VIR sent out this press release on Saturday evening…

VIRginia International Raceway announced today that General Manager Josh Lief will leave full time employment as General Manager by the end of this season. Lief will remain with the company as a Senior Adviser for the foreseeable future and will work with the VIR ownership to find a replacement at the appropriate time.

Josh said: “I have had an amazing five seasons at VIR and am very thankful to Connie and Harvey for the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime gearhead’s dream.” Josh continued, “I love VIR and always will, and am so proud of our staff and how far we’ve come, and am thankful for the support of so many people over the past years and the friends I’ve made but it would not be possible to name them all. I will still be regularly coming to VIR to race, work and enjoy what Paul Newman appropriately called ‘Heaven on Earth.’ I miss my family and legal practice and an unexpected opportunity to practice law in public service in Richmond came around that was just too good to pass up.” Connie Nyholm and Harvey Siegel, VIR’s Owners said: “Josh did an amazing job for us for five seasons and will always be part of VIR and our family. We are very grateful for his dedication and hard work and look forward to continuing to work with him and wish him the best of luck always.”

Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend is a weird time to put this announcement out. General manager at VIR seemed to be Josh’s dream job and he’s going back to practicing law? Something doesn’t smell quite right. We’ll see what more we can find out about this.

First, thanks for the birthday wishes. It means a lot.

Next, let’s talk about what’s getting ready to happen for Halifax County. If you’re a Comcast cable subscriber in the South Boston/Halifax system, you’re about to get a brand new TV station. WMDV-TV is currently broadcasting over-the-air on channel 47.2 to southern Pittsylvania County, all of Henry County, Danville, and Caswell & Rockingham Counties in North Carolina. Because the station’s transmitter is on White Oak Mountain, our broadcast signal doesn’t reach Halifax County at this time so WMDV has reached a retransmission agreement with Comcast. WMDV-TV will be seen in South Boston/Halifax, Danville, Martinsville, Chatham, Gretna & Altavista. We have made all of the arrangements necessary for Comcast to start delivering our station to the area and WMDV could be on the cable systems as soon as this week.

WMDV-TV is part of the Star News Corporation and also has TV stations in Martinsville & Reidsville, NC. We specialize in local programming and feature news/talk call-in shows. We also feature guests from all walks of life including local government and elected officials. We invite our viewers to call in to our shows and talk to our hosts & guests about what’s really going on and we promise that you’ll have a voice with your elected officials on WMDV (as well as have a chance to express your own opinions). The network affiliate TV station cover our area as well, but they don’t have the time to devote themselves to in-depth coverage of things that happen here. At WMDV, we plan on producing a minimum of two to four hours of local programming each weeknight and will supplement that programming with coverage of local & regional events. In other words, it’s a type of TV station that the Halifax County area has never seen before. It’s worked well in the Martinsville & Reidsville areas and it’s going to work well in Halifax County.

You may notice that I used the word “we” up above and that’s because I am heading up the WMDV-TV efforts. I will be the host of the majority of our on-air programming. I have been working for Star News Corporation for the past four months and am currently hosting shows on our existing stations. I have a good knowledge of the region and have a good working relationship with the region’s government leaders and elected officials. I have already started the progress of booking guests from Halifax County (and the region) for our talk shows and look forward to filling our programming schedule with content that you will want to watch. As you know, I always maintain an open line of communication with my friends and I am keeping that philosophy open with the new viewers that watch our stations. I want to hear what’s on your mind, what’s going on, and what you want to see on the station. Star News Corporation is known for covering and televising local events and we look forward to continuing that in the WMDV coverage area. We’re community-based, and we’re going to give Halifax County a new way to talk & something to talk about.

We will also offer television advertising packages that will include commercials, short & long-form infomercials and TV show type programming at the lowest media rates ever seen in the area. If you’ve got a business or service that you want people to know about, you will be able to reach well over 35,000 households in the Southside Virginia area at prices that will be affordable for you, no matter what size your business is. WMDV does all of our advertising production in house and doesn’t charge production fees for advertising contracts that meet our minimum time-frames. We have plenty of references available that will be glad to tell you how much Star News advertising has done for their business.

As you can tell, I’m excited about this new career and also excited to bring this endeavor to Halifax County.

Now, let’s get to the HalifaxTalk part of this essay. As you know, Darrin Talbott banned me from the HT message boards after my comments in this thread. I made an attempt to talk to Darrin and documented it in this SouthsideCentral article. Darrin replied in a thread called “Free BruceH”, and I made my response here. After that, I’ve had no communication with Darrin and only passing conversation with Bunny. I thank all of my friends for the support. Through credible sources and friends, I’ve found out that it’s just not Darrin that recommended my banning and continue to not want me back. I have no need to be allowed back on HalifaxTalk but with the imminent arrival of WMDV, I feel that it’s time to move forward.

I feel that WMDV & HalifaxTalk could both benefit from working together. The majority of elected officials and government leaders have no desire to participate at HalifaxTalk due to the anonymous sniping and hostile attitudes that have been demonstrated quite often in the past. That hasn’t been the case at any of the other Star News stations and it will not be the case at WMDV. When you’ve got a potential audience of over 35,000 subscribers, leaders and people will participate. Let me make this perfectly clear… I will not (nor never) apologize for any of my statements on HalifaxTalk. I stand behind what I say and always will. I am opinionated at times and I have no problem offering up those opinions. If you don’t like me, I don’t care & I can sleep well with that knowledge. I’ll do just fine without your support. If you do like me, I’ll be there for you.

Here’s what I’m proposing… If Darrin & Bunny are willing to work with me & WMDV, I would be willing to set up a section on HalifaxTalk where I could tell people about what’s coming up on our programming. I would open threads up for people to submit questions for our guests and to suggest potential show topics. I would also respond to viewer’s comments just as I currently do via phone, email and our Star News Facebook page. I want to make sure that people know that Halifax County will not be the sole focus of our WMDV programming, but we feel it’s an underserved market area and needs a local TV station that covers this area.

So there you have it, folks. I’ve told you about WMDV and our plans. It’s going to happen and I want you to be a part of it. I cordially invite everybody who reads this letter to come visit the new WMDV studios in Danville. We’re located at 3334 US 29 N, and that’s 2/10′s of a mile past the Market Square shopping center and the Danville city limits. Make contact with me, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be in the studio and we’ll work out a good time for you to come visit. If you’re on Facebook,I invite you to add me on as a friend if you haven’t already & I also invite you to find our Star News fan page and join it. You can email me at any time at bhedrick@southsidecentral.com or bruce.hedrick@wgsr47.com. You can also call me as well. I’ll be glad to give you my direct phone number on request or you can call 336-446-WMDV (9638) at any time. I will continue to operate SouthsideCentral, and here’s a SC article that tells you all of the ways to contact SC & see additional SC content. I’m also actively looking for guests that have a story to tell, so feel free to let me know any ideas that you have on that. As for the HalifaxTalk issues, the ball is now in Darrin Talbott & Bunny Propst’s court. I would like to work together with HalifaxTalk… but if that doesn’t happen, WMDV is coming to the area anyway.

I thank you for taking the time to read this open letter. If you have any questions or comments, I’m always available to talk.

Sincerely,
Bruce Hedrick

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office is currently at the “Short Stop” convenience store in Scottsburg working a double shooting incident. At last report, a man and woman have been shot outside of the store.

More to come as soon as we find anything out.

Update #1: One patient is being flown out by helicopter.

Update #2: A female victim has been killed in this shooting incident.

Update #3: Two people are dead in this incident. Our sources have confirmed that this was a murder/suicide involving a man and a woman.

Update #4: Law enforcement authorities are not releasing the names of the persons involved. SouthsideCentral has confirmed the identities of the man & woman but will not release the names until law enforcement does.

Update #5: David Riley (29) shot Wendy Riley (23) in the parking lot of the Short Stop convenience store.

DOVES working to get employees back pay

No, they’re not working to get their employees back pay. They’re floundering around like they have been doing for the past two years and getting nothing accomplished. They may want to point fingers and blame John Scott (their former director who was convicted of stealing), but he’s not the only reason why this organization imploded.

The R&B article doesn’t tell you that Kim Carson sued DOVES for $8304.92 and won by default on April 27th. That’s right, default. Greg Hairston was listed in the court action but nobody even showed up from DOVES to even state their case. Classy.

It would “probably would have been worth it” if all of the employees got judgments and let a crappy court show pay the bills? I guess when your business reputation is already at the level they’re at, what’s more public humiliation? I wonder if Hairston or DOVES would show up for a fake TV courtroom taping? (By the way, it’s either Joe Brown or Greg Mathis… not Joe Mathis).

He (Hairston) said it takes so long to get the board together now that the shelter is closed that nothing was ever done about responding to the show.

Ridiculous. Maybe this bad publicity will light a fire under the board’s ass and get them together.

Happy Trails to this organization, and let’s hope the next organization has their act together.

Mrs. White is letting the public know about the effects that a $80,000 budget cut will do to her office. Here’s the text of a letter that she has sent to SouthsideCentral as well to the Halifax County newspapers.

Thank you for the opportunity to directly address the citizens of Halifax County concerning the effects of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office budget cuts proposed by the finance committee of the Board of Supervisors. Citizens who are alarmed by the proposed budget action of the Board of Supervisors should contact members of the Board as soon as possible as it is expected that the Board will pass a budget very soon.

Although I never was told of the amount of the proposed budget cut of approximately $80,000 by any member of the Board of Supervisors or any member of the County Administration prior to my reading about it in the newspaper, I have confirmed that not only is the Board seeking to reduce my office budget by the amount of the state cuts, but also cutting the local funds to my office. My contacts with prosecutor’s offices across the Commonwealth have told me that the vast majority of localities are NOT imposing the state reductions and certainly not additional local cuts because those jurisdictions consider the law enforcement functions of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Offices to be valuable core government services.

If the Board of Supervisors approves a budget that cuts my office by $80,000, I will be forced to lay off people, resulting in a reduction of services provided to citizens – victims, deputies, officers, troopers, merchants, courts. Pursuant to §15.2-1627 of the Code of Virginia, Commonwealth’s Attorneys and Assistants only are required to prosecute felony charges. However, because of the experience of, expertise of and number of prosecutors currently in this office, we are able to provide services to the citizens of the County beyond those mandated by Virginia law.

Currently this office does prosecute charges other than felonies. That most likely will have to stop if our budget is cut. Some of the non felony charges we prosecute include domestic violence crimes, misdemeanor sex crimes, juvenile misdemeanors, drunk driving charges, marijuana charges, concealed weapon violations, property damage charges, shoplifting charges, bad check charges, assault and battery charges, trespassing charges and hunting, fishing and game regulation violations. If our prosecutor numbers are reduced such that we only have enough prosecutors and time to dedicate to our state mandated duty of prosecuting felonies, citizens, victims, merchants and officers may have to bring those misdemeanor cases to trial without the assistance of a prosecutor – often with a state or locally compensated defense attorney on the other side, protecting the rights of the defendant. Yet, the proposed budget cut will leave the rights of the citizens unrepresented. A highly likely result will be fewer convictions in these misdemeanors.

Currently this office also provides advice and guidance to all law enforcement officers investigating crimes in the County. On call every day, all day, all year, I and my Assistants field phone calls at all hours concerning police conduct, search and seizure issues, elements of crimes and investigation strategy. I sincerely believe that because of our flexibility and availability for law enforcement inquiries, our victims of crime are better served and protected, citizens are afforded the required protections guaranteed to them under the Constitution, and criminals and their crimes are capably and swiftly investigated and apprehended. Again, if our prosecutor numbers are reduced, the availability and flexibility we have to offer to law enforcement officers could be greatly impacted.

If the Board of Supervisors approves a budget that cuts my office, we may be left without a specialized Drug Prosecutor. This position has been a part of Halifax County for nearly twenty years. This specialized prosecutor works hand in hand with members of the Drug and Gang Task Force in the detection, investigation and prosecution of the criminals bringing and selling drugs and committing acts of violence in Halifax County. In fact, it was through this office that the very first drug king pin prosecution in Virginia was secured.

I recognize that economic times are tough for everyone. In fact, I have met with the Board of Supervisors and demonstrated cuts that I can make and still provide services to the citizens. That proposal appears to have fallen on deaf ears. In addition, over the last six fiscal years, this office has been frugal and responsible in using state funds in place of local funds to save the County hundreds of thousands of budgeted dollars. Those efforts appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Unfortunately, the proposed budget cut by the Board of Supervisors on the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney won’t fall on deaf ears. The effects will be heard by victims, merchants, officers and the courts. If this concerns you, I urge you to contact members of the Board of Supervisors. Ask that they make public safety and law enforcement a priority and fully fund this office.

Yours very truly,

Kimberley Slayton White
Commonwealth’s Attorney

Former South Boston finance director Vandie Saunders was killed on Sunday afternoon in a farming accident. Saunders (62) was apparently operating a piece of farm machinery when the accident occurred. We’ll have more details on this breaking news story as we get information.

Update #1: Saunders’ tractor accidentally went into gear and dragged a bushhog over him.

HaliFair is an arts, crafts, and horticulture festival that will feature activities for all ages, cruise-ins, and live music throughout the afternoon and evening. The HaliFair will run from 12 noon to 10PM and admission is only $1.00. Proceeds will go into the prize fund for the 100th Halifax County Fair. This fall’s Halifax County Fair will run from October 5th through October 9th and will be celebrating “A Century Of Fair”.

According to a press release by 3RiverTec…

All artists, artisans, horticulturists, retail vendors, food vendors, and non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply. The number of available vendor spaces will be limited to create diversity and to provide vendors with a successful market. Vendors must be present at the festival, and all applications must be submitted with full payment by Friday, May 14, 2010.

To get more details on the application process for vendors or to get more information on HaliFair, check out their website at http://www.halifair.com or call 3RiverTec at 434-517-1551. We’ll be having more coverage of HaliFair on SouthsideCentral!

At 10:04 PM, Halifax County authorities were dispatched to Blane Rd. in the Alton area for reports of a mobile home overturned. This is the same area that is currently under a tornado warning.

Update #1: Our sources report that emergency crews have reported in that the mobile home has sustained major damage.

UPDATE: We’ve got the information from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office about how this incident started.

From our friends at the Danville Police Department…

Danville Police responded to a request for assistance reference a shots fired call in Halifax County, Virginia this morning.

At approximately 9:30 A.M. Danville Police responded to South Boston Road in regards to a request for assistance from the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office reference a shots fired call in Halifax County, Virginia this morning. The information was a white Chevrolet Tahoe was involved in the shooting and it was headed towards the Danville area. Responding officers stopped the suspect vehicle in the 1100 block of South Boston Road.

After further investigation, The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office charged Kenneth Lee Snead age 23 of Scottsburg, VA with the shooting in this case. Snead is currently in the Danville City Jail under a 5,000.00 secured bond.

REF: Virginia State Code 18.2-286.1 – Discharging a firearm from a moving vehicle
REF: Virginia State Code 18.2-282 – Brandishing a firearm

The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office will have to be contacted for the details of the originating incident in Halifax County.

After further investigation, Danville Police made the following charges:

Amanda Nell Snead, age 20 of Pittsylvania County, Va was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol. Snead was placed in the Danville City Jail and released under a 5,000.00 unsecured bond.

REF: Virginia State Code 18.2-266 – Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

Daniel Aaron Wilbourn age 20 of South Boston, VA was charged with Drunk in public and Under age possession of alcohol. Wilbourn was placed in the Danville City Jail and released under a Recognizance bond.

REF: Danville City Code 23-12 – Drunk in public
REF: Virginia State Code 4.1-305 – Under age possession of alcohol

Tiffany Reese Wyman age 20 of Halifax, VA was charged with Under age possession of alcohol. Wyman was written a Virginia Uniform Summons and released.

REF: Virginia State Code 4.1-305 – Under age possession of alcohol

We have a request in to the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office for more information on this incident…

And here’s the information from the HCSO…

Deputy Stanley Britton was called to the home of Ellen Matthews, 4121 Turbeville Rd., So. Boston, on 2/13/10 @ 9:06 AM. She reported that two vehicles had pulled into her driveway, and when she called to them to see if they needed help, the occupants ignored her. She called to them several more times, and they continued to ignore her. She told them they had to leave, and they finally took off spinning their tires and yelling at her from out of their window, and then they pointed a handgun out of the window of one of the vehicles, a white Tahoe, and shot several times. She was able to provide us with a license number, and a BOL was issued to surrounding localities. They were later stopped by Danville police, where they face several charges there. Deputy Britton charged Kenneth Lee Snead, 23, of 3128 Green Level Rd., Scottsburg with brandishing a firearm and shooting from a motor vehicle.

Shooting At Sheetz Leads To $5M Suit

For some reference on this, you can read the report prepared by Halifax County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Kim White here at her website. (Look for the entries marked 08/15/2008)

Let’s recap:

1. Dumbass who already has a lengthy criminal record has already violated probation before and knows the inside of a jail cell quite well.
2. Dumbass has a shoplifting warrant on him.
3. Dumbass is about to get busted for B&E and stealing in Caswell County.
4. Dumbass is driving on a suspended driver’s license and has been busted twice before for the same thing.
5. Dumbass decides to roll a marijuana blunt while parked in the front of Sheetz.
6. Dumbass has a real bad sense of timing and rolls said blunt while 4 excellent police officers are nearby.
7. Dumbass tries to drive away from the cops and puts people in danger of their lives with his vehicle.
8. Cop does the correct thing as he’s trained to do and prevents any more harm to the public.
9. One dead Dumbass due to Dumbass’s own Dumbass actions.
10. The. End.

Lesson Learned: Running from the cops is stupid.

I hope this blatant money-grabbing attempt at a lawsuit is dismissed quickly and decisively.

From the Halifax County Emergency Services Office…

The Halifax County Office of Emergency Services is urging citizens not to attempt to cross flooded roadways and to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” after a very close call for a local family. At approximately 2:30 PM today, emergency responders were dispatched to Black Walnut Road (Hwy. 600) for a vehicle in high water with trapped occupants.

On arrival responders found a small Chevrolet pick-up truck with three occupants, identified as Jessica Anderson and two small children, stranded approximately 160 feet from dry land. According to Anderson, she had attempted to cross the flooded Black Walnut Creek because did not believe the water to be deep. Anderson drove the feeling approximately 200 200 yards until the vehicle stalled in about 3 feet of water.

Responders from Clover, Triangle, and South Boston Fire Departments, Halifax County Rescue Squad and Halifax County Emergency Services were dispatched to the scene. The trio was stranded for approximately 30 minutes before being rescued. Utilizing a nonmotorized boat, two responders made their way to the vehicle and were able to rescue the 3 occupants who suffered no injuries.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports more than half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous flood waters. The next highest
percentage of flood-related deaths is due to walking into or near flood waters. Many believe their 3,000 to 5,000 pound vehicle will remain in contact with the road surface and are too heavy to float. This belief is false as most vehicles will become buoyant and can be swept away in 18 to 24 inches of moving water. Trucks and SUVs are not much better with only six to twelve inches of additional clearance.

In moving water all that is required for a vehicle to be swept away is for the vehicle to become buoyant enough to allow the water’s force to push it sideways. This can occur even if the tires remain in contact with the pavement. The danger of being swept away includes attempts to walk or wade through flowing water. As little as six inches can sweep an adult off their feet and carry them downstream.

The solution is simple. Turn around, Don’t drown. Stay out of flooded areas. The water may be much deeper then it appears as the ground or roadway may have been washed away. Also respect “road closed” barriers posted to warn you of the danger.

VSP Trooper K. Martin is investigating the incident. According to VDOT officials, the area of the incident was properly marked with road closure signs and barrels. A total of 12 emergency responders, one fire truck from Clover Fire Department, 2 ambulances and a rescue vehicle from Halifax County Rescue Squad, Halifax County Ladder Truck and the Halifax County Emergency Services Coordinator.

Here are some photos from today’s rescue operation…

Thanks go to the Halifax County Emergency Services office for this information!

From the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office…

Deputies were called to the Country Corner Store, 1036 Hitesburg Church Rd., Virgilina, last night (1/8/10), at 8:24 PM, for an attempted armed robbery. The store clerk said that a tall black male wearing an orange ski mask and black bib-overalls came into the store and pointed a handgun at her, demanding the money from the cash register. About that time, a cutomer’s vehicle pulled onto the lot, and another black male wearing a reddish-colored bandana over the lower part of his face and a tan-colored hooded jacket, came into the store, telling the first one that “they had to go”. The customer who had pulled onto the lot saw them run behind the store. They ran without taking anything. A Sheriff’s Office tracking dog was called to the scene, and tracked a short ways down the road behind the store. It is possible that they may have left from that point on a late 1980′s model Ford LTD, or a similar vehicle.

Quick recap: So what’s going on with the Billy Kiefer case?

As referenced above, the case went to Halifax County Circuit Court on Friday, December 18th. The defense made a motion for continuance due to “serious illnesses in the defense attorney’s family”. The motion was granted by the judge and a new hearing date has not been scheduled.

We’ll keep you posted on anything else that develops in this court case.

From a Halifax County Sheriff’s Office news release…

In July of 2008, Investigator Crystal Yeatts of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office and Kim Lester of the Halifax County Department of Social Services began a joint investigation of Lester Eugene Bowles, 50, of Scottsburg, Virginia, based on allegations that he sexually abused a six year old girl. On May 28, 2009, Bowles was tried and convicted of one count of Forcible Sodomy and one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery against a child who was less than thirteen years of age. On Monday, December 21, 2009, Bowles was sentenced by Judge Leslie Osborn on both charges. On the charge of Forcible Sodomy, Judge Osborn sentenced Bowles to sixty years with thirty years suspended. On the charge of Aggravated Sexual Battery, Judge Osborn sentenced Bowles to twenty years, with all but ten years suspended. Bowles was remanded to custody to begin serving his sentence. “Cases like these are among the most important cases we handle. They are also among the most difficult,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Will Hamilton.

In the course of investigating the sexual abuse charges, the Sheriff’s Office discovered guns and gunpowder in Bowles’ residence. Bowles was subsequently tried and convicted for possessing firearms and explosive materials after having been convicted of a felony. He was sentenced to ten years with five years suspended on those charges. All of the sentences are to be served consecutively, leaving Bowles with a total of forty-five years to serve in prison. “We’re all pleased with the results” said Hamilton. “Thanks to the hard work of law enforcement, social services, and the bravery of one young girl, Lester Bowles no longer poses a threat to the children of Halifax.”

Let’s have one final look at this lowlife before he leaves us for good.

Happy Trails, Scumbag!

The Berry Hill Resort & Conference Center will be holding their annual Christmas Open House on Saturday, December 19th at 5 PM. Berry Hill is located at 3105 River Road in South Boston. VA.

They’ll start Saturday off with the annual Breakfast With Santa with seatings at 10 AM & noon. The Open House will start at 5 PM in the mansion with cocktails and appetizers in the mansion. Afterwards, the dining room with be open for their Christmas buffet.

Here are some photos of Berry Hill’s Christmas decorations from this year…

Not many people in this area have ever gone into the Berry Hill mansion and grounds, so here’s the perfect chance to see one of Southside’s hidden treasures.

Here are a few more submitted photos of the Berry Hill estate.

Beautiful, eh? For more details on any of these activities, check out their website or call 434-517-7000!

On Wednesday, December 9th, the SBPD got a call to the Halifax County High School in regards to multiple larcenies. Entry had been made into a basement locker room and various items had been taken including cash, a cell phone, bank cards, and an Ipod. If you have any information regarding these thefts, please call 434-575-7273.

From our friends at the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office…

On 12/7/09 at 1:00 PM, Deputies Chris Yeatts and Chuck Bates (riding together) were utilizing moving radar on HWY 58 (Philpott Rd.), when they met a white vehicle traveling approx. 80 mph heading westbound. They turned around on the vehicle, at which time the vehicle accelerated to speeds exceeding 120 mph. The pursuit continued into Pittsylvania Co., and then right onto Swedwood Rd., at which time the deputies lost sight of the vehicle. As they approached the Cane Creek Pkwy. intersection, they spotted the vehicle on the side of the road off Cane Creek Pkwy., where the 2 occupants of the vehicle were switching sides. The deputies turned around and got behind the vehicle again, at which time the vehicle, a white 2005 Hyundai, took off again. After approx. 3/10 of a mile, the vehicle stopped. Wendell G. Estes, age 34,of 254 Hairston St., Danville, was charged with felony eluding police, and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license. Donald W. Johnson, age 20, of the same address, was charged with felony eluding police.

Seriously, what’s going on with that project?

Rumors are flying around that the Modeling & Simulation Center project has completely imploded. Carole Inge, the director, is no longer associated with the project and the phones have been disconnected. We’re looking into the situation and will update this thread on what we find out.

• The Halifax County IDA appears to be controlling what’s left of the “Center”. I talked with Halifax County IDA Director Mike Sexton today and he says that he can’t say much until the authority’s attorneys approve an upcoming press release. That press release should be issued soon as we’ll have it here as quick as we can get it. Sexton implied that the project is very much not-dead and he will invited the media on a tour of the facility so that we can see and report what is happening. Again, more to come on that.
• The project has gotten a lot of Tobacco Commission funding. I’ve spoken with a few Commission members and they had no idea of the project’s apparent problems.
• According to stories, Virginia Tech has dropped support for the project. I’ve got a call in to Larry Hincker, the Associate Vice President for University Relations, to find more on this. UPDATE #1: Larry Hincker called me back and told me that he’s going to have to do some more research on this and has referred my call to other people that will know more about this project.
• UPDATE #2: We’ve found out that the Research & Development committee of the Tobacco Commission will be meeting on Tuesday in Roanoke. Halifax County is requesting a $5,000,000 grant from the Tobacco Commission and this request will be discussed at the meeting. Halifax County’s Connie Nyholm & Ed Owens are on this committee but neither have returned my calls as of yet.

We’ll update this story as soon as we find out any more information.

November 16, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen of our respective Governing Bodies,

I wish to thank you for this opportunity to speak before you this evening. I come before you with a heavy heart and an overwhelming sense of injustice for one of our beloved public servants. Mr. Woodson Hughes has endeared himself to this community by his acts of kindness, unselfish service, his encyclopedic mind, and his ever present professional can-do attitude. The sentiments I wish to share with you this evening are not mine solely, but are the feelings of hundreds of my fellow citizens in this community as evidenced by the petitions we have submitted to you. We have collected over 858 Signatures to date and expect more to follow.

I am saddened by the negative publicity our Public Library System has received of late but I am also very proud of our citizens for voicing their very strong opinions about a serious injustice done to a valued community resource.

We submitted generic questions to the Library Board at their last board meeting seeking answers. These questions remain unanswered. Each of you has in your packet a copy of these questions. It was communicated to the members of the Library Board that these questions were generic in nature and were at the heart of our concerns. We also expressed our opinions that transparency was indeed more appropriate than invisibility.

At the heart of our concerns are the following:

Fact – Mr. Hughes (and we suspect other employees of the Library) has not received a written annual performance review by the Library director (Ms. Griffin) since her arrival. This is contrary to written Library policy.

Fact – Mr. Hughes received a pay increase in 2008 without a performance evaluation. This is also contrary to written Library policy.

Fact – The called meeting of October 12th was not called seven day in advance and the news media was not given notice of this meeting. This was not an open meeting but a closed session meeting to discuss a personnel issue. A vote was taken in this meeting and there is no public record by way of recorded minutes for public viewing. This is contrary to Robert’s Rules of Order and the customary protocol for public governing bodies.

Fact – Mr. Hughes was not given an opportunity to view or have explained to him the allegations lodged against him, face his accusers, nor defend himself. He was fired and threatened by intimidation if he did not resign. He was denied any due process. This was done without any regard for his 22 years of loyal and valued service.

Fact – There is nothing in the written policy that addresses under what circumstances fines may be forgiven. There are no guidelines or procedures. The present system did not identify who forgave what fines and there were no shifts that employed less than two persons at any given time. The system does not have the capacity to positively identify who did what. The Halifax Library branch also experienced similar results proportionate to there circulation numbers. No one there has been fired. The Director has distorted the dollar amounts as most of the forgiveness was for values associated with items that were lost and then later found and returned.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Boards, you our elected officials, our protectors and the voices of reason and fairness, I ask you to intercede on our behalf. This entire incident is screaming for examination. If we are right, please help us to undo this wrong. If we are wrong, help to make this visible and clear. I don’t believe there is one of you sitting here tonight that would agree that 22 years of loyal and faithful service deserves the treatment this Library Board has inflicted by their Heavy Handed Actions. A comprehensive policy for fine forgiveness needs to be adopted, procedures need to be explained, and management systems need to be improved. Disciplinary actions should be taken, but only after there is a clear policy to work by. Discipline should be fair and equal for all employees. Punishment should be equal to the infraction. Your citizens deserve answers. We would like to see a valued and prized community asset like Mr. Hughes reinstated and a governing Library board directed towards proper procedures and behaviors in the future. Thank you.

Respectfully Yours,

Curtis Waskey

Our friends at the Halifax County Sheriff’s Department tell us that somebody stole 968 gallons of diesel fuel from an underground storage tank at Lasco Industries in the Fulp Industrial Park during the past week. Tyler Clarke is the investigating deputy on this case. If you have any information that could help solve these crimes, call Halifax County Central Dispatch at 434-476-3334 or call the Halifax County CrimeLine at 434-476-8445. You can stay anonymous and you may become eligible for a reward.

During the night of 11/6/09, someone stole 18 handmade birdhouses from the front yard of Hazelwood Antiques at 11235 L. P. Bailey Hwy in Nathalie. Sam Gilliam is the investigating deputy. Gilliam is also working a case where a Yamaha 600 Grizzly ATV was stolen from a shed at the home of Ronald Dixon (6131 Newbill School Rd., Clover). The ATV is green with a camo seat.

Cpl. Patrick Clayton is the investigating officer on two cases. Tina Englebright (2241 Love Shop Rd., Halifax) reported that sometime Friday afternoon, 11/6/09, someone broke into her home through the back door and took a laptop computer, some jewelry, and some cash. Also, two license plates were stolen from a Fred Conner’s vehicle parked next to the highway at 5184 J. D. Hagood Hwy., Clover. Conner had the vehicle for sale when the plates were stolen. The tags are VA plates bearing KAM-1728.

News & Record: Former library director speaks out

Hey, it’s got to be important if the N&R publishes letters to the editor on Monday, eh?

Anyway, let’s take a look at this. Paul Johnson is the former director of the Halifax County-South Boston Regional Library and was on the committee that picked Rhonda Griffin as his replacement. In his letter, Johnson throws two things. First, he throws his support to the library board and Griffin and then he throws Woodson Hughes under the bus. Gee, let’s see, he got his way with the library board and then helped hand-pick Rhonda Griffin (having known her previously in his career field). There’s no way that he could be slurping on them out of any personal feelings, could it?

Woodson’s got bus tire tracks on his bowtie thanks to Johnson’s letter, but it gets even “better”. Johnson’s letter dumps this steaming pile of “better-than-you” crap onto the dinner table.

Library board members take their responsibilities very seriously and deserve the community’s appreciation for their unpaid and thankless service. These honorable public-spirited citizens have evidently considered expert advice from state and local authorities and weighed it carefully. If board members cannot act on evidence of financial irregularities and an agency head cannot carry out her duties without being subjected to extreme public vilification, long-term damage will be done to the entire community. Few would be willing to accept appointment to any local board in such a climate of intimidation.

Dear God, what have we done?! We’re causing global unrest (and maybe global warming) by having the nerve to publicly disagree with a public body’s decision! Do “honorable public-spirited citizens” make phone calls like this, Paul? Does a peaceful organized rally constitute “extreme public vilification”? Exactly what “long-term” damage will be done to the whole community for supporting a local man who’s been a benefit to the library system? Have we destroyed the local governmental system forever by making our feelings known?

As a librarian experienced in reference materials, Paul Johnson obviously knows the meaning of the word “hyperbole”.

Update #2: To reflect the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce’s reply to the update.

Update #3: Issuing retraction on “candidates being told not to say anything negative”

What if they held a forum for the candidates in Halifax County and nobody showed up? Well, it was damned close to that. Shame on you, Halifax County voters. I’ll clarify what I meant by that. Shame on the people that could have attended the forum but didn’t. I did not mean to impugn the people that had good reasons for not attending and I sincerely apologize for phrasing that in the way that I originally did.

Let’s go over some random thoughts about tonight’s event.

• First, I’m going to tell you what pissed me off. Riverstone Technology Park’s Wi-Fi signal is available for 30 minutes, and then you’re out of luck. What the hell? Yeah, I know that’s designed to stop people from hanging out in the parking lot leeching off the free signal, but nobody told me about it. @#$!@% Gotta get the aircard soon, I guess. That’s why the “Cover it Live” failed miserably.
• Now, to more pleasant talk. What a beautiful building!
• Back to the political talk now… I was totally wrong on one thing. I thought this year’s school board race would be a referendum on Paul Stapleton, but the forum turned out to be a Paul Stapleton slurp-a-thon. Fay Satterfield was the only candidate to say anything remotely negative about existing policies when she said that dual-enrollment credits were not accepted at some colleges. After seeing what I did tonight, I’m betting that the one incumbent (Arthur Reynolds) isn’t really at a disadvantage this year unlike recent elections when incumbents got tossed out of office. See below for an update on this.
• Since all four races for the Board of Supervisors were unopposed, the questions amounted to “garbage time”. That being said, Wayne Conner stole the show but showing his knowledge of running the county like a business. He does lose points for bailing out during the middle of the School Board segment, though. If you’re up for election and there’s a forum about the campaign, you need to stick around to the end and listen to what everybody has to say.
• Thumbs up to Joe Gasperini & Walter Potts. They were the only two elected officials that aren’t in this election cycle that showed up. Both Gasperini & Potts listened intently to what the candidates had to say.
• Since all of the candidates knew the questions in advance, the forum became a snoozefest of everybody reading off of their prepared note cards. Next time, it would be more interesting to have a few unexpected questions thrown at the candidates. Don’t get me wrong…I did learn a lot about the candidates, but it’s a lot more fun to watch candidates think on their feet.
• James Edmunds had the “Ready for Richmond” attitude in his mannerisms. If he keeps that attitude in his freshman term, he very well could move up the ranks quickly.
• Nancy Pool is a perfect representative of the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce. She’s got the outgoing personality that the job requires and the Chamber is fortunate to have her at the top. The Chamber does’t make political endorsements but needs to be congratulated for getting a forum like this together.
• All of the candidates really do want to serve the public (as they should) and nobody made any notable gaffes. I’ll be talking more about what was said in the endorsement article on Friday.
• Shame, shame, SHAME on all of the Halifax County blowhards who complain all of the time about the elected officials and then never show up at events like this.
• Hey, Nick? Just a reminder. There’s other media in the area now besides the N&R and GV.

Enough random thoughts for now. I’m working on SouthsideCentral’s endorsements and plan to have them posted at 7PM on Friday.

UPDATE #1: Some of the candidates have gotten in contact with me and said that they were instructed not to say anything negative and that they would not be allowed to comment on what anybody else said. These candidates said that they were told this was a “forum” and not a “debate”. So, based on what I’ve heard from the candidates, I’m retracting what I’ve said before. Not all of the candidates support Paul Stapleton after all, they just weren’t allowed to talk about it. Fooey. In a contested race, the voters deserve a real debate. This format made everybody look like cookie-cutter candidates. Let me make one point clear, I am not criticizing the Chamber of Commerce in this. The Chamber did a great job in putting this forum together… I’ve got a problem with the specific rules of the forum.

UPDATE #2: Nancy Pool from the Chamber has told me that “No one was asked not to make comments positively or negatively about anything” and wanted me to make that clear. Looks like we’re going to have to delve further into this and see what’s going on.

She also said that “They were told it was a forum not a debate and given the questions in advance. This was done so everyone would know what to expect. They were each given time to comment on anything they wanted to address.” I believe that Nancy is talking about the final question of “If there was a question or topic not covered in tonight’s session, what would it be and what would your answer or solution be?”

I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not criticizing the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce in any way, shape or form. The Chamber should be commended for being the only civic organization that’s willing to put an event like this together. My comments are clearly directed at the potential that an event like this could become, and not at what the Chamber did.

UPDATE #3: I am retracting the update about “candidates being told not to discuss anything negative” until I can check the story out in more detail.

Halifax County Library Policies Caution: PDF file

We’ll start out with the unopposed candidates for the Board of Supervisors. Although it’s a shame that there has been no opposition for the Halifax County Board of Supervisors for the past two election cycles, we feel all of the candidates have made a good case for their re-election.

J.T. Davis (District 1), Tom West (District 2), William Fitzgerald (District 3) and Wayne Conner (District 6) all bring a businesslike attitude towards running the county and in a time of economic downturn in a county that is having problems making ends meet, the businesslike attitude is the one to have. Although we have major questions and issues with the idea of “land use taxation”, none of the candidates up for election have mentioned this controversial topic. None of the candidates expressed any views on the uranium mining issue which sadly doesn’t surprise us either. Halifax County’s revenue stream is currently limited to real estate and property tax (with a meals tax initiative on Tuesday’s ballot). Wayne Conner surprised us by mentioning the possibility of a 1% local option addition to the state sales tax during his speaking time at the candidates’ forum. While that idea isn’t immediately DOA, we find it very hard to believe that a local option 1% sales tax increase would have much popularity with county voters. All things considered, SouthsideCentral believes that all of these candidates are worthy of re-election.

SouthsideCentral believes that J.T. Davis, Tom West, William Fitzgerald and Wayne Conner have been effective leaders in Halifax County and we give our endorsement to all four candidates. We encourage our voters to give these candidates courtesy votes in Tuesday’s election.

Now let’s go to the School Board races:

District 2: Steve Anderson is not running for re-election, and Karen Hopkins & Mark Irby have stepped forward to run for the open seat. Hopkins is a nursing instructor at the SVHEC, with Irby being the safety manager for a construction company. Both candidates have showed a strong desire to serve and would make good School Board members. Listening to the candidates speak at Thursday’s forum, we felt that Mark Irby really wants to learn about the School Board and educational process but doesn’t have the same level of experience that Karen Hopkins showed. As the Halifax County School System is nearing a spectre of greatly reduced funding, we feel that actual experience with the educational process trumps a great desire to learn on-the-job.

SouthsideCentral believes that Karen Hopkins is the more experienced candidate of the two and we feel that she will fit right into the School Board processes. We endorse Karen Hopkins for the vacant District 2 seat and urge the District 2 voters to vote for her.

District 3: Arthur Reynolds is the incumbent and is facing a challenge by Kim Farson. This is the only race where an incumbent is facing a challenger and we’ve wondered if this race will boil down to a referendum on Superintendent Paul Stapleton. Reynolds has been a supporter of Stapleton and his policies but there has been a lot of county-wide grumbling about skyrocketing education costs and other Stapleton initiatives. Farson has brought an “outsider” viewpoint to this and has educational experience in the form of school volunteering and having children in the HCPS system. She’s proved herself to be very vocal (including calling me out on some things that I’ve said!) and that’s refreshing to see in such a stodgy environment that the School Board can become. Farson has been very open during the campaign and vows to continue her open-door policy with her constituents (in the spirit of Joe Gasperini’s first term). Reynolds is running on a “I’ve been on the School Board since the 2001 elections” platform and that’s not the most positive thing that can be said. We feel it’s time for a change on the Halifax County School Board and electing Farson would be a continuing factor in injecting fresh blood into the system.

SouthsideCentral believes that Kim Farson will make an excellent School Board member and we give her our endorsement. We strongly encourage all District 3 voters to
vote for Kim Farson on Tuesday, November 3rd.

District 6: Fay Satterfield and Stanley Brandon are running for the seat that Mac McDowell is vacating. Satterfield brings over thirty years experience of HCPS work, while Brandon is a local business owner. Satterfield is running on a platform of experience while Brandon is running on a “New person. New Attitude.” campaign. In the District 2 race, we chose experience over a desire to learn on-the-job, but in this race we just can’t dismiss Brandon’s humor and spirit. District 6 will not lose with either of these candidates, no matter who wins.

SouthsideCentral believes that both Fay Satterfield and Stanley Brandon will make a good School Board representative and we give both candidates our endorsement. We encourage District 2 voters to vote for their own choice of candidate on Tuesday.

>>>>>

Endorsement Recap:

Halifax County Board of Supervisors:

• District 1: J.T. Davis (unopposed)
• District 2: Tom West (unopposed)
• District 3: William Fitzgerald (unopposed)
• District 6: Wayne Conner (unopposed)

Halifax County School Board:

• District 1: Karen Hopkins
• District 3: Kim Farson
• District 6: Fay Satterfield AND Stanley Brandon

Make your way to South Boston’s Prizery on Halloween night from 6 PM to 8 PM. The Junior Woman’s Club of South Boston & Halifax will be holding their annual Halloween Carnival and it’s a family event!

Admission is $1.00 or a canned food item. They’ll have a costume contest with three age groups (up to 12) at 7 PM. Hot dogs, pizza and drinks will be available at the carnival, and they’ll have games set up for the kids to play. Game tickets are 25 cents each or they can play all night for $5.00.

This is a fun and safe Halloween event that’s perfect for the family. It’s worth the drive to have fun and help out the charities that the JWC raises money for!

Technical note: We’ve found a plug-in that will redirect you automatically when an article gets updated. We won’t have this ugly problem again.

Make your way to the South Boston Public Library on Thursday night. The event starts at 6 PM, and the organizers would love a big turnout. The plan is to hold a rally outside and get motorists to honk their horns as they drive by to show their support for Woodson Hughes.

If you’re not familiar with Woodson’s story, there are plenty of stories on what’s been happening here on SouthsideCentral. Although we’ll be at the Halifax County Candidates Forum, we’ll try and get some photos and LIVE! coverage from the people at the rally.

It’s a great cause for a great guy who’s caught up in a great wrong. If you can’t make it to the rally, be sure to drive by and HONK away!

Hey, Barbara!

It was from Barbara Speece’s phone number. It sounded like Barbara Speece. But for now, let’s call her The Mystery Caller.

(The following conversation is semi-paraphrased because I’m laughing so hard at recalling it.)

Mystery Caller: Is this the person that publishes SouthsideCentral?

Me: Why, yes it is!

Mystery Caller: Who is Butch Oyler? (The commenter who left this comment on a Woodson Hughes article.)

Me: I have no idea.

Mystery Caller: So, you let people write anonymously and you publish them?

Me: Sure. As long as there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with what is said, I give people a place to speak their mind.

Mystery Caller: Even if they are talking about criminal activity? (or something that involved criminal-something, I started chuckling as I recognized the phone number and the content of the comment of which our Mystery Caller was talking about.)

Me: Of course. And you are?

Mystery Caller: (silence) (time passes) I just wanted to know who Butch Oyler was.

Me: No problem. Again, you would be?

Mystery Caller: (silence) I just asked you that question.

Me: This is Barbara Speece, isn’t it? I recognize the voice!

Mystery Caller: (silence) I just … um… wanted to … (silence) So you don’t know who Butch Oyler is?

Me: As stated before, no idea. Barbara? Hi!

Mystery Caller: (silence)

Me: Thanks for calling! (click)

Hello? Barbara? You’re now a public figure. You’re on the Library Board. You were a integral part of a public body that made a horrible decision. Lots of people disagree with that decision and now you’re going to have to face the public that disagrees with that decision. See how this works? If you haven’t figured this out yet, you can ask your husband. He’s a South Boston Town Councilman. He has people that don’t agree with decisions that he’s made in his role as a public figure.

If you’re going to criticize the media coverage that your board’s horrible decision has made, at least tell me who you are. Or when I know who you are, at least admit who you are!

In response to that $1400 number, Woodson Hughes says…

The $1400 waived was for the ENTIRE SYSTEM over the period of time discussed. It looks like it’s being made to sound as if I waived that much. Actually, I didn’t wait desk all that often in recent years and couldn’t have waived too much at all. Also remember that Rhonda’s system of charging for the books after a short time and the staff having to waive the cost of the book and the processing fee when the book was returned created a deficit when weighted against a $2 fine (the processing fee alone was that much) so it was remarkable that the library was breaking even at all.

We hope this clears up some misunderstandings.