RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The House and Senate unanimously passed a plan to reduce the food tax, but not before House Republicans  killed a Democratic legislator's second bid to scrap the tax entirely.
The cut, which now goes to Gov. Jim Gilmore's desk for signature, would shave two percentage points off the state sales tax on groceries by 2003. It would save shoppers about $248 million per year at the checkout line once it is fully implemented.
Before the House vote, Democratic floor leader C. Richard  Cranwell of Roanoke County introduced a substitute plan which would have eliminated the entire 4 1/2 percent state sales tax on groceries over four years. That would save shoppers more than $500 million a year at the checkout lines.
Cranwell first introduced his idea when the House's tax cut bill came up last week. It was defeated 51-49, and the House went on to pass the original bill unanimously.
This time, Cranwell's substitute was defeated 52-47, with all of the House's Republicans, two Democrats and the chamber's one  independent voting against it.
Before the vote, Republican legislators rose and said the same thing they've said before: that Cranwell's proposal is a political move designed to make the GOP look bad and that the state can't afford to cut the whole tax.
One Republican, Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia Beach, called Cranwell's proposal ''fiscally irresponsible, logistically impossible and politically motivated.''
Another, Vincent F. Callahan Jr. of Fairfax, said the House left only $4 million unappropriated in its budget plan. Cranwell's plan would have begun cutting the tax in August, costing the state millions more in the first year than it has to spend, Callahan said.
''This is a budget-buster,'' he said.
Democrats countered, saying the state has a nearly $1 billion surplus and more extra money should be coming in as the economic boom continues.

Scottsburg native Thomas G. Snead Jr., 45, will assume chief executive officer's duties at Trigon Healthcare Inc. in April, Trigon officials announced this week.
Norwood H. Davis Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Trigon Healthcare who has led Virginia's largest health insurer for almost 20 years, will step down as CEO at Trigon's annual shareholders meeting on April 28 of this year. At that time Snead will assume the CEO position in addition to this current role as president and chief operating officer, it was announced Wednesday.
Davis, 58, announced in a written release that he will retire from the company in April 2000, following a yearlong leadership transition.
Davis will remain active with the company as chairman until his retirement next year, when Snead is expected to be appointed to that position by Trigon's board of directors.
"It's the right time for the company and for me," said Davis in announcing his decision. "The company is in excellent shape and in a solid position to capitalize on and, indeed, exploit the uncertainty in our industry.
"For me personally, I have been with Trigon for more than 30 years - virtually my entire professional career- 18 years as CEO and six years prior to that as the chief operating officer," he continued. "There are a number of personal interests I want to devote more time to, including certain community activities."
Snead earned a B.S. with honors, Accounting, Virginia Commonwealth University in 1976.
He joined Trigon in 1985 as manager, Subsidiary Finance. He held the positions of financial compliance director, accounting and budget director and group business financial officer. He was appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer in 1990 and elected president and chief operating officer in 1997.
Snead and his wife, Vickie A. Miller Snead, are the parents of two children, Christen 13, and Lauren, 10.

Debra Laska Martin, the 40-year-old Halifax woman convicted of embezzling $7,800 from the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority, cried silently as she was sentenced to serve another year in jail Wednesday in Halifax County Circuit Court.
Halifax County Circuit Court Judge Charles L. McCormick III suspended all but one year of a 34-year sentence on the condition that the former temporary secretary for the IDA continue to pay the remaining restitution and remain on good behavior for a 34-year period.
Martin, who pleaded guilty to 16 counts of felony embezzlement and two misdemeanor embezzlement charges October 22, 1998, was sentenced to serve two years in prison for each of the 16 felony counts and one year for each of the two misdemeanors.
After studying the presentence report at length, McCormick suspended all but one year and ordered Martin to serve out her time in jail. She is currently serving a six-month jail term for violating the terms of a sentence from a prior conviction.
Court records indicated that Martin was first convicted and sentenced in December of 1994 for embezzling and estimated $10,000 from N.C. Mobile Home Corporation, which then owned and operated Hometown USA mobile home sales in Riverdale.
She pleaded guilty and was given a suspended 10-year prison sentence on condition of her good behavior for 10 years, ordered to perform 200 hours community service and pay the cost of court.
The second offense involving the embezzled funds from the IDA violated those conditions, resulting in the six month jail sentence that Martin began serving January 11.
Martin's one-year jail sentence will begin when the six-month term is completed. McCormick also ordered Martin to pay the remaining balance, $776, she owes in restitution to the Halifax County IDA. At the time of her release she will be on two years active supervised probation.
The short time Martin has spent behind bars has effected her profoundly, according to her testimony.
Often shaking and sobbing, Martin described her time in jail as a nightmare.
"It has opened my eyes because it is a nightmare. The language I hear around me every day, having my freedom taken away from me.....I know I'm supposed to be punished. I did something out of desperation and now I'm even more desperate," Martin testified. "It's just awful in here."
According to Martin, she committed her crimes out of desperation born from a bad marriage and overwhelming bills from keeping her ailing father in a local nursing home.
"I was stealing because I couldn't pay my bills and take care of my father," Martin testified.
But her tales of woe did not sway Commonwealth Attorney John Greenbacker, who called Martin a "manipulative sociopath."
"So you were stealing to make ends meet? You want the court to believe you were destitute," Greenbacker challenged.
"No, I wasn't destitute, I was desperate," Martin replied.
Greenbacker pressed for a long sentence, predicting that, given Martin's history, she was likely to continue her criminal activities.
"She's not going to stop. She's been doing this for years and years and years," he said. "You saw her true colors today up there boo-hooing and carrying on until she was caught in a lie. She is a manipulative sociopath. She was prepared to lie through everything until we presented her with the truth."
McCormick also expressed doubt in Martin's ability to change her ways, but provided her with one more chance to try after she pays for her crimes.
"I would have thought, going through all that (previous trouble), you would have kept yourself out of trouble. I don't see any excuse for it whatsoever," McCormick said before sentencing Martin. "She had her opportunities in the past, and did not make the best of them. I would have thought she would have made every effort to keep herself straight, but she didn't, and now she's just going to have to pay the price."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A state Democratic leader says party  legislators will take a low-key approach to the dispute between  U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, D-5th, and party officials in his district.
''Our feelings were it would all die down by this time next year,'' House Democratic Leader C. Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County said Tuesday. ''We're all just going to make some personal calls to Virgil.''
Fifth District Democratic Chairman Carl Eggleston has been critical of Goode for his independent voting streak, including his vote in favor of impeaching President Clinton.
''Virgil has been a loyal Democrat for years and years,'' Cranwell told The Roanoke Times. ''I don't think I should counsel Virgil on how he should vote on impeachment. That is such a personal thing. i think Virgil voted his conscience, and I think everybody needs to understand that.''

The Halifax Police Department with assistance from the Halifax County Sheriff's Office arrested an Alton teen and two juveniles on drug charges Wednesday.
According to reports from the Halifax Police Department, officers arrested David Allen Crews, 18, of Alton, along with two male juveniles after receiving a tip from a resident at the Harding Street Apartments, where the incident occurred.
Crews was charged with possession of marijuana and trespassing and released on his own recognizance. The two juveniles were released to the the custody of their parents pending the issuance of petitions from the Halifax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Seized during the arrest was a blunt cigar containing marijuana, and a bag containing approximately one ounce of marijuana.
The resident of the apartment was not at home during the time of the arrest, but is cooperating with the police in the investigation.
Halifax Police Chief S.P. Sweeney and Lt. G.T. Stanley, and Sgt. J.K. Henderson (HCSO), Lt. S.M. Cassada (HCSO), and Halifax County deputies T.K. Redd, D.H. Barksdale, Q.W. Clark, and M.R. Thompson participated in the arrest.

A deafening blast splits the quiet spring afternoon as Larry Hogan fires his homemade cannon in a salute to the memory of his great great grandfather, Captain John C. Gregory.
Hogan considers the legacy left by his great great grandfather to be as valuable as any rare Civil War artifact, and is proud to share his family's history.
"My family has lived on this land since 1768," Hogan states, gazing fondly at the woods and fields surrounding his home on Hogan Road. "It all started with Jonathan Eggleston Baynahum III, a surveyor for the King of England, who came here around the same time as surveyor Aaron Penn."
According to Hogan, Baynahum claimed the farm, and at the time of his death it was passed down to his young daughter, Joanna Baynahum.
As she was only 17 at the time, Hogan explained, two administrators - Steven Y. Poole and John C. Gregory - were assigned to help with the young woman's legal matters.
"Well, Joanna and Gregory got married and had three children. Only one - her name was Katie - stayed here on the farm," Hogan recounted. "She eventually married an old, rough Irishman, Joseph Hogan, and they had a son, John Hogan, my grandfather. My father was James Hogan."
While Hogan claims to have a terrible memory when it comes to names, he has no trouble at all recalling the names of these ancestors.
"My great great granddaddy John C. Gregory put together one of the largest troops in Halifax County at the start of the Civil War - the Third Regiment of the Virginia Infantry. They were all volunteers from around these parts and were known as the High Hill Greys," Hogan said.
"They left from here and went to Camp Winder near Richmond, where they were stationed for training before fighting in the Seven-Day Battle of Richmond," Hogan continued.
Following this battle, Gregory had the misfortune of contracting typhoid fever, which was common during that time, Hogan explained.
"Because he was so ill, he decided he wanted to die at home. So they loaded him onto a buckboard and he made the trip all the way back so he could die here," Hogan concluded.
Gesturing at a neighboring hilltop, Hogan described how his great great granddaddy was buried beside the twin oaks that used to tower over the old homeplace, which has since succombed to the ravages of time.
"There's only a pile of bricks from an old chimney left there now," Hogan said.
When the United Daughters of the Confederacy called Hogan last year and told him they wanted to dedicate a monument in honor of Capt. Gregory,
he was delighted.
It was during a field trip with his daughter to Williamsburg that he came up with the idea of building a replica of an old civil war cannon to go with the monument.
"I saw some cannons there at the mansion and made some sketches of them because I knew I could build one," said Hogan, who runs his own business rebuilding and repairing small engines.
He came up with a pair of wheels and an axle he estimated to be about a hundred years old and then began his search for an appropriate barrel.
"I searched through a bunch of salvage and junk yards, and eventually came up with an industrial strength steel tube that can withstand 3,500 pounds of pressure," he said. "Then I bought and old broke shotgun and fixed it, and got a firing mechanism from Cole's Gun Shop and some special black powder shells (blanks) so it'd be realistic with smoke and all when it was fired."
Hogan explained that he even got in touch with the ATF to make sure his creation was completely legal.
"They told me as long as I left at least 18 inches of the barrel intact, it was legal. Any shorter and it'd be a sawed-off shotgun. Now it's just a great big shotgun with wheels, and they said there aren't any laws about that," Hogan said.
For safety's sake, Hogan uses only blanks in the 12-pound replica cannon, but it sounds real enough when he pulls the cord.
"If we'd had one of these, we probably would have won the war," he joked.\

Jean Boxley Hubbard of 705 Woodbrook Avenue, South Boston died Tuesday, February 16, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 64 years of age at the time of her death.
Ms. Hubbard was born in Halifax County on May 24, 1934 the daughter of Willie Boxley and Daisy Smith Boxley. She was a member of First Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Lavern Fountain and Lorene Hubbard Daughtridge, both of South Boston; two sons, Tony Hubbard and Matthew Hubbard Jr., both of South Boston; two grandchildren; three sisters, Shirley Jones and Yvonne Boxley, both of South Boston and Patricia McIvor of Nathalie.
Funeral services for Ms. Hubbard will be held Sunday, February 21 at 2 p.m. at the Chapel of Jeffress Funeral Home with Elder Larry Burrell officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Garden Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Isabell Edmunds Marable of 107 Forest Trail, South Boston died Tuesday, February 16,1 999 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 67.
Mrs. Marable was born in Halifax County on January 29, 1932 the daughter of Thunder Edmunds and Doshie M. Jackson Edmunds and was married to Otis Marable. She was a member of Union Grove CME Church.
Survivors include five daughters, Elizabeth Edmonds, Inez Ferrell and Carolyn Ferrell, all of South Boston, Cornelia Sparrow of Halifax and Mary Jones of Danville; four sons, William Henry Ferrell and Connell Ferrell, both of South Boston, Earl Ferrell of Phoenix, AZ and James Ferrell of Halifax County; 25 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; one sister, Linda Faye Marable of Halifax; and one brother, Wilbert Edmonds of Richmond.
Funeral services for Mrs. Marable will be held Saturday, February 20 at Union Grove CME Church with Rev. Ronald Dean officiating. Burial will follow in Wesley's Chapel CME Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Dorothy Wylie Powell of 2335 Dryburg Road, Scottsburg died Thursday, February 18, 1999 at Duke Medical Center in Durham, NC at the age of 73.
Mrs. Powell was born in Halifax County on February 8, 1926 the daughter of William Wylie and Nannie Brooks Wylie and was married to James H. Powell Sr. She was a member of St. Matthew Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Lola M. Powell of the home and Mary L. Edmonds of Drakes Branch; five sons, James H. Powell of Stafford, Dennis F. Powell of the home, Richard N. Powell, Bobby R.Powell and Messiah E. Powell, all ofScottsburg; 19 grandchildren; two in which she reared, James A. Powell and Tiffany C. Powell of the home; one great-grandchild; five sisters, Ida Mosley of Newark, NJ, Josephine Hill of Ossining, NY, Irene Smith of Atlantic City, NJ, Nannie B. Wylie and Gladys Powell, both of Clover; two brothers, Curtis Wylie of Albany, NY and Royal Wylie of Charlotte County.
Funeral services for Mrs. Powell will be held Sunday, February 21 at 3:30 p.m. at St.Matthew Baptist Church with Rev. Whitfield Scott officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends Saturday evening at the Chapel of Jeffress Funeral Home from 7:00 until 8:00, and other times at the home.