November 15, 2016

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ENTERTAINMENT: USA launches political conspiracy thriller ‘Shooter’ B5

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2016

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Parade of Shops attracts new customers to local businesses A3

Obama says U.S. will maintain alliances BY KATHLEEN HENNESSEY The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Vouching for the successor he never imagined having, President Obama on Monday sought to reassure an anxious nation

and world that Donald Trump would maintain America’s alliances and its status as the “indispensable nation.” He credited the presidentelect for tapping into American voters’ anxiety and enthusiasm.

“Do I have concerns?” Obama added. “Absolutely.” Speaking at a White House news conference before a three-nation trip that was supposed to be his grand valedictory tour, Obama pointedly refused to criticize Trump,

who only a week ago Obama said was “woefully unprepared for the job” and couldn’t “handle the nuclear codes.” Instead, Obama did his best to soothe the pangs of uncertainty at home and abroad after a divisive campaign that

included charges of racism, sexism and other offensive rhetoric and questions from Trump about the validity of the United States’ security relationships in Europe and Asia.

SEE ALLIANCES, PAGE A5

Sumter community walks against domestic violence

PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Walkers against domestic violence prepare to march through downtown Sumter, hoping to bring awareness to the problem on Saturday morning. The 10th-annual walk was organized by the Sumter High School International Baccalaureate program.

For 10th year, residents try to spread awareness of issue through march BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com

Elizabeth Jones, 7, and her father, Thomas Jones, wait to join the walk against domestic violence on Saturday morning.

“Get out; they don’t have to stay there any more.” That’s the message domestic violence survivor Lynn Weaver would like to pass along to people who are suffering at the hands of an abuser. Weaver and close to 200 people joined together in the 10th-annual Walk to End Domestic Violence, sponsored by Sumter YWCA and the Sumter High School International Bacca-

laureate Program. The walk began at the parking lot of Sumter Library on Harvin Street and ended at the old Sumter County Courthouse on Main Street. The walk was begun 10 years ago by IB students at Sumter High said Sumter YWCA Director Debra Wilson. “We do this every year to get the community involved in domestic violence awareness, to solicit volunteers and get the word out and bring numbers down,” Wilson said. South Carolina ranked No. 5 in the number of domestic violence homicides in 2015, said Cley Amaker, director of the YWCA’s domestic violence shelter. She said the YWCA is one of the few shelters in Sumter and surround-

ing communities. “It’s critical for organizations like IB to be involved and create awareness at a young age,” she said. Ann-Francis Brown, an IB supervisor at SHS, said getting students involved is one of the objectives at the IB program. “Our goal is to get students to think locally and act locally,” she said. Corey Grant, SHS student who is in the IB program, was one of the leaders of Saturday’s walk. He said he learned about the problem of domestic violence in the IB program last year. “We had some really good leadership, and they kind of took me under

SEE WALK, PAGE A5

Operation Christmas Child sets goal to collect 10,000 shoeboxes locally BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Westside Baptist Church has opened its doors as a tricounty collection center for an annual project to send

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shoeboxes filled with children’s items to Third World countries. The project, called Operation Christmas Child, organized by Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization,

has been behind the delivery of more than 135 million shoeboxes in 150 countries during a 26-year period. The goal is to collect more than 10,000 boxes among local

RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM

SEE SHOEBOXES, PAGE A6

DEATHS, B4 Thomasina B. Harris Barry E. Russell Ollie C. Scott Jr. Willie Jean Munn Sammie Lee Robinson Sr. Roger L. Horne Willie Henry

Jedidiah Massey, 4, right, tries to adjust his hood in a mist while trying to keep his elf hat on during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Operation Christmas Child at Westside Baptist Church on Monday.

Nathaniel Gooden Jr. Fredinand Mack Kenneth R. Barwick Elizabeth Thomas Spilman J. Sharpe Rilla M. Fortune Mary Hines

WEATHER, A10

INSIDE

A WARM DAY

3 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 122, NO. 25

Mostly sunny today; clear tonight HIGH 67, LOW 42

Classifieds B6 Comics C4

Opinion A7 Television B5


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