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Sumter teen fights her cancer with firefighters, faith
Sheheen attacks Haley’s jobs record, fundraising
BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250 What started with swollen feet led to a Sumter teen being diagnosed with a rare cancer for someone of her age. In May, Terran Dupree, a rising sophomore at Sumter High School, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers internal organs. While an exact cause of cancer in any case is hard to pinpoint, exposure to asbestos is the most common factor with 70 to 80 percent of cases of mesothelioma linked to working with this material, according to WebMD. com. About 2,000 new cases are DUPREE diagnosed each year in the U.S. The disease is rare in children with less than 300 cases having been reported by 2013, according to cancer.gov. “They (the doctors) can’t give us a definite answer, but we’re not trying to blame anyone,” said Terrance Dupree, Terran’s father. He and his wife, Donna Dupree, are more focused on getting their daughter the best care possible, he said. His fellow firefighters want to help make that happen. They’re selling tickets for a
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Students will see 140 new faces this fall Orientation preps Sumter district teachers for year BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com (803) 774-1214 Sumter School District will start a new school year Monday with more than 140 new teachers. Recently, the district held orientation for the new educators to prepare them for teaching students in Sumter public schools. Denise Nixon, assistant superintendent of human resources, said new teacher orientation in Sumter School District allows the district to make the new educators feel welcome and give them the opportunity to meet other new faces and personnel at the district level. The teachers were also introduced to the process of teacher evaluation and the district-provided mandatory OSHA training. “Basically, orientation was to welcome them to the great town of Sumter and to our school district. They had the opportunity to meet the superintendent, and Dr. (Frank) Baker gave his introduction,” Nixon said. “They were also introduced to personnel they may need to know about in the future. Also, we have new teachers from different states, so this gave them the opportunity to network with each other and connect with teachers who were also from their state.” This year, Nixon said, the district is proud to say it used Skype during the interview process for many of the new teachers who will start this school year. Several of the new faces from last year and this year were also part of the Call Me
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Gubernatorial hopeful state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Camden, attacks South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on a number of fronts during a campaign rally at Martech Research in Bishopville on Thursday. Among his criticisms, Sheheen said the governor has failed to lead on rebuilding the state’s infrastructure, has failed to support small business and is beholden to out-of-state campaign financiers.
Camden Democrat says ‘people power,’ help for small companies needed
Sheheen, right, looks over one of the products made by Martech Research as Benny Maresca, technical director of Martech, takes him on a tour of the company’s Bishopville facilities.
BY BRADEN BUNCH braden@theitem.com (803) 774-1201 BISHOPVILLE — With the election season heating up, gubernatorial hopeful and state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Camden, visited Martech Research on Thursday for a tour and campaign rally in hopes of drawing supporters to his side. “We’ve got a governor that’s more interested in herself,” Sheheen said as he began to attack Haley on several fronts before the crowd of about 75 people, criticizing her four years in office. “Nikki Haley said she has a plan to fix our roads and bridges, but it’s secret, and she’s not going to tell you until January. Guess what? She ain’t going to be governor in January, so it’s not going to matter.” Sheheen also notably attacked Haley for her campaign war chest and her jobs record, saying her campaign finances were coming from out of state and that she only had interest in helping large corporations. “Nikki Haley gets millions of dollars from out of South Carolina to run her campaign. Billionaires fund her campaign,” Sheheen said. “We’re going to overcome her outof-state money power with people power.” As of their last finance disclosure reports in July, Haley had raised more than $6.9 million for her campaign and still had nearly $4.5 mil-
lion remaining, while Sheheen had raised $2.7 million, of which he still had $1.7 million on hand. During the second quarter of 2014 alone, the Sheheen campaign raised slightly more than a half-million dollars, of which approximately $42,000, or about eight percent of the total raised, came from out of state. In the same three-month period, the governor’s campaign raised more than double the amount of her challenger, bringing in more than $1.04 million. And while Haley did raise more money from in-state supporters than her opponent — roughly $486,000 for Haley versus $462,000 for Sheheen — she also raised more than half of her threemonth contribution total, about $559,000, from out-of-state sources. During his speech Thursday, the Democrat also said, if elected, he will support small business in South Carolina “while Nikki Haley has just looked out for the big outof-state corporations, who, at the end of the day, might be here for a while and might hit the road.” As part of her campaign, Haley has tried to tout her record on job
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creation, saying that during her tenure the state has announced more than 56,000 new jobs, with job announcements in all but one of the state’s 46 counties. Benny Maresca, technical director for the Bishopville-based biotechnology company hosting the event, endorsed Sheheen before the crowd, saying the candidate “is the direction South Carolina needs to go in.” Meanwhile, in his introduction of Sheheen, state Rep. Grady Brown, D-Bishopville, said the Camden Democrat would bring more support to the state’s more rural counties. “There are about 10 counties in this state that literally control state government, and it’s high time that you and I do our part to let South Carolina know that there are 46 counties,” Brown said. November’s gubernatorial election is a rematch of the nominees of the two major political party nominees from 2010. Four years ago, Haley defeated Sheheen, receiving 51 percent of the vote to his 47 percent.
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