Wednesday, January 28, 2004

County Dodges A Bullet
No Power Outages Reported; No Accidents With Serious Injuries Due To Icy Roads

Despite frigid temperatures and icy roads, Halifax County escaped any major damage from Sunday and Monday's winter blast.

School officials said yesterday that schools would remain closed today, as they have been since Monday, as the county continues to dig out from the latest winter storm.

No power outages associated with the storm had been reported yesterday morning, according to David Botkins, spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power.
Sunday's storm dumped four inches of snow and a quarter-inch of ice on the county, according to Donato Cacciapaglia, hydrometeorologist for the National Weather Service.

Cacciapaglia said yesterday that temperatures are expected to moderate over the next few days, with highs reaching the 40s and overnight lows in the 20s.

"Your area should be in pretty good shape for the time being," he said.

Both the South Boston Police Department and the Virginia State Police reported only minor fender benders associated with the storm, crediting the public with staying off the roads.

"We've actually been very light," First Sgt. Jeff Lane of the Virginia State Police said yesterday. "We've had a very limited number of accidents, none with serious injury."

Police reported only a few cars sliding off the road.

"I think that people have been helping us by staying at home," Lane said.

Officials are still encouraging the public not to travel unless it's an emergency and to exercise caution if they have to be on the roads.

"As always, if you go out you need to wear a safety belt," the first sergeant said. "Other things you can do is clean your vehicle off as much as possible to prevent chunks of ice falling off and causing problems for other drivers.

"Basically, watch your speed and use common sense," he added.

Donnie Bomar, the maintenance operations manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation in Halifax, said the primary roads were passable, but secondary roads in the county could still be dangerous.

"Our plans are to have all the snow off the primary roads by mid-afternoon," he said yesterday morning. "We've pushed all the high-volume secondary roads and gotten all the snow we can get off, but most of the snow we can't get off."

Bomar said crews would be putting abrasives on the hills and curves of the secondary roads and monitoring runoff as the snow and ice melt.

He said road crews had been working continuously since the storm began.
"We have around 25 state trucks running, seven state graders and three tractors as well as hired graders and 12 hired equipment trucks," Bomar said.

And is your heating fuel low?

Chances are these weather conditions are tapping into your fuel supply, and that could be a problem if you've not planned for the season.

Icy roads are posing problems for home heating fuel deliveries, where demands have soared during this wintry blast.

"We've got one truck stuck in a customer's driveway now," a spokesman for U.S. Oil-Cox Oil & Gas said yesterday morning.

A wrecker was on the way to help free the fuel truck, but the process was expected to last at least two hours, the spokesman said.

U.S. Oil was running seven trucks yesterday to meet the fuel demands of its customers.

Some few, they said, had run completely out of fuel.

According to a company spokesman running out of fuel, in most instances, is just "poor planning."

"Some folks forget that January is cold!"

As for the price of fuel oil, most area providers are quoting the price per gallon at approximately $1.45.

"It's higher than it's been for a while, but it hasn't spiked (as a result of this cold snap)," the U.S. Oil spokesman said.

Hogan Supports Plan To Cap Electric Rates
‘This Is The Issue This Session That Will Impact Every Single Person In The State - Bar None’

Del. Clarke Hogan (R-60) said yesterday that he supports Virginia's move toward a competitive market for electricity, but wants to wait until there is real competition for the big energy suppliers.

"There is a growing feeling in the state that deregulation is going to lead to higher energy costs for customers," he said yesterday.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously endorsed a bill Monday that will extend a cap on the rates Dominion Virginia Power can charge its customers through 2010, giving more competition the opportunity to develop.

Under the plan, other power companies, which have less room to cut costs, will be allowed to seek State Corporation Commission approval for rate increases twice before 2010.

The legislation was proposed by Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and Governor Mark Warner and has been strongly supported by Dominion.

Virginia's electric cooperatives, the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council and many large industrial customers oppose the measure.

"The governor and attorney general are backing Virginia Power's position, which will extend the cap," Hogan said. "Other cooperatives, retailers and manufacturers are backing a plan that stops deregulation until it can be further considered and leaves it in the hands of the SCC until there is a truly competitive market."

The delegate said energy deregulation was a critical issue before legislators.
"Are we going to move forward on a policy that will ensure low cost, reliable power in this state or not?" he asked.

"This is the issue this session that will impact every single person in the state - bar none," Hogan said. "It's more important than the budget and tax increases on the average citizen."

The delegate said energy deregulation legislation was passed in the General Assembly under threat that the move would be forced by the federal government.

"At the time, this effort was seen as progressive and cost effective," Hogan said.

At the core of the issue was the belief that more competition among electric companies, and the right to choose providers would lower energy bills.

"Unfortunately, this theory has run into the hard reality of physics and economics," the delegate said. "If deregulation is not seriously modified in the next several years, it will lead to tremendous increases in electric rates and increasingly poor quality of service."

Since one company owns the lines that transmit power to a particular consumer, they are responsible for serving that customer.

"Deregulation contemplates that a customer could purchase electricity from any service provider," Hogan said. "The generator would then contract with the transmission grid to get that electricity to its customer.

"In a perfect world, this sort of free market flexibility sounds attractive, but there are several problems," he added.

One of the major problems is the cost and specialized knowledge necessary to become an electricity provider.

"The expense and expertise of entering the electric generation market will keep anyone but the largest companies out," Hogan said. "Even the most sophisticated small consumers will have a difficult time sorting through the options available to them."

Federal Funds A Shot In Arm For The Prizery
$250,000 Earmarked For Cultural Center

A $250,000 federal "earmark" for The Prizery restoration comes as a shot in the arm for the South Boston cultural center, which hopes to begin construction of Phase II of its restoration in the next two months.

Total costs for Phase II are estimated at $5 million.

The earmarked funds are part of a $820 billion federal spending bill signed Friday by President Bush, and were added to the federal budget by Fifth District Congressman Virgil Goode, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

The Prizery's mission as a cultural and educational center will help pave the way for new business and industry to locate in South Boston and Halifax County, according to Goode.

"I think when The Prizery reaches its full potential, it'll be a tremendous asset as an added dimension in getting business and industry to locate in Southside Virginia," said Goode.

"When companies look to locate somewhere, they will look at the cultural activities available in the area.

"Having The Prizery there will make South Boston and all of Halifax County more attractive."

The earmarked funds will go toward the goal of $1.5 million set by the Community Arts Center Foundation (CACF) for the private sector portion of its fund-raising effort, according to John Cannon, The Prizery fund-raising committee chairman.

Cannon was pleased with the $250,000 addition to the fund-raising project.
"It's fabulous, it's great, and it will be used for fund-raising on the private side," said Cannon, adding the gift takes the total raised from the private sector so far to about $1.2 million.

"That's if all the other pledges come in, and I'm assuming they will," he added.
Once the $1.5 million goal is reached, it will qualify for matching funds from the Town of South Boston and Halifax County, Cannon noted.

Also in the mix are $2 million in Historic Tax credits, that will come into play and bring the entire project to fruition, according to Cannon.

The caveat being that the entire Prizery restoration project, including Phase II construction, be completed by August 2005.

"We would like to be in construction mode within 60 days, and we need to be finished by August 2005 to be able to use those Historic Tax credits that we've already been approved for," said Cannon.

That has given the fund-raising project a sense of urgency, somewhat relieved by the earmarked funds.

"We're (CACF and campaign cabinet) moving forward with all diligence to complete the fund-raiser," said Cannon.

Once all phases of The Prizery restoration are complete, Cannon foresees a cultural and educational boon for the area.

"When we get through, we'll have a 300-seat theatre and auditorium which will also be used for distance learning," he said.

"We'll have a 400-seat banquet area on the top floor, and an environmentally secure art gallery, which will partner with the Virginia Art Museum in Richmond..." he added.

Cannon said The Prizery would work with Halifax County Public Schools to provide classrooms for 25 arts-related programs to expose students to the arts, such as theatre and music, as well as a string program, not currently offered locally.

"It will be heavily tied in with the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, to basically put together a college campus on top of the hill," he said.

Chris Jones, executive director of The Prizery, echoed Goode's view of The Prizery as both a cultural and economic drawing card for the area.

"It's gratifying he sees this as a cultural and economic asset, and we're very grateful," Jones said.

Jones envisions The Prizery as a three-tiered educational center for higher, secondary and community education.

"We're looking at a technology lab, where students can create music on a computer, and hope to have a kiln for pottery and ceramics classes.

Those classes, in turn, will be offered to the general public as a form of continuing education, he added.

Comets Ready For Mt. Zion Rematch
HCHS Gearing Up For Warriors On Thursday, EC. Glass Here Friday

By JOE CHANDLER | G-V Staff Writer

Halifax County High School varsity basketball coach Garrett Dillard says it doesn't matter that Mt. Zion beat his team by 30 points when they squared off here a couple of weeks ago.

The Comets, he said, will be looking for a win when his team journeys to Durham, N.C. Thursday night for a rematch against the country's second-ranked prep hoops team.

"Every game we play, we go with the intent to win," said Dillard.

"We're going to go and do the best we can."

Halifax County will enter Thursday night's game with a lot of enthusiasm and momentum as the Comets will be going in fresh off of a thrilling 72-70 win over archrival GW of Danville here this past Friday night.

The win over GW allowed the Comets, 11-5 overall and 3-0 in Western Valley District play, to remain in a tie with Franklin County for the district lead.

It also created a situation in which the Comets and Franklin County now have a two-game cushion over GW, E.C. Glass and Patrick Henry in the district standings.

The Comets can also enter the game buoyed by what it accomplished against Mt. Zion in their meeting here on January 16.

For one thing, the 80 points the Comets scored in that game is the most points they have scored this season.

Halifax County had two quarters in that game in which it scored 20 or more points and scored 30 points in the fourth quarter.

The Comets also did a good job handling the basketball, turning the ball over only eight times.

In addition, the Comets met their other goals of forcing the other team to commit about 20 turnovers and hitting at least 70 percent of their free throws.

The Comets accomplished those things against a team that included former Northern Durham (N.C.) standout Roy Bright who is said to be headed to Cincinnati, Iowa State bound Tasheed Carr and Mohamed Tangara who is said to be headed to Arizona.

Mt. Zion's standouts also include Glenn Dandridge who is said to be headed to Missouri and Brandon Rush, the brother of Los Angeles Lakers player Kareem Rush.

Mt. Zion did its damage to the Comets early in the game that was largely played above the rim.

Bright kicked off a 20-point night with a pair of slam dunks in the first 42 seconds of the game.

From there, Mt. Zion raced to a 15-0 lead before the Comets got on the scoreboard about halfway through the first quarter.

But, the Comets played hard and kept the game interesting in front of a hoard of fans that filled about 75 percent of the Halifax County High School gym.
Thursday night's road game against Mt. Zion is the first of two games the Comets are scheduled to play this week.

Halifax County will face Western Valley District opponent E.C. Glass here Friday night and will be looking for a win that will set up what essentially will be "championship week" for the Western Valley District during the first week of February.

In that opening week of February, the Comets will journey to Rocky Mount to play Franklin County on Monday night, Feb. 2, go to Roanoke to play Patrick Henry on Tuesday night, Feb. 3, and play Franklin County here at home on Friday night, Feb. 6.

"If we do what we need to do with Glass, it will set up a real big week," Dillard pointed out of that critical first week of February.

"If we can be fortunate enough to beat Glass, Franklin County and PH all in one week, you go to GW (for the season's final game on Feb. 13) and win, lose or draw, you're district champions."

Friday night's game against E.C. Glass will be a big one but Dillard says he is not going to approach Thursday night's game against Mt. Zion with the idea of resting his starters a good deal of the night.

"If we had an NBA-type schedule and were playing four games in five or six days, I would believe in resting kids," Dillard said.

"If, at some point in time, the Mt. Zion game gets ugly, we're going to get guys in and out.

"We're still going to play and let guys stay in their rhythm," continued Dillard.
"If it was late in the season and we had Glass on Friday and if you win, you win the district championship, you would probably approach it a little differently.

"But, it's still early in district play and you want your kids to work and get better at what we do," he concluded.

Obituaries

John Walter Smith

John Walter Smith, 80, of Sterling, a native of Scottsburg, died January 23.
Mr. Smith is survived by his wife, Aurora Smith; four children, Diana Greer of Richmond, Raymond Smith of Chapel Hill, N.C., Donald Smith of Henderson, Ky. and Roger Smith of Sterling; two sisters, Reba Smith of Seattle, Wash. and Frances S. Crews of Scottsburg; five brothers, Willie Lee Smith of Scottsburg, I. Lindy Smith of Doswell, Joe A. Smith of Richmond, Franklin H. Smith of Halifax and Charlie D. Smith of Germanton, N.C.; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 31 at 2 p.m. at Bowling Green Baptist Church where Mr. Smith was a long-standing member.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Bowling Green Baptist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 543, Bowling Green, 22457.