Tax free? How about for free?
A2
Hoping for a chance at history Dixie Angels Traditional aim to win 1st World Series title B1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014
$1.50
STATE: Getting to know the people on the tombstones
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Not in my backyard
Dogs, drugs & stolen vehicles Officers on routine warrant stumble upon apparent canine fighting ring, chop shop
Sumter to hit the streets Tuesday for National Night Out
BY BRADEN BUNCH braden@theitem.com (803) 774-1201
BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250
OLANTA — Deputies serving a family court summons Saturday afternoon found themselves quickly calling additional law enforcement to a residence in the 10000 block of Nero Cir-
cle, after finding signs of what they think are an apparent dog fighting training grounds, automobile chop shop and potential drug manufacturing location. After receiving a search warrant for the premises, deputies with the Sumter
BRADEN BUNCH / THE SUMTER ITEM
A deputy with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office loads one of the pit bull terriers seized Saturday afternoon from an Olanta-area home into the back of an animal control pickup. Officers sedated the animals before SEE DOGS, PAGE A6 taking them into custody.
Could penny tax fix the pound?
PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Dogs press up against the fences as an officer walks down the hall of kennels at Sumter County Animal Control recently. The facility has several areas of concern, but workers are hopeful a renewed penny tax will help alleviate the building’s woes.
Local animal control facility in dire need of funding for repairs
Neighbors and law enforcement are coming together Tuesday to let criminals know not to start trouble in their community. At least 21 groups will have organized activities ranging from walks to cookouts to simply sitting on the porch with their lights on for the annual National Night Out celebration. “We’ll try to get everybody in the community to associate with each other, get to know each other and watch out for each other,” said Loraine Weston, president of the South Main group, which is hosting a potluck and giving out book bags with school supplies. “It’s time for (us) to come together to clean up our community and prevent crime.” Events will kick off at ShilohRandolph Manor about 2 p.m. with the mayor signing a proclamation, and the other events will kick off about 5 p.m. “When neighbors know neighbors and they work together, crime goes down,” said Cpl. Gene Hobbs with Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. “It gets to where you know people, so that when two houses down from me is burglarized, it’s like they robbed me. The community itself comes to a point where it says enough is enough.” Since National Night Out began in 1984 with the aim “to promote involvement in crimeprevention activities, policecommunity partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie
SEE PATROL, PAGE A5
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of stories examining the proposed projects for a renewed penny sales tax, which Sumter County voters will be asked to approve in November. Money raised by the tax will go toward a series of building, infrastructure and other projects throughout the county.
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bristow@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 Robert Reynolds is tasked with holding stray dogs inside the kennel building at Sumter County Animal Control. But that becomes difficult when the door won’t close. The metal sheet that forms the wall of the building long ago wore away and became detached from the floor around the door frame, meaning even a locked door can easily be pushed open, by man or dog. “We’ve taken dogs from people, and on more than one occasion, they came in and stole the dogs back,” said Reynolds, the Animal Control supervisor for Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Even worse, a large dog got loose one night and pushed its way inside the wall, eventually forcing through the
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A dog crawls from kennel to kennel through a drain filled with feces recently. The drains do not have covers, so the dogs can traverse them. sheet metal of the exterior wall and leaving a noticeable hole. “If you come into work in the morning, and the wall is moving, you wonder if you’re awake yet,” Reynolds said. Fixing the wall of the Animal Control building is one of the renovations that will be paid for by a renewed penny sales tax if approved by voters this November, which would dedicate $300,000 to making the building a safer environment for both the dogs and the
humans who take care of them. Reinforcing the walls of the shelter and its 47 “runs,” or 4-by-4-foot concrete block pens, is just one need of the facility and the four full-time officers responsible for corralling and protecting the dog population of all of Sumter County, but it is an important one when dogs do occasionally escape their runs. When that happens, officers need
DEATHS, A8 and A11 Dora Mae A. Simon Roberta Rounseville James A. Matthiesen Joseph B. Cantey Henry A. Ardis
Estelle Fulwood Leroy Guess Jr. Edwin K. Latham Sr. Thelma Waynick Ranson Richardson
SEE ANIMAL CONTROL, PAGE A8
PHOTO PROVIDED
Sgt. Braz, a mascot for the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, will make an appearance during Tuesday’s National Night Out celebrations in Sumter. He is named after a fallen deputy.
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
NOT SUNNY MUCH
5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 248
Some sun with spotty thunderstorms through the day; more storms at night. HIGH 84, LOW 69
Business D1 Classifieds D3 Comics E1
Lotteries A12 Opinion A10 Television E3