Halifax County schools remained closed today due to the powdery shroud of snow that covered the area during the early morning hours on Tuesday.
Approximately an inch to two inches of snow had fallen in Halifax County by dawn yesterday, with the southern end of the county receiving the majority of the winter precipitation.
While crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation began treating the bridges and primary roads with salt as early as 3 a.m., many secondary roads remained treacherous throughout the morning, making it necessary to close the schools.
A minimum of 30 crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation hit the road the moment the first flakes began to float down around 3 a.m., said Cecil Lawson, VDOT project engineer for the Halifax residency.
"The first thing we started with was the bridges, as they are about 10 degrees colder than the highways," Lawson said.
According to Lawson, early applications of salt set up a bond-breaker, where melting occurs between the pavement and surface blanket of snow.
By dawn, the primary roads were clear, according to Lawson, who added that crews concentrated on the secondary roads throughout the morning.
Constant applications of abrasive mixtures of salt and sand eliminated most of the slick areas from a majority of the roads by late morning, but freezing temperatures and run-backs created a number of slick spots in areas with lighter traffic, Lawson said.
"By 3 p.m., 65 percent of all the roads in Halifax County were clear. That's not saying that some were clear and some weren't, but rather that there were cold spots on all of them. We apply abrasives to those areas that provide some traction, and make them safe if motorists travel at a sensible rate of speed," Lawson said. "Our crews will continue to work through the next 24 hours checking the roads and applying abrasives."
According to reports from the Halifax County Virginia State Police office, very few weather-related accidents were reported on Tuesday.
Motorists were advised to use extra caution when traveling later in the day, as falling temperatures might cause melted ice and snow to refreeze on the roadways.
Halifax County Offices, including the courthouse, opened two hours late to give crews time to clear sidewalks and parking lots of ice and snow, according to Halifax County Administrator Dan Sleeper.
"Our office staff was here, but we were worried about people traveling on the secondary roads and walking on the sidewalks," Sleeper said. "With a powdery snow like this, when people walk or drive on it, the snow packs down and turns into ice, so we wanted to clear it out before people began walking and driving on it."
Sleeper said some county employees were at work as early as 6:30 a.m. brushing away the snow.
The town offices in South Boston and Halifax opened on time.
According to South Boston Public Works Director Ron Marshall, maintenance crews began working on the town roadways about 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
"We had a crew come in during the holiday on Monday to make sure the trucks were loaded and prepared to deal with the snow, and more came in early (Tuesday) morning," Marshall said. "We had four trucks out, since one broke down, and our crews worked all day treating the roads and making sure they didn't refreeze."
Marshall said South Boston crews stayed out Tuesday night, monitoring and treating slick spots on the roads within town.

Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt said yesterday that the early release day for students that was scheduled for next Wednesday (January 26) will be moved to Thursday (January 27).
Students will attend school all day next Wednesday and will get out at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Schools will re-open the following Monday for the start of the second semester.
The closing of school due to the snow will also force a change in next week's scheduled teacher workdays.
Witt said a proposal that he will discuss with Halifax County High School officials today will be to have an extended teacher workday on Thursday in lieu of a workday on Saturday.
Friday would be a full-day teacher workday.
"The calendar calls for workdays on Friday and Saturday," Witt said.
"We will consider an extended workday Thursday in lieu of a workday Saturday. If we can come up with another configuration that will get the job done, that's what we'd like to do. We'd like to avoid Saturday for lots of reasons."
Witt said that the proposal, at this point, was just that - a proposal.
"We'll confer with the people at the high school in the morning and see what they can do as far as getting their work done," Witt said late yesterday afternoon.
The school superintendent said that the makeup days for students will be dealt with in the second semester.
"Where, we don't know yet," Witt said.
"It could be in lieu of a teacher workday or at the end of the calendar in June."
Taking time out of Spring Break will also be considered, Witt said.

A South Boston man was arrested Sunday night by sheriff's deputies on charges stemming from an armed robbery and an attempted armed robbery.
Anthony Fred Brown, 36, of Sinai Road, was charged for the alleged armed robbery of the Dairy Dell Restaurant in Centerville that occurred on Sunday afternoon.
Captain Larry Fears said Brown approached the order window at 6:10 p.m. and, with a weapon concealed in a bag, told the clerk to empty the cash register.
The subject fled, making off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Warrants were obtained by the investigation of deputies Keith Henderson and Jimmy Clay and Brown was taken into custody at 10 p.m.
Brown was charged with armed robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Also, additional charges were made for the alleged attempted armed robbery of Guy A. Debord in the amount of $20.
Brown was charged with the attempted armed robbery and the use of a firearm in the attempt to commit an armed robbery.
The incident occurred early Saturday morning when Brown allegedly approached Debord at the Super 8 Motel in Riverdale.
Lt. Rick Loftis of the South Boston Police Department said the attempted robbery occurred at 4:15 a.m. when Debord heard a knock at the door.
Debord told Officer Barker that Brown gave an indication of drawing a gun out of his pocket when Debord pushed Brown away and closed the door.
· Daniel Shawn Lowery, 38, of Norwood Avenue in South Boston, was arrested Monday by sheriff's deputies and charged with using profane language over a public airway.
Captain Fears said Lowery allegedly made obscene phone calls to two ladies of the South Boston area.
According to Fears, Lowery made the phone calls from the Wal-Mart shopping center in Centerville and a store on 501 South in Riverdale during the early morning hours of January 11.
Lowery is being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
A hearing for Lowery is scheduled on January 19, in Halifax County General District Court.
· Kevin Devon Miller, 21, an inmate at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail, was charged Sunday with possession of marijuana, obstructing justice, unlawful purchase of alcohol and driving with a suspended license.
The alleged offenses occurred on May 18, 1999.
Miller is faced with additional charges from offenses allegedly committed on September 10.
The charges are attempting to commit a capital offense, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, brandishing a firearm and possession of marijuana.
· A Scottsburg man was arrested Sunday by sheriff's deputies on several charges stemming from an alleged assault and battery.
Randy Eugene Donnelly, 40, of Green Level Road, was charged with possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, the alleged assault and battery of Georgia Greishermier and the destruction of property after breaking the rear window of a 1997 Ford Crown Victoria belonging to the sheriff's office.
Damage to the vehicle was estimated less than $1,000.
Donnelly is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court on January 24.
· Kelvin Dewayne Cameron, 26, of Ridge Street in South Boston was arrested Friday on charges of assault and battery and attempting to escape with force while he was a prisoner awaiting trial.
The alleged offense occurred on May 22.
· A South Boston woman was arrested Monday by sheriff's deputies on the charge of using profane language over a public airway.
Joanna Jordon McCoy, 26, of Magnolia Drive was charged with the alleged offense, which occurred Friday.
McCoy is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court on January 25.
· Addie Wilson Austin, 31, of Piney Creek Road in Scottsburg, was arrested Sunday by sheriff's deputies on an assault and battery charge.
Austin was charged with the alleged assault and battery of Patricia Austin, which occurred on the day of the arrest.
· Paul Robert Bark, 48, of Howard P. Anderson Hwy. was arrested Monday by the Town of Halifax Police Department on a charge of public drunkenness.
Chief Shawn Sweeney found Bark behind the Jiffy Store and made the charge after investigating the subject's alleged condition.
Bark is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court on February 16.

A reliable source puts Halifax County Administrator Dan Sleeper's name on the short list for the Pittsylvania County administrator's post.
Sleeper confirmed yesterday he had applied for the job.
"Applications are out every election year because you don't know ...," Sleeper said yesterday.
In fact, four new members were elected to the eight-member Halifax County Board of Supervisors in November.
If Sleeper is tapped for the Pittsylvania County job, he will be returning to an old post.
He served as administrator in Pittsylvania County from 1979 until he resigned in 1987 to start his own management and consulting firm.
He also spent nine months on active duty with the U.S. Naval Reserves.
Sleeper returned as Pittsylvania County administrator after spending over a year away from the post. He returned as administrator and served until 1993, when he came to Halifax County as its administrator.
Sleeper is a former city planner for Newport News.

Virginia Power paid just over $1.05 million in taxes to Halifax County, according to a release from the utility.
Total taxes paid to the county, which is the site of the $1.2 billion Clover Power Station, were $1,059,894.
The utility's taxable donation to the county paled when compared to the $11.15 million that was paid to Louisa County, home of the company's North Anna Power Station.
Surry County received $10.03 million while Fairfax County had $8.76 million in tax receipts.
Virginia Power paid a total of $189.9 million in state and local taxes last year.
The utility paid $81.1 million in state taxes and another $15.1 million to counties, cities and towns. Another $94.1 million was paid out in the form of local government property taxes and $9.8 million in various other taxes, including sales and use tax, unemployment taxes and workers' compensation.

A Halifax County grand jury this month returned true bills of indictment against the man charged in a seven-hour standoff at a local hotel that was punctuated with gunfire last fall.
According to Halifax County Circuit Court records, the grand jury returned numerous true bills of indictment against Kevin Devon Miller, 21, of Elkhorn Road, Java, charging him with the attempted capital murder of Virginia State Trooper Richard Ridgeway; use of a firearm in the commission of attempted capital murder; possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony; brandishing a firearm at Virginia State Trooper Richard Dudley; and possession of marijuana.
Miller was taken into custody on September 10, 1999, after he surrendered to police outside the Hudson Hotel on Route 58 just outside of South Boston following a day-long standoff.
Acting on information provided by a Crime Stoppers' caller, South Boston officers, accompanied by Virginia State Police troopers, arrived at the motel shortly before 10 a.m. and knocked on the door to room 106 in an attempt to serve felony warrants on a man they believed to be staying at the motel, according to South Boston Police Chief Jim Hall.
Miller, who was in the room with his girlfriend, but was not the individual named on the warrants, according to Hall, did not immediately answer the door.
Seconds later, instead of the door opening, a shot was fired from inside the room. The officers withdrew and called for backup, Hall said, and the standoff began.
Numerous shots were fired, allegedly by both Miller and the police, during the standoff.
The grand jury also returned true bills against Miller charging him in connection with an earlier incident that allegedly occurred on May 18. The charges include possession of marijuana; obstruction of justice; possession of alcohol under the age of 21; and operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked operator's license.
At presstime yesterday, indictments were also completed in the following cases:
· The grand jury returned true bills of indictment against a South Boston woman who allegedly embezzled $20,000 from The Office Shop where she was employed as the bookkeeper.
The indictments charge Kristine Kaye White, 31, of Cardinal Court, with 22 counts of grand larceny, 24 counts of forgery and 24 counts of uttering.
According to court records, White allegedly embezzled $20,000 from The Office Shop last summer.
The indictments also charge White with grand larceny in connection with the theft of a half-carat diamond ring belonging to Eleanor Heffleman of South Boston.
The alleged theft occurred in April 1999.
· Lewis Earl Miller, 39, of Golden Leaf Road, Nathalie, was indicted on one count of possession of cocaine.
The alleged offense occurred on June 25, 1999.
· Tony Barretta Smith, 24, of Old Riverdale Road, South Boston, was indicted on one count of felony child neglect.
The alleged offense occurred on November 21, 1999.

The "Rat Bowl" is almost here.
One of the season's more anticipated high school wrestling matches, "The Rat Bowl," pitting the Halifax County High School wrestlers against the E.C. Glass Hilltoppers, is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Halifax County High School gym.
Coach Brady Taylor's Halifax County High School Blue Comets, now 5-8 on the season after having won four of their last six dual matches, will be trying to land their first Western District win of the season.
And, in doing so, they will be attempting to even their district slate after having lost their district opener to Albemarle.

While Thursday's Western District match against E.C. Glass is important in terms of the district standings and seedings for the Western District Tournament, it also marks a big rivalry.
Former Halifax County High School assistant wrestling coach Grayson Throckmorton is the head coach of the E.C. Glass wrestling team.
And, he is bringing a special trophy, "The Rat," which his team currently holds and the Comets want to snare.
"The Rat," a plastic and rubber rat, was the object of a joke between Throckmorton and Taylor who are friends and golfing buddies.

"I played golf with Grayson Sunday," Taylor said, "and he said he was going to bring 'The Rat' down."
"The Rat" is currently resting in the E.C. Glass wrestling room but will be brought here for Thursday's contest.
Taylor said "The Rat Bowl" is something fun that has been generated between the two teams with the idea that it will turn the contest into a natural rivalry.
"It gives the kids something fun to look forward to," Taylor pointed out.
"It's not a district trophy or anything like that. But, it's something for them to enjoy. Some of the older guys are getting real pumped up about it, especially some of the guys that used to wrestle under Grayson before he left here."
The idea of the "Rat Bowl," Taylor says, will hopefully help bring out a good crowd of fans to see the match that will mark his team's next-to-last home contest of the season.
"I hope we have a good crowd," Taylor said.

"It means a lot to the kids. It really helps them get pumped up and it means a lot to them knowing that they have support."
"The Rat Bowl," while all in good fun, is a very serious matter to both teams.
"For us, it's pretty big," Taylor said of Thursday's match against E.C. Glass.
"The kids really want to win it and I obviously want to win it. We were the only district team that Glass beat last year and that's kind of disheartening."
The match has important implications with regards to the district tournament.
"A win will help the kids out with their seedings for the district tournament," Taylor explained.
"We don't want to be getting fourth seeds. We need to get into the top two because that will set us up to get more points in the district tournament."
Taylor pointed out that he doesn't know a great deal about E.C. Glass' team except that the Hilltoppers appear to be strong in the upper weight classes.
"I know they have some tough wrestlers in the 189, 215, and 275-pound weight classes," the Comets coach noted.
"Grayson may be in a similar situation I was in last year when we didn't get as many starters back from the previous year as we had hoped."

Taylor says Glass may have to forfeit some contests but that his team still needs to come out prepared to wrestle and that everyone wrestle hard.
"Just from the standpoint that this is a district match our guys still have to wrestle hard and get all the wins they can," Taylor pointed out.
"This is a match that I expect us to do well in. But, those kinds of matches are the types of matches that scare you the most because you don't want somebody to sneak up on you and pull one out from under you."
The Comets have turned the corner in the past week to 10 days with the series of wins.
With five victories already in hand, the Comets have equaled the most dual match wins a Comets team has posted since Taylor took over the reigns of the Halifax County wrestling program.
"We're starting to wrestle like I knew we could," Taylor remarked.
"We're starting to show the ability that I saw when we started the season. I hope we can continue improving with each meet and keep picking up some wins."
The recent spurt of momentum has been good for the team, Taylor said.
"We have some good momentum now and I'd like to see it continue," Taylor stated.
"The mood of the team has changed. The kids go through practice a little quicker and a little harder. They're beginning to see that their hard work is beginning to pay off."

Garrett Dillard is still searching for answers.
His Comets are mired in a four game losing streak that has put them below the .500 mark for the first time this season and left them in an early hole in the Western District title chase.
The latest defeat was a 59-37 setback at the hands of Albemarle which entered the contest as the sixth ranked team in the Virginia Associated Press' Top 10.
What has brought on the change in the team that won five of its first seven outings?
What will it take to get the team to get a win and start digging out of the hole?
There are probably multiple answers. But, can Dillard and his coaching staff find the right one or right combinations of answers?
The Comets gave Dillard some indication of what was happening behind the scenes Friday night in the team's post-game meeting.
"We ( the coaches) didn't do a lot of talking," Dillard said of the post-game meeting with his players.
"We let the guys talk. I asked the guys 'was it the coaches, are we doing something wrong?' They said it's just a matter of them coming out ready to play."
Maybe a better way to say it is they come out nervous.
"They said they get too excited when they get the ball," Dillard pointed out.
"They catch it and they're ready to shoot it so quick they forget about shooting. I don't know why because we've played 11 games and we shouldn't be excited when you touch the ball. But, that's what the guys said."
That said, the obvious next step is to get the guys calmed down.
"Hopefully, they'll learn to calm down," Dillard remarked.
"I've always thought that was one of the big problems. We have guys we felt were not always able to prepare and when they do get prepared, they get excited and they get the ball and they get nervous and shoot the ball too quick where they don't square up on their shots or whatever."
That explanation is certainly plausible.
The Comets' shooting certainly reflects such an explanation.
In last Friday night's game against Albemarle, the Comets hit only nine of 27 shots from the floor in the first half. The second half was worse as the Comets hit only five of 31 shots from the floor.
Many of the shots were in the makeable eight-to-15-foot range.
"We missed 44 shots from the floor," Dillard noted.
"But, we didn't take a lot of bad shots. We took some long shots but we were open."
What the Comets are missing right now is a good pure shooter.
"We're missing somebody that can just knock down the shots," Dillard pointed out.
"We're missing that guy that when all else fails you have somebody that can step up and knock the shot down. We've got to find somebody that can be a consistent shooter.
"You score nine points and six points in consecutive quarters (as the Comets did in the third and fourth quarters respectively against Albemarle) and you're not going to beat anybody," added Dillard.
The Comets coach didn't question his team's effort against Albemarle. But, he pointed out that his team didn't play smart basketball.
"I thought the guys played hard the first half and even in the third quarter when they (Albemarle) got the lead I thought we played hard," said Dillard.
"We made some silly mistakes and gave them (Albemarle) a few easy baskets," the Comets' coach pointed out.
"We missed a lot of shots. We stopped getting the ball inside. We didn't do the same things (in the second half) we did in the first half."
Dillard pointed to the point of the game early in the fourth quarter when Comets point guard Fred Price picked up his fourth foul and fouled out before Dillard could get Josh Milam into the game in Price's spot.
"We had Josh sitting there waiting to get him and before Josh could get in, he (Price) reached in and committed the foul," noted Dillard.
"Those are things we can't do. The guys have to play smarter down the stretch. That (Price's fouling out) wasn't a big factor. By then, we were down 15 or 20.
"But," concluded Dillard, "that's just a sign of us not playing smart."

William Woodson Cole, age 65, of Keysville, died Monday, January 17, 2000.
Surviving are his wife, Jeanette T. Cole; two daughters and sons-in-law, Diane C. and Joe D. Via of Keysville and Crystal C. and Michael D. Smith of Clover; two granddaughters, Nicole D. Via and Stephanie B. Smith; one brother, Johnny Cole of Keysville; two sisters, Margie Johnson of Rustburg and Mabel Wilkerson of Farmville.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. January 19 at Browning Funeral Home in Keysville with burial in Eureka Baptist Church Cemetery.

Thomas Clark, of South Boston, age 65, died Saturday, January 15, 2000, at The McGuire Veterans Hospital in Richmond.
Mr. Clark was born March 29, 1911 in South Boston to Ellen Jones and Major Clark. He was a World War II Army veteran and a member of Spanish Grove Baptist Church. He was married to the late Fannie Boyd Clark.
His survivors include his daughter: Mary C. Scott; two sons and daughters-in-law: William and Marion Chappell and Stevie and Ella Jones; nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by four sisters and three brothers.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, January 19 from 7-8:00 p.m. at the Kent, Ballou and Crowder Funeral Service chapel.
A funeral service will be held Thursday, January 20 at Spanish Grove Baptist Church, Scottsburg at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Ricardo Hailstock officiating. Burial will follow in church cemetery.

Virginia Ida P'Pool Smith of Quail Ridge, Virgilina, age 87, died Thursday, January 13, 2000 at her home.
Mrs. Smith was born June 11, 1912, the daughter of Stephen P'Pool and Ida Snead P'Pool. She was a member of Aarons Creek Baptist Church and was married to William Garland Smith.
Her survivors include her husband and one daughter and son-in-law: Sandra S. and Bernard Rister of Aarons Creek. She was preceded in death by three sisters: Lillian P. Woltz, Jeanette P'Pool and Etta P. Nunn and a brother: William S. Pool.
A funeral service was held Saturday afternoon, January 15 at the Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home chapel with the Rev. Richard Cooke officiating. A private committal service followed for the family in the Aarons Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Aarons Creek Baptist Church or the American Cancer or Heart Association.

Clarence Hubert Bishop of Hwy. 49N, Virgilina, age 90, died January 16, 2000 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Rev. Bishop was born in Pilot on August 13, 1909, the son of Arthur Trigg Bishop and Lula Maybelle Jones Bishop. He served as an interim pastor at Amis Chapel Baptist Church where he was a member.
Rev. Bishop served as pastor to High View and Florence Avenue Baptist Churches from 1958-1976 and fulltime at Florence Baptist until 1981. He was a member of the Virgilina Masonic Lodge 248 and the Virgilina Ruritan Club.
His survivors include a daughter: Mary Jane B. Humphries of Virgilina; four sisters: Thelma Geiser of Vinton, Lucy May Correll of Orange Park, FL, Ruby Kingery of Hampton, Marie Whittemore of Las Vegas, NV; a brother: Claude Arthur Bishop of Ridgeway; two granddaughters: Amanda Lowery and Stephanie Humphries; a grandson: Allen Humphries; two great-grandchildren: Savannah and Christian Lowery. He was preceded in death by his wife: Milcie Hancock Bishop; brother: Leslie "Les" E. Bishop and sister: Katherine Sasser.

A funeral service will be held Wednesday, January 19 at 11 a.m. at Florence Avenue Baptist Church with the Rev. Malvin Tuck officiating. Burial will follow in Roselawn Burial Park.