Monday, February 23, 2004

Ruff Backs Tax Increase, PM Tax Break
Southside Senator Said The Senate Needed To Bring A Plan To The Table For Negotiating Purposes

In what would appear to represent a strange dichotomy to many Southside residents, State Senator Frank Ruff, R-15th, voted in favor of a tax increase for Virginia residents and hours later voted for a tax break for one of the state's largest businesses.

After a proposed increase in the cigarette tax was removed, Ruff voted in favor of Sen. John Chichester's, R-28th, tax plan that would increase state sales tax, income tax, gasoline tax and motor vehicle titling tax, but would decrease the state's food and estate taxes.

The motion passed 27-12.

Yesterday, Ruff defended Friday's vote saying the Senate needed something to put on the table this week when the Senate budget is passed to the House for consideration.

"It's one of the toughest votes I've taken since I've been in Richmond," he said. "But it was important that we have certain things in the budget.

"There was no alternative left to vote for," the senator added. "It's either this or our side doesn't have anything to put on the table.

"If I had not voted for it I don't believe we'd be in a negotiating position (with the House proposal)," Ruff added.

The senator said he voted in favor of Chichester's plan "even though (he) was opposed to some of the things it contained" because he believes the version passed by the Senate will bear little resemblance to the final budget passed by the full General Assembly.

"I felt like I needed to vote for it because there are certain things that have to happen to stay in the mix as far as how the budget is designed," he said. "I don't believe that Chichester's proposal will be alive in a week or two."

Ruff cited health insurance and food tax issues as crucial to Southside.

"In much of the district, we're running high unemployment rates," he said.

"That means there are certain services that if we don't maintain them people will be out of their homes.

"If there isn't money to pay for these services, these people won't get the services their families need.

"If we aren't careful in Richmond and end up forcing local governments to raise taxes, then those households that are barely getting by will be in jeopardy," Ruff said.

"This is simply the first step in the process," he added. "Now the House and Senate will get together and what will come out will be a package that is less than the one proposed Friday.

"But we have to start at some point," the senator said.

Citing an interest in keeping tobacco viable in Virginia, Ruff also voted Friday in favor of a Henrico legislator's bill that will provide a $6 million annual tax credit to Phillip Morris for cigarettes exported to other countries.

The senator said he suspected there were some earlier agreements made that caused the cigarette giant to move its headquarters to Richmond.

"The reality is there were probably some commitments that were made for Phillip Morris to come down here to create jobs," he said.

According to reports published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch yesterday, a Norfolk legislator suggested the tax credit "smelled of an 'after-the-fact' kickback" to the company for locating in Virginia.

But Ruff said his vote simply reflected his interest in bringing jobs into Virginia.

"Anything we can do to bring jobs to the state is a plus for us," he said. "And I believe that to solidify that relationship with tobacco is important."

The motion passed the Senate Friday on a 22-17 vote.

N.C. Company Is Awarded Riverstone Steel Contract
Hercules Steel Beats Local Company For The Riverstone Project

A Fayetteville, N.C. company has been awarded the steel contract for the $10 million Building One Riverstone project, Halifax County Industrial Development Director Scott Morris said Friday.

Hercules Steel submitted the winning bid of $622,824, beating local company Lewis Metal Works by nearly $186,000.

Other bidders included Carolina Steel from Greensboro, Davis Steel & Iron from Matthews, N.C., and Steel Fab of Virginia out of Raleigh.

Morris said the Board considered all the bids on the projects, but "there was simply too much of a difference" to award the contract to the South Boston company.

"It was a bid situation that should go to the lowest bidder," he said. "When it's close, (the contract) should go to the local folks, but there were other bidders in between the winning bid and the local people."

The IDA director said the board put the steel bid out first because getting the raw materials to the building site can sometimes be a long process.

Price increases on steel also played a role in awarding the contract, he added.

"We separately bid out the steel ourselves to move the project along," Morris said.

"What essentially happened is we had a 30-day window to approve (the bid) before we had to negotiate," he added. "Knowing the steel prices are going up, it only makes sense to get the project moving forward."

Steel prices had jumped between 20 and 30 percent in the last month, according to the IDA director.

"This will allow us to lock in that price," he said. "The highest price in this bid is probably the lowest price we'd have gotten if we bid it a week later."
The full IDA board will hold contractor interviews today and tomorrow, Morris said.

"We hope to walk out of there with a preferred contractor or two that we can begin the bidding process with," he said. "The goal is to be able to get the contractor selected as soon as possible, but it's a big decision and they don't want to rush it."

Halifax Man Sentenced For Arson

A 23-year-old Halifax man was sentenced Friday to a total of 45 years in prison for two convictions related to the arson of two buildings.

Lawrence Edward Day was sentenced to five years in prison for burning/destroying a building belonging to Sharion G. Holbrook, and to 40 years in prison for burning/destroying an occupied dwelling belonging to Lawrence D. Day.

Judge Leslie M. Osborn suspended all but four years in prison for the second felony, conditioned on Day's good behavior for 45 years, and ordered Day to be placed on probation for one year upon his release.

Judge Osborn additionally ordered Day to pay a total of $29,031.23 restitution, $4,110 for the first offense, and $24,921.23 for the second offense.

• Mark William Womack, 25, of Vernon Hill, was convicted Friday of an amended indictment charging him with the wounding of Christopher Hammock.

Womack was additionally convicted Friday of a probation violation after a show cause hearing.

Judge Osborn sentenced Womack to five years in prison for the wounding of Hammock, suspending all but three years, conditioned on Womack's good behavior for 10 years.

Judge Osborn sentenced Womack to three years in prison for the probation violation, ordering that sentence to be served concurrently with the wounding conviction.

The court ordered Womack to be placed on probation for one year upon his release, and to pay $2,644.33 restitution to his victim.

• Jason Dean Tuck, 27, of South Boston, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for felony DUI (third offense).

Judge Osborn suspended all but four months in jail, conditioned on Tuck's good behavior for five years, and ordered Tuck to be placed on probation for one year upon his release.

The court suspended Tuck's operator's license indefinitely, and ordered him to abstain from alcohol.

Work release was authorized for Tuck.

• Xiu Cong Zhang, 40, of South Boston, pleaded no contest Friday to an amended indictment charging him with misdemeanor breaking and entering of Panda Inn restaurant, and to the misdemeanor assault and battery of Chun Zhang.

The Commonwealth nol prossed an additional indictment against Xiu Cong Zhang charging him with not possessing an operator's license.

Judge Osborn sentenced Xiu Cong Zhang to 30-day jail terms for both convictions, the sentences to be served concurrently, suspending all time conditioned on Zhang's good behavior for one year.

The court additionally ordered Zhang to pay $100 restitution, the result of his breaking and entering conviction, and to have no contact with the victim's family or the restaurant.

• Reginald Lavar Traynham, 25, of South Boston, had an indictment charging him with misdemeanor marijuana possession dismissed Friday in Halifax County Circuit Court.

Comets’ Title Bid Unravels
The Season Came To A Disappointing End For The HCHS Varsity Boys Basketball Team Thursday Night With A 73-56 Loss To GW

By JOE CHANDLER | G-V Staff Writer

Halifax County’s bid for a second straight Western Valley District title and a berth in the Northwest Region Tournament came apart at the seams Thursday night.

The Comets, shooting poorly and playing lackluster basketball, fell to archrival GW 73-56 here Thursday night in one of the two semifinal games of the Western Valley District basketball tournament.

Thursday night’s loss, the team’s third in a row, brought a disappointing end to what had otherwise been a good season.

“We didn’t want it,” said Comets coach Garrett Dillard whose team finished with an overall 14-9 record for the season.

“We didn’t play like we wanted it. Then, down the stretch, we fell apart.”

GW head coach Bobby Martin, whose team finished third in the regular season and catapulted itself into the district title game and a regional tournament berth with the win, said it was simply a matter of his team coming together and playing hard.

“We just played hard,” said Martin.

“When we play each other, 90 percent of the time it is who wants it the most.
“Nobody backed down,” he continued.

“Halifax is a heck of a team. They shoot the ball. They have great ballhandlers. We just played hard.”

The one shining component to the Comets’ game was the play of first-year senior Derrick Sprattley.

Playing in the biggest basketball game of his career, Sprattley led his team in scoring with 18 points, snared a team-high 14 rebounds, blocked two shots and made one steal.

“He had a great night,” Dillard said.

“What more can you ask out of a first-year senior in the biggest ballgame he has ever been in? We told the kids that if we could take his heart and give a little dab of it to everybody we would be a very good basketball team.”

Despite the shining performance of Sprattley, the Comets literally fell apart at the seams.

Showing little or no sign of team play, the Comets regressed into relying on the long ball to keep them in the contest.

It didn’t work.

The Comets shot a miserly 22-66 from the floor (33.3 percent) and registered a poor 7-30 mark from three-point range (23.3 percent).

Halifax County’s sharpshooters, Craig McCargo, Jeremy Jeffress and Quintin Brown, were held to 11, 10 and seven points respectively.

Jeffress, who was scoreless in the third quarter and pitched in five points in the fourth quarter, didn’t get off a shot in the second half until after the outcome had been decided.

“One thing we’ve always said is if we don’t shoot the ball well, we don’t stand much of a chance,” Dillard pointed out.

“We didn’t shoot it well at all tonight.”

Brown was the focal point of a key play late in the game that effectively sealed the win for GW.

The Comets trailed by 10 points at 58-48 when Brown was nailed with an offensive foul with 3:07 to play in the game.

Brown was then nailed with a technical foul after he stepped on the GW player he had bowled over in the process of committing the foul.

Those two calls fouled Brown out of the ballgame, taking away one of the Comets’ prime ballhandlers and shooters.

It touched off a sequence in which GW nailed four of six free throws to extend its lead to 14 points and pretty much put the game out of the Comets’ reach.
GW’s J.C. Chaney, who led the Eagles with 18 points, went to the foul line and made two free throws to put GW up 60-48.

The Eagles’ Eurich Carter then went to charity stripe to shoot his two free throws.

As he sank the first free throw, GW’s Marcus Hunt, who had been ill, collapsed at the GW bench and went into what appeared to be seizure-like symptoms.

The game was stopped for a lengthy period of time until rescue squad personnel could arrive, treat Hunt and transport him to Halifax Regional Hospital.

When play resumed, Carter missed the second free throw but GW grabbed the rebound and the Eagles’ Joe Bethel was fouled.

Bethel stepped up and made one of two free throw attempts to complete a sequence in which GW scored four unanswered points and extended its lead to 62-28 with 2:51 to play.

“We had told him (Brown) he had three fouls and not to do anything crazy,” Dillard said.

“You can’t do crazy things like step on the guy. It gave them (GW) four free throws instead of two and the basketball.”

Halifax tried to get back into contention when McCargo canned a trey and Jeffress hit two free throws to make it a nine-point game at 62-53 with 2:12 to play.

The rally was brief, however, as the Comets were forced to foul GW players on each ensuing possession in an attempt to stop the clock and get the ball back.

Chaney hit a pair of free throws with 2:07 to play to take GW’s lead back to 10 points.

Counting Chaney’s pair of free throws on that play, GW sank eight of 10 free throw attempts over the course of the next minute to run up a 69-53 lead with 1:17 to play.

From that point, the game was in the bag for GW which hit 24 of 36 attempts from the charity stripe in the game.

“I’m disappointed that on the night that the season is on the line we didn’t come out and lay everything on the line.” Dillard said.

“I don’t think we played a lot of team basketball. We didn’t work to create shots for people.

“In a game like that, when the crowd is screaming and yelling, you hope the kids remember what plays you want them to run and will come down the floor, call them and run them,” continued Dillard.

“We didn’t get a lot of that. We never got into any kind of offensive sequence.”
Just over a week ago, Halifax County was in the driver’s seat in the Western Valley District championship chase.

The Comets defeated Franklin County here at home on February 6 to gain sole possession of first place in the district standings.

But, the Comets didn’t get the job done against Franklin County when the two teams squared off again five days later as Franklin County downed the Comets 71-52 in Rocky Mount.

That left the Comets needing a win over GW in Danville in the final regular-season game to gain a tie with Franklin County and force a playoff game for first place and an automatic berth in the Northwest Region Tournament.
Unfortunately, the Comets let that one get away from them by missing two potential game-winning free throws near the end of regulation and lost by nine points in overtime.

Through the early stages of Thursday night’s semifinal game it appeared this contest was going to be every bit as close and intense as the first two games between the two teams this season.

After falling behind at the outset, the Comets put together an 8-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 2:21 left in the first quarter and held a 15-12 lead at the end of the first eight-minute quarter.

The two teams swapped the lead nine times in the second quarter before a 9-2 GW run in the final 2:08 in the first half gave the Eagles a 34-29 lead at halftime.

Halifax County lost its momentum after that and GW never trailed after that point.

GW opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run in the first minute and half to extend its lead to 40-29.

Sprattley got the Comets on the scoreboard for the first time in the second half with a three-pointer with 4:57 to play in the third quarter and Derek Brooks followed with two free throws a short time later that allowed the Comets to cut the GW lead to eight points at 40-32.

The Eagles came right back with six unanswered points to go up 46-32 with 2:45 left in the third quarter to put Halifax County in a hole it would not be able to climb out of.

“The first half was back and forth and that was the way we expected it to go,” said Dillard.

“We had a bad sequence at the end of the second quarter. We came out in the third quarter and had a set (an offensive set) and got a good look but we missed the shot.

“We scrapped but we weren’t making anything happen and they (GW) put it (the basketball) in the hole,” he concluded.”

Obituaries

Joseph Artist Lawson

Funeral services for Joseph Artist Lawson, 56, of Alton, will be held Tuesday, February 24, at 2 p.m. at Lawson Chapel Baptist Church in Roxboro, N.C.
The Rev. L. D. Logan Sr. will conduct the service, with burial following in the church cemetery.

Mr. Lawson died Friday, Feb. 20, at Danville Regional Medical Center.
He was born in Person County, N.C., on February 17, 1948, to Mrs. Mary Villines Lawson and the late Early Lawson. He was married to Mrs. Margaret Richardson Lawson and was a member of Lawson Chapel Baptist Church in Roxboro.

Mr. Lawson is survived by his wife, Margaret, of Alton, one daughter, Cathy Lawson of Alton, two sons, Antonio Lawson of Alton, and Alvin Lawson of Danville.

Also surviving are Mr. Lawson's mother, Mrs. Mary Villines Lawson of Virgilina, one sister, Ms. Queen Lawson of Virgilina, four brothers, Landers Lawson and Curtis Lawson, both of Virgilina, Floyd Lawson of Halifax and William Lawson of Columbia, Maryland, two grandchildren, Simone Lawson of Maryland and Alexis Lawson of Alton, a godson, Walter Gilmore of South Boston, one daughter-in-law, Chasity Lawson of Danville and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

The family will receive friends at the residence, 1076 Whitt Loop in Alton.

Mary Evelyn Lea

Mary Evelyn Lea, 79, formerly of Halifax County and Danville, died Friday, February 20, at The Roman Eagle Memorial Home.

She was born in Halifax County on May 22, 1924, a daughter of the late Floyd Joseph Lea and Annie Brandon Lea.

Miss Lea attended Averett College and was employed with Dan River, Inc.
She was a resident at Roman Eagle Memorial Home since 1984 and was a member of Connally United Methodist Church in Milton, N.C.

Miss Lea is survived by one nephew, J. Herbert Lea of Alexandria, and was preceded in death by one brother, John Thomas Lea.

Graveside services will be held Tuesday, February 24, at 10 a.m. at Connally United Methodist Curch Cemetery with the Rev. J. Allen Lovell officiating.

The family request that memorial contributions be directed to The Connally United Methodist Church or to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Blue Ridge Chapter, One Morton Drive, Suite 106, Charlottesville, Va. 22903

Charlie Edward Lipford

Deacon Charlie Edward Lipford, 73, of Leda Road, Nathalie died February 18 at Halifax Regional Hospital.

Deacon Lipford was born in Halifax County on February 27, 1930, the son of the late Samuel Lipford and Gracie Coles Lipford and was married to Irene White Lipford. He was a member of County Line Baptist Church.

Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Vivian A. Lipford of Washington, D.C. and Angela L. Mosley of Virginia Beach; one son, Charlie E. Lipford Jr. of Roxboro, N.C.; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; four brothers, Willie Lipford of Philadelphia, Pa., Raleigh Lipford and Ernest Lipford, both of Washington, D.C., and Johnnie Lipford of Baltimore, Md.; three sisters, Arlean Stone of Nathalie, Elizabeth Lipford of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Virginia Dixon of Columbus, Ga.

A funeral service for Deacon Lipford will be held today, February 23 at County Line Baptist Church with the Rev. Otis R. Dillard officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

John Leslie Puryear Sr.

The retired owner of Puryear Flowers, John Leslie Puryear Sr., died Friday at The Woodview.

Mr. Puryear was 95 years old.

Funeral services for Mr. Puryear will be held Monday, Feb. 23, at 2 p.m. at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel, with burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery in South Boston.

The Rev. Doug Martin will officiate.

Mr. Puryear was a member of Main Street United Methodist Church.
He was born December 13, 1908 in Halifax County, a son of the late Nannie Wilborn Puryear and Richard M. Puryear.

He is survived by one son, J. Leslie Puryear Jr., of Mexico, one daughter, Joncy P. Martin and her husband, Clutch, of Graham, N.C., 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

He was predeceased by one daughter, Aileene P. Murphy.

The family will receive friends after the funeral service at the home of Karen and Mike King, 2906 North Main Street, South Boston.

Robert Edward Wooding Sr.

Robert (Bobby) Edward Wooding Sr., 85, of Halifax County, died at his home on Saturday, February 21.

He was born in Halifax County on August 23,1918, the son of the late Robert Henry Wooding and Elizabeth Carter Wooding and was married to the late Louise Hendricks Wooding.

Mr. Wooding served as a Chief Petty Officer for the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Mr. Wooding won several awards for his work as a farmer and, in 1979, his work was recognized by the Soil and Water Conservation Commission with their Conservationist of the Year Award.

His work was a lso featured in the "Heart and Soil" documenteary produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

He was a longtime member and former deacon of Beth Car Baptist Church.
Mr. Wooding is survived by one son, Robert Edward Wooding, Jr. of Halifax, two daughters, Susan Wooding Newton and husband Danny of South Boston and Elizabeth Wooding and husband Kenneth Cady of Palmyra, and one grandchild, Anya Elizabeth Wooding Cady.

He was preceded in death by one son, Samuel Joseph Wooding.

Graveside services will be held at the family cemetery in Halifax at 10 a.m. Friday, February 27, followed by a celebration of life at Beth Car Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Halifax County Humane Society, P.O. Box 969, South Boston, Va. 24592; Halifax County Rescue Squad, 700 Hamilton Boulevard, South Boston, Va. 24592; or Halifax Regional Hospice, 2204 Wilborn Avenue, South Boston, Va. 24592.