Friday, August 4, 2006

Heat Taking Toll On County’s Farmers
While it’s clear that this summer’s scorching temperatures have taken their toll on us, what may not be so obvious is the tremendous toll the heat takes on the county’s farmers and livestock producers.
Take, for example, the recent experience of Clays Mill livestock producer Sherman Conner.
“I saw a young bull the other day that I believe got too hot,” he said. “Sunday morning I went out and found him dead. I think the heat could have played a part.”
Conner, who owns a herd of 100 brood cows, said he paid $1,500 for the bull.
“Hot weather is bad for cattle because they don’t eat,” he said. “They dehydrate just like humans. If you don’t have ponds in the pasture it can get real bad.”
Halifax County Extension Agent Traci Talley said it is important for farmers and producers to take the proper precautions during the summer heat.
“The most predominate breed of cattle here in the county is Angus,” she said. “Angus cattle are black in color and we all know how black absorbs heat. This makes these cattle even hotter.”
According to Talley, it is imperative that producers ensure their herds have a way to escape the heat.
“It’s of the utmost importance in the kind of weather we’ve been experiencing to make sure that livestock have some type of shade to escape the beating sun,” she said. “Wooded areas in pastures provide the best shade.
“Water is also very crucial in times such as these,” Talley added.
Cattle need an unlimited supply of water that is readily available so the herd doesn’t have to travel far to reach it, according to the extension agent.
“Cattle are very much like humans,” she said, “when the weather is hot out, all we want to do is stay cool and drink plenty of fluids – we do not have a strong appetite.”
That could cut into a farmer’s bottom line, according to Elaine Lidholm, director of communications for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services .
“The excessive heat puts a lot of stress on animals and can cause them to not gain weight and even cause hens to stop laying eggs,” she said. “If you’re raising pigs or cattle, you sell them by weight and if they don’t gain the weight, the farmer doesn’t get the money.”
Talley strongly encourages producers to check their herds daily to ensure the health of their livestock.
But it isn’t only livestock that can suffer in the heat, she said.
“The heat has put a tremendous stress on our agricultural crops over the past few days,” she said.
According to Talley, while tobacco is the one crop produced in the county that can withstand much of what the summer sun can throw at it, the excessive heat over recent days has tended to “cook the oil out of the leaf and lessen(ed) the quality.
“Other crops, such as corn and soybeans, are not as forgiving of drought,” she said. “They reach a point of no return when a drought continues for too long.”
Forages are also suffering, Talley added.
“With a lack of rain and high temperatures the grasses in the pastures and hay fields have really gone dormant,” she said. “While rains will help revive these grasses it doesn’t help the (livestock) feeding situation at present. Many producers are having to subsidize with grains now due to a lack of grass.”
But things are not as bleak as they could be, according to Lidholm.
“It’s bad here, but it isn’t nearly as bad here as it is in some other parts of the country,” she said. “Right now, they’re forecasting a three or four day event and then we’ll get some rain, whereas in some parts of the country it’s been going on for a long time.
“Most farmers have been nervous since spring because we’ll go a few weeks without rain and then get rain. We’re not in a drought situation anywhere in the state, but we’re a week or two away from that,” Lidholm added. “If what we’re experiencing now is still happening in two weeks, it’ll be very serious.
“If I had to predict the most vulnerable part of the state right now, it would probably be Southside,” she said.

Salaries, Benefits For Town Public Servants Listed
South Boston, Town Of Halifax Salaries And Benefits Published

Town managers capture top salaries in South Boston and Halifax at $88,500 and $45,139 respectively as listed following a Gazette-Virginian freedom of information request for the county, school system and two towns.
In South Boston, the following figures were released: town manager, $88,500 with allowances, police chief, $66,661 and the finance director at $60,051.
South Boston Council members are paid $3,600 annually and the mayor receives $4,800. The mayor and council members receive no insurance benefits.
In The Town of Halifax, the following figures were released: town manager, $45,139, the police chief, $$37, 649, and chief water operator, $36,884.
Halifax Council members are compensated at the rate of $2,400 annually and the mayor receives $3,600 annually.
In addition, salaries and benefits for the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority’s staff are listed as well as the school system’s bus drivers.

SoBo Man Guilty Of Grand Larceny, Breaking/Entering
A 23-year-old South Boston resident pleaded no contest Monday in Halifax County Circuit Court to three charges relating to breaking and entering a Sears department store.
Judge Charles L. McCormick III convicted Daryl Lee Edmunds of breaking and entering and grand larceny from Sears, as well as destroying the personal property of Sears.
Judge McCormick sentenced Edmunds to five years in prison each for the grand larceny and breaking and entering convictions, and one year for the destruction of personal property, suspending all but one year and two months in prison.
The court ordered the suspended portion of Edmunds’ sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for 10 years, and ordered him be placed on probation for two years following his release.
The court additionally ordered Edmunds to pay $150 restitution to Sears.
Judge McCormick also convicted Edmunds of a probation violation during the trial, revoking his suspended prison sentence, but ordering no new time for that offense.
Other Court Cases
• Sherman Herman Chisholm, 65, of Vernon Hill, pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to possess a firearm as a convicted felon.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the Commonwealth agreed to have the court sentence Chisholm to five years in prison, with all suspended to time already served.
The court additionally ordered Chisholm be placed on probation for six months.
• Larry Dewan Easley, 21, of Halifax, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, with all but one year and two months suspended, for the unlawful wounding of Corey Maurice Chandler.
Judge McCormick also sentenced Easley to a one-year suspended jail term for marijuana possession.
The court ordered the suspended portion of Easley’s sentence for unlawful wounding to be conditioned on his good behavior for six years, and ordered Easley be placed on probation for two years, both following his release.
The court additionally ordered Easley to have no contact with his victim, pay $2,576.91 restitution, and submit to random drug tests, as well as suspended his operator’s license for six months upon his release.
• Grant Gunn Jr., 66, of Danville, pleaded guilty Monday to a third or subsequent offense of DUI.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the Commonwealth agreed to have the court sentence Gunn to five years in prison, suspending all but 100 days, conditioned on his good behavior for five years, and ordered him to be placed on probation for two years.
The court additionally suspended Gunn’s operator’s license indefinitely, fined him $1,000, ordered him to undergo alcohol treatment and complete VASAP.
• Stephanie Ford, 26, of Scottsburg, had three show causes and a capias against her nol prossed by the Commonwealth Monday during a misdemeanor appeal case.
The Commonwealth nol prossed two show causes for failing to obey a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court order, another show cause for failing to appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, and a capias for failing to appear in court.
• Robert Lee Hardy Jr., 31, of South Boston was sentenced Monday to five years in prison, with all suspended to time served, for grand larceny from Sprint.
The court ordered Hardy’s suspended sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for five years and to pay restitution to Sprint in an amount to be determined by the probation department.
• Kerry Ann Meadows, 25, of Vernon Hill, on first offender status for an indictment charging her with possession of a Schedule I/II controlled substance, had that indictment dismissed Monday upon payment of court costs.
• Rodney Dean Bowman, 40, of Nelson, was convicted July 18 of a probation violation. The court sentenced Bowman to 10 days in jail, with weekend jail service authorized if the defendant qualifies for it.
The court additionally ordered Bowman to be placed on probation for another year.
• Mandy Leigh Hall, 23, of Halifax, was convicted July 18 of a probation violation.
The court revoked six months of Hall’s previously suspended prison sentence and ordered the defendant’s probation be extended for an additional two years following her release.
• Andrew Norman Epps, 28, of Halifax, pleaded guilty Wednesday to the misdemeanor assault and battery of Jonathan P. Tate and breaking and entering the property of Rhonda Womack, and pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor assault and battery of Rhonda Womack.
The Commonwealth nol prossed an additional charge against Epps for trespassing upon the property of Scott Keels.
The court sentenced Epps to 10 years in prison, with all but three suspended, for the breaking and entering conviction, and to one-year suspended jail sentences for each misdemeanor conviction.
The court ordered the suspended portion of Epps’ sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for 12 years, ordered him to be placed on probation for two years, to have no contact with his victims and to submit to random drug tests.
• James Morr Carter, 58, of Milton, was convicted Wednesday of driving after being declared a habitual offender.
Carter is free on bond pending sentencing in the September court term.
• Marvin Louis Lawson, 38, of South Boston, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for the felony assault and battery of Shavee Carrington.
The court suspended Lawson’s entire sentence, conditioned on the defendant’s good behavior for five years and ordered him be placed on probation for two years.
• Charles Anthony Ratliff, 46, of Alton, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison, with all time suspended, for possessing a Schedule I/II controlled substance.
The court ordered Ratliff’s suspended sentence be conditioned on his good behavior for 10 years and ordered him to be placed on probation for one year.
The court additionally ordered Ratliff to submit to random drug tests and undergo drug treatment, in addition to suspending his operator’s license for six months, with restrictions for travel to and from work, treatment and probation.
• Tina Louise Smith, 36, of South Boston, pleaded no contest Wednesday to possession of a Schedule I/II controlled substance.
In exchange for Smith’s plea of no contest, the Commonwealth agreed to the court offering Smith first offender status, finding evidence sufficient for conviction, but withholding its finding of guilt and continuing the case for one year.
The court ordered Smith be placed on probation for one year, perform 100 hours of community service and suspended her operator’s license for six months, with restrictions for travel to and from work, school, physician’s office and Health Practitioners Intervention Program.
• Amanda Brown Barksdale, 36, of South Boston, was convicted Wednesday of passing a check with the forged signature of Georgia Hankins and obtaining money under false pretenses from John’s Amoco.
The Commonwealth nol prossed four additional charges against Barksdale during the trial, two for forging the signature of Hankins on a check, another for passing a check with the forged signature of Hankins, and another for obtaining money under false pretenses from John’s Amoco on a separate occasion.
The court remanded Barksdale to custody to await sentencing in the September court term.
• Keith Quinton Anderson, 20, of South Boston, was convicted Wednesday of a capias for failing to report to custody to begin serving a 30-day jail term.
The court ordered Anderson to serve an extra 10 days in jail for the violation.

Walter Howard Gayles Sr.
Walter Howard Gayles Sr., 65 of Drakes Branch died August 1, 2006, at his residence.
Mr. Gayles was born in Mecklenburg County on March 4, 1941, to the late Elizabeth Pettus Gayles and James Edward Gayles. He was the owner and operator of Gayles Automotive Sales and Service for 30 years. Mr. Gayles was a member of Holy Name Church of Jesus in Chase City where he was a deacon, musician, Sunday school teacher, choir member and a member of the missionary board and church board.
One brother, Earl Gayles, and one son, Walter Howard Gayles Jr., preceded him in death.
Survivors include his wife, Catherine Ann Gayles of Drakes Branch; six children, Patricia Ann Gayles of Drakes Branch; Gloria Gayles-Hardy of Greensboro, N.C., Gwendolyn Gayles-Harris of Saxe, Ronald Gayles of Drakes Branch, Arnold Gayles of Halifax, and Tabitha Gayles of N.J.; eight grandchildren; six sisters, Sarah Pulliam of Saxe, Elizabeth Pulliam of Wilmington, Del., Bernice Dailey of Orange, N.J., Omelia Gregory of Roselle, N.J., Juanita Pulliam of Newark, Del. and Inez Scott of Petersburg; one brother, Edward Gayles of Dover, Del.; two daughters-in-law, two sons-in-law, three sisters-in-law, and five brothers-in-law.
Funeral services for Mr. Gayles will be held at 2 p.m. August 6 at Holy Name Church of Jesus, Chase City, with Pastor Gladys Watson, officiating. Burial will follow in Ivy Hill Cemetery, Chase City. Online condolences may be registered at www.harrisfhc.com.
Joseph Sydnor Thorpe
Joseph Sydnor Thorpe, 76, of 13030 Philpott Road, Alton died August 1, 2006, at The Veterans Administration Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
Mr. Thorpe was born in Halifax County on June 21, 1930, to the late Stephen Thorpe and Mattie Pointer Thorpe and was married to Odessa Chavious Thorpe. He was a deacon at New Bethel Baptist Church in Alton, and was a U.S. Army Veteran who served in the Korean War.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two sons, Joseph D. Thorpe and Larry C. Thorpe Sr., both of Alton; one sister, Geraldine Coleman of Alton; one brother, John Owen Thorpe of Alton; two grandchildren; and two brothers-in-law; one sister-in-law. One daughter, Carolyn A. Thorpe, preceded him in death.
Funeral services for Mr. Thorpe will be held today, August 4, at 2 p.m. at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Harvey Bigelow officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery with Military Rites.
The family is receiving friends at the home.

Comets Off To A Good Start
First Days Of Drills Go Well For Comets Football Team
The heat has been intense and the drills have been tough but the first days of drills for the Halifax County High School football team have gone pretty well according to head coach John Lacy Harris.
“It’s been pretty good,” said Harris.
“We’ve gotten some things accomplished.”
Harris said the team is ahead of where it was at this point last year and pointed to the off-season weightlifting program as being a factor.
“The kids showed a dramatic improvement in strength level,” Harris pointed out.
“Edwin Waller and Jermaine Foster are examples. They are nowhere near the people they were at the start of the program. They’re stronger and quicker.”
Also playing a role in the team’s progress if the fact that the flock of returning players that includes 28 seniors know the offensive and defensive schemes from their experiences last year. In addition, the players know the coaching staff well.
A third factor, Harris said, is that the players have a good attitude.
“We’ve got good kids with great attitudes,” he noted.
Another good thing in the Comets’ favor is that the number of athletes that have come out to try to land a spot on the team has increased.
Harris said he plans to settle in with 60 players this season up from 54 last year. In addition, the number of players that have come out for the junior varsity team has increased. Harris noted that plans are to retain 40 players for the JV roster, a big improvement from the 22 players that were on the JV roster last season.
Along with that, Harris said he is expecting to see approximately 40 players coming out for the ninth-grade team when drills for the freshman team begin Monday afternoon.
Harris pointed out that the biggest thing that the players need to understand is that they need to step things up of they want to equal or surpass the successful season the team enjoyed last year when it made it into the Northwest Region playoffs.
“We have 28 seniors,” Harris said.
“Last year they learned how to win as underdogs. This year nobody will looking past us. That’s something new they will have to understand and practice accordingly.
“The biggest problem I’ve noticed so far is the returning players have got to have the same hunger that we had last year,” added Harris.
“They have got to understand that just because they played on a winning team last year doesn’t guarantee anything this year. If anything, it’s going to make it that much harder, so we have to prepare that much harder.”
The Comets will continue to work their way through drills today with an aye cast toward a big week next week.
On Monday, the team will begin a three-day mini-camp in which the players will stay together under one roof for three days and participate in workouts two to three times a day.
The Comets will face their first big pre-season test on Friday August 18 when they host Gretna in a benefit game here at Tuck Dillard Stadium.
The following week, on August 25, the Comets will participate in the annual GW Football Jamboree at GW High School in Danville. They will scrimmage Green Run High School and Varina High School that day.
Halifax County High School’s first regular-season game comes up on Friday, September 1 when the Comets go on the road to face Rustburg High School.

Puryear Playing Catch Up For Hooters Pro Cup Race
South Boston’s Stacy Puryear Adjusts For Competitive Run In Hooters Pro Cup Naturally Fresh 250 Saturday At SoBo Speedway
Stacy Puryear has been on a steady learning curve since the Hooters Pro Cup race at South Boston Speedway in April, and hopes those lessons result in more than simply a passing grade Saturday during the Naturally Fresh 250 at South Boston Speedway.
Puryear had a good run going after qualifying fifth for the first Pro Cup race April 1, running in the top ten for most of the first half of the race, but a faulty alternator killed his battery and his chances for a good finish in the North Division race.
Puryear followed that up with a 10th-place qualifying effort for the May 6 North Division event at Shenandoah, but more bad luck ended his run there.
“I was running eighth and about lap 150 I got into a bumping altercation with Derek Kale and he turned me around,” said Puryear, with the resulting damage to his race car ending his night.
Puryear’s struggles continued at Kenly, where a subpar qualifying effort left him out of the field for the South Division race.
That convinced Puryear that some changes had to be make if he wanted better results in the increasingly competitive Pro Cup series.
“We’d been struggling and haven’t kept up with the Pro Cup and the springs and chassis they use, so we’ve fallen behind,” began Puryear.
“We were 18th quickest in practice at Kenly and we felt we had a pretty good race car, but we weren’t able to pick up any speed on the brand new tires and we didn’t make the race.”
“If you set the car up for long runs, you won’t qualify as well. We were good on the long runs, but we didn’t have speed right off the bat. A lot of guys were set up for qualifying and fell off during the race and we were looking the other way.”
The Pro Cup series is running a different B.F Goodrich radial this year and that was another area Puryear and his crew needed to catch up on.
“We looked at air pressure, because it’s a big deal with these radial tires, and we looked at a lot of stuff like that, but weren’t able to pick up on anything,” said Puryear.
“I don’t feel like I’ve forgotten how to drive. I haven’t raced much this year, but I qualified fifth at South Boston and tenth at Shenandoah, so something was off.
“That’s why we didn’t make the show at Kenly.”
After various tests with air pressure failed to produce satisfactory results, Puryear turned to the chassis.
“We had a Jay Hedgecock chassis, one of two remaining in the Pro Cup series, and we looked at that. Jay, like myself, by not having as many cars out there has fallen behind.
“I took the car to Billy Hess, who builds chassis for Clay Rogers, Bobby Gill, Jeff Agnew, all guys who run up front,” noted Puryear.
“He put a front clip, mounts and shock mounts on the car, and by us doing that we were able to feed off information from some of the better running Pro Cup cars.
“We had no information to feed off of while running the Hedgecock chassis, we felt like the geometry he had was not working well on the radial tires.”
Hess may also have the advantage of having his Mooresville shop located near a number of NEXTEL Cup teams, with the resulting technology filtering down to Pro Cup crews, according to Puryear.
All of these changes have Puryear and crew members Barney Hughes, Matt Gosney and Harold Farmer optimistic about their chances Saturday.
“We’re very optimistic, especially with me coming back to South Boston, where I have experience at the track, and that may help us,” said Puryear.
“Even though we haven’t been racing a lot we’ve been testing a lot, Myrtle Beach, Kenly, Orange County, Shenandoah.
“I’ve been in a race car a lot, although I haven’t been racing. One can easily look and say that I haven’t been driving much and have been losing my edge as far as my ability to turn a wheel.
“But, like I said I’ve tested a lot and we do feel very good about this weekend, that we can come and qualify and race in the top ten.”
Unfortunately, Puryear hasn’t had an opportunity to test his race car with its new chassis and other adjustments, and may have to wait until practice Saturday afternoon at South Boston.
“We have a plan for practice, and hope to throw a lot of stuff at the car and tune it as best we can,” explained Puryear, who expects tough competition in the North Division race.
Benny Gordon, with five wins already this season, needs only to take the green flag at South Boston to lock up the North Division points title.
“Unfortunately, Benny has nothing to lose and that’s bad news, because he’s been so dominant this year,” said Puryear.
“For drivers like Johnny Rumley and Jeff Agnew, who’re trying to secure a good spot in the points standings, the word to describe them is ‘cautiously aggressive,’” added Puryear.
Also expected are long-time South Boston Speedway fixture Woody Howard and top South Division drivers Clay Rogers and Michael Ritch.
“I know I’m leaving out a lot of other good drivers,” noted Puryear, who has solid sponsorship from BLC Building Center, Puryear Race Car Parts, Newbill’s Body Shop, South Boston Graphics and Strutmasters.com entering the Saturday event.
With the adjustments Puryear and his race team have made the past several months, anything less than a decent grade would be a disappointment.

 

American Belles Bow Out Of World Series
American Finishes 1-2 In Alexandria, La.
The Halifax American Belles all-stars bowed out of the Dixie Belles World Series in Alexandria, Louisiana, last weekend with an 8-1 loss to South Carolina.
Halifax had beaten Florida 6-3 the previous game to stay alive in the series, after losing its Saturday opener by a slim 2-1 margin to Georgia.
Georgia 2 Halifax American 1 (Game One)
American ended up on the short end of a 2-1 score in losing its World Series opener on Saturday.
Johanna Spencer led American with two hits for the game, while Lashunda Davis, Kisha Crowder, and Kim Snead added singles.
Davis got as far as third after a leadoff single and two stolen bases in the first without scoring, but Halifax broke through for a run in the second inning.
Spencer hit a leadoff single, went to second on an error, and to third on Snead’s single, before scoring on a passed ball.
Georgia took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth, using a combination of three walks, single and error, but American tried to respond with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning.
Singles by Crowder and Spencer put two runners aboard, but a strikeout ended the threat, which turned out to be the last scoring chance for both teams the rest of the contest.
American went down in order the last three innings, while Georgia was retired in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Dalyn Hall started the contest on the mound for Halifax American, with Christine DeGeorgis finishing the game.
Hall and DeGeorgis combined to give up only two hits and four walks, while striking out seven batters.
Halifax American 6 Florida 3 (Game Two)
Davis hit a two-run homer, triple and scored three times, while Spencer, Sara Stewart and DeGeorgis each had hits in a three-run rally in the sixth to give American a 6-3 win over Florida.
Florida had taken a 3-0 lead in its first at-bat, taking advantage of three walks, single and fielder’s choice, but American scored a run in the bottom of the first after a triple by Davis and single by Stewart.
American tied the score at 3-3 in the third after a walk to Whitney Womack and Davis’ two-run homer, and added three more runs in the sixth for the final margin.
Davis drew a walk to start the rally, Stewart singled and Spencer followed with a double. Crowder hit a sacrifice fly and DeGeorgis singled to complete the rally, giving American the 6-3 advantage.
The American defense kept Florida under wraps for most of the game, with only two additional base runners after the first inning, one reaching base on an error and the other on a walk.
That came in the sixth inning, but three straight outs got American out of trouble.
Womack hurled the entire seven innings to get the win, giving up only one hit and walking only one batter after the first inning, and finishing with four strikeouts.
South Carolina 8
Halifax American 1
(Game Three)
A solo home run and base hit by Davis, a multi-hit game by Sharilyn Walton, and base hits by Stewart, Womack, Hall and Caitlyn Lawhorn weren’t enough to prevent South Carolina from taking a 8-1 win and eliminating American.
South Carolina took a 2-0 lead in its first at-bat with a double, two walks and two American errors.
Halifax didn’t score despite a Walton double and singles by Hall and Lawhorn in the third, but cut the deficit to one run in the fourth on a one-out home run by Davis.
South Carolina made it 3-1 in the top of the fifth, and American tried to rally in the bottom of the inning.
Two-out singles by Walton and Womack put runners aboard, but a strikeout ended the inning.
South Carolina used three base hits and an error to post three runs in the sixth and added two more in the seventh on three walks, wild pitch and base hit, but American tried to rally again in the seventh.
Davis hit a leadoff single and Stewart followed with another base hit, but a groundout and two flyouts ended the World Series run for Halifax American.
Hall went the distance on the mound against South Carolina, finishing with four strikeouts in seven innings of work.