Two masked gunmen robbed Fear's Store in Crystal Hill late Sunday night, according to Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Oakes.
No one was injured during the 11:30 p.m. incident. The two subjects, both of whom were wearing ski masks, left in an unknown direction of travel, Sheriff Oakes said.
An undetermined amount of money was taken during the robbery.
The two subjects were described as black males and one brandished what is believed to have been a small-caliber revolver at a clerk, according to the investigation.
The incident is being investigated by Sgt. T.E. Logan. Also responding during the Sunday night incident were deputies Q.W. Clark and K.B. Tribble.
Virginia Department of Corrections Officer Sherwood Forlines and his tracking dog responded to the scene during the initial investigation.
Anyone who would like to pass on information to the investigators may call the Halifax County Sheriff's Department at 476-3334.
If they wish to remain anonymous and possibly collect an reward, citizens may call the Halifax County Crimestoppers at 476-8477 or in South Boston, 575-8477.
Two uniformed South Boston Police "bike patrol" officers captured a driving-under-the-influence suspect Monday evening after a short chase in Sinai.
Lamont Boise Williams, 21, of Sinai was arrested after fleeing on foot from a car which was parked in a private driveway at the Westside Mobile Home Park, according to South Boston Police Chief Jim Hall.
SBPD Officer R.E. Redd and SBPD Officer D.W. Barker were on routine bicycle patrol at about 7:30 p.m. when Redd spotted Williams driving the vehicle, according to the investigation.
Redd knew that outstanding warrants were on file for Williams. When the two officers rode their bicycles to the residence where Williams parked, the suspect took off on foot, Chief Hall explained.
"The officers gave chase with their bicycles and caught him a short while later," Chief Hall said.
Williams was arrested for the outstanding warrants, which include driving under the influence, obstruction of justice, driving on a revoked license, and speeding 42 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to Chief Hall.
Those charges stem from his arrest after a traffic stop on March 26 in South Boston, he added.
Williams was charged Monday night with a second offense of DUI, since he was seen driving and exiting from the driver's side door of the Isuzu vehicle, according to the investigation.
He was released on bond pending his trial in the Halifax County General District Court on April 27.
By WALTER R. MEARS
AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - Kicking the habit is easily said, but hard to do - and not only for smokers. The federal government has tobacco habits too. So do states that are suing the industry for health damages.
Tobacco taxes are a staple in state budgets, often the first to be raised when there's a need for money. Sin taxes, they're called, meaning that smoking is a bad habit but a well-taxed one.
It would be more heavily taxed under the tobacco bill cleared for action in the Senate, another $1.10 on a package of cigarettes. The tobacco industry, which had been negotiating on terms of a settlement, seeking to protect itself by limiting smoker damage suits, balked at the restrictions in that bill and quit the bargaining.
President Clinton's budget counts on $65.5 billion in revenues under the now-shaky tobacco settlement - taxes and settlement payouts he wants spent on programs that include cancer research, education and child care. The Republican budget passed by the Senate would put the projected take into Medicare.
But there's more involved. There are jobs, 2 million or more,according to the industry. And there are tobacco farmers, part of the agricultural economy since colonial times, once subsidized by a government that now promises to protect growers while it tries to dissuade future smokers from using their crop.
The federal excise tax on cigarettes brings in about $6 billion a year.
The target of the tobacco legislation is an industry proven to have pushed cigarette smoking on teen-agers and even children in order to keep its markets for the future. The disowned settlement and the Senate bill are meant to keep young people from smoking.
Inevitably, that leads to the basic question of what to do about smoking generally. The restrictions in public buildings - the Capitol among them - in restaurants, workplaces and other settings aren't to deal with teen-agers. They are to deal with smokers, young and old.
Erskine B. Bowles, the White House chief of staff, summed up the administration's statistics:
- 430,000 smoking-related deaths a year.
- $60 billion in health costs linked to smoking.
- And this because of habits that began before the age of 18 for 90 percent of the nation's smokers.
In that same appraisal of administration policy, he said Clinton will insist on an anti-smoking plan that will ''protect our tobacco farmers and their communities.''
''We just want to make it clear to the people of Kentucky and North Carolina and other tobacco-producing states that we're not out to get tobacco,'' said Bruce Reed, Clinton's domestic policy adviser. ''We're just out to stop teen smoking.''
In Carrollton, Ky., on April 9, Clinton said ''every American recognizes that the tobacco farmers have not done anything wrong.
''You grow a legal crop, you're not doing the marketing of tobacco to children, and you're doing your part as citizens,'' he said.
But this decade's children are the next decade's adults, and the domestic market for a crop already heavily dependent on exports can only shrink under the curbs awaiting likely approval in Congress.
It is indeed a legal crop, but a harmful one. In combating illegal drugs, there is an effort to stop them at the source, not only to curb demand. That's a far different situation, but a dilemma nonetheless.
Clinton said the administration has no interest in putting the companies that make cigarettes out of business. But its policies are meant to have them do less business, by keeping young people from getting a habit that carries into their adult lives.
The president favors a program that would offer a buyout to tobacco farmers who want it, while controlling and protecting crop shares and prices for the rest. He acknowledged that no one has figured out how to tell a tobacco farmer with a straight face that there are other crops because the alternatives won't match the income.
The tobacco companies, meanwhile, are threatening to challenge the constitutionality of the proposed law that would supplant what they wanted as a settlement. They had agreed with the nation's attorneys general to pay $368 million over the next 25 years to settle 40 state lawsuits, with protection against future legal liabilities as their part of the bargain.
They balked at Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's bill to up the price to at least $516 billion, limit their legal protections, up the tax and restrict advertising.
No deal. But, perhaps, the basis for a law anyhow.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Walter R. Mears, vice president and columnist for The Associated Press, has reported on Washington and national politics for more than 30 years.
David Scott Vicks, 20, of River Road pleaded guilty Monday to felony counts of breaking and entering and grand larceny from the Friendly Corners Market on May 6, 1997.
He also pleaded guilty to a felony count of possession of burglary tools with the intent to commit larceny.
Vicks pleaded not guilty to a felony count of arson of the store, but was found guilty by Judge Clemens to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted arson.
Vicks and a juvenile were caught inside the store after a Halifax County Sheriff's Deputy noticed that an illegal entry had been made during the early morning hours of his patrol, according to the investigation.
Flammable liquid was ignited on the store's floor by Vicks, but was put out by a police officer, according to the investigation.
Vicks was found guilty of the charges by Circuit Court Judge Gerald O. Clemens in the Halifax County Circuit Court.
In other charges faced Monday by Vicks, two felony counts of breaking and entering and grand larceny from Jesse Spencer Recycling, also on Rt. 360, were dismissed.
He was represented by attorney Robert Morrison and prosecuted by Halifax Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jonathan Turner.
Vicks was allowed to remain free on bond pending his sentencing hearing set for the June term of court.
In other cases:
· Johnny Maryland Jones, 47, of Alton had a prior jury recommendation of 20 years in prison affirmed by Judge Clemens. Jones was convicted of felony counts of distribution of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
A jury recommended he spend 10 years in prison on each count to run consecutively, as well as a $5,000 fine on each count. The charges stem from incidents which occurred on November 12-13, 1996.
· Otis Briggs, 24, of the New Jersey State Prison, was sentenced to five years in prison on each of two felony counts of distribution of cocaine. The case stems from incidents which occurred on July 26, 1996.
The two sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The judge suspended two years, giving Briggs a three-year active term.
The prison time will also run concurrently for a prison term Briggs is serving in the New Jersey prison system on separate charges.
· Charles Pannell, 37, of Nathalie pleaded guilty to felony counts of distribution of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The incidents occurred on May 30, 1997.
Judge Clemens ordered a presentence report for the June term of court. Pannell will remain free on bond pending the hearing.
Keith Antonie Link, 26, of South Boston was found guilty of a felony count of possession of crack cocaine.
Link will remain free on bond pending a presentencing report that was ordered for the June term of court.
· Billy Edward Logan, 46, of Nathalie pleaded guilty to a count of making a false statement to purchase a firearm. The incident occurred on September 11, 1997.
Logan was allowed to remain free on bond pending his presentencing report ordered for the June term of court.
· Rashee'd Rodney Wallace, 26, of Danville pleaded guilty to a felony count of forging a summons to appear in court for reckless driving. He was remanded to jail pending his sentencing hearing scheduled for the June term of court.
Three people were injured during a single-vehicle wreck which occurred early Sunday morning in the Mount Laurel community, according to the Virginia State Police.
Penny Sue Roberts, 28, of Drakes Branch was driving a 1987 Honda on Rt. 746, 230 feet north of Rt. 603, when she lost control and crashed, police said.
She ran off the roadway in a curve and overturned several times. Roberts was injured, as well as two passengers, Clarence M. Roberts, 25, and Gloria Callahan, 18, police said.
Damages to the Honda were estimated at $2,000. Penny Sue Roberts was charged with driving under the influence.
The 3 a.m. incident was investigated by Virginia State Trooper D.T. Conner.
In other wrecks:
· A Sutherlin man was also charged with driving under the influence after his 1964 GMC truck struck a parked car in Sutherlin on Saturday night, police said.
Clarence M. Satterfield, 39, was driving the truck on Rt. 659, five-tenths of a mile west of Rt. 688 when he ran into a parked and unoccupied 1996 Ford owned by Carol Howerton of Sutherlin. He was injured.
Satterfield stopped on the left side of the road in a private lawn. After reentering the roadway, he traveled into a ditch, overturned and then struck the Howerton vehicle, according to the investigation.
Damages to the Ford were estimated at $9,000, while damages to the GMC truck were estimated at $500. There was approximately $300 in damages sustained to the lawn of G. Wayne Howerton, police said.
The 8 p.m. incident was investigated by Trooper Conner.
· An unknown vehicle apparently caused a single-vehicle wreck which occurred Friday night on Rt. 610, four-tenths of a mile east of Rt. 641, police said.
James Darnell Jackson, 26, of Halifax was driving a 1991 Toyota pickup truck when he met what is believed to have been another Toyota pickup truck that had crossed the center of the road, according to the investigation.
Jackson swerved to the right, lost control in the gravel on the left shoulder, crossed the roadway, struck a drainage pipe and overturned, police said.
He was not injured, but damages to his vehicle were estimated at $5,000, according to the investigation.
No charges were filed and the 7:05 p.m. incident was investigated by Virginia State Trooper R.C. Compton.
The opening of three local Dixie baseball leagues at the Dixie baseball complex in South Boston is just four days away.
And with the start of the season looming on the horizon, the question is not which teams will be in the thick of the league pennant races this season but whether or not the players, coaches, parents, and league officials will be able to get to the complex for Saturday's scheduled opening ceremonies, much less start the season there.
In the aftermath of yesterday's small amount of rain, conditions of the access road leading to the complex were such that access to the complex was all but impossible.
A combination of road construction work and site preparation work for the new Blue Ridge Beverage Company facility in the J. Aubrey Houghton Industrial Park have resulted in a muddy detour onto a portion of the beverage company's property.
The messy detour leads visitors to the complex beyond and behind the Dixie ballpark entrance gate, that is, if they can make it that far.
Access road conditions have thrown a real question into the minds of Dixie, Inc. officials and league supporters as to whether or not they will be able to hold their league opening at the complex. A decision on that matter was expected to come last night at a meeting of Board of Directors of Dixie, Inc.
Needless to say, people in the Dixie, Inc. ranks are both angered and concerned about the problem which they have nothing to do with and is out of their control.
"It's a mess," said Dixie, Inc. president Archie Bohanon.
"Once the leagues start playing, there are going to be a lot of people that will be going into the complex."
Bohanon said that he does not know who made the decision to tear up the existing road that was put in last year or whose responsibility it is to maintain the road in a good condition.
However, Charles Pruitt, a supervisor with the Town of South Boston Street Department, placed the responsibility for the maintenance of the road on the shoulders of Reuse Technologies, one of the companies operating in the industrial park.
And, after hearing of the condition of the access road from the press late yesterday afternoon, Pruitt said that he and town personnel "will get on it the first thing in the morning. If there is a problem, we'll get with them in the morning and see that some stone is placed on it and that the road is in passable condition by Saturday."
Pruitt explained that Reuse Technologies is using fly ash to raise the existing access road to the baseball complex.
"Reuse Technologies has a contract to raise the road," Pruitt said.
"They have a contract that they have to have it installed by June 1."
Pruitt further explained that under the terms of the contract with Reuse Technologies "the access road to the complex is to be maintained by Reuse Technologies in a passable condition."
The town Street Department supervisor did point out that the road leading to the complex is currently only wide enough to allow one car or vehicle to pass through at the time. He stated that there are some cutoff points where people can pull off when they meet oncoming traffic.
Dixie, Inc. officials also expressed concern about the parking area at the complex.
Pruitt said yesterday that as far as he was aware of, there had been no changes to the parking area at the baseball complex and that "there should still be plenty of parking."
Curtis Younger Jr. 'Baldy' of Java died April 12 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 38.
Mr. Younger was born in Halifax County on June 5, 1959 the son of Curtis Younger Sr. and Roberta Younger. He was a member of County Line Baptist Church.
Survivors include two children, Melissa and Mallory; brothers, Wallace, Cecil, Odell, Jason and Carlo Younger; his grandmother, Flossie Younger, and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mr. Younger will be held Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. at County Line Baptist Church, Chatham Road, Vernon Hill with Rev. Otis Dillard conducting the service. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends Friday, April 17 from 6 to 7 p.m. at County Line Baptist Church and other times at the home of Roberta Younger, 2000 Logan Road, Java.
Henry Edward Moon, Sr., 78, of 2051 Pumping Hill Rd., Nathalie died Friday afternoon, April 10 at Halifax Regional Hospital. He was married for 55 years to his wife, Mildred Tribble Moon.
He was born in Pittsylvania County April 23, 1919, son of the late Floyd A. Moon and Alma Worsham Moon. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Republican Grove where he served as a deacon for many years. He was a member of VFW Post # 8243 and the Hubbard Masonic Lodge # 312. He was an Army veteran of WWII and a retired farmer.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by one son, Henry Edward Moon, Jr. and his wife, Jodie F. of Archbold, Ohio; one daughter, June Moon Pritchett and her husband, Montie A. of Afton; four grandchildren, Bridget Lea Moon, Henry Edward Moon III, Alex Leo Moon, Buddy Charles Moon, all of Archbold; one brother, Frank Owen Moon of Phenix; and one sister, Janie Moon Waller of Nathalie. He was preceded in death by three sisters, Mary Moon Shortt, Florence Moon Stone, Eula Moon Nester; and four brothers, Alfred P. Moon Sr., Warren Moon Sr., Herbert A. Moon, and Oscar W. Moon.
A funeral service was conducted yesterday at the First Baptist Church of Republican Grove by the Rev. Shelton Miles and the Rev. Melvin Bradshaw. Burial took place in the church cemetery with Mason Rites at the grave.
The family will receive friends at the home.
The Rev. Mr. Raymond Albert Quick of 214 Cherry St., South Boston died April 14, 1998 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 80.
Rev. Quick was born in Tishomingo, OK on February 3, 1918, the son of Floyd Summers Quick and Clara Grisham Quick. He was married to Jaunell Pollard Quick and was a member and pastor emeritus of the Ash Avenue Baptist Church.
His survivors include his wife; a son: Mark Elliott Quick of Oklahoma City, OK; a daughter: Dora Gayonne Quick of Raleigh, NC; a brother: W.F. Quick of Cushing, OK; three sisters: Marie Rowe of Bristow, OK, Wilma Holder of Guymon, OK and Rosa Haines of Odom, TX.
A funeral service will be held Friday, April 17 at 11 a.m. at Ash Avenue Baptist Church with the Revs. Darrell Poole, Jack Stewart and Michael Phillips officiating. Burial will take place in Oakland Cemetery, Scottsburg.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home Thursday from 7-9 p.m. and at other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to please consider the Raymond A. Quick Fund at First Federal Bank.
Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church of Republican Grove Building Fund.
Edith Murray Francisco of 3040 East Hyco Road, South Boston died Tuesday, April 14, 1998 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 67 years of age.
Mrs. Francisco was born March 8, 1931 in Halifax County the daughter of William Allen Murray and Louise Collie Murray and was married to Alvin G. Francisco. She was a member of First Baptist Church, where she was a former Deacon, a former member of the Fidelis Class and a current member of the Friendship Class. She was also a former choir member, and former Director of the Adult 3 Department. Mrs. Francisco was also a member of the Junior Woman's Club, and the Better Breathers Support Group. She was a Medical Technician with Fuller-Roberts Clinic.
The funeral will be held at First Baptist Church Thursday, April 16 at 2 p.m. with Revs. Robert M. Fox Jr. and Dean Miller conducting the service. Burial will take place in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Survivors of Mrs. Francisco include her husband; and one brother, Charles S. Murray of Fairfax.
The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home tonight, April 15 from 7 until 8:30, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider First Baptist Church Special Projects Fund, 815 North Main Street, South Boston, or your favorite charity.