Halifax Approves Chemical Trespass Ordinance

To applause last night, Halifax Town Council unanimously approved a Corporate Mining and Chemical and Radioactive Bodily Trespass ordinance.
Although Attorney George Bagwell questioned enforcement provisions of the ordinance, the town became the first governing body in the state to adopt the ‘chemical trespass ordinance,’ one proponents say is designed to help protect its citizens.
Bagwell mentioned the Dillon Rule and pointed out municipalities only have those powers delegated to them by the state. He warned of legal challenges but said he could perfect the document.
Action followed a public hearing that drew over a dozen speakers all favoring the ordinance and opposing uranium mining.
Town Manager Carl Espy told council he also received a dozen emails supporting adoption of the ordinance.
Halifax Councilman and Southside Concerned Citizens Chairman Jack Dunavant offered the motion urging council to pass the ordinance “in the name of health, safety and welfare of our people.”
He advised council to pass the ordinance saying they could explore any needed revisions in the future.
“This is an historic vote,” Dunavant said following unanimous council approval. “The people have finally agreed to protect their health and the environment from corporate assault. It’s time the Constitution was evoked to give the power to the people to protect their own destiny and end this era of corporate greed and pollution.”
A proposed uranium mining and milling operation near Chatham triggered council’s adoption of the ordinance.
Through the ordinance, corporations and governing officials permitting those corporations will be held liable to the people of Halifax for chemical trespass.
Southside Concerned Citizens, which opposes Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) mining proposal, cites concerns about air quality and surface and groundwater pollution.
SCC first battled the Coles Hill mining proposal during the 1980s, with the Virginia legislature passing a moratorium on uranium mining in 1982.
The two large uranium ore deposits with an estimated $10 billion value are located approximately six miles from Chatham on land owned by the Coles and Bowen families.
The company is seeking a uranium study, and legislation creating a commission to lead the study is currently working its way through a series of committees in the General Assembly
Similar chemical trespass ordinances have been enacted in Pennsylvania to stop a variety of corporate actions, including the spreading of sewage sludge, according to Shireen Parsons, community organizer for the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF).
During a forum held at Halifax County High School last month, Ben Price, project director with CELDF, told the crowd the action “empowers the community” and “is a first shot across the bow to let them know the people have the right to govern.”
Consent of the governed and the community’s responsibility for its future were at the heart of Price’s call to action at the SCC-sponsored forum.
Parsons, at the same forum, described the hazards of uranium byproducts and the failure of federal and state regulatory agencies to protect human health and the environment. She also challenged VUI’s economic benefits forecast.

Baptist Association Opposes Uranium Mining

Churches in the Dan River Baptist Association have united to voice their concerns about the possible effects uranium mining in neighboring Pittsylvania County will have on Halifax County and surrounding areas.
During its executive committee meeting Tuesday night, pastors and lay persons representing the 33 churches in the association voted to approve a resolution that opposes mining of the radioactive ore that could result in pollution of groundwater and the Banister River as well as do “irreparable damage to God’s gift of creation and the environment.”
Created by Association Christian Life Chairman Pastor Dr. J. Michael Parnell and Association WMU Director Wanda McEntire, the resolution urges legislators to continue the moratorium on uranium mining throughout the commonwealth.
The resolution in its entirety follows:
Resolution Concerning Possible Uranium Mining
“Whereas, God proclaimed that humans are empowered to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28 (NRSV)
“Whereas, it is humans’ place to not only have dominion, but to be stewards over God’s creation.
“Whereas, humans have rebelled against God and His plan for the environment and our role in it;
“Whereas, the profit taking from the earth and natural resources has brought harm to the environment and pain to humanity;
“Whereas, as Christians, we must treat nature as having value in itself and exercise dominion without being destructive and we must be willing to stand for what is best for the environment and not for the interests of individuals or business.
“Whereas, the Virginia Uranium, Incorporated desires to mine a radioactive element in our neighboring county and that mining could result in pollution of groundwater and the Banister River.
“Be it resolved that the Dan River Baptist Association stands for the preservation of our environment and the conservation of our natural resources. We therefore express our opposition of the mining of uranium in Pittsylvania County as it can do irreparable damage to God’s gift of creation and the environment.
“Be it further resolved that we urge those who hold elected office, and who vote on this issue, to maintain the moratorium on mining of uranium within the commonwealth.
“We encourage others who are equally concerned about this issue to also contact their elected officials.”
Marline Uranium Corp. discovered the Coles Hill deposit in the early 1980s, but abandoned the project when the price of uranium fell.
Recently, Walter Coles, who owns the land believed to contain the largest uranium ore deposit in the United States, formed Virginia Uranium Inc. to explore the possibility of eventually mining the deposit.
The ore deposit now has an estimated worth of $10 billion.
Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982, but Virginia Uranium now has a state permit to conduct exploratory drilling to verify the deposit. The company began test drilling in December.
A bill in the General Assembly to study the benefits and risks of uranium mining went before the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee for the second time Monday morning.
The Agriculture Committee discussed the bill last week before assigning it to a special subcommittee headed by Sen. Roscoe Reynolds of Henry County.
Senate Bill 525 would create a Virginia Uranium Mining Commission to study 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.”
The commission also would make recommendations for legislation for regulatory controls and safeguards for mining and processing uranium.
Last week, the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach, agreed to amend the bill to hold public hearings and expand the proposed commission from 15 to 17 members to include representatives from Pittsylvania County and Halifax County.
The commission also would include three members of the Senate, five from the House of Delegates, and four other “nonlegislative” citizen members appointed by the governor.
All of the citizen members should have specific education, training, knowledge, or experience in the fields of public health, environmental protection, mining, or similar fields related to the work of the commission, according to the bill.
In addition, the directors of the Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy along with the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health will serve as ex-officio members of the commission without voting privileges.
The commission also would be required to contract with the National Academy of Sciences for the study.
Under the amended bill, the commission would be required to hold at least three public hearings in any area of the commonwealth where uranium mining is proposed.
It also will be required to hold a public meeting before beginning work to receive comments and suggestions from the public.
Reynolds’ subcommittee had recommended limiting the uranium study to Pittsylvania and Halifax counties, but that suggestion was rejected by the full committee Monday.
The study bill was referred to the Senate Rules Committee for review and is expected to reach the Senate floor for a vote sometime next week.
If approved by the Senate, the bill will then go to the House of Delegates.
The commission’s report would be due by Dec. 15, 2009.

Salaries A Priority In School Budget Work Session

Pay raises for teachers and support personnel are at the top of the to-do list for next year’s school budget, according to discussion Tuesday night during the school board’s budget work session.
Support personnel consists of secretaries, maintenance, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other non-instructional personnel. Principals and other administrators and top school officials are not included.
The initial $64,965,463 school budget presented at Tuesday’s work session is $3,075,364 higher than the current budget. Chairman Steve Anderson, Vice-Chair Joe Gasperini and board members Walter Potts and Roger Long attended the Tuesday night meeting.
The proposed budget submitted by Finance Director Bill Covington included a 3 percent increase for teachers along with an increase in employee benefits to balance a projected 5 percent increase in health insurance costs for next year.
Covington told the board he had included the 5 percent benefits increase in the draft budget in the event health insurance costs rise 5 percent next year, so out-of-pocket costs would not increase for school employees.
Gasperini submitted his own draft budget totaling $68,536,889 that contains a 7 percent increase in teachers’ salaries and 10 percent for support personnel salaries. The vice-chairman said he arrived at the 7 percent figure by beginning with the 3 percent proposed in the draft budget presented by Covington and adding another 4 percent to match the current rate of inflation.
Gasperini produced an analysis of revenues received by the county as compared with school appropriations over a six-year period. General fund revenues increased $13,983,528 or 51.47 percent the last six years, while appropriations to the school system decreased $746,369 over the same period, according to Gasperini’s figures.
The board saw a comparison of area teacher scales for 2007-08, which compared Halifax County salary rates with similar counties in the region. The comparison scale showed the salaries of Halifax County teachers in the lower third of the list in most cases.
For example, of the 16 school systems in the comparison, Halifax County’s salary for beginning teachers is at the bottom of the list in 16th place. Out of 134 school divisions statewide, Halifax County’s rate for beginning teachers ranks 113th.
For teachers with five years experience, Halifax County’s salary rate is 15th out of the 16 schools in the region, just above Mecklenburg County, and 116th statewide. At the 10-year level, Halifax County ranks 14th in the region, above Brunswick and Mecklenburg counties, and 120th in Virginia.
Halifax County’s rate for teachers with 15 years experience ranks above only Brunswick, Henry and Pittsylvania counties in the region and 115th in the state.
Things look better for Halifax County teachers at the 20-year level. The salary rate ranks 10th in the region and 111th overall in Virginia.
But at the 25 years experience level, Halifax County ranks at the bottom of the list in the region and 128th of 134 school divisions in the Commonwealth. Things improve again at the 30-year-level with Halifax County ranked above Henry, Pittsylvania, Lunenburg, Brunswick and Charlotte counties in the region and 111th in the state.
In order to include the 7 percent increase in teachers’ salaries and the 10 percent increase for support personnel, the proposed budget will have to be adjusted.
New board member Long said he would like to see the summer athletic camps reinstated, and the board also discussed rising transportation costs.
Covington told the board he had included $221,088 more for vehicle and power equipment fuel in the draft budget for next year. With the rising prices of fuel, the school system is approximately $100,000 over budget this year in its expenditures for fuel.
Covington also outlined the projected cost requirements to implement a required personal finance course. The expense of completely funding the course, including four teachers, 500 textbooks, 500 workbooks, teachers’ editions, resource kits and 100 calculators, amounted to $227,464.39.
If the course is approved by the board and state department of education, some ninth graders would have to begin taking the course next year.
Superintendent Paul Stapleton told the board this is an extremely unusual budget session. “Normally we don’t do anything with the school budget until March when have state revenue figures,” Stapleton said.
“I had some concerns about the governor’s state budget to begin with. This is the first time that I can remember that a governor didn’t have any money in there for teacher raises,” he added. “It’s just highly unusual in the state of Virginia.”
Stapleton said he also is concerned about when exact revenue figures from the state will be available, but he said school officials will attempt to work on the local budget based upon Kaine’s current proposed budget.
The House and Senate versions of the state budget are supposed to be completed by Feb. 17, and budget conferees will begin their work on a final budget. If a budget agreement cannot be reached in a timely manner by the House and Senate, another long budget battle could be possible, delaying further the amount of state revenue school systems statewide can expect.
The school board has another budget work session scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 20, and a public hearing on the budget is set for Feb. 28. Stapleton said the completed budget is due to the board of supervisors by Feb. 29.

Obituaries

Noah And Amos McMullen
Noah and Amos McMullen, twin infant sons of Ken and Brandy McMullen of 118 Hunter Circle, Fayetteville, NC, died Wed., Jan. 30, and Sun., Feb. 3, respectively, in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
The infants are survived by their parents; a sister, Lacey Jean McMullen; grandparents, Kenny and Jeannie McMullen of Fayetteville; Tom Snow of Danville; and Junior and Tammy Fallen of Crystal Hill; and great-grandparents, Lacy and Betty Epps Sr. of Halifax.
A memorial service will be held tonight, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at Friendship Baptist Church in Hope Mills, N.C. Visitation will follow the service.

Noah and Amos McMullen, twin infant sons of Ken and Brandy McMullen of 118 Hunter Circle, Fayetteville, NC, died Wed., Jan. 30, and Sun., Feb. 3, respectively, in Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
The infants are survived by their parents; a sister, Lacey Jean McMullen; grandparents, Kenny and Jeannie McMullen of Fayetteville; Tom Snow of Danville; and Junior and Tammy Fallen of Crystal Hill; and great-grandparents, Lacy and Betty Epps Sr. of Halifax.
A memorial service will be held tonight, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m., at Friendship Baptist Church in Hope Mills, N.C. Visitation will follow the service.

Stephens, Pippen Ink College Pacts

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Allen Stephens and Rodale Pippen have been football teammates since their days of playing football at Halifax County Middle School.
Wednesday morning they sat side-by-side in the lobby at Halifax County High School signing national letters of intent to continue their football careers at high-profile schools.
Stephens, Halifax County High School’s standout linebacker, signed with Virginia Tech. Pippen, the Comets’ starting quarterback for the past two seasons, signed with Grambling State University, the home of one of the country’s elite football programs.
For Stephens, Wednesday’s signing finalized what has been a long process, a process that took a major step forward when the 6-1, 235-pound senior gave a verbal commitment to Virginia Tech officials prior to the start of this past season.
“I’m glad it’s done,” Stephens said with an air of relief.
“I received my offer a little before Christmas last year. I had Maryland, West Virginia and Marshall to choose from. Everybody, students and everybody were always asking me where are you going, where are you going. It was an every day thing. As an eleventh-grader, I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go. I just kept saying I don’t know.”
Pippen said after signing his papers that he was both excited and relieved.
“It’s a dream come true,” Pippen remarked.
“It’s a relief. This whole time that I’ve been waiting and not knowing what school I was going to go to has been tough. Now, I know where I’m going.”
Stephens had an outstanding junior season in 2006, recording 157 tackles, 39 of which were for a loss, had 17 sacks and caused 11 fumbles. He was named as the Defensive Player of the Year in the Western Valley District, was named to the First Team of the All-Northwest Region Team and earned state accolades as well.
The linebacker’s senior season was interrupted by a knee injury that sidelined him for five games. As a result, his numbers for the 2007 season were not nearly as impressive as the season before. Yet, Stephens still was named to Honorable Mention accolades on the 2007 All Western Valley District Team.
“Getting hurt was a downfall for me,” Stephens said.
“But, they (Virginia Tech) had already given me their offer. My coaches know what my potential is. The only way I would not be able to go is to not meet the qualifications.”
Stephens was one of six linebackers signed by Virginia Tech on Wednesday. The others include Lyndell Gibson, a 5-11, 220-pound senior from Salem High School in Virginia Beach, Jeron Gouveia, a 6-2, 180-pound senior from Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, and Jake Johnson, a 6-2, 235-pound senior from Stafford High School in Falmouth.
Other linebackers signed by the Hokies Wednesday include Derrick McCoy, a 6-3, 215-pound senior from Amherst County High School, 6-2, 220-pound senior Quillie Odom from Osbourn Park High School in Manassas and Bruce Taylor, a 6-2, 238-pound senior from Myrtle Beach High School in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Stephens said Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster has told him he will have an opportunity to compete for a starting spot in Tech’s linebacker corp.
“When I went for my official visit, he said he had four guys (linebackers) coming in,” Stephens said.
“He (Foster) said it was open for anybody. Of the linebackers coming into Tech, I’m probably underrated because of the senior season I had. I played in only five games. I’ve just got to go there and show them who I am and what I can do.”
Pippen, like Stephens, had some decisions to make, having been contacted by Old Dominion University, the University of Richmond, Marshall and Virginia State University in addition to Grambling State.
“I had to make a decision between Virginia State and Grambling State,” Pippen said.
“I went to Grambling State and liked it a lot. Grambling State has a great reputation for winning a lot (of games) every year. The coaches seemed real cool and seemed like family. I made my decision from there.”
Another piece of the equation was that Pippen knew Grambling State coach Rod Broadway, the former head coach at North Carolina Central University.
“He (Broadway) used to coach my brother,” Pippen noted.
“The coach that recruited me, Coach Gibbs (running backs coach Shawn Gibbs) called my brother first and told him to have me send him a highlight tape. That’s how we started.”
Pippen said Grambling State coaches told him they wanted to look at him as a quarterback. Having played some at wide receiver for the Comets this past season, Pippen may also get a look from Grambling State coaches as a wide receiver as well.
Grambling State has two quarterbacks in the fold, 6-0, 190-pound junior Brandon Landers who threw for 2,603 yards and 23 touchdowns this past season, and 6-1, 195 freshman Tonie Spears.
Grambling State signed Pippen and one other quarterback, Justin Higgins, a 6-2, 185-pound senior from Rayville, La., one of Louisiana’s top high school players.
Pippen, like Stephens, had his senior season interrupted by an injury that hampered his efforts for a good portion of the season. And, also like Stephens, Pippen had a outstanding season in his junior year in 2006.
In 2006, Pippen threw for 1,787 yards and 18 touchdowns in the Comets’ 10 regular-season contests. He also ran for 354 yards and six touchdowns. His numbers were not as good this past season, yet, they were good enough that he was named to the Second Team of the All-Western Valley District team as a quarterback.
“It was a pretty good season,” Pippen said of his 2007 season in which he had a dual role as quarterback and wide receiver.
“I think I could have done a whole lot better to lead the team. But, I did what I could do.”

Comets Face WF Tonight In Home Finale

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
After having suffered a 63-43 setback at home Tuesday night at the hands of arch-rival GW, the Halifax County High School varsity boys basketball team has turned its focus to tonight’s final regular-season home game against William Fleming High School of Roanoke.
Tonight’s 7:30 p.m. contest, the annual Senior Night game, will be the final home regular-season game for Comets seniors Michael Ferrell, Hakeem Ager, Troy Hicks and Pierre Brandon.
Halifax County will be facing another tough test tonight when it faces William Fleming, the ninth-ranked team in this week’s Associated Press Virginia High School Basketball Poll.
The Comets are in a deadlock with Patrick Henry for fourth place in the Western Valley District standings, the final spot that will earn a team a home game in the first round of the upcoming Western Valley District Tournament, with two regular-season games remaining. Tonight’s game against William Fleming is the first of the two remaining games. The Comets will go on the road Tuesday night to face Patrick Henry in the regular-season finale.
Comets coach Lynn Ramage says William Fleming is similar to GW in some ways, but different in others.
“They’re bigger than GW, and they’re going to do some things that are a lot more athletic than GW,” Ramage pointed out.
“They also have some weaknesses I feel we can take advantage of that we didn’t the last time we played them.’
One of the big things Ramage and the Comets will be looking to shore up for tonight’s game is the team’s rebounding. The Comets did not rebound well in Tuesday night’s contest and it showed in the 20-point loss to the state’s second-ranked team.
“Our big weakness right now is rebounding,” Ramage said.
“People are getting too many offensive rebounds on us. They (GW) manhandled our guys. We need to do a better job on boxing out because these guys are jumping over our backs. We can’t go head-to-head against these guys. We’ve got to be fundamentally sound and box out.”
The Comets had a tough time of it early in Tuesday night’s game against GW, falling behind 11-0 in the first two minutes and 43 seconds of the contest and Ramage having to burn two time-outs in that span in an effort to settle his team down.
“It was just nerves, jitters,” Ramage said.
“Getting in a hole like that against GW is not like doing it against E.C. Glass.”
The Comets trailed 20-9 at the end of the first quarter and trailed by 20 points on two occasions in the second quarter with the first half finishing with the Comets trailing 38-18.
Just when it seemed like the contest was all but over, the Comets turned things around in the third quarter and got themselves back into the game.
Playing its best defensive quarter of the season, the Comets held GW to a miserly four points in the third quarter. At the same time, with the help of eight points from Ferrell, who finished with 13 points on the night, the Comets outscored the Eagles by a 10-point margin and made it a 10-point game at 42-32 entering the fourth quarter.
Almost as quickly as the Comets got themselves back into contention, they fell out of contention.
GW’s Stephen Coles converted a three-point play to open the final period to give the Eagles a 45-32 lead. A turnover on the part of the Comets followed. Gradually, GW pulled away and ran its final margin to 20 points on a dunk by Terrance Townes at the final horn.
Poor free throw shooting also played a role in the Comets’ loss. The Comets hit only 12 of 25 attempts from the charity stripe including hitting only 5-10 in the fourth quarter.
Ramage said after the game he was taking the blame for the loss.
“I’m going to take the blame for this because I gave us Saturday off and we only had one day to prepare for GW,” he explained.
“It was too much information for our kids to learn in one day. I never should have given them that one day off. It was a bad decision. I’ll take the blame because I don’t think I prepared them well enough.”

Lady Comets Suffer 66-35 Loss At GW

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
A 34-9 run by GW in the middle two quarters gave the home team more than enough points to defeat Halifax County 66-35 Tuesday.
Destiny Betts led Halifax with nine points, while Tiffany Wilson had eight and Whitney McCargo, Mary Beale and Miyisha Younger six points apiece.
GW put three players in double figures, Erica Warren finishing with 19, Tiffany Houston with 12 and Jasmine Hairston with 10.
Halifax, which was limited to only 15 field goals for the contest and tallied 19 turnovers, trailed 19-12 after one quarter and 35-19 at halftime.
The Comets did not register a field goal in the third quarter while falling behind 53-21, and had their best quarter in terms of scoring with 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Betts scored six of her nine points in the first quarter, Wilson had four and McCargo added two, but Warren had eight to help GW to its 19-12 lead.
Halifax suffered through scoring droughts in both the second and third quarters, McCargo hitting two field goals and Younger one in the second, and Beale scoring the only Comets’ points in the third with two made foul shots.
Warren and Houston were the primary scorers for GW in the middle two quarters, Warren with eight and Houston with six.
Beale and Wilson each had two field goals in the fourth quarter for Halifax, while Betts and Younger added baskets.
Now 2-6 in the Western Valley District and 10-10 overall, the Lady Comets face William Fleming in Roanoke tonight before returning to Comets Gym on Tuesday to play Patrick Henry.