April 30, 2016

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IN SPORTS: Wilson Hall, TSA softball teams meet in key region battle B1 REVIEWS

Kindle Oasis aims at luxury SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2016

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Baker hopes to raise teachers pay Superintendent plans to approach county about increasing millage BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Sumter School District is losing teachers to surrounding districts because of higher salaries, and Superin-

tendent Frank Baker hopes to stop the migration by asking Sumter County Council for an increase in millage rate. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 that is used to calculate taxes on property.

Out of 27 school districts in the Midlands region, spanning from Richland School District 2 to Williamsburg County School District, Sumter School District is ranked BAKER 20th on the list for starting teacher salaries, according to the S.C. Department of Education’s website, www.ed.sc.gov. Richland 2, has the highest starting teach-

er salary rate in the region, $35,211, while Sumter School District pays $30,999. There are 1,186 teachers in the district who teach 17,277 students, said Shelly Galloway, district spokewsoman. Baker said his goal is to increase the salary scale of all of the district’s teachers by 5 percent. He would also like to extend the

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‘Buddy bags’ bring comfort to pediatrics unit Millwood Elementary School’s student council delivers gifts BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com

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illwood Elementary School’s first student council completed its first service project by delivering gifts to the pediatric floor at Palmetto Health Tuomey after school on Friday. The students dropped off coloring books, crayons and Play-Doh for the children at the hospital to make sure they are able to have some fun while away from home. Carol Russell, a fourthgrade teacher at Millwood and one of the advisers for the council, said this is the elementary school’s first student council. She said the students also used the opportunity on the council to learn how elections work. Members campaigned for one week and were elected by the other third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at the school, she said. Russell said the council also plans to attend a Sumter County Council meeting sometime in May. The idea to bring gifts to the hospital was first mentioned by Jayne Evenich, another council adviser and KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM teacher at Millwood. Millwood Student Council President Alyse King, 10, Jordan White, 10, the vice president, and Wyatt Bauer, Russell said Evenich’s son 10, a class representative to the council, deliver 40 Buddy Bags to the Tuomey Pediatric Care Center on Fri- received gifts while he was at day afternoon. The Buddy Bags are filled with crayons, coloring books, puzzles and other items to help Palmetto Health Richland unchildren in the unit to feel more comfortable during their stay. dergoing treatment for a

Haley: Feds left S.C. in dark on Guantanamo COLUMBIA (AP) — Gov. Nikki Haley on Thursday criticized the federal government for keeping her in the dark about plans to potentially transfer Guantanamo detainees to South Carolina, telling a U.S. House panel that she has heard no details about what she said could be detrimental for her state. “They’ve handled this very much on their own and have not included us in the process,” Haley, a second-term Republican, told a U.S. House Homeland Security subcommittee examining the implications of moving prisoners to certain communities. Haley has been outspoken in her opposition to transferring the 80 remaining detainees from the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On Thursday, she

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told lawmakers that Defense Department officials surveyed the Naval brig 15 miles from Charleston but have said nothing about whether they are still considering HALEY taking prisoners there. “We would welcome them talking to us,” Haley said, adding she has no answers for people wanting updates. “We have gotten no input whatsoever.” Haley said some of her concerns about housing the detainees in South Carolina come from a marketing standpoint: She said she would have a hard time recruiting foreign investors with terrorist suspects at the brig.

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brain tumor when he was in high school. The students took the project and ran with it, she said. Russell said other students at the school, kindergartners through fifth-graders, brought in the supplies for the “buddy bags” for two weeks. She said the council is a great opportunity for them to make a difference in the community and the school and hopes more students get involved. Millwood Elementary School Student Council President Alyse King, 10, said she enjoyed participating in the project because she knows how it feels to be in the hospital away from home. King was hospitalized after being injured during a horse riding accident on Christmas Day in 2014. “Someone brought me gifts, so I wanted to do that for someone else,” she said. Melissa King, Alylse’s mother, said she is very happy her daughter is helping to provide gifts to other children who are having the same challenging experience she did. Council Vice President Jordan White, 10, said he likes helping people out and he wants everyone to feel good about themselves. Kerrington Pinckney, who will be 11 in May, said it’s

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You can comment on the Wateree Wildlife Heritage Preserve management plan BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is requesting public comments on the Draft Management Plan for Wateree River Heritage Preserve in Richland County through May 27. DNR staff have prepared the Draft Management Plan to guide management and use of the property, which promises to be a major recreational and ecological resource for area residents. The Wateree River Heritage Preserve was acquired by DNR as partial mitigation for the Haile Gold Mine project in Lancaster County.

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Information: 774-1200 Advertising: 774-1237 Classifieds: 774-1234 Delivery: 774-1258 News and Sports: 774-1226

Betty Jean A. Avin Kerrie I. Cribb Mary DiGeorge Anthony L. Glasscho Mary P. McFadden Andrew Jenkins

The 3,674-acre tract of land is located 19 miles west of Sumter on the north side of U.S. 378 and along the west bank of the Wateree River in Richland County. Among major plan goals are the restoration and maintenance of natural ecosystems including longleaf pine forests and providing public access for outdoor recreation while protecting the natural and cultural resources of the property. Bird watching, hiking and wildlife observation are encouraged in addition to public hunting and fishing. The preserve is an important

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A thunderstorm in spots likely today, and mostly cloudy and mild tonight. HIGH 88, LOW 68

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