Farmville

FARMVILLE, N.C. -- It's a drippy 92-degree afternoon at Shackelford's Grocery, which sells Coke in old green bottles and pickled pigs' feet from gallon jars. Two barefoot boys, 11 and 12, bound in, carrying primitive fishing poles and exulting over six bass and one bream they caught in Tyson's pond.At the four-stool counter, James Shackelford Jr., the store's owner and the son and son-in-law of tobacco farmers, lights a Winston and talks about a friend who lit up at an auto dealership. When the man was told that smoking was not allowed, he tore up his check for a pickup truck and walked out, Mr. Shackelford says.

More than a couple of Leron Fisher 's close friends openly questioned his decision-making process one year ago. Why, some of them asked, would the former Lake Clifton standout pass up a Division II basketball scholarship in favor of junior college? “I knew I could play Division I,” Fisher said Monday. “I knew if I went to junior college for one year and had the opportunity to play my best, I'd come away with a Division I scholarship.” Fisher's JUCO gamble paid off last weekend when Longwood offered him a full ride during his official visit to the Big South school in Farmville, Va. The former Lakers star accepted the Lancers' offer before heading home.

SMILES AND good wishes accompanied the election Saturday of Julian Bond as NAACP board chairman. But by making one of his first acts the reinstatement of a tainted executive committee member, Mr. Bond may have set back an organization still trying to restore public confidence.Many were surprised when Mr. Bond nonchalantly included James E. Ghee on his list of executive committee members. Mr. Ghee, a Farmville, Va., lawyer, was one of four board members with ethics problems asked to resign last year by the departing board chairwoman, Myrlie Evers-Williams.

Dorris Bowdon, 90, a film actress of the 1930s and '40s and widow of writer-producer Nunnally Johnson, died Tuesday at the Motion Picture Country House in Los Angeles. Her best-remembered role was likely as Rose-of-Sharon in The Grapes of Wrath. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck, the film's screenplay was written by her husband. She had been spotted not long before by a Hollywood talent scout in a play at Louisiana State University and signed to a contract at 20th Century Fox. While visiting producers' offices to inquire about film roles, she met Mr. Johnson.

On Tuesday, January 4, 2005, CATHERINE L. CRITSER, age 70, at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. A resident of Las Vegas, Nevada for over 40 years; formerly of Baltimore, MD; a retired Registered Nurse. She is survived by her daughter, Christina Robertson; son, William Scott Critser; stepson, James Darrell Leitner, all of Las Vegas, NV; two sisters, Ruth O'Connor and Katherine Woodall, both of Pasadena, MD; one brother, Kenneth Mc Connell of Baltimore, MD. She is also survived by three grandchildren.

A Deale man died Monday night near Tracys Landing when someone hurled a baseball-sized rock through the windshield of his truck, causing the truck to crash and overturn, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday.Kevin Michael Gallagher, 38, of the 5900 block of Sneed Drive was pronounced dead at the scene on Route 258 about one mile east of Solomons Island Road.The rock went through the lower left side of the windshield. Police said they were not sure if it hit Mr. Gallagher. Southern District Officer Darren George found the victim about 9:30 p.m., trapped in his truck and bleeding from the nose and mouth.

Farmville, Va. -- Morgan State men's basketball coach Todd Bozeman surrendered to authorities here yesterday afternoon, when an April 24 preliminary court date was set for two misdemeanor charges against him. Ten days after Bozeman got into an argument at a nearby restaurant, he appeared before a magistrate at the Prince Edward County Courthouse, where warrants for his arrest on Class 1 assault and battery and Class 3 curse and abuse were executed behind...

Fannie I. R. WatkinsLived to 101Fannie I. R. Watkins, a retired domestic worker who sang in church choirs, died Friday of kidney failure at Good Samaritan Hospital at the age of 101.Mrs. Watkins, who lived on Lenton Avenue, worked for several families before her retirement 30 years ago. Her husband, John Watkins, who worked for the Maryland Slag Co. at Sparrows Point, died 40 years ago.A native of Farmville, Va., Mrs. Watkins moved to the Baltimore area in 1917, four years after her marriage, and settled in Turners Station.

Morgan State men's basketball coach Todd Bozeman will turn himself in to Virginia authorities next week, when a preliminary court date will be set for two misdemeanor charges against him stemming from an argument in a Farmville restaurant. Jim Ennis, the Prince Edward County attorney, said that it would be at least an additional month, and possibly two, before Bozeman's case is heard. The coach is charged with first-degree assault and battery and third-degree curse and abuse. "Mr. Bozeman will turn himself in one day next week," Ennis said.

Howard Louis Lee Sr., the owner of York Road Auto Repairs for about 25 years and a prominent member of his Govans community, died Wednesday of a heart attack while vacationing with his wife in Meherrin, Va. He was 57.A longtime resident of Baltimore, Mr. Lee had lived on Walshire Avenue for 25 years -- moving there about the same time he opened the repair shop at 4811 York Road. He became well-known through his friendliness and desire to help others."He was a neighbor and a very good neighbor," said Ida Rosenberger, who lives two doors away from the Lee home.