March 30, 2017

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IN SPORTS: USC’s Kotsar, an Estonia native, hopes to play well in front of his parents B1 THE CLARENDON SUN

Turmoil surrounds Jenkinsville nuclear plant project A6 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017

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Road repairs bill takes a detour Legislation suffers setback in Senate BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com A bill to fund road repairs through an increase in the gas tax and other vehicle-related fees failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote to be put on special order in the South Carolina Senate on Wednesday, with 23 senators voting for special order and 18 senators voting against. Putting the bill on special order would make debating the bill a priori-

ty and would prevent a senator or a handful of senators from preventing debate. Standing with the 17 other Republican senators who voted against putting the bill on special order after the vote, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said they do not mean they are against a road bill. “We are committed to passing road funding legislation this session,” Massey said. “We voted no for special order; that is not because we don’t want to fund our roads.” “We are not going to support a straight-up tax increase. That is the message we are delivering,” Massey added. Senate Minority Leader Nikki Set-

zler, D-West Columbia, criticized those who voted against special order. “The people of South Carolina want their potholes fixed and their bridges secured,” he said. “They are not interested in political football or political March Madness. We desperately need to pass a roads bill.” He said he was proud of his colleagues who voted for special order. “The people of South Carolina deserve legislation that provides a longterm funding solution for our crumbling and unsafe roads and bridges,” he said. The bill would raise nearly $800 million a year for funding road repairs by increasing the gas tax by 12 cents during the next six years. A similar bill

that provides for a 10-cent gas tax increase over five years has already passed the S.C. House by a large majority. It is unclear if another vote for special order can be taken on the bill, as a limited number of bills can be placed on special order. With no vote for special order, the bill’s chances of coming up for a vote are reduced but not eliminated. Five Republican senators, including Senate Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman, RFlorence, voted for special order, along with 16 Democrats. Sen. Kevin Johnson, D-Manning, voted for special order while Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, was excused.

3 minutes of engaging video education Sumter schools

employ online learning tools BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com Fast-paced, engaging, concise and “nailing the concept” — those are all descriptions by Sumter School District teachers and administrators for a relatively new online educational resource used throughout the district to facilitate teaching science. Sumter has used the resource so effectively in its classroom instruction that the London-based international digital media company that creates the video-learning materials has recently produced and released a video tribute worldwide on the district’s usage to help market its products. Twig World is the global digital media company — founded in 2009 — that produces thousands of these three-minute educational videos for use in the classroom. Tigtag is its brand category for elementary school videos in science and other subjects. Twig is the company’s brand

SHELLY GALLOWAY / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM

Millwood Elementary School teacher Hayle Jerome instructs her students in a science lab experiment in October during the production of a video tribute of the school by Twig World, a global digital media company. An educational video by Twig World is playing in the background. name for middle- and highschool educational videos. Sumter has been using Twig and Tigtag for about four years now, according to Lori Smith, the district’s K-12 science and fine arts coordinator. Smith said the instruc-

tional videos help the district’s teachers teach a wealth of concepts in science. The three-minute videos are ideal for the target student population of today, according to Smith, because they are short, visual, highly engaging, have

real-world connections and offer game-based learning activities. Initially, a couple of company representatives came to Sumter almost four years ago on a teacher workday to train teachers in all grade levels on

maximizing usage of Twig and Tigtag. Then at the beginning of October last year, Smith got a call out of the blue from

SEE VIDEO, PAGE A9

Palmetto Gas full speed ahead with auto propane program BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com Many local businesses are doing their part to contribute to cleaner air in Sumter while also improving the performance of their fleet, thanks to a push from a local gas company. Palmetto Gas, 170 S. Lafayette Blvd., applied for and used a federal grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to supply onsite propane filling stations at customers’ locations and reinvigorate an auto propane program with area customers. Auto propane — often referred to as autogas — reduces carbon dioxide emissions from truck fleets and also improves vehicle performance, according to Tami Wagner of Palmetto Gas. Wagner is autogas business development manager with the company. “The benefits of autogas result from the fact that it’s 105 percent octane, which means it has less carbon and is very clean and doesn’t foul up your engine,” Wagner said. “Also, it’s very similar to racing fuel, which is 106 or 107

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percent octane, and you MORE INFO don’t lose For more information on any power or Palmetto Gas’ autogas torque with proprane program, autogas. contact the local company Trucks don’t at 803-775-4321. have to worry about being bogged down and losing their torque.” Those benefits and the return on investment add up quickly for a vehicle in the transit or transportation industries that may average 80,000 miles on the road per year. It’s also generally cheaper than gasoline or diesel. Palmetto Gas’ target market with autogas are eight- and 10-cylinder gas trucks, according to Wagner and CEO Will Stokes. Some of its customers include UniFirst, which supplies uniforms and mats to local businesses, Farmers Telephone Cooperative and Dixie Tools.

BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM

Jimmy Crosby, autogas shop foreman with Palmetto Gas, fills a service truck with propane earlier this week at Palmetto Gas. The company’s auto propane program has SEE PROPANE, PAGE A9 grown in popularity with area customers.

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INSIDE

MAYBE A SHOWER

2 SECTIONS, 18 PAGES VOL. 122, NO. 119

Cloudy, with a shower and not as warm. Tonight, a shower or two, with some thunder. HIGH 75, LOW 62

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