Going Up Or Staying Down?

Tower Notice Of Appeal To Virginia Supreme Court Filed

Opponents of the planned communications tower at the Mary Bethune Complex have filed notice that they plan to appeal Halifax County Circuit Court Judge Leslie M. Osborn’s decision to the Virginia Supreme Court, according to court records.
Through his attorney Bryan Selz, Ballou Trail resident Frank Lovelace filed a notice of the appeal in Halifax County Circuit Court in late August.
Claiming the planned 185-foot tower violates the Town of Halifax height regulations and the procedures used to obtain the building permit for the tower were improper, Lovelace sued both the Board of Supervisors and the Halifax Town Council to stop the construction of the tower.
But following a July 21 hearing, Osborn ruled in favor of the two governing bodies on August 1.
“Upon the presentation of evidence and the exhibits offered and admitted, the Court hereby finds:
• The relief requested by petitioner, Frank Lovelace, is denied upon the grounds… that by a preponderance of the evidence it is established that the building permit at issue, dated January 13, 2005, was properly issued.
• The relief requested by Halifax County as set forth in its petition for appeal is granted for the reasons set forth in the record and proven by the county by a preponderance of the evidence and specifically upon the ground that the decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals was incorrect, and said decision is hereby reversed and the decision of the zoning administrator approving the construction of the Halifax County E-911 tower is reinstated.”
On March 29, the Halifax County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) voted 4-1 in favor of Frank Lovelace.
Shortly after the ruling, the county appealed the decision of the BZA.
Attorneys for the county argued that Lovelace lacked standing to bring the suit and had failed to exhaust administrative remedies prior to bringing the suit.
In addition, the county argued that the matter has previously been ruled on in a previous suit brought by Halifax Planning Commission member Frank Carr.
Osborn dismissed a suit filed on November 23, 2004 by Halifax resident Frank Carr against the Halifax County Board of Supervisors and the Halifax Town Council seeking to halt the tower’s construction.
During the litigation, construction of the tower was halted pending Osborn’s decision.

 

Survivors

SoBo Native Flees From Katrina’s Destruction At Family Homestead

BY Jeff Humber
jeff@gazettevirginian.com

The Todd family stayed in their home in St. Tammany Parish and survived Hurricane Katrina’s 30-hour pounding. It was the sickness that followed that forced John, Debbie and their three children to leave their house and head for Debbie’s parents’ home in South Boston.
John said he thought that the overflowing river’s contaminated water had gotten into their well water, making nearly every member of the family sick.
“That’s the main reason we left, the getting sick,” John said. “Actually everybody but the baby got sick.”
If not for that, they probably would have stayed in their home, located 35 miles north of New Orleans, John said.
There didn’t appear to be a lot of debris flying around during the storm, John said, but they all had a bag packed and they were ready to leave if the situation deteriorated.
Amazingly, there was no flooding in their area.
“We’ve had more water than that just from a good rain,” John said. “That’s what was weird. It was a steady rain, but it wasn’t a real, real heavy rain.”
The storm struck Sunday night and into Monday. The Todds evacuated Thursday and have been in South Boston at the home of Edward and Jackie Smoot since Saturday.
While the aftermath of Katrina was bad, John said, it could have been worse.
“We expected more flooding,” John said. “But we really got a lot of wind damage. A lot of trees were down.” The Todds say they got lucky, the direction the wind was flowing pushed all the floodwaters from Lake Pontchartrain south toward New Orleans.
Downed trees seemed to be the main source of damage in their neighborhood, the family said. A tree fell on John’s truck totaling it.
“We saw trees that were probably 80 or 90 years old just snapped,” he said. “You’d see trees that were forty feet tall with the tops snapped off and other ones were snapped right at the bottom.
“You’d also see a lot of them with the whole root ball ripped up,” he added.
Luckily a tree did not fall on their house, they said. And while trees did fall on several houses in the area, they all fell on homes the residents had evacuated.
Being surrounded by trees is not all bad, John said. The large trees in the neighborhood acted as a buffer against the storm. He said in another more developed with less foliage neighborhood several miles away - the damage was worse.
Power was knocked out throughout the area, but surprisingly the phones worked sporadically.
Once the family decided to leave things actually went pretty smoothly, John said.
The family did not take the main evacuation route, opting to take back roads north and east until hitting the interstate.
“We went straight through,” John said “We hit one slowdown and that was in a town because they had a line for distributing water and we got caught in that, but that was it.
“I was really worried,” he added.
On the trip north the family saw relief for their community heading south.
“We were all excited because we saw convoys and convoys of trucks,” Debbie said, noting the convoys were 60 to 70 trucks strong. Aid was also on the scene in their parish before they left.
“We did see a lot of maintenance workers,” John said.
The family also encountered a helping hand during one of their stops on the journey to Virginia.
They stopped for the night at a hotel in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where a local church brought them and all the other evacuees in the area dinner.
Now, looking back at the 30-hours when Katrina’s barreled through, John said there is only one way to describe it.
“It’s like the wind you would hear opening the window on a freight train,” he said. “You can see the clouds moving outside and hear the popping of breaking trees.
“Lying there trying to sleep during the night all you heard was that rushing wind,” he added. “It was like a constant vacuum cleaner.”
Their daughter, Kristen Smoot, said she saw the roof of the back porch fly off.
In the aftermath, they saw the outside wall of the town’s movie theater ripped off and trees and power lines down everywhere.
Also, in the days following the storm the family made attempts to contact friends and family in New Orleans.
“Most of the people I know from New Orleans are in Baton Rouge,” John said, but he did have a friend whose uncle stayed in the city and wound up at the Superdome.
“They don’t even know where he is right now,” he added. “They’re trying to find him.”
It’s been frustrating for them trying to locate friends on the Internet, Debbie said.
“There are lists but none of them are official,” she said. “And without cell phones working you can’t communicate with anybody.
“My friend, part of her family was still in New Orleans,” she said. “She still doesn’t know anything about them, she doesn’t know if they’re dead or alive.
“I think everybody in Louisiana was touched some way or another by New Orleans,” she added.
As for getting back to normal, the family said they are hoping to head home some time next week, once the power is permanently restored. Debbie works for a staffing firm that is already back up and running, but John doesn’t know when the post office, where he works, will be operating again. His office is dependent on the main office in New Orleans he said. For the kids, the local school system has set October 1 as the day for students to return.
In the meantime, having been through Katrina the family has come to an agreement on how to respond to hurricanes in the future, Kristen said with a smile.
“Once it hits a category two,” she said, “we’re leaving.”

 

New Charges For Armed Robbery Suspect

A 20-year-old Halifax man is facing additional charges in connection with an April 5 armed robbery in Danville that resulted in the suspect pulling a gun on police officers here, according to Maj. R.S.B. Pulliam of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.
Lenzy Lee Terry, of Chatham Road, is facing additional charges of the possession of a concealed weapon, felony eluding police and the possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, Pulliam said.
Terry was initially arrested for one count of robbery and one count of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to police.
The initial incident occurred at approximately 1:50 p.m., when Danville police received a call that an individual with a pistol had robbed a student on the Averett University campus, according to police reports of the incident.
Pulliam reported that the victim was able to give authorities a description of both the vehicle involved and the individual.
That evening, at approximately 6:19 p.m., a citizen called to report that a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle involved in the Danville robbery was driving recklessly through the Town of Halifax, according to Pulliam.
Following a vehicle pursuit, officials stopped the vehicle at the Halifax Square Shopping Center in Centerville when the suspect jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot, according to reports.
“As the foot pursuit began, law enforcement officers surrounded the area,” Pulliam said.
Pulliam said that as he was chasing the suspect, Terry allegedly pulled out a pistol and eventually dropped it on the ground.
“Terry continued to run and removed a large bag of marijuana and attempted to throw it,” Pulliam said.
After placing Terry under arrest, investigators searched the vehicle and recovered the purse taken in the Averett robbery, according to police.
Terry is being held in the Danville City Jail without bond.

 

Obituaries

Florence Irene McGregor Adams

Florence Irene McGregor Adams, 79, of Halifax died September 5 at The Woodview.
Mrs. Adams was born in Pittsylvania County on October 10, 1925, the daughter of the late William McGregor and Eva Tanksley McGregor and was married to the late Ellis Henry Adams. She was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at Java, and was retired from Wabash Magnetics.
Survivors include three sons, Henry Lee Adams of Lynch Station, Frank Wilson Adams and wife, Louise, of South Boston, and Roy Junior Adams and wife, Betsy, of Halifax; one daughter, Rosa Ann Adams Oakes and husband, Robert, of Halifax; two daughters-in-law, Ruth Adams and Brenda Rodgers; two sisters, Dahlia Redd of Halifax and Annie Davis of Chatham; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Mrs. Adams was preceded in death by one son, Jesse W. Adams; one daughter, Shirley Adams; one grandson, Nick Adams; and three brothers, Tom, James and Allie McGregor.
A graveside service for Mrs. Adams will be held today, September 7, at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Cemetery with the Rev. Rudolph Jacobs officiating.

Elizabeth Miller Crowder

Elizabeth Miller Crowder, 55, of 2021 Virgilina Road, Virgilina died September 2 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Crowder was born in Halifax County on December 30, 1949, the daughter of the late John Henry Miller and Frances Mason Miller and was married to Calvin Dean Crowder. She was a member of Owens Grove Baptist Church, and was an employee of Collins & Aikman in Roxboro, N.C.
Survivors include her husband; one daughter, Tracey Crowder of Virgilina; one son, Stacey Crowder of Cluster Springs; five sisters, Joan Johnson of Cluster Springs, Pauline Gordon of Lakeland, Fla., Kay Swift of Orlando, Fla., Regina Boulden of Bronx, N.Y., and Ruth Smith of Brooklyn, N.Y.; one brother, Lawrence Edward Miller of Cluster Springs; three grandchildren; one daughter-in-law, Johnnie Crowder. Mrs. Crowder was preceded in death by one sister, Willie Marie Jackson; and three brothers, John Miller, Sloan Miller and Daniel Miller.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow, September 8, at 3 p.m. at Owens Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. John Leigh officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home.

Hallie Nunn Hite

Hallie Nunn Hite, 91, of Buffalo Junction died September 6 at MeadowView Terrace in Clarksville.
Mrs. Hite was born in Halifax County the daughter of Willie T. and Martha Yancey Nunn, and was married to Silas Costello Hite.
Survivors include her children, Ruby H. Jones, Lynwood Hite and Dale Lane Hite, all of Clarksville, Gwendolyn H. Talley of Virgilina, and Donald Leon Hite of Buffalo Junction; one sister, Estelle Nunn Vaughan of Virgilina; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Hite will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow, September 8, in the chapel at Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home with the Rev. Rodney Barwick officiating. Burial will be in Gravel Hill Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Mrs. Hite’s residence any time today, September 7. You may express condolences at www.wclfh.com.

Annabelle Payne Smith

Annabelle Payne Smith, 94, of 1405 South Avenue, South Boston died September 6 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Smith was born September 1, 1911, in Bunker Hill, W.Va., the daughter of the late John David Payne and Fannie Belle Butler Payne and was married to the late Eddie Owen Smith. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church of South Boston where she sang in the choir for many years and she was also a volunteer at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Survivors include one daughter, Virginia Belle Payne Shuler and husband, Fred, of Fairfield Glade, Tenn.; two grandchildren, Ray Thomas Shuler and wife, Nancy of Pittsgrove, N.J., Gregg Shuler and wife, Roxanne, of Birmingham, Ala.; four great-grandchildren, Heather Shuler and Robin Shuler, both of Pittsgrove, Alexa Shuler and Sam Shuler, both of Birmingham.
Mrs. Smith was also preceded in death by two brothers, Harry L. Payne and Nathan D. Payne; and two sisters, Mary P. Murray and Virginia P. McDonald.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow, September 8, at 11 a.m. at Powell Funeral Home with the Rev. Dr. Russell Lee officiating. Burial will follow in North Fork Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider First Presbyterian Church, 800 North Main Street, South Boston, 24592.

Bessie Mae Powell Traynham Logan

Bessie Mae Powell Traynham Logan, 79, of 1003 Cowford Road, Halifax died September 4 at Duke University Medical Center.
Mrs. Logan was born in Halifax County on October 8, 1925, the daughter of the late Richard Scott Traynham and Florence Powell Traynham. She was a member of St. Luke CME Church.
Survivors include four daughters, Lillian Roberts of Halifax, Florence Worsham of Orlando, Fla., Janie Lee and Janice ‘Liz’ Lacks, both of South Boston; two sons, Matthew McKinley Logan of South Boston and Sammy ‘Marty’ Logan of Bronx, N.Y.; two adopted sons, Antonio Logan and Andrew Logan, both of Halifax; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one brother, James Powell.
Funeral services for Mrs. Logan will be held September 9, at 11 a.m. at St. Luke CME Church with the Rev. Jessie Moore officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Viewing will be tomorrow, September 8, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at The Crawford House Chapel in Halifax.
The family is receiving friends at the home.

 

Ford In The Fast Lane

BY Doug Ford
dougford@gazettevirginian.com

Cost of gas at the pump - $3 a gallon and climbing – cost of a Daytona Prototype race car complete with five-litre engine – roughly $500,000 – cost of three laps around VIRginia International Raceway at 165 MPH in a Daytona Prototype race car with world-renowned driver Andy Wallace – you guessed it, priceless.
Wallace, a resident of Oxford, England, is recognized as one of the premier sports car racers in the world.
During his 25-plus years of racing, he has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona three times, the 24 Hours of LeMans, the 12 hours of Sebring twice and the Petit LeMans.
I’d taken “hot laps” around VIR several times the past few years, in everything from an MGA convertible, a vintage Ferrari racecar and a 1984 Ferrari Boxer, but nothing compares to a ride in a Daytona Prototype with a pilot of Wallaces’ caliber.
To begin with, Wallace races the No. 2 Citgo Pontiac/Crawford DP03 Daytona Prototype, which incorporates space-age technology in a carbon/kevlar body on a steel/aluminum honeycomb chassis.
It has a five-liter Pontiac engine, rack and pinion steering, with standard power assist, and it has an Xtrac five-speed gearbox.
Its suspension is a double wishbone with push rod on rocker, and it has PFC six piston brakes with 14-inch rotors, and no, I didn’t come up with the specifications off the top of my head, they’re provided by Howard-Boss Motorsports.
Rumor has it this technology was first developed by the U.S. military several years ago and has been handed down, with yours truly the recipient last week.
I first had to gear up in order to catch my ride with Wallace, donning a race suit much like you see all the race drivers wear on television.
But, somehow, I don’t look like they do, rather more like the Michelin Man, with more rolls than a bakery.
Add to that fire resistant socks, fire resistant hood, gloves and helmet and I appeared to be just about any average joe out for a Sunday afternoon ride – but this time in a competition race car.
I had to squeeze my 5-8 frame into a compartment the approximate size of a breadbox in the left side of the car to ride with Wallace – mind you, he’s English, and the steering wheel is on the right – before being strapped in.
Once the gull wing door swung shut, we had ignition and were on our way, and that’s where the fun started.
Fun, if you’re an astronaut on holiday.
The Daytona Prototype has acceleration similar to that of a rocket sled, with Wallace probably reaching 120 MPH by the end of the straightaway, before the first of many tight VIR turns.
After discovering my internal organs intact, I settled in for an experience which turned into something similar to a combination of all the rides I ever tried at the Halifax County Fair.
Just think of the sky diver, twister and roundup all rolled into one and you have me spinning around VIR, with who knows how much “G” force applied at the notorious “NASCAR bend”, “hairpin” and Oak Tree turns.
A quick thumbs up from Wallace at the beginning of the third lap was returned in kind, and I think he bumped it up a notch on the final tour of the course, the pastoral and bucolic VIR scenery flashing by in a blur, before he came to a stop along pit row.
And what was my reaction when asked by one of Wallace’s crew while being unstrapped?
“Way beyond cool.”

 

Comets JV Football Loses Opener At Rustburg 12-8

Comets Fail On Final Play For Win

Stanley Thomas was stopped short of the goal line on a quarterback scramble on the game’s final play, as the Comets jayvee football team lost its season opener 12-8 at Rustburg on Thursday.
A defensive pass interference call on Rustburg with time expired gave Halifax its final chance to win the game.
Halifax had gone to its two-minute offense after Rustburg’s go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, and the pass interference came after a Thomas throw fell incomplete from about 30 yards out, according to Comets coach Jay Cole.
“We went for the end zone from about 30 yards away and got a pass interference call with no time left on the clock,” said Cole.
“We had one more play, and I said whatever you do, throw the ball to the end zone, but Stanley scrambled and came up short.”
Halifax had at least two other chances to score during the game, but a fumble and penalty on a kickoff return that nullified a touchdown were critical, noted Cole.
The Comets struck first and held the lead until late in the game.
Halifax scored its touchdown on a Reggie Mabbins 30-yard run in the second quarter and Mabbins added a two-point conversion to give the Comets a 8-0 halftime lead.
Rustburg scored on a 20-yard pass play in the third quarter to make it 8-6, failing on a two-point conversion.
“Right after that, we had a 70-yard drive that ended with a fumble on the three-yard line,” said Cole. “That might have been the icing on the cake.”
Rustburg started its game-winning drive on a tipped pass that resulted in a reception inside the Comets’ 20-yard line with less than five minutes remaining.
The Red Devils scored on a short run to give it a 12-8 lead with little more than two minutes left before the Comets’ final drive which came up short.
Halifax was guilty of several personal fouls during the game, including penalties for late hits and the one for blocking in the back that nullified the touchdown kick return, according to Cole.
Eliminating those mistakes is something Halifax will be working on in preparation for its home opener tomorrow against Dinwiddie.
“We need less ‘free-lancing’ on offense and need to play with more discipline on defense.” said Cole.
“We had our chances to win, and I think we will this season, but nee to cut down on the silly personal fouls on defense and execute better on offense.”

 

Speaking Of Sports

Comets football coach John Lacy Harris told me a couple of weeks or so ago that this Halifax County High School varsity football team does not realize just how good a team it can become.
The new Comets head coach pointed out that all this group of players needs is to taste some success, success that will build their confidence in themselves and their teammates, and the snowball could start rolling.
That snowball, folks, is poised to roll.
It’s far too early to tell just how big that snowball will get. But, I’m willing to bet it’s going to get to a pretty decent size when all is said and done at the end of the season.
The Comets’ 42-41 win over Rustburg was a big win in a big game. It won’t decide a championship or anything like that, but, it was big nonetheless.
This group of players needed this win and needed it badly. They needed it to solidify their belief in themselves as individuals, solidify their belief in their teammates, and solidify their belief in the new offensive and defensive schemes that Harris and his Comets coaching staff.
The fun of the night was seeing the smiles on the players’ faces and to see the players hugging and congratulating each other in celebrating the win. What was just as refreshing was that players who made key plays in the game spoke sparingly of themselves and made a point of noting the contribution that players beside them made to make it possible for them to make the big play.
One of the things I think was great about this win was that it was a win that was truly earned.
The Comets’ offensive unit, which piled up 529 yards of total offense, numbers I cannot recall seeing in many a year, experienced the fun of building a three-touchdown lead on two occasions and also proved it could muster up points at times when the situation got critical.
Defensively, the Comets answered the call as well and did it at times with players who had to play out of their normal position.
There are seven linebackers in their defensive unit but five were injured. Two of them didn’t dress to start the game and three others were injured during the game, forcing the Comets to play some people out of position. When the going got tough, those players stepped up and met the challenge.
Not to give everyone a false impression, let me say that this was not a perfect game for the Comets. They made their share of miscues offensively and defensively, saw a three-touchdown lead dwindle away twice and had more penalties than everyone would have probably liked.
The bottom line, though, is that the players played hard, stayed focused, stepped up at crucial times in the game and did what was necessary to seal the win. For that, the Comets players and their coaches are to be congratulated.
A Total Team Effort
Harris accepted a large number of congratulations from a lot of people following Friday night’s game. One of the big things he noted was that the victory was a total team effort – an effort that extended beyond the players and coaching staff.
“It’s amazing the fan support that was here tonight,” Harris said in speaking of the huge crowd of fans that jammed their way into Tuck Dillard Stadium for the home season-opener.
“It certainly played a role in our hanging on and winning it.”
“I think our superintendent, our principal and our athletic director had a vision and the vision was we can be a team as an athletic department and we just try to carry that over to the football team,” Harris continued.
“ It’s not just the football team. The band did a tremendous job, the parents and the booster club have been super and look at that stadium. They (the fans) were all there until the very end. Our kids are most appreciative of everything that has been done for them.”
More Football Notes
In games of area interest, GW of Danville rolled to an easy win, defeating Tunstall 49-14 Friday night. E.C. Glass downed Franklin County 35-13 Friday in Lynchburg in a non-district game.
The reason that game was a non-district game is that Franklin County is playing everyone in the Western Valley District with the exception of Halifax County twice this season – once at home and once away – with only the second meeting counting as a district game.
That’s strange, you may say, and, it is.
What Franklin County has done is pad its schedule with Group AAA teams as much as possible in order to gain as many Virginia High School League rating points as it can.
A win over a Group AA team does not garner a team as many ratings points as a win over a Group AAA team and losses to Group AAA teams don’t hurt as badly as losses to Group AA teams.
The other circumstance is that the additional games with GW, Glass and Patrick Henry, in terms of travel, may possibly present a better circumstance than what Franklin County may have been facing with some Group AA schools that had been on their schedule.