It started in a mobile unit in a high school parking lot 13
years ago before finding a more permanent domain in a former Lowe's
building.
But the next move for the Continuing Education Center of Southern
Virginia is without a doubt an "amazing" transformation
and doors to the new higher education facility will swing open
to the public for the first time on Sunday, August 19.
The former Export Leaf Tobacco building at 820 Bruce Street in
South Boston's historic warehouse district is the object of the
transformation, a project that has taken just over a year to complete
at a cost of approximately $6.5 million.
"The transformation of a tobacco warehouse into an educational
facility has been amazing; it will keep the history of the community
alive in a good way," CEC Director Amy Hudson Lammerts stated.
Ironically, over $1.5 million of money from the Tobacco Indemnification
and Community Revitalization Commission has gone into the renovation
project.
The CEC will occupy 30,000 square feet of renovated space with
a potential 70,000 square feet.
Final details in the six state-of-the-art computer labs, eight
classrooms, biology/chemistry lab, library and office space are
now being completed. Fixtures and new furnishings are arriving
daily and relocation of records, supplies and other items from
the present Love Shop address to the new facility begins next
Wednesday.
Architect for the project is Emmett W. Lifsey of the firm of Calloway,
Johnson, Moore & West in Lynchburg and general contractor
for the project is John W. Daniel Construction of Danville.
The new facility, according to Lammerts, "will expand opportunities
for training. With the additional space, the CEC will be able
to offer more programs to the community and more opportunities
for different colleges around the state to offer programs locally."
Courses and programs for the CEC are developed and coordinated
by the Southern Virginia Higher Education Consortium, composed
on the presidents of Danville Community College, Longwood College
and Southside Virginia Community College. Longwood College serves
as fiscal agent for the CEC.
A ribbon cutting and open house, including refreshments and tour
of the new facility, will begin at 5 p.m.
On Monday, August 20, from 4 to 7 p.m., the CEC will host "Back
To School Night," an open registration for fall classes.
For more information on the CEC, call 804.575.0292.
CHESTER Star Scientific, Inc. has announced a 56%
increase in net income for the three months ended June 30, 2001.
Second quarter 2001 net revenues were $43.7 million, compared
to $42.2 million in the second quarter of 2000, an increase of
3.4%.
Jonnie R. Williams, Star's co-founder and CEO, said that the company's
Chase City StarCured(TM) processing facility began receiving what
they anticipate will be approximately 30% of all the flue-cured
tobacco grown in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
"We anticipate that we will process approximately 17-20 million
pounds of StarCured(TM) tobacco during the third and fourth quarters
of this year," said Williams.
Second quarter 2001 pre-tax and net earnings were $4.5 million
and $2.7 million, respectively, compared to pre-tax and net earnings
of $3.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively, in the second
quarter of 2000.
Pre-tax and net earnings for the first six months of 2001 were
$8.5 million and $5.1 million, compared to pre-tax and net earnings
of $6.7 million and $3.7 million, respectively, in the first six
months of 2000, which reflect corresponding increases in the pre-tax
and net earnings of 28% and 37%.
Net revenues for the first six months of 2001 were $81.0 million,
compared to $88.8 million in the first six months of 2000. All
of the company's net revenues during the second quarter and first
six months of 2001 were attributable to sales of cigarettes by
its wholly owned subsidiary, Star Tobacco & Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
Second quarter 2001 diluted per share earnings were $.05 compared
with per share earnings of $0.03 in the second quarter of 2000.
The diluted weighted average shares outstanding were 60,756,529
and 61,830,738 in the second quarters of 2001 and 2000, respectively.
Diluted per share earnings for the first six months of 2001 were
$.08 compared with per share earnings of $0.06 in the first six
months of 2000. The diluted weighted average shares outstanding
were 60,756,529 and 62,240,681 in the first six months of 2001
and 2000, respectively.
The gain in net income in both the second quarter and the first
six months of 2001 resulted from an increase in discount cigarette
prices.
According to Star officials, the gain was achieved despite the
company's greater focus on, and investment in the development,
manufacturing preparation and pre-test market activities for the
two new smokeless tobacco products, brand-named STONEWALL(TM)
and ARIVA(TM).
Star's existing product lines are supporting corporate activities
and also are providing funds for R&D, new product development,
and pre-test market activities for STONEWALL(TM)and ARIVA (TM).
Star plans to test market ARIVA(TM)and STONEWALL(TM) later this
year.
Paul L. Perito, Star's Chairman, President and COO, noted, ``Our
primary focus continues to center on the development of technologies
and tobacco products that deliver less toxins, and the marketing
of those smoked and smokeless products."
According to Perito, all of the cigarettes Star currently sells
now are manufactured with approximately 24% StarCured(TM) very
low-nitrosamine tobacco (1), as well as with carbon/acetate filters
that decrease additional vapor-phase toxins.
"We made the decision to use more costly, very low-TSNA StarCured(TM)
tobacco and carbon-acetate filters in the discount brands to demonstrate
to the marketplace that discount cigarette products can be manufactured
to be both cost effective and competitive, while also embracing
the essence of the Surgeon General's admonition that tobacco products
'should be no more harmful than necessary, given availabletechnologies,'''
stated Perito.
``Manufacturing lines have been installed in Chase City for ARIVA(TM),
and in Petersburg for STONEWALL(TM). We intend to focus considerable
fiscal and human resource efforts on producing smokeless tobacco
products, including STONEWALL(TM) (a moist snuff product) and
ARIVA (TM) (a compressed, hard snuff cigalett (TM) product),"
Perito added.
All of Star's smokeless tobacco products will contain TSNA levels
that the company anticipates will be at least 95% lower than conventional
snuff products currently sold in the United States.
"We have been encouraged by our Scientific Advisory Board,
as well as by other independent scientific and medical advisors,
to accelerate the development and merchandising of non-combustible
tobacco products using StarCured(TM) tobacco so as to provide
adult tobacco users smokeless product choices that significantly
reduce exposure to some of the cancer-causing toxins (TSNAs) contained
in all conventional tobacco products," said Perito.
"At the same time, we will continue to tell adult tobacco
consumers that there is not enough medical evidence at the present
time to know if lowering exposure to these cancer-causing toxins
will reduce health risks," Perito added.
"However, Star believes it is appropriate to use the StarCured(TM)
tobacco curing process to reduce exposure to carcinogenic toxins,
and to provide consumers with fair, accurate and balanced information
about the product they consume. This will be underscored by the
anticipated smokeless tobacco campaign slogan, 'KNOW YOUR SNUFF,'''
the Star official said.
Star officials said they anticipate that the investment and expenses
associated with bringing STONEWALL(TM)and ARIVA(TM) to the test
market phase during the remainder of this year will be significant.
Christopher Miller, Star Scientific's chief financial officer,
noted, ``This investment is important because it is an integral
component of what we hope will be a successful very low-TSNA smokeless
products initiative''.
Star will make a presentation to analysts and individual investors
on November 6, at the Wall Street Analyst Forum, at the
Of the 69 people diagnosed with the
AIDS virus in Halifax County since 1982, 43 are dead, according
to a Virginia Department of Health report.
Through March, no one has been diagnosed with AIDS this year.
Since 1982, 120 people in Halifax and neighboring Campbell and
Charlotte counties have been diagnosed with AIDS, with 72 deaths
reported.
During that period 40 were from Campbell County and 11 from Charlotte
County.
In Campbell County 23 of the 40 AIDS patients have died. Six of
the 11 in Charlotte County have died.
So far this year, one person has been diagnosed with the disease
in Campbell County and there have been no new cases in Charlotte
County.
Those testing HIV positive include: 56 for Halifax County; 39
for Campbell County; three for Charlotte County, through March
31.
One new HIV case was reported in Campbell County, but none were
reported in Halifax or Charlotte counties through March 31.
Statewide, there are 13,122 AIDS cases reported, with 6,985 dead,
according to the report.
Statewide, HIV cases were reported at 12,932.
In the state, 10,915 males have been reported with AIDS, while
2,207 females have been diagnosed.
In Halifax County, 28 cases of chlamydia and nine cases of gonorrhea
were reported during the first three months of this year, according
to the report.Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. The presentation
will be available on the Internet via web cast.
By MICHAEL A. PAIGE
Five-year-old Eli will be receiving a visitor in the near future,
a teddy bear named Rufus VI.
Rufus will bear tidings from fellow children all over the world
who, like Eli, are juvenile diabetics.
Eli, the son of Michael and Donna Hudson, was diagnosed with diabetes
in January 2000 and like other children when first diagnosed,
he was given a bear named Rufus from the Juvenile Diabetic Research
Foundation as part of a care package.
The bear wore patches where he got his shots, and Eli loved it.
Rufus VI is the same type of bear, however, he serves as a traveling
ambassador for children with diabetes.
The traveling bear was the idea of an eight-year-old New York
girl, Colleen Crowley of Bronxville.
She and her mother, Rita, began the Rufus travels by asking families
of juvenile diabetics to participate in creating a journal of
a child's daily life while taking insulin.
Six Rufus bears and a Ruby bear are currently on a year-long excursion
that spans four continents. Visits are scheduled with over a hundred
families with Type 1 diabetes.
Their purpose is to travel from family to family and after spending
several days in each town, the journals are published on the web.
The journal entries, which also include photos, offer an opportunity
to share the day-to-day lives of children who experience similar
challenges.
A website sponsoring the traveling Rufus and his adventures can
be found at childrenwithdiabetes.com.
Eli is tenth in line to receive Rufus the ambassador.
Meanwhile, he is getting ready to enter kindergarten at Virgilina
Elementary School.
As a juvenile diabetic, Eli is the youngest in Halifax County
to use an insulin pump rather than the more common injection.
"With the pump you don't have to have a scheduled snack.
Whatever the routine of the other children, Eli will be able to
participate freely," said his mother, who named cupcakes
and ice cream on holidays as an example.
About a year ago, an insulin pump was not recommended by the Duke
University Medical Center for children under eight-years-old,
according to Donna Hudson.
Now, the hospital is recommending its use because of its effectiveness
in providing insulin on a normalizing blood sugar basis, and "it
makes life easier," Donna said.
"It's a personal decision. People who have been using injections
for many years find that there are changes with the pumper, so
it's a matter of leaving the comfort zone," she added.
After giving the pumper careful consideration, Eli's mother stopped
delaying.
She went through the adjustments of learning how to handle the
pump.
Worn like a pager, the pumper provides a continuous flow of insulin
to the body.
For Eli, the challenge to keep a balance of carbohydrates with
the insulin is a delicate one.
Without the proper amount of insulin a breakdown of fat and muscle
will start which leads to ketoacidosis, a build up of ketone in
the fluids.
The pump is programmed with a basal rate for every hour, such
as during the hours of midnight to 5 a.m., three-tenths of a unit
is pumped into Eli's body.
In the morning hours, the dosage is increased to four-tenths of
a unit and then up to five-tenths during the day before reducing
the usage back down to four-tenths and lower in the evening.
As Eli grows, the pumper adjustments will continue in order to
keep a balance in the body.
"With the pumper, you can fine tune to a tenth of a unit,"
Donna said.
Eli's mother has talked with Principal Sue Bagbey and his teacher,
Brenda Fariss, so they are aware he is coming to class.
"They're very supportive and will learn the ins and outs
of how to take care of a juvenile diabetic and how to use the
pump," explained his mother.
With the arrival of Rufus, Eli will be able to share his experiences
of attending school with other diabetic children who are eager
to participate in activities - including classroom snacks - with
the rest of the class.
When the Hudson family first received their care package from
the Triangle Chapter of the JDRF, it was called the Bag of Hope.
Donna is now a member of the Diabetic Education Team in the Halifax
area and she is responsible for hand delivering a Bag of Hope
to newly diagnosed diabetics living in Southside Virginia.
The Virginia Bag of Hope contains a Rufus for children and also
a picture of a ballerina who is diabetic.
The ballerina is further testament to the possibilities in life,
and she is an inspiration to children with diabetes.
And Eli Hudson is another example of a youngster who is paving
the way for others to take advantage of a procedure that could
enhance their life.
"He's a trooper," Donna said as Eli does a wheelie on
his bicycle.
Mary Whitt Barker, 73, of 7015 Dryburg Road, Scottsburg, died
July 31 at Henrico Doctors Hospital.
Mrs. Barker was born in Halifax County on October 1, 1927, the
daughter of William A. Whitt and Isabelle Whitt Jackson and was
married to Robert Aldridge Barker Sr. She was a member of Fork
Baptist Church where she served as a Sunday school and bible school
teacher.
Survivors include her husband; one daughter, Brenda D. Barker
of Scottsburg; two sons, Darryl A. Barker and wife, Donna of Scottsburg
and Robert A. Barker Jr. and wife, Vickie of Brookneal; two sisters,
Gladys W. Robey of Greensboro, N.C. and Annarene W. Caune of Charlotte,
N.C.; six grandchildren, Robert A. Barker III of Thomasville,
N.C., Christie Barker Lewis, Craig Benjamin Barker and Courtney
Lynn Barker, all of Scottsburg, and Ashley Thomas Barker and Whitney
Allen Barker, both of Brookneal. She was preceded in death by
two brothers, Bradley and William Whitt; two sisters, Florence
W. Watts and Eliza W. Dunn.
Funeral services for Mrs. Barker were held
August 2 at 2 p.m. at Fork Baptist Church with the Rev. Jason
Murray conducting the service. Burial was in Oakland Cemetery
in Scottsburg.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Fork Baptist
Church.
Helen Forsyth Watson, 72, of 1193 Kerns Mills Road, Sutherlin,
died August 1 at her home.
Mrs. Watson was born in Beuna Vista, Ga. on September 18, 1928,
the daughter of the late Charles Howard Forsyth and the late Willie
Mae Forsyth Peters and was married to James Thomas Watson Sr.
She was a member of Kerns Memorial United Methodist Church and
the United Methodist Women of the church.
Funeral services will be held at Kerns Memorial United Methodist
Church August 4 at 2 p.m. with the Revs. Joseph Bradford and Daryl
Joyce conducting the service. Burial will follow in Floral Hills
Memory Gardens, Danville.
Survivors of Mrs. Watson include her husband of Sutherlin; four
sons, James T. 'Tommy' Watson Jr., Gary Bruce Watson, David Ray
Watson and Elmer Glenn Watson, all of Sutherlin; four daughters,
Phyllis W. Newnam of Cary, N.C., Sue W. Williamson of Sutherlin,
Carolyn Fay W. Dodd of Blairs and Barbara W. Price of South Boston;
two brothers, James Glenn Forsyth of Jonesboro, Ga. and Richard
Michael Forsyth of Milner, Ga.; three sisters, Elizabeth F. Zins
of Calahan, Co., Juanita F. Johnson of Ord, Ne., and Ouida F.
Bailey of Jonesboro; 18 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren
and 12 great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home this evening,
August 3 between 7:00 and 8:30, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Hospice Support Services, 159 Executive Drive, Suite H., Danville or Kerns Memorial United Methodist Church, 3860 Kerns Church Road, Sutherlin, 24594.
Granville Barksdale, 87, of Ellicott City, Md., formerly of Halifax
County, died July 30 at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia,
Md.
Mr. Barksdale was born in Halifax County on October 13, 1913,
the son of the late John 'Buster' Barksdale and Delia Barksdale,
and was married to the late Inez Clark Barksdale. He served as
a deacon and trustee at Crossroad Baptist Church.
Survivors include one sister, Hallie Barksdale Moon of South Boston;
a devoted niece and nephew, Lucy Marie Flowers of Ellicott City
and Willie Long of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mr. Barksdale will be held August 4 at noon
at Crossroad Baptist Church with the Rev. Dennie White officiating.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the church following the funeral service.
Hassie Talley Wilbourne, 96, of 3182 Cherry Hill Church Road,
South Boston, died August 2 at her home.
Mrs. Wilbourne was born in Halifax County on May 18, 1905, the
daughter of Jack Almond Talley and Pallie Gravitt Talley and was
married to Edgar Marvin Wilbourne Sr. She was a member of Cherry
Hill United Methodist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Mildred Wilbourne Gurley and
Brenda Wilbourne Webster, both of South Boston; two sons, Raymond
Brent Wilbourne and wife, Faye of South Boston and Dennis Carl
Wilbourne and wife, Lynn of Milton, N.C.; and eight grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband and one son, Edgar Marvin
Wilbourne Jr.
Funeral services for Mrs. Wilbourne will be held August 4 at 11
a.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Robert Lewis
and Bob Huffman conducting the service. Burial will follow in
the Wilbourne Family Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening,
August 3 from 7:00 until 8:30, and other times at the home.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider a charity
of choice.