INSIDE: Rising Nashville star John Berry to host country concert at Opera House A2 THE CLARENDON SUN
Alcolu Preservation Society to host tour of homes during holidays A6 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016
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Career and Technology Center creating spark Under instructor’s leadership, welding program has many bright spots BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com It’s a local high school program of study that often goes under the radar but has achieved state and national accolades. It has been recognized with No. 1 rankings in South Carolina on several occasions and produces graduates who right out of high school can earn $15 to $20 per hour in starting pay locally and even wear jeans to work. It includes a regular classroom setting but also a workshop area with 24 booths, cutting tables and plenty of sparks to go around. What is it? It’s the Sumter Career and Technology Center Welding Technology program. Led by Larry Culick — in his 23rd year of teaching at the career center, a Sumter center graduate and also a former welder — the program consis-
tently puts out quality welders for local industry, such as Thompson Construction, Interlake and Porter’s Fabrications, among numerous others. The welding program at the center is open to juniors and seniors from the three high schools in Sumter School District — Sumter, Crestwood and Lakewood. Juniors attend for three hours in the morning before returning to their home high school for English, math and other traditional courses after lunch. Seniors attend in the afternoon, after spending the morning hours at their home high schools. In their last semester as seniors, many have the opportunity for a paid — part-time — co-op learning experience with a local industry.
SEE SPARK, PAGE A8
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Deobtrez Choice, a 12th-grader from Sumter High, practices his welding in a booth on Wednesday at the Sumter Career and Technology Center. The welding program is open to juniors and seniors from the three high schools in Sumter School District — Sumter, Crestwood and Lakewood.
Here comes Santa Claus Justice Finney to serve as Sumter Christmas Parade grand marshal BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com Santa Claus is coming to town. In fact, he will be ushered in by dozens of participants in the Sumter Christmas Parade on Sunday. Doug Griffin, organizer of the parade sponsored by the Evening Optimist Club, said the parade begins at 2 p.m. at the corner of North Main and DuFINNEY bose streets, then proceed south down Main, ending at Bartlette St. This year’s parade theme is Christmas Miracles. That means there is plenty of prime viewing space for the colorful parade that each December escorts Santa with floats, dance teams, beauty queens, marching bands, horses and many more units, Griffin said. Leading the parade will be its grand marshal, The Honorable Ernest A. Finney Jr., former Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He was born in Virginia, received his legal degree from South Carolina State University in 1954. Finney moved to Sumter, where he raised his family, in 1960. During his early years as an attorney, Finney defended more than 6,000 clients arrested for protests and sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement. He lost almost every case at trial because the court system supported segregation, but he won all but two cases on appeal.
Judge: Roof ’s request not rashly made Defendant represents self in killing of 9 parishioners
SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO
Santa Claus, whose appearance is always eagerly anticipated by children and adults alike, traditionally takes the last position in the Sumter Christmas Parade. This year’s colorful procession is set for 2 p.m. Sunday on Main St. Elected to the S.C. House of Representatives in 1972, Finney became the first African-American to serve on the House Judiciary Committee. He was a founder of the Legislative Black Caucus and was recognized as a leader in the civil rights movement. During the course of his distinguished career, he was awarded many honorary doctorates. He became a judge of the Third Judicial Circuit in 1976 and as-
sociate justice of the S.C. Supreme Court in 1985. He was named Chief Justice in 1994 and served until his retirement in 2000. Finney now lives in Columbia with his wife, Frances. As of Tuesday, the Optimists reported more than 100 units already registered, with more than 2,600 participants. Griffin said that, as usual, thousands of spectators are expected to line Main Street.
The parade will include numerous emergency services entries from Sumter Police Department, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter Fire Department and Sumter County EMS. Many local churches and businesses will also be featured, as well as Shriner’s organizations and other local civic clubs.
SEE SANTA, PAGE A8
COLUMBIA (AP) — Dylann Roof, the white man charged with the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church, is being allowed to represent himself because he didn’t make the decision rashly and understood the consequences of his actions, a judge wrote in court documents unsealed on Wednesday. In a 10-page order, ROOF U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel wrote that Roof met the standards required for self-representation, even though he called the defendant’s decision to act as his own lawyer “very unwise.” Roof, 22, was “alert, focused and confident” when he asked the court to act as his own lawyer, a decision that was not “rashly made,” Gergel wrote. “Defendant’s decision to forego (sic) the services of the nation’s foremost capital defense attorneys is, in the Court’s view, unwise, but the law does not permit the Court to reject Defendant’s assertion of his constitutional right to represent himself because it is foolhardy,” the judge wrote. The judge ruled Monday that Roof could defend himself against dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion in the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted. After Roof filed a motion seeking to represent himself, Gergel on Monday asked him questions in court about the charges against him, possible penalties and consequences of acting as his own lawyer.
SEE JUDGE, PAGE A8
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