Candidates Vie For Council Seats In Tuesday Election

Candidates are vying Tuesday for contested council seats in South Boston, Halifax, Virgilina and Scottsburg.
In South Boston six candidates are seeking five open seats, and in Halifax four candidates are seeking two at-large seats.
In Scottsburg, six candidates are seeking five seats, and in Virgilina seven candidates are seeking six council seats.
In the South Boston race incumbent Mayor Carroll Thackston is unopposed in his bid for re-election.
South Boston Councilmen Morris Bryant, Coleman Speece and Sandra Thompson, who are seeking re-election, and candidates Dr. Mark Morris and Radford Trent are vying for four council seats.
One council seat, the unexpired term of the late Don Thompson, will be a two-year term. Thompson’s seat, currently held by his wife, Sandra Thompson, expires in 2010.
Of the winning council contestants, the candidate who receives the least number of votes will fill the remaining two years of Don Thompson’s original term, according to South Boston officials.
In the Town of Halifax, Bill Confroy, Robert Holt Evans, Randy Savage and Tommy Reagan are vying for two open at-large seats currently held by Dr. Charles Parker and Phil Hollis. Neither Parker nor Hollis is seeking re-election.
In Virgilina, Ralph Murray Jr. is running for mayor. Seeking council seats are Rufus Chandler Jr., Tammy Elliott, Mary Helen Gravitt, Kirke Hooper, Jason Johnson, Thomas Keith Tuck Jr. and Ralph “Owen” Murray Sr.
Seven candidates are seeking the six council seats.
In Scottsburg, incumbent Mayor Ira Wilkerson II is seeking re-election, and in the council race Robert Elliott, James Stoner, Connie Glass, Robert Guthrie, Harvey Perkins and Russell Ivan Puckett Jr. are seeking seats. The mayor’s post and five council seats are open.

Supervisors To Consider Solid
Waste Hauling Bids

Virginia-Carolina Paving was the low bidder for solid waste hauling from the new transfer station with a bid price of $167 per load when bids were opened April 24.
Halifax County Board of Supervisors will meet with Virginia-Carolina Paving representatives prior to tonight’s board meeting that gets under way in the conference room of the Mary Bethune Office Complex at 6:30.
According to County Administrator Bryan Foster, supervisors plan to meet with the low bidder to ensure they are satisfied with Virginia-Carolina’s ability to provide the solid waste hauling service to the county.
Foster anticipates having a recommendation for the board at the meeting tonight.
Other bidders included Thompson Trucking, Inc. with a bid of $194.74; HILCO Transport, Inc., $236; and Lanco Paving, $289.
The transfer station project, located off Plywood Trail, continues to progress, Foster said, with work on the access road to Plywood Trail almost complete, and work on the scale house and personnel building now under way.
A substantial amount of the concrete work required for the transfer station building has been completed, the county administrator added.
Although the contract schedule calls for the project to be completed by Aug. 11, Foster said he is hoping for an earlier completion date.
In other action tonight, supervisors will discuss the recently completed reassessment and board of equalization processes with Deputy Commissioner of Revenue and County Assessor Harold Throckmorton and Douglas Powell, a member of the equalization board.
Two public hearings also are slated for tonight’s meeting.
The first is for a rezoning of four parcels at the corner of U.S. 501 and Memorial Drive from A-1 Agricultural to B-2 Business in ED-8.
The planning commission is unanimously recommending the request by Albert R. and Mary Y. Vaughan to rezone three parcels of land totaling 3.6 acres from A-1, Agricultural, to B-2, General Business be approved.
The site of the proposed rezoning is on the northwest corner of Huell Matthews Highway (U.S. 501) and Memorial Drive (State Route 744).
The second public hearing is a request to amend one condition of a previously approved conditional use permit for SBA Towers II, LLC.
The planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the request by SBA Towers for a one-year extension to the conditional use permit granted June 7, 2006 for a telecommunications tower.
According to Planning and Zoning Administrator Robbie Love, the original permit was issued in 2006 with a two-year lifespan, and construction has not started on the property owned by Ronnie and Joyce Green.
The site of the proposed tower is on the south side of Bellevue Road (Route 729), .20 of a mile east of its intersection with James D. Hagood Highway (U.S. 360) in ED-5.
The board also is expected to discuss a proposal for allocating county fair proceeds during tonight’s meeting.
Last month, Supervisor Vice-Chairman James Edmunds asked if profits above expenses from operating the county fair could be designated to support the 12 local fire departments.
Edmunds’ proposal would allocate the money to the individual departments under the same allocation formula used in computing the county’s yearly budget allocation to the fire departments.
Edmunds suggested the profit from the fair should go back into the county in a way that citizens can see a real benefit to taxpayers rather than putting the money in the general fund where citizens would see no benefit.
The ED-5 supervisor pointed out the majority of workers at the fair are volunteers and suggested more people would support the annual event if they felt the surplus money would be used for local support.
The profits slated for discussion tonight only include those taken in during the weeklong county fair and not from other events such as the Cantaloupe Festival, Heritage Festival, and other such events held at the fairgrounds.
Profits from those events would be used for the upkeep of the fairground facilities, Edmunds said.
In other county business, supervisors are expected to take the following actions:
n Hear a monthly report from Virginia Department of Transportation Residency Administrator Joe Barkley;
n Discuss the Agricultural and Forestal Districts proposal presented at the April meeting and provide direction to staff concerning this subject; and
n Make appointments including several whose term expires June 30.

School Board Approves Budget

On a 5-2 split vote, the Halifax County School Board approved its 2008-09 operating budget Thursday night, following more than one and a half hours in executive session.
Board members Devin Snead and Stuart Comer cast the two dissenting votes.
The budget approved by the board includes a 3.5 percent pay increase for teachers, a 4 percent increase for classified personnel and 3 percent for administrators.
“I feel it’s important to give the extra half percent to our teachers,” said Superintendent Paul Stapleton. “We’re struggling to figure out how to keep our teachers in the ballgame and how to move forward.”
Stapleton told the board, to his knowledge, Danville teachers would receive a 7 percent pay increase, Charlotte County teachers would receive a 4 percent pay hike, and Appomattox County teachers would receive an additional 5.5 percent.
School officials were able to increase the pay rate for teachers an extra one-half of a percent by eliminating another central office administrative position and three special area teachers.
Stapleton told the board Halfax County didn’t receive as much state funding as some other neighboring counties. “The lowering of the composite index just really impacted everybody differently,” the superintendent said. “And we just didn’t make out quite as well as some of our neighbors that border on us did, this year in the increase in state funds.”
A total of 21 positions were cut from next year’s $63.9 million budget, including five administrative positions, five classroom teaching positions, three special area teachers, two support positions, one custodian and five transportation positions. Most of these positions were cut due to retirement or resignation of current personnel.
Deputy Superintendent Larry Clark said the cuts in next year’s budget would not have a negative effect on the instructional program.
“With these 21 positions, we have cut all of the areas of support and administration that we can cut,” said Clark. “If this trend continues the next cuts will have to be in areas where it will affect classroom instruction.”
In addition to these eliminated positions, $53,825 in extra duty pay was cut from the budget, along with $50,000 cut from maintenance.
Board member Joe Gasperini asked about the Pre-K program at The Prizery. Stapleton said the Pre-K Arts Academy has not been phased out. Title 5 federal funds have been cut out, and these funds paid for the Pre-K Arts Academy.
Stapleton said some other federal dollars could be adjusted to fund that academy that affects approximately 260 four-year-olds. Bill Covington, school system finance director, told the board Title 1 federal funds for next year have been increased 10 percent, or approximately $150,000. He said that increase would more than offset the funds lost when the Title 5 funding was slashed.
“We have at least as much and more Pre-K monies for next year than we do this year,” Covington said. “So in reallocating how monies are spent, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
The board went into executive session, and upon reconvening the open meeting, Gasperini made a motion to accept the proposed budget, with Dr. Roger Long providing the second. The motion was approved 5-2 with Snead and Comer voting against and Mac McDowell absent.
Gasperini made another motion to instruct the superintendent to keep the Pre-K Arts Academy in place, and Long provided the second. Stapleton said all possibilities for federal funding for the program would be explored. Gasperini’s motion was approved unanimously.
After the meeting, Long said he was not entirely satisfied with the budget because localities around Halifax County are giving higher salary increases.
Gasperini said he was happy with the budget the way it is, based on the money the school board has. “We had to cut 21 positions that hurts the quality of education because more people have to take on more responsibilities,” he said. “The student-teacher ratio goes up, and we’re not able to give the raises we wanted to, so we did the best we could with the money we had.”
“Gasperini added, “I’m happy with the budget, but not happy with what we had to do it with.”

Obituaries

Margaret Maxine Fitzgerald Daniel
Margaret Maxine Fitzgerald Daniel, 75, of 3093 Ball Park Loop, Halifax died April 30, 2008, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Daniel was born in Pittsylvania County on December 2, 1932, the daughter of the late William Knox Fitzgerald and Bessie McLaughlin Fitzgerald, and was first married to the late Willie Webster Dixon and later married John Daniel. She was a member of New Bethel Baptist Church.
Survivors of Mrs. Daniel include her husband of the home; two daughters, Marilyn Gordan of Lanham, Md. And Angie Scott of South Boston; five sons, Oliver Dixon, Starline Dixon, both of Washington, D.C., Willie Dixon of Camp Springs, Md., Kelvin Dixon of Upper Marlboro, Md. and John Daniel of Halifax; one brother, William Fitzgerald; four sisters, Carrie Womack, Mable Guy, Clara Vaden and Carolyn King; 27 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren.
One daughter, Patricia Fitzgerald; two brothers, Herman and Peter Fitzgerald, also preceded Mrs. Daniel in death.
Funeral services will be held today, May 5, at noon at New Bethel Baptist Church in Halifax with the Rev. Ronnie Dean Clark officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Sarah Alice Day Flanagan
Sarah Alice Day Flanagan, 92, of Virginia Beach died May 2, 2008.
Mrs. Flanagan was born in South Boston the daughter of the late Charles and Nannie Cole. She was a member of Scott Memorial United Methodist Church.
Survivors include three daughters, Joyce L. Mirto and Judy M. Guiton, both of Virginia Beach, and Nancy L. Martin of Norfolk; two brothers, Ralph Cole of Cluster Springs and Stover Cole of South Boston; one sister, Frances Chaney of Halifax County; 18 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 in H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Laskin Road Chapel, Virginia Beach, this evening, May 5.
A graveside service will be held in Colonial Grove Memorial Park tomorrow, May 6, at 3 p.m.
Online condolences may be made to www.hdoliver.com

Pauline Cosby Clements
Pauline Cosby Clements of Chatham, died Saturday, May 3, 2008, at Gretna Health Care Center. She was born on September 15, 1902, in Powhatan, the daughter of the late James A. Cosby and the late Annie Sizer Cosby.
She was a graduate of Mary Washington College and did further work at the University of Virginia.
She was a retired school teacher, having taught in Chesterfield County for 20 years, Hargrave Military Academy for four years and Pittsylvania County for 21 years. She was a life member in the Retired Teachers Association of Virginia.
Mrs. Clements was a member of Chatham Baptist Church having served as Sunday School Teacher in the Woman’s Missionary Union.
Being a charter member of the Hargrave Woman’s Club she volunteered her services in many areas of interest for the school. Her interest in the community development included membership in the W.C.T.U., Maude Clement Garden Club, Friends of the Library, Historical Society and for six years she served as chaplain of the William Pitt Chapter of the D.A.R. She was a member of and past president and the Rawley Martin Chapter of U.D.C.
She was married to the late Luther Raden Clements. She was also predeceased by two brothers, Robert A. Cosby and Clifton D. Cosby; two sisters, Julis E. Cosby and Martha Cosby Rucker Balmer
Funeral services will be conducted at Chatham Baptist Church on Tuesday, May 6, at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Charles Warnock and the Rev. Rand Forder officiating. Burial will be at Republican Grove Baptist Church Cemetery at 2 p.m.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions be made to the Chatham Baptist Church or to Hargrave Military Academy.

Garnet Wilmouth Mills
Garnet Wimouth Mills of Wilson, N.C. died Friday, May 2, 2008. She was 82.
The daughter of the late Oscar Wilmouth and the late Etta Gravitt Wilmouth, she was married to the late Owen Mills.
She is survived by one son, Larry Mills and wife Sharon of Hamstead, N.C.; two sisters June Williams and Ophilia Epps, both of South Boston; granddaughter Melanie LoPresti and husband Josh of Raleigh.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by sisters, Ethel Wilbourne, Bay Ford, Myrtle Wilbourne and Virginia Dixon; brothers, Tom Wilmouth, Craddock Wilmouth and Fenton Wilmouth.
Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, May 5 at Evergreen Memorial Park with the Rev. David Haley officiating.
The family will receive friends at conclusion of the service.
Condolences may be sent to www.thomasyelverton.com

Comets, FC Battle Tuesday For District Lead

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
To say that the chase for the Western Valley District regular season baseball championship has turned into a dogfight may be an understatement.
With the district’s top seed and a home game in the first round of the Northwest Region Tournament at stake, three teams are deadlocked for the lead and a fourth team is just a game out and still very much in contention.
Halifax County, with its thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind win over E.C. Glass here Friday night, moved into a tie for the district lead with E.C. Glass and Franklin County. And, with an 18-1 win over William Fleming Friday, GW remains one game behind the three leaders.
“We knew coming into this season, after having seen the teams last year, that it was going to be a dogfight,” Comets head coach Kelvin Davis said of the tough battle for the district championship.
“We knew there wasn’t an outstanding pitcher on any team and that teams were going to have to play defense, have to make plays, and their pitchers were going to have to throw strikes.
“We knew coming in that all three teams (Halifax County, E.C. Glass and Franklin County) were going to be in contention,” added Davis.
“Next week it is very important for us to go out and play good baseball and try to get another win.”
The Comets have three games left on their schedule, all Western Valley District games. Coming up first is a road game Tuesday against Franklin County. With the Comets and Franklin County being two of the three teams that are tied for the district lead, Tuesday’s game is a huge one for both teams.
“The way our coaching staff is doing this thing is taking it one game at a time,” Davis explained after Friday’s win over E.C. Glass.
“We knew this (the E.C. Glass game) was the first big hurdle we had to jump. Now our focus is on Franklin County. All we can do is take it one game at a time. They (the Comets players) know what’s on the line. They’ve just got to go out there between the lines and do it.”
After Tuesday’s contest against Franklin County, the Comets will face Patrick Henry here Saturday at 3 p.m. in a Western Valley District game and will close out their season on Tuesday, May 13, with a home game against archrival GW in another key district contest.
E.C. Glass has a non-district game against Brookville High School on tap today and faces GW at home on Tuesday in a key district match-up. The Hilltoppers will travel to Roanoke to face William Fleming on Friday and will go on the road to face Franklin County on Tuesday, May 13, to close out their schedule.
Davis said that while there are several key district games for all four of the title contenders lying ahead, his message to his Comets players going into Tuesday’s road game against Franklin County is very simple.
“We’re going to try to get another win and let the other teams try to do what they have to do,” Davis said.
“We have to control our own destiny.”
The Comets have won their last four district games in a row and have battled back to get out of a hole that was created when they lost to Franklin County 6-4 here and bowed to E.C. Glass 6-4 in Lynchburg earlier in the season.
“We’ve come a long way from where we started,” Davis said.

“I love these guys to death,” Davis added.
“They do everything we ask them to do. They’re willing to do whatever they need to do to win ballgames.”

Long’s Hit Gives Comets Win Over Glass

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Kaleb Long struggled with his bat for much of the early part of the season.
But, things are turning around in a big way for the Halifax County High School catcher.
Long delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored teammate Jeremy Foster to give the Comets a come-from-behind 3-2 win over E.C. Glass here Friday night.
The win vaulted the Comets into a three-way tie for first place in the Western Valley District standings with E.C. Glass and Franklin County.
“It feels good to be back,” Long said.
“I was sitting on a fastball. Luckily, he threw it to me. I just hit it on the nose.
“We needed this real bad,” added Long.
“Hopefully I can keep on doing it.”
Long had two of the four hits the Comets had in the game off of E.C. Glass hurler Mike Bergin.
“We’ve very thankful that we got that key base hit from Kaleb’s bat,” said Comets head coach Kelvin Davis.
“That’s what baseball is all about, waiting for that big hit. I’m glad for him. Kaleb has been struggling. I’m glad he broke through and broke through in a way like he did tonight.”
Kaleb Long’s 2-3 night at the plate was a continuation of what has been a recent spate of solid hitting. The Comets’ catcher is 8-14 at the plate in his last four games, having gone 2-2 against Martinsville, 1-4 against William Fleming, 3-4 against GW, 2-4 against Patrick Henry, and 2-3 against E.C. Glass.
Foster, who started the seventh inning with a single, advanced to second base on a well-executed sacrifice bunt by Kyle Long and later scored on the Kaleb Long’s game-winning hit, had one of the Comets’ other two hits.
“I thank God for that,” Foster remarked of his hit to kick off the bottom of the seventh inning.
“It (the ball) was right on the spot.”
Foster said he had no doubt that he was going to score from second base on Long’s hit.
“I saw that hit and knew I was going to try to score,” Foster said.
“When he (Long) first hit that ball, I knew I was going home. I felt I had time to make it.”
Michael Ferrell, who laced a sharp double with two out in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Kaleb Long for the game-tying run, had the other hit for the Comets.
Comets hurler Daniel Wilborn went the distance in what was another solid outing. Wilborn yielded five hits and two walks while fanning six batters.
Wilborn struggled a bit in the first two innings as a walk and a hit opened the door for E.C. Glass to score a run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. His Comets teammates evened the score in the bottom of the inning when Ferrell walked and scored on a hit by Justin Bagbey.
The second inning was also a struggle for Wilborn as two hits and a fielder’s choice allowed Glass to score another run and take a 2-1 lead.
Aftr that point, however, Wilborn regrouped to fan two of the three E.C. Glass batters he faced in the third inning and yielded only two hits through the final five innings.
“The first couple of innings were kind of rough,” Wilborn remarked.
“I just tried to keep them off-balance. I just tried to keep throwing strikes and tried to keep our team in the game.
Wilborn said the key turning point in the game for him came when Ferrell delivered a game-tying hit in the fifth inning.
“When Chip (Ferrell) got that base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning and Courtney (pinch runner Courtney Ervin) scored, I knew our chances were really high to win this game,” Wilborn remarked.
“I just tried to pitch my heart out the last two innings so they (E.C. Glass) wouldn’t score any runs and I could keep my defense in the game.”
“I can’t say enough about Daniel’s performance,” Davis said.
“It was a gutsy performance from the little guy.”
Defensively, the Comets turned in another good outing, making several key plays that kept Wilborn out of a hole.
“We knew Daniel wasn’t going to strike a lot of guys out, that the guys (E.C. Glass) were going to put the ball in play,” Davis pointed out.
“Our defense had to stay on its toes and make the plays behind him. One of the big things we really wanted to concentrate on (this season) is making sure that our defense could make plays. We did it tonight.”

Lady Comets Rout Glass

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff Writer
Betty Rose had three hits, including a double, and finished with three RBIs, and five others had two hits apiece, as the Comets varsity softball team warmed up for tomorrow’s key home game against Franklin County with a 16-0 rout of E.C. Glass Friday in Lynchburg.
Halifax County, 7-0 in the Western Valley District and 14-1 overall, owns a 2-0 win over Franklin County in the Comets’ district opener April 8 in Rocky Mount.
The rematch is scheduled for Comets softball field starting at 5 p.m.
The Comets needed to be sharp against Glass to maintain momentum for the game against Franklin County, and had another workman-like performance against the Lady Hilltoppers.
Whitney Womack finished with two doubles and two RBIs, Stephanie Clark with a pair of RBI singles, Lashunda Davis with a triple, double and two RBIs, Lauren Daniel with a double, single and two RBIs, and Lyndsay Lawter with two hits and a RBI for Halifax.
Kim Snead and Melissa Morris each had a RBI base hit and Katie Barnett and Christine DeGeorgis a base hit apiece for Halifax in support of a five-inning no-hitter thrown by Clark.
The Comets scored single runs in the first and second innings before adding five in the third, two in the fourth and seven in the fifth to end the game.
Rose reached on an error and scored after hits from Davis and Daniel in the first, and Lawter singled and scored on Clark’s hit in the second to make it 2-0.
Five runs in the third made it 7-0, with Rose hitting a single and stealing second, Daniel hitting a RBI single, Bowman a single, Womack a two-run double and Lawter and Morris RBI singles.
Barnett reached on a fielder’s choice, Womack doubled, DeGeorgis singled and Clark hit a RBI single to make it 9-0 after four innings, and Halifax tacked on seven more runs on four hits an inning later.
The first five Comets reached base, with Rose hitting a leadoff double, Davis a RBI triple, and Snead a RBI hit before Barnett and Womack reached base on errors.
DeGeorgis and Clark each walked before a big three-run hit by Rose to give the Comets their final runs of the game.
Clark and the Comets’ defense allowed only three Glass base runners for the entire contest, coming on a hit batsman, walk and fielder’s choice.
The sophomore right-hander struck out nine batters in five innings to get the win.