April 26, 2013

Page 1

Get your Spring Auto Guide in Saturday’s paper

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

VOL. 118, NO. 160 WWW.THEITEM.COM

Gamblers return home Patriot Guard will return for service for Steel BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com After six months flying over the skies of Afghanistan and after losing one of their own just three weeks before their return, members of the 77th Fighter Squadron arrived home Thursday. The Gamblers touched down at Shaw Air Force Base a little after 6 p.m. and walked into a crowd of family, loved ones and their first sight of U.S. soil in half a year. About 100 members of the Gambler Aircraft Maintenance Unit and the PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM 20th Operations Support Squadron stepped off an Brent Rudin; his father, Richard; and mother, Janice, greet Tech. Sgt. Wesley Rudin during his international flight from a return to Shaw Air Force Base on Thursday. Tech Sgt. Rudin was one of the members of the 77th deployment to Bagram Fighter Squadron returning home. His father was a private first class during the Vietnam War. and Kandahar Air Bases, where the squadron was stationed in support of American and NATO forces in the country. For some of those waiting in the crowd, the reunion held out the promise of a fresh start. Cheyenne Smith was married to her husband, Senior Airman Joshua Smith, on BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE ITEM the Fourth of July last ABOVE: Logan Smith, 3, holds a small year, and has spent most American flag as his father, Master Sgt. Mike of their marriage waiting Smith, holds him after getting off the flight on him to return. that carried airmen home Thursday after a “We were together for six-month deployment to Afghanistan. three months before he ABOVE LEFT: Airman First Class Anthony left,” she said, her arms Heggintotham holds his son Aiden, 2 wrapped around his neck months, for the first time Thursday after while on the tarmac. returning home with the squadron. Airman Smith’s parents, Ed and Doreen, arLEFT: The Gamblers step off the plane to rived from Florida the day find family and friends at the base Thursday. See more photos of the squadron’s return SEE GAMBLERS, PAGE A10 online at www.theitem.com.

Operation Inasmuch set for Saturday BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com Don’t be surprised to see lots of “Operation Inasmuch” T-shirts Saturday. Fourteen Sumter churches will participate in the one-day volunteer extravaganza. “God has just wowed us with the opportunities He’s brought before us,” said Jeanette Schumacher, one of three coordinators for Christ Community Church. “He did this.

There is no way we could have organized all this logically and made it happen.” This is the church’s first year participating. “It looked like a really good opportunity for the church to get outside of their four walls,” Schumacher said. “The goal is to get at least 60 percent of the congregation participating in this onetime event. Hopefully it will grow into long-term service projects. As you

Members of Alice Drive Baptist Church’s team for Operation Insasmuch perform yard work for the elderly during a past event.

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Sheriff ’s office asks county for plane Committee considers proposal to increase garbage service price BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com Sumter sheriff’s deputies could soon have their own eye in the sky, if county council approves the purchase of a department airplane. The sheriff’s office formally made its request for a fixed wing aircraft, and touted its potential uses, at a meeting of Sumter County Council’s fiscal, tax and property INSIDE committee Tuesday. The committee also County agencies considered a proposal seek more from Allied Waste Serpersonnel / A2 vices for a 2 percent consumer price index (CPI) increase for its garbage collection services. A 2 percent increase would mean the monthly cost for customers would rise by about 25 cents. Council previously approved a 3.2 percent increase for Allied Waste during last year’s budget process. Councilman Charles Edens voiced his opposition to the request. In his position as president of the Association of Counties, Edens has opposed a bill backed by the waste industry to allow private landfills to bypass local authorities all together. “They want to take control of this away from the counties and the citizens of this state,” he said. Edens warned if the proposed bill passes, “they won’t have to come to county council for this next year.” He proposed the committee — which consists of himself, Vivian Fleming-McGhaney and chairman Larry Blanding — deny Allied Waste’s request, but his motion did not receive a second. McGhaney moved they approve the request, if only to bring the issue up for discussion in a full council meeting. That motion also failed to receive a second, and no action was taken by the committee. Councilman Eugene Baten, who sat in on the meeting but is not a member of the committee, said he would like to add discussion of the issue to a future council agenda so it would receive a full hearing. The committee also did not take action on the airplane proposal. “The purpose of an aircraft is to provide us with aerial assets and support for law enforcement, as well as infrastructure and economic development,” said Senior Cpl. Fred Moore, a sheriff’s deputy who is also a licensed pilot. A county-owned plane, and the “aviation unit” within the sheriff’s office it would support, could assist deputies in searches over wide or inaccessible areas and provide quicker transportation outside the county than driving. The initial purchase price of the plane

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SEE COUNCIL, PAGE A10

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April 26, 2013 by The Sumter Item - Issuu