Friday, January 2, 2004

Search Ends Tragically

From Staff & AP Reports
The body of a 5-year-old boy missing since Tuesday night was found Thursday afternoon.

Searchers located DeAndre Barksdale's body at about 1:15 p.m., less than 2 miles from his grandparents' home.

Halifax County Sheriff D.J. Oakes said that Barksdale, of Newport News, was visiting his grandparents when he disappeared from their backyard at approximately 5 p.m.

The sheriff said the child wandered away from the home in a matter of minutes.

"In the blink of an eye, he disappeared out of sight," he said.

"(Barksdale) and a relative were playing in the back yard while his uncle was cutting wood.

"We think he simply wandered off," the sheriff added.

Barksdale's grandparents, Albert and Marie Barksdale, live at 1082 Medley Road near Alton.

Complicating the search effort was the child's physical condition, Oakes added.

According to police, Barksdale suffered from a learning disability, asthma, has trouble speaking and is afraid of dogs.

"My understanding is this child wouldn't call out to you," Oakes said. "You'd have to just about step on him to find him in the woods."

During the night Tuesday, over 200 volunteer searchers combed the woods surrounding the Medley Road home.

Oakes said the search included "every type of search dog imaginable," the Virginia State Police Helicopter equipped with body heat sensors, multiple search and rescue teams and law enforcement from numerous surrounding agencies.

"We had 12 search and rescue teams that were called in from all over North Carolina and Virginia."

Construction Soars To over $41M In 2003
There Was A 30% Increase Over 2002

Fueled by such major commercial projects as Lowe’s, Applebee’s restaurant, a new BB&T branch bank, over 75 new homes costing an estimated $9.3 million, even a $1.3 million addition to Grace Baptist Church, Halifax County construction startups in 2003 exceeded $41 million in value.

The almost 30 percent increase over 2002 in construction values came during a year of historically low interest rates and near record unemployment. At times, an estimated 12 percent of Halifax County’s workforce could not find jobs.

The largest commercial building permits were issued to J.T. South Boston, LLC, the developer for Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse and other retail space on the same tract of land located on Old Halifax Road. The combined value of the project exceeded $8.4 million and tenants, including Blockbuster Video, Dollar Tree, Check Into Cash, Rent A Center and others have either opened or are in the process of opening.

Applebee’s was issued a permit for $600,640 to build a restaurant on one out parcel of land fronting on Old Halifax Road in front of Lowe’s.

Almost completed is a new BB&T bank, built at a cost of just over $1 million, in Centerville on Halifax Road.

Industrial construction activities in Halifax County has been almost non-existent for the past several years but even that category showed new life in 2003 when Dollar General Distribution Center was issued a permit for $3.2 million for an expansion project.

And in Halifax, Sunshine Mills is undergoing a $780,000 addition to its pet food manufacturing facility.

No building permits have been issued, but the Virginia Employment Commission is making plans to build a call center in the new Riverstone Business and Technology Park located off U.S. 58 west and across from Halifax County Industrial Park.

Halifax County had approximately 75 new homes, both conventional and modular construction, added in 2003 at a total estimated cost of $9.3 million. Estimated cost of the most expensive home was $325,000.

One permit for $280,000 was issued for the construction of a townhouse and garage.

Manufactured homes permits, 168 total, accounted for almost $7 million of the $40 million total permits in 2003. That figure compares to 228 permits having a similar $7 million value in 2002.

Additions, renovations and improvements to existing properties accounted for over $3.3 million in permits plus another $1.3 million in upgrades of electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning made during 2003.

Ag Director: Mad Cow Not A Threat To County
'Our Beef Supply Is Still Safe,' Says Traci Talley

Halifax County residents should have little to worry about despite nationwide fears sparked by the first confirmed case of mad cow disease in the United States, according to Halifax County Extention Agent ANR Tracie Talley.

"I think the media is making a bigger deal of the situation that it really is," she said. "None of the affected meat is in the state of Virginia."

Talley said that all of the meat from the single sick cow had been recalled and that none of the disease causing bacteria had been found in the animal's muscle tissue.

"Our beef supply is still safe," she said. "And, they [USDA] are still continuing to monitor the beef supply."

While consumers have little to fear, farmers face a less certain future, according to Talley.

"We are sure it will affect the market price but we don’t know how much or for what length of time," she said.

"So far we haven't seen an effect," she added. "But, I don't know what's going to happen."

Reggie Reynolds, executive director of the Virginia Beef Industry Council, said it was difficult to determine how much the mad cow discovery would affect livestock farmers and beef retailers in Virginia.

"We're all nervous when a situation like this happens, but we need to be mature enough to keep our composure," he said.

Talley is doing just that, hoping that mad cow fears will be resolved before they can affect Halifax County sales.

She said that while there were no locked-in dates, the next major county beef sale would probably not happen until "sometime in June or July."

"It's possible that the effects from the scare could be over before our sales," she said.

Other areas of Virginia have not fared as well according to Reynolds, who said that about 500 slaughter cows each sold at $2-3 less than normal last week in Dublin, Wytheville and Abington.

If there is a dramatic impact, it couldn’t come at a worse time for the beef industry, which has enjoyed higher than normal sales nationwide over the past few months because of the popularity of the high-protein Atkins diet.

‘‘If people are eating beef because of a fad or a diet, if they started eating it easily, they can stop eating it just as easily,’’ said Elaine Lidholm, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Lidholm said beef prices could drop dramatically, though it hasn’t yet happened. No Virginia distributors were affected by the beef recall in the West.

‘‘People here are saying, ’Oh, it’s a West Coast thing, we can’t be afraid of everything,’’’ she said. ‘‘We don’t think there is any need for panic.’’

Virginia’s beef industry brings in about $350 million a year, ranking second in the state among farming industries, behind poultry. Augusta, Bedford and Rockingham counties are the top livestock producers, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau’s Web site.

Lidholm said Virginia is primarily a feeder cattle state, meaning cattle are fed to a certain weight here, then sent to other states for slaughter.

Reynolds said the state’s beef industry is protected by three firewalls, like other states throughout the country. Livestock are tested randomly at market, blood tests are conducted at slaughter and any cattle that look suspicious are tested.

Infected cattle become nervous, uncoordinated and lose weight, Reynolds said. The odd behavior led to the name ‘‘mad cow disease.’’ Symptoms in humans, which can take years to develop, include dementia, memory loss and depression, and can be fatal.

The British outbreak is blamed for the deaths of 143 people, millions of cattle slaughtered and a devastated domestic beef industry. By the end of the 1990s, economic losses there had reached nearly $7 billion.

Traveling Cross-Country: Home On The Range
Former Comets Jeffress, Staten Find Football Home At Eastern Arizona State

By DOUG FORD | G-V Staff Writer

Neither Freddie Jeffress nor Karl Staten could tell you what a Gila monster was before they left the cozy confines of Halifax County to play football at Eastern Arizona College (EAC).

Jeffress, a defensive tackle on the 2002 Comets varsity football team, and Staten, who quarterbacked that same team, can now tell you the poisonous lizard of the Southwest U.S. serves as the nickname of the EAC football team.

Eastern Arizona College is a member of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC).

The teams the (Gila)Monsters play sound as foreign to local fans as our opponents may sound to them - Phoenix College, Pima College, Snow College, Arizona Western, to name just a few.

The school, with an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students, is located in the small eastern Arizona town of Thatcher.

"There's really nothing else nearby," said Staten, to which Jeffress quickly added, "It was definitely a culture shock."

"I didn't expect all the mountains, and there weren't many trees, except maybe in town," continued Jeffress.

"The heat is worse than here, but there's no humidity...it feels different."

Staten, Jeffress' first cousin, had a different take.

"I felt like Billy Crystal in the movie, "City Slickers," he laughed.

Neither Jeffress nor Staten knew what they were getting into after Karl's cousin located EAC on the Internet and told Karl.

"He was looking on the Internet and saw information on EAC," said Staten, who had been looking at other colleges to play football.

"I was looking at other junior colleges, but I didn't want to play quarterback in college," Staten recalled.

Staten said a small college in upstate New York, and another school in Minnesota wanted him to play quarterback, but he politely declined.

EAC wanted him to play the position of slot receiver, and he chose to attend school there, after sending game tapes to head coach Kevin Haslam.

"They gave me a full ride, including books and tuition."

Staten mentioned EAC to his cousin, who sent his game tapes to Coach Haslam.

"I got offers from Lenoir Rhyne, N.C., and I was trying to get into Elon, Hargrave or Fork Union," said Jeffress.

"I wasn't accepted at either Hargrave or Fork Union, but Karl told me about EAC, and I sent a game tape out to the coach.

"After about a week, he called me and asked me to come out there.

"He told me he didn't have any scholarship money left, but my financial aid helped."

Jeffress and Staten recalled their friends' initial reaction to news of their cross-country odyssey.

"It was like, whoa, why are you going way out there?," Jeffress recalled.

"A lot of people leave South Boston and stay in Virginia, and there's nothing wrong with that.

"Our parents weren't like that, and they said to try something else away from home."

Both Freddie's and Karl's parents supported them in their decision to travel nearly cross-country for college.

Freddie Jeffress III is the son of Freddie Jeffress Jr. and Yolanda, and Karl's parents are Ralph and Vealer Staten.

"My mom said she was worried about me the first three months I was away, and so was Karl's mom," said Jeffress.

"We called a couple of times to let them know we were all right.

Both Jeffress and Staten saw plenty of action their first season at EAC, as the team finished 4-6, a definite improvement over the previous 0-10 campaign.

Jeffress played his familiar position at defensive tackle, while Staten split time at slot receiver and quarterback.

He was pressed into service after a season-ending injury to the team's starting quarterback, and started four games at that position, the coach changing the offensive scheme from a spread offense to the option to suit Staten's strengths.

Both plan to return to their normal positions next season.

Unlike the world of major college football, where athletes are many times isolated from the rest of the student body in athletic dorms, EAC athletes room with the rest of the students.

And, the term student-athlete definitely applies, according to both Jeffress and Staten.

"Our coach is very strict on schoolwork, we have grade checks and grade sheets we have to fill out and turn in," said Jeffress, who plans to major in criminal justice.

Staten, who is thinking of a career either in the personal health, sports medicine or coaching fields, added the football players have to maintain a 3.0 average as a team.

"Scholarship players have to maintain a 2.0 average or they lose their scholarship," Staten said.

Both Jeffress and Staten plan to play one more year at EAC and transfer to another school to continue their college football careers.

"I want to go to any Division I school, no matter which one, and if I can't, I want to go to Winston-Salem State or Virginia State," said Jeffress.

Staten added he would take the best offer available.

For both Jeffress and Staten, home is where the heart is, but Arizona has become the land of opportunity.