U.S. weighs Iraq airstrikes White House could also drop aid to those under siege BY JULIE PACE and ROBERT BURNS The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — The White House is considering dropping humanitarian supplies by air to thousands of religious minorities in Iraq who are under siege from Islamic militants, possibly in combination with U.S. airstrikes, according to de-
fense officials and others familiar with the administration’s thinking. The administration is also weighing military options, to include airstrikes, in the event that U.S. military trainers stationed in that part of the country are threatened by the Islamic State group, whose fighters have made gains toward the Kurdish capital city of Irbil, two senior de-
fense officials said. The U.S. has a diplomatic consulate in Irbil as well as a military operations center that was set up there recently to advise and assist the Iraqi military in that region. President Obama met with his national security team Thursday to
SEE IRAQ, PAGE A9
4 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES | VOL. 119, NO. 252
SPECIAL SECTION
OUR AREA’S TRAFFIC HOT SPOTS
Back to School We’ve got bus routes, info on tri-county schools C1, D1
Top 10 most hazardous intersections
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Sumter, local football teams prepare for jamborees, scrimmages B1
DEATHS, A9 Geraldine C. June Annie J. Anderson Louise Ward Ronnie E. Johnson
CATHERINE FOLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Minnie D. Nelson Michael A. Hilpisch Halbert L. Harris
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Traffic cones line the area around the intersection of Broad and Gion streets, one of the most hazardous intersections in the Sumter. Broad is, according to the 2013 average daily traffic counts provided by the South Carolina Department of Transportation, the busiest road in the city.
Some of these spots might surprise Sumter’s drivers BY CATHERINE FOLEY reporter@theitem.com (803) 774-1295
I
n recent years, there have been many efforts to make Sumter’s roads safer for drivers. These efforts are continuing with the expansion of Alice Drive, the proposed reconstruction of downtown bridges on both Manning Avenue and Lafayette Drive and the recently completed bridge construction of the 76/378 bypass bridge feeding onto Broad Street. However, changes to the city’s transportation infrastructure won’t prevent all of the
SEE INTERSECTIONS, PAGE A6
SUMTER’S 10 MOST-HAZARDOUS INTERSECTIONS 1) McCrays Mill and Pinewood roads 2) Broad Street and Alice Drive 3) Wesmark Boulevard and Rast Street 4) Main and Poulas streets 5) Alice Drive and Wesmark Boulevard
6) Broad Street and Bultman Drive 7) Liberty and Washington streets 8) Broad Street and Wise Drive 9) Main Street and South Pike West 10) Broad and Gion streets
Methodology: Intersections were ranked by tabulating the total number of wrecks reported by Sumter Police Department in 2013 and then comparing that number to the closest available average daily traffic count as determined by South Carolina Department of Transportation. It is important to note that, according to traffic officers, the center of an intersection is used as a reference point in the traffic reports and that the reported incidents do not necessarily occur in the heart of the intersection but close to or around this area. Only wrecks reported within city limits by city police were evaluated.
Thomas Sumter to celebrate 50th anniversary Lucile Watts, her daughter Gigi WattsHouser and Watts-Houser’s daughter Payton Houser are all Thomas Sumter Academy alumnae. The school in Dalzell is celebrating its 50th anniversary Sunday. MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
and hugged when they all saw the damage to the auditorium, but as a school and as a family, they knew they would persevere. After Hurricane Hugo hit “We had Generals come here the Sumter area in 1989, after Hugo, and right here Thomas Sumter Academy Headmistress Debbie Nix said where we’re standing (in the auditorium), you could see the she recalls parents, students and supporters gravitating to- sky,” Nix said. “They had to ward the school after checking check on the school because this is home, and we knew we on family members and aswould rebuild.” sessing the damage to their Like Nix, many of TSA’s own properties. graduates have stories like Nix, who has been with the this that put the pieces of school for 37 years, said she TSA’s historical puzzle togethremembers they held hands
BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com (803) 774-1214
er and really show what the school, the faculty and staff and students are about. Cathy Edens-Rabon, a member of the first graduating class in 1967, said, “I scraped those windows and sewed those drapes,” and 1970 graduate Lucile Watts said she and other TSA graduates can remember scrubbing the floors because together, the founders and the students cared about the school, its appearance and its reputation. And with all of that history in
SEE TSA, PAGE A4