A 19-year old South Boston woman died Friday in Duke University Medical Center as a result of injuries she received three weeks ago in a two car crash on US 501 south in Person County, N.C.
Ineatha Wyatt and her two year old daughter were passengers in a vehicle being driven by Ernessa Sheree Davis, 18, of South Boston. Their vehicle struck head-on a pickup truck being operated by 46-year old Earnest Edward Epps of Roxboro, N.C.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol indicated that Davis began to pass a vehicle she was trailing as her car approached a hill. At the same time, Epps' pickup truck was approaching in the opposite directions and the two met almost head-on.
Both the Wyatt child and Davis have since been released from hospitals.
Funeral services for the deceased are incomplete and arrangements are by Jeffress Funeral Home in South Boston.
In other accidents locally, 31-year old Arthur Louis Carr of Nathalie was charged with reckless driving when his 1992 Geo Tracker overturned on Highway 501 Sunday morning.

No injuries were reported and damages were estimated at $4,000.
Joel G. Conner Jr. 23, of Halifax, was also charged with reckless driving when his 1992 Ford left the road, overturned and struck a tree on Highway 683 Friday morning at 4 a.m.
The car was declared a total loss.

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (AP) - Democrats in Virginia's 5th District will break a 20-year tradition next month by not inviting Rep. Virgil Goode to co-host a reception at the state party's major annual fund-raising dinner in Richmond.
Democratic leaders in the rural southside district have sharply criticized Goode, a Rocky Mount attorney and former state senator, since he broke with most other members of his party in the House and voted last month to impeach President Clinton.
Carl Eggleston, the 5th District Democratic chairman, also noted that Goode has voted against Democratic issues 74 percent of the time, according to a Congressional Quarterly report.
Unless Goode changes his voting habits, Eggleston said, ''I can't see the Democratic Party renominating him'' for the 2000 election.
Goode, who ran unopposed for a second term last November, was traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment. His spokesman, Linwood Duncan, was out of the office, and other aides declined to comment.
Eggleston said he doesn't expect Goode or any Democrat to vote along party lines all of the time. But they are expected to vote Democratic ''a big chunk of the time,'' he said.
Normally, 5th District Democrats and the district's congressman co-host a hospitality suite after the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in Richmond, set this year for Feb. 6.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers and state attorneys general said Thursday they would use both legislation and lawsuits to deny the federal government any part of the billions of dollars states won from the tobacco industry.
''We worked long and hard to get this money for our respective states. Fair is fair,'' Ohio's attorney general, Betty Montgomery, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.
The administration said in 1997 it was entitled to part of any settlement the states reach with tobacco companies because the states were trying to recover Medicaid money spent on smoking-related illnesses. The federal government pays the states for at least half of Medicaid in every state.
The stakes are huge if Washington lays claim to half the $40 billion settlement reached by four states and the $206 billion the tobacco industry says it will pay the other 46 states in a settlement reached last fall.
In addition, the four largest tobacco companies agreed Thursday to set up a trust fund of $5.15 billion to help tobacco growers damaged by ramifications of those settlements.
Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Bob Graham, D-Fla., are leading a bipartisan group proposing legislation to bar the federal government from taking any of the state money. Rep. Mike Bilirakis, R-Fla., has introduced a similar measure in the House.
The administration ''never offered the states any assistance while they were pursuing their own cases,'' Graham said. The ''Johnny-come-lately attempt to share in the spoils of their victories puts these initiatives at risk.''
Graham and Hutchison introduced a similar bill last year, but it died when anti-tobacco legislation stalled in the Senate.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the legislation is needed because many states, unsure of how much they might lose to Washington, are holding back on needed spending of money expected from the settlement.
''States should not be hindered from using the settlement funds for programs to promote the health, education and welfare of their citizens,'' Gov. Thomas Carper, D-Del., and Gov. Michael Leavitt, R-Utah, chairman and vice chairman of the National Governors' Association, said in a statement.
President Clinton, in Tuesday's State of the Union address, said the government would initiate its own lawsuit against the tobacco industry, separate from the states, to recoup billions of dollars that Medicare and other federal health programs must pay to treat smoking-related diseases.
Facing tough resistance from the states, the administration has backed off an immediate move to reduce Medicaid payments to the states as a means of recouping the medical costs of smoking. Administration officials now say they are willing to strike a deal in which states would keep the money but would agree to use it for public health.
But Graham warned that it would be ''unwise to be lulled into a sense of false security.''
Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire said the states would not compromise. ''The first time a penny is deducted from the states we'll precipitate state lawsuits,'' she said.
An ''amicable resolution,'' she said, ''is the U.S. Congress saying the federal government has no claim.''

The Halifax County School Board will hold a special meeting Tuesday night to unveil a proposed optional retirement plan and kick off 1999-2000 school budget discussions.
Tuesday night's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Halifax County High School cafeteria.
School system employees interested in hearing the specifics of the proposed optional retirement plan and the general public are urged to attend.
In addition to presenting information regarding the optional retirement plan, the county school board will stage preliminary discussions regarding the 1999-2000 school year budget.
While Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt has said that school system administrators have begun work on some preliminary budget figures, no proposed 1999-2000 school budget figures have been unveiled by the school board.
One of the key factors in that is that the school system has not yet heard how much money will be forthcoming from the state for the coming year's budget.

The Halifax County Planning Commission will continue discussion of the confined animal feeding issue during its regular meeting Tuesday night.
The session opens at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax.
In addition to the hog issue, planners will hear comments from the Virginia Department of Transportation regarding the subdivision ordinance.
Regulations for gun clubs and shooting ranges also will be addressed.
Commissions will hear an application for conditional use permit in Election District 6 from George W. and Brenda Stevens regarding a diesel repair and state inspection station on 1.0 acre on the south side of Route 659 (River Road), 0.5 mile east of Pittsylvania County Line.0

Igniting a bonfire.
Dollar General turned a dream, a hope, at Sinai Elementary into reality last week, fueling an excitement among students and teachers that was as delicious as the hundreds of slices of pizza and colas consumed during the industrial giant's Thursday night kick-off party for the business/school partnership.
Not only did Dollar General win the hearts of the school's students with the outing, the company put a check for $4,000 in the hands of Sinai principal Mike Wilborne for the school's new accelerated reading program for all students.
"This is a classic opportunity for us to serve others," remarked Bernadette F. Woodbury, Coordinator of Learning Center Programs and Community Initiatives Development for the Dollar General Corporation at Thursday night's kickoff party.
"This is what we should be doing. It is what every corporation in this community should be doing. I would be happy to come back here and talk to any CEO of any corporation about the virtues of serving others."
Dollar General's mission is serving others," added Woodbury.
"In every community that we locate in we attempt to find ways to serve these communities."
Woodbury says that she and other Dollar General officials see the partnership with Sinai Elementary School and the role model programas a long term affair.
"We fully expect this to be a long term relationship," she remarked.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt offered his thanks and that of the school system to Dollar General.
"We thank Dollar General for their very generous contribution to Sinai Elementary School and public education," Witt said.
"This is for the children. Hopefully, a lot of good will come of this."
Add Dollar General's commitment as a Mentor/Role Model partner at the school - the program is seeking 25 mentors, and it is easy to see why the company's one-two punch for education has ignited a flame of enthusiasm at the school that is alive in teachers' faces.
"I really think the business/school partnerships are vital to the community because of demographics, specially for those in remote or disadvantaged areas," said Mentor/Role Model director Laurietta Faulkner.
She and Wilborne are both pleased and impressed with Dollar General's commitment.
"They had someone with the corporate office fly down and talk to every teacher in the school," said Faulkner. "They wanted to see the facility and get the school philosophy. A lot has taken place over the last month of so" since the partnership was announced.
"This partnership is wonderful," said the school's principal. I am just overwhelmed with the generosity coming from Dollar General, and very appreciative of what they are doing. They are doing this with open arms; they want to give back to the community."
"They actually care about us," one student announced to all in the class when the partnership event was announced.
Indeed, the company's financial backing for the accelerated reading program means new books and computer disks for the school's 350 students' use in the program.
"The accelerated reading program is a super program to get children interested in reading, but it is a very costly program," observed Wilborne.
But even in its infancy it is paying educational dividends.
Started at the school in October, the program's statistics are impressive with over 14,000 books read by students in the first semester.
Of 75 books in fifth grade teacher Jeanie Williams' room last week, perhaps six paperbacks remained when students departed at mid-week.
Even more impressive is the impact on students.
"Some of us see the difference in behavior," said teacher Aleacia Peer. Instead of acting out behaviors, they have turned the behavior in a different direction."
One problem student began "reading during lunch on his own."
Teachers see the competition among students to read books, pass the test and earn points and club pins for their efforts as positive.
The 25-point club soars upward to 50-points and above. The two students sitting at the top of the accelerated reading peak at present are fifth grade students Colleen Barnes, with 259.7 points/24 books, and Marynn Skeleton with 273 points/52 books.
The program is embraced throughout the school.
Sixty-six books have been read in learning disability classes with students taking tests. At times the teacher reads the book and the students take the test, and at other times students read the books themselves.
"Teachers and aides are reading the books and submitting tests when we don't have it on disk," added Chris Gieselman, a technology specialist at the school who puts the tests on the computer.
The computer tests are particularly popular with students because results are immediate.
Dollar General's backing will allow them to have more computer disks for the reading program as well as additional books.
"Self-esteem has skyrocketed. Students feel better because of their achievements," said Williams. "It has increased self-esteem and confidence. They are also more conscientious about doing homework."
Teachers, excited to see the kids excited about reading and learning, see their enthusiasm as contagious.
The Dollar General/Sinai partnership idea was a dream of the PTO executive board and of Laurietta Faulkner of the Role Model program. It was then parents, Mrs. Terry and Lynette Lovelace discussed the partnership. Lovelace, an employee with Dollar General, took the dream to Joseph Desmond, human resources director at Dollar General, recalled PTO president Barbara Wimbish.
"He was familiar with the program in other cities and he was excited," said Wilborne. "They contacted Bernadette Woodbury, coordinator of the learning center programs at the corporate office, and she, too, was enthusiastic about the idea."
The rest is history, a short history already wrapped in pizza, caring, commitment, new books and bursting self-esteem.
There are currently five business/school partnerships in the county. They are Clover Yarns/Clover Elementary; Halifax Regional Hospital/C.H. Friend Elementary; JM Huber/Volens Elementary; Presto/South of Dan; Dollar General/Sinai Elementary.

Berkley Thomas Bruce of South Boston died Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 58.
Mr. Bruce was born in Halifax County on October 6, 1940.
Survivors include three daughters, Sygnid Bruce of Fort Washington, MD, Mary Bruce of Silver Springs, MD and Bertina Bruce of Andrews Air Force Base, MD; two sons, Fernandez Bruce of Halifax and Ricardo Bruce of Durham, NC; two brothers, Lacy Bruce and Rev. Paul Bruce, both of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mr. Bruce were held Saturday, January 23 at 11 a.m. at Crawford, Garrett and Burton Funeral Chapel in Halifax with Revs. Samuel Mitchell and Paul Bruce officiating. Burial was in the Bruce Family Cemetery.

Wilford Murriell Hughes, 72, formerly of Hitesburg and son of the late John Stanley and Allie Hite Hughes, dies Saturday, January 23 in the St. Mary's Hospital in Richmond.
Mr. Hughes was a retired Federal Reserve Bank employee and a veteran of the U.S. Army WWII. He was a member of Ridge Baptist Church in Richmond. He graduated from Virgilina High School in the class of 1943.
Funeral services will be held today at 2 p.m. in the Hitesburg Baptist Church in Hitesburg. Officiating will be the Rev. Tim Brendle. Burial will follow in the Hitesburg Baptist Church cemetery.
Surviving are his wife, Grace Fuller Hughes; a daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and Bob Lane; grandsons Fletcher and Bryan Lane, all of Richmond; sisters Nancy Fox, Joyce Gillespie, Mary Forlines, Jean Daniel and Betty Chaddock; a brother, Bobby Hughes. He was preceded in death by a son, Larry Dale Hughes.
The family will receive friends immediately following the committal service in the church fellowship hall.
Contributions may be made to the Ridge Baptist Church Catch the Vision Fund, Richmond, Va.

Frances Faye McDowell Osborne of 1071 Cedar Lake Road, South Boston died Friday, January 22, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 66 years of age at the time of her death.
Mrs. Osborne was born in Halifax County on September 12, 1932 the daughter of Frank Thomas McDowell Sr. and Mary Will Dodson McDowell and was married to Samuel S. Osborne Jr. and was married to Samuel S. Osborne Jr. She was a member of Beth Car Baptist Church and was retired from the Halifax County Health Department.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters and sons-in-law, Mary Lynn and Tommy Howerton of South Boston and Elizabeth and Ronnie Couch of Halifax; two sons and daughters-in-law, Chip and Jodi Osborne of Hollywood, FL and Charles and Rita Osborne of South Boston; one sister, Nancy Blane of Alton; two brothers, Watt McDowell and Tommy McDowell, both of South Boston; and 10 grandchildren.

Funeral services for Mrs. Osborne were held Sunday, January 24 at 2 p.m. at Pleasant Grove United Church of Christ with Rev. Charles Stewart officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax County Cancer Association.

Willie Gordon Ragsdale of South Boston died Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at his home. He was 80 years of age at the time of his death.
Mr. Ragsdale was born in Halifax County on September 7, 1918.
Survivors include six daughters, Mildred Ragsdale of Wilmington, DE, Carolyn Ragsdale and Jacqueline Ragsdale, both of South Boston, Vanessa Ragsdale of St. Louis, MO, Tracy Ragsdale of Danville, and Katina Ragsdale of Alexandria; two sons, William Ragsdale of South Boston and Kenneth Kirby of Washington, DC; and five grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mr. Ragsdale were held Saturday, January 23 at 2 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church in South Boston with Rev. Harold Roberts Sr. officiating. Burial was in Halifax Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Mrs. Cornelius Richardson Royster of 1098 West Hitesburg Rd., Virgilina died Friday, January 22 at the Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 83.
She was born in Halifax County August 5, 1915 and was the daughter of the late George B. Richardson and Christianna Robertson Richardson. She was married to the late Amos Lee Royster and was a member of the White Oak Fork Baptist Church.
Mrs. Royster is survived by two daughters, Christine Sydnor and Rosa Lester, both of Virgilina; one son, Earl R. Royster of Halifax; five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; three sisters, Eva Oliver of Buffalo Junction, Annie O. Richardson and Zader R. Morgan, both of Virgilina; one brother, Eddie C. Richardson of Virgilina; two sons-in-law and one daughter-in-law.
Funeral services will be held today at 2 p.m. at the White Oak Fork Baptist Church with the Rev. Glenn Faulkner officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home of the deceased.

Mrs. Alice Shine of Halifax passed away Wednesday, January 20 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 85.
She was born in Denton, Md. on October 30, 1913.
Mrs. Shine is survived by her sister, Mildred Hill of Philadelphia, Pa.; and cousins Eddie and Bettie Womack of Halifax.
Funeral services will be held today at 2 p.m. at Crawford, Garrett & Burton Funeral Chapel in Halifax with the Rev. James Traynham officiating. Interment will take place in Shockoe Baptist Church cemetery in Chatham.

Family will receive friends at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Womack, 2039 Leighwood Tr., Halifax.