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WBTM
Weather.
Tonight:
Partly
cloudy. Lows
around 63.
Saturday
& Sunday: Sunny
and cooler with a high of 83. Lows
down to 53.
Labor Day:
Sunny, with a
high of 88.
Low around 60.
Tuesday:
Sunny and
warmer. A high of 91. Lows around
63.
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Friday,
September 3rd, 2010 --
nighttime update
Reported
by: Chuck Vipperman & Jack
Garrett
Essel
Propack to expand, again:
(Danville,
Va.) -- Essel Propack has announced
plans to begin construction of a $10
million consolidation project, which
will result in the expansion of
their existing building in Airside
Industrial Park. Essel will
consolidate its production with that
of Arista Tubes to increase
efficiency and capacity in
anticipation of "future
business contracts that will lead to
possible announcements of job
opportunities." The news
release does not indicate whether
the consolidation will mean
additional employment at the
Danville facility, which makes
seamless tubes for the toothpaste,
pharmaceuticals, food and industrial
sectors. The company is
headquartered in Mumbai, India.
Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders
praised the announcement, noting
this is the fourth time Essel has
expanded operations locally. Essel
Propack chose Danville for its first
U.S. manufacturing facility in 2002.
The company is located on Cane Creek
Boulevard.
Democrats to rally in Danville:
 (Danville,
Va.) -- 5th
District Congressman Tom Perriello (pictured,
left)
and
U.S. Senator Jim Webb (right)
will hold what's being dubbed a
"Rally for American Jobs"
in Danville on Labor Day.
The rally will be
held Monday at 12:30 at the
Community Market on Craghead Street.
According to a press release,
Perriello and Webb with be joined by
workers who have lost their jobs to
outsourcing. The two say their
message will be "never
again" to bad trade deals and
tax breaks that reward companies for
shipping jobs overseas.
Rep. Perriello and Sen. Webb
say they will discuss measures to
promote jobs and economic growth in
Southside during Monday's rally.
Perriello is locked in a
tight race with Republican
challenger Robert Hurt, who leads
the incumbent in recent polls.
Robert
Hurt widens lead in new poll:
(Roanoke,
Va.) -- A new poll shows Robert Hurt
with an even greater lead in the 5th
District Congressional race.
The poll of 581 likely voters
indicates that the Republican
challenger would defeat Democratic
Congressman Tom Perriello 61 percent
to 35 percent. Hurt has increased
his lead over Perriello by three
points since the last survey was
conducted six weeks ago.
The commanding lead follows a
media blitz by the freshman
Democrat, who has already run two
television commercials. Hurt is also
airing a commercial that is in heavy
rotation on stations throughout the
district.
Independent candidate Jeff
Clark was the choice of just two
percent of those surveyed. The News7
Survey-USA poll has a sampling error
of plus or minus four percent.
United
Way changes strategy:
(Danville,
Va.) --The
United Way's 2010 campaign begins
Friday.
Executive Director Patrick
Jinks (pictured,
left) says – since 1922
– over $40 million has been raised
through the efforts of local
volunteers.
But the campaign has fallen
short of its one million dollar goal
during each of the past three years.
So, Jinks says they plan to
change strategy this year.
Instead
of setting a dollar goal, organizers
are hoping to enlist 1,000
first-time contributors. And the
organization has set a three-year
target of bringing the annual amount
above the million-dollar mark. And,
rather than name a campaign
chairman, the organization has named
a business -- Carter Bank and Trust
-- as the 2010 Community Campaign
Chair.
The average amount raised by
United Way since 1989 is $1.1
million, but in the last three years
the average has fallen below one
million dollars. Jinks says the
annual campaign has been hurt by job
losses and a reduction in payroll
contributions.

Hurricane
Earl batters the Outer Banks.
( photo courtesy John Howard)
Hurricane
Earl loses steam:
(Miami)
(AP) -- Hurricane Earl is weakening another notch but
remains a Category 1 storm as it heads for New England after
brushing North Carolina. Forecasters say most of Earl's
hurricane-force winds are expected to stay offshore of Cape Cod.
But just a slight deviation in Earl's track could bring those winds
onshore. Earl is now carrying 80 mile-an-hour winds on a track that
would take it very near or just east of Cape Cod
Friday night.
N.C.
12 to reopen Saturday:
(Nags
Head, N.C.) (AP) -- North Carolina transportation officials
say the major link between the Outer Banks and the mainland will
reopen Saturday morning.
The state Department of Transportation announced Friday afternoon that N.C. Highway 12 connecting Hatteras Island to the
rest of North Carolina is to open at 7 a.m.
The road has been closed in both directions south of the Bonner
Bridge because of water and sand blown from Hurricane Earl.
Workers are clearing the road using bulldozers and allowing
water to drain.
Students
tout summer programs:
(Danville,
Va.) -- It
was a summer of learning for nearly
150 Danville public school students.
All were enrolled in one of three
summer “enrichment activities”
offered through the school system.
Students in each of the study
programs addressed members of the
local school board Thursday night.
Superintendent Dr. Sue Davis says
the offerings included a residential
governor’s school, which linked
students with major universities.
And, at W. Townes Lea School
Elementary School, students
participated in a the
critical-thinking “Camp
Invention” program. Also, three
dozen students took part in the
Piedmont Regional Governor's School.
More
research money for the Institute:
(Danville,
Va.) -- The
U-S Department of Energy is sending
more than $730 thousand for
cutting-edge research at the
Institute in Danville.
The money will pay for
research into plants that
can be converted into bio-fuels.
Fifth District Congressman
Tom Perriello and Senator Mark
Warner says the Institute's track
record, along with Southside's rich
agriculture history were key
components in claiming the grant.
The grant is part of a nearly $9 million
program through
the Department of Education's Office of Science.
Farmer's
market coming to Pittsylvania
County:
(Chatham,
Va.) -- The new Ag complex that's
being built north of Chatham will
now include a farmer's market.
That's thanks to a $100
thousand grant from the US Department of Agriculture's
Rural Enterprise program.
The Olde Dominion
Agricultural Foundation hopes to
complete the building later
this year. The facility will include office space,
an indoor arena, and a 500 seat
conference center. It will serve as the new home of the Pittsylvania County
Ag Development Office.
Police
seek shooter:
(Martinsville,
Va.) -- Authorities have
identified the man they say shot
Kenneth Wayne Booth. Henry County
Sheriff's investigators say
31-year-old Corey Jermaine Hairston
shot and killed Kenneth Wayne Booth.
The 51-year-old was found dead at
the end of a driveway in Ridgeway
August 28th. Hairston is about
five-foot-nine, 180 pounds, and had
his hair in dreadlocks the last time
he was seen.
If
you've seen Hairston, call the Henry
County Sheriff's Office at
276-638-8751.

Rockingham
County investigators take John
Michael Kasten into custody.
Son
charged with murder/arson in
mother's death:
(Rockingham
County, N.C.) -- A
Stoneville woman was found dead in
her burning home Wednesday and
authorities have arrested her son.
Rockingham county deputies
were called to a home on Ridge Crest
Drive just after 10 am by neighbors
who feared for the safety of the
woman who lived there.
When deputies arrived, they
found the home in flames and the
body of 57-year-old Carla Kasten
inside. Investigators say the woman had been beaten, but her exact
cause of death is still under
investigation.
Investigators found
31-year-old John Michael Kasten, the
victim's son, naked in the back
yard.
When officers ordered him to
stop, he tried to run away, so they
shot him with a taser gun.
Kasten was examined at the
hospital, then taken to the
Rockingham County Sheriff's office
for questioning.
He was later charged with
first degree murder, arson, and
resisting arrest.
He's being held without bond
in the Rockingham County Detention
Facility.
Fire
at the site of a weekend murder:
(Henry
County, Va.) -- Henry County
sheriff's investigators are still
trying to determine if a mobile home
fire was related to the murder of a
man whose body was found near the
trailer three days before it burned.
A sheriff's spokesman says
investigators have yet to make that
determination. The body of
51-year-old Kenneth Wayne Booth of
Eden, N.C. was found in the driveway
of a Ridgeway residence on Saturday.
The mobile home was gutted by fire
on Tuesday. Information on the
fire's cause has not been released.
The trailer was the home of
45-year-old Mark Anthony Vernon, who
has since been charged with
possession of stolen property and
possession of ammunition as a
convicted felon. Investigators found
a stolen ATV in the backyard of the
home and said at the time that
Vernon was also a suspect in the
homicide.
Henry County Sheriff Lane
Perry said Booth died from a gunshot
wound. It's believed Booth traveled
from Eden to Ridgeway to visit
Vernon. Police have said only that
the two men knew each other.
DMV
offices up and running again:
(Richmond,
Va.) -- State officials say the
computer system failure that shut
down Virginia's DMV's and 25 other
agencies for a week has finally been
fixed.
DMV's across the state have been
unable to process drivers license
renewals since August 25th,
but a press release from the
Governor's office says the offices
should be fully functional Thursday.
The DMV estimates that as
many as 45-thousand customers have
been unable to get new drivers'
licenses or ID cards since a major
data storage system failed affecting
26 of the Commonwealth's 89
agencies.
Governor Bob McDonnell has
called for an inquiry into the
computer failure at the Virginia
Information Technologies
Agency in Chester, where 400
servers failed when two circuit
boards crashed.
Supervisors
oppose strip club:
(Chatham,
Va.) -- Pittsylvania county leaders
say a topless bar is the last thing
the area needs and they'll consider
an ordinance preventing it at their
Tuesday meeting.
The issue came to light,
according to the Chatham
Star-Tribune, when Odie Shelton, the
county's director of code
compliance, was contacted by Michael
Lee Lewis of Glenwood, Maryland. Lewis
told Shelton that he wants to open a
topless bar or a private club with
waitresses in bikinis in the former
"Three Red Barns and Dominic's
Restaurant" location on US 29.
The
long-vacant property is owned by J.
D. Compton, who told reporters that
he wanted no part of such a venture
and –quote – "that it would
ruin the property forever."
Since the county's Zoning
ordinance does not specifically
prohibit topless bars or nude
dancing, Westover District
Supervisor Coy Harville has drafted
a proposed ordinance on –
"morals, decency, and community
standards," that he believes
will prevent such adult
entertainment ventures.
The
Maryland entrepreneur told county
officials he was also looking at
property in Pelham.
Cold
case cleared with DNA evidence:
(Danville,
Va.) -- A suspect in a 2004 robbery
entered guilty pleas to three
charges Wednesday in Danville
Circuit Court. According to the
Danville Register and Bee, Issiah
Bernard Johnson, 24, of Yanceyville,
N.C., pleaded guilty to the charges
relating to a robbery in 2004.
The charges include armed robbery,
use of a firearm in the commission
of a felony and wearing a mask in
certain places. During
the proceeding, Circuit Court Judge
David Melesco asked Johnson a series
of questions to make sure he knew
that by pleading guilty he waived
the right to a trial. He said he
did. Johnson
and two others are accused of
holding up the Sunrise Store on
South Main Street on Aug. 12, 2004.
Around
midnight that night, three masked
men entered store, grabbed the
female cashier, held her at gunpoint
and asked her to open the register,
said Coleman Adams, Assistant
Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Before
she had a chance to open it she was
pushed to the floor but witnessed
one of the men take an undisclosed
amount of money, Adams said.
When
Danville police arrived at the
scene, a K9 unit was able to track
the suspects, who fled on foot. The
trail led to a ski mask, which was
collected and sent to the Department
of Forensic Science in Roanoke,
Adams said. Investigators
there found DNA on the mask, which
they then ran through a national
databank. This registered a hit from
a jail in Caswell County, N.C.,
where Johnson was serving time.
Investigators
obtained a warrant, but also had
Johnson’s consent to take a swab
from his mouth. The sample from the
swab matched the DNA from the mask
and linked Johnson to the robbery.
He was arrested in May 2010.
Johnson’s
sentencing hearing will be Oct. 29.
Former
sheriff's deputy convicted of
perjury:
(Martinsville,
Va.) -- A former Henry County
sheriff's deputy faces up to ten
years in prison for lying under
oath.
58-year-old Mary Lois
Markland was convicted this week of
lying under oath.
She had given a cigarette to
an inmate, but later denied it at a
special grand jury hearing.
In convicting her this week,
the judge told Markland that lying
about the act was worse than the act
itself.
The charge resulted from an
investigation into unprofessional
and even criminal conduct at the
Henry County jail dating back to
2004.
Markland is set for
sentencing on October 28th.
Jobless
rates remain high on the Southside
in July:
(Danville,
Va.) -- Southside's jobless rates
are still the highest in Virginia,
but held steady in July. The
just-released report from the
Virginia Employment Commission shows
the Danville metropolitan area with
a 12.2 percent unemployment rate.
That was the highest among
Virginia's ten metro areas, but
virtually unchanged from a year ago.
Martinsville's
jobless rate of 20.6 percent was
highest among Virginia's cities and
counties; however, the figure
dropped three-tenths percent from
July 2009. Henry
county's 14 percent rate was the
state's fifth-highest, while
Danville placed fourth-highest in
the Commonwealth. Halifax and
Pittsylvania Counties were also in
double-digits during July.
Averett
named a "military
friendly" school:
(Danville,
Va.) -- Averett University in
Danville has been named a
"military friendly" school
for 2011 by G.I. Jobs magazine. The
ranking places Averett in the top 15
percent of all colleges,
universities and trade schools
nationwide that are doing the most
to help members of the military and
veterans as students.
Averett registrar Janet
Roberson says the designation will
help Averett attract even more
students to the liberal-arts school,
since the college will receive
recognition through military
publications and websites.
Roberson says Averett was
recognized for participating in a
number of offerings aimed at
military personnel, including the
Yellow Ribbon Program, which is part
of the new G.I. Bill.
Averett also offers an
accelerated format toward bachelor
and master of business
administration degrees at the Marine
Corps Base at Quantico -- classes
are held in the education center.
Highway
workers struck on US 29:
(Blairs, Va.)
--
A
highway worker standing in a work
zone was critically injured Tuesday afternoon on U.S. 29 at
Blairs.
He and a co-worker were
struck
by a brown Chevrolet.
Northbound traffic was
re-routed as rescue personnel and
Virginia State Police responded at
around 4:15 p.m. Two
workmen were injured. A 50-year-old
male from Roanoke suffered trauma to
a leg and was
taken from the scene by helicopter
to Lynchburg General Hospital. The
other workman's injuries were not
life-threatening. He was taken to
Danville Regional Medical Center.
Their employer says both are
improving.
State police say alcohol was a
factor. Charges are pending
against the driver, who lives in
Danville.
Danville
woman sentenced in stabbing death:
(Danville, Va.) -- A
Danville woman will spend
seven-and-a-half years in jail for
stabbing her boyfriend to death
earlier this year. Officers were called to a
trailer park on Longview avenue off
of Westover drive, shortly after
midnight January 22nd. They found 32-year old
Derrick Lawson suffering from a stab
wound to the chest. He later died at
Danville Regional Medical Center.
27-year old Toni Danielle Reese was
picked up later in the day and
charged with first-degree murder.
She pleaded guilty last month to
second-degree murder and was
sentenced Tuesday.
Governor
visits struggling Southside company:
(Martinsville, Va.) --
An
Ohio-based metals manufacturer got a
visit from the Governor Tuesday,
less than a month after
pushing back the projected start-up
date for a new plant in
Henry County.
Governor Bob McDonnell met
with R.T. I. officials to get an
update on their revised plans. The company will now begin production in mid-2012, not later
this year. Officials blame delays in orders from some of
their vendors.
Henry County officials
estimate R.T. I. has already spent $70
million renovating a
shell building in the Patriot Centre
Industrial Park; and they have already
begun hiring some managers. The
factory hopes to employ 150
workers when R.T. I. begin metal
fabrication production.
AAA
projects busier Labor Day travel:
(Richmond, VA) --
Nearly
930,000 Virginians will travel
fifty or more miles from home this
Labor Day weekend.
That's according to Martha Meade with Triple-A
Mid-Atlantic in Richmond.
She says that represents a nearly
nine percent increase from a year
ago, suggesting more confidence in
the economy.
But Meade cautions Hurricane Earl
could put a crimp into some travel
plans. The agency says gas prices are
steady compared to a year ago, but other
travel costs have risen slightly.
Local
Foundation receives large,
unexpected gift:
(Danville, VA) --
A
Danville electrician who died last
December will leave quite a mark in
the community.
Roy L. Doss (pictured,
left) left nearly $1.4 million dollars to the Community
Foundation of the Dan River Region.
Executive Director Debra Doss
says this boosts the Foundation's
total assets to nearly $20 million dollars.
Dodson says she never met
Mister Doss, but the Foundation did
sell him
a brick for the local
Veteran's Memorial several years
ago. Dodson says the money will be available to
scholarship recipients beginning
with their next cycle in February,
and will add about $50,000 to each
payout.

Recently,
the American Legion Post 1097
donated funds to enable the Danville
Sheriff’s Office to put American
Flag decals on all vehicles in the
fleet. Pictured from left to
right: American Legion Post
Commander Melvin Scott, Sons of the
American Legion Commander Doug
Ferrell, Sheriff Mike Mondul, and
Post Adjutant Ray Barbour.

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