Trees infested Redbay ambrosia beetles spread fungal infection in Swan Lake timber BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
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FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 2 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES | VOL. 120, NO. 161
Dog flu could spread Learn how to protect your pet from canine virus A8
A beetle and a fungus have teamed up and are killing redbay trees in Swan Lake and threatening to interfere with your right to guacamole. Plant pathologists Stephen Fraedrich, and Susan Best from the U.S. Southern Research Station in Athens, Georgia, visited the park to see the damage and plant traps to learn more about the fungal infestation spread by the redbay ambrosia beetle. The beetles first appeared in the U.S. in the Savannah, Georgia area in the spring of 2001, apparently carried in cargo imported from Asia, according to information posted by the South Carolina Forestry Commission at www.trees. sc.gov. The beetles infect the trees in the Laurel family with the fungus, which travels throughout the vascular system of the host tree, Fraedrich said, leaving a dark stain. Though the beetle bores into the
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
U.S. Forest Service plant pathologist Stephen Fraedrich examines the trunk of Swan Lake’s largest redbay tree which was killed by a fungal infection carried by redbay ambrosia beetles. tree trunk, the beetle larvae feed on the fungus, not the tree, he said. The Laurel family includes redbay, sassafras, camphor and avocado, he said. City of Sumter arborist Brock
McKenzie, who asked for assistance from the Forest Service, said he first noticed problems with the trees shortly after the ice storm in
SEE TREES, PAGE A7
Marking 50 years
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Mickey Mouse is swarmed by Head Start students during the agency’s 50th anniversary celebration at Dillon Park on Wednesday. Head Start has been active in Sumter for 47 years, but the agency was formed 50 years ago.
Sexton reiterates Shaw’s impact American, Italian hostages BY RICK CARPENTER rick@theitem.com
killed in U.S. drone strike
Retired Air Force Capt. Rob Sexton told Sumter Rotary Palmetto Club what other Shaw Air Force Base personnel have been telling the public in recent months: Budget cuts and sequestration will have a devastating effect on the base at a time when the U.S. is fighting on multiple fronts. Sexton, community relations manager for Shaw, said a cutback in money would limit pilot training hours, reduce depot-level maintenance on aircraft, reduce travel and put a hiring freeze on personnel. Why should that matter to Sumterites? Sexton said Shaw is the second- or third-largest employer in the state with 8,213 employees, including active military and noncommissioned employees. Shaw pumps an estimated $861 million into the local economy, he said. He estimated there are more than 30,000 active duty and retired military personnel
WASHINGTON — An American and an Italian held hostage by al-Qaida, as well as two Americans working with the terror group, were inadvertently killed by CIA drone strikes early this year, the government revealed Thursday. President Barack Obama said he took full responsibility for the counterterror missions and offered his “grief and condolences” to the families of the hostages, Warren Weinstein of Rockville, Maryland, and Giovanni Lo Porto. Obama defended the legality of the January drone strike that killed the hostages and said there had been no evidence that the two men were present at what the U.S. had determined was an al-Qaida compound in Pakistan. “Based on the intelligence that we had obtained at the time, including hundreds of hours of surveillance, we believed that this was an al-Qaida com-
RICK CARPENTER/THE SUMTER ITEM
Former Air Force Capt. Rob Sexton visits with members of the Sumter Rotary Palmetto Club after his presentation Thursday. represented in the Sumter County population of 107,000. And the base’s annual payroll alone represents $625 million. Besides the obvious cuts in pilot training hours, he highlighted the importance of the maintenance crews that keep the F-16s operational. The aircraft are 25 to 30 years old, he said, which may require more maintenance than new models. Sexton was giving an update
on Shaw to the Rotary club at Sunset Country Club where the club meets weekly at 1 p.m. He encouraged residents to contact U.S. House and Senate members to let them know of their support for doing away with the sequester and any potential budget cuts. Shaw will celebrate its 75th year in Sumter next year. It
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pound, that no civilians were present and that capturing these terrorists was not possible,” Obama said at the White House. “And we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of al-Qaida.” Among those thought killed in the strike was Ahmed Farouq, who the White House said was an American who was an alQaida leader. U.S. officials have also concluded that Adam Gadahn, an American who had served as a spokesman for the terror network, was killed in a separate operation in January. A U.S. official said Farouq was a dual US-Pakistani national who was an al-Qaida operations leader in Pakistan. He had assumed the title of deputy emir of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, a relatively new offshoot of the terror group.
SEE STRIKE, PAGE A7