A race for retiring Supervisor Joe Satterfield's ED-3 seat
is brewing in the November General Election.
Supervisors Tom West, ED-2, and Page Wilkerson, ED-6, have announced
that they are seeking re-election.
Two candidates, Virginia Hightower and William Fitzgerald, said
yesterday that they are definitely in the ED-3 race.
Bob Gluhareff, who has pre-filed, will make a final decision this
week, and Wanda McDowell, ED-3's current School Board member,
is contemplating a run for the supervisor's post.
Vernon Hill resident Virginia Hightower has qualified in the ED-3
race as an Independent.
Hightower said yesterday that key issues in her campaign included
good highways and roads, public education and senior citizens'
needs.
She is a member of the NAACP, of the Improvement Council, of the
County Line Baptist Church in Vernon Hill and is a tutor in the
school system. She was married to the late Aubrey Hightower.
William Fitzgerald also plans to run as an Independent.
Fitzgerald is a retired public transit manager. He spent more
than 30 years with the Philadelphia transit system and retired
as a director of transportation managing a bus garage.
He moved to Halifax County in January, 1999.
"I think the community needs some representation," Fitzgerald
said yesterday. "I can see some improvements are needed in
the environmental area. We don't have an effective recycling program
and I think that is something that should be addressed."
He is a member of the local chapter of the NAACP and is a member
of the Halifax County Business and Professional Council.
Bob Gluhareff, the president and founder of Wellspring Academy,
has pre-filed for the ED-3 seat as a Republican, GOP Chairman
John Greenbacker said yesterday.
Gluhareff is an ordained Baptist minister, family counselor, college
teacher and public speaker.
He said yesterday that he will make his final decision about the
run for the ED-3 seat this week.
"I am very supportive of improving our public and private
education," Gluhareff said.
He also supports helping minorities by offering scholarships and
educational opportunities at his school.
"I would like to bring my years of experience as a leadership
developer and businessman and educator," Gluhareff said.
Republicans will meet at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Ernie's Restaurant
to certify candidates running under the GOP banner.
Wanda McDowell, who currently serves as ED-3 School Board member,
has been approached by constituents to run for the Board of Supervisors.
She said yesterday that she has not made a decision regarding
a run for the supervisor's seat. If she were to run, McDowell
said that she "would like to be a voice for agriculture."
Page Wilkerson, who is seeking his second term in ED-6, announced
in June that he would seek re-election. Wilkerson is running as
a Republican.
Supervisor Tom West, ED-2, announced Friday that he would seek
a third term in office. West is running as an Independent.
Only three supervisors' seats will be filled during the General
Election in November.
Three School Board seats, Ed-2, ED-3 and ED-6, are also up in
the General Election.
ED-6 School Board representative D.H. McDowell said earlier this
summer that he plans to seek re-election. McDowell was elected
to the School Board in 1987.
Steve Anderson, ED-2, confirmed yesterday that he will seek his
second term on the School Board. Anderson is currently circulating
petitions to qualify.
The deadline for qualifying for local offices in the General Election
is August 21.
About 5,200 customers in South Boston went hours without electric
power Saturday from about 6:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Sunday after
a violent thunderstorm raked the area with high winds, torrential
downpours and dangerous lightning.
There were also scattered outages throughout Halifax County, according
to Dominion Virginia Power spokesman Dan Genest.
Customers were without power due to a static line that fell onto
a transmission line in the South Boston area.
At least 1.4 inches of rain was measured in South Boston at the
waste treatment plant this weekend, according to officials.
Halifax firemen answered a call to Deer View Trail about 7 p.m.
Saturday to a house fire, fighting the blaze for about two hours.
A much anticipated announcement of the results of the Standards
of Learning tests administered this past spring to Halifax County's
students is expected to come tonight.
Ann C. Conner, the director of instruction for the county school
system, will give a preliminary report on the SOL test results
to the Halifax County School Board when it meets tonight at 7
p.m. in Halifax.
Although school system officials have not released the figures,
they have indicated over the past month or so that Halifax County's
students had fared better on the SOL tests than they had the previous
year.
Halifax County High School officials had indicated earlier that
their students had performed very well on the tests.
That was backed up by the fact that only nine of the 388 seniors
that were candidates for graduation failed to graduate in June.
Halifax County High School had one of its lowest figures ever
for the number of students attending Summer School.
Only 25 Halifax County High School students were enrolled in Summer
School the first semester.
Indications were that Halifax County Middle School students also
fared well on the SOL tests.
Also among the items of major interest on the agenda for tonight's
School Board meeting is a teacher attendance incentive plan.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt is expected to
unveil a proposal that will provide an incentive for teachers
to improve their attendance and, hopefully, curb the school system's
growing expenses in paying for substitute teachers.
Also tonight, the School Board will hear a request from Halifax
County High School Principal Albert T. Randolph to form a ninth-grade
boys basketball team at Halifax County High School.
"It's something that all of the other schools in the (Western
Valley) district have," Halifax County High School varsity
basketball coach Garrett Dillard said yesterday.
"This is something I've thrown around since my first or second
year here but this is the furthest it has gone."
Halifax County High School fields a varsity and a junior varsity
basketball team. Ninth grade and tenth grade students are eligible
to play on the junior varsity team.
Randolph will also make another pitch to the School Board tonight,
that one a request to improve the marquee in front of the high
school.
In addition, Randolph will make a report to the School Board tonight
on the high school's policies regarding course withdrawals, absences
and academic incentives.
Several other reports and routine items including the school system's
financial report also appear on tonight's agenda.
The capital murder trial of Raymond Pin has been delayed yet
again, this time because a witness whom Pin's defense counsel
deems crucial to their case is not available to testify at trial,
previously scheduled to start tomorrow.
A defense motion for continuance was granted in Halifax County
Circuit Court Wednesday by Judge William L. Wellons, due to Dr.
Jack Daniel, a former state forensic scientist, being unavialble
to testify during the trial.
According to court documents, Daniel is already scheduled to appear
in two other trials, at least one of which is a capital murder
trial, on August 15 and 16.
In an ironic twist, Daniel was one of the doctors who performed
the autopsies of the victims for whose murder Pin is being tried.
The news was not all good last week for Pin, represented by Robert
H. Morrison and Joseph M. Teefey Jr.
A defense motion to declare the Virginia capital murder and death
penalty statutes was denied Wednesday by Judge Wellons, who cited
a recent Supreme Court of Virginia decision upholding the constitutionality
of the statutes.
Pin's defense team hoped to have a favorable ruling in order to
prohibit the potential imposition of the death penalty if Pin
were convicted of capital murder.
A new trial date for Pin will probably be determined at docket
call for the next term of court later this month.
After having completed five days of conditioning and run-through
drills, Halifax County High School's 45 gridders got down to the
real nitty-gritty Saturday.
The Comets players donned their pads and went through their first
round of full-contact drills Saturday.
Halifax County High School varsity football coach James Hodges
said the first round of contact went about as well as could be
expected.
"It went okay," Hodges said yesterday.
"The first day we were basically trying to find out what
some of the younger guys could do. A couple of them did pretty
well."
Saturday's opening round of contact drills followed a week of
conditioning and drills designed to get everyone somewhat oriented
to the team's offensive and defensive schemes.
The Comets gridders will get an even bigger dose of that regimen
this week now that contact drills are underway.
This week will be a busy week for Hodges, his assistant coaches
and the Comets players as they work to further implement the offense
and defense.
That's because they have only four days to get ready for their
first test - a Friday night scrimmage with Nottoway County and
Prince Edward County.
"The scrimmage will tell us a lot," Hodges said.
"We're not going to be concerned with who scores how many
points. We've go to find out which of the young players we have
are going to be able to help us and we need to find out which
ones of our returning players are going to be able to pull their
weight."
One thing Hodges has been pleased with so far is the numbers.
A total of 46 players showed up last Monday for the first day
of practice and only one player has departed.
"That's not too bad," Hodges said when asked how he
felt with 45 players on the field.
"We hit for the first time Saturday. I'm hoping that all
45 will be back Monday."
The Comets coach said that the overwhelming majority of players
he had expected to see report to practice came out for the team
as expected.
"Pretty much everybody we had on our list showed up,"
Hodges said.
"We pretty much got who we expected to get.
"We had a couple of people that didn't make it grade-wise
(during the second semester) and didn't do what they needed to
do this summer (in Summer School)," he added.
"We have a couple of tenth-graders that could go either way,
guys that could end up playing either varsity of jayvee. So far,
we're okay."
One of the toughest battles the Comets faced last week was the
heat and humidity that surfaced late in the week.
Hodges said there were no major problems.
"It was a tough first week," Hodges said.
"What we did was practice from 6 p.m. until dark. We took
good care of the kids. We gave them water every 15 minutes.
"We had a couple of kids get a little hot but we didn't have
any major problems."
The clock is racing rapidly toward the start of the new season.
After Friday's scrimmage against Nottoway County and Prince Edward
County, the Comets will have a week to prepare for their August
24 season opener against nearby Dan River High School.
Donna Jean Lindsey Foster, 37, of 1938 Eastover Drive, South Boston,
died August 9 at Duke University Medical Center.
Mrs. Foster was born in Halifax County on January 13, 1964, the
daughter of William Douglas Lindsey and Minnie Heath Lindsey.
She is survived by her parents of South Boston.
Funeral services were held August 12 at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral
Home Chapel with the Rev. Bob Weeks conducting the service. Burial
followed in the Heath Family Cemetery at Mt. Laurel.
Lessie Mae Bowes, 76, of 2012 Harmony Road, Alton, died August
9 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Bowes was born in Person County, N.C. on January 4, 1925.
She was married to the late Willie Junious 'Buck' Bowes, and was
a member of Alton Baptist Church.
A funeral service was held August 12 at 2 p.m. at Brooks Funeral
Home Chapel with the Timmy Bowes officiating. Burial was in Bethel
Hill Baptist Church Cemetery.
Survivors of Mrs. Bowes include two sons, Billy James Bowes and
his wife, Delayne of Alton and W. Ray Bowes and his wife, Barbara
of Annandale; two daughters, Mildred B. Bradham and her husband,
Vann of Wilmington, N.C. and Linda B. Miller and her husband,
Rudy of Richmond; two sisters, Edith Bowes of Woodsdale, N.C.
and Margie Wilborne of Nashville, Tn.; four brothers, Jesse Bowes
of Roxboro, N.C.,Roy Bowes of Bumpass, James Bowes and Golden
C. 'J.B.' Bowes Jr., both of Alton; 11 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren;
three great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by
her husband, one grandson, Billy James 'Jimmy' Bowes Jr.; three
sisters and three great-great-grandchildren.
John Jasper Pointer Sr., 83, of 1082 Jeffress Trail, Alton, died
August 9 in Alton.
Mr. Pointer was born in Halifax County on February 17, 1918, the
son of the late Samuel Pointer and Eliza Brandon Pointer. He was
married to the late Gladys Brandon and was a member of Brandon
Chapel Baptist Church.
Survivors include four daughters, Deborah Logan and Evelyn Pointer,
both of Atlanta, Ga., Karetha Medley of Alton and Dr. Audrey Rudd
of Durham, N.C.; five sons, Carl Pointer Sr., John Pointer Jr.,
David Pointer Sr. and Boris Stacy Pointer Sr., all of Alton and
Antonio Conrad Pointer of Atlanta; 19 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren;
four sisters, Ada Wensley, Juanita Brewer and Louise Sparks, all
of Alton and Mary Brandon of Greensboro, N.C.; three brothers,
Mack Pointer and Lark Pointer, both of New York, and Samuel Pointer
of Alton.
Funeral services for Mr. Pointer were held August 12 at 2 p.m.
at Greater Brandon Chapel Baptist Church with the Dr. Herbert
J. Surgeon officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.