

‘New Look’ School Board Meets Tonight

Five new members take their seats tonight on the Halifax County School Board as the board reorganizes for 2008.
Newcomers Stuart Comer, Joseph Gasperini, Roger Long, Walter Potts and Devin Snead, along with returning board members Steve Anderson, Mac McDowell and Arthur Reynolds, will elect a chairman and vice-chairman to serve a one-year term. The board also will appoint a clerk and deputy clerk of the board, and it will set its calendar of meetings for 2008.
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Joe Griles and Elizabeth Russell with the Virginia Department of Education will discuss career and technical industry classifications with the board, and Griles will discuss Principals Appreciation Week.
Superintendent Paul Stapleton will report on the Jan. 4 School Security Taskforce meeting. Dr. Melanie Stanley and Russell will report on the Governor’s Career and Technical Academy, and Larry Roller, director of operations and maintenance, will report to the board on the activities of his department over the past month.
Under unfinished business, Deputy Superintendent Larry Clark will update the board on the class pictures to be displayed at Halifax County Middle School.
And in new business, Finance Director Bill Covington will discuss the proposed 2008-09 budget timeline. Covington also will report on the school system’s financial status.
Prior to adjourning, the board will go into executive session for personnel and student discipline issues.
Tonight’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room of the Mary Bethune Office Complex.

Obituaries

Sandra Wade Crews
Sandra ‘Sandy’ Wade Crews, 48, of 3102 Green Valley Road, Clover died January 11, 2008, at Duke University Medical Center.
Mrs. Crews was born in Halifax County January 25, 1959, the daughter of Willie Lee Wade and Bernice Newcomb Wade and was married to Cecil Bruce ‘Bubba’ Crews. She was of the Methodist Faith.
Other than her parents and husband, survivors include one brother, Willie Lee ‘Billy’ Wade Jr. of Clover; one niece, Jordan Wade of Scottsburg; and one nephew, Jarrett Wade of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mrs. Crews were held January 13, at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Bonnie Pizzeck officiating. Burial followed in Clover Cemetery.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax County Humane Society, P.O. Box 969, South Boston, 24592.

Ada Linwood Strickland Guthrie
Ada Linwood Strickland Guthrie, 91, of Alchie Lane, Nathalie, died Jan. 12, 2008, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Richmond.
Funeral services for Mrs. Guthrie will be held Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 2 p.m. at The First Baptist Church of Millstone.
Visitation will be held at Powell Funeral Home on Tuesday from 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Liberty Volunteer Fire Department or The First Baptist Church of Millstone.
Other information was not available at press time.

Janet Dempster Hurley
Janet Dempster Hurley died January 10, 2008 at Bayville Manor, Bayville, N.J.
Born March 7, 1918, she resided most of her life in Trenton, N.J. until her retirement to Myrtle Beach, S.C. in 1983. Mrs. Hurley was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Leigh Hurley.
She is survived by three children, a son, Richard L. Hurley III of Whiting, N.J., two daughters and sons-in-law, Adelaide ‘Sis’ and Ken Meck of Whiting, N.J., and Susan and Joseph Simonson, of South Boston; 14 grandchildren, Cynthia, Sharon, Richard, John, Catherine, Chad, Jane, Joan, Nan, Greg, Chris, Dean, Jennifer, and Randy; 24 great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and a brother, Albert Dempster, of Treasure Island, Fla. One brother, John T. Dempster; and a grandson, Jeffrey Hurley, also preceded Mrs. Hurley in death.
Mrs. Hurley retired from the State of New Jersey Licensing Division, as assistant chief. She was a past member of St. Andrews Church in Trenton, St. Stephens Church in Myrtle Beach, and St. Johns Church, Halifax. She was also a past member of Wilson Memorial Ruritan Club, Halifax County.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider St. Johns Church, Wilson Memorial Ruritan Club, the Cancer Society, SPCA, or a charity choice.
Burial will be at a later date in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A memorial service was held January 12, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Waretown, N.J.

John Knight Poole Sr.
John Knight “Jack” Poole Sr., 83, of Virgilina Road, died Jan. 12, 2008 at his home.
Mr. Poole was born in Halifax County, a son of the late James Link and Mary Holt Poole, and he was married to Lucy Stigall Poole.
He was retired from Burlington Industries, and he attended High View Baptist Church. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a lifetime member of the VFW. He also was an avid hunter and fisherman.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Poole is survived by two sons, Jimmy Earl Poole and wife Eady of Rocky Mount, N.C., and John K. Poole Jr. and wife Lynn of Hillsborough, N.C.; one daughter, Sandi Hughes and husband Donnie of Halifax; one sister, Joyce Davis of Greensboro; four grandchildren, Jay Poole and wife Hania, Heath Crews, Seth Poole and Leslie Hughes.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Poole was preceded in death by one brother, Barton Poole, and one sister, Gladys Madden.
Funeral services for Mr. Poole will be held today at 2 p.m. at High View Baptist Church with the Rev. Tommy Faust officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home, 13301 Virgilina Road.

JoAnn Baker Gupton
A memorial service for JoAnn Baker Gupton, 55, of Pamplin, will be held today at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home in Clarksville with the Rev. Bill McEntire officiating.
Mrs. Gupton, wife of Frank A. Gupton and daughter of the late Ollie Mae Baker, died Jan. 11, 2008, at her home.
Mrs. Gupton was a homemaker.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Gupton is survived by one daughter, Tammie Williams and husband Rusty of Wilton, N.C.; one brother, Ricky Brantley of Roxboro; and two grandchildren, Janey and Wesley Williams.
Online condolences can be expressed to the family at www.wclfh.com

Mary Williams Mills
Mary Williams Mills of Sinai Road, South Boston, died January 10, 2008, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Mills was born in Halifax County on Sept. 8, 1916, and was 91 years of age at the time of her death. She was the daughter of the late Pleasant Williams and Rosa Owens Williams and was married to the late Ernest Jake Mills Sr.
She was a member of the Union Grove C.M.E. Church.
Mrs. Mills is survived by four daughters, Betsy M. Edmunds, Mary Dixon, Rebecca Ballou, and the Rev. Shirley Woody, all of South Boston; two sons, Ernest Mills Jr. of South Boston, and Willie Howard Mills of Halifax; two sisters, Annie C. Davis of Halifax, and Rosa Lee Muse of Bronx, N.Y.; 18 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; two sons-in-law, Wayne Dixon and Calvin T. Woody Jr.; one daughter-in-law, Dorothy Mills; and a number of nieces, nephews and other relatives.
In addition to her parents and husband, Mrs. Mills was preceded in death by one daughter, Adell Mills; one son, James Mills; three sisters and four brothers.
Funeral services for Mrs. Mills will be held today a 2 p.m. at the Union Grove C.M.E. Church with the Rev. Larry Brown officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the residence, 1064 Sinai Road, South Boston.

Oliver Oscar Clark
Oliver Oscar Clark, 87, of the Mt. Laurel community, Clover, died Jan. 10, 2008, in Westbury, N.Y.
Mr. Clark was born in Halifax County on July 9, 1920, a son of the late Oliver Clark and Mary Ellen Clark, and was married to the late Catherine Brown Clark. He was a World War II Army veteran and was employed by Universal Carting Co., New York, for over 40 years. He was a member of Bethel Grove Baptist Church.
Mr. Clark is survived by two daughters, Gail Lawrence of Westbury, N.Y., and Elsie Brown of Bronx, N.Y.; five sisters, Louise Clark of Baltimore, Ruth Clark of Hollis, N.Y., Loretta Garrett of South Boston, Dorothy McDaniel of St. Albans, N.Y., and Patty Brown of Clover; one brother, Sidney Clark of Clover; five grandchildren; one son-in-law, James Lawrence; four sisters-in-law, Edna Clark, Mamie Clark, Josephine Wilborne, and Eva Hendricks; two brothers-in-law, Louis McDaniel and Lilton Garrett; a devoted friend, Minnie Stewart; and a number of nieces, nephews and other relatives.
In addition to his parents and wife, Mr. Clark was preceded in death by one son, Alan; one sister, Elizabeth; and two brothers, Otis and David.
Funeral services for Mr. Clark will be held Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m.with services at Bethel Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. William Hicks officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with military honors by American Legion Post 99.
The family will receive friends at Crawford House Chapel, Halifax, tonight from 7-8 p.m.

Comets Falter In Second Half; Fall To GW 74-44

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Many people knew Halifax County High School was a big underdog entering Friday night’s Western Valley District game against archrival and district leader GW in Danville.
But, for the first two quarters, the Comets played far better than the underdog they were expected to be and gave the Eagles all they could handle.
However, the Comets were unable to sustain that effort through the last two quarters.
GW opened the second half with an 8-0 run that deflated the Comets and ran away to a 74-44 win, upping its record to 14-0 overall and 3-0 in district play.
“They are not 30 points better than we are,” Comets head coach Lynn Ramage said afterward.
“I’ll say that to his (GW head coach Bobby Martin’s) face. I’ll tell it from the mountains. I’ll tell anybody they’re not 30 points better than us.”
Opening the game in an aggressive zone defense and slowing down the tempo of the game with deliberate offensive moves, the Comets (10-5 overall, 1-2 district) forged a 5-0 lead on a basket from Hakeem Ager and a three-pointer from Durrell Chandler. And, with a five-point flurry late in the first quarter, the Comets led 14-12 after the first eight minutes.
GW got the lead back with two baskets top open the second quarter, opened up a seven-point margin twice in the quarter, the last time on a shot by Nick Barbour, who finished the game with 17 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career early in the fourth quarter.
Two free throws from Ager and a basket from Kejuan Mayo in the final minute of the half brought the Comets to within three points at 30-27 at halftime.
Had the Comets done a little better than the 3-7 mark at the charity stripe they compiled in the first half, the contest would have been even closer. Despite the free throw shooting, the Comets put together the best half of basketball they had played all season.
“We tried to make them play defense, spread it out and try to attack their weaker defenders,” Ramage explained.
“We wanted to take a little time off of the clock. We didn’t want to go for a shot until I said so. We were just trying to do some things to offset their athleticism.”
The game plan worked well. But, things quickly turned around.
Comets point guard Durrell Chandler became ill late in the first half and had to go to the bench.Chandler was nauseated through the halftime break but, despite being weakened, by his bout of nausea, returned to action in the second half.”
“When he doesn’t play well, we show it,” Ramage remarked.
“He’s our engine. As he goes, we go.”
On top of Chandler becoming ill, GW opened the second half with an 8-0 run that put the Eagles up 38-27. The GW run included a couple of baskets that followed what Ramage alleged were bad calls on the part of the officials. It was a run that burst the Comets’ bubble.
“We started out the second half with what I thought were two easy calls that they (the officials) should have made, a walk on the first play and a foul on the second play,” Ramage pointed out.
“They don’t call it, we get on our heels and Durrell is sick.That first five minutes is important and we didn’t do well that first five minutes.”
The Comets scored only three points in the first four minutes of the second half, those coming on a combined 3-4 effort at the free throw line from Michael Ferrell. Ferrell, who led the Comets with 15 points, hit the Comets first field goal of the second half with a lay-up off of a steal with 3:33 to go in the third quarter. That basket trimmed GW’s lead to 43-32.
GW’s Michael McGeough answered with a three-pointer and Ferrell came right back with a three-pointer of his own that cut the GW lead to nine points at 46-35 with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
That was as close as the Comets would get the rest of the way.
Barbour, who passed the 1,000-point mark a short time later, converted a three-point play and Townes followed with back-to-back baskets to extend GW’s lead to 53-35 with 1:17 left in the quarter.
Ferrell, who scored nine of the 10 points the Comets scored in the third quarter, hit one of two free throw attempts with 46 seconds left and Deshon Dabbs, who finished the game with seven points, hit a free throw with 3.1 seconds left to score this only point of the second half, to cut the GW lead to 16 points at 53-37 at the end of the quarter.
Halifax County hit only one basket in the first four and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, that coming on a lay-up by Ferrell with 6:06 left in the contest. In that span, GW iced the contest with a 14-2 run that produced a 67-39 lead.
Chandler hit a three-pointer with 3:08 to go to make the score 67-42. GW inched its lead to 30 points with 2:25 left in the game, at which time both teams emptied their benches. With both teams hitting a field goal each in the final 2:25, GW finished the game with a 30-point edge.
Despite the final margin, Ramage said he was pleased with the effort his team had shown.
“I’m proud of my guys,” Ramage said.
“We gave them a game for one half, but we’ve got to give them a game in the second half as well. I’ll take a morale victory for a half. We know it only counts on the scoreboard when you win both halves.”

Bad Start Dooms Lady Comets In Loss To GW

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
The Comets varsity girls basketball team made things interesting after a slow start against GW at Comets Gym Friday night, trimming a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to nine before falling by a 62-51 margin.
Halifax, behind 20-5 after one quarter, 37-22 at halftime and 51-31 entering the fourth quarter, saw its deficit climb to 22 points before going on a 16-3 run to close to within 56-47 with 2:30 remaining.
Three Comets turnovers in the final two minutes helped short circuit the comeback, giving Halifax a 0-2 record in the Western Valley District and 8-6 mark overall.
Miyisha Younger led Halifax with 16 points, six in the fourth-quarter rally, while Whitney McCargo had 14, including seven consecutive in the final period that drew the Comets to within 56-45.
Younger’s basket got the Comets to within 56-47, but that was as close as Halifax would come.
Nia Brown finished with seven, Destiny Betts five, Melyse Brown and Tiffany Wilson four apiece, and Brittany Roberts a made free throw for Halifax, which was 12-27 from the foul line
The one-two scoring punch of Erica Warren (25) and Jasmine Hairston (23) led GW, Warren with 19 points in the first half and Hairston with 15 after intermission.
Tiffany Houston and Narcissa Green each had six and Tia Chattin two points for the Lady Eagles, who were 8-21 from the foul line as a team.
Comets coach Ray Reaves said his team made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers against a quick GW defense in the opening quarter, before adjusting to the speed of the game.
By then the Comets were behind by 15 points.
“We got great effort tonight but made too many mistakes and had too many turnovers, because GW was extremely quick to the ball on defense,” noted Reaves.
“We have to get used to playing at that speed from the start, going at a medium pace won’t get it done against a team like that.”
“[GW] is a quick team and they get in the passing lanes.”
Warren scored 10 first-quarter points and GW led 18-2, Wilson’s basket halfway through the quarter the only points for the Comets, but Younger hit a basket and Betts a foul shot to cut their team’s deficit to 20-5 after one quarter.
Younger scored six points and McCargo and Nia Brown four apiece in the second quarter, the Comets getting as close as 24-13 after a pair of McCargo free throws, but Warren helped GW lead 37-22 at halftime with nine second-quarter points.
GW outscored Halifax 14-9 run in the third period and held a 53-31 advantage at the start of the final quarter before the Comets rallied.
Betts hit a free throw, Wilson a basket and Nia Brown a pair from the foul line to make it 53-36. The teams traded baskets and Hairston hit a foul shot before McCargo scored seven consecutive points, the last three on a three-pointer that made it 56-45 with 2:42 remaining.
Younger’s basket made it 56-47 but Hairston scored for GW and the Comets missed several chances to cut the deficit to single digits before GW scored after two missed Comets field goal attempts to lead 62-47 with under a minute to play.
Younger scored on a follow shot and Brown scored on a steal in the final seconds for the final margin.
The Comets were more aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends after the first quarter, but the 15-point deficit proved too much to overcome, according to Reaves.
“On offense, we began to play aggressive basketball. Whitney, Miyisha and Nia attacked the basket and got a chance to go to the free throw line,” he said.
“On defense, we were passive in the first half and seemed tentative, but we picked it up after halftime.
“Obviously, we finished well tonight, but didn’t start well and we have to work on that.”
Reaves took special note of the performance turned in by freshman guard Melyse Brown, particularly on the defensive end.
“I applaud Melyse, she gave us an unbelievable effort, especially on the defensive end, and without that we’re not in the game,” said Reaves.
“I told the entire team that very thing because I wanted them to realize that with five girls playing the way she did tonight, we’re hard to beat.
“Don’t get me wrong, GW came in and played a really good ball game, but I want the girls to know that we’re right below where we need to be in order to be one of the top teams in the district,” he continued.
“If we’re more consistent, we’re right there and that was the difference tonight.
“We made too many mistakes early on and they made us pay for them.

Comets Girls Second In FUMA Invitational; Davis Qualifies For State

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
The Halifax County High School girls indoor track team proved Saturday that few people can accomplish a lot.
Despite having only seven athletes participating, the Comets came up with a total of 10 top-five finishes and placed second in Saturday’s 19th Annual Fork Union Military Academy Indoor Track Invitational Meet.
Halifax County tallied a total of 46.40 points and finished just over two points shy of meet winner Chancellor High School which scored 49 points.
E.C. Glass finished third with 38.20 points, Brentsville District High School finished fourth with 34 points and Orange County High School finished fifth with 24 points. Twenty-six teams participated in the meet.
Halifax County’s Taylor Davis qualified for the state meet with her second-place finish in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.49 seconds.
Tanashia Medley with her second-place finish in the 300-meter race in a time of 43.64 seconds, qualified for the Northwest Region Meet.
Marteia Ferrell gave the Comets three second-place finishes for the day with her second-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 34 feet and 10 inches.
Medley also scored a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.03 seconds and Ferrell placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 15-2.50. Davis failed to place in the 300-meter race where she was credited with a 28th-place finish with her time of 48.64 seconds.
Brittany Foster placed third in the triple jump with a jump of 33-6. Stacey Hamlett placed fourth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.59 seconds. Jasmine Pointer placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 15-1.50.
Foster and Pointer also finished in a five-way tie for sixth place in the high jump with a jump of five feet.
Halifax County’s entry in the 4x200-meter relay event failed to place with its seventh-place finish. Melyse Brown competed in the shot put but failed to place. She was credited with a 13th-place finish with a time of 29-3.75.