By Keith Strange

A practice by the South Boston Police Department for the annual "Night Out" resulted in very real fear for many in nearby neighborhoods Tuesday night.
The practice took place at Constitution Square.
Investigator B.K. Lovelace said yesterday that the practice, which occurred at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, was a run-through for an 'officer down' demonstration by the department's tactical team.
The practice was authorized by Lovelace, but Chief Jim Hall said he was aware of it.
During the practice, Lovelace said there were six explosions and 30-35 gunshots.
"We met at the department first, made very sure everyone was shooting blanks, and then went to the scene," the investigator said.
"The reason it was done there is because that's where it will be performed," Chief Jim Hall said yesterday.
Police questioned why the frightened citizens didn't call the department.
"The dispatchers were aware of what was happening," Hall said. "If they had called, the citizens would have been told."
Lovelace said it was done so late at night for several reasons.
"We did it at that time because there weren't so many calls coming in at that time and we had to close the roads and reroute traffic," the investigator said.
Both Lovelace and Hall said the demonstration occurred 2-3 weeks ago, with no adverse reaction from the public.
"The explosions were louder the first time we did it," Lovelace said. "We toned it down this time."
Hall said the exercise was authorized by Lovelace, but he was aware of it.
"The team can't train during the day all the time, because many of the calls they get are during the night," Hall noted.
But many in the adjoining neighborhood were frightened by the experience.
"The gunfire sounded very real to me," said Steve Vaughan of Jeffress Street.
"I'm not ashamed to tell you it scared me," he added.
Vaughan said at the very least residents of the neighborhood, which has been plagued by break-ins in recent weeks, should have been informed.
"How would you feel if you were laying in bed and all of a sudden heard gunfire?" he asked. "The police should have told us what was going on."
"Everyone I know in the neighborhood is afraid," Vaughan admitted.
Many residents of the area wanted to comment on the practice, but said they didn't want to be identified because of their positions in the community.
"People on Jeffress and Fenton Streets are living in fear," one said yesterday. "They are boarding up their windows, and sleeping in different rooms because of all the break-ins."
"For the police to be shooting at 12:30 a.m. in the morning is ridiculous!" another exclaimed.
"There are so many cops in this town with nothing to do, they have to shoot off guns? Town Council needs to do something about this," he added.
Hall said the last thing he wanted to do was further scare already-frightened residents.
"One of the things that's very important to us is people feeling safe," the chief said. "That's a big concern to us."
"I'll be the first to admit the media should have been informed of what was going on," he added. "I can assure you of one thing, if we do any more practicing in the evenings, residents will be notified beforehand."
Lovelace wanted to apologize for frightening the residents.
"The last thing we wanted to do was upset anyone," the investigator said. "If we did we are truly sorry."
But one resident wasn't convinced.
"Upset anyone? They were shooting guns at 12:30 in the morning," he said. "How was I supposed to feel?"

South Boston was notified this week that the Department of Environmental Quality had rescinded it's consent order that the town had been under since February 5, 1999.
The town entered the consent order agreement with the agency to correct serious sewer collection deficiencies as a result of infiltration and inflow of groundwater into the sanitary sewer system.
"The system had defects all in it," Town Manager Ted Daniel said yesterday. "It was allowing groundwater and storm water into the system."
Daniel said all the water was going into the treatment plant, which didn't have the capacity to handle the excess water.
"The DEQ came in and said we had to fix it because we were exceeding the limits of the system," Daniel said.
For every permit violation issued, the town could be fined, he added.
"We asked the DEQ to stop giving us violations, and entered into a consent order that mandated the problem must be corrected," the town manager said.
Under the agreement, South Boston committed to correct the deficiencies.
"To date, South Boston has spent over $3 million to correct the problems and $3.5 million to construct the enlarged headworks to the treatment plant," Daniel said.
The town worked to repair the infiltration and inflow system in order to correct the problems.
He added that as a result of the initial repair efforts to the infiltration and inflow system, the town successfully completed a six-month evaluation period from December 2001 through May 2002 by operating the system within permitted limits.
"We asked the DEQ if we could get out of the consent order in June," Daniel said.
As a result of a modification made to the consent order by Daniels and ultimately termination of the order, the town will be spared having to complete expansion of the treatment plant to a 3 million gallons per day capacity.
"Basically what it means for the town is we don't have to spend $7 million more dollars expanding the plant to a level we don't need," Daniels said.
He added that if the town had to borrow $7 million more to expand the plant, the result would have been "catastrophic increases" in water rates for residents.
"We had the right man in place at the right time," commented Councilman Tom Raab.
"Our strategy worked, we are out from under the consent order," Daniels said. "When you're under a consent order, that isn't a good feeling."
In the current capital improvement budget, $7,009,534 is projected as the cost of the expansion of the treatment facility.
Daniels said the town isn't through with the I & I repairs.
"We still have some problems that need to be corrected," he noted.
South Boston was awarded a $1.8 million grant by the Environmental Protection Agency through the efforts of Congressman Virgil Goode to complete priority repairs to the wastewater collection system.
"We will be using the money for phase II, continuing to fix the problem of leaks in the system," the town manager said.
The additional work will commence this fall.

June unemployment figures remained in double digits for Halifax County, with the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) reporting a 10.1 percent unemployment rate.
According to figures released Tuesday by the VEC, a total of 2,094 county workers were looking for employment in June, an increase from the 2,027 looking for work in May, which recorded an unemployment rate of 10.0 percent.
The unemployment rate in June 2001 was also 10 percent.
On the bright side, the VEC reported that 18,568 county workers were employed in June, compared to 18,177 in May.
Both Pittsylvania and Henry counties saw slight increases in their unemployment rates in June.
Pittsylvania County saw its unemployment rate go from 8.9 in May to 9.0 percent in June, while Henry County's unemployment rate rose from 12.1 percent in May to 12.4 percent in June.
The City of Danville saw a slight increase in unemployment in June, with the VEC recording a 11.0 percent rate, compared to 10.8 percent in May.
The VEC had somewhat better news for the City of Martinsville, as it recorded a June unemployment rate of 17.9 percent, compared to 18.5 percent in May.
Neighboring Charlotte and Mecklenburg counties saw a decrease in their June unemployment rates.
Charlotte County's unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in June from 6.9 percent in May, while the unemployment rate in Mecklenburg County dropped to 10.8 percent in June after a 11.2 percent unemployment rate was recorded in May.
Virginia's overall unemployment rate rose slightly in June, to 4.3 percent, compared to a 4.1 percent rate in May, with a total of 163,415 workers in the state looking for employment.

South Boston's New Brick Planters Warehouse will open its sales year on Thursday, August 8, with an estimated 450,000 pounds of carry-over leaf on the auction block.
Warehouse co-owner Charlie Payne said that he is pleased with the 1,639,559 pounds of tobacco that Halifax County growers have designated to his independent warehouse this year.
"It amazes me that after what we've been through, the farmers are supporting me the way they are," Payne said earlier.
"(The designation) will absolutely keep us in business this year," he added.
Payne said that a lot of tobacco is expected to be brought in to the New Planters Warehouse from North Carolina, Lunenburg County and Pittsylvania County.
"I would like to get 2.6 million pounds, but anything over two million will be fine," he said.
Payne said he expects the number to be closer to the 2 million pound mark.
"I learned a long time ago that we wouldn't get rich from tobacco, but we try to do what we can to keep the county alive," Payne added.
The warehouse owner said he expects an above-average crop for the 2002 season.
"I think we've got a pretty decent crop this year, certainly better than some of the other belts," Payne said, noting N.C., S.C. and Ga. "They're hurting."
"Now we just need a little more rain," he added.
According to Kevin Bohon of the Halifax County Farm Service Agency, farmers in the county designated 2,575,239 pounds of leaf to be sold at auction.
Halifax County farmers planted 4,645 acres of tobacco this year.
"We generally count on 2,000 lbs. per acre as the average yield for Halifax County," Bohon said.
Of the total leaf designated to be auctioned, Bohon noted that 65 percent went to the local marketing center.
Of the 10,393,038 pounds of tobacco grown in Halifax County this year, only 20 percent is expected to be sold at auction.
But Bohon pointed out that this week was a re-designation week.
"Those figures could change at any time during the week," he said.
"We will know more on Monday," he added.
Bohon said that he feels that it is significant that the number of people contracting hasn't changed since last year.
"Those people who sold at auction last year have enough faith in the auction system to stay with it," he noted.
The traditional method of marketing tobacco changed dramatically during the 2001 flue-cured tobacco marketing season.
Nearly 80 percent of all tobacco marketed was via direct contract with the manufacturer.
Stabilization will operate 14 marketing centers this year that will not charge producers a fee to sell their leaf.
Other warehouses in the area have chosen to forego auction sales due to the rise in contracting.
Planters Warehouse in nearby Roxboro was the lone warehouse in the city to hold tobacco auctions last year, but owner Owen Pass has said he won't open this year.
Other area warehouses that will be open this year include Danville's Motley's Warehouse, which will host its first sale on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Other Motley's sale dates during the month will be Aug. 15,21 and 26.
In Oxford, N.C., Yeargin's Warehouse will begin the season with an August 8 opening, and Granville Farmers Warehouse will begin the same morning at 10:30.
Motley's Warehouse in Danville and Granville Farmers Warehouse in Oxford are being operated this year as "marketing centers" by Stabilization.