IN SPORTS: Laurence Manning to face Heathwood Hall in SCISA 3A quarterfinals
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THE CLARENDON SUN
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Base’s role may expand Shaw, Poinsett surveyed as possible battlefield airmen campus FROM STAFF REPORTS Shaw Air Force Base is being considered as a possible future training site for battlefield airmen, according to an article released by the base Wednesday. The release said a team of 23 people from the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command and the 2nd Air Force surveyed the base Feb. 13-17. If
Shaw is chosen, the base could gain up to 1,000 trainees and 400 instructors. Battlefield airmen are trained as a ground component for air operations and are often embedded with conventional and special operations forces, according to previous Air Force press releases. The battlefield airman designation consists of eight officer and enlisted man specialties including para rescue, combat control, tactical air control
and special operations weather. Battlefield airmen presently complete their technical training at eight different locations, and the combined training can take more than a year. The Air Force would save an estimated $36.4 million in training if all eight battlefield specialties can be combined in one area, the release said.
SEE SHAW, PAGE A16
A ‘road map’ to a bright future locally
PHOTOS BY BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM
Bert Hancock, academic program manager for Mechatronics at CCTC, right, talks with high school students and their parents Tuesday night at the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Training Center in Sumter.
District’s STEM 10 partnership with CCTC offers youth in-demand career opportunities BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For Logan Burrows of Continental Tire the Americas, when he was a senior in high school in South Carolina, there was not a direct pathway to a high-paying, local career in manufacturing. He had to enter the military and be trained as an avionics technician before he could receive an opportunity in industry that offered competitive pay. “I came out of the military fixing helicopters and into a tire manufacturer as a mainte-
If you want more information on Sumter School District’s STEM 10 program, contact Sumter Career and Technology Center’s Principal Shirrie Miller at (803) 481-8575.
nance technician,” Burrows said Tuesday night at a partnership event between Central Carolina Technical College and Sumter School District
Crestwood freshman Christopher Gooding, left, and his father, John, inspect some Mechatronics classroom equipment Tuesday night at Central Carolina Technical College’s Advanced SEE STEM, PAGE A16 Manufacturing Technology Training Center in Sumter.
Schwedler: Non-union vote positive for S.C., Sumter BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com South Carolina will continue to be an attractive state for business recruitment after workers at a major industry in the Palmetto State voted overwhelmingly last week against union representation, a local economic development official said. Jay Schwedler, president and chief executive officer of Sumter Development Board, made his remarks Tuesday after Boeing Co. workers in North Charleston voted last week that they do not want to be represented by the International Association of Machinists union. A total of 2,828 of the approximately 3,000 workers eligible to vote cast ballots, with 74 percent — 2,097 votes — against organized labor representation. “The Boeing vote continues to show the world, first and foremost, that South Carolina workers are some of the finest
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on the planet,” Schwedler said. “They are highly trained and trainable and some of the hardest working in the U.S. — without the need for union-organized support.” The association, which has an office in North Charleston, tried to rally Boeing workers around promises of better wages SCHWEDLER and more consistent workplace rules, according to The Associated Press. Boeing countered by saying labor unions break down workplace relationships and often fail to live up to their promises. Schwedler said South Carolina will continue to be known for its pro-business, right-to-work environment with the lowest unionization rate in the U.S. at 1.6 percent, according to federal statistics. “This further encourages companies to look toward our state as an interna-
tional and nationally desired location to manufacture products,” Schwedler said. “In terms of impact to Sumter and the surrounding region, it was a ‘defeat heard around the world’ and a message that while the unions served as a valued place in workplace betterment, our people are strong, smart and can work with management to create the best environment possible.” Schwedler added that the reason many companies have selected South Carolina as a place to do business is because, in part, it’s non-union friendly. Joe Seiner, a labor law expert with University of South Carolina, called the association’s loss “embarrassing” and said it’s a setback to organized labor throughout the state. “This is a major hit to the union,” Seiner told the Charleston Post & Courier, adding that recent talks of layoffs and cost-cutting at Boeing had given the association its best shot at gaining traction.
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Dalzell man arrested in kidnapping, assault BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter County deputies arrested a Dalzell man on Wednesday for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 78-year-old woman twice during a 12-hour period between Tuesday and Wednesday. Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said the incident started at the victim’s residence in SceMCELVEEN nic Lake Mobile Home Park, Dalzell, about 5 p.m. Tuesday when 66-year-old Edward Earl McElveen knocked on her door asking for food. The victim, who lived next door to McElveen, let him into her residence where they began to have a conversation, Dennis said. Dennis said the victim did not suspect that McElveen would attack her. She said McElveen went to the restroom and came out holding a firearm, he said. The suspect then taped her wrists and arms and sexually assaulted her, Dennis said. He said McElveen forcibly took the victim to his residence, which is next door to the victim’s home in the mobile home park, where he sexually assaulted her a second time. The victim said she fell asleep after the assault, and McElveen left the residence between 2 and 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Dennis said. During that time, the victim was able to escape to a neighbor’s house about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday by removing some of the tape from her arms and wrists, he said. Dennis said the victim did not suffer any life-threatening injuries. She is being treated for cuts, abrasions and bruises at Palmetto Health Tuomey, he said. She also has bruising on her neck indicating that she was choked, he said. According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, authorities arrested McElveen without incidence after they located him walking along the roadway in the neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. A small handgun, described by the victim, was found on him when he was apprehended, Dennis said. He said no one had come forward with information about the incident as of Wednesday evening. Dennis said the victim and McElveen had been in a relationship for about a year and had separated about a month before the assault. He said based on the victim’s statements, the relationship was intimate. McElveen, of 5350 Scenic Lake Drive West, Lot 26, is charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon; criminal sexual conduct, first degree; and kidnapping.
SEE RAPE, PAGE A16
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INSIDE
ANOTHER NICE DAY
2 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES VOL. 122, NO. 94
Partly sunny today and quite warm with only a slight chance of rain; tonight, cloudy and mild. HIGH 79, LOW 54
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