IN LOCAL NEWS: 11 nabbed in heroin bust; 5 more wanted in drug ring A2
4 dead after 2nd Fort Hood shooting A8 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2014
75 CENTS
Buy reused, help animals in need Opening
budget has nearly $1M gap City’s plan must be balanced by July 1 BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272
PHOTOS BY JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM
Lee County Animal Shelter administrator Doris Winstead, left, and Judy Ingle show off a reusable bag created from a deer corn feed bag. Winstead said it would be great for a man to take to a gun show or to the beach. Winstead’s and Ingle’s Repurposed items will be on sale during Earth Day celebrations starting at 7 a.m. April 12 at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens.
Re-purposed bags, leashes, toys benefit Lee shelter BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250 BISHOPVILLE — Judy Ingle hates waste. But she loves quilting and animals. So after seeing an animal shelter in Montana turn woven plastic feed bags into reusable bags, she shared the idea with her good friend and Lee County Animal Shelter administrator, Doris Winstead. “We like junk,” Winstead said. “We are all into re-purposing.” That was three years ago, and their collection of re-purposed items has grown to include leashes, bed pads, cat cubbies, cat toys and wind chimes. They will be selling their items at the Earth Day celebrations starting at 7 a.m. April 12 at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens, 822 W. Liberty St. The fundraiser originally provided for the spaying and neutering of cats. Now, the goal is to raise money for a transport van for the shelter. The shelter holds between 75 and 80 animals at any given time, and often they must be taken to vet appointments, groomers
or to meet up with transportation to a rescue, Winstead said. The bags are great for carrying all sorts of stuff, the women said. “You can go to the beach and throw your wet clothes and towels in there afterward,” Winstead said. “They’ll hold up to 50 pounds and won’t leak.” When possible, they even take requests. Ingle turned the last feed bag from her friend’s horse into a reusable bag after the animal died. “It has a sentimental meaning,” she said. They make leashes, bed pads and cat toys from leftover quilting scraps and old clothes. “They are so much easier to work with than big blankets,” Ingle said referring to the bed pads. “They are stiff and don’t wad up in the corner.” She also uses old key chains on the leashes. When people adopt a dog from the shelter, they get one of these transporting leashes that Winstead said are great for dogs. In November, she was taking some to Lexington to fly out to Missouri.
Ingle uses old key chains and fabric scraps to make leashes. The quilter also uses leftover material to make bed pads for animals. PURRFECTLY PRICED Reusable bags (special requests honored when possible) — one for $7 or two for $10 Leashes — $3 apiece or two for $5 Wind chimes — $10 Bed pads — $10 Cat toys — $1 apiece
Members of Sumter City Council got their first look at the proposed 2014-15 city budget Tuesday, as well as an idea of how much work they have to do during the next three months. The initial budget presented at council’s first meeting of April shows a nearly $1 million gap between the projected revenue for next year and the city’s proposed general fund expenditures. It’s not unusual for the first budget of the year to be imbalanced, as the council has to balance — and McCORMICK trim — competing requests for funding from different departments during its budget-writing process. “As always, we have more needs than we have revenue,” City Manager Deron McCormick told council in presenting the budget. City personnel project Sumter’s general fund will take in $32,602,126 to spend during fiscal year 2015. But expenditures in the draft budget total $33,574,716, which would leave the city with a deficit of $972,590. By state law, the city’s budget must be balanced by the start of the new budget year on July 1. The draft budget presented Tuesday is already the result of a lengthy behind-thescenes discussion of the city’s budget priorities. McCormick met with all city departments in preparing the document, and the deficit council now has to work with was reduced from an initial $2.6 million imbalance. “I’m really proud of our finance team,” the city manager said. “We’ve spent quite a bit of time with the finance team and the department heads, and this new budget serves us well.” The total city budget, which includes several smaller specific funds besides the general fund, is $56,648,726. The other funds, set aside for things such as water and sewer money and hospitality fees, are already balanced.
SEE REUSED, PAGE A8
SEE CITY BUDGET, PAGE A8
Power cut to 1,000 after truck snags line BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 More than 1,000 Sumter residents lost power early Wednesday morning after a tractortrailer took down a power line. Duke Energy Progress customers in more than 1,000 households were left in the dark about 9 a.m., while police and firefighters closed off a
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section of Harvin Street where a power pole was down in the roadway. The trouble started when an 18-wheeler on South Harvin Street near Oakland Avenue reportedly snagged a low-hanging power line, pulling down several wires and breaking the adjacent pole in two, according to the incident report from the Sumter Fire Department, which responded to the scene.
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Emergency responders closed about a block of Harvin Street north of the railroad track for an hour while power crews temporarily shut down power in the area while cleaning up the mess. The driver was uninjured in the incident, and Sumter Police said he would not face any traffic violation charges.
SEE POWER, PAGE A8
DEATHS, B5 Trainnie McClain Ruby N. Bradley Willie J. Johnson Bae H. Mitchell Neil H. Scoggins
Jake Sinkler Herbert McCall Roger K. Hatfield Charles Rogers
BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE SUMTER ITEM
A member of a Duke Energy Progress power crew examines damage done by a tractor-trailer that snagged a power line and pulled down a pole on South Harvin Street early Wednesday. More than 1,000 energy customers briefly lost power after the incident.
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
GETTING WARMER
2 SECTIONS, 18 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 144
Partly sunny today; partly cloudy and mild tonight HIGH 86, LOW 58
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