Friday, July 7, 2006

Minor Flooding Expected Along Dan

But Farmers See Rainfall As Blessing

This week’s heavy rains have resulted in Halifax County being under a flood warning through this morning, according to Peter Corrigan, service hydrologist for the National Weather Service.
But Halifax County Extension Agent Traci Talley said the rain couldn’t have come at a better time for the county’s crops.
“All of our crops are in a crucial stage and it has helped bring our tobacco out into the topping stage and has replenished our forages,” she said.
“It’s just helped everything that has been planted,” she added. “I, and our farmers, couldn’t be happier that the rain came at this time in the season.”
Halifax County received between five and six inches of rainfall in the 24-hour period that ended at 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
“You received another inch in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total rainfall to between six and seven inches in the last seven days,” Corrigan said.
As a result, the weather service issued a flood warning for the Dan River at South Boston.
“We’re expecting the river to go above the 19-foot flood stage overnight (Thursday) and crest early (Friday) at 20 feet,” Corrigan said.
After cresting above flood stage, the river is expected to recede below flood stage Friday, according to the NWS.
Corrigan said any flooding is expected to be minor.
“Somewhere along the reach of the river, it will be out of its banks,” he said. “The flooding from this particular event along the river won’t be anything extraordinary, but you should see some minor flooding.”
Corrigan said the storms resulted in few reports of damage in the county.
“Overall, it was a beneficial storm,” he said. “You’ve been very dry going into June, essentially near drought conditions.”
Some residents in the Virgilina community reported scattered trees down, including several trees that fell in the Wilborn Road area.
Halifax County Emergency Services Coordinator Allen Bober said the storm caused very few headaches for his department.
“The only thing we had reported to us was two houses were hit by lightning but it caused very minor damage,” he said. “There was nothing else other than a couple of trees down.
“We were very lucky in that the storm system dropped some much-needed rainfall and caused very little damage,” Bober added.
According to Corrigan, the county received 6.5 inches of rainfall in the month of June, bringing the total rainfall this year to 15.3 inches.
“If you add in the six inches that has already fallen in July, you’re at around 20 inches this year,” he said.
Normal rainfall for this point in the year is approximately 22 inches, Corrigan said.
“This rain has done a great job of bringing Halifax County closer to normal,” he said. “We had been considering categorizing the area as a more serious drought, but fortunately that has gone away.”

 

Caught After Vehicle, Foot Pursuit

Man Sentenced For Felony Eluding Police

A Vernon Hill man arrested after a vehicle and foot pursuit last year was sentenced Thursday in Halifax County Circuit Court to a total of six years in prison for felony eluding police and a third or subsequent offense of driving on a suspended/revoked operator’s license.
Judge Leslie M. Osborn sentenced James Thomas Mullikin to five years in prison, with all but one year and four months suspended, for felony eluding police.
Judge Osborn also sentenced Mullikin to one year in jail, with all but 10 days suspended, for the third offense of driving on a suspended/revoked operator’s license.
The court ordered the suspended portion of Mullikin’s sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for five years and ordered him to be placed on probation for one year, both upon his release.
The court additionally ordered Mullikin to submit to random drug tests and suspended his operator’s license for 90 days for each conviction.
Mullikin was a fugitive from justice on other charges when he was arrested following a vehicle and foot pursuit on September 9, 2005, according to authorities.
Police had conducted surveillance on possible areas where Mullikin was believed to be frequenting when the suspect was seen leaving a residence in the Vernon Hill area.
When asked to surrender, Mullikin instead fled the scene in a vehicle, leading police on a pursuit into Pittsylvania County, where he jumped out of his vehicle and into a nearby wooded area.
A canine tracker was brought in to assist Halifax County and Pittsylvania authorities, and Mullikin was subsequently located hiding in a barn.
Following his September arrest, the defendant was initially charged with two counts of possessing a vehicle with altered serial numbers, one count of receiving stolen goods and two counts of failing to appear in court.
Mullikin subsequently entered an Alford plea in Halifax County Circuit Court to a pair of charges for possessing a vehicle with altered serial numbers, not admitting to the crimes but realizing the weight of the evidence against him.
The court sentenced Mullikin to three years each for those two offenses, suspending all but a total of 10 months in jail.
The defendant was later arrested and charged with the crimes for which he was sentenced on Thursday.
Other Court Cases
• Jeffrey James Senter, 37, of South Boston, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison, with all but one year suspended, for construction fraud/grand larceny of Helen Carr Adkins.
Judge William L. Wellons ordered the suspended portion of Senter’s sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for 10 years, and ordered him to be placed on probation for two years following his release.
The court additionally ordered Senter to submit to random drug tests and authorized work release for the defendant if he qualified.
The court ordered Senter to make restitution payments to his victim at a rate of $300 per month, starting within 30 days of his release if work release were authorized.
• Anthony Antonio Rogers, 45, of South Boston, was convicted Thursday of possessing cocaine.
The court sentenced Rogers to five years in prison, with all suspended conditioned on his good behavior for five years, and ordered him to be placed on probation for one year.
The court additionally ordered Rogers to submit to random drug tests, and ordered a restricted operator’s license for the defendant.
• Vonnie Lee Sims, 38, of South Boston, pleaded no contest Thursday to a third offense of shoplifting merchandise with a value less than $200.
The court remanded Sims to custody to await sentencing in the July court term.
• Christopher Shannon Hicks, 30, of Madison Heights, was convicted Thursday of a capias for a probation violation.
The court revoked nine months of Hicks’ previously suspended prison sentence, the remainder resuspended conditioned on his good behavior for two years, beginning immediately.
The court additionally ordered Hicks to be placed on probation for one year upon his release and ordered him to submit to random drug tests.
• Ossie Alexander Harris Jr., 25, of South Boston, on first offender status for a charge of possessing cocaine, had that charge dismissed Thursday upon payment of court costs.
• Jeffrey Daryl Farmer Jr., 19, of Halifax, had indictments charging him with carrying a concealed weapon and assault and battery dismissed Thursday in Halifax County Circuit Court.
• Justin Juwan Lacks, 23, of South Boston, had a show cause lodged against him for a probation violation dismissed Thursday in Halifax County Circuit Court.

 

Missing SoBo Native’s Body Found At Sea

The body of South Boston native Vance Lowery, 51, who disappeared last Thursday evening in Oregon Inlet off the North Carolina coast, was found approximately 24 miles offshore by fishermen Wednesday morning, according to family members.
The Lowery family had been fishing and was preparing to leave around 5:20 p.m. last Thursday when family members said that Lowery jumped into calm water about 20 to 25 feet from shore. When he reached for his hat, he fell forward in the water and did not resurface. Family members, including his brother Monty of Alton, were unsuccessful in their attempts to find him.
The Coast Guard suspended its search for the Hickory, N.C., resident Friday evening, Lowery’s mother, Dorothy Moorefield of the Dan River Church community, said Monday.
Lowery’s family, including his wife Luci Mae, their two children, Daniel, 8, and Jackson, 7, his brother Monty and sister-in-law Lisa Lowery, sister Amy Sweatt, friend Tommy Barden, and nephew Tyler Sweatt witnessed the incident, according to a family spokesman.
Lowery, a nurse anesthetist at Catawba Hospital in Hickory, was a 1973 graduate of Halifax County High School. He was a certified diver, and well known as a musician and as a potter, an artistic interest he shared with his brother and father, Monty and Ken Lowery.
A funeral service for Vance Eric Lowery will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church in South Boston, with interment at Oakhurst Cemetery, Clarksville.
Visitation will be Saturday from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Brooks Funeral Home and at other times at the homes of his father, Ken Lowery, 1199 Turner Trail, Alton, his mother, Dorothy Moorefield, 1141 Dan River Church Road, and his brother, Monty Lowery, 1161 Turner Trail, Alton.

 

SoBo Loses Junior Dixie Boys Regional Tournament

The Junior Dixie Boys Regional Tournament Scheduled Here This Weekend Has Been Postponed A Week And Moved To Powhatan

The South Boston Dixie Boys Baseball League and Dixie Inc. took a major hit this week with the loss of the Junior Dixie Boys East Region Tournament that had been scheduled to begin this weekend at the Day Complex.
A circumstance of District 3 not being able to complete its sub-regional tournament has resulted in Dixie Boys baseball state officials having to postpone the regional tournament for one week.
The Junior Dixie Boys East Region Tournament will now be played at Powhatan and will start next Friday.
Jeff Cox of South Boston, the District 4 Director and an official with the South Boston league, said the loss of the tournament is a huge blow to both the league and to the South Boston and Halifax County business community.
“It’s a loss of income to the league and it’s a loss of income for the community,” said Cox.
“As a league, we figure we will lose $10,000 – and that’s a conservative figure. At least that much and probably more will be lost for the community (from a business standpoint).”
The financial loss is not what Dixie Inc., which is struggling to get itself out of financial debt, needed at this point, league officials said.
“It’s a substantial blow,” Cox said.
“If we were to have come out of the (regional) tournament reasonably close to what we have done in the past, we would come close to getting out of debt.”
State Dixie Boys Director Ken Nelson said yesterday he contacted South Boston league officials as soon as he was made aware of the problem with District 3. He pointed out that South Boston league officials told him they could not postpone the Junior Dixie Boys regional tournament.
South Boston is hosting the Dixie Boys State Tournament which begins a week from today at the Day Complex. The postponement of the Junior Dixie Boys East Region Tournament to next weekend would have meant South Boston would have had to stage two tournaments simultaneously.
“At the time I called South Boston, they said they could not postpone the tournament until the next weekend, so I had no alternative at that time other than to move the tournament,” Nelson explained.
“It was not an easy decision, believe me. It was the only thing I could come up with.”
The state director said the fact that South Boston was hosting the Dixie Boys state tournament next weekend may have had a bearing on why South Boston officials told him they could not postpone the regional tournament.
“I don’t know the reasons for down there,” Nelson said.
“ They just said they could not postpone this tournament from the seventh (July 7) to the fourteenth (July 14).”
Nelson stressed that South Boston losing the regional tournament has nothing at all to do with the league, its officials, the facilities or the community.
“It has no reflection at all or anything at all to do with the people of South Boston and Halifax County,” Nelson emphasized.
“It has nothing at all to do with them, the facilities or anything of that nature. In my opinion, the people of the town, the facilities and everything are very, very well. I have no problem with any of that.”
Cox said South Boston officials made a good faith effort to try to keep the tournament here.
“The (Dixie Inc.) Board offered to accommodate all of the teams in District 3 in the regional tournament in order to keep the tournament here,” Cox said.
“He (Nelson) said he didn’t want to send them (the District 3 teams) to the regionals without them having been in post-season play. He said he felt he had to do what was best for the players.”
As far as any possible overtures to the South Boston league in regards being granted the East Region tournament next season to make up for the loss of this year’s tournament, Nelson said there are none.
“They (South Boston) can apply for it,” Nelson pointed out.
Noting that he could not speak for any of the other officials that may have a hand in voting on the site of next year’s tournament, Nelson said, “ I’m sure that if they ask for it, they probably stand a very good chance of getting it.”

 

New Round Of Tourneys Start Today

The Dixie Youth Major League Sub-District Tourney Opens Tonight At Cluster Springs; Babe Ruth Action Starts In Chase City

It’s baseball tournament time, and, for the second week in a row, there is plenty of baseball tournament action on tap.
The big event of the weekend is the Dixie Youth Baseball District 2 West Sub-District Tournament which opens tonight at Conner Field in Cluster Springs, the home field of the Halifax County South Dixie Youth Baseball League.
Also scheduled this weekend are the best-of-three playoff series for the Dixie Youth Baseball AAA League (Minor League) District 2 title and the District 2 Babe Ruth baseball Tournament which is being played in Chase City.
The Junior Dixie Boys regional tournament had been scheduled for this weekend at the Day Complex in South Boston. However, that tournament has been postponed and the site has been moved from South Boston to Powhatan. (See separate story)
Tonight’s action in the Dixie Youth Baseball Major League sub-district tournament at Cluster Springs will have Scottsburg squaring off against Halifax in the 6:30 p.m. opener. Host Halifax County South will face South Boston in the 8 p.m. nightcap.
There will be two games in that tournament on Saturday with the losers of tonight’s games facing each other in an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. and the winners of tonight’s two games battling each other in the 8 p.m. game.
The tournament will continue with a single game that has been set for 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The champion could be crowned either Monday night or Tuesday night.
Things are up in the air as far as the Dixie Youth AAA (Minor League) District 2 playoffs as weather has prevented Brunswick County and Emporia from settling things in the District 2 East Sub-District Tournament.
District Director Emmett Edmunds said yesterday that Wednesday’s game fell victim to weather and that it appeared unlikely that the two teams could play last night due to field conditions.
Edmunds said he is hoping that the two teams could conclude their tournament tonight and that the best-of-three game playoff series for the District 2 title could start Saturday.
If that does occur, the first game of the district tournament playoff series will be played at the home field of the East sub-district champion on Saturday with the second game being played at Cluster Springs, the home of the West Sub-District champion Halifax County South team, on Sunday at 4 p.m. The third game, if needed, will move back to the home field of the East sub-district champion.
The Halifax County Babe Ruth League’s 14-year-old all-star team will begin play in the District 2 tournament today in Chase City.
Tournament action will continue through the weekend and into early next week as teams from Halifax County, Brunswick County, South Hill and host Chase City battle for the right to advance to the Babe Ruth state tournament.

 

Halifax National Belles Win District 7 Title

National Shuts Out Charlotte County 8-0

The Halifax National Belles all-stars ended an unbeaten run through the Dixie Softball District 7 Tournament in Brookneal Tuesday with a 8-0 shutout of Charlotte County.
Halifax National, which slugged its way to 23-2 (Motley) and 19-1 (Charlotte County) wins in its first two games, got timely hits to take advantage of Charlotte County errors and used its pitching and defense to win the championship.
With the win, Halifax National advanced to the Dixie Softball Belles State Tournament starting July 14 at the Bethune Complex in Halifax.
National finished with five hits against Charlotte County, Heather Hudson smacking a two-run double, and Betty Rose, Lauren Daniel, Lyndsay Lawter and Melissa Morris adding base hits.
Halifax National hurlers Paige Rickman, Daniel and Lawter held Charlotte County to three hits, while striking out eight and walking a total of five batters in the shutout.
Rickman started the game for Halifax National and hurled the first three innings, Daniel pitched the next three and Lawter the final inning.
Halifax National’s first hit of the game resulted in a run, Betty Rose getting a leadoff base hit, advancing on a passed ball and scoring on a throwing error off a Daniel ground ball.
National made it 2-0 in the third inning off four more Charlotte County errors.
Brittany Cole, Megan Day and Erica Wilson all reached base on errors, Rose on a fielder’s choice and Jessie Bagbey on another error to plate the run.
Rickman walked, advanced on two passed balls and scored after an error on a Jill Trickey grounder to make it 3-0 after four innings, before Halifax added four big runs in the fifth.
Melissa Morris bunted her way on base with one out and Rose and Bagbey each reached base on errors to plate one run, before Hudson hit a two-run double. Daniel hit a single and Rickman hit an RBI groundout to make it 7-0.
Halifax National added its final run in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lawter and Cole drawing one-out walks and advancing on a passed ball, before Lawter scored on an RBI groundout by Day.
Halifax got outs when it needed to preserve the shutout, Rickman getting a big strikeout with the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning.
Charlotte County had two on and no out in the second inning, but two strikeouts and a flyout ended that threat, and a walk and two straight two-out singles put Charlotte County base runners aboard in the fourth inning.
A fielder’s choice out and flyout ended that threat, and a groundout after two straight two-out walks in the Charlotte County sixth ended its last chance to score.

 

Obituaries

Vance Eric Lowery
Vance Eric Lowery, 51, of Catawba, N.C. died June 29, 2006, in Oregon Inlet, N.C.
Mr. Lowery was born in Halifax County on June 25, 1955, the son of Ken Lowery of Alton and Dorothy G. Moorefield of Halifax, and was married to Luci Mae O. Lowery. He was a member of Elk River Fishing Club, Alton Hunting Club, Trout Unlimited, and Old Timers Caving Club. He was employed as a Nurse Anesthetist at Catawba Valley Medical Center.
Funeral services will be held July 9, at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church, South Boston, with the Rev. Dennis Ball and Rev. Dr. Tim Cannon officiating. Burial will follow in Oakhurst Cemetery, Clarksville.
Survivors of Mr. Lowery include his wife; his father and mother; two sons, Daniel Craig O. Lowery and Jackson Walker Lowery; his grandmother, Carrie Gwyer of Halifax; two sisters, Amy Sweatt of Charles City and Patricia Puryear and husband, Kelly, of South Boston; two brothers, Monty Lowery and wife, Lisa, and Timothy Lowery, all of Alton; and two step-brothers, Mike Moorefield and Tommy Moorefield, both of Halifax.
The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home tomorrow evening, July 8, from 7:00 until 8:30, and other times at the homes of his father, 1199 Turner Trail, Alton; his mother, 1141 Dan River Church Road, Halifax, and his brother, Monty Lowery, 1161 Turner Trail, Alton.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net