Flooding along the Dan River in Riverdale will occur today but it won't be as severe as forecasters had earlier predicted.
National Weather Service forecasters said yesterday that the Dan River is expected to crest in Riverdale near 26 feet at mid-day today, a mark that is more than two feet below Friday's prediction of 28.9 feet.
The predicted crest mark of 26 feet that was given by forecasters yesterday, when added to the zero gauge mark of 299.23, puts the projected water mark at just over 325 feet.
At the 325 mark, water will reach Route 501 in the heart of Riverdale. It takes a mark of 328 in order for flood waters to reach the Route 501-Route 58 intersection.
Jim White, a hydro-meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, said that at 3 p.m. yesterday the Dan River had reached 25.36 feet and was rising. Flood stage, he said, is 19 feet.
White said that the river was continuing to rise because of a combination of additional water that was coming in and a result of runoff from rain on Saturday.
"We're continuing to watch the river," White said.
"And, we'll adjust our forecasts as we go."
While water was continuing to rise in Riverdale late yesterday, the muddy rain swollen waters of the Dan River were falling at Paces.
White said that the Dan River crested at Paces at 23.05 feet at 5 a.m. yesterday. The water level had dropped a foot to 22.05 feet by 8 a.m. The river had taken a slight rise to a mark of 22.28 feet at 1 p.m. but started falling again shortly afterward.
Flood stage at Paces is 20 feet.
"Even with a little additional rain that we're forecasting the river should slowly descend," White said.
"If you get additional rain it will just make the descent a little slower. Should any significant changes occur we will issue another statement."
White said that the three days of rainy wet weather that had socked in the region was to come to an end last night. Yesterday's late day updated weather forecast called for a 40 percent chance of rain and decreasing cloudiness as the night progressed.
"As the front drags itself off to the east, it will drag the rain with it," White said.
Skies this morning are forecast to be sunny with partly cloudy conditions forecast this afternoon.
The rains that saturated South Boston, Halifax County and the rest of the state came from the remnants of a powerful storm system that tore through Tennessee and Arkansas Thursday leaving Nashville shattered and splintered.
That storm front lost some of its intensity crossing the mountains but it still packed enough moisture to produce flooding along the Dan River as well as rivers in other areas of the state.
Danville measured 2.46 inches of rain Friday afternoon. South Boston's total was 1.9 inches and 1.6 inches fell at the John H. Kerr Dam. It took only an hour for that amount of rain to fall at Boydton according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Those rains sent water levels on a rapid rise and set the stage for the weekend floods.
U.S. Sen. Charles Robb is sure comprehensive tobacco legislation will pass in Congress this year with or without the support of tobacco companies.
Robb told growers during the fifth annual membership dinner of the Concerned Friends For Tobacco the withdrawal of the companies will will not kill legislation, but it would probably help to constrain it.
"By kicking and screaming, the companies have simultaneously indicated that the McCain bill is a tough bill and perhaps helped to keep it from getting worse," he told the group that originally helped him to shape legislation that included grower compensation.
Robb is expecting legislation to move in Congress before the Memorial Day recess and the next challenge that will be faced is to prevent the elimination of the tobacco program.
Eliminating the program would destroy existing communities and farmer's livelihoods without bring the goal of a free market.
The McCain bill, presently being offered in the senate is $516 billion and hits tobacco companies much harder than the original $368 billion settlement that was negotiated last summer.
The plan also includes a $1.10 per pack increase in taxes and leaves companies open to damages in lawsuits.
Robb also said he expects the $516 billion pricetag to hold because both Democrats and Republicans are depending on the revenue to pay for new social programs or tax cuts.
There will be a "huge fight over how that money is spent," he said.
Both Robb and Rep. Virgil Goode, who was also at the meeting, agreed that the cigarette tax increase would affect teen smoking.
"Take away their driver's license for a few months. That will get their attention," said Goode.
Goode told growers, "I, not going to support legislation that bankrupts the companies, destroys the family farm and relegates tobaccoland to a place where hope is a stranger and mercy will never reach."
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress' leading tobacco bill has another opponent in House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who says its proposed tax increase and new regulatory power for the government makes the measure too liberal to pass the Republican-run House.
The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate Commerce Committee on April 1, would compromise conservative principles by raising cigarette taxes and approving broad regulatory power for the Food and Drug Administration, Gingrich says.
''It's going to be very hard to get through the Congress a bill which gives big government more money for more bureaucrats,'' Gingrich, R-Ga., said in an interview taped for broadcast today on CNBC's ''Tim Russert'' show.
''That bill is a very liberal, big government, big bureaucracy bill and those people who say that's not a Republican bill, they're right,'' he said.
Gingrich has never embraced the bill, but his comments today were his strongest yet in opposition.
The bill, which passed the Commerce Committee, 19-1, has received lukewarm support from President Clinton.
Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., has said the bill's provisions were necessary to gain the support of a majority of committee Democrats, a threshold set by his party's leaders.
When lawmakers return next week from their spring recess, GOP leaders will meet to decide whether to alter McCain's bill and present it for a Senate vote, or replace it with a version narrowly targeted at curbing teen-age smoking.
Gingrich has said he supports the latter option. And unlike Senate Republican leaders, he wants any money raised from higher cigarette taxes to be used for cutting taxes elsewhere.
''I think we ought to give back to the taxpayers every penny of new revenue from tobacco,'' he said.
McCain, meanwhile, appears more interested in changes the White House wants to make to his bill. McCain and Clinton aides have scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, according to White House and committee sources.
''They never said definitively what they wanted the final package to look like,'' McCain told The Associated Press on Friday. ''They're still saying, 'Good package, good legislation, but not good enough.'
''Well, what's good enough? What is it that they specifically want that would make it good enough? It's time to say that,'' he said in an interview in Phoenix.
McCain's bill would cost cigarette makers $516 billion over 25 years, according to government estimates. Tobacco companies claim the cost would be tens of billions of dollars higher and oppose the measure.
The legislation would raise cigarette taxes by $1.10 a pack over five years, set a $6.5 billion annual cap on liability claim awards against the industry and penalize the industry up to $3.5 billion annually if teen smoking-reduction goals are not met.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Civics teacher Tina Yalen has been rushing her students through a nine-month course in less than eight months to get ready for the Standards of Learning tests, which will be administered to 375,000 Virginia public school children over the next 3 1/2 weeks.
The exams, which cover English, math, science, social studies and 11 high school subjects ranging from trigonometry to world geography, are the most extensive assessment of academic skills in the state's history, and they represent a leading edge of a national movement to raise public school achievement.
Ms. Yalen, who teaches at Fairfax's Lake Braddock Middle School, said she and her colleagues ''have been brainstorming all kinds of ways to get our kids ready.''
''My plan is to do a major final pump-you-up exercise,'' she said. ''It will be kind of a 'Jeopardy!' game thing, with kids in teams.''
The stakes are high: The test results eventually will determine which Virginia schools keep their state accreditation and which high school students graduate. And each year starting this fall, every school will be required to announce its average scores on a ''report card'' sent to the parents of all its students.
But many teachers see the tests as a major interruption in their efforts to help students complete their courses.
One of their headaches is that the tests are based on a fact-filled curriculum that the state instituted just two years ago. And although the exams will be given only to students in third, fifth and eighth grades and high school, they cover material learned in grades one through 12. That has prompted teachers to spend time reviewing old material - or racing ahead to lessons they normally wouldn't have taught until later this spring.
Some teachers are ignoring the problem and sticking to their normal routines. At Fairfax High School last week, geometry teacher Jeff Harris shrugged off student complaints about an SOL math test that will include topics they haven't learned yet, such as logic and the volume of solids.
''I don't know why they are doing it this way,'' Harris said as 15-year-old sophomore Kevin Peterson pressed him on the issue. ''Call the state.''
Cameron Harris, the state Education Department official in charge of the testing program, said the exams, annoying as they may be to some, are needed to determine if students are learning what the state has spent years deciding they should know.
''It is also important for individual schools to see how well they are meeting the state standards,'' said Harris.
In recent days, Elizabeth Dyer has been starting off her eighth-grade civics students at Fairfax County's Poe Middle School with a U.S. history booster shot - sample multiple-choice questions displayed on a large computer screen.
One of her students, 14-year-old Elliott Millan, said he will absorb every scrap of U.S. history Ms. Dyer can feed him, and then get a good night's sleep before the test. ''I will eat my breakfast,'' he said, ''and I won't think of anything else, just concentrate on doing good.''
Schools in South Boston and Halifax County will be busy this week administering the new state SOL (Standards of Learning) Tests.
Testing schedules will vary from school to school. However, it will be both a busy and important week as local educators join their counterparts across the state in administering the tests to students for the first time.
Halifax County High School will administer SOL (Standards of Learning) Tests in 10 subject areas starting today and continuing through Wednesday.
Halifax County High School assistant principal Gail Bosiger noted that Thursday will be used as a makeup day.
The tests, which will begin immediately after students and teachers return to school following Spring Holidays, will be given in English 11, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Science.
Tests will also be given in Algebra I, Algebra IB, Algebra II, Geometry, Advanced Geometry, and U.S. History.
This week's Halifax County High School's SOL Testing Schedule follows:
April 20
8:55-9:00 Homeroom
9:05-10:30 First Period Testing
10:35-12:00 Second Period Testing
12:00-1:25 Fourth Period
12:00-12:25 A Lunch
12:30-12:55 B Lunch
1:00-1:25 C Lunch
1:30-2:15 Fifth Period
2:20-3:10 Sixth Period
April 21
8:55-9:00 Homeroom
9:00-10:30 Third Period Testing
10:30-12:00 Fourth Period Testing
12:00-1:25 First Period
12:00-12:25 A Lunch
12:30-12:55 B Lunch
1:00-1:25 C Lunch
1:30-2:15 Fifth Period
2:20-3:10 Sixth Period
*April 22
8:55-9:00 Homeroom
9:05-10:30 Fifth Period Testing
10:30-12:00 Sixth Period Testing
12:00-1:25 Fourth Period
12:00-12:25 A Lunch
12:30-12:55 B Lunch
1:00-1:25 C Lunch
1:30-2:15 Second Period
2:20-3:10 Third Period
Governor's School Students Must Attend.
April 23
Make-Up Day
Caroline Majors of Middleton, NY, formerly of Halifax County, died Saturday, April 11, 1998 in New York, at the age of 63.
Mrs. Majors was born in Halifax County on September 12, 1934 the daughter of Alfred and Maggie Carter Brown. She was married to Robert E. Majors Sr. and was a retired employee of Horton Memorial Hospital.
Survivors include her husband; two sons, Robert E. Majors Jr. of Liberty, NY and Bruce Majors of Middleton; one daughter, Lisa M. Venable of Middleton; one brother, Charles Wilbert Brown of Brooklyn, NY; one sister, Maggie Williams of Jersey City, NJ; grandchildren, and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mrs. Majors were held Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m. at St. Paul CME Church with Rev. George Brown officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Lacy Burgess Green, 1102 Second Street, South Boston, died Saturday, April 18, 1998 at Halifax Regional Hospital. He was 77 years of age at the time of his death.
Mr. Green was born April 20, 1920 in Halifax County the son of Seddie J. Green and Ella Burgess Green. He was a member of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, a World War II Navy Veteran, and a retired employee of William M. Tuck Airport.
Graveside services will be held today, April 20 at 2 p.m. at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church Cemetery with Rev. Harvey Warnick officiating.
Survivors of Mr. Green include three sisters, Frances Thomas of Alton, Elizabeth Reaves and Ella Green, both of South Boston.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax County Rescue Squad, PO Box 183, South Boston.
Ida Glasscock Frazier of Buffalo Junction died Friday, April 17, 1998 at Woodview Nursing Home. She was 96 years of age.
Mrs. Frazier was born in Mecklenburg County. She was married to Otis Samuel Frazier Sr. and was a member of Gravel Hill Baptist Church.
Funeral services were held Sunday, April 19 at 3 p.m. at Gravel Hill Baptist Church with Revs. Rodney Barwick and Rodney Baker officiating.
Surviving Mrs. Frazier are her daughters, Emma Gray Meeler of South Boston, Elizabeth Burnett and Doris Shuford, both of Buffalo Junction; her sons, Earl M. Frazier of Buffalo Junction, Douglas Bruce Frazier and Otis S. Frazier Jr., both of South Boston; one sister, Willie Griffin of Buffalo Junction; 19 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; 10 great-great-grandchildren; four step great-grandchildren and five step great-great-grandchildren.
Margaret Palmer Owen of Route 1, Gladys died Friday, April 17, 1998 at her home. She was 83 years of age.
Mrs. Owen was born in Halifax County on September 19, 1914 the daughter of George Fred Palmer and Amanda Brown Palmer and was married to Rufus Weldon Owen. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church and Brookneal Rebekah Lodge for over 50 years. She was a retired employee of Burlington Industries, Brookneal.
Survivors include one son, Marvin B. Owen and his wife Martha of Naruna; three daughters, Telia Harvey of Penick, WVA, Freida Trent and her husband Cecil of Lynchburg, and Faye Shively of Gladys; one brother, Irving Palmer of Buena Vista; 13 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a grandson, Kenneth Weldon Shively, a son-in-law, Robert Harvey, and two infant daughters.
A funeral service for Mrs. Owen will be held at 11 a.m. today, April 20 at Ebenezer Baptist Church by Rev. Melvin Bradshaw with burial to follow in the church cemetery.
Josephine Cline Schreffler of Fernwick Drive, South Boston died Saturday, April 18, 1998 at her home.
Mrs. Schreffler was born in Raleigh, NC on January 6, 1935 and was 63 years of age. She was the daughter of Ambrose Schenck Cline Sr. and Betty Rand Cline and was married to David E. Schreffler Jr.
She was a member of Halifax United Methodist Church, employed by the Central Fidelity National Bank for 20 years and was last employed with the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County, taking a disability in January 1997.
Survivors include her husband of the home; two sons, David E. Schreffler III of Roxboro, NC and Maj. Mark Cline Schreffler of Yorktown; two daughters, Vivian Elizabeth Sillmon of Richmond and Donna Rand Wade of Midlothian; two sisters, Mrs. William B. Pearce of Raleigh, NC and Mrs. Robert H. Frazer Sr. of Goldsboro, NC; one brother, Walter Maxwell Cline of Winston-Salem, NC; six grandchildren, Alexander Evan Schreffler and Tyler Stephen Schreffler, both of Yorktown, David E. Schreffler IV of Roxboro; Katherine Anne Sillmon of Richmond, James Harrison Wade and Logan Elizabeth Wade, both of Midlothian; and a cousin, the Honorable Michael M. Rand of South Boston. She was preceded in death by one brother, Ambrose Schenck Cline.
Funeral services for Mrs. Schreffler will be held Tuesday, April 21 at 2 p.m. at Main Street United Methodist Church with Revs. Les Goode, Ron Mateer, Chuck Cassidy and Dr. Jack Martin conducting the service. Burial will take place in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home this evening, April 20 from 7 until 9:00.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, PO Box 357, Halifax, VA 24558, or Hospice Support Care of Southside Virginia, 554 North Main St., South Boston, VA 24592.
Bernard Roderick Coleman of Washington, DC, formerly of Vernon Hill, died Wednesday, April 15, 1998 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Springs, MD at the age of 38.
Mr. Coleman was born in Halifax County on July 12, 1959.
Survivors include his wife, Yvette Tucker Coleman of Washington; one son, Roderick Coleman of Washington; his mother, Marjorie Coleman and father, Bernard Coleman of Vernon Hill; grandmother, Leonia Thompson of Newark, NJ; five sisters, Wanda Edmonds and Judith Winstead, both of South Boston, Leonia Burell of Washington, Pamela Cheek of Clinton, MD, and Sheila Coleman of Waverly, OH; one brother, Webster Coleman of Upper Marlboro, MD; and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mr. Coleman will be held Tuesday, April 21 at 10 a.m. at 105th Street Baptist Church in Washington with burial in Quantico National Cemetery in Quantico.
The family will receive friends at Latney Funeral Home in Washington this evening, April 20 from 6 p.m. until 9:00.