The 300-member Southside Concerned Citizens is joining a call by environmentalists for a congressional investigation of the American Farm Bureau Federation's national leadership.
SCC Chairman Jack Dunavant invited the public to endorse the position paper critical of the Bureau's large agribusiness ties, ties they believe lead to policies harmful to the farmer.
The position paper also challenges the Farm Bureau's non-profit privileges in federal taxation.
However, Dunavant had good words for the local Farm Bureau.
"The Farm Bureau has a lot of good local people working and this is not about those people or their good programs," said the SCC chief. "This is about the leadership at the national level."
The call for the congressional investigation comes on the heels of a "60 Minutes" segment on Farm Bureau that aired last week.
The position paper in part declares:
"Whereas, we believe many agricultural trade and commodity groups misrepresent their interests to Congress and policymakers by posing as the family farmer while advancing agribusiness policy harmful to family farmers and the environment,
"Whereas, we believe the farm policy advanced by these agribusiness groups promotes corporate consolidations, eliminates fair markets, and creates an unlevel economic playing field for small, minority and independent family producers,
"Whereas, we believe this model of industrialized agriculture threatens rural families and cultures, public health and farm workers, watershed and wildlife, top-soils, and wilderness,
"Whereas, we believe these groups advance policy that is fiscally irresponsible favoring agribusiness while costing taxpayers billions of dollars a year in continued farm aid bailouts,
"Whereas, we believe that a socially just, environmentally and fiscally responsible farm policy will never be created as long as these groups control the agricultural agenda,
"Whereas, we believe such groups, who receive substantial monetary benefits from the public sector should encourage and welcome scrutiny into their business operations."
Endorsing the position paper, Dunavant said anyone interested in signing on could reply to Scotty Johnson, Rural Community Outreach Coordinator GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network (GREEN), at (520) 623-9653 or Fax (520) 623-0447.

The Virginia Farm Bureau is standing its ground as environmentalists issue a call for a congressional investigation of the Bureau.
"We have nothing to hide and welcome any investigation," said Greg Hicks, communications director for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation in Richmond.
"First and foremost we are a lobbying group for farmers and we also provide them with insurance. We're good at what we do and we're proud of it," said Hicks when told of Southside Concerned Citizens call for a congressional investigation.
The Farm Bureau was created in 1926 in order to provide a collective voice for farmers in lobbying Congress and states' legislatures regarding issues of importance to them.
At present, the Farm Bureau claims "approximately five million members in the U.S. and 140,000 members in Virginia, according to Hicks.

Two public hearings are scheduled tonight during the joint meeting of the Board of Supervisors and the South Boston and Halifax town councils.
The public hearing for the Double Bubbles boundary adjustment begins at 6 p.m. in the conference room of the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax.
Double Bubbles owners are seeking inclusion within South Boston's boundaries, citing the high cost for water/sewer service for the county business paying out-of-town South Boston rates. Halifax attorney Don Bagwell, who represents the business owners, told supervisors at an earlier meeting that the water rates were having a negative impact on the water-based laundry and car-wash business and its ability to compete.
A second public hearing by South Boston Town Council will begin at 7 p.m. and addresses the pubic school system's establishment/expansion of the bus maintenance facility and Tuck Dillard Stadium concession stand.
Other items on tonight's agenda include: property owners of Fordland Estates seeking a forum to discuss sewer problems; a status report on the joint landfill operation; a report on the Litter Control/Recycling program; a tobacco resolution; a report from Dewberry & Davis, Engineers regarding county solid waste management study.
New business will include a request for the town to use the Halifax County Building Code Board of Appeals.
Following the joint session, supervisors will address the following items: the Route 812 partial abandonment; a Virginia Department of Transportation letter regarding Clarkton Bridge; and the filing of a FEMA Disaster Grant, $5,000.
Supervisors are also expected to enter into closed meeting to discuss a prospective industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry.

The South Boston Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) welcomed two new board members at its meeting on Thursday night.
Coleman Speece and Kimberley S. White were recognized at the meeting. Both are attending the Virginia Certified Boards of Zoning Appeals in Richmond as part of their training.
In BZA business, the board reviewed four applications for variances from the town zoning code.
Sasser Signs applied for a variance to move a non-conforming off-premises sign 100 feet in the Riverdale B-2 General Business District.
According to a representative of Sasser Signs and the property owner, the "Bo's Hydraulic" sign on the south side of the Dan River needed to be moved farther back in order to create a safer environment for workers to repair it.
After hearing staff recommendations, the request for a special exemption was denied.
Under current town zoning ordinances, off-premises advertising signage is not allowed in the Riverdale B-2 General Business District, according to information provided by Lee Pambid, planning and zoning administrator.
When the sign was originally constructed, its location was in Halifax County and not within the current South Boston town boundaries.
· The BZA denied a request by Henry R. Weston for a permitted special exception to replace two non-conforming single-wide manufactured homes at 699 Lincoln Dr.
The primary reason for denial was that the density of manufactured homes on that particular property exceeded that allowed under current zoning regulations (R-1).
BZA recommended reduction in the number of homes on the property as one solution.
· An application by McBride Signs for an 18 square- foot variance to the B-3 Central Business District free-standing sign-area requirement was denied.
McBride Signs sought the variance in order to accommodate new signage in regards to Crestar Bank's acquisition by Sun Trust.
· BZA voted to deny an application by Eugene Cage for a variance to build on a lot that fronts on a publicly dedicated but unimproved right-of-way at the end of Parker Ave.
According to the board, the reason for denial of the application was due to the absence of anyone before them to plead that the application had merit.
A request by Cage to continue the hearing of his application to a later date was previously denied at the meeting.

Halifax Town Council's agenda Tuesday night will include the first reading of the 2000 budget, a review of town parking problems and a comprehensive zoning map update.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the town's administration building on Main Street.
Councilmen will also hear an update on the town's request for Justice Department approval of proposed wards. New lines have been drawn creating new wards due to the town's boundary adjustment with the county.
Town Manager Robert Greene is seeking Justice Department approval for the proposed wards as the town heads toward a May 2 town council election.
Three candidates are seeking two at-large council seats in the May election. Competing for the posts are veteran councilman Harold Ray Younger and newcomers Gene Murray and W. Allen Stevens.
Anticipating the return of the General District Court personnel from the Mary Bethune Complex to their renovated Halifax Courthouse offices, town councilmen will discuss expected parking deficiencies and remedies.

If you plan it, they will come and come they did. Despite the rain, nearly 800 gathered Saturday at Virgilina Elementary School for "Come Back to Virgilina Day," in celebration of the school's 100th anniversary.
Organized by the Virgilina Centennial Planning Committee, the gathering of alumni and friends witnessed an array of displays representing the people of Virgilina and also to hear a resolution presented by Del. W.W. "Ted" Bennett honoring the school.
"I very much appreciate your giving me this opportunity to join with you in commemorating and celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Virgilina Elementary School," said Bennett.
During Bennett's speech in the auditorium, he made reference to two most endearing images that represented the country, that being the Statue of Liberty and the American Public School, each forming the opportunity for all to fulfill their abilities and dreams.
While Bennett spoke, a team of ladies was hand-stitching a quilt in the auditorium. It brought a reminiscence to Bennett's reference to times when hooks were placed high to the walls in the home to raise a quilt-in-process above the room to allow space for the family.
Placed in the background behind Bennett was a quilt made by Doris Hudson representing the names of the Class of 1942, and paintings by Edwin Daniel, also from the Class of 1942.
In the classrooms of the school, memorabilia representing the decades were on display from the 'teens to the 1980s.
Basket-weaving was seen constructed by a three-generation family of Beulah Whitlow, daughter Bonnie Bowen and granddaughter Leeann Chandler, a student in St. Louis, Mo., and a member of the Class of 1989.
Outside, between the auditorium and the school, a handmade cannon split the conversations of reunion as Larry Hogan, Class of 1969, reverberated the air with an assembled smooth-bore cannon made from lawn mower parts that was equivalent to a 12-pound parrot gun used in the War Between the States.
"We were tickled to death with the turn out," said Nick Long, president of the PTO.
"Despite the weather it was a great day," Long added.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Virginia Tech will receive $11.6 million over the next two years - about half of it from the state's portion of the national tobacco settlement - to help fund an institute for advanced research of plant and animal genetics.
The state money, approved Friday, will pay for a portion of the $39 million Center for Advancement of Life Sciences, which school officials believe will launch the university into a leadership position in the emerging field of bioinformatics.
Bioinformatics - the merger of computers and biotechnology - has grown in importance because of the volume of data involved in the study of DNA, the genetic blueprint of plants and animals. By creating databases, scientists will have more efficient ways to retrieve and analyze that information and thus accelerate their research.
At least $5.1 million of the grant will come from the state's share of the tobacco settlement. The Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, which is distributing the money, approved the funding during a meeting Friday.
The commission also approved $6 million in grants for job training and other programs at the following community colleges: Southside, Danville, Patrick Henry, Southwest Virginia, Mountain Empire, Virginia Highlands and Central Virginia.
The grants mark the first significant spending decisions the 31-member panel has made since it was formed to help spend the $4 billion Virginia expects to receive from the tobacco settlement. The state will receive the money over the next 25 years.
State Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, who heads the commission, said the vote may prove to be one of the most important the commission ever makes. He said the development of a strong biotechnology presence in southwestern Virginia could help ease the region away from its reliance on agriculture and manufacturing jobs.
The commission also agreed to approve another $6.5 million for the center next year if the university is unable to get the funding from the General Assembly.
By better understanding genetics, scientists can gain new insights into diseases and produce medicines tailored to specific illnesses, Tech president Charles Steger said.
The institute's work will include studies of ways to engineer drought-resistant and chemical-resistant crops. Scientists also will further ongoing research of transgenic animals and plants, and the production of medicines by inserting a human gene.

By PHILIP BRASHER
AP Farm Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A year after they settled a civil rights lawsuit, black farmers say the Agriculture Department still isn't doing enough to address discrimination against minorities.
''The only thing you can credit the Agriculture Department for is ... the fact that they admitted something happened and had the guts to look at this. That's the only progress we've made,'' said John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association.
USDA won court approval a year ago Friday for the settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of black farmers who claimed that they had been systematically discriminated against for years when they applied for loans and subsidy programs.
Some 18,000 farmers filed claims under the settlement. Some 7,329 cases have been approved so far, and payments of $50,000 each have been made to 3,594 of those, according to a report that the department is releasing later this month on its civil rights record. Another 4,742 claims have been denied.
''From hiring practices to program outreach to accountability and disciplinary action, we have taken strong steps to ensure that all USDA employees and customers are treated with the fairness, dignity, and respect that they deserve,'' Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says in the preface to the report.
Under terms of the settlement, farmers who can show some evidence of discrimination are entitled to $50,000 each and have outstanding loans forgiven. An additional $12,500 is being sent to the Internal Revenue Service in the name of each farmer to cover the federal income taxes that he or she would owe on the settlement.
Another 142 farmers who believe they have stronger evidence of discrimination are seeking higher levels of damages.
The department now is being sued by American Indian farmers and also has been battling several discrimination complaints filed by groups of minority employees.
USDA's inspector general has been critical of record keeping and management in the department's civil rights office.
A top-level official in the department should have been removed as a signal to the rest of the department, which has 84,000 employees, that discrimination would not be tolerated, Boyd said. Farmers still find it difficult to get help from the department, he said.
The department has fired 13 workers and disciplined 81 others over the past two years for discrimination against farmers or minority USDA employees, according to the department's report.
Besides settling the lawsuit, the department has increased its lending to women and minorities and boosted their representation on the state and county committees that oversee its programs, the report said.
Some 107 of the 224 state committee members were minorities and women as of last year, up from 75 in 1994.

"We just didn't get the breaks we needed."
That, Halifax County High School baseball coach Kelvin Davis said, was the difference in his team's 2-0 loss to Albemarle Friday night.
The loss to the Patriots in Charlottesville was the first loss of the season for the Comets who dropped to 1-1 in the district and 7-1 overall.
Halifax County had won seven games in a row going into the game.
"The loss is kind of tough but I don't feel like the guys are really down on themselves," Davis said.
"I told the kids after the game they have nothing to be ashamed of. We played a great ball game. In some games the win goes to the team that goes out and gets all the breaks. Albemarle got the breaks in the latter part of the game and they won."
Albemarle's lefthander Thomas Martin threw a no-hitter at the Comets in the showdown to decide first place in the Western District.
He struck out 10 batters and allowed two walks.
But, the Comets' Michael Priest pitched a great game as well, fanning eight batters, giving up only three hits and one walk.
Only one of the two runs that the Patriots got was an earned run.
"It was a pitcher's duel," Davis said.
"Martin was tough but Michael was tough, too and he looked real sharp."
"This was a great game to watch," added Davis.
"You had two fine pitchers, two of the best pitchers in the district, going head-to-head. It was one of those games where it was a shame that either team had to lose."
Albemarle broke open the scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth inning after the Comets had gotten the first two Patriots batters out in the inning.
That's when the Patriots came up with a hit on a hot grounder out to second baseman Brian Medley.
The ball took a bad hop in front of Medley and struck Medley's ear before bouncing away.
Albemarle's next batter reached base on an error by Comets shortstop R.D. Cole.
Both runners advanced on a wild pitch to give Albemarle runners on second and third with two outs.
The Comets elected to intentionally walk the next batter to load the bases with the strategy being to give the Comets a play at any base on the next hit ball.
Albemarle's next batter sent another hard hit ball to Medley deep in the hole at second base and came up with a hit that plated the winning runs for the Patriots.
"Medley made a fantastic play on the ball," Davis said.
"He just couldn't get it out of his glove. That's just the breaks of baseball."
The Comets had their best opportunity in the top of the fourth inning.
Priest reached base on an error after Matt Hastings, the Comets' leadoff batter in the inning, struck out.
Priest advanced to second base on a passed ball. But, that was as far as he got as Medley popped up to the shortstop and Todd Meadows grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
Halifax County got a runner on the sacks in the first inning as the result of a walk and again in the top of the seventh inning as the result of a walk.
But, the Comets were never really able to pose a threat either time.
"We hit the ball pretty well," Davis pointed out.
"We can get to him (Martin). We just didn't get the breaks we needed."

The results were pretty much what were expected when Halifax County High School's varsity and jayvee boys soccer teams faced Albemarle here Friday night.
Albemarle, the soccer powerhouse of the Western District, defeated the Comets varsity team 8-0 in a game that was stopped under a slaughter rule with 20 minutes to play.
The Patriots rang up a 4-0 lead at the half and put the contest away early in the second half.
The Comets jayvees, on the other hand, went the distance against the Albemarle jayvees in bowing 6-0.
"Albemarle is definitely the team to beat," said Comets coach Javier Salas whose varsity club now stands at 1-4 for the season and whose jayvee team stands 2-2 on the year.
"They're really good. Albemarle's players play year-round, they have access to clinics and help from the University of Virginia. They have a great program."
One factor that hurt the Comets varsity team was that it was missing four starters. And, another player, midfielder John Cranford, sustained a broken nose in the contest.
Salas noted, however, that despite being shorthanded, his team gave it a good effort.
"We never gave up," Salas said.
"That was the good part of it. We always kept trying to move the ball up the field. But, it was very difficult."
The Comets got a good effort from goalie Chase Griffin.
"He saved several goals," Salas noted.
"Chase saved more goals than they scored."
Salas also noted that another good part of the contest was that everyone on both the Comets varsity and jayvee teams played, giving him and the assistant coaches a chance to look at a lot of players under game conditions.
Salas said the story of the jayvee game was the same as that of the varsity contest in that the Comets jayvees faced a superior team.
Albemarle's jayvees held a 3-0 edge at the half and tacked on three more goals in the second half to complete the shutout.
"The jayvees had more chances than the varsity," Salas noted.
"We had more corner kicks and we were in their penalty area more in the jayvee game than we were in the varsity game."

And for the Comet girls:
Halifax County High School's varsity girls soccer team was blanked 8-0 by Albemarle Friday night in Charlottesville.
The tune was very similar for the Comets jayvee girls who lost 6-0 to the Albemarle jayvees.
Comets coach Sid Young said his varsity team did the best it could against the Western District's top team.
"The girls played hard and they played well at times," said Young whose team slipped to 2-6 for the season.
"They really gave it a good effort. They didn't like losing but they felt good about the effort they gave."
The Comets kept Albemarle from scoring for the first 15 minutes of the contest.
But, once the host Patriots got started, they went on a big run that gave them a 5-0 lead over the Comets at the half.
Albemarle continued the onslaught in the second half and scored its eighth goal of the game with 15 minutes left in the contest.
Under normal circumstances, the contest would have been stopped under a slaughter rule that allows for the game to be stopped if one team has an eight goal lead with 20 minutes left in the contest.
But, the Comets chose to play on.
"I talked with the Albemarle coaches, the officials and Albemarle's AD (Athletic Director) about continuing the game," Young said.
"I told them we had come this far to play and our girls wanted to keep playing. So, everybody decided to keep playing."
The Comets played well those final minutes and held the Patriots without a score.
"Even in those last few minutes, our girls gave it a good effort," Young noted.
Lateisha Chambers played well at the goalie position and came up with a good handful of saves.
Mary Catherine Thompson was played at goalie as well and also did a very good job making several saves.
The Comets found the going very tough against Albemarle, making it into their penalty box area on only one occasion.
Halifax County never got a shot off on goal.
The Comets jayvees, which are now 1-2-1 on the season found the going just as tough as their varsity counterparts.
However, the jayvees did have a little better night than the varsity.
Much of the first half was played with Albemarle leading 1-0 and it wasn't until late in the half that the Patriots jayvees punched in a score that resulted in a 2-0 lead at the half.
But, the Patriots dominated the second half and scored four more goals before the contest ended.
"The jayvees played really hard," Young said.

Elsie Lee Grace Hodges Plenty, 76, of Halifax, died April 12, 2000, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Plenty was born in Halifax County on December 28, 1923.
Survivors include four daughters, Carolyn Brown of South Boston, Gloria Allen-Goldring of District Heights, Md., Mamie Wyatt of Silver Springs, Md. and Sandra Carmon of Landover, Md.; 10 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; and two sisters, Emma Norris of Bayshore, N.Y. and Helen Hodges of Richmond.

Funeral services for Mrs. Plenty were held April 15 at 2 p.m. at Banister Hill baptist Church in Halifax with burial in the church cemetery. The Rev. William Carr officiated.

George Andrew Wood, 93, of West Virginia died Friday, April 14, 2000 at the Ravenswood Village Health Center, Ravenswood, W.Va.
He was born in Halifax County, a son of the late John B. and Mary Heath Wood.
He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Mary Smith Wood; one son, George W. Wood of Washington, W.Va.; two daughters, Janice Lucas of Mineral Wells, W.Va. and Olivia W. Molineux of Williamsburg; one sister, Marie Brackett of Anson, Me.; ten grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren; and four great-great grandchildren.
Mr. Wood was preceded in death by one infant daughter, Rosemary Wood; two brothers and two sisters.
Services will be at 3:00 p.m. today at the Fairlawn Baptist Church, Parkersburg with the Rev. Don Yeager officiating. Interment will follow at the Evergreen North Cemetery, Parkersburg.