HCHS Junior Killed In Crash

A 17-year-old South Boston juvenile was killed Sunday when her vehicle ran off the road, went airborne and landed on its roof, according to Virginia State Trooper D.T. Spencer.
Krystina Marie Hooker was killed in the single-vehicle crash that occurred at approximately 6:04 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 360 and Route 715, according to the police report.
According to a family member, the accident occurred as Hooker was traveling home from the funeral of a Charlotte County friend, 17-year-old Adrian Clyde Thomas Roberts of Drakes Branch, who died in a head-on collision February 19 on Route 15.
Hooker was driving a 1990 Toyota Four-Runner that ran off the left side of the road, struck a culvert, went airborne, overturned, landed on its roof and trapped the driver inside, state police said.
Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $5,000, police added.
Funeral services for the Halifax County High School junior will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the South Boston Church of God.
Hooker was a member South Boston Church of God, the HCHS varsity soccer team, the varsity cheerleading and competition squad and the Blue Comet Marching Band.
She was also a member of the National Junior Honor Society, the 4-H Honor Club and a student at the regional Governor’s School.
Krystina Hooker is the daughter of Patricia Hooker-Moss and husband Mark of South Boston and Matthew Jay Hooker and wife Bobbi of Everett, Wash.
In other state police business, a 20-year-old Roxboro woman was injured Monday when her vehicle ran off the road after she reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, according to Virginia State Trooper J.J. Medley.
Rebekah D. Betterton was charged with reckless driving after her 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected and struck an embankment, according to Medley.
Betterton was transported from the scene by the rescue squad for treatment of her injuries, police said.
The accident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. on Route 732, three-quarters of a mile south of Route 601, according to Medley.
Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $2,000.

Letter Appeals For SCSB Chief’s Job

In a letter supporting fired Southside Community Services Board Executive Director Theresa Knott’s leadership of Community Services,at least 90 employees have asked to meet with the Southside Community Services Board before it appoints a new acting director “to ensure that the voices of the Board’s employees are heard.”
The action comes on the heels of the nine-member Board’s decision last week to not renew Knott’s contract.
The SCSB Board has scheduled a meeting at 10:30 a.m. today at Brian’s Steak House in South Hill.
“We will be discussing it (the appointment of an acting director),” Shirley Wetherbee, chairman of the SCSB Board, said yesterday when asked the meeting’s purpose “I don’t know, we will see what happens at the meeting.”
Wetherbee again declined to comment on the Board’s decision not to extend Knott’s probationary contract.
While Wetherbee said she had received the letter from Community Services’ employees, she declined to comment on it.
“We are planning on meeting with them this week,” added the Board chairman.
In the letter, the employees said they felt Knott’s “termination was unfair” and described the director’s actions as having “an unbelievable, positive impact in the direction of the Board.”
Employes cited the Board’s expansion of new services, its action offering services for children and improved staff morale under Knott’s leadership.
The following were listed in the letter as significant improvement in services:
n Serving children in the Behavioral Health Centers through telepsychiatry/telemedicine.
n Mental Health Crisis Stabilization implementation. “For the first time, there is an option between consumers being admitted to a locked psychiatric hospital and returning to their community environment,” according to the employees’ letter.
n Beginning to network with other regional CSBs to learn what they are doing in the field of prevention. Exploring grants and other funding possibilities for expanding services and joining as a partner in the newly formed Drug-Free Community Coalition in Halifax County, which is working to obtain federal funds.
n Developing a long-range plan for information technology which included moving toward an Electronic Health Record.
Employees cited the development of partnerships with other providers in the three-county service area of Halifax, Mecklenburg and Brunswick.
Contacted yesterday, Knott said she had received a copy of the employees’ letter.
“I am very touched and honored by them and their comment,” she said. “I had the utmost respect for the staff there and enjoyed working with them to bring new services to all three counties. Of course, this is very disappointing to me professionally and personally. It is just devastating.
“It is a great staff with opportunities for development of new services in the counties ... and I am sorry I will not be there to work with them,” added Knotts.
Knotts replaced Dr. Jules Modlinski following his retirement last year.

Obituaries

Krystina Marie Hooker

Krystina Marie Hooker, 17, of 502 Cardinal Court, South Boston died February 25, 2007 in Halifax County.
Ms. Hooker was born in Watertown, N.Y. on November 17, 1989, the daughter of Patricia Hooker Moss and Matthew Jay Hooker. She was a member of South Boston Church of God and a student at Halifax County High School where she was a member of the varsity soccer team, varsity cheerleader and competition squad, Peer Mediator, member of Halifax County High School Blue Comet Marching Band, and a student at the Regional Governors School. She was also a member of the National Junior Honor Society, the 4-H Honor Club, and dance student at We’ve Got Rhythm.
Survivors include her mother and her husband, Mark Moss, of South Boston; her father and his wife, Bobbi, of Everett, Wash.; four sisters, Krystal Hooker and Destiny Moss, both of South Boston, Aubrey Carpenter of Montana, and Kaylin Hooker of Everett; two brothers, Karrington Hooker of South Boston and Korban Hooker of Everett; her grandparents, Carolyn and Wallace Wazeka of South Boston and Patricia Anderson of Jackson, N.J.; her great-grandparents, Teddy Weazeka of South Boston and Joe and Alice Kilroy of New Jersey; and her beloved friend, Troy Stephens, of South Boston. One step-sister, Corlette Moss, and her great-grandparents, Lillian Wazeka and Lillian and Bouldin Watts, preceded Ms. Hooker in death.
A funeral will be held tomorrow, March 1, at 2 p.m. at South Boston Church of God with the Rev. Dr. Bruce Hagy officiating. Burial will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the church today, February 28, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00, where she will lie in state beginning at noon today.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net

Everett Carr Jones

Everett Carr Jones, 53, of Richmond, formerly of Halifax, died February 23, 2007, in Richmond.
Mr. Jones was born in Halifax County on February 9, 1954, the son of Billy W. Jones and the late Mary Elizabeth Carr Jones. He was a member of Banister Hill Baptist Church and owned and operated Jones Landscaping Company.
Survivors of Mr. Jones include two daughters, Cecelia ‘CeCe’ Jones of New Haven, Conn. and Carlesa ‘LeLe’ Sneed of Waldorf, Md.; his son-in-law, Kendall L. Sneed; one grandson, Noah T. Sneed; his father of Cary, N.C.; and one sister, Willie Marie Royster of Halifax.
A funeral will be held today, February 28, at 11 a.m. at Banister Hill Baptist Church in Halifax with burial to follow in the church cemetery.