HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Sumter begins season on road when it takes on York B1 SCIENCE
Birds flying over solar plants are igniting midair A4 FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014
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‘Do you care’ about our problems? House candidate Mulvaney visits Sumter, asks if more issues should get attention BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bristow@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 Mick Mulvaney does a lot of town hall meetings, where he meets with constituents and hears concerns aired
about every conceivable issue facing the country. By their very nature, these events attract people who are committed to solving at least one pressing national problem or another. So it’s a little unusual that he started Thursday’s meeting in Sumter by asking his audience, “Do you care?” The questions and comments that came out of the public hearing at Central Carolina Technical College were wide-ranging, but the congressman from South Carolina’s fifth congres-
sional district tried to focus the issue on what he felt is the lack of concern for issues that haven’t received the level of attention they deserve. Just to cite one examMULVANEY ple, Mulvaney noted that after the auto bailout, the Obama administration restructured Chrysler’s bankruptcy so that the auto workers’ union was protected ahead of the company’s bondholders,
one of the largest of which was a state pension fund for retired schoolteachers and firefighters. “I don’t know why there isn’t rioting in the streets,” he said. Mulvaney is seeking a third term in the House of Representatives this fall against Democrat Tom Adams, a Fort Mill town councilman. So he’s taking advantage of Congress’ August recess to travel the district, meet voters and
SEE MULVANEY, PAGE A5
Apex Tool Here’s how it works at jail’s Bravo Pod expansion confirmed HOME OF DETENTION CENTER’S MOST DANGEROUS
BY BRADEN BUNCH braden@theitem.com (803) 774-1201
BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE SUMTER ITEM
Officer J. Gee monitors activity on a computer within Bravo Pod, the wing at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center that houses the most dangerous inmates. Sgt. Wheeler Sweat III is seen in the background making the rounds by the cell doors, behind which the inmates spend 23 hours a day.
Inmates confined to cells 23 hours a day at Sumter-Lee’s maximum security wing BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bristow@theitem.com (803) 774-1272
E
ven within a jail, there’s a jail.
The two inmates who attacked a guard at the detention center last week were already confined to the maximum security wing
after beating another inmate so badly he needed to be treated at the emergency room. When those being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center cause trouble inside the jailhouse walls, or face charges that lead administrators to think they pose a danger to the staff or their fellow inmates, they will like-
ly end up in Bravo Pod. The 120-bed section houses the most dangerous of the detention center’s intake, and special measures are taken to ensure violent attacks like those seen last week don’t happen. “Only two inmates are allowed out at any one time,” said Maj. Darryl McGhaney, assistant director of the jail, to make things easier for the
two corrections officers and one sergeant overseeing Bravo Pod 24/7. “We always try to have more officers than inmates, because we know at any given time, we’re outnumbered.” Security is always foremost in mind for about 80 corrections officers overseeing the
SEE JAIL, PAGE A6
Two weeks after Apex Tool announced its plans to expand its Sumter location, the South Carolina Department of Commerce released a statement confirming the economic development. According to the news release, the local expansion will bring between 150 to 200 jobs to the Sumter location by the end of next year. The jobs come at the expense of facilities in the southwest United States, as the global tool manufacturer headquartered in Maryland said it will close plants in Dallas, Texas, and Springdale, Arkansas, as part of its consolidation efforts. Company officials said these two locations, coupled with the Sumter plant, were all “operating substantially below capacity,” prompting the consolidation. Apex has said employees at the Texas and Arkansas locations will have the first opportunity to apply for the new Sumter positions. The company employs roughly 250 people at its Arkansas location. This consolidation will roughly double the number of people employed by Apex in Sumter, as the current facility employs approximately 200 people. This is the second Sumter expansion announcement by Apex in the last three years. In 2011, the company announced it would bring an additional 33 jobs and $1.4 million in investments to the local facility.
Mom, Dad get teary-eyed on 1st day of school, too Boo Hoo Breakfast offers parents of pre-K kids a chance to connect BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com (803) 774-1214
the parents an opportunity to connect with each other and the school. “This breakfast became a tradition, and it makes families feel connected to our school family because All-day pre-K started Thursday, and the Parent Teacher Association we have a strong sense of community here at Kingsbury,” Jackson said. at Kingsbury Elementary School “This is also a way for them to nethosted its traditional Boo Hoo work. Many of them feel the emoBreakfast for parents after they tions the first day, so this is a way dropped their children off to their classrooms for the first time. Princi- for them to meet, and they can compal Phillip Jackson said the first day miserate together.” Lilly Williams, PTA president, of pre-K can be tough for students and parents, and the breakfast gives dropped off one of her children for
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pre-K on Thursday. Williams said the children were all kind of leery at first. “It can be an emotional time, but the staff here is great, and they’re prepared for that,” Williams said. Jerry Houghton, one of the parents at Thursday’s breakfast, said MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM he and his family prepared for his Kingsbury Elementary School pre-K teacher Zanne son Joshua’s first day of pre-K as Moore prepares her students for dismissal after best they could. After Joshua finished his first day, Houghton said he their first day of school. This year is the first year for
DEATHS, B6 James June Jessie M. Butler Sue Blackwell Dr. Edmund McDonald Jr. Sarah Dawson
Gloria Pennell Michael W. Spencer Samuel Curtis Josephine P. Montgomery Elouise Myers
all-day pre-K for all elementary schools in Sumter SEE BOO HOO, PAGE A6 School District.
WEATHER, A8
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