By LAURIE ASSEO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled today the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, rejecting the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative.
Ruling 5-4, the justices said the Food and Drug Administration overreached when it reversed a decades-old policy in 1996 and sought to crack down on cigarette sales to minors.
''We believe that Congress has clearly precluded the FDA from asserting jurisdiction to regulate tobacco products,'' Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court.
''By no means do we question the seriousness of the problem that the FDA has sought to address,'' O'Connor said. ''The agency has amply demonstrated that tobacco use, particularly among children and adolescents, poses perhaps the single most significant threat to public health in the United States.''
However, she added, ''It is plain that Congress has not given the FDA the authority that it seeks to exercise here.''
President Clinton, traveling in India, issued a statement that said, ''If we are to protect our children from the harms of tobacco, Congress must now enact the provisions of the FDA rule.''
O'Connor's opinion was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.
Dissenting were Justices Stephen G. Breyer, John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Writing for the four, Breyer said the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act allows the FDA to regulate tobacco. ''Far more than most, this particular drug and device risks the life-threatening harms that administrative regulation seeks to rectify,'' he added.
Mark Smith, spokesman for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., said, ''Business and industry throughout the nation ought to breathe a sigh of relief. The highest court in the land has confirmed that a federal agency cannot on its own go beyond its limits of authority set by Congress.''
The Justice Department had no immediate reaction to the ruling.
John F. Banzhaf of Action on Smoking and Health, which supported the government's appeal, said he was disappointed but not surprised and said the ruling ''will put tremendous pressure on Congress, especially during an election year, to ensure that nicotine does not remain the only totally unregulated drug.''
On Wall Street, most tobacco stocks gained ground after the ruling. Philip Morris was up 43 3/4 cents at $20.37 1/2 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where R.J. Reynolds Tobacco was up 43 3/4 cents at $16.93 3/4, and Loews, which owns Lorillard, was up $1.75 at $46.75. But the U.S. shares of British American Tobacco, which owns Brown & Williamson, were down 62 1/2 cents at $9.62 1/2.
The Clinton administration called the 1996 initiative the FDA's most important public health and safety effort in the past 50 years. The best way to cut down on smoking is to reduce the number of teen-agers who start, officials contended.
The tobacco industry has been under increasing pressure for selling a product the American Cancer Society calls the leading cause of cancer. The Justice Department is suing the industry, which already has agreed to pay the states $246 billion for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.
The nation's largest cigarette-maker, Philip Morris Co., acknowledged last October that smoking is addictive and causes cancer. The third-biggest company, Brown & Williamson Tobacco, said in April 1999 that smokers ''are taking significant health risks.''
In February, a Philip Morris Co. executive said the company was willing to discuss some government regulation of the tobacco industry, but that the company still opposed the FDA's effort to regulate tobacco as a drug.
The FDA said for decades that it lacked authority under a 1938 law to regulate tobacco so long as cigarette makers did not claim that smoking provided health benefits.
But it reversed itself in 1996, saying it could regulate tobacco because of new evidence that the industry intended its products to feed consumers' nicotine habits.
All 50 states already ban tobacco sales to anyone under 18. In addition to adopting that as a federal rule, the FDA required stores to demand photo I.D. from all tobacco purchasers under age 27 and limited vending-machine cigarette sales to adults-only locations, such as bars.
Tobacco companies sued, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1998 that the FDA could not regulate tobacco. The court said that decision is up to Congress, which previously has banned broadcast advertising of tobacco, prohibited smoking on airlines and required warning labels on cigarette packages.
During arguments before the Supreme Court last December, Solicitor General Seth Waxman said the FDA can regulate tobacco as a drug because nicotine is ''highly addictive'' and acts as a stimulant, a sedative and an appetite suppressant, and also feeds smokers' addictions.
Forty states backed the government's appeal.
But the tobacco industry's lawyer argued that if FDA regulation were allowed, the government would be forced to ban tobacco products because they have not been shown to be safe.
O'Connor's opinion noted that the FDA has concluded that cigarettes are unsafe and dangerous. As a result, she said, federal law ''would require the FDA to remove them from the market entirely.''
''The inescapable conclusion is that there is no room for tobacco products within the (federal law's) regulatory scheme,'' she wrote. ''If they cannot be used safely for any therapeutic purpose, and yet they cannot be banned, they simply do not fit.''
Breyer said he did not believe the law would require a ban on cigarettes.
He also said the fact that only 2.5 percent of smokers manage to quit each year ''illustrates a certain reality - the reality that the nicotine in cigarettes creates a powerful physiological addiction flowing from chemically induced changes in the brain.''
All 50 states have reached settlements in which tobacco companies will pay them $246 billion for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. Cigarette billboards around the country were taken down last year as part of that agreement.
The case is FDA vs. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 98-1152.
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On the Net: For current Supreme Court decisions: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/ and click on ''this month's decisions.''

The Halifax County School Board adopted a record $43.3 million 2000-2001 school budget Monday night.
And, it did it without compensating for a $389,000 difference between what it needs to finance that budget and the local money the Board of Supervisors is apparently willing to spend for local education.
The $43,382,172 budget package will require $13,299,661 in local funds, $3,479,304 more than the current year's local appropriation.
A proposed county budget contains $12,910,601 in local funds for schools.
The next step as far as the School Board is concerned is to hold a public hearing on its budget.
That will take place Monday night, April 10, at its regularly scheduled April meeting.
The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the school budget on April 20.
Final approval of the school budget by the Board of Supervisors must come by May 1.
One way or the other, the $389,000 difference will be resolved.
School system officials are hoping that the Board of Supervisors will see fit to close the gap by appropriating more money.
If supervisors do not close the gap, school system officials say they have a means to help offset the gap.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt told the School Board Monday that approximately $300,000 in state lottery funds could be made available to help close the gap.
Last May, the school system received $467,788 in lottery fund revenues from the state.
Because that occurred so close to the end of the school system's fiscal year, none of that money was spent.
The School Board asked the Board of Supervisors to reappropriate that money to the school system coffers this year.
Some of that money has been pegged to cover the cost of the additions and renovations to the county school bus garage facility and the construction of a new concession stand/restroom complex at Tuck Dillard Stadium.
School system officials say they anticipate approximately $300,000 to be left after that, which supervisors could put toward next year's school budget.
That would leave school system officials to come up with an additional $89,000.
"If we come up short, we'll have to go back into the budget and find $89,000 from various and sundry categories to cover that shortage," Witt said.
At the heart of the budget deficit is a major change in the composite index, a factor used to determine the amount of state funds distributed to each locality.
Halifax County's composite index has jumped from 23 percent to 38 percent.
The change in the composite index means that instead of the county having to fund 23 percent of the educational budget, it will have to fund 38 percent.
State officials gave Halifax County a five-year moratorium from increases in the composite index in the wake of the consolidation of Halifax County and South Boston schools.
The county's composite index would have moved up during the five-year period.
However, the moratorium granted by state officials allowed Halifax County to avoid those increases over the five year period.
The School Board budget contains funding to provide an average 2.4 percent salary hike for all employees and six additional positions that include two K-12 classroom teachers, two Special Education teachers and two Special Education aides.
In addition, the budget contains funding for the purchase of 10 replacement school buses, a move that will allow the school system to stay on track with its 12-year replacement cycle.
The budget also contains funding that will allow the school system to increase its monthly contribution to employee group health insurance premiums from $160 per month to $170 per month.

In response to a letter from Del. W.W. "Ted" Bennett, supervisors and South Boston Town Council reaffirmed the John Randolph Bridge project as their 2000-2001 VDOT Six-Year Transportation Plan top priority during a joint meeting Monday night.
Bennett had asked the officials to rank the John Randolph Bridge project and an "unresolved" bypass around Riverdale.
"There is not enough money for both," Bennett explained, following approval by the General Assembly of a $2.6 transportation package that included $30 million earmarked for U.S. 58.
"If we lose that, we have really lost something," Mayor Glenn Abernathy said of the bridge project.
The Route 360 John Randolph Bridge project includes the four-laning of Route 360 from its intersection with Route 58 north to Hodges Street, as well as necessary improvements for the bridge over the Dan River and the construction of a new bridge at that location.
Last month, the Board of Supervisors also requested the Commonwealth Transportation Board to consider reactivating the U.S. Route 58 bypass study in the Riverdale area.
Jerry Lovelace, assistant county administrator, told officials that design and right-of-way acquisition for the bridge project were in progress, which is not the case for a bypass.
In other road matters, supervisors heard a status report on the partial abandonment of Route 812, but decided to wait until April to take action.
Supervisors authorized the posting of the road at their February meeting, seeking public comment on the proposed abandonment. Only one letter, a letter of support for abandonment, was received, according to a county official.
A letter from the Commonwealth Transportation Board also raised no objections to the abandonment, however, the board noted that it would not take the road back into its system in the future unless the road met required standards at that time.
Supervisors and the South Boston Council also gave their support to Supervisor C.W. "Corky" Rorrer's request to VDOT seeking a Route 360 crossover into the Brentwood subdivision.
"It's a hazard," Rorrer told town and county officials prior to their vote of support.
This subdivision is fully developed with approximately 75 houses and this would improve the safety at this location by eliminating U-turns at the traffic light and at Ash Avenue," Rorrer wrote VDOT Resident Engineer Joe Barkley II.
Rorrer asked Barkley to forward the request to the Lynchburg District office for consideration during the Pre-allocation Road Hearing.

Paying out-of-town water/sewer rates to South Boston is making a county resident's Laundromat and car wash business "economically marginal," Halifax attorney Don Bagwell told supervisors and South Boston officials Monday night.
County and town officials listened to the request by Double Bubbles property owners Mark and Phyllis Repokis and set an April 17 public hearing for comment.
Bagwell said that since last July the town's rates had increased the firm's water/sewer bill approximately $8,000, to an annual level of approximately $22,000.
It is because of the rates for out-of-town customers that the firm's owners want to be taken into the boundary of South Boston.
"It will allow them to grow their business," Bagwell said. "The water rates are pulling the economic lifeblood out of their business."
The attorney also noted that businesses near Double Bubbles are within the town.
South Boston Councilman Richard Pond asked why Double Bubbles was not within the town, however, neither supervisors nor councilmen could answer Pond's question.
Landfill
South Boston and county officials think it will be May before they begin joint use of the town's landfill.
"I don't anticipate DEQ (the Department of Environmental Quality) objecting," Town Manager Ted Daniel told supervisors during the joint town/county meeting Monday night.
"We have been talking to DEQ regularly," he added.
The county and town agreed earlier this year in a Memorandum of Understanding to use the town's landfill until it is filled for closure.
Both the town and county are facing increased pressure from the General Assembly and DEQ to close 1205 unlined landfills.
To cap South Boston's landfill, the town needs more trash or it will have to buy dirt to fill the site to the proper height.
The county needs to address design problems in one section of its Bethel landfill.
In other business, supervisors set an April 20 public hearing on the budget.
Supervisors also asked that the value and condition of six Town of Halifax radios being offered as part of an exchange package for three used county cars be determined.
The town also offered the county use of its new antenna for radio transmission as part of the deal.
The county is seeking a communications system for its General Properties department. Supervisors decided to review the matter again at their next meeting.
At an earlier meeting, the car committee had voted to reconfirm supervisors' decision last month to sell the used county cars at public auction.
Supervisor R.E. "Dickie" Abbott said that it was impossible to know what the county cars might bring at auction.
During the Monday session, supervisors also approved the proposed South Boston Speedway's schedule. A tentative opening date has been set for April 15.
Supervisors went into closed session twice following the Monday night meeting, once to discuss applications for the county administrator's post and one to discuss an industrial or business prospect. Approximately 25 applications have been received by supervisors for former County Administrator Dan Sleeper's post.

By Michael Paige
Tall, lean and sporting a dry sense of humor within gray reconnoitering eyes is how you recognize the clean-cut and polished veteran of Desert Storm and chief of police in the Town of Halifax.
It was part of the training for Shawn Patrick Sweeney, the 34-year-old chief, who entered the U.S. Army after high school and was selected as a member of the prestigious Continental Color Guard for full-honor ceremonies in Washington, D.C.
Dressed in revolutionary garb, including the wig, and shouldering either a musket or bearing the American colors, Sweeney stood in review in the halls of the White House with door-opening details to give passage to American presidents and dignitaries.
"When the wind was up, it was really fun holding those flagstaffs," recalled Sweeney of the high-profile appearances with large flags on the parade grounds during the days of President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbechev.
Duty for Sweeney required photo opportunities with Newsweek and Time as he stood by the colors of the American flag in the White House, the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery; later he served as a member of an A-team, which placed him in the rather surreal position between Syrian and Egyptian troops in the desert of Kuwait.
Sweeney was born in Orange County, California, and traveled throughout the country and in Europe while his father, Patrick, now retired on a farm in Halifax County, served in the U.S. Army.
In 1984, Sweeney graduated from high school in Newport News and immediately went into active duty with the U.S. Army, which sent him into basic infantry school and airborne school at Fort Benning in Georgia.
While assigned with the 1st Unit of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, Sweeney applied for the Old Color Guard, and went through a screening process, which considered physical character, GT scores and background history, before he was selected and sent to Fort Myer in Arlington for training.
After six weeks of in-house training, Sweeney was assigned to Company E of the honor guard and served in the First Presidential Marching Platoon at the White House, at the Pentagon and for wreath-laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery.
Duty included funeral details and arrival ceremonies for high-ranking military officials and dignitaries of foreign countries.
"One square mile had been roped off at Arlington for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by then-President Corazon Aquino," said Sweeney in reference to Aquino's presence at Arlington, which had warranted a death threat to the Philippine president as "very probable."
Sweeney was assigned to open the door for Aquino as her limousine pulled up to the walkway entrance to the tomb.
Door-opening detail of bullet-proofed Russian limousines also provided rare moments for Sweeney as he viewed the interiors armed with Russian AK-47s.
During Gorbechev's first Soviet visit to the U.S., Sweeney was assigned with the Soviet's secret service.
"I recall a Russian colonel who approached to grab my arm to see if I had enough strength to pull open the door," said Sweeney referring to the armored car in which Gorbechev rode.
It was during the Bush administration when Sweeney applied for special forces and after a two-week selection process, he was transferred to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Sweeney was assigned as a Special Operations junior weapons sergeant and was trained in small and large caliber weapons, which involved the .9-mm pistol up to the .106-mm recoilless rifle.
Afterwards, it was on to military occupation specialty school, where, in nine months, Sweeney was taught tactics and operations of small units in leadership.
The training qualified Sweeney for duty with A-teams and after a program of learning Persian Farsi, an Iranian language, he was sent to the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
As an assistant operations sergeant, Sweeney coordinated training and resources for A-teams for intelligence and security requirements.
In August of 1990, Sweeney was deployed to Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia where his primary mission was to provide close air support for detached operations.
During Desert Storm, Sweeney was given the duty of training allied Arabs in the use of equipment.
"We lived with Arab troops and combined arms in mechanized infantry," said Sweeney.
"We used Saudi tents, ate Saudi food, acquired a serious tan and a taste for pita bread and bean paste," said Sweeney.
The food was mainly goats and chicken with boiled rice in the same water used in cooking a goat.
"I never quite acquired a taste for it," said Sweeney.
"And there definitely wasn't a lot of pork out there," added Sweeney.
Sweeney finished his service as an (E-7) Sergeant First Class in classified operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of the Army, Approved Special Projects.
After his enlistment ended, Sweeney applied for a job with the South Boston Police Department, where he served as an officer for two years.
Sweeney's parents, Patrick and Diane Sweeney, had moved to a farm in the Ellis Creek Community of Halifax County, where Patrick became involved with the Boys Scouts, and which had brought Shawn, his wife and two children to the area in August of 1994.
After another one and a half years with Sheriff Oakes, Sweeney worked as a part-time officer for the Town of Halifax and joined the Virginia Army National Guard at Fort Pickett.
In January of 1998, Sweeney was appointed chief of police in the Town of Halifax, where he now resides with his family.

By ROBERT BENNING
CLARKSVILLE - Retired Richmond postal worker and philanthropist Thomas Cannon, has reached out to the Southside area again to offer his assistance to two individuals undergoing treatment for cancer.
On Monday, March 13, The News-Progress reprinted an article from The Gazette Virginian of South Boston, titled "Community Aids Cancer Victim."
The article concerned the "Christy and Linwood Benefit Fund" set up to help pay chemotherapy treatment expenses for l6-year-old Christy Adams of Buffalo Junction, and 30-year-old Linwood Pruitt of Virgilina.
Adams, a junior at Bluestone High School, is undergoing treatments for Hodgkin's disease, and Pruitt is being treated for pancreatic cancer.
Their stories touched the heart of Cannon, who said he altered his current plans of bestowing one of his philanthropic gifts to another project in the Richmond area.
"This morning I was preparing to make a philanthropic gift to a project here in Richmond, when my copy of The News Progress came in the afternoon mail," Cannon wrote in a letter sent to The News Progress Editor Cathy Cochelin. "A story therein caught my eye and caused me to rearrange my philanthropic priority.
"It seemed to me that the arrival of your paper with that story was divinely timed to reach me before I fully committed to the other gift I had planned to make today."
Cannon pointed out the old saying that "charity begins at home," but added that he believes charity begins where the need is greatest.
"The need of Mr. Linwood Pruitt and Miss Christy Adams outweighs by far the need I was about to address prior to the arrival of your paper," Cannon said. "So I canceled my original plan and decided to address their greater need instead."
Due to their ongoing treatments, neither Adams nor Pruitt were available when contacted this week, but family members expressed their gratitude to Cannon, and others who have reached out in their time of need.
"Please tell him how grateful we are for what he has done," said Christy Adams' mother, Brenda. "There are not enough words to express how much our family and the Pruitt family appreciates the kindness and support that we have received from Mr. Cannon, and all the people in the community who have reached out to us."
Both Adams and Pruitt are "doing well" while undergoing regular treatments at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, but family members added that the two are often exhausted and left without energy following chemotherapy sessions.
Cannon also said in his letter that he hopes the gifts can bring "some measure of comfort and happiness" to them during their illnesses.
Anyone wishing to make donations are asked to make checks payable to the "Christy and Linwood Benefit Fund," c/o Nelson Motley, 1116 Siesta Lane, Virgilina, Va. 24598.

BY JOE CHANDLER
SPORTS EDITOR
The Burton Family seems to have taken a magical hold on Darlington Raceway.
In the last year or so, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton have all but acquired a share of ownership of the track touted as being "Too Tough To Tame."
Jeff Burton swept both of last year's races at Darlington. In the meantime, Ward Burton had an eighth place and second place finish.
Ward Burton added his name to the long list of drivers that have conquered Darlington with his dominating victory in Sunday's Mall.com 400.
"We didn't tame it today," the South Boston driver said.

"We just didn't hit anything."
The victory in Sunday's 400 mile gave the Burton Family a sweep of the last three races at the historic oval.
Ward's younger brother, Jeff Burton, swept both Darlington races last season. And, Ward finished second to Jeff in the Southern 500 last fall.
Jeff Burton finished fifth in Sunday's race, giving him his seventh consecutive top five finish at Darlington.
Not only that, Jeff Burton's third top five finish of the season allowed him to climb from 13th place in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series standings to ninth.
Ward Burton believes that the key to the success he and his brother have had at Darlington rests with their teams.
"I think we've been really fortunate to have good teams," Ward Burton pointed out.

"Obviously, Jeff's team has been putting good cars under him and he is a smart racer.
"I've had times here where I wasn't that good and, at times, real good," added Ward Burton.
"I think it's just now I've got a better team than I've had before and it is showing every week."
Jeff Burton pointed out that the recent family sweep there means a great deal.
"Man, when two members of the same family can win races in the Winston Cup Series, that means an awful lot," Jeff Burton said.
"Ward is a great driver and they have a great team. They just did a good job."
It was really more like a superb job.
Ward Burton led 188 laps, 154 more than any of the other six drivers that led the event.
He sped into the lead for the first time on lap 15, taking the lead away from Jeff Gordon.
Ward Burton led four other times in the race, including the final 37 circuits.
And, using an advantage his team gave him on the final round of pit stops, Burton pulled away to a two second lead over defending NASCAR Winston Cup Series champ Dale Jarrett with 30 laps to go.
Jarrett closed the gap some in the closing laps but Burton was never in any danger of being challenged.
"Darlington, besides Daytona, is the biggest place to win," Ward Burton said.
"This is the place that David Pearson, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison were winning races when I was growing up."
Burton added another bit of history with the win.
His win marks the third win by a Pontiac in 94 NASCAR races held at Darlington Raceway.
The last win for Pontiac was posted 37 years ago by the late Joe Weatherly in the 1963 Rebel 300.
"That's great," Burton said.
"Pontiac has been a great supporter of Bill Davis Racing and we're really happy to have a good run for Pontiac. We know we're going to Dodge next year, but Pontiac is still supporting our team.
"I've been very loyal and, so has the team, to GM and Pontiac and they have been awful good to us," Burton continued.
"It feels really good to get them in Victory Lane here."

Elwood Lee Clements, age 82, of Powhatan, a native of Halifax County, died March 19, 2000.
Mr. Clements was a member and a deacon of May Memorial Baptist Church. He was a former supervisor with Beaumont Learning, retired after 30 years of service.
Survivors include one daughter, Betty Jane Burruss and her husband, Pete, of Powhatan; two brothers, Ralph Clements of Cumberland and James Clements of Halifax; two sisters, Nancy Leonard and Frances Crews, both of Halifax; and two granddaughters, Shelley Cray and Ashley Burruss. He was preceded in death by his wife, Janie Fisher Clements; three sons, Ronnie, Douglas and Winston; and one grandson, John Burruss.
Funeral services for Mr. Clements will be held at 1 p.m. today, March 22 in May Memorial Baptist Church, Powhatan. Burial will be at 4 p.m. in First Baptist Church Cemetery of Republican Grove, Halifax.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider May Memorial Baptist Church.

Annette Hill Harris, age 39, of Philadelphia, Pa., died March 16, 2000, at her home.
Mrs. Harris was born July 7, 1960, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hill and was married to Jarious N. Harris.
Survivors include her husband, formerly of South Boston; one daughter, Tyria; one grandson, Tymir; her parents; one sister, Kathy Lee; two brothers, Andrew Hill and Karim Alif; her grandmother, Alsie Glover, all of Philadelphia; her father and mother-in-law, James E. and Ann R. Harris of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mrs. Harris will be held March 23 at 11 a.m. at Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

Virginia (Anne) Ratliff Kelly, age 56, of 1127 Newton Farm Road, South Boston, died March 20, 2000, at her home.
Mrs. Kelly was born in Halifax County on May 9, 1943. She was married to Aubrey Lee Chappell and was a member of Second Baptist Church. She was a retired machine operator at Tultex.
Survivors include two sons, Aubrey William Chappell of Haverhill, Mass. and Michael Lee Chappell of Halifax; one daughter, Angela Chappell Throckmorton of South Boston; one sister, Alice R. Crenshaw of South Boston; three brothers, Durwood G. Ratliff of Spartanburg, SC, Milton M. Ratliff and Riley L. Ratliff, both of South Boston; four grandchildren, Derek Shane Wright, Lauren Elizabeth Chappell, Jonathan Daniel Chappell and Megan Ryane Throckmorton; and a devoted companion, Ed Pritchard. She was preceded in death by her husband; one brother, Charles Stuart Ratliff Jr.; and one sister, Peggy R. Whitt.
Funeral services for Mrs. Kelly will be held at Second Baptist Church March 23 at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Jim Smith officiating. Burial will take place in Halifax Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home this evening, March 22, from 7:00 until 8:30, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the Halifax County Cancer Association, PO Box 875, South Boston.

Cecile Covington Lewis, 82, of Midlothian, formerly of Gretna, died March 21, 2000, in Brandermill Woods Health Care Center.
Born February 24, 1918, in Halifax County she was a daughter of Spencer E. Covington and Bessie Conner Covington and was married to Elbert Mason Lewis.
She was a graduate of James Madison College, a member of First Baptist Church of Gretna, a retired teacher with Pittsylvania County School System, a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, Honorary Teachers Society, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and active in the Pittsylvania County Special Olympics.
Survivors include three sisters, Virginia Hardie of Clover, Bernice Conner and her husband, Fulton of Nathalie and Patsye Irby and her husband, Carroll of Midlothian. She was preceded in death by a brother, Edward Conner Covington.
Funeral services for Mrs. Lewis will be conducted at 11 a.m. March 23 at First Baptist Church of Gretna by the Revs. Glenn Graves and H.V. Conner. Burial will follow in the Clover Cemetery, Halifax County.
The family will receive friends from 7:00 until 8:30 this evening, March 22 at Colbert-Moran Funeral Home in Gretna.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Patrick Henry Boys and Girls Plantation, PO Box 1398, Brookneal, 24528, or the Gretna Rescue Squad, PO Box 14, Gretna, 24557.