4 arrested in Frazier Street shooting case Law enforcement still seeking 3 others 75 CENTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 2 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES | VOL. 121, NO. 65
BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter’s first responders had an eventful evening Tuesday when multiple emergency calls came in
regarding two separate shootings within hours of each other, reported vehicle and house fires and two wrecks. About 4 p.m. Sumter Police Department responded to a call of
shots fired on Frazier Street after a collision involving two vehicles, and four men were taken into custody later that evening. According to a news release issued Wednesday evening, the four men are each charged with two
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A9
Sumter woman maintains 2015 New Year’s resolution More than 5K helped this year United Ministries of Clarendon County makes big difference A10
The Rev. Jesse Jackson will speak in Sumter Friday A2 RELIGION
Nuns in pink pray for 100 years A5 DEATHS, B4 Ann Marie Hunter Darryl L. Jackson Johnnie Ely Sr. Valerie M. McMillian Edna Mae Holloman Willie Richardson
Johnnie Mae Harris Dora Mae Raynor Betty Oree York Manning Sanders Burnell Carter
Commitment includes exercising 5 times a week
WEATHER, A14 COOLING DOWN A LITTLE Mostly cloudy today with some showers possible; a passing shower or two late tonight.
BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Sumter resident Dee Harrold, 65, made a New Year’s resolution last January to live a healthi-
HIGH 69, LOW 55
INSIDE
CONTACT US
Classifieds B7 Comics B5 Lotteries A14 Opinion A13 Television A6
Info: 774-1200 Advertising: 774-1237 Classifieds: 774-1234 Delivery: 774-1258 News and Sports: 774-1226
VISIT US ONLINE AT the
KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Dee Harrold, 65, works out at the Sumter Family YMCA on Tuesday. Harrold has kept her New Year’s resolution made in January to lose weight and create a healthy lifestyle.
.com
er lifestyle. She has stuck with that resolution, and plans on becoming even more fit in 2016 with aspirations of possibly participating in a bodybuilding competition. In December of 2014,
Harrold kept putting on weight and her blood pressure and cholesterol were skyrocketing. She brought her situation to the attention of the Sumter Family YMCA staff, and within the last year,
she has been able to lose 15 pounds and significantly lower her blood pressure and cholesterol by working out and eating healthier.
SEE COMMITMENT, PAGE A8
Midwest death toll rises to 20 Several levees monitored in Missouri ST. LOUIS (AP) — A rare winter flood threatened nearly two dozen federal levees in Missouri and Illinois on Wednesday as rivers rose, prompting evacuations in several places. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deemed 19 levees highly
vulnerable to flooding; by midday, those levees, all under close scrutiny, were holding up. But people were moving out just in case, including the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, where Mayor Michael Pennise ordered mandatory evacuations for 350 to 400 homes
and dozens of businesses in the section of town near the fast-rising Meramec River. Swollen rivers and streams have been pushed to heights not seen since the massive 1993 floods in some places. At least 20 deaths over several days in Missouri and Illinois were blamed on flooding,
SEE FLOODING, PAGE A8
Poll: Christians, Muslims split on religious freedom WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than for other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new survey. Solid majorities said it was extremely or very important for the U.S. to uphold religious freedom in general. However, the percentages varied dramatically when respondents were asked about specific faith traditions, according to a poll by The Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center for Public Affairs Research. Eighty-two percent said religious liberty protections were
important for Christians, compared with 61 percent who said the same Visit for Muslims. http://www. About seven in apnorc.org/ 10 said preserving Jews’ religious freedom was important, while 67 percent said so of Mormons. People who identified with no religion were ranked about even with Muslims in needing support to live out their beliefs. Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute, said the findings reflect deep divisions among Americans about the very definition of religious
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
liberty, which has taken on newly politicized meanings in a time of debate about gay marriage and the threat from Islamic extremists. “Religious freedom is now in the eye of the beholder,” Haynes said. “People in different traditions, with different ideological commitments, define religious freedom differently.” The poll was conducted Dec. 10 through Dec. 13, after Islamic extremist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and during intensifying anti-Muslim rhetoric by Donald Trump and other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. The furor has led to a spike in van-
dalism of mosques and harassment of U.S. Muslims during the last month. In the survey, 88 percent of Republicans said it was important to protect the religious liberty of Christians, while only 60 percent said so for Muslims. Democrats also ranked religious freedom for Muslims as a lower priority. Eighty-three percent of Democrats said the protections were important for Christians, while only 67 percent said so for Muslims. A Pew Research Center survey last year found an increasing share of Americans think Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers.
Several outspoken critics have emerged who argue Islam itself is a threat to the U.S. “These numbers seem to be part of a growing climate of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States,” said Madihha Ahussain, an attorney for Muslim Advocates, a California-based civil rights group. “This climate of hatred has contributed to dozens of incidents of anti-Muslim violence in recent weeks.” Helen Decker, 65, a West Texas Christian who reads the Bible regularly, believes strongly that religious freedom should be provided to people of all faiths or no faith, including for her grandson whom she said is an atheist.