Friday, August 13, 2003

Warner Announces 150 Jobs For County
He Promises To 'Leave No Stone Unturned' In Helping Create Jobs For Southside Virginia

Governor Mark R. Warner announced over 150 new jobs for Halifax County during a swing through Southside Virginia Wednesday.

The announcements were made at Riverstone Technology Park, the site of one of the new businesses.

"People have made the comment that I don't come to Halifax County very often," the governor said. "Well, I wanted to come back with good news and bring some money along with me."

Warner announced that a new call center for the Virginia Employment Commission will be located in Riverstone.

"It will employ up to 70 part-time and full-time workers, and when fully staffed, will generate $1.6 million in salaries and wages."

The governor said he hoped that due to the use of broadband technology, jobs
at the center will be an example of 21st Century jobs.

"These are the types of jobs we want to grow in Southside Virginia," he said.

"And I just wanted to let you know, this effort came about with the help of some 'gentle nudging' from your legislative delegation."

The governor also announced a $2.5 million expansion for Sunshine Mills in Halifax.

The expansion will mean the creation of 40 new jobs for the county, according to Warner.

"By putting this kind of investment in the community, it tells me this company is here to stay for the future," Warner said.

In an effort to assist with the Sunshine expansion, Warner presented Halifax County Board of Supervisors chairman David Martin with a $60,000 check from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist with the expansion.

Rick Hammock, the general manager of Sunshine Mills, told the approximately 50 people in attendance that there was a lot of competition between communities for the expansion.

"Not only within the state, but in about five other states as well," he said. "But I for one am very glad it's here and very excited we're going to have a major expansion at the Halifax County plant."

The governor announced two new industries locating in the county.
Netherlands-based D&R Holland will open an aluminum stamping operation in the old Daystrom building in Halifax County Industrial Park.

"Initially, this will only create eight new jobs, but it's a $1.2 million capital investment in the community.

"I think that's a great indication that these eight initial jobs will grow in the future," Warner said.

He added that Virginia Brands has opened a cigarette manufacturing company in the county.

"The company will initially employ 35 people and invest over $2 million in the county," he said. "What we're talking about today is a net increase of over 150 new jobs to the county."

Warner said that the announcement of the smaller operations signifies a shift in the type of new jobs in Southside.

"I think in a way, this reflects the new face of economic development," he said. "This doesn't mean at all that we're not going to still continue to go after the 400-500 person plants.

"But as we've seen in Halifax County and Henry County and Mecklenburg County, often when a whole community relies on that one plant for employment and the plant shuts down, an entire community is devastated."

Warner said the state was going to also try to attract smaller companies and focus on diversifying Southside's economy to ensure its economic revitalization.

"It's going to take this kind of collaborative, comprehensive effort to make sure we bring Southside Virginia back," he said.

And local economic development leaders can count on support from the Governor's office in seeking new industry, Warner said.

"I promise to leave no stone unturned (in looking for new industry for Southside)," he added. "We'll go the extra mile to make sure that anything that's even close to real, I'll be there from a state standpoint to make sure you have the extra dollars or whatever it takes to get the deal done."

To assist with the new industries, Del. Clarke Hogan and Sen. Frank Ruff presented Martin with a $70,000 check from the Tobacco Commission.

"Our community and its neighbors have been some of the most stressed in the southeast," Martin said.

"These announcements are the start of what I hope will be the rebuilding of one of the strongest economies in Southside Virginia," he added.

Broadband Vote Due October 15

"One way or another, we're going to vote by October 15 on a way to provide broadband Internet service to Halifax County," Del. Clarke Hogan said yesterday.

Hogan chairs the Technology Committee of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, which met at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center Thursday.

During the meeting members of the committee heard proposals from several differing groups on methods to provide the service.

Broadband is a somewhat nebulous term, but is loosely defined as the ability to transfer large amounts of data over the Internet at high speed, somewhat like the wider and more lanes a highway has the more cars can travel through it in a given period of time.

One of the committee's goals is to be able to provide variable bandwidth based on the needs of the user.

Hogan said the committee had "limited the scope of what we're going to consider at this point."

"In the past we'd been trying to dictate the type of service we were going to provide," he said. "But we're more interested in getting the service and aren't as interested in what technology is used to provide it."

Of primary concern to the committee is bringing the high-speed Internet data transfer capacity to Southside's 50-plus industrial parks.

"As part of the proposal, we will concentrate on providing three things," Hogan said.

Those include running fiber-optic cable to each of the parks, providing redundancy to the fiber at the parks to guarantee no interruption in service and providing wholesale access to local providers.

"We want to let local providers be able to purchase bandwidth for resale to both businesses and individuals," the delegate said.

Commission members will be putting out a RFI (request for information) from companies interested in providing the technology.

Anyone who wants to issue a proposal is welcome, according to Hogan.

"We suspect that we'll hear from local providers, some telecom groups and possibly some public/private partnerships," he said.

"The goal here is that we aren't wedded to any particular technology and company," Hogan added. "We're interested in the level of service for our communities.

"We want to be able to provide as much Internet speed as is needed by the members of the business community and personal users," he said.

The goal of providing the service is to make Halifax County and Southside more attractive for industry.

"We want the industrial development officials in this community to be able to meet with clients and be able to lay out for them a definable cost structure to meet those clients' needs," Hogan said. "We want our technology to be able to compete with that of anywhere in the world."

SoBo Nets $737,880 In Funds

South Boston received $737,880 yesterday in economic development funds Thursday from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.

The funds will be used to assist South Boston in a sewer capacity improvement project.

In making the announcement, Del. Clarke Hogan said now was the time to invest in Halifax County's infrastructure.

"This is the right thing at the right time," the delegate said. "We have some more work to do, as we look at opportunities here to invest for the region's future.

"We want to make sure we're spending it on something that will further the community," Hogan added.

The announcement was made yesterday in the conference room of the town manager's office in South Boston Town Hall.

The funds will be used for an upgrade the town's system that will service the Riverstone Technology Park, Southside Industrial Park, the Halifax/South Boston Industrial Park and substantial acreage fronting Route 58 that is suitable for commercial development.

Town Manager Ted Daniel called the award "magnificent."

"This community's water and sewer system is in financial distress," he said.

"It's old and broken down and we have invested nearly $9 million to rehabilitate.

"But now we may be over the hurdle," Daniel added. "This money will help our water and sewer system financially recover."

Senator Frank Ruff said the money was another example of the commission
and community teaming up in economic development efforts.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for this community to show that they are getting ready for the industry that's sure to come," Ruff said.

Comets Face First Test Tonight

By JOE CHANDLER| G-V Staff Writer

Halifax County High School football coach James Hodges has a lot of positions to fill on his football team.

Tonight, he will come away with a pretty good idea who can fill some of them.

The varsity Comets will face their first real test tonight when they go on the road to face Gretna High School in their first preseason scrimmage.

"We're filling a lot of spots and we're trying to figure out how the pieces of the puzzle fit together," said Hodges.

"There are some pieces of the puzzle we're not sure about."

Hodges will get a good look at his team tonight and will do so against a pretty good opponent.

Group AA Gretna High School has one of the best teams in many years, a team Hodges says will provide his team a tough test.

"If Gretna doesn't win the state championship in their division in Group AA I'm going to be shocked," said Hodges.

"It (the scrimmage) is going to be a tough test. We're definitely going to find out some things about our kids.

"I'm hoping we will be able to play with them and learn some things."

Hodges said Gretna's standout quarterback, an all-state Group AA selection last year, has given many team's fits.

Gretna runs its offense out of the shotgun formation and the quarterback is so quick and mobile that he can throw or run from almost anywhere.
"Our defense will be tested," said Hodges.

"We're going to have to do a good job to contain him."

Hodges and his coaching staff enter tonight's scrimmage in a different posture than that of last year.

"Last year at this time we had some things to work on but we were pretty much set on both offense and defense," Hodges pointed out.

"This year we're trying to fill some spots. We're trying to find out who can step up and fill the spots we need."

One of the big question marks for the Comets is who will get the nod at quarterback.

"We've got four guys trying out for it and three of them are probably going to get some pretty decent playing time Friday," Hodges said.

The candidates include senior David Baskervill and junior Charles Barnes, both of whom are returnees from last year's team.

Also seeking the spot are sophomore Bobby Owens who played on the Comets jayvee team last season and Blake Robertson, another player up from the jayvee team.

The offensive backfield is also unsettled.

Junior Brandon Richardson appeared to be a shoo-in at tailback to fill the spot vacated by the graduation of Alonzo Coleman.

"Before the season started it was Brandon's job to win or lose," said Hodges.

"But, we haven't been able to find a solid performer at fullback and we may have to look at him there. If he plays some fullback, it will give us more of a 1-2 punch like we had last year with Alonzo and Dante (Roberts)."

Also working at tailback are senior Ricky Petty who is trying to rebound from an injury that forced him to miss most of last season and sophomore Willie Stephens who is up from last year's jayvee team.

Barnes can play either tailback or fullback and sophomore Marcus Coleman and newcomer Scott Moore are also looking for playing time.

As far as pass receivers go, senior Brent Long, a standout last year, returns.

Brian Terry, a returnee from last year and Henry Redmond, who played for the jayvees last year, are trying to land a spot.

Petty and Barnes could be used at the flanker spot.

Up front, Hodges has two experienced linemen in Trad Moore and Ryan Gieselman. Jason Ferrell, a senior returnee from last year, is likely to go at center.

Returnee James Hicks, first-year player Joey Adams and Terry, who could go at tight end, are fighting for starting spots up front.
Hodges is having to replace the whole defensive line.

Second-year player Bryant Tune is trying to transition from linebacker to defensive end, second-year player Darrell Bowman is being eyed as a tackle or defensive end and Ross Shepherd, returning after having been away a year, is working at defensive end.

The Comets have three experienced linebackers in Gieselman, Moore and Greg Ragsdale and are looking at returnee Josh Martin and two players up from last year's jayvee squad, Bo Palmore and Curt Ramsey to fill the fourth spot.

In the defensive backfield, Hodges will be eyeing Long, Petty, Charles Brandon, who started at the end of last year, Blake Robertson and Blake Waller.

With many positions far from being settled, there is sure to be a lot of intense play tonight as Comets players try to land a starting job.

After tonight's scrimmage, the Comets have another week of practice followed by a scrimmage against Bluestone here next Friday against Bluestone.

The Comets will open their 2003 season here on Friday night, August 29, when they face Rustburg.

Obituaries

Sallie Neal Blackstock

Sallie Neal Blackstock, 92, of 3186 Abbott Hill Road, Halifax, died August 13 at Halifax Regional Hospital.

Mrs. Blackstock was born in Halifax County on July 29, 1911, the daughter of Syl Neal and Nora Conner Neal and was married to Earlie R. Blackstock. She was a member of Hunting Creek Baptist Church.

Survivors include one daughter, Daisy B. Glass and husband, James, of Halifax; one son, Dr. Joe Blackstock and wife, Sandra, of Roanoke; three grandchildren, Jeremy Blackstock and wife, Pattie, of Roanoke, Jason Blackstock and wife, Jennifer, of Roanoke, and Dr. Douglas Glass of Alexandria; five great-grandchildren, Kayleigh, Amiee, Karrington, Skylar and Kendra Blackstock, all of Roanoke.

Funeral services for Mrs. Blackstock will be held tomorrow, August 16 at 2 p.m. at Hunting Creek Baptist Church with the Revs. Tony Sisk and H.V. Conner officiating. Burial will take place in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening from 7:00 until 8:30, and other times at the home.

Marvin Dwight Carr

Marvin Dwight Carr Sr., 55, of Washington, D.C., formerly of Halifax County, died August 13 at the Washington Hospital Center.

Mr. Carr was born in Halifax County on February 12, 1948, the son of John Pleasant Carr and the late Irene Jackson Carr. He was a member of Sunflower Baptist Church.

Survivors include two daughters, Annette Carr of Aurora, Ill. and Antoinette Carr of Temple Hills, Md.; one son, Marvin Dwight Carr Jr. of Marboro, Md.; one grandson, Darius Carr of Marboro; his father of Halifax; one sister, Sandra Carr Carrington of Alexandria; three brothers, John Wayne Carr and Detra Carr, both of Halifax, and Joseph Barksdale Carr of Clover; one foster brothers, Irving Acree of Halifax; and one daughter-in-law, Cathy Carr of Marboro.

Funeral services for Mr. Carr will be held August 16 at 3:30 p.m. at Sunflower Baptist Church with the Rev. Diane Carr officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family is receiving friends locally at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Detra Carr, 5125 Halifax Road, Halifax.

Page Haskins Vaughan

Page Haskins Vaughan, 72, of 3419 W. Grace Street, Richmond died August 13 at Saint Mary's Hospital.

Mr. Vaughan was born in South Boston on April 21, 1931, the son of Page Haskins Vaughan Sr. and Mary Booth Vaughan and was married to Kay Boyles Vaughan. He was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church where he was on the Vestry. He worked with the United Way, was chairman of the South Boston Red Cross, president of the South Boston Jaycees, member of the American Legion and worked with the Boy Scouts. Mr. Vaughan was a U.S. Army Veteran of the Korean Conflict, attended Hampden Sydney College and was retired from Rochester Button Company in South Boston.

Survivors include one son, Page H. Vaughan III and wife, Jane M., of Statesboro, Ga.; one daughter, Mary Jo O'Hallahan and husband, Don, of Richmond; two grandchildren, Elizabeth Vaughan and Christopher Vaughan of Statesboro; one sister and brother-in-law, Betty Rogers and Chandler Nelson of South Boston.

Graveside services for Mr. Vaughan will be held tomorrow, August 16 at Oak Ridge Cemetery with Military Rites at 11:30 a.m. The Rev. Andy Bawtree will officiate.

The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening from 7:00 until 8:30.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Amy and Charles Millhiser Memorial Hospice Fund, 5875 Bremo Road, Suite 710, Richmond, 23226.

Michael Allen Wilson

Michael Allen Wilson Sr., 50, of 1205 East Hyco Road, South Boston died August 12 at Grand Strand Regional Medical center, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Mr. Wilson was born in Halifax County on February 25, 1953, the son of Gertrude W. Wilson and the late Floyd W. Wilson, and was married to Marilyn Nelson Wilson. He was a member of Ash Avenue Baptist Church, and employed as Office & Accounting assistant at Southern States Coop Petroleum.

Services will be held today, August 15 at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel at 11 a.m. with the Rev. John Eure officiating. Burial will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Mr. Wilson is survived by his wife; his mother ; two sons, Michael Allen Wilson Jr. and Matthew Ryan Wilson, all of South Boston; two sisters, Linda W. Crews of Richmond and Deborah Wilson of Atlanta, Ga. He was preceded in death by his father and one brother, Perry Wilson.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Ash Avenue Baptist Church, 900 Ash Avenue, South Boston 24592, or Halifax County Rescue Squad, PO Box 183, South Boston.

The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home Thursday evening between 7:00 and 9:00.