Monday,
April 4, 2005
SoBo
IDA Wants $4.5 Million For Berry Hill Center
The
South Boston Industrial Development Authority is seeking
$3 million in economic development funding for a Conference
Center at Berry Hill Plantation Resort through the Tobacco
Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.
In addition, $1.5 million is expected to come through meals,
lodging and property taxes generated by the resort.
The South Boston IDA approved the application to TICR at
its Friday meeting.
The Conference Center would be built behind Berry Hill Plantation
and would be titled to the South Boston IDA, town manager
Ted Daniel said yesterday.
Under the proposed TICR application, the $3 million would
be granted to the South Boston IDA for development and construction
of the Conference Center.
The South Boston IDA will manage the project in cooperation
with Berry Hill Hotel Associates LLC.
“The Town of South Boston Industrial Development Authority
recognizes the tremendous economic impact the fully developed
Berry Hill Plantation Resort will have on the South Boston
economy,” said Daniel.
“The IDA believes that the critical first step of making
the project take off is the development of the proposed
12,000-square-foot public Conference Center facility,”
added the town manager.
In taking action, Daniel said the IDA considered the economic
benefits projected in the market study conducted by the
firm of PKF Consulting of San Francisco.
The resort is projected to yield annual direct tax revenues
to the Commonwealth of $2.6 million annually at full development
and over $500,000 of the annual new projected tax revenues
is directly related to the new hotel and conference center.
The TICR funding application is being submitted in support
of the Jan. 18 resolution of support by South Boston Town
Council in which the town endorsed the Berry Hill project
and pledged support through grant applications and other
economic development incentives, such as the enterprise
zone incentives that exist to stimulate local business growth.
In addition to the TICR grant, an additional $1.5 million
in conference center funding will be made available through
a performance agreement to be developed between the Town
Council and Berry Hill Associates. The additional funds
would be made available from new Town of South Boston meals,
lodging and property taxes generated by the Berry Hill Plantation
Resort, according to manager.
On Jan. 18, the South Boston Council, by joint resolution
with the Board of Supervisors, endorsed and pledged support
for the proposed Berry Hill Plantation Resort expansion.
Teen
‘Severely’ Injured In Accident
A single-vehicle accident early Saturday morning caused
what police described as “severe" injuries to
a South Boston teen, according to Virginia State Trooper
T.C. Comer.
Comer said that Jeffery Alan Polk, 19, of Third Street,
was transported to Duke University Medical Center to be
treated for injuries sustained in the 1:55 a.m. accident.
According to police, Polk was traveling on U.S. 360, approximately
one mile east of Route 344 when the 1991 Ford Fiesta he
was operating ran off the right side of the road and overturned.
Polk was thrown from the vehicle during the accident, according
to Comer.
A spokesman for Duke University Medical Center said yesterday
that Polk was listed in critical condition.
Charges in the accident, which caused approximately $2,000
damage, are pending, according to Comer.
A single-vehicle accident on U.S. 501 yesterday morning
resulted in reckless driving charges for a South Boston
man, according to Virginia State Trooper K.R. Martin.
Martin said that a 2005 Ford F-150 operated by Hubert L.
Hubbard, 86, of Huell Matthews Highway ran off the right
side of the road, crossed a ditch and struck a tree head-on.
The accident occurred at approximately 8:50 a.m., according
to police.
Martin said Hubbard was transported to Halifax Regional
Hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained in the
accident.
The accident, which occurred approximately one-half mile
from Route 658, caused an estimated $25,000 in damage to
the Ford, according to Martin.
Agenda:
School Funding, Biennial Property Assessment
AC
Development Gets Verbal Commitment From Bank On JOUSTER/VIPER
Projects
Biennial real estate assessment, a funding request for two
new elementary schools in the county and an update on the
proposed JOUSTER/VIPER research facilities at Virginia International
Raceway (VIR), highlight the agenda when the Halifax County
Board of Supervisors meet tonight for their regular monthly
meeting.
The meeting gets under way at 6:30 p.m. in the public meeting
room of the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax.
A public hearing on a plan to assess real estate taxes every
two years instead of the current reassessment every six
years is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Following the reassessment public hearing, supervisors will
entertain public comment on a funding request from the Halifax
County School Board for $28.8 million for two new elementary
schools.
The plans call for a new 850-student school in South Boston
and a 650-student school in the Cluster Springs area.
School Superintendent Paul Stapleton told supervisors in
March that the full appropriation will allow the school
system to realize cost savings because bidding the two projects
at once will “expedite the design phase and allow us
to take advantage of a stronger position for the bid process
and construction.”
Supervisors are also expected to hear a status report from
the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority on a
request for a moral obligation from the county to guarantee
$2.5 million for the Virginia Institute for Performance
Engineering and Research (VIPER) and the Joint Unmanned
Systems Test and Research (JOUSTER) projects at VIR.
The request is for a $1.4 million guarantee for JOUSTER
and a $1.1 million guarantee for VIPER.
“I did get a verbal commitment (from the bank) on Friday
which I am very comfortable with,” Connie Nyholm, a
partner in AC Development, said yesterday of the JOUSTER/VIPER
projects. AC Development’s private funding would take
the Halifax County “moral obligation bonds” question
off the table and take the county out of that funding picture.
Supervisors are also expected to discuss a proposed new
policy that will enact a no-smoking policy in buildings
owned by the county.
Following the meeting, supervisors are expected to convene
in closed session to discuss a potential new industry or
the expansion of an existing industry in the county.
Obituaries
Nannie
Scott Faulkner
Nannie
Scott Faulkner, 99, of 2040 Alton Post Office Road, Alton
died March 31 at The Woodview.
Mrs. Faulkner was born in Halifax County on July 15, 1905,
to the late Sidney L. Scott and Hallie Tucker Scott and
was married to the late Belt Faulkner. She was a member
of New Ephesus Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Winifred F. Harris of Alton
and Alease F. Brown of Lynchburg; one sister, Vernice Scott
Morman of Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; five grandchildren;
eight great-grandchildren; and one daughter-in-law, Lydia
D. Faulkner. Mrs. Faulkner was also preceded in death by
a son, Hurley M. Faulkner.
Funeral services will be held today, April 4, at noon at
New Ephesus Baptist Church in Semora, N.C. with the Rev.
Michael Ferrell officiating. Burial will follow in the church
cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior
to the service.
Silas
Herman Roark Jr.
Silas
Herman ‘Buddy’ Roark Jr., 64, of Chatham died
March 30 at Danville Regional Medical Center.
Mr. Roark was born March 6, 1941, in Northfork, WVa., the
son of the late Silas Herman Roark Sr. and Sylvia Robertson
Roark. He was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors include two daughters, Linette Roark Nuckols and
Karen R. Riddle, both of Chatham; three sisters, Patty R.
Reynolds of Harrisonburg, Reita R. Bowles of Danville and
Brenda R. Guill of Hillsboro, N.C.; one brother, James Fletcher
Roark of Stuarts Draft; a special friend, Louise Pierce
of Long Island; seven grandchildren, Michael, Will and James
Nuckols, Christopher, Justin and Karie Anne Riddle and Tyler
Roark. Mr. Roark was preceded in death by one son, Silas
Herman ‘Si’ Roark III.
Funeral services were held April 3 at 3 p.m.at Hollywood
Baptist Church with the Rev. Bill Soyars officiating. Burial
followed at Highland Burial Park in Danville.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the
American Red Cross, 2276 Franklin Turnpike, Suite 121, Danville,
24540.
Marshall
Easley Yancey
Marshall
Easley Yancey, 50, of South Boston died March 31, at Halifax
Regional Hospital.
Mr. Yancey was born in Mecklenburg County on October 26,
1954, to the late Thomas E. Yancey and Inez Virginia Easley
Yancey. He served in two branches of the military, three
years in the U.S. Army and three years in the U.S. Navy,
and was a member of St. Mark Baptist Church of Buffalo Junction.
Survivors include his mother of Buffalo Junction; four sons,
Lawrence and wife, Julia, of Clarksville, Charles and wife,
Clara, of Fort Washington, Md., Preston and wife, Mary,
of South Boston, and Robert Lee and wife, Latonda, of Richmond;
three sisters, Mary Gladys Gravitt, Edna Allen and Dora
Roberts, all of Washington, D.C.; and two devoted friends,
Gloria Stewart and Bill Sutphin, both of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mr. Yancey were held at noon April
3 at St. Mark Baptist Church with the Rev. Kenneth Stokes
and Min. Lewis Yancey officiating. Burial with military
honors followed in the church cemetery.
Email condolences to harrisfh@kerrlake.com.
Rosie
Larts Dance
Funeral
services for Mrs. Rosie Larts Dance, of Snow Hill Road,
Alton, will be held Tuesday, April 5, at 11 a.m. at Mayo
Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. A.E. Darrington officiating.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Mrs. Dance, 84, died Thursday at Berry Hill Nursing Home.
She was born in Darlington County, S.C., on Feb. 1, 1921,
to the late Pearce Larts and Demar Williams Larts. Mrs.
Dance was married to Jesse J. Dance.
She was a member of Mayo Grove Baptist Church.
Mrs. Dance is survived by her husband, Jessie Dance, of
the home; two sisters, Ms. Ophelia Larts of Bradenton, Fla.,
and Ms. Eloise Larts of Darlington, S.C.; seven grandchildren;
17 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; one
daughter-in-law, Mrs. Delores Henderson of Philadelphia,
Pa.,; one sister-in-law, Mrs. Laura Carson of Alton; and
a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Mrs. Dance was preceded in death by three children, Ms.
Jessie Mae Williams, James Williams and Grover Williams.
The family will receive friends at the home of the deceased,
2138 Snow Hill Road, Alton
Gloria
Sonie Clarke
Mrs.
Gloria Sonie Clarke of Clover died Saturday at Halifax Regional
Hospital.
She was 68.
Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Thursday, April
7, at Dunn & Sons Funeral Home Chapel at 1 p.m. Burial
will follow in the Bethel Grove Baptist Church Cemetery.
Mrs. Clarke was born in Belize City, Belize, Central America,
to the late John and Jane Burgess on Nov. 29, 1936, and
was married to James David Clarke.
Mrs. Clarke is survived by her husband, James David Clarke,
and a son, Richard Burgess of Belize City. Other survivors
include three sisters, Elsie Burgess of Belize City, Betty
Waight of Corona, New York, and Leda Blade of Los Angeles.
Surviving brothers and sisters-in-law include Louise Clarke,
Baltimore, Ruth Clarke, Queens, New York, Dorothy and Louis
McDowell, Queens, New York, Edna Clarke, Clover, Loretta
and L.G. Garrett of Halifax, Patty Brown, Mamie and Sydney
Clark and Oscar Clarke of Clover, nieces, nephews, other
relatives and many friends.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, April 6, from
7-8 p.m. at the funeral home, and at other times at the
home, 8156 Hunting Creek Road, Clover.
Halifax
Comets Down Baldwin; Open District Play Tues. Against E.C.
Glass
HCHS
Will Put Its Three-Game Win Streak On The Line In Tuesday’s
District Opener Against E.C. Glass
BY Joe Chandler
G-V STAFF WRITER
The early-season preparations are over for the Halifax County
High School varsity baseball team.
Now, it’s time to get down to business.
The “real" season begins for the Comets Tuesday
night when they face E.C. Glass here at 6 p.m. in the Western
Valley District opener.
It will be a big game for the defending Western Valley District
tournament champion Comets as Tuesday’s game represents
the first step in their quest to defend last year’s
district championship and to return to the Group AAA state
playoffs.
Halifax County will enter the game with a 4-2 record and
riding the momentum of a three-game winning streak, a streak
that included an 8-1 win here Friday night over Baldwin
High School from Pennsylvania.
E.C. Glass, undefeated at 6-0, will enter Tuesday’s
game fresh off of having won the annual Heritage Invitational
Baseball Tournament Thursday night for the second time in
three years.
The Hilltoppers have proven to be a tough opponent for the
Comets over the course of the past few seasons and Comets
coach Kelvin Davis isn’t expecting it to be any different
Tuesday night.
“We’ve got to put a lot of concentration on this
game with E.C. Glass," Davis said after his team bumped
off Baldwin Friday night.
“It’s a big game. It’s important to be able
to win your home games. We’ve got such a competitive
district that you can’t take any team for granted.
If we can get that first district win under our belts it
will really help us and give us more momentum going into
the next game."
Tuesday night’s game is expected to feature a pitching
battle between E.C. Glass’ ace hurler, Jared Bolden,
and one of the two Comets aces, Jeremy Jeffress or Tyler
Clarke.
Both Jeffress and Clarke have pitched well thus far. Bolden
has also had some stellar outings including a one-hitter
in Glass’ 1-0 win over Tunstall High School last Tuesday
in the opening round of the Heritage tournament.
“We know the pitching rotation they have," Davis
said.
“ We know they’re going to come at us. I’ve
always said Glass is one of the scrappiest teams we face.
They just don’t give up. We’ve just got to be
up for the game."
Davis will put his Comets team through its paces in a workout
today, reviewing the things he and his assistant coaches
feel the team needs to work on as they get ready to face
the Hilltoppers.
“We’re going to work on the things we need to
work on to try to be successful in that game," Davis
said.
“Defensively, we’re fundamentally sound. I feel
we’ll make the plays that we need to make."
Davis said that while Tuesday’s game is a big one,
his team also needs to remember that there are seven more
district games to play before the regular season ends and
that any of the district teams can beat each other on any
given day.
“We’ve got to take it one game at a time,"
Davis pointed out.
“We know we have our work cut out for us in this game.
The guys are ready. We want to go into the game with a good
attitude and everybody healthy and everybody good and relaxed.
“It’s good to be playing this game at home. Hopefully
we can get a good crowd out here to support the team. We
just need to continue to stay focused."
Herring
Snaps Sellers’ Streak; Claims Bounty
Teenager
Drew Herring Scored His First Career South Boston Speedway
Win In Saturday’s 150-Lap LMSC Race
BY Joe Chandler
G-V STAFF WRITER
The bounty hunters caught up with Peyton Sellers in Saturday
night’s 150-lap NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model
Stock Car race at South Boston Speedway.
And, it was a youngster that cashed in on the extra prize
money.
Drew Herring, a teenager from Benson, N.C., nudged Sellers
aside, grabbed the lead and held on for the final 45 laps
to score his first career Late Model Stock Car win at South
Boston Speedway and his third career win the division.
Herring drove his Chevrolet across the finish line a scant
.255 second ahead of the Chevrolet driven by Jonathan Cash
of Oxford, N.C. with Sellers about a car length behind Cash
in third place.
Former South Boston Speedway track champion Brandon Butler
of Petersburg finished fourth and Aric Almirola of Mooresville,
N.C., drove a Joe Gibbs Racing owned Chevrolet home in fifth
place.
Herring cashed in the $3,000 winner’s prize and a $500
bounty that had been posted by track officials for a driver
that could snap Sellers’ three consecutive race win
streak.
“To come out here and run like this and get a win means
a lot," said Herring who is in his second full year
of Late Model Stock Car racing.
“South Boston is one of the better tracks and has some
of the stiffest competition around. This is a great win."
With rain having washed out qualifying and a six-car mishap
during the first of the two abbreviated practice sessions
having reduced the field to 18 cars, it appeared that Sellers,
the pole starter, may have had the inside track to another
win.
Herring didn’t see it that way.
With the starting field having been set by points, Herring
started on the outside pole and virtually glued himself
to the rear bumper of Sellers’ car. Herring started
working on Sellers early, first giving him a tap in the
rear coming off of the second turn on lap 48.
Shortly after the restart that followed the race’s
third caution period, Herring went back to work on Sellers
and managed to draw alongside on laps 98, 99, and 101 only
to drop back.
On lap 105, Herring gave Sellers another nudge, one that
did the trick.
Sellers’ car momentarily got out of shape, opening
the door for Herring to slip past and take the lead on lap
106. Cash, also spotted the opening, dropped under Sellers
and grabbed second place, moving Sellers back to third place.
“I raced Peyton as clean as I could for awhile,"
Herring said.
“Jonathan and Brandon and them caught up to me and
I had to go. I couldn’t wait around. I started moving
around a little bit and he never slipped. I gave him (Sellers)
a little nudge and he got a little loose and I drove by."
With no caution flags to slow the pace, Herring moved out
to more than a half a straightaway lead over Cash and Sellers.
What initially looked like a runaway, turned into a close
finish at the end.
“Once I got past Peyton, for the first 10 or 15 laps
the car was perfect," Herring pointed out.
“ I could put it anywhere I wanted. Then, all of a
sudden, it picked up a bad vibration and it got real tight
on me. It was all I could do to keep it out of the wall.
Luckily we had a big enough lead where I didn’t really
have to worry about it."
Cash closed in fast in the waning laps but came up about
two car lengths or so shy at the end.
“I don’t know if Drew was backing off a little
and trying to be conservative because he had a big lead
or if I got that much better," said Cash who has just
started his rookie season in the Late Model Stock Car division.
“It feels real good to run second against these guys.
When you come from Limited to Late Model there is a big
difference."
While Sellers saw his three-race win streak come to an end,
he accepted his third-place finish with style.
“The bounty hunters finally caught up with us,"
Sellers said with a grin.
“It’s just cool to be the one with the bounty
on your head."
Sellers said when he got nudged by Herring it was all he
could do to keep the car from spinning.
“Drew roughed me up pretty bad and I lost a lot of
momentum," said Sellers.
“It was all I could do to save the car, much less save
the position. Jonathan got by me. We were a little bit quicker
than him but, in the end, I couldn’t catch him."
Sellers gave Herring credit for the win.
“He’s a little rough around the edges, but the
kid has a lot of talent and has a lot of car," he pointed
out.
“He’s good. There’s no other way to put it.
He’s going to be a tough contender all year."
SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY
RESULTS OF THE 150- LAP LATE MODEL STOCK CAR RACE
POS. DRIVER LAPS
1. Drew Herring 150
2. Jonathan Cash 150
3. Peyton Sellers 150
4. Brandon Butler 150
5. Aric Almirola 150
6. Wayne Ramsey 150
7. Scott Worley 150
8. Terry King 150
9. Ryan Rhodes 150
10. Terri Williams 150
11. Justin Johnson 149
12. Jason York 100
13. Owen Miller 66
14. Jason Dickerson 56
15. Ernest Winslow 56
16. Rodney Cook 20
17. Junior Hargrave 1
18. David Quackenbush 1
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.255 Sec.
TIME OF RACE: 49 Min. 18 Sec.
AVERAGE SPEED: 73.479 MPH
CAUTIONS: 3
LAP LEADERS: Peyton Sellers 1-105, Drew Herring 106-150
