Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Recycling Takes Step Backward
On Saturday, recycling took a step back in rural Virginia, according to Jenny Hochstein, operator of Recycling Works in South Boston.
The General Assembly set the recycling rate lower for rural localities in 2006 than it had in previous years. According to state figures, 57 Virginia localities, including Halifax, will qualify for the lowered rate.
In the past, all Virginia localities were called on to recycle 25 percent of their paper, metal and plastic waste. This year, rural localities will only be asked to recycle 15 percent of their solid waste.
“This doesn’t give the impression that recycling is important,” Hochstein, who serves as the county’s recycling coordinator, said. “We don’t need any more apathy here.
“I was disappointed with the cut,” she added. “Twenty-five percent is 25 percent. What’s the hardship?
“It’s no harder for rural people to recycle,” she said. “Put the recyclables in separate cans and then put it in separate bins.”
Halifax County is in the process of placing recycling bins at all the county’s convenience centers (green boxes). Most are already equipped, Hochstein said.
Recycling Works collects the recyclables for the county and does curbside collection for the Town of Halifax.
The county seat should serve as an example of small town recycling, Hochstein said.
“Halifax is a small community, but they care,” she said. “They care about their tax base, and they care about recycling.
“They always made the effort,” Hochstein added. “So we helped them out.”
And with the South Boston landfill slated for closure, recycling makes economic sense, Hochstein said.
Solid waste that is not recycled will have to be transported nearly forty miles to the new regional landfill outside Boydton.
“DEQ (Virginia Department of Environmental Quality) doesn’t care how much we pay in taxes,” she said. “Shipping waste to Mecklenburg you have to figure trucking costs, paying an employee and to dump they’ll have to pay by the ton.”
The tipping fee at the South Boston landfill is $38-per-ton, Hochstein said.
Also the amount of trash being dumped at the landfill has skyrocketed in the last year, she added.
In 2004, the landfill reported 24,272 tons dumped at the site, in 2005 that figure ballooned to 67,662, according to Hochstein.
“I don’t understand it,” she said, noting the landfill has begun accepting waste from Charlotte County.
Hochstein follows the landfill’s data because it’s the same data used to calculate the county’s recycling rate.
“We compare the amount of waste to the amount recycled,” she said. “It (the increase) made our recycling numbers really bad.”
In 2005, Recycling Works reported recycling 101.2 tons of OCC (cardboard), 46.06 tons of mixed paper, 321 tons of newspaper, 20.31 tons of plastic and 24.39 tons of aluminum cans.
These figures make the recycling rate for Halifax County in 2005 roughly 15.2 percent.
Above the state’s new 15 percent requirement but far below the previous 25 percent mandate.
Also, the recycling requirement is not punitive. The state does not fine localities that fail to meet the targets, opting instead to work with them.
However, localities that don’t comply under the new system could have trouble getting state permits to build or expand landfills, state officials say.
The cut in the recycling rate sends the wrong message, according to Hochstein.
“I just think there are so many ways to recycle,” she said. “People need to think collectively.
“It’s just as easy to throw something in a recycling bin as it is to throw it in the garbage.”

Thousands Turn Out For Annual Scottsburg Event

A crowd of thousands braved the heat yesterday as the Scottsburg Volunteer Fire Department celebrated its 25th Annual Fourth of July Celebration.
Sponsored by the fire department and Ladies Auxiliary, this year’s celebration proved to be the biggest event yet as the town of roughly 250 welcomed an estimated 10,000 vistors.
The community also celebrated a first this year with a special tribute to the county’s military personnel entitled “Operation Tribute To Freedom.”
Service personnel from all branches of the military gathered as the community took a moment to thank them for their service to the country.
Tuesday’s event featured something for everyone as the day got under way with a parade, live music, wrestling, a fireman’s competition, vendors, games and rides throughout the day.
Music was provided by The Liberty Band, Pizazz and the Spitting Kitty’s Band from Danville.
The day ended with a fireworks display at dusk.
This year’s event was a sad one as the community mourned the death of the celebration’s founder, Johnnie Hatcher.
Hatcher died in April at the age of 88.
He could often be seen during the annual parade with a huge smile on his face, dressed as Uncle Sam, passing candy to visitors to the community he loved.

Name-Calling ‘Rings A Little Hollow’
Governor’s Spokesman Responds To Del. Clark Hogan’s Allegations Of Dishonesty

In what could be called a philosophical tit-for-tat, Governor Tim Kaine’s spokesman said Monday that allegations made in the Gazette-Virginian by Delegate Clarke Hogan were “deliberately dishonest.”
“I see that Delegate Hogan has received the House Republican script,” Spokesman Kevin Hall said. “His tantrum would be amusing if only it wasn’t so deliberately dishonest.”
On Monday’s front page, Hogan alleged that an additional $30 million in projects Kaine added to the state budget last week “completely dishonest.”
House Republicans gutted $22 million in spending projects unrelated to the state’s transportation problem that Kaine proposed with nearly $30 million in newly-found cash.
“We’d been fighting for six months on the budget, the conference committee had agreed on what we were going to spend our money on, and to conjure up $30 million at the last minute is completely irresponsible,” Hogan said. “It (the $22 million in cuts Republicans made last week) had nothing to do with these specific projects, it had everything to do with us saying we need to rearrange our priorities.”
The governor said the money came from unexpected savings and lottery proceeds, a move Hogan challenged in the previous story.
But Hall fought back, saying that it is the fault of House Republicans that a timely budget compromise wasn’t reached.
“Because Mr. Hogan and his masters in the House put all sorts of conditions on the Senate, the legislature did not agree on a compromise budget until the very end of the budget year,” he said. “It is logical to everyone except Mr. Hogan that at the end of the budget cycle you have a pretty good idea if agencies have received savings and if the lottery did better than expected. That’s where the $30 million came from.”
The governor’s spokesman also took umbrage with allegations made by Hogan that Kaine and the Senate Republicans want to “spend every nickel they can get their hands on.”
“My point is this isn’t rocket science,” Hall said. “If Del. Hogan would leave the House Republican clubhouse once in a while, he would acknowledge that Virginia has serious and expensive transportation challenges. These challenges are threatening to damage the bustling economy of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
“Those economies help support Southside Virginia.”
Hall also said that Virginia’s thriving economy in many regions is a direct result of last session’s tax increase – a tax increase Hogan fought against.
“Del. Hogan certainly isn’t shy about taking credit for all of the good things that have occurred in Virginia as a result of the 2004 tax reform, an initiative he fought against,” he said. “He also conveniently fails to mention that he showed up in Richmond this year with a $14 million shopping list for his district. In light of that, his name-calling rings a little hollow.
“The governor, Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, House Democrats and Virginia’s business leaders are all together in the belief that we need to fix our transportation network,” Hall added. “House Republicans are the only ones who don’t get it, and Del. Hogan is one of their loudest cheerleaders.”

Obituaries

Hannah Clay Hudson
Hannah Clay Hudson, 81, of 115 North Main Street, Clover, died July 3, 2006, at Berry Hill Nursing Home.
Mrs. Hudson was born January 6, 1925, the daughter of the late Zim Clay and Carrie Wallace Clay, and was first married to the late Frank Conner, and then to the late J.D. Hudson. She was a member of Fork Baptist Church and a former seamstress with Jonbil Garment Factory.
Survivors include two daughters, Barbara Conner Newcomb and Wanda H. Lacks, both of Clover; one son, Marshall Monroe Hudson of Alton; seven grandsons, Tony Conner, Dwayne Conner, Timmy Newcomb, Ray Newcomb, Roger Hudson, Jeffery Martin, and Chris Hudson; three granddaughters, Angie N. Lankford, Dana Newcomb and Wendy Hudson; and 12 great-grandchildren. Three sons, Robert and Danny Hudson and Lee Conner; one granddaughter, Wendy Hudson; and one beloved grandson, Nick Hudson, also preceded Mrs. Hudson in death.
Funeral services will be held at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel tomorrow, July 6, at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Courtney Coffer officiating. Burial will follow in the Clover Cemetery.
The family will receive friends this evening, July 5, from 7:00 until 8:30 at Brooks Funeral Home, and other times at the home of Wanda H. Lacks, 14211 James D. Hagood Highway, Scottsburg.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net

Joan “J” E. Pass
A memorial service for Ms. Joan “J” E. Pass will be held at Somerset, on Hamilton Boulevard, on Friday at 2 p.m.
Ms. Pass, of South Boston, died Thursday at Somerset.
She was born in England and received her nursing degree from The Royal Infirmary, Sheffield Training School for Nurses.
An extensive traveler, Ms. Pass, lived in England, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia before coming to the United States.
She was employed at Laird Memorial Hospital in Montgomery, West Virginia, from 1958 to 1962.
From 1962 to 1974, she was the Nurse Educator at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong.
After coming to South Boston, Ms. Pass was employed as a registered nurse from 1976 to 1989 at Halifax Regional Hospital.

 

Halifax County South Dispatches Scottsburg 10-4 For Sub-District Title
Halifax County South Took a 6-0 Lead And Defeated ScottsburgFor A Berth In the District 2 AAA Tournament This Weekend
Halifax County South came into last night’s game against Scottsburg knowing it had to win one of two games to lock up the Dixie Youth AAA District 2 Sub-District title.
Scottsburg, which lost to HCS 12-2 the first night of the tourney, came in knowing it had to beat that same team twice in order to advance.
A second game wasn’t necessary, HCS taking a 6-0 lead and holding off a late-game rally by Scottsburg to win the Sub-District title 10-4.
The win by HCS broke a two-year run by Halifax as sub-district tourney champion, making it six sub-district titles in the past eight years for HCS.
Seth Elliott went the distance for HCS to get the win, getting four strikeouts in six innings of work while walking only one batter, while Scottsburg used three pitchers, Hunter Watts starting and hurling the first three and two-thirds innings before giving way to Chase Wilkerson.
Wilkerson pitched to six batters before Nick Lewis came to the mound with one out in the fifth to finish the game for Scottsburg.
Halifax County South had the best of the scoring chances early in the game, but could only push across one run until the third inning.
HCS used three walks and passed ball to score in the first inning, Will Harris sliding home for the first run of the game, but Scottsburg escaped further damage when Greg Crawley was caught stealing third for the third out.
HCS was set to add to its lead in the second inning, loading the bases with on a hit batsman, single by Andrew McCann, a walk to T.J. Brandon, but Watts got a comebacker to the mound and threw home for the force to get Scottsburg out of trouble.
A four-run third inning gave HCS a 5-0 lead, walks to Dion Lassiter, Eddie Chaney and Harris, singles by James Williams and Crawley and a passed ball plating the runs, and HCS added another run its next at-bat on two walks and a passed ball.
Held to only one hit through three innings, Wes Pruitt’s second inning single, Scottsburg got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Kyle Lacks and Dustin Crews hit consecutive singles to start the rally, both advancing on a sacrifice by Collin Kashmer and both scored to make it 6-2.
HCS took advantage of two hits, a walk and Scottsburg errors to make it 10-2 in the top of the fifth, Williams leading off with a triple to get things going.
Crawley and Elliott reached base on errors, Ethan Woltz on a fielder’s choice, and McCann on a single to score the runs, but Scottsburg again responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally.
Wilkerson led off with a single, and Watts reached on a fielder’s choice. After Watts was out on a steal attempt, Pruitt and Elijah Hudson hit back-to-back singles, and Tyler Farson reached on an error, Pruitt and Hudson scoring on the play.
Nick Lewis drew a walk, but with runners at second and third with two outs, Elliott got a big strikeout on a 3-2 count to get HCS out of the jam.
Crawley was stranded after a two-out double in the top of the sixth, and Scottsburg got hits from Kashmer and Josh Irby in the bottom of the sixth before an Elliott strikeout and double play ended the game.
Halifax County South will play the winner of the East Division – Emporia or Brunswick – in a best of three series for the Dixie Youth AAA District 2 Title starting this weekend.
Scottsburg 17 Halifax 5 (Sunday)
Scottsburg earned the right to meet HCS with a 17-5 rout of Halifax in four innings on Sunday, eliminating the two-time defending sub-district champs.
Halifax had taken a 2-0 lead after one and one-half innings, but Scottsburg sent 19 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second to score 15 runs and added two more in the third to end the contest.
The game started on a positive note for Halifax, Ryan Powell hitting a leadoff double and scoring on Aubrey Jordan’s single for a 1-0 advantage, and Zack Terry, Adrian Moran, Ikeem Woody and Dakota Loftis walked in the second to plate another run for a 2-0 lead.
Scottsburg scored 15 runs on three hits, seven walks and five errors in the bottom half of the second inning.
Elijah Hudson and Hunter Watts doubled and Collin Kashmer singled in the inning for Scottsburg, and Colby Grissom, Grey Henderson, Kashmer, Josh Irby, Chase Wilkerson, Nick Lewis and Tyler Farson walked.
That helped give Scottsburg a 15-2 lead going into the third inning, and Halifax scored three runs to close the gap.
Powell hit the second of his two singles, Cain Hamlett walked, and Tyler Stephens tripled and scored to make it 15-5, before Scottsburg added its final two runs in the bottom of the third after a hit batsman and error.
Halifax got two-out base hits by Powell and Hamlett to try and extend the game, but a strikeout ended the contest.
Hunter Watts started the game for Scottsburg and pitched all four innings, finishing with eight strikeouts, while Halifax put Powell on the mound to start the contest, followed by Stephens in the bottom of the second inning.
Stephens finished with four strikeouts for Halifax.

Herring’s Hot Streak Continues
Drew Herring Scored His Biggest Win In Monday’s Bailey’s 200 At South Boston Speedway
Drew Herring has had the hot hand in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car division at South Boston Speedway the past few weeks.
Monday night he showed no sign of cooling off any time soon.
Herring scored the biggest win of his fledgling Late Model Stock Car racing career here Monday night, scoring a flag-to-flag win over an all-star field in front of a crowd estimated at 10,000 fans in the Bailey’s 200.
The win, the fifth for Herring in his last six starts, netted him a career-high payday of $5,000.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said the young Benson, N.C. resident.
“This is by far the biggest race I’ve ever won. Not only that, we won against a bunch of great cars and drivers that win a lot of races. That says a lot. I just hope we can keep this momentum going through the rest of the year. If we keep running like this, we may have a shot at getting back into the points race. I’m real excited about that.”
Herring started on the outside of the front row next to pole winner Frank Deiny Jr., took the lead on the opening lap and never relinquished it, edging Deiny by 3.957 seconds over a final 127-lap green flag run to the finish.
“It’s always tough to hold off Frankie,” Herring said.
“He’s a good driver and he always runs well here.”
Deiny, the 2002 South Boston Speedway track champion, was able to stay within hailing distance of Herring for most of the race. However, when Deiny’s right front tire started giving out in the closing laps, Deiny’s hope for a win faded.
“I had burned the right front tire up with about 50 laps to go,” Deiny said.
“ The only way I had a shot at him was either a lapped car get him or if they had a caution and I had time to cool my tires down. Other than that, when we stayed green, he was a little better.”
Deiny noted, however, there was a time when he felt he had a shot at Herring.
“I thought we had a really good car,” Deiny said after he and Herring made it a one-two sweep of the race by Bailey’s sponsored cars.
“Before we got to halfway I thought I had him. He got into some traffic there and I kind of let him go a little bit. I felt like it was “game on” then, that we had something for him. Then, I burned up my right front tire, just being stupid. I cost us a shot at him.”
The race featured an all-star field that included a good handful of some of the region’s top drivers but they were no match for either Herring on Deiny on this night. Some drivers, like track points leader Jon Denning and Eddie Johnson, who entered the race in the top four in the track points race, met with misfortune.
Denning cut a tire and hit the wall. A flat tire knocked Johnson and Jerame Donley of Winston-Salem, N.C. out of contention. Former South Boston champion Philip Morris, David Triplett Jr. of Durham, N.C. and Jason Dickerson, all of whom had potent cars, fell victim to tire or mechanical problems.
With the race being a very clean one and only three caution periods to slow the action, all coming in the first 67 laps, Herring and Deiny laid waste to the field.
Herring’s good fortune, as it had been in recent weeks, was that a long green-flag run late in the race, in this case a 127-lap run, enabled him to seal the win.
“When we had that last green flag run. I was praying to God that we wouldn’t have a caution within in the last ten laps because I knew it would be difficult to hold him (Deiny) off,” Herring said.
“I did not want a caution. After that first caution, it took awhile to get going. The first six or seven laps after a restart, it was all I could do to keep in front of Frankie. My car just comes around and keeps getting better on these long runs.”
Herring, Deiny and third-place finisher, 18-year-old Cliff Daniels of Smithfield, were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap.
For Daniels, the third-place finish equaled his previous best finish of the season. It came on a night in which he had finished fourth in the 100-lap NASCAR Limited Sportsman race that had preceded the Bailey’s 200.
“I was just patient the whole race and the car stayed under me,” said the exhausted young driver.
“I was able to pick them off one by one. Patience was definitely the key tonight – as it is every night. I don’t think I pushed the car hard at all until a couple of laps to go when I had to get by a bunch of lapped cars. But, by then, the leaders were so far gone that it really wasn’t worth pushing the car that hard. We’re hoping we can build on this and get some momentum going and within the next race or two be a top-two car consistently.”
Tony McGuire of Roanoke finished fourth and Nick Smith of Hampton rounded out the top five finishers.
Jonathan Cash of Oxford, N.C., Rodney Cook of Reidsville, N.C., Owen Miller of Emporia, Jamey Caudill of Four Oaks, N.C. and Wayne Ramsey of Amherst completed the top ten finishers, all of whom were a lap down.
Herring averaged 71.987 mph in the 200-lap race which took one hour, six minutes and 59 seconds to complete.

Classic Shelby Cars Run Wild At VIRginia International Raceway
Jeff Burgy Brings Cobra Replica To SAAC Event
When one thinks of the history of American motorsports, the name Carroll Shelby is more than likely to come to the forefront.
Shelby, the mastermind behind the Cobra sports car and Shelby Mustang, had the fruits of his labors on display at VIRginia International Raceway last weekend during the annual Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC) convention.
Shelby won the inaugural race at VIR in 1957, so the track set in pastoral Halifax County was a good fit for the many hundreds of Cobras and Mustangs on display, including the 289 FIA Competition Cobra replica of Jeff Burgy.
Burgy, who spent 33 years with Ford Motor Company as a technical illustrator and writer, business planner and audio systems engineer, describes himself as a “certified car nut.”
That’s what one would expect from someone who currently owns three collector cars, including a Cobra replica, Hypo Mustang convertible and 1957 Ford Thunderbird, and has owned as many as three GT350’s in the past.
“The 1964 Hypo Mustang is a rare car, and has a 279 horsepower version of the 289 cubic inch engine,” said Burgy, adding that only one percent of Mustangs were built with the high performance engine.
“It has heavy duty parts throughout and it’s the same engine Carroll Shelby used in the Cobras.”
Shelby would just ‘soup’ the engine up for his racing Cobras and GT350’s, each of the cars rated at 306 horsepower, after Shelby changed the exhaust system, carburetor and intake, he added.
As for the Cobra, Burgy said he always liked small block cars with the 289 engine, but an original 289 Cobra is worth over $1 million.
Therefore, he modeled his car after the competition Cobra, the car made by one of the top replica manufacturers.
“It has a number of unique features that are different from regular street Cobras,” noted Burgy.
“Its doors are unique, the trunk lid is different as is the rake of the windshield and the wheels. Quite a few things are different, but I built this car to look like a retired Cobra race car.
“It is registered for the street and has all the legal requirements, including windshield wipers and some creature comforts.
Burgy has long been intrigued with the story of Carroll Shelby, whose automotive innovations have long since been documented.
“Carroll Shelby was a race car driver, and very successful,” began Shelby. “He started out as a club racer in California, and also won LeMans in 1959 in an Aston Martin.”
Shelby’s racing career was cut short when he developed angina and accompanying heart problems, according to Burgy, forcing the Texas native to satisfy his automotive cravings elsewhere.
“After he retired from racing, Shelby thought that he’d like to build a car,” he continued. “Carroll Shelby was something of a schemer, a wheeler dealer, and he could charm anybody.”
Shelby talked with Ford Motor Company and found out that they were coming out with the new lightweight small block engine, and subsequently found out a car company in England had just lost its engine supplier.
The combination of the Ford 289 small block engine and the AC Bristol chassis proved to be a match made in heaven, according to Burgy.
“AC Cars was an old car company, which started out making bicycles and tricycles, and they later made sports cars such as the AC Bristol,” said Burgy.
“Carroll Shelby got Ford and AC Cars together and struck a deal.”
Shelby rented garage space from famous hot-rodder and customizer Dean Moon in California, and along with a group of talented engineers, began to bring the Cobra concept to reality.
“They improved the suspension and chassis so it would take the extra power with the 289 engine, and built almost 600 of the small block cars,” said Burgy.
Burgy has been to every one of the SAAC conventions since the organization was formed in 1975, and said last weekend’s event at VIR attracted its usual large number of enthusiasts.
“It’s [SAAC] has been very successful. There’re about 6,000 members throughout the world,” said Burgy, who was also impressed with the track and facilities at VIR.
“Everyone talked about what a great venue it is. We try to move the event to different areas of the country, so that enthusiasts can bring their cars out,” said Burgy.
“We have a great showing, and with some of these cars worth about $1 million, it’s hard to bring them out, but I see all kinds of original Shelby Cobras and Mustangs here today.
“This show is just packed.”