VCDL Boycotting Cole’s Gun Shop

By Jeff Humber
G-V Staff Writer
The 3,200-member Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun rights organization, is typically not in the business of boycotting gun dealers, but the organization is doing just that to Cole’s Gun Shop in South Boston for settling a lawsuit filed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Boycotting the South Boston gun dealer was not initially what the organization wanted to do, VCDL President Philip Van Cleave said, but now the organization is considering sending a mailer to area residents and taking out a billboard informing the public that their gun purchase from Cole’s will be under the review of Bloomberg’s agents.
“Originally, I contacted Cole,” Van Cleave said, noting he was referred to Cole’s brother, who is an attorney. “His brother made it clear they were not interested in contact.”
According to Van Cleave, the issue for the VCDL is the agreement the gun shop entered into with New York that will allow for oversight of the business by a “special master” to be chosen by Bloomberg for a three-year period.
“I normally don’t care what a business does,” Van Cleave said in a recent interview. “A gun store? What they do is their business.
“However, when that deal affects gun owners, that changes everything,” Van Cleave added. “And this deal does affect gun owners. All the Bloomberg deals do.
Van Cleave said there is no easy way out of the New York lawsuit and that settling doesn’t mean Cole’s is in the clear.
According to the VCDL president, the special master can videotape all gun purchases at the store and request to review sales receipts and background checks.
Also, for any infractions the special master finds there is a fine and the three-year oversight period starts over, Van Cleave added.
“If the special master and Cole disagree over whether there was an infraction or not the special master is arbiter,” Van Cleave said. The parties can also take each other to court if there is a disagreement, according to the contract.
Cole’s gun shop owner Mark Cole said he did what he had to do given the situation.
“It’s one of those things, you get sued and nobody’s willing to help you,” Cole said. “And we had to do what we had to do.
“I’m comfortable with what I had to do,” Cole added. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but I was forced into this position.”
Van Cleave said he wants to see gun shops sued by Bloomberg stand up to the mayor.
“Bloomberg’s just a two-bit politician,” Van Cleave said in an earlier interview. “What he’s doing is inexcusable, but he’s still doing it.
“So we have to stand up and deal with it,” he added
According to Van Cleave, the VCDL is concerned that the terms of the settlement violate gun owners’ privacy rights.
“Your privacy is shot,” Van Cleave charged. “Bloomberg will know who you are and what gun you bought.
Van Cleave said the focus of the boycott is not to harm Cole’s, but rather to inform the public that Bloomberg’s agents will have access to their personal information.
“People need to realize that this will not be a regular gun sale because Bloomberg has his hands in the middle of it,” Van Cleave said. “That may in turn lead to problems for gun owners down the road.”
To help the other six Virginia gun dealers who are fighting the lawsuit, the VCDL is holding drawings at the shops in an effort to boost awareness of the lawsuits and sales at the stores to help with legal fees and a fund has been started to help cover legal fees, Van Cleave said.
The New York lawsuits against gun shops along the East Coast, stem from private undercover agents paid by New York going into shops and conducting an alleged “straw sale” where one person indicates the firearm is for them and then another individual signs the paperwork to purchase the firearm.
As the lawsuits head to court, a number of legal issues are being contested, with one being jurisdiction over whether New York has the authority to brings lawsuits against gun dealers outside its borders for alleged violations of federal law.
Because the gun shops who settled with New York signed their own agreements, Van Cleave said, it is his understanding that even if the pending lawsuits are thrown out, the shops who settled will still be bound by their oversight agreement.
And with New York’s authority to levy fines on the shops, Van Cleave said, that is a scary position to be in.
“He (Bloomberg) has you right where he wants you,” Van Cleave said of the shops.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Newington-based VCDL can be reached at 804-639-0600

School Budget Hearing Draws Single Speaker

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
A public hearing Wednesday for the proposed $62,884,101 school budget for 2007-2008 produced one speaker.
Volens area farmer Bernie Mitzler suggested trustees “tighten their belts” when it came to operational costs.
“We must have a terrible amount of money to throw away,” began Mitzler, specifically mentioning the lights he’s seen left on at Halifax County Middle School during the night.
“I see a lot of lights on at night, and that’s a waste of money. I see the drink machines are lit up and running.
“Someone should start tightening their belt on some of this stuff. I’ve mentioned it before to the Board of Supervisors and nothing seems to happen.”
School Superintendent Paul Stapleton responded that the majority of lights left on at the middle school were lights tied in with the security system.
He added that in some cases, a smaller subcontractor working on the continuing middle school renovation project may be working at night when students aren’t in school.
Stapleton told Mitzler that he would contact both the construction superintendent and maintenance personnel at the middle school as a followup to Mitzler’s comments.
Chief Financial Officer Bill Covington reiterated the staff’s position on the proposed draft budget at Wednesday’s meeting.
“The state funds the vast majority of our budget, and one of the problems facing us this year is although we get some new money from the state, that new money (approximately $700,000) is much, much less than last year (approximately $2.5 million),” he told trustees.
State funding is $39,743,512 or 63.2 percent of the budget this year compared to $38,702,406 last year, while the school board is asking for $14,236,432 from the county this budget year.
That compares to $12,992,430 in local monies for the 2006-2007 budget.
“We’re funding a three-percent raise for school personnel, and a lot of that state money is incentive money meant for those raises,” continued Covington.
“Local funding is the second major piece of money, and we indicated it would take approximately $1.2 million fof local monies to balance the budget.
”We did everything we could in expenditures to hold the line.”
The CFO repeated that the three major impacts on this year’s proposed budget are the three-percent raise in salary for school employees, the rise in health insurance contributions from the School Board and the increase in mandatory payments to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS).
“We’re increasing health insurance contributions in anticipation of a five-percent increase in health insurance premiums for employees,” said Covington.
“Historically, five percent is at the lower end of what you would expect to see, and if it’s not adequate, employees may have to pay more out of their own pockets,” he cautioned.
Stapleton said that the Board of Supervisors currently has the School Board budget proposal and that trustees will probably know better which direction to take following the Monday Board of Supervisors meeting.
If the School Board is asked to make cuts, there are only three options, he told trustees, all of them difficult choices to make.
“There’re really only three things we can do, close more schools to save money, cut personnel or cut programs to save money.
“That’s about all we can do.”
The School Board will meet again May 14 at 7 p.m. Trustees and members of the Board of Supervisors will tour the new Cluster Springs Elementary School at 3 p.m. and have dinner together prior to the meeting.

 

Obituaries

Seth Alan Daniel
Seth Alan Daniel, 28, of 9051 Morton’s Ferry Road, Clover died May 1, 2007 in Clover.
Mr. Daniel was born January 9, 1979, the son of William Dennis Daniel and Rebecca Roller Heath and was married to Elsie Lynn Powell Daniel.
Survivors include his wife; his mother of Clover; his father and his wife, Annie, of Alton; two sisters, Mary Ellen Daniel of Clover and her fiance’, Gregory Lane Hudson, Robin Ragsdale and husband, Dalton, of Winston-Salem, N.C.; one brother, William Tracy Daniel and wife, Melissa, of Lexington, N.C.; two nephews, Joshua Dylan Daniel and Wyatt Lane Hudson, both of Clover; four other nieces and nephews; and his grandmother, Josephine Ella Blanks of Cluster Springs.
Funeral services for Mr. Daniel will be held today, May 4, at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Jack Stewart officiating. Burial will follow in the Powell Family Cemetery at the Cove in Clover.
Lewis Alvin Crews
Lewis Alvin Crews, 63, of 1028 Virginia Lane, Clover died April 30, 2007 at his home.
Mr. Crews was born in Halifax County July 22, 1943, the son of the late William Henry Crews and Virginia Watkins Crews, and was married to Rosa Lee Campbell Crews. He was a member of Zion Grove Baptist Church. Mr. Crews resided in Yonkers, N.Y. for many years and upon his retirement returned to Clover.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Louis Alvin Crews Jr. of White Plains, N.Y. and James Crews of Clover; five sisters, Louise Dismuke and Martha Blair, both of Clover, Joyce Crews of Baltimore, Md., Velma Crews of Shrub Oak, N.Y. and Jean Green of South Boston; three brothers, Melvin Crews of Yonkers, George Crews and Lenox Crews, both of Clover; five grandchildren; two daughters-in-law, Theresa Crews and Pamela Crews; and his mother-in-law, Margaret Pearson of Clover. One sister, Carrie Dismuke, and two brothers, Kenneth and John Crews, preceded Mr. Crews in death.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow, May 5, at 2 p.m. at Zion Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Jefferson Goode officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home.
Joy Brogden Butler
JJoy Brogden Butler, 52, of 1187 Sandy Beach Road, South Boston died May 1, 2007 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Butler was born February 7, 1955, in Halifax County the daughter of Ophelia W. Brogden and the late Harold Brogden, and was married to Raymond D. Butler. She was a member of Dan River Baptist Church and of Women of Hope and was employed by Dollar General.
Survivors include her husband; her mother of South Boston; one daughter, Karen L. Butler-Dixon and husband, Michael, of South Boston; two sons, Ray Allen Butler of US Army, Iraq, and Nicholas B. Butler of South Boston; one brother, Ricky Brogden and wife, Sharon, of South Boston; her mother-in-law, Virginia Francis Butler of Halifax; one nephew, Shane Brogden; and two nieces, Elizabeth and Sarah Brogden.
A funeral for Mrs. Butler will be held Monday, May 7, at 2 p.m. at Dan River Baptist Church with the Revs. Doug Gibson and John Eure officiating. Burial will follow in Virgilina Cemetery.
The family will receive friends this evening, May 4, from 7:00 until 8:30 at Brooks Funeral Home, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax County Cancer Association, PO Box 875, South Boston, 24592.

Comets Down FC 5-4; Face Glass Tonight

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
For the second straight game, the Halifax County High School varsity baseball team rode the long ball to a win.
A two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning by senior shortstop Tony Barbour and a solid game-closing effort on the mound by relief pitcher Justin Jacobs lifted the Comets to a 5-4 win over Franklin County Tuesday night in Rocky Mount in a key Western Valley District game.
The win improved the Comets’ record to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in district play and kept the team within one game of district leader GW entering tonight’s scheduled road game against E.C. Glass in Lynchburg.
“That was a big win for us,” said Comets coach Kelvin Davis.
“Anytime we go up there to Franklin County and take a win on the road it’s a plus for us. It’s a tough place to play. They (Franklin County) always have a good quality ballclub there and the atmosphere up there is a good baseball atmosphere. The fans saw a great ballgame.”
Tuesday night’s win was big in two respects, Davis noted.
“First, we’re playing for the second seed in the district right now,” the Comets said while pointing to the fact his team needed the win to stay within a game of district leader GW.
“It was also big in that we played a heck of a ballgame from the pitching standpoint to the defensive standpoint. We made big plays, we made routine plays and everybody was in the right position. Everything just fell right into place. As a coach, it’s wonderful to see those guys doing the little things that we work on so much.”
While the Comets picked up a big win Tuesday night, Davis cautioned that his team cannot take E.C. Glass lightly tonight.
“Glass is not a sleeper this year,” Davis said.
“They are a contender. They have a lot better team than their record shows on paper. Glass is going to be hungry and we’ve got to go up there with the attitude that we’ve got to get on top of them early, which is always my philosophy. We’re not going to take Glass lightly.”
The Hilltoppers have proven they can play with any team in the district. Recently, the Hilltoppers took GW into 13 innings in Danville and had a couple of chances to win the game before ultimately losing by a run.
“It’s going to be another great ballgame,” Davis said.
“We’ve got to gout there and do the little things. We’ve got to play good defense like we did at Franklin County and our pitchers have to throw strikes for us.”
The Comets trailed Franklin County 3-0 after three innings in Tuesday night’s contest as the Eagles plated a run in the first inning with the help of two hits and added two more runs in the third inning on a two-run homer.
Halifax County rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth inning to deadlock the game at 3-3, taking advantage of a hit from Jacobs, a walk to pitcher Kyle Long and three Franklin County errors.
The Comets broke the deadlock in the top of the seventh inning with Rogers starting the inning with a single. Barbour followed it up with a one-out two-run homer to put the Comets up 5-3.
Franklin County tried to get back into the game in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff homer off of Long. Long struck the next Eagles batter with a pitch, putting an end to his night.
Jacobs came to the mound with the Eagles’ runner on first base with nobody out and the next three Franklin County batters were retired in order on easy pop fly balls to the infield.
The Comets had six hits in the game with Allen Stephens and Joey Rogers getting two hits each. Jacobs had one hit, that being the leadoff single in the seventh inning and Barbour had one hit, that being the game-winning homer in the top of the seventh inning.
“It was Tony’s night,” Davis said of Barbour’s effort.
“He had only one hit but that was a big hit against a good quality pitcher. Allen Stephens had two big hits for us. Joey Rogers got two big hits to start things off for us in an inning.”
As far as the pitching went, Long had another solid night, fanning four batters while yielding six hits and three walks. Jacobs did not record any strikeouts but he and his teammates retired all three batters he faced.

Girls Soccer Loses Tough Match To FC

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
The Halifax County High School varsity girls soccer team is facing a tough battle in its attempt to remain a contender in the Western Valley District.
After leading 1-0 at halftime, the Comets saw Franklin County rally with three goals in the second half and escape with a 3-1 in Tuesday night’s Western Valley District game.
The loss removed any hopes the Comets may have had for the district championship and may have made finishing as the district runner-up a long shot for the Comets who now stand 8-3 overall and 1-3 in district play.
Tuesday’s loss was the team’s second district loss in a row and was the team’s third loss in four district games. The Comets lost 5-1 to Patrick Henry in Roanoke last Friday night.
“With the way our record is now, we’ve got to play for second or third place, probably third place, in the district, if we can get a couple of wins,” said Comets head coach Sid Young.
“Potentially, we can do that.”
If the Comets are going to make any real headway, they will need to start tonight when they host E.C. Glass in a 7 p.m. game at Tuck Dillard Stadium. Glass beat the Comets 3-0 when they met in Lynchburg in what was the district opener for both teams.
“We’ve got some things to work on,” Young said.
“The girls see what they’ve got to do to get ready for Glass. Hopefully we’ll go out and play as hard as we did in the first half tonight against Franklin County. If we do that, we can play with anybody in the district.”
The loss to Franklin County was a deflating experience for the Comets.
Melissa Smith gave the Comets the lead with their only goal of the game, which came at the 18:49 mark of the first half. The goal came with the help of an assist from Mary Beale.
While the Comets were able to jump on top and protect their lead in the first half, Franklin County held a big edge in shots on goal with 18 as compared to the Comets’ four. The Eagles also held a 4-0 edge on the Comets in corner kicks.
Franklin County continued its attack on the Comets’ goal in the second half with a 20-3 edge in shots on goal. The Eagles deadlocked the game with an early second-half goal that came at the 5:25 mark and took the win with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Franklin County’s go-ahead goal came at the 33:39 mark of the second half with the game-sealing goal coming with just under three and a half minutes left in the contest.
“We really thought we had something,” Young said.
“We really didn’t make many adjustments at halftime because what we were doing was working. We played with them extremely well for a half. We did let down a little bit in the second half. It seemed like after they (Franklin County) scored the second goal, some of the girls really deflated. I guess in a way, they felt it was over.”
One of the big highlights of the night for the Comets was the play of first-year senior goalkeeper Leah Yosich. Yosich had 26 saves in the game, 16 of which came in the first half.
“She had some awesome saves,” Young pointed out.
“To have never played befor,e she has done an extremely good job this season. If we could have had her for a couple of years and she had more experience, there is no telling what she could have done. She had a super game.”
For the game, Franklin County had a 38-7 edge over the Comets in shots on goal and a 5-1 edge on the Comets in corner kicks. The Comets were cited for seven fouls while Franklin County was whistled for four fouls. Franklin County was called offside four times while the Comets were not cited for any offside infractions.

Lady Comets Fall To FC

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
The Comets varsity softball team lost a golden opportunity to get a key district road win at Franklin County Tuesday, the Eagles scoring the game’s only run in the sixth inning to take a 1-0 win.
Shishi Hancock singled and scored on a two-out RBI single by Lindsey Thurman to give the Eagles the slim one-run lead after six innings.
Halifax tried to rally with a two-out single by Stephanie Clark in the top of the seventh, but a groundout ended the Comets’ chances.
The loss dropped Halifax to 3-1 in the Western Valley District and 13-2 overall, while Franklin County improved to 3-0 in the district and 9-5 overall.
Including the pivotal seventh, the Comets had base runners in each inning except the first, but couldn’t get the key hit to score.
Betty Rose walked with two outs in the first and Lashunda Davis doubled, but a strikeout ended the threat with runners at second and third.
Liz Trickey walked and advanced to second on a passed ball with two outs in the third, but another strikeout ended that rally.
Davis and Paige Rickman drew consecutive walks to lead off the fourth inning, but two attempts to steal second failed. Key Ferrell followed with a base hit, but a groundout ended the inning.
Melissa Sims drew a two-out walk and Clark was hit by a pitch in the fifth to put a pair of base runners aboard, but another groundout ended that threat.
The sixth inning saw Davis get her second hit of the game and advance to second on a sacrifice by Ferrell, and Heather Hudson reached base after being hit by a pitch, but a strikeout got Franklin County out of the jam.
Franklin County had single hits in each inning except the fifth, but got two hits in the sixth inning to plate the only run of the game.
Two Eagles base runners got as far as second without scoring, Jenny Law after a two-out double in the first and Jessica Searing in the second after hitting a bunt single and reaching second on a sacrifice.
A groundout ended the first Franklin County threat and another groundout stranded Searing in the second.
Clark pitched the entire game for the Comets, whilke the Comets’ defense committed no errors in the field.
The freshman right-hander gave up one run on six hits while striking out six batters in six innings and walking none.
Halifax has another key district road game today at E.C. Glass, before returning home for its final three district games of the year.
The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.