The Halifax County Redistricting Advisory Committee has finished its task of recommending a plan to redefine the election district boundaries within the county.
One plan out of four considered, known as "ND" and revised during the meeting, retains Election District 3 with a majority non-white population and with a black voting population in excess of 53 percent.
The plan also makes Election District 8 a majority non-white district, with a black voting population in excess of 52 percent.
According to "ND", the Town of Halifax is wholly within Election District Four, while South Boston is included within Election Districts 4, 5, 8, and a small portion of District 3.
The plan, although maintaining the same number of federally mandated non-white majority election districts, does not fully satisfy the request of South Boston Town Council for two election districts within town limits.
South Boston citizens are currently included in one comprehensive election district and portions of five others.
A resolution supporting council's position was adopted at its meeting last March, as well as requests that the Halifax County Board of Supervisors consider two districts for South Boston.
Two main reasons for council's request are complaints received from South Boston residents that they have to drive considerable distances in order to vote, and that the current election district set-up dilutes the voting strength of town residents.
Those issues were considered during the approximate two months of study by the committee, according to Joe Morgan, Halifax County administrator.
Morgan had previously said that the convenience of polling places, improvement of minority voting strength in two districts, and the reduction of the number of districts within South Boston were also concerns expressed by county supervisors.
Precinct line and polling place suggestions were prepared for three of the draft plans presented at Monday's meeting, with polling place locations placed to enhance voter convenience.
Carol Corker, senior planner of the Southside Planning District Commission, James W. Farrington, secretary of the electoral board, Judy Meeler, Halifax County registrar, and committee member Janie Luck recommended new polling place location availability be confirmed in preparation for adoption of the final redistricting plan.
According to Morgan, the committee's work was complex and often tedious, but that they worked to recommend a plan as equitable as possible for all the county's citizens.
Plan and redistricting information is available to the public, beginning today, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the conference room of the county administrative building,
Citizens wishing to have instruction on the use of computerized versions of the plans can come for a briefing between 4 - 6 p.m. on Wednesday to Friday, or call for an appointment.

The issue of year-round schools has been on the back burner for some time.
But Lisa Rosche and other concerned parents brought the issue back to the front burner Monday night - at least for a few minutes.
Rosche voiced concern to the School Board that she and others who have concerns about the Calendar for Alternative Teaching, a year-round school calendar proposed last summer by C.H. Friend Elementary School Principal Linda Owen, have yet to receive answers to a series of questions submitted to school system officials.
"The whole issue seems to be up in the air," Rosche said.
"Nobody seems to know what is going on."
Pointing out that Owen said it would cost approximately $150,000 to implement the program and that it would likely cost that much more if it were to be implemented at Washington-Coleman Elementary School, Rosche questioned where the funding would come from.
"Where are we going to come up with $300,000?" Rosche asked.
"We don't have the money to cover what we need now."
Rosche also noted concerns that have been raised about a loss of two to three weeks of instruction time that would occur in the calendar prior to the time the Standards of Learning tests would be administered.
"I don't know how the SOL scores are going to be raised missing two or three weeks of instruction time," she pointed out.
Halifax County School Board chairman Steve Anderson told Rosche that the issue of the C.H. Friend proposal and a possible year-round calendar is not a high priority issue.
He also pointed out that it is the feeling of the body that if the plan is implemented at C.H. Friend, it would also need to be implemented at the paired school -Washington-Coleman.
Anderson told Rosche that the staff at Washington-Coleman Elementary School is studying the plan to see if it is feasible to implement there.
"Once we get that information from Washington-Coleman as to the feasibility of the program at Washington-Coleman, we'll discuss the information to see if it is something we want to move forward on or if it's not going to work."
Anderson assured Rosche that the School Board will provide her and other parents opportunities to voice their opinions and have their questions answered before any action is taken.
"We're not going to do anything without your being aware of the timetable," Anderson said.
"After the report has been completed at Washington-Coleman, we'll get you the answers."
"The bottom line is, from our perspective, it (year-round school) is not going to happen anytime in the near future," added Anderson.
The Halifax County School Board earlier this year adopted the traditional school calendar for the next two years.
That marked the first time the school system has adopted a calendar for more than one year.
"It indicates the School Board is pretty much in favor of the traditional school calendar for the next couple of years," Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt said yesterday.
"There could be a message in that."
Witt said that while that is the case, the school system is always looking at new ideas and programs.
"We want to pursue good ideas and programs," Witt noted.
"Nothing will be implemented without public hearings, opportunities for parental input and opportunities and without responding to parents' concerns."
Other Matters
The Halifax County School Board voted 7-1 Monday night to advertise its proposed record $43,714,306 2001-2002 school budget for public hearing.
A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held May 14 when the School Board holds its regularly scheduled May meeting.
Action on the budget may be taken that night after the public hearing has been completed.
School Board member Carl Furches cast the negative vote.
---In personnel matters, long-time Halifax County Middle School assistant principal William M. Godwin Jr. will retire effective May 1.
The retirement of Godwin will open up a second assistant principal's post at Halifax County Middle School for next year.
Gail Bosiger, a current assistant principal, will take over as principal of the school on July 1, succeeding Bristol Martin Jr. who will retire at the end of the school year.
Also, former Halifax County High School head football coach Larry Smith, the man who guided Halifax County High School to the Group AAA state title in 1991, will retire from his post as social studies teacher at Halifax County High School at the end of the school year.
Smith is leaving to take a head football coaching job at a Charlotte, N.C. area high school.

Former Halifax County High School golf coach and long-time driver education teacher, Wayne Lloyd will also retire at the end of the school year.
Halifax County High School will also lose long-time womens physical education teacher Cynthia J. Kent to retirement at the end of the school year.
Also, Sinai Elementary School librarian, Frances C. Coleman, will retire at the end of the school year.

Some Democratic legislators challenged new lines wought by redistricting while others, including Republicans, lobbied to add or drop areas falling within the proposed redistricting plan during a Monday night hearing here.
About 35 people, including many state legislators, attended the redistricting hearing at Halifax High School. State Sen. Charles Hawkins chaired the session.
Challenges to the redistricting process are expected.
"But the story is that this election cycle finishes the transformation of Virginia from an agricultural state to an urban state," said Sen. Hawkins.
"If you look at the (population) numbers, the formulas are going to change and everything else is going to change."
Roanoke area Democrats Richard Cranwell, House minority leader, and Clifton Woodrum, aired their response Monday to the proposed plan, one that includes the division of Vinton and places Cranwell in the same district with Woodrum.
"We pointed out that the original hearings were not effective since there was not a plan out there. And now they are not allowing sufficient time," said Woodrum.
"To be honest with you, they've split precincts, they've split communities of interests. They've done all they can to cause political harm to Mr. Cranwell. But not only that, it has done injury to the people of Virginia throughout when they go in and split precincts and split communities and disperse common interests into disparate districts."
Will Woodrum fight the plan?
"Oh, absolutely. Until the last syllable of recorded time," he replied.
"My district is just an example of what is going on statewide," said Cranwell.
"The redistricting process is not about politics. It's about the changes that we have had in the demographic shift in our population."
Citing a proposal that would place delegates Ward Armstrong, Barnie Day and Tommy Jackson together, Cranwell said that the decline in population had not been so dramatic that the three needed to be put together.
"And the growth just to the north and just to the east of those three gentlemen has not been so drastic that we had to create two new seats in the House of Delegates. There was something else going on," suggested Cranwell.
"Political gerrymandering is not a constitutionally acceptable reason for drawing lines...," added the delegate.
Will he fight?
"I do not believe this thing will pass muster under Constitutional principles and I think that you are going to find that probably some state or federal judge will be ordering us back into session sometime in late July or August to redo this thing," Cranwell said.
However, Halifax County officials, pleased that the county remains intact in the proposed GOP-dominated redistricting plan, had only one suggestion.
Joe Satterfield, chairman of the Halifax County Board of Supevisors, and Aubrey Houghton, chairman of the Halifax County Economic Development Council's redistricting committee, both spoke on behalf of the county remaining whole in new House and Senate districts.
Satterfield also addressed the proposed 15th Senate district's new boundaries, suggesting that Albemarle be removed from the district.
"Our desire is to go east rather than north," said Satterfield.
"It's nothing against Albemarle," added the Board chairman. "It is about community of interests."
Satterfield said that Halifax County already "works so well with those counties to the east," citing common planning districts, councils and economic development objectives.
Frank Ruff, R-15th Senate District, told reporters following the meeting that he, too, would like to see the proposed 15th seat not include Albemarle, also citing community of interests considerations.
"The goal is for this to be a rural Southside district and to put suburban Albemarle into that mix really does damage to that whole concept," Ruff said. "It is really a non-workable situation."
While Albemarle wants to slow growth in its expanding region, Southside seeks new growth, explained the state senator.
"If this is not the issue today, it will be within a couple of years," added the senator.
With population explosions in Northern Virginia, as well as Tidewater population shifts, districts are spilling from urban into rural areas.
"In the Senate plan we have tried to keep people with their own districts as much as possible," added Ruff.
The proposed 15th Senate District includes Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Fluvanna, Halifax, Mecklenburg and Prince Edward, as well as part of Albemarle, Brunswick and Lunenburg counties.
During the public hearing Fred Ingram, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, asked that the proposed redistricting plan give his county a strong House of Delegates seat and that "Gretna precinct be put back into the major part of Pittsylvania County.
"Do not put Gretna in Franklin County," Ingram implored the three-man committee.
"One precinct (Gretna) moved back would give us a stronger county. If we could do this, we could hold the county together and move forward," Ingram said.
Retiring Del. W.W. "Ted" Bennett did not speak during the public hearing. Two Republicans, Keysville businessman Clarke Hogan and Charlotte County educator Nancy Carwile, have announced bids for the seat held by Bennett, a Democrat.
The proposed 60th House of Delegates district includes Charlotte and Halifax counties, as well as part of Nottoway and Prince Edward counties.
The House and Senate will continue working on their plans in the General Assembly this week. Ruff said yesterday that he expected their work to be completed next week.
The proposal then goes to Governor James Gilmore. The plan must also be submitted to the U.S. Justice Department for review..

Virgilina Elementary School Principal Aleta Fears has been placed on administrative leave in the wake of a recent alleged wrongful body search of fifth-grade girls at the school.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt said yesterday the Halifax County School Board has set an April 26 hearing for a personnel matter regarding allegations surrounding the incident and Fears' involvement in it.
Since the matter is considered a personnel matter, the 7 p.m. hearing on April 26 will be conducted behind closed doors in executive session.
Witt said Fears remains on administrative leave pending the decision of the Halifax County School Board.
Fears and attorney Edwin Gendron were present at Monday night's meeting of the Halifax County School Board.
The pair met with the School Board behind closed doors in executive session for a period of time Monday night.
Gendron declined to comment on the case.
He did say, however, that he had asked the School Board to postpone the hearing to the later date.
Approximately 25 persons, several of which were teachers at Virgilina Elementary School, gathered in the hallway outside the meeting room in a show of support for the principal.
They left after hearing about the rescheduling of the hearing.
Parents of three fifth-grade girls at Virgilina Elementary school have alleged that Fears acted improperly in conducting a body search of the school's fifth-grade girls in the wake of a theft of $30 at the school.
In a recent Letter To the Editor addressed to this newspaper, the three parents, Gina Bagby, Lynn Bowes and Pam Bowman accused Fears of wrongfully requiring all of the fifth-grade girls to remove their shirts so that she could check their bras to determine if one of the students had stashed the missing money inside.
The parents allege that the girls could have refused to submit to the search but did not refuse out of fear of facing disciplinary action.
"These children have been subjected to a body search through intimidation by threatening disciplinary action and we also feel that this was not conducted by following proper channels," the parents stated in the letter.
"We as parents feel our childrens' rights have been violated, and also ours."
Witt told the newspaper last week that school system policy prohibits strip searches.
"We have a policy of no strip searches," Witt stated.
"It is not uncommon to search a student if we have reasonable suspicion of drugs or weapons. If it (a strip search) is going to be done, the police or the Department of Social Services or some other agency will do that."
The search at Virgilina Elementary School occurred after a student left $30 on a classroom desk, went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast and returned to find the money missing.

South Boston Town Council tabled a discussion of proposed amendments to its town code regulating the discharging of firearms at its Monday meeting.
The Current Issues Committee considered the issue at its work session last week, determining the issue needed more scrutiny before any action could be taken.
South Boston Police Chief Jim Hall, who helped construct the proposed amendments to Town Code, commented during that meeting that every jurisdiction that he had served prior to South Boston had such an ordinance in place.
The ordinance, constructed to bring the town code in compliance with State Code, prohibits the firing of weapons within the town unless approved through a written permit issued by the town manager or his "duly authorized agent" to an individual landowner or lessee, for hunting purposes.
The proposed ordinance limits the use of muzzle-loading rifles, pellet-discharging shotguns, or any firearms greater than .22-caliber or bow and arrow for hunting on land that is 25 acres or more of contiguous area within town limits.
It also prohibits the use of dogs or a dog for hunting deer in town.
The proposed ordinance also prohibits the discharge of weapons "within 100 yards of any building, dwelling, street, sidewalk, alley, roadway or public land or public place within the town limits."
At Monday's meeting, Councilman Coleman Speece repeated his earlier concerns about the type of firearms allowed under the new ordinance, as well as the 100-yard buffer.
Speece, although commending Hall's efforts in introducing the ordinance, was concerned with the allowance of .22 caliber rifles for hunting purposes under the proposed ordinance, and suggested a 300-yard buffer as a safer alternative.
Council agreed to table the issue for discussion at a later date.
Public Hearings
Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution approving the submittal of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application after a public hearing on Monday.
No citizens spoke for or against the town's application to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for $800,000 in grant money for the Tobacco Warehouse District Revitalization Project.
Amounts totalling $173,000 are earmarked for building rehabilitation within the grant, along with $95,000 for blight removal and site clearance and $423,000 for economic development.
Funds of approximately $59,000 are projected for infrastructure improvements and $50,000 are earmarked for program administration.
The Town of South Boston will commit $307,000 for adaptive use of the Taylor Building as a factory outlet center, $77,000 for street, storm drainage and lighting improvements and $40,000 for architectural and engineering design services in Fiscal Years 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, for improvements in the proposed CDBG project area, provided the grant is received.
Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance authorizing the issuance of general obligation public improvement bonds to finance improvements to the town's water and sewer system and landfill closure projects after a public hearing on Monday.
The improvement bonds, in the maximum amount of $2.5 million, are meant as a loan in anticipation of EPA grant money or a future VRA loan, according to Town Manager Ted Daniel.
No citizen spoke in favor of or against the issuance of the bonds at the public hearing.
In final business, council approved the replacement of a town police vehicle which was declared a total loss as a result of a recent accident.
Budget Review
The Finance Committee met immediately after Monday's meeting to begin the review of town departmental budget requests for Fiscal Year 2001-2002.
Although the proposed budget calls for no tax increases, it does recommend that the fee for car decals be increased from $20 to $25.
A budget workshop is scheduled for April 23 at 5:45 p.m., at council chambers.

Halifax County has something of a score to settle when defending Western District champion Albemarle comes to town Friday afternoon for a Western District contest.
The Comets faced Albemarle five times last season, splitting their two regular season games.
Halifax County won a playoff game over Albemarle to decide the regular season title.
But the Comets lost a close game to the Patriots here in the Western District Tournament championship game and lost another close game to Albemarle in a semifinal game in the Northwest Region Tournament.
The Comets finished 18-3 last season with all three of its defeats coming at the hands of Albemarle.
That's why Friday's 5 p.m. game at Halifax County High School is one of the "big games" the Comets will face this season.
"At the beginning of the season there was a lot of talk and thought about what happened with us against Albemarle last year," said Comets coach Kelvin Davis.
"I think our guys are going to be really geared up. Our job as a coaching staff is to try to not let them get too emotional about this game.
"You can't be too emotional," added Davis, "and you can't be lacking in emotion either. You've got to try to mentally prepare them to be in the right mental frame of mind the day of the game."
There is no doubt that the players want this game.
Davis makes no bones about the fact that he wants the Comets to take this game, too.
"I want every ball game," Davis said.
"I look for us to go out and take every ball game."
Davis says he wants to see the Halifax County High School baseball field packed with Comets baseball fans Friday afternoon.
"We had good crowds for this game last year," Davis pointed out.
"Hopefully, the fans we had last year will remember what great games we had with Albemarle last year and will come out and support us and help us win this one."
There is a good deal of parity in the Western District this season, so much so, that it doesn't appear there is any one team that is going to be overwhelmingly dominant.
With a win Friday night over Albemarle, the Comets, now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the district, would be in no worse than a tie for the district lead.
"The Western District is tough this year," Davis said.
"This year it's going to boil down to the team that is the most mentally ready to play ball and the team that can get the hits and manufacture the runs.
"You can't look at the stats and see who has the better team," added Davis.
"All of the teams are pretty evenly matched."
The Comets will have some momentum on their side entering Friday night's game.
Coming off of weather-induced layoff that stretched for the better part of two weeks, the Comets, with the help of 20 hits, battered Franklin County 14-4 last Thursday.
The Comets followed it up with a big 7-2 Western District win over E.C. Glass Friday night on the road in Lynchburg.
"That was a big game for us," Davis said of the win over E.C. Glass.
"Glass is such a scrappy team that if you don't get some runs and get up on them early, they can hang around and make a very interesting game out of it.
"Our guys really showed up and played well," Davis continued.
"They went out there and hit the ball and manufactured runs when we guys on base."
While Davis may have had some initial concerns about how the lengthy layoff would affect his team, the players erased them quickly.
After trailing Franklin County 4-1 early in last Thursday's game, a three-run homer by Michael Priest tied the game to set the stage for the rout.
Davis said the layoff actually helped the team.
"We were able to use the time to do a lot of different things, do a lot of different drills," Davis said.
"We were able to try and work on a lot of different things like hitting to the opposite field, hitting up the middle and things like that, things that we may not have had an opportunity to do had we been playing two or three times a week."
After Friday night's game against Albemarle, the Comets will return to action on Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20 in the annual Halifax County Invitational Tournament.
The tournament will help prepare the Comets for an April 25 Western District game against GW in Danville.

Thomas Edward Robertson, 72, of Chase City, died April 7 at his home.
Mr. Robertson was born in Chase City on October 27, 1927, the son of the late Frank and Mary L. Robertson. He was a member of Rocky Mount Baptist Church, Skipwith, and employed by Owen Supply and Colgate Companies. He was married to Ruby O. Robertson who preceded him in death.
Survivors include two daughters, Cynthia R. Wilborne of South Boston and Rose R. Johnson of Jersey City, N.J.; three sons, Charles T. Robertson of South Hill, Ervin T. Robertson and Ernest C. Robertson, both of Chase City; 18 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Isabell R. Broadnax of Ansonia, Conn. and Jerlene Robertson of Bridgeport, Conn.; three brothers, Samuel L. Robertson of Richmond, William T. Robertson of Chase City and Woodrow Robertson of Ansonia.

Funeral services for Mr. Robertson will be held at 11 a.m. April 13 at Silone Baptist Church, Chase City, with the Rev. Willie L. Carter Sr. officiating. Burial will follow in Thyne Memorial Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Chase City.

Hattie Hamilton Ragland of Portsmouth died April 7 at Sentara Nursing Center.
She was born October 14, 1915, in South Boston, the daughter of the late Hattie Edith Wilkes Hamilton and Robert Ray Hamilton, and was married to J. Farley Ragland
Mrs. Ragland earned a B.S. degree in Elementary Education at St. Paul's College and a Master's degree at the University of Virginia. She taught all elementary grade levels and served as College Supervisor in Elementary Education at St. Paul's. She also worked at the State Department in Richmond as an assistant supervisor of elementary education and was promoted to the position of supervisor of Language Arts, becoming the first black to do so at the state level.
Some of her accomplishments were: serving a President of the State Department chapter of the Virginia Education Association; inclusion in Who's Who in Virginia based on professional achievements; production of outstanding script writing for the Governor's Conference on Reading, and appointment to the state selection committee for the 1979 Governor's School for the Gifted.
Mrs. Ragland was a member of Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club of Richmond and served as Grammateus and Basileus of Gamma Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in Lawrenceville and was a charter member of the Southside Chapter of Links, Inc.
Survivors include two daughters, Lucia R. Windley of Portsmouth and Irma R. Moore of Cleveland, Ohio; two sons, Leon C. Ragland of Chesapeake and Lawrence C. Ragland of New York City; granddaughters, Lauren M. Siggers, Angela M. Christopher, Cheryl L. Moore, all of Cleveland, Sonja M. Siler of Philadelphia, Pa., Jennifer N. Ragland of Chesapeake and Lynelle M. Ragland of Chapel Hill, N.C.; grandsons, Redell R. Windley and Marc. H. Windley of Portsmouth; seven great-grandchildren; and two goddaughters. She was preceded in death by two sons, James F. Ragland Jr. and Ray Hamilton Ragland.
Funeral services for Mrs. Ragland will be held at St. Paul's Memorial Chapel in Lawrenceville April 12 at 1 p.m. with Father Laughton D. Thomas officiating. Burial will follow in the Rose Garden Cemetery, South Boston. The Links, Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., respectively, will conduct memorial services at the chapel at noon.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the Parkinson's Foundation in her memory.

George William Hite, 63, of 1036 Wolf Trap Road, South Boston, died April 9 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mr. Hite was born in Mecklenburg County on July 13, 1937, the son of Clyde Hite Sr. and Evannah Buchannan Hite and was married to Dorothy Smith Hite. He was a member of Buffalo Baptist Tabernacle, and was retired from Rochester Button.
Survivors include his wife; his mother of Louisburg, N.C.; one daughter, Jean H. Clay of South Boston; one sister, Judy H. Murray of Oxford, N.C.; one half-brother, Clyde Hite of South Boston; one half-sister, Martha Ann Hite of South Boston; and one granddaughter, Bettie Marie Clay. He was preceded in death by his father, and one brother, Thomas Ray Hite.
A funeral service for Mr. Hite will be held at North Fork Baptist Church April 12 at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Bill LaWall officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends this evening at Brooks Funeral Home between 7:00 and 8:30, and other times at the home.