IN SPORTS: Spring Valley hands Lady Knights 1st loss at District 9 tournament B1 PANORAMA
‘The Gathering’ social club offers opportunities for adults, teens with special needs C1 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016
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Another new Walmart coming Neighborhood Market planned for Pinewood Road Piggly Wiggly location BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com A new Walmart Neighborhood Market and gas station will replace a building housing a Piggly Wiggly and a Family Dollar Store near the corner of McCrays Mill Road and Pinewood Road, according to Mack Kolb, of Century 21 Hawkins an Kolb Real Estate, who brokered the deal. Piggly Wiggly and Family Dollar do not own the property but hold leases from the property owner, which has sold to a developer, he said. The property also includes an Anytime Energy gas station on Pinewood Road. “It’s all going to be demolished and will be a Neighborhood Market,” he said.
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
After 38 years, the Piggly Wiggly grocery store at Pinewood and McCrays Mill roads will close Jan. 1 to make room for a new Walmart Neighborhood Market. A Rite-Aid Pharmacy located on the corner of McCrays Mill and Pinewood roads, a car wash on Pinewood and a
Metro PCS on McCrays Mill were not part of a zoning change and will not be part of the new development, ac-
cording to a zoning request filed with the City of Sumter. Piggly Wiggly owner Ricky McLeod said he has served his customers out of that location at 343 Pinewood Road for 38 years, but its last day will be Sunday.. “I want to thank everyone for their patronage,” McLeod said. He said all employees at the Pinewood Road Piggly Wiggly will be relocated to other stores in Sumter and Manning. McLeod said he has not ruled out opening another location but has no definite plans at this time. A McLeodowned Piggly Wiggly in Summerton was closed in January 2015. Piggly Wiggly must be completely out of the location by Feb. 20, he said.
SEE WALMART, PAGE A7
Extra sales days help local retailers at Christmas Emma Jones, left, reviews various reading materials with The Olive Tree Christian Bookstore’s Lorraine Dufresne on Tuesday at the Bultman Drive store.
BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com With Christmas falling on Sunday, many area retailers had a busy, full week of sales last week in preparation for the biggest gift-giving holiday of the year. From jewelry to gifts, apparel and other merchandise, many shops were packed with customers shopping for presents. “The fact we had the full week, Monday through Saturday, before Christmas made it busier,” said Danny Chandler, co-owner of Galloway & Moseley on Guignard Drive. “December is always our busiest time of year in the fine jewelry business. In that last week before Christmas, we’ll do more than we do in some months (of the year).” Chandler said this Christmas sales season was better than the past couple years. He thinks a stronger local economy is part of the reason. According to the U.S. Bureau
BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM
SEE SALES, PAGE A7
‘Star Wars’ princess dead at 60
Michael mourned in London
NEW YORK (AP) — No one could make us laugh through the pain like Carrie Fisher. The daughter of Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and a survivor of early fame, drug addiction and bipolar disorder, she wrote with unsentimental wit and understanding about her private struggles and about an industry she was raised in but stood apart from. Fisher, known to the world as Princess Leia of “Star Wars,” died Tuesday at 60, four days after falling ill aboard an airline flight. Media reports said the actress had suffered a heart attack. “I do believe you’re only as sick as your secrets. If that’s true, I’m just really healthy,” she said in a confessional 2009 interview with The Associated Press. The public fell in love with her twice: as Princess Leia and as the wry truth-teller of such books as “Postcards From the Edge,” ‘’Wishful Drinking” and “The Princess Diarist,” in which she revealed having an intense affair with “Star Wars” co-star Harrison Ford. Fisher told plenty of secrets about others — about her parents’ breakup when she
LONDON (AP) — As mourners kept on flocking Tuesday to George Michael’s home in north London, the singer’s former longtime partner and his current boyfriend both spoke of their sadness at his death. The boyfriend, hairstylist Fadi Fawaz, told the Telegraph newspaper on Tuesday he found the 53-year-old singer dead in bed when he arrived at Michael’s house on Christmas Day so they could attend a holiday lunch together. “Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I,” Fawaz said. “Now everything is ruined. I want people to remember him the way he was. He was a beautiful person.” Fawaz tweeted “I will never stop missing you” to Michael. Michael’s former partner Kenny Goss, who was with the singer for many years, said in
SEE FISHER, PAGE A7
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Harrison Ford talks with Carrie Fisher during a break in the filming of the CBS-TV special “The Star Wars Holiday” in Los Angeles in 1978. Fisher has died at the age of 60.
DEATHS, B5 Frank B. Wenstrom Willian H. Walker Frances G. Cook William F. Mixon John M. Turner Dorothy M. Parks
Miriam Rembert Warren J. Lesane Sr. Ethel Mae J. Stinney Lee E. McBride Eva J. Kuhns
a statement that he was “heartbroken” by the death of his longtime love. “He was a major part of my life and I loved him very, very much. He was an extremely kind and generous man,” Goss said. Michael announced in 2011 that he and Goss had separated. Since word of his unexpected death, British newspapers have been filled with stories about Michael’s many generous acts, often accompanied by his admonishments to keep them secret. Among the stories that surfaced was Michael’s donation of 15,000 pounds to a couple in need of money to pay for fertility treatments. Crowds of grieving fans placed flowers and other tributes outside his home in the Highgate neighborhood of north London.
SEE MICHAEL, PAGE A7
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
CLOUDY AND MILD
3 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 122, NO. 53
Mostly cloudy and warm today with slight chance of rain; tonight, rain possible late. HIGH 64, LOW 48
Classifieds B6 Comics C2 Food C4
Opinion A9 Television C3