That fuzzy haze hanging over Giles County's majestic mountains isn't fog, fire or even fly ash from the power plant.

It's fur.

Flying fur.

The battle for Giles County sheriff has intensified in recent days with printed accusations of mismanagement against incumbent Sheriff Bryan Altizer. The Virginian Leader -- the county's weekly newspaper -- has been the vehicle for eye-popping ads for days.

People across the county first started talking about some acrid advertisements in the paper's Oct. 24 edition. A full-page ad signed by 36 current and former law enforcement employees, as well as another by recently retired sheriff's deputy Jeff Mullins, accused Altizer of such things as deliberately withholding information that jeopardized officers' safety and directing investigators to delete information from reports. The ads were as critical of Altizer as supportive of his contender, Morgan Millirons. Both Altizer and Millirons are independents.

Altizer has dismissed most of the accusations as a political tactic but acknowledged this week that he did allow a jail trustee to work on the personal vehicles of department secretary Carol Ross and one of the office deputies.

"Shame on me for not knowing," Altizer said, noting that he was unaware that the practice was unlawful. Virginia law prohibits using inmate labor for "the personal gain or convenience of any sheriff or any other individual."

"I don't deny it," he said. "I regret it. I stopped it as soon as I found out it was a no-no."

Altizer, who was a federal officer with the U.S. Forest Service when he became sheriff and had served as former sheriff Larry Falls' chief deputy from 1987 to 1991, said he was not surprised by the ads.

"They're obviously self-serving and politically motivated," he said, adding that his critics want to get rid of him because he has held employees accountable for their behavior.

"I've brought the kind of professionalism to Giles County law enforcement that needed to be here all along," Altizer said.

In 2003, Altizer won a six-way race to replace then-outgoing sheriff Falls with Millirons finishing second. Falls, who had served as sheriff for 16 years, decided to retire after dealing with a domestic dispute that led to his arrest in 2002 and then suffering a stroke.

Falls is now one of the people criticizing Altizer. His signature was among the 36 in the ad that called the "close working relationship" between Giles County law enforcement agencies "a bond ... that has greatly diminished over the last four years."

County Administrator Chris McKlarney described Altizer as "very professional," and McKlarney said his office had not received complaints about the sheriff. He said he had no reaction to the ads.

"I try not to read them," he said. "There's nothing to be gained by us commenting."

Mullins, who paid for one of the ads, said his message was not politically motivated. Following his retirement Oct. 1 with 30 years in the sheriff's office, the 50-year-old officer said he thought Giles County residents weren't aware of Altizer's modus operandi.

"I've been there all those years," Mullins said of his work in the sheriff's office. "Over the last four years, it has hit rock bottom."

Among other things, Mullins' ad accused Altizer of splitting the county's drug task force "by locking out its most productive officers," directing investigators to delete information from reports and allowing a jail trustee to do body and mechanical work on private vehicles.

"No one to my knowledge has ever been directed to delete anything from any report," Altizer countered.

Last year's dissolution of the county's drug task force -- comprising investigator Monroe Blevins of the Giles County Sheriff's Office, Narrows Police Chief Tommy Gautier Jr. and Pearisburg police Officer Richard Gautier -- never should have happened, according to Altizer.

"It was a shame that that took place. When I took over, I had an investigator that ran a fairly loose outfit," he said, explaining that procedural and personnel changes he instigated unleashed a "furor" from officers.

Tommy Gautier said he had no problem with the investigator Altizer picked to lead the task force.

"He offered me the job. I turned him down. I wasn't interested," Gautier said. "When the new investigator took over, the locks were changed on all the doors. I asked a couple of times for a key. ... We had to turn some drug deals down because we couldn't get to the money. We didn't have any access to any money, a computer or anything."

Richard Gautier, who is Tommy Gautier's uncle, said he had been on the task force for seven years.

"We never had any problems with money, never any problems with protocol," he said. "Nobody ever gave us any reason why the locks were changed. Later, we were told it was protocol of the state police. We're not a state police agency. We're a county agency."

Richard Gautier, as well as the other active police officers who signed the ad, stress that they are speaking out as individuals and not for the departments they work for.

Pembroke police Chief Ron Hamlin said he put his name on the ad because "what was in it was true."

"Breaking up the drug task force was a big mistake. Bryan caused it to shut down. The boys on the task force were doing a bang-up job," Hamlin said.

Altizer claims drug arrests have actually increased since the task force dissolved. He has run his own ads in The Virginian Leader attesting to that.

But when the newest edition of the weekly newspaper appeared Wednesday, Narrows police Officer Scott Dunn had a full-page notice contesting Altizer's facts and figures with data he said he got from the Virginia State Police Web site.

"Actually, there was a 7.1 percent decrease for drug arrests" since Altizer became sheriff, Dunn said.

Altizer, who ran four ads of his own in Wednesday's paper, said his ads focused on the positive.

"I'm not going where they're going," he said. "How can you tell the truth when you don't know what they're talking about? I'm not playing that game."

Mullins, who describes himself as "not usually someone to stir up trouble," said he is not a disgruntled employee, noting that his only negative report from the sheriff was issued because he once directed other officers in the court to remove their ties.

"He had us wearing ties with short sleeve shirts," Mullins said. "It caused the collars to pop up."

Mullins said when he tried to explain his position on that incident and other concerns within the department, Altizer refused to attend a meeting with veteran officers.

"I'm not saying he's a bad person," Mullins said. "I think the sheriff has visions of grandeur."

While police personnel who placed the ads are supporting Millirons in the election, the contender said Wednesday he wasn't aware of the content of those ads, nor did he have anything to do with them. He said he's happy for the support but isn't interested in engaging in a negative campaign.

"I have been told of problems in the department," Millirons said. "When elected, I want to change what's going on. I'm not going to get anywhere by doing something negative."

Millirons, a Virginia Tech Police Department sergeant, is challenging Altizer with a promise to restructure the sheriff's office and forge unions with town police departments throughout the county.

"I want to reunite the office with the local jurisdictions in Giles County so we can work as one unit as opposed to individual units. We are stronger if we work as one," he said.

Altizer, who is running on a platform of sound financial management and increased efforts to combat illegal drug activity in the county, said he stands by his leadership philosophy.

"We hold people accountable. That's another thing people don't like," he said. "I represent rules and regulations and proper procedure. That's what the taxpayers deserve, and I'm going to give it to them."

County administrator McKlarney said the voters will decide next week.

One of those voters, Celanese employee John Kinney of Narrows, said, "It's getting nasty over here."

Another, Patsy Radford, a clerk at Newport's Super Val-U Grocery, said she would be glad when the election cools down.

As she rang up the sale of another newspaper on her cash register, Radford said she has already decided which sheriff's candidate she'll vote for Tuesday.

"The best one," she said. "The one I think is best."

Correspondent Joshua A. DeLung contributed to this report.