IN SPORTS: Yankees promote SHS’ Montgomery to AAA
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THE CLARENDON SUN
700 show up for National Night Out in Manning A6
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2016
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Law enforcement, clergy host meeting Tonight’s forum aims at minimizing conflict between public, police FROM STAFF REPORTS Sumter city and county law enforcement personnel, public officials and clergy will host a public meeting tonight to discuss how the communi-
ty can work together to minimize conflict between the public and those enforcing the law. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St. DENNIS The Rev. George Windley Jr., a local pastor and president of Sumter County Concerned Clergy, said the organization initiated the idea by meeting with city
and county elected officials and representatives of the law enforcement community. Recent conflicts between law enforcement officers and black citiROARK zens across the country sparked the idea of bringing the groups together to get a better understanding of what officers expect from the community as
well as how residents should respond when approached by officers. Windley said he heard the law enforcement community discusses racial tension within its respective departments. He said getting everyone together to discuss community relationships could help ease a perceived tension. He emphasized the public also needs to understand the
SEE MEETING, PAGE A10
Feeding our starving children
Neighborhood watch groups thwart crime BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter County residents learned the importance of neighborhood watch groups during the National Night Out event at Catchall Community Center in Rembert on Tuesday. National Night Out is an opportunity for the community and law enforcement to meet, said Cpl. Eddie Hobbs, crime prevention and Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer. The event started several years ago with neighbors turning on their outside lighting but has since evolved to include neighbors coming together to talk about crime prevention, he said. Quite frankly, the sheriff's office could not function without the help of neighborhood watch groups, he said. The agency is able to make big arrests because members of the community reach out to law enforcement, he said. When neighborhoods get organized, people start to pay attention to each other, Hobbs said. Organization is one of the best tools against crime, he said. That is when the information starts to come out, he said. Hobbs said the sheriff's office was able to stop two burglary rings because concerned neighbors wrote down information about suspicious people and vehicles in their neighborhoods. People need to get out of their houses and meet their neighbors, he said. Don't reach out only when you need something.
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
Alice Drive Elementary School volunteers help package meals for the Feed My Starving Children event on Tuesday at the Sumter County Civic Center.
Event will provide more than 200,000 meals BY ANDY WILSON intern@theitem.com More than 1,000 volunteers packed an estimated 200,000 meals Tuesday and Wednesday for the Feed My Starving Children organization. The event, held at Sumter County Civic Center, might have appeared chaotic, but as music blared, hundreds of volunteers donning hairnets and gloves swarmed like busy bees around and in between tables packing bags of food targeted for starving children in more than 70 countries. Each person had a role, whether scooping measured portions of vitamin powder, dried vegetables, soy or rice into funnels that loaded each bag; replenishing supplies;
or boxing packaged bags destined for undetermined locations. Each meal provides enough nutrition for one child per day. A handful of staffers in red shirts and hairnets stood to the sides of the room, including Marci Wirtz, a woman who has been a full-time employee of Feed My Starving Children for three years. She said the nonprofit organization is always looking to hire and spoke about her start in the nonprofit organization volunteering at one of its permanent locations in Chicago. Wirtz said she thinks the organization is "really cool" because anyone from any background from the ages of
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
Addison McLeod, left, and McKenzie Dubose of Crosspoint Baptist Church take turns adding their ingredients as another volunteer holds the bag open. Organizers set a goal of preparing 200,000 meals durSEE CHILDREN, PAGE A10 ing the two-day event.
SEE CRIME, PAGE A10
Filing for city council, mayoral elections ends Aug. 15 BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com The filing deadline for the Sumter City Council and mayoral elections is noon Monday, Aug. 15. Candidates must file at the City Clerk’s Office on the fourth floor of Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St. With less than two weeks to file, incumbent Ward 2 Councilwoman Ione Dwyer and Ward 6 Councilman
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David Merchant are unopposed for re-election, while the Ward 4 position reportedly being vacated by Colleen Yates has attracted four candidates: Randolph Black, Steve Corley, Melissa Evans and Jim McKinney. In the mayoral race, incumbent Joe McElveen faces challenges from William "Dutch" Holland and Charles Jones. Sumter's City Council comprises
six council members who are elected from six wards and a mayor, elected at large. Terms for councilors and the mayor are four years, with council elections staggered so Wards 1, 3 and 5 will be on the ballot in 2018. Filing fee for mayor is $400, and the filing fee for ward councilor is $240. Sumter City Clerk Linda Hammett said the fee is required by a city ordinance and is intended to
DEATHS, B6 Bertha Mae R. Wactor Myrna C. Taraskewich Brenda Sue W. Woodard Braton E. Baker Jr.
Eileen Richardson Betty Pearson George K. Heriot III DeLeon T. Brunson Sr. Elijah Goodman
offset the cost of elections. The mayor of Sumter is paid $18,549.84 annually, and council members are paid $11,129.90 annually, Sumter Human Resources Director Audrey Shirley said Wednesday. Regular city council meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month in Council Chambers on the fourth floor of Sumter Opera House.
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
ANOTHER STORMY DAY
2 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 245
Cooler still than yesterday but still a strong chance of heavy thunderstorms; tonight, partly cloudy and humid. HIGH 84, LOW 72
Classifieds B8 Comics B7
Opinion A11 Television A7