April 24, 2016

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See what locals are taking off in ‘The Full Monty’

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IT’S NOT TO LATE TO REGISTER! The Advocacy Pregnancy & Parenting Resource Center

Second Annual Golf Tournament Monday, April 25, 2016 Beechcreek Golf Course • Sumter, SC • 803-499-4653

9:30am Shotgun Start Ticket price includes 18 holes and Outback lunch, cart and range balls $50 Single or $180 foursome Individual and Team Awards Door Prizes

SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 2016

| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894

$1.50

Proceeds benefit The Advocacy Pregnancy and Parenting Resource Center 190 S. Lafayette Ave., Sumter, SC 29150 For tickets or questions, contact The Advocacy Center at (803) 774-5600

U.S. faces many challenges abroad Retired Air Force leader shares concerns at annual Shaw banquet BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com The South Carolina Air Force Association had its annual State Convention Saturday at the Carolina Skies

Club at Shaw Air Force Base. In addition to passing out the group’s annual awards, attendees heard from retired Air Force Gen. Gary North, who is now vice president for customer requirement for Lock-

heed Martin Aeronautics Co. During his 36 years of military service, North logged more than 4,700 flight hours. He has also held several NORTH theater-level command positions, including commander, Pacific Air Forces; executive director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff; commander of U.S. Air

Forces Central Command from 20062009, and was Combined Forces Air Component Commander for the CENTCOM area of responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. North presented a brief assessment of the changing threats and challenges facing the Air Force today and into the foreseeable future. Budget restraints and lack of public

SEE CHALLENGES, PAGE A5

Sumter celebrates Earth Day at Swan Lake Annual event offers plants, education, fun BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Saturday was the annual Earth Day Celebration at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens, and whether you need a house plant or a solar electric system, plenty of vendors were on hand to help you make lighter footprints during your journey on the planet. Hanging baskets and hydrangeas were the hot items at the Sumter Green plant sale, said volunteer Penny Pratt. “One lady bought 18 hanging baskets,” she said. “She is going to have a beautiful yard.” Helping to spread the word about the Sumter Family YMCA were Child Care Coordinator Thaddeus Stout and Healthy Living Director Daniela Bachmeier, who was spreading some not-so-healthy looking sweets on the table. Besides passing out information about memberships, swim lessons, etc., kids could try to shoot a bucket with a basketball. Did they find any future Michael Jordans? “There are two or three out there,” Stout said. Did you know there are more than a dozen elevated water tanks in the Sumter Water System? At least, that’s what Walt Beard from the Water Plants Division of the City of Sumter said. Visitors to the Earth Day event could learn how water is pumped, treated and stored for municipal use. Despite all those tanks, which can hold 4 million gallons of water, Beard said the

Olivia Klingshirn, 2, above, is held by her father Mike Klingshirn as she reaches out to touch a rat snake held by Joshua Castleberry, the Environmental and Natural Resources Department chairman at Central Carolina Technical College, during Earth Day at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens on Saturday. PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Shaw Heights Elementary School students, right, sing a song about how to drive to conserve gas.

SEE EARTH DAY, PAGE A3

Local enforcement OK with disturbing schools law BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Incidents in which school resource officers have used violent techniques to arrest and charge misbehaving students under a “disturbing schools” law have led to a barrage of criticism. Critics said the bill leads to criminalizing ordinary misbehavior, puts children on a path to prison and is applied disproportionately to black students. On Thursday, a South Carolina

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House subcommittee considered a bill to change the law but took no action. Questions about the statute were raised after an incident in October when a school resource officer was videotaped yanking a Spring Valley High School student from her desk and throwing her to the floor. The officer was called to the classroom after the teen refused to stop using her cellphone and would not leave the classroom for a teacher or administrator. The then-16-year-old was charged

with disturbing schools, and the officer was fired. Third Judicial Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III said he is not familiar with the proposed changes, but he knows the existing one well. “The law that we have now seems to work,” he said. Finney said there are several statutes law enforcement can use depending on the situation. “If there is more than one person fighting, we have something for that,”

DEATHS, A7 Gloria J. Freeman Bonnie Tiller Pearlen D. Rufus James A. King Willie J. McLeod Mary Harriott

John H. Haynesworth Sr. Lillian Cabeca Ann R. Funderburk Wayne Demery Barbara Ingram

Finney said. “If it’s a serious assault, we have something for that.” He said that in a case where someone is mad at the schools or a teacher and there is no physical contact, the disturbing schools law is adequate. “We have been using the law for a long time,” he said. “Our officers respond quickly and find out from the witnesses and teachers what is going on and charge appropriately.”

SEE LAW, PAGE A3

WEATHER, A8

INSIDE

GRAB YOUR SHADES

5 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 161

Plenty of sunshine today; clear to partly cloudy tonight. HIGH 79, LOW 56

Business D1 Classifieds D7 Club Digest C6 Comics E1 Education C2

Opinion A8 Outdoors D6 Public Record D3 Reflections C4 Television E3


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