IN NEWS: Alleged kidnapper of pregnant woman now in jail A2 NATION
Children of Holocaust survivors learn how to preserve, share their parents’ stories A5
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‘Worse than Afghanistan’ Adjutant general says state’s armories need repair BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
S.C. Adjutant Gen. Bob Livingston listens to questions from members of Sumter Rotary Club on Monday at O’Donnell House.
The stars were shining down on the South Carolina National Guard. Not in the deserts of Afghanistan, where they battled bravely against the Taliban, skirmished with insurgent tribesmen and worked to train the Afghan mili-
tary. It was not in Kuwait during Desert Storm or in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when South Carolina air units were among the first to go in to soften up Saddam Hussein’s air defenses. It was right here in the Palmetto State. “We are not talking about a maintenance backlog,” said Gen. Bob Livingston, South Carolina ad-
jutant general. “I am talking about walking into the armory and looking up through the roof and seeing the stars, not because there is a skylight, but there is a hole in the roof.” “We were bringing people back from Afghanistan to worse facilities then they had in Afghanistan,”
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Inaugural Comic Arts Symposium draws crowd BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com It was a day where super heroes could feel at ease amongst their brethren. Hundreds of comic book enthusiast swarmed into the Patriot Hall Performing Arts Center on Saturday for the inaugural installment of the Comic Arts Symposium. The daylong event featured learning workshops, seminars and discussion groups led by veteran comic authors and artists from across the nation as well as professors at the University of South Carolina’s Sumter and Columbia campuses. It essentially served as a comic-con styled gathering in which attendees were encouraged to show up costumed as their favorite comic characters. “I loved watching some of these children coming through in their costumes,” said Carmela Bryan, executive director of Sumter County Cultural Commission. “And then to watch some of the adults to come in costume, it was great to watch their faces. Like little Batman and then big Batman came in, and it was so much wonder and so much surprise in their eyes. It was really a nice thing to see.” The cultural commission sponsored the symposium in conjunction with USC Sumter, and Bryan said the event was part of an effort during the past few years to vary the types of artistic showcases the commission puts on. The festivities included cocktails as well as a steady stream of music, courtesy of Nervous Wreck Entertainment. Organizers estimated that about 400 people turned out to Sat-
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Kathleen Bozarth and her son, Adrick, 3, react to seeing Iron Wolverine during the Sumter Comic Arts Symposium on Saturday at Patriot Hall. The event was sponsored by Sumter County Cultural Commission and the University of South Carolina Sumter. urday’s event, which was the first year for the comic book conference in Sumter. “I think it shows that Sumter is ready for something
new and fun,” Bryan said. “We’ve been trying to highlight new forms of art or forms of art that are not being considered as artistic expres-
sion. We did a show on body art a couple years ago. And now comics are so big everywhere, so we thought we’d bring a little bit to Sumter.”
The seminars and workshops focused on such topics as the process of putting a
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Tax deadline looms just around the corner for late filers BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com If you haven’t filed you income taxes yet, you have less than 48 hours to wade through your W-2s, 1099s and 1040s to send your return to the IRS. If you are filing electronically, you have until midnight Wednesday. If you are mailing your return, you need to get to the post office before regular closing time Wednesday because they will not stay open late. According to the IRS website, more than 90 percent of taxpayers have chosen the electronic option this year. Angelina Morales, owner of Ardis Tax Service, said she has been very busy preparing returns, but her busi-
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ness has always been able to handle those last-minute filers. “We always finish everything,” she said. “I am not sure how, but we always get it done.” Latoya Capers, a preparer at Liberty Tax, said the only glitch this year has been the new health care provisions. “The only issue people are concerned about is the new health law if they haven’t got insurance yet,” she said. Morales said some people are having to pay penalties because they don’t have insurance, but since most taxpayers receive refunds, the penalty is taken out of that. “They usually don’t have to pay out of pocket,” she said.
Other customers have had to wait for their refunds because of incorrect 1095 forms sent by health insurance exchanges. “Thousands of the incorrect 1095 forms were sent out in January,” she said. “The new ones weren’t sent out until March.” Taxpayers who filed using the old, incorrect forms had their returns put on hold, she said. “I have a little problem with calling my clients and telling them their refunds are on hold,” she said. There is some good news for many of those whose returns were held up, however. “Most of them will get a credit and will be getting a little more in their re-
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fund,” Morales said. Meanwhile, things haven’t gone all that well on the government’s side of the income tax equation. According to the website wallethub. com, funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service since 2010 have hampered the agency’s ability to process tax returns efficiently. The website says the agency has 14 percent fewer employees with 20 percent less devoted to enforcing tax laws, and this has led to 46,000 fewer audits and $2 billion in revenue losses. More Americans interact with the IRS than any other government agency, wallethub.com states, and callers to the IRS wait an average of 28 minutes for the call to be answered.
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