December 5, 2014 by The Sumter Item

‘Most brutal I’ve ever seen’ Man convicted of killing elderly mother in 2010 BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

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SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 2 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES | VOL. 120, NO. 43

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A Mayesville man will spend the rest of his life in a Department of Corrections psychiatric ward after jurors convicted him Wednesday of beating his elderly mother to death in 2010. Circuit Court Judge W. Jeffrey Young issued Alexander “Bobby” Wilson a life sentence on the murder charge during a hearing inside Sumter County Courthouse.

A Sumter County jury heard three days of testimony before closing arguments Thursday morning, then deliberated a little less than three WILSON hours before finding Wilson guilty but mentally ill in the Nov. 29, 2010, slaying. Young called the killing one of the most gruesome he’d seen since he began presiding over such vio-

lent criminal cases in 2009. Wilson fatally attacked his 85-year-old mother, Elizabeth Wilson, in their family’s Congress Street home. Officials determined he struck the woman at least six times with a baseball bat and said she sustained a puncture wound to the neck. “This is certainly a tragedy of epic proportions,” Young said as he rendered his sentence. “Out of all the murders I’ve had in front

SEE TRIAL, PAGE A8

Shaw cookie drive breaks record What’s next? Former Crestwood standout McGee weighs options as UAB shuts down football program B1 SCIENCE

Find out how climate has changed the Earth A5

RAYTEVIA EVANS / THE SUMTER ITEM

Tech Sgt. Joshua Sheppard, right, and Senior Airman Colin Barnes help box up the thousands of cookies donated by churches, schools and community members for military members at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. The community freshly baked or bought more than 3,800 dozen cookies to donate to Shaw for the holidays.

DEATHS, B6 and B7 Rufus Bennett Jackie Watson Amanda L. Benton Mary Wilder Mary H. Principe Joseph Wilson Charles T. Franklin Mary Jane Smith Earnest Centry Willie Lee Brown

Pennie L. Jones Benjamin Hickman Vista Peebles Mary Jane Murray Ruth R. Richardson Aaron Rhodes Carrie Lee Wells Bettie M. Montgomery Elease H. Levy

WEATHER, A12

Community donates nearly 50,000 confectionery treats for military members BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com To show their appreciation for the local service members who put their lives on the line for their country, Sumter Volunteers continued a 22-year tradition of supplying Shaw Air Force Base with thousands of cookies for the holidays. Sumter Volunteers’ Jo Anne Morris said the annual service project “Shower Shaw with Cookies” started on base but quickly

spread after community members found out about it. “Shaw had been doing this within, and I saw a flier and asked my church to help,” Morris explained. “We gave 100 dozen cookies that year, and now it has been going on for a while.” Sumter Volunteers spearhead the annual service project and receive thousands of dozens of cookies from churches, individuals from the community and public and private schools in the Sumter

area. The group also receives thousands of holiday cards to give to military members at Shaw. In previous years, Morris said they got more than 3,000 dozen cookies to give to the base. This year they exceeded that amount and were also able to give more than 6,000 holiday cards. Morris said schools and churches together contributed about two-thirds of the cookies. The annual tradition also allows

SEE COOKIES, PAGE A8

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Clarendon sheriff ’s wife hospitalized after fire BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Barbara Garrett, wife of Clarendon County Sheriff Randy L. Garrett Jr., was transported to Joseph M. Still Burn Unit in Augusta, Georgia, on Thursday with second-degree burns to her face after an oxygen tank caught fire at their home at 2193 Lakeshore Road, several miles south of Manning, according to unofficial sources. Reports indicate she was first trans-

ported to Clarendon Memorial Hospital in Manning with what are considered non-life threatening injuries, but because of an underlying medical condition, she was transferred to Augusta as a precaution. Several fire engines and emergency response vehicles were at the Garrett home after the incident. No smoke or damage to the home was visible at that time.

JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM

Chief Frances Richbourg of Clarendon County Fire Department stows her gear after responding to a fire at the home of Sheriff Randy Garrett on Lakeshore SEE FIRE, PAGE A8 Road on Thursday morning.

White ex-police chief charged in killing of black S.C. man BY MEG KINNARD The Associated Press

Richard Combs, the former police chief of Eutawville, is seen in court Thursday in Orangeburg. Combs was indicted on murder charges in the 2011 shooting death of an unarmed black man.

ORANGEBURG — A white former police chief was indicted on murder charges in the 2011 shooting death of an unarmed black man after an argument, a case that instantly drew comparisons to the Ferguson shooting and the chokehold death in New York. The indictment of Richard Combs, the former chief and

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

sole officer in the small town of Eutawville, was released Thursday. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted in the death of Bernard Bailey. Combs’ lawyer accused prosecutors of taking advantage of national outrage toward police and the justice system to get the indictment. “He’s trying to make it racial because his timing is perfect,” attorney John O’Leary said. “He’s got all the national

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issues going on, so they want to drag him in and say, look what a great community we are here, because we’re going to put a police officer who was doing his job in jail for 30 years. That’s wrong. That’s completely wrong.” Prosecutor David Pascoe said he had always planned to seek a murder charge if a judge threw out the former

SEE POLICE CHIEF, PAGE A4

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: pressrelease@theitem.com

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Charity seeks sponsors for holiday project

Man arrested after reported stabbing

BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com

LOCAL BRIEFS A Sumter man was arrested Wednesday after reportedly stabbing his close friend during a fight in the parking lot of Sumter Mall. Jonathan Geddings, 40, of 1030 Lynn Lane, was charged with attempted murder in connection with the incident. According to a statement issued by Sumter Police Department, Geddings and the victim were seen riding to the mall together on a moped. Reports indicate the victim, a 37-year-old Sumter man, confronted the suspect after he reportedly shoplifted items from the mall and brought them outside where the victim was waiting. A fight ensued, during which Geddings allegedly stabbed his friend. Witnesses reported seeing the suspect leave on the moped moments after the victim fell to the ground. The man was transported to Tuomey Regional Medical Center for treatment and remains in stable condition there, Thursday’s statement indicated. Geddings remained behind bars at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center awaiting bond late Thursday.

Sumter United Ministries’ Help an Angel Fly program is just about ready for take off. But it still needs a little help. Nine families remain to be adopted, said Mark Champagne, executive director of the Sumter nonprofit. Each year, the charity sponsors 90 to 100 families. “Help an Angel Fly is a special project of the ministry where we choose people that we have interviewed during the year and determine who may have the greatest need,” he said. “We find sponsors to bless others with gifts they may otherwise not receive. It is not only for children, but includes elderly, disabled and those that would be encouraged this time of year.” Gifts need to be to the ministry by Dec. 15. The charity also needs volunteers that day to help organize and package the gifts. Sumter United Ministries

will need help again between 9 a.m. and noon Dec. 19 to load gifts into the clients’ cars. “The Ministry does all the legwork in gathering what is needed from churches and individuals in the community,” said Kelsey Jones, who volunteers at Sumter United Ministries with the Sumter Area Family Educators. “They make being a participant in distributing the Thanksgiving boxes and Christmas gifts so easy. It just takes a little time and a heart prepared to share the love of Christ through a smile, a kind word or sometimes even a hug and tears.” The home school group has been volunteering with this project at least 10 years, Champagne said. “It is a humbling experience to realize how basic some of the Christmas wish list items are for certain individuals — things like socks or toiletries, for example,” Jones said. “Things we often take for granted. It is truly a blessing to witness the sincere gratitude these families have for the items they are receiving. I guess that is part of what keeps us coming

back to volunteer year after year.” Dan Nichols, Elder of Heritage Fellowship Church where Jones attends, has had similar experiences volunteering with the Help An Angel Fly project through his church and with his family. “It’s interesting to see the things on the list,” he said. “That’s what struck us. Not the idea of having extra things. They were not asking for wide-screen TVs. They were asking for underwear and toilet paper. Some would ask for socks or jeans in a certain size.” Five or six years ago, his family was able to deliver some presents to a house. That memory still stays with several of his children. “To be part of that, to go into the home, was a neat opportunity,” Nichols said. “To share with people who were so thankful for what we brought reminded us of the blessings we have as well as how easy it is to help and how important it is to help.” For more information or to volunteer, call Sumter United Ministries at (803) 775-0757.

Festive class held at museum Anne Rivera and Jane Gibbs work on Christmas wreaths for their homes during Wednesday’s wreath-making workshop at Sumter County Museum. The materials they used included cypress, cedar, golden cypress, magnolia and loquat leaves and ribbons.

Couple reportedly attacked by 2 suspects Sumter County deputies are investigating reports of an attack on a couple early Wednesday morning. According to a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office report, the victim told officers he and his fiancee were walking in the 300 block of Rogers Avenue about 3:45 a.m., heading to a nearby store, when an unidentified assailant jumped out of some brush and began attacking him. The man said he was able to fight the suspect off and grab hold of him, at which point the assailant bit his arm. When the female victim began attacking the suspect to defend her beau, another bandit jumped out of the woods and cut the woman several times on her arms, according to the report. The male victim screamed he had a gun, and both suspects then fled the scene. EMS transported both victims to Tuomey Regional Medical Center. The couple said both attackers wore dark clothing and hooded sweatshirts.

School celebrates teams’ work at recent challenge The S.C. Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics celebrated its Academic Teams’ recent performance in the Demon Deacon Challenge on Nov. 22 at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. GSSM’s academic teams, A and B, were among 10 teams from seven schools that competed in the challenge. Team A won all of its nine matches, with an average score of 370 to 87, and qualified for both the High School National Championship Tournament in Chicago and the National Scholastic Championship in Washington, D.C.

Lee Craig, below, covers her wreath form with magnolia leaves and adds fresh cypress branches during the museum’s class. The 10 participants planned to decorate their front doors with their creations.

PHOTOS BY IVY MOORE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Carolina wins blood battle 7 years running BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Carolina fans have once again showed they bleed garnet and black. The Gamecocks beat out the Clemson Tigers in the statewide 30th Carolina-Clemson Blood Drive. This is the seventh consecutive win for University of South Carolina, bringing the team to a 16-to-14 lead in the annual competition. More than 6,890 donors gave blood during the drive, with 4,103 voting Gamecock and 2,793 voting Tiger. Sumter was not much different. The Sandhills Chapter of the American Red Cross collected 63 pints with

USC taking the lead. “The Clemson-Carolina Blood Drive is a fun community-oriented event that encourages a little competition while helping save lives,” said Nancy Cataldo, executive director of the Sumter-based chapter. Held during the week leading up to the rivals’ football game, the blood drive comes at a time when donations typically decrease, said Krystal Overmyer, external communications manager with the biomedical field marketing and communications division of the Red Cross. The competition has collected about 100,000 pints, potentially helping 300,000 patients in the last three decades. But the need for blood is constant,

and the Sumter Blood Donation Center, 1155 N. Guignard Drive, is open four days a week — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. Donation appointments may be made by downloading the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting www.redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800RED CROSS (1-800-733 27677), but they are not required. Those interested in giving must be 17 or older, weigh at least 110 pounds, be in good health and have either a blood donor card and driver’s license or two other forms of identification at check-in. For more information, visit redcrossblood.org.

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The holiday season is here, and many residents of Sumter and surrounding communities are getting ready for the annual Poinsettia Festival and its collection of fun holiday events. One such event is the Sumter Christmas Parade, sponsored by the Evening Optimist Club. The Christmas Parade will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday on Main Street. The theme for this year’s parade is “What Christmas Means to Me.” The procession will begin at the corner of North Main and Dubose streets and proceed southward on Main Street to Bartlette Street. Included in the parade will be colorful floats, dance teams, beauty queens, marching bands and many more festive holiday entries. And of course, jolly old Saint Nick will be there to fill everyone with the Christmas spirit. The Optimist Club’s parade committee reports that there are more than 100 units registered for the event, with more than 2,600 participants entered. Many thousands of spectators are expected to line the street to enjoy this huge celebration. The parade will include numerous emergency services entries from Sumter Police Department,

POLICE BLOTTER CHARGES Tyshay Billups, 21, of 1400 Wimble Court, was arrested Wednesday and charged with unlawful neglect of a child after her newborn in her custody reportedly tested positive for narcotics in the child’s system during an Oct. 28 drug screening. Marcel Woods, 28, of Sumter, was arrested Tuesday after police recovered a 2012 Dodge Avenger, which was reportedly stolen out of Richland County on Nov. 24, in the first block of Yeadon Street. Police seized a nickel-plated Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver after finding the weapon during an arrest in the 400 block of Crosswell Drive at 10:50 p.m. Wednesday. Chadius Reames, 20, of 3610 Britton Brogden Road, was charged with unlawful carrying of a firearm and resisting arrest with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident after officers reportedly located the unregistered weapon in his pants pocket during the arrest.

Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter Fire Department and Sumter County EMS. Many local churches and businesses will also be featured, as well as Shriner’s organizations and other local civic clubs. Sumter, Lakewood and Crestwood high schools will each be well represented with several entries, including Air Force Junior ROTC units, cheerleaders, school queens and performances by all three marching bands. Lake Marion High School will also be represented by its Junior Army ROTC. Several elementary and middle schools are also participating. Dancers from Miss Libby’s School of Dance, Freed School of Performing Arts, Dreamworks Dance Academy and Caroline Mack Center for the Arts will be dancing to the beat of holiday music favorites. Spectators are reminded to arrive early to select their favorite viewing location, as all streets that intersect with Main between Dubose and Bartlette will be closed at 1:45 p.m. The parade will begin at 2 p.m., with the leading units arriving at the Courthouse about 2:15 p.m. The end of the parade will pass the courthouse about 3:25 p.m. and reach Bartlette Street at approximately 3:40 p.m.

IVY MOORE / THE SUMTER ITEM

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Jill Jones directs the orchestra and choir for First Baptist Church’s annual Singing Christmas Tree. This year’s theme is “Home for the Holidays.” Performances begin tonight at 7:30 p.m. and continue at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the popular program is free, but you must have a ticket. Call (803) 773-3732, or visit www.fbcsumter.org.

portedly vandalized and sustained an estimated $2,500 in damage in the 200 block of Pinckney Street between 4 p.m. Monday and 5:50 a.m. Tuesday.

DAMAGED PROPERTY A 2008 Mazda Tribute sustained $1,000 in estimated damage after being scratched in the first block of Jerry Street just after 9 a.m. Wednesday. A 2008 Pontiac G6 was re-

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Santa is coming downtown at annual Christmas parade FROM STAFF REPORTS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

tained $15,000 in estimated damage while parked in a yard in the 100 block of Lincoln Avenue between Nov. 26 and 10:30 p.m. Monday. STOLEN PROPERTY A 2009 Nissan Rogue valued at $12,000 was reportedly sto-

len from the 3200 block of Debidue Lane at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Seven hundred dollars in cash was reportedly stolen from a home in the 200 block of Mason Croft Drive between 1 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday.

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POLICE CHIEF FROM PAGE A1 chief’s “stand your ground” self-defense claim, which happened last month. Combs, 38, had previously been charged with misconduct in office for the shooting. He had faced up to 10 years in prison. The indictment is one of three this year for white officers in the shootings of unarmed black men in South Carolina, which has a dark and painful past of civil rights violence. The shooting happened in May 2011. Bailey’s daughter received a traffic ticket from the chief for a broken taillight and called her father to the scene. Bailey and Combs argued but eventually went their separate ways. The police chief got an arrest warrant for Bailey for obstruction. A few days later, Bailey went to Town Hall to argue about his daughter’s ticket. When he showed up, the chief tried to arrest Bailey, a 6-foot-6 former prison guard. Prosecutors said Bailey marched back to his truck, and Combs tried to get inside to turn off the ignition. The two briefly fought, and Combs shot Bailey, 54, twice in the chest. Combs said he was tangled in Bailey’s steering wheel and feared for his life if Bailey drove away. Last month, a judge threw out his self-defense claim and ruled Combs should have let Bailey leave. In March 2013, the Justice Department cleared Combs. Pascoe announced he would begin his own investigation, and in August last year, a grand jury indicted Combs on the misconduct charge. David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in Miami, said that was an unusual way to handle the case. Pascoe wouldn’t talk about the grand jury proceedings. Combs’ trial on the misconduct charge had been set to start next week, but after the murder indictment, a judge delayed it until at

STATE BRIEF FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS

Man once facing death sentence gets life SPARTANBURG — A man whose death sentence for raping and killing a Spartanburg woman was recently overturned, and he has accepted a plea deal to spend the rest of his life in prison. Local media outlets reported that 46-year-old Fredrick Evins pleaded guilty Thursday to raping and killing Rhonda Goodwin in 2003. Prosecutors said DNA tested after his arrest led to him being charged in a second rape and killing in Spartanburg in 2002 and the rape of an 81-year-old woman in Greenville in 1991 as the woman’s 8-year-old granddaughter watched. Evins’ death sentence was overturned after a judge ruled his IQ score left him mentally disabled. Prosecutor Barry Barnette said he wanted to seek the death penalty again, but knowing Evins is never getting out of prison was an acceptable alternative.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vehicles make their way on the main street in Eutawville on Thursday. The indictment of Richard Combs, the former police chief of Eutawville, was released Thursday. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted in the death of unarmed black man Bernard Bailey. least January. Combs’ bail was set at $150,000. He is unemployed. He was placed on leave after the shooting, and the town let him go six months later. In August, Bailey’s family reached a $400,000 wrongful death settlement with Eutawville, which is 50 miles southeast of Columbia. They said they don’t think this case should be compared with Ferguson and New York because everyone in Eutawville knows everyone. “That is comparing oranges and apples,” said Bailey’s widow, Doris Bailey. Eutawville has about 300 residents, one-third of them black. Its Main Street has a hardware store, a pharmacy and medical supply store and a number of empty storefronts. One of Bailey’s cousins re-

membered him as a kind person. “He wasn’t the type of person to harm anybody. I don’t know why someone would shoot him or take his life from his family. He was good people,” said Betty Williams, 57. Detrick Jenkins Sr., a neighbor of Bailey’s who worked with him at a state prison, said he didn’t fear riots such as the ones in Missouri or the massive protests that happened nationwide after grand juries declined to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson and New York officer Daniel Pantaleo. That could change if Combs is found not guilty, Jenkins said. “People probably won’t like it and will have a more aggressive attitude,” said Jenkins, who is black.

Bethesda

Combs worked as a deputy for the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office for six years before being fired in 2007 for “unsatisfactory performance,” according to documents from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy obtained by The Post and Courier of Charleston for a 2011 story. Combs completed police chief ’s training in Eutawville just four days before the fatal shooting, the

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newspaper reported. Thomas Bilton, a white Eutawville resident who was friends with Bailey, said the police chief should have let him leave Town Hall that day. “The whole thing has been kind of crazy,” he said. “It’s taken a long time, and I think some of the recent events across the country might have contributed to a final verdict to charge him with murder.”

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Hotter, weirder: Here’s how climate has changed Earth WASHINGTON (AP) — In the more than two decades since world leaders first got together to try to solve global warming, life on Earth has changed, not just the climate. It’s gotten hotter, more polluted with heat-trapping gases, more crowded and just downright wilder. The numbers are stark. Carbon dioxide emissions: up 60 percent. Global temperature: up six-tenths of a degree. Population: up 1.7 billion people. Sea level: up 3 inches. U.S. extreme weather: up 30 percent. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica: down 4.9 trillion tons of ice. “Simply put, we are rapidly remaking the planet and beginning to suffer the consequences,” says Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. Diplomats from more than 190 nations opened talks Monday at a United Nations global warming conference in Lima, Peru, to pave the way for an international treaty they hope to forge next year. To see how much the globe has changed since the first such international conference — the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 — The Associated Press scoured databases from around the world. The analysis, which looked at data since 1983, concentrated on 10year intervals ending in 1992 and 2013. This is because scientists say single years can be misleading and longer trends are more telling.

WILD WEATHER Since 1992, there have been more than 6,600 major climate, weather and water disasters worldwide, causing more than $1.6 trillion in damage and killing more than 600,000 people, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Belgium, which tracks the world’s catastrophes. While climate related, not all can be blamed on man-made warming or climate change. Still, extreme weather has noticeably increased through the years, says Debby Sapir, who runs the center and its database. From 1983 to 1992 the

now that’s up to 7.3 million acres from 1994 to 2013, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And some of the biggest climate change effects on land are near the poles, where people don’t often see them. From 1992 to 2011, Greenland’s ice sheet lost 3.35 trillion tons of ice, according to calculations made by scientists using measurements from NASA’s GRACE satellite. Antarctica lost 1.56 trillion tons of ice during the same period.

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Steam from the Jeffrey Energy Center coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the setting sun near St. Mary’s, Kansas, in March. Energized by these new targets set by China and the United States, the world’s top climate polluters, U.N. global warming talks resumed Dec. 1 in Peru, with unusual optimism despite evidence that human-generated climate change is already happening and bound to get worse. world averaged 147 climate, water and weather disasters each year. During the past 10 years, that number has jumped to an average of 306 a year. In the United States, an index of climate extremes — hot and cold, wet and dry — kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has jumped 30 percent from 1992 to 2013, not counting hurricanes, based on 10-year averages. NOAA also keeps track of U.S. weather disasters that cost more than $1 billion, when adjusted for inflation. Since 1992, there have been 136 such billion-dollar events. Worldwide, the 10-year average for weather-related losses adjusted for inflation was $30 billion a year from 1983-92, according to insurance giant Swiss Re. From 2004 to 2013, the cost was more than three times that on average, or $131 billion a year. Sapir and others say it would be wrong to pin all, or even most, of these increases on climate change alone. Population and poverty are major factors, too. But they note a trend of growing extremes and more disasters, and that fits with what scientists have long said about global warming.

It’s this increase that’s “far scarier” than the simple rise in temperatures, University of Illinois climate scientist Donald Wuebbles says.

TEMPERATURE It’s almost a sure thing that 2014 will go down as the hottest year in 135 years of record keeping, meteorologists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center say. If so, this will be the sixth time since 1992 that the world set or tied a new annual record for the warmest year. The globe has broken six monthly heat records in 2014 and 47 since 1992. The last monthly cold record set was in 1916. So the average annual temperature for 2014 is on track to be about 58.2 degrees, compared with 57.4 degrees in 1992. The past 10 years have averaged a shade below 58.1 degrees — six-tenths of a degree warmer than the average between 1983 and 1992.

THE OCEANS The world’s oceans have risen by about 3 inches since 1992 and gotten a tad more acidic — by about half a percent — thanks to chemical re-

actions caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide, scientists at NOAA and the University of Colorado say. Every year, sea ice cover shrinks to a yearly minimum size in the Arctic in September — a measurement that is considered a key climate change indicator. From 1983 to 1992, the lowest it got on average was 2.62 million square miles. Now the 10-year average is down to 1.83 million square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. That loss — an average 790,000 square miles since 1992 — overshadows the slight gain in sea ice in Antarctica, which has seen an average gain of 110,000 square miles of sea ice during the past 22 years.

ON LAND The world’s population in 1992 was 5.46 billion. Today, it’s nearly a third higher, at 7.18 billion. That means more carbon pollution and more people who could be vulnerable to global warming. The effects of climate change can be seen in harsher fire seasons. Wildfires in the western United States burned an average of 2.7 million acres each year between 1983 and 1992;

Scientists simply point to greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, that form a heat-trapping blanket in our air. There’s no need to average the yearly amount of carbon dioxide pollution: It has increased steadily, by 60 percent, from 1992 to 2013. In 1992, the world spewed 24.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide; now it is 39.8 billion, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international consortium. China has tripled its emissions from 3 billion tons to 11 billion tons a year. The emissions from the U.S. have gone up more slowly, about 6 percent, from 5.4 billion tons to 5.8 billion tons. India also has tripled its emissions, from 860 million tons to 2.6 billion tons. Only European countries have seen their emissions go down, from 4.5 billion tons to 3.8 billion tons.

WHAT SCIENTISTS SAY “Overall, what really strikes me is the missed opportunity,” Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University, said in an email. “We knew by the early 1990s that global warming was coming, yet we have done essentially nothing to head off the risk. I think that future generations may be justifiably angry about this.” “The numbers don’t lie,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State. “Greenhouse gases are rising steadily, and the cause is fossil fuel burning and other human activities. The globe is warming, ice is melting, and our climate is changing as a result.”

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Shaw crew installs bright flightline lights at great heights 10 base towers need special maintenance BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASS JENSEN STIDHAM Special to The Sumter Item

tower cage and release their climbing safety. “Once we get up, we have two or three people down on the ground; they go and turn the lights on, they SHAW AIR FORCE BASE — stand on the flightline road, and they After climbing more than 100 feet look up at the lights,” said Pierce. in the air, he leans out with half of “Then they call us up on the radio his body over the edge of the railand tell us which lights are out.” ing. With heavy winds blowing, a After learning which lights are single strap attached keeps him out, it is the airmen’s job to deterfrom plummeting to the ground. A mine the cause of the broken light. steady hand reaches out to replace “If it’s a bulb, we just replace the a damaged light bulb. bulb,” said Pierce. “Sometimes it Approximately 200 lights shine could be a socket that the bulb goes down onto the flightline where the into that could be burned out, and Air Force’s largest combat F-16CM sometimes it could be the ballast.” Fighting Falcon fleet sits, creating a To ensure a smooth working envisafe and secure environment for ronment while up on the tower, the each of the 82 war planes here. airman with the The mission of most experience keeping the lights and higher skill operational is a vast level is designated one and takes a speas the crew lead. cial type of airman “I listen to what to perform the my crew lead needs, maintenance needand I try to learn as ed to keep the flightmuch as I can from line illuminated. him,” said Kuma. “I Looking up at the try to support him towering ramp as much as I can. I lights overhead, it is learn from what he not uncommon to is doing because I see Senior Airman know that within Anthony Pierce and the next few Airman 1st Class months, I will be a Ernest Kuma, 20th SENIOR AIRMAN crew lead.” Civil Engineer ANTHONY PIERCE Bulb after bulb, Squadron electrical systems techni20th Civil Engineer Squadron the airmen work for several hours decians, as they have electrical systems technician pending on the both made the workload. climb several times “My favorite part is the end,” said to perform maintenance. “The first time it was really scary,” Pierce. “It’s toward the end of the day, so there’s a lot of people that are said Kuma. “I was told what to do, out; they’re looking up. Some people and I had to do it, so I just did it.” clap or give us respect for going up Climbing each of the 10 flightline ramp towers several times can ease there because they know there’s no way in the world they would go up the mind. and do it. It’s a great feeling when “I don’t think about it as being you can say that you climbed up and scared,” said Pierce. “I think about finished those lights.” it as getting the job done, the misWith bright lights shining on the sion completed.” After gripping more than 90 pegs F-16s, the multi-million-dollar assets of the 20th Fighter Wing are to make their way up, they clip safe and secure. their static safety lines onto the

‘Some people clap or give us respect for going up there because they know there’s no way in the world they would go up and do it.’

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Ernest Kuma, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron electrical systems apprentice, above, climbs a ramp tower at Shaw Air Force Base on Oct. 16. Kuma gripped about 90 pegs to pull his way up the 110-foot tower. U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Anthony Pierce, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron electrical systems journeyman, left, installs a light bulb on a ramp light along the flightline at Shaw on Oct. 16. PHOTOS BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASS JENSEN STIDHAM / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM

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U.S. troops fighting IS have immunity in Iraq BY VIVIAN SALAMA The Associated Press BAGHDAD — Washington has an agreement with Baghdad on privileges and immunities for the growing number of troops based in Iraq who are helping in the fight against the Islamic State group, the new U.S. ambassador said Thursday. Stuart Jones said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has given assurances that U.S. troops will receive immunity

from prosecution. Under Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, that issue was a major sticking point, ultimately leading to the decision to withdraw all remaining U.S. troops in late 2011. “That was a different situation, and those troops would have had a different role,” Jones said. “We have the assurances that we need from the government of Iraq on privileges and immunities,” he said. “It’s in the basis of our formal written communications between our

governments and also based on the strategic framework agreement that is the legal basis of our partnership.” The House was expected to vote Thursday on a proposed $5 billion expansion of U.S. military operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq, part of a broader $585 billion defense policy bill for Iraq and Syria. Last month, Barack Obama authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 more American troops to bolster Iraqi forces, which could more than double

the total number of U.S. forces to 3,100. That’s in addition to the 5,000 people working for the U.S. mission in Iraq. The U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi military has struggled to recover from its collapse in June, when the Islamic State group captured the country’s second-largest city, Mosul, and swept over much of northern and western Iraq. Iraqi commanders fled, pleas for more ammunition went unanswered, and in some cases soldiers stripped off their uniforms and ran.

Dangerous practices spread Ebola Organization. Mawanda thinks that clinging to dangerous practices is the reason why. So does Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, who on Tuesday urged Sierra Leoneans to desist from washing of corpses, from secretly burying the dead at night instead of calling for Ebola burial teams and from other practices that could accelerate infections. “Naturally what happens is that as more and more people get infected, people learn lessons. Unfortunately, that takes a long time,” Mawanda, a 38-year-old Ugandan physician, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Unsafe burials are thought responsible for 70 percent of new infections in Sierra Leone, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo told reporters Wednesday. The bodies of

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Dr. Michael Mawanda saw some disturbing behaviors when he was in Sierra Leone helping fight the Ebola epidemic, including relatives removing patients from the hospital where he worked. The family members who removed the Ebola patients couldn’t bear to be separated from their loved ones, but their actions made it nearly impossible for health workers to track new Ebola infections and risked spreading the virus further, said Mawanda, who despite taking precautions came down with Ebola himself and barely survived. The Ebola outbreak, which is stabilizing in Liberia and Guinea, is spreading fastest in Sierra Leone. In a recent 21THE ASSOCIATED PRESS day period, Guinea had 306 A health worker volunteer marks a home Sept. 20 with chalk to identi- new Ebola cases. Liberia had fy that it has been visited as volunteers distribute bars of soap and in- 278. Sierra Leone had 1,455, formation about Ebola in Freetown, Sierra Leone. according to the World Health

people who have died from Ebola are particularly contagious and must be handled carefully, but throughout the region, many people continue to bury their dead using traditional methods, including washing and touching the body. Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or corpse. Mawanda said sensitization campaigns have not been widely successful in West Africa largely because many locals seem unwilling to break with age-old customs such as communal dining. He saw people eating from the same plate even as Ebola was claiming victims in the capital. The WHO says saliva may carry some risk but that “the science is inconclusive.” According to the WHO, the most infectious bodily fluids for spreading Ebola are blood, feces and vomit.

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TRIAL FROM PAGE A1 of me — and I’ve had about 25 or 30 — this is probably the most brutal I’ve ever seen. And I understand there was mental illness involved. But the brutality that occurred, I just can’t take any chances that he can ever walk the streets again.” Under South Carolina law, guilty but mentally ill is a designation that means a defendant was stable enough during the act of a crime to know right from wrong and to recognize his or her act as being wrong. Nevertheless, the defendant lacks the mental capacity to conform to the rules

of law because of a defect. Under the conviction, Wilson will serve out his sentence in a state Department of Corrections mental unit, which amounts to a relatively harsh sentence. Jurors also had the option to find Wilson, 63, not guilty by reason of insanity, a slightly different verdict that would have landed him in S.C. Department of Mental Health supervision. Officials said the mental health department likely would’ve performed mental evaluations on Wilson every six months and noted the state agency might have cleared him mentally and released him from their custody after just a few years if he passed

COOKIES FROM PAGE A1 local students to connect with community leaders and get involved in important service projects. The local organization received a helping hand from a few of the youth in Sumter County when Lakewood High School’s National Honor Society joined them at Swan Lake Visitors Center on Wednesday morning to help church members and schools unload and tally their cookies and cards for the year. Lakewood’s NHS President Jean Fox said they were happy to help with the project and will most likely return to help out again next year. “This is annual, but it’s our first year volunteering. We love being out and lending a hand in the community,” Fox said. To continue spreading the Christmas spirit and complete community service projects, Fox said they will also participate in Winter Wonderland at the Sumter County Civic Center in mid-December and get involved with Pennies for Patients in February. Sumter Volunteers accepted cookies at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens — leaving a delicious smell in their wake — until about 3 p.m. Wednesday when

THE SUMTER ITEM fered from Capgras syndrome, a mental disorder where patients think that family, friends and other people close to them have been replaced by imposters. The defendant was one of Elizabeth Wilson’s four sons. The highlight of the trial came Wednesday when Wilson took the stand and exhibited signs of the delusional condition. He testified that clones had taken over his family members, including his mother. He told jurors he took an anti-depressant and supplemented it with crack cocaine the day of the killing and began telling people that his mother was a clone when she refused to give him

the evaluations. Third Circuit Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III spent the week prosecuting the case and trying to give jurors a vivid picture of the man’s background leading up to the killing. Prosecutors argued that Wilson was mentally aware of his actions and put forth a theory that he killed his mother because she refused to give him money, which they think he planned to use to buy drugs. Sumter attorney Charles Brooks defended Wilson throughout the week, contending that his client was a diagnosed schizophrenic. Thomas Martin, a Columbia psychiatrist, testified that Wilson suf-

money, which he said he wanted to use to help buy his medicine. During the hourlong testimony, he also made claims that he was black man with white genitals, proof that his family members were clones. Wilson also said he heard the voice of his deceased father saying, “Son, bring her to me; I’ll take care of her,” after he struck his mother in the head with the bat. Moments before he was sentenced, Wilson told the judge he was disappointed in the jury’s decision and said he planned to appeal the verdict. Brooks said after the trial that he would submit appeals petitions to the court.

FIRE FROM PAGE A1

BY THE NUMBERS Sumter schools, churches, local organizations and community members participated in the annual “Shower Shaw with Cookies” campaign

31 dozen Cookies from individuals and local organizations

1,134 dozen

RAYTEVIA EVANS / THE SUMTER ITEM

Cookies from local churches

2,734 dozen Cookies from Sumter School District

3,899 dozen (close to 50,000 cookies) Total amount of cookies donated

6,181 Holiday cards donated military members came to box and transport the cookies to the base. A large number of the cookies — in all

Students with Lakewood High School’s National Honor Society spent the day Wednesday helping churches, schools, local organizations and community members drop off thousands of cookies to donate to Shaw Air Force Base. Altogether, the Sumter community contributed more than 3,800 dozen cookies for service members for the holiday season. flavors including chocolate chip, oatmeal and sugar — were freshly baked while others were store bought. Morris said they hope to continue to meet or exceed their goal each year as they show their love and support to military members during the holiday sea-

Clarendon County Fire Department Chief Frances Richbourg said the fire was reported at 10:39 a.m. Richbourg could not confirm what started the fire but said there was no explosion. “The fire was located in a bedroom area, and they were able to get the door closed, and that held the fire to that area,” she said. She said firefighters mostly had to clear out smoke and clean up. She said she was unaware if anyone else was in the home at the time of the fire. The Clarendon County law enforcement community has already suffered through the loss of Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Holmes Smith, who died after a wreck in Alcolu on Nov. 5. Authorities said Smith swerved off U.S. 521 after suffering a heart attack.

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Show (HD) The Real House wives of Beverly Baby Mama (‘08, Com edy) aac Amy Poehler. An in fer tile busi ness Baby Mama (‘08, Com edy) aac Amy Poehler. An in fer tile busi ness Divorce Friends’ 181 Hills: Pay Attention to Me! woman chooses an obnoxious girl to be her surrogate. woman chooses an obnoxious girl to be her surrogate. advice. 62 Coca-Cola: Real Story Shark Tank Spruced up. (HD) Car Chaser Car Chaser Marijuana Inc: Inside Ultimate Factories (HD) Factories (HD) 64 Erin Burnett OutFront (N) Anderson Cooper 360° (N) (HD) This is Dating scene. CNN Heroes CNN Heroes Ivory Tower (‘14) Elizabeth Armstrong. 136 (:55) South Park (:28) Tosh.0: #Re- Comedy Central’s Non-Denomina- Jackass 3D (‘10, Comedy) aaa Johnny Knoxville. Viewers are provided Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 (‘14, Comedy) (HD) hash (HD) tional Christmas (HD) with a series of outrageous stunts and pranks. (HD) Johnny Knoxville. Bonus footage. (HD) Star Wars Rebels Jessie (HD) Austin & Ally Liv and Maddie 80 (:55) Jessie: Jessie’s Aloha Holidays Girl Meets World Dog with a Blog Kirby Buck: Kirby Phineas and Ferb (:20) Mickey: with Parker and Joey (HD) (N) (N) Almighty (HD) Down the Hatch (HD) (HD) (HD) 103 Gold Rush: Cursed Cut (HD) Gold Rush: Pay Dirt (N) (HD) Gold Rush (N) (HD) Edge of Alaska (N) (HD) Gold Rush: Gold Blooded (HD) Edge (HD) 35 College Basketball: Texas Longhorns at Kentucky Wildcats (HD) College Basketball: Florida Gators at Kansas Jayhawks (HD) SportsCenter (HD) Sports (HD) 39 College Football: Northern Illinois Huskies vs Bowling Green Falcons from Ford Field in Detroit (HD) SportsCenter (HD) NFL Live (HD) NBA (HD) Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town The Fred Claus (‘07, Comedy) Vince 131 (6:00) Disney’s A Christmas Carol Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (‘00, Holiday) aac Jim Carrey. A shunned, (‘09, Holiday) Jim Carrey. (HD) spiteful and revenge-seeking Grinch plots to destroy Christmas. (HD) story of Kris Kringle. (HD) Vaughn. Brother in trouble. (HD) 109 Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (N) (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) Diners (HD) 74 On the Record with Greta (N) The O’Reilly Factor (N) (HD) The Kelly File News updates. Hannity Conservative news. (HD) The O’Reilly Factor (HD) The Kelly File 42 College Basketball: Florida International vs Louisville z{| College Basketball: Coastal Carolina vs Auburn z{| World Poker Tour no} (HD) Basketball Christmas Under Wraps (‘14, Drama) Sage Adler. A driven doctor is denied Window Won183 (6:00) The Christmas Shepherd (‘14, Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle (‘09, Holiday) aac James Van Der Romance) Teri Polo. (HD) Beek. A single dad hires a nanny for his kids. (HD) a prestigious position and moves to Alaska. (HD) derland (HD) 112 Love It or List It (HD) Love It or List It (HD) Love It or List It (HD) Hunters (HD) Hunters (HD) TBA Hunters (HD) Love It (HD) 110 American Pickers (HD) American Pickers (HD) American Pickers (HD) American Pickers (HD) (:03) Ax Men Big order eyed. (HD) American (HD) Criminal Minds: North Mammon Rookie Blue: What I Lost The squad Rookie Blue (HD) 160 Criminal Minds: Psychodrama Bank Criminal Minds: The Aftermath Se- Criminal Minds: The Boogeyman robber exposed. (HD) rial rapist. (HD) Murdered children. (HD) Girls choose victim. (HD) searches for Chris’ son. (HD) The Christmas Hope (‘09, Holiday) Madeleine Stowe. A social worker Grumpy Cat’s 145 (6:00) Holly’s Holiday (‘12, Holiday) Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (‘14, Holiday) Megan Charpentier. aac Claire Coffee. (HD) Grumpy Cat wins over a special girl. (HD) brings a 9-year-old orphaned girl home for Christmas. (HD) Worst (HD) 76 Hardball with Chris (N) (HD) All in with Chris Hayes (HD) The Rachel Maddow Show (N) Lockup (HD) Lockup: Inside Holman (HD) Lockup (HD) 91 Thunderman Max Shred TMNT (HD) TMNT (HD) Full Hse Full Hse Prince Prince Friends (HD) Friends (HD) How I Met 154 Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) GT Academy Cops (HD) WWE SmackDown (HD) Z Nation: Doctor of the Dead (N) Haven: Chosen Z Nation: Doctor 152 Haven: Chosen (N) of the Dead Seinfeld: The The Big Bang The Big Bang Deal With It National Treasure: Book of Secrets (‘07, Comedy) aaa Nicolas Cage. Ben Gates attempts Deal With Speed 156 Seinfeld: The Outing (HD) Shoes (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Speed dating. (N) to unlock the mystery behind Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. dating. Good News (‘47, Musical) aac June Allyson. Shy li- (:45) Easter Parade (‘48, Musical) aaa Judy Garland. A performer loses (:45) The Barkleys of Broadway 186 (6:30) Laura (‘44, Mystery) Gene Tierney. Death and obsession. brarian helps a football star. his dance partner over a boast and has trouble forgetting her. (‘49, Musical) aac Fred Astaire. 157 Atlanta (HD) Atlanta (HD) The Little Couple (HD) Say Yes (N) Say Yes (N) Borrowed (N) Borrowed (N) Say Yes (HD) Say Yes (HD) Borrowed On the Menu: Dickey’s Barbeque Pit Hawaii Five-0: Oia’i’o McGarrett’s 158 On the Menu: Buca di Beppo Creat- On the Menu: Dickey’s Barbeque Pit Walking Tall (‘04, Action) aa Dwayne Johnson. A ing a new pasta dish. (HD) Barbecue dish. (N) (HD) man combats drugs in his hometown. (HD) Barbecue dish. (HD) showdown with Wo Fat. (HD) 102 Dumbest Redneck rapper. Jokers Jokers Jokers Jokers Friend Friend Carbonaro Carbonaro (:02) Jokers 161 Walker: The Wedding, Part 2 (:18) Family Feud (HD) Fam. Feud Raymond (HD) Queens (HD) Queens (HD) Queens (HD) Queens (HD) Friends (HD) Law & Or der: Spe cial Vic tims Unit: Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily: Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily Mod ern Fam ily Chrisley Knows 132 Taboo (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) iSpy (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) Best (HD) Kendra on Kendra on Kendra on Top (HD) Kendra on Top (N) (HD) Kendra on Top (HD) Kendra on Kendra on Kendra on 172 Funniest Home Videos (HD) How I Met How I Met How I Met How I Met How I Met How I Met Rules (HD) Rules (HD) Parks (HD)

‘How Murray Saved Christmas’ isn’t for the children BY KEVIN MCDONOUGH NBC gives more non-musical celebrities the chance to sing the night after “Peter Pan Live!” The new animated special “How Murray Saved Christmas” (8 p.m., TV-PG) takes a cheeky and irreverent view of the holidays. Make that every holiday. Filled with songs and inside jokes, “Murray” takes place in the magical, mythical town called Stinky Cigars. Its off-putting name is intended to keep people away from the hometown of every major holiday’s symbol or mascot. From Washington and Lincoln to Cupid, the Groundhog, the Easter Bunny and the New Year’s Baby, they all eat at Murray’s (Jerry Stiller) diner while awaiting their own big day. Removed from the North Pole, Santa (Kevin Michael Richardson) is portrayed here as rather bipolar. He’s jolly one moment and demanding the next. He’s a tyrannical cheapskate who hires elves, we’re told in one not-so-jolly jingle, because they come cheaper than the Chinese. “Murray” is filled with a string of musical numbers that have a slapdash quality about them. They’re also sung by actors, including Stiller and Sean Hayes (Edison Elf), who are better suited to comedy. “Murray” has a hard time straddling the line between holiday cheer and adult satire. At its best, the special is not a fraction as clever as the average “Simpsons” episode. Dennis Haysbert narrates. • Just what defines a family? The gripping four-hour miniseries “One Child” (9 p.m., Sundance, concludes Saturday) plunges viewers into the complexities of 21stcentury globalism while posing questions as old as time. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1992 and given up for adoption, Mei (Katie Leung) has known only London life and has become a brilliant astronomy student, reared, if somewhat smothered, by parents Katherine (Elizabeth Perkins) and Jim (Donald Sumpter). Quite out of the blue, a Guangzhou-based journalist contacts Mei. Apparently, the

mother she never knew desperately needs her help. Her brother, born years after her adoption, has been unjustly convicted of a murder. Mei’s biological mother wants to meet her real daughter, hoping her British status may tip the scales. Quickly convinced that she’s not being scammed, Mei moves even more quickly to involve herself in her biological family’s problems while disregarding the frantic pleadings of Katherine and Jim, the only parents she has ever known. “Child” offers a fascinating glimpse at the contradictions of modern China, from its gleaming casinos to its vast, squalid slums. It also shows how indifferent the world has become, or has always been, to the oppressive nature of China’s power structure. Viewers have to recoil a bit as Mei steps deeper and deeper into a conflict not her own in a society she barely understands. If her actions sometimes seem farfetched, it’s because they often have the logic of a horror movie, where characters always plunge deeper into danger, as curiosity and conviction trump common sense. Perkins and Sumpter are particularly convincing and moving as the worried helicopter parents who slowly realize that their little girl has become her own woman

in a world removed from their customary control.

TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS • William Shatner joins the cast of “Haven” (7 p.m., Syfy, TV-PG) as it takes a winter break. • Oregon hosts Arizona in the Pac-12 Football Championship game (9 p.m., Fox). • Pop music favorites appear on “A Very Grammy Christmas” (9 p.m., CBS). • Home invasions and holiday surprises on “Grimm” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-PG). • Wine on the go and luggage on the move on “Shark Tank” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG). • Jon Stewart hosts “A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen” (9 p.m., PBS, check local listings). • For heaven’s snakes on “Constantine” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).

CULT CHOICE Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider”), Oscar Isaac (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Shohreh Aghdashloo (“24,” “House of Sand and Fog”) star in the 2006 New Testament drama “The Nativity Story” (8 p.m., AMC).

SERIES NOTES Mike’s restaurant dream takes shape on “Last Man

2014-15

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF TOM OLSEN

BBC

Katie Leung, left, and Elizabeth Perkins star in the four hour miniseries “One Child” beginning at 9 p.m. today on SundanceTV. Standing” (8 p.m., ABC, TVPG) * The top four tangle on two helpings of “America’s Next Top Model” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., CW, TV-14) * Maddie needs motivation on “Cristela” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) * A troubled vet goes missing on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV14).

LATE NIGHT Tom Selleck, Jenny Slate and Foo Fighters with Rick Nielsen are on “Late Show With David Letterman” (11:35 p.m., CBS, r) * Jimmy Fallon welcomes Cameron Diaz and Cedric the Entertainer on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) * Jennifer Aniston and Ken Jeong are on “Jimmy Kimmel

Live” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r) * Russell Brand, Mayim Bialik and Fahim Anwar visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) * Craig Ferguson hosts Drew Carey on “The Late Late Show” (12:35 a.m., CBS). Copyright 2014, United Feature Syndicate

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COMICS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

BIZARRO

SOUP TO NUTZ

ANDY CAPP

GARFIELD

BEETLE BAILEY

BORN LOSER

BLONDIE

ZITS

MOTHER GOOSE

DOG EAT DOUG

DILBERT

JEFF MACNELLY’S SHOE

Mom questions renting room to ex-husband DEAR ABBY — My husband and I divorced because of another woman. I took it hard, but after a Dear Abby year or so, I was OK. ABIGAIL Fast forVAN BUREN ward to 2013: He shows up on my doorstep, needing food and shelter, so I took him in (he’s still the father of my children). Now I can’t get rid of him! He’s trying to show me he’s changed. If I didn’t know him, I’d think he wasn’t the same man at all. I need to know if this is an OK situation for me to be in, because

THE SUMTER ITEM

well-meaning friends and family tell me he won’t change; he’ll leave again. (I say, “As long as he abides by the terms of the divorce, so what!”) I don’t care if he sees other people; he’s my EX. As far as I’m concerned, he’s just renting a room in my house. But I need to know -- am I hurting the kids by letting him stay? He seems to get along better with them now than he ever did, and I’d be renting that room to someone else if it wasn’t him. As far as I’m concerned, better the devil you know than the one you don’t. Am I doing the right thing? And if so, how do I get wellmeaning people to stop lecturing me? Landlady in California

DEAR LANDLADY — I can’t see how your ex living in the house would hurt the children — unless he suddenly disappears from their lives again. His presence there, even as “only a renter,” may lessen your chances of finding a serious romance again, because few if any men welcome courting a woman under these circumstances. However, if you are happy with things just as they are, then when the unwelcome lectures start, all you have to do is tell the well-meaning lecturers that you know what you’re doing and to please pipe down. The arrangement you have with your ex may work better for both of you than the marriage did because it appears he is always on his best behavior.

JUMBLE

SUDOKU

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

HOW TO PLAY: Each row, column and set of 3-by-3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 through 9 without repetition.

THE DAILY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 SEC nickname 5 Seating choice 10 Skills 14 Islamic leader 15 What recon may provide 16 Famille member 17 Baseball, visˆ-vis jai alai? 19 Award for Jessica Tandy 20 Poetic preposition 21 Short time, shortly 22 Wood shop tool 24 Scoff at 26 “Hooked on Bach” company 27 GE range, vis-ˆ-vis an Easy-Bake toy? 33 Spread 36 “A Challenge for the Actor” author 37 Commercial ending? 38 Appear dramatically 39 Hemingway and others 40 Letters on a cross 41 Tulsa sch. 42 Shell rival 43 Ryan of “Bones” 44 SpongeBob’s

underwear, vis-ˆ-vis Mickey’s? 47 __ block 48 Certain evergreen seed 52 One taking a shot 55 Grub 57 One or more 58 “Sin City” actress 59 Jeep, vis-ˆvis a Cadillac? 62 Buck 63 Its second movement translates to “Play of the Waves” 64 First name in design 65 Socks 66 Delight 67 Hill workers DOWN 1 Human, e.g. 2 Love abroad 3 Auto attachment? 4 “__ being unreasonable?” 5 Like some rescues 6 “Picnic” playwright 7 Mus. direction 8 10-Down vehicle 9 Ins 10 Mission program 11 Self-named sitcom

12 Cut 13 Percolate 18 Fund 23 Large Hadron Collider acronym 25 It’s checked when it’s done 26 Capital of Rwanda 28 Inferior 29 Piglike animal 30 Grape site 31 Poet friend of T.S. 32 10-Down first name 33 Challenging roommate 34 1989 LawnBoy acquirer 35 Gravy base 39 Easily moved 40 Part of MIT: Abbr. 42 Yom Kippur

War prime minister 43 Helpful 45 Film with Manny the Mammoth 46 Complete 49 “Heart of Georgia” 50 Sign into law 51 Wrap relatives 52 Get money for 53 “__ Rhapsody”: Brahms vocal work 54 Many CEOs have them 55 Stone of “The Help” 56 Miffed, with “in” 60 Flier with Chicago H.Q. 61 Kelly Clarkson label

THE SUMTER ITEM N.G. Osteen 1843-1936 The Watchman and Southron

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 H.G. Osteen 1870-1955 Founder, The Item

H.D. Osteen 1904-1987 The Item

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Margaret W. Osteen 1908-1996 The Item Hubert D. Osteen Jr. Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Graham Osteen Co-President Kyle Osteen Co-President Jack Osteen Editor and Publisher Larry Miller CEO Rick Carpenter Managing Editor

20 N. Magnolia St., Sumter, South Carolina 29150 • Founded October 15, 1894

COMMENTARY

The real civil war

ASHINGTON — Old habits die hard. The media are so enamored of the continuing (and largely contrived) story about the great Republican civil war that they fail to appreciate that the real internecine fight is being waged on the other side of the aisle. I grant that there’s a lot of shouting today among Republicans. But it’s a ritual skirmish over whether a government shutdown would force the president to withdraw a signature measure — last time, Obamacare; this time, executive amnesty. And it will likely be resolved with Charles Krauthammer the obvious expedient of funding the government through next year, except for a more shortterm extension for homeland security. That way, defunding the executive order could be targeted to just the issue at hand, namely immigration, and would occur when the GOP holds the high ground — control of both houses of Congress. It’s a tempest in a teapot, and tactical at that. Meanwhile, on the other side, cannons are firing in every direction as the Democratic Party, dazed and disoriented, begins digging itself out of the shambles of six years of Barack Obama. The fireworks began even before Election Day with preemptive backstabbing of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, by fellow Democrats. This was followed after the electoral debacle by bitter sniping between Obama and Harry Reid when Reid’s chief of staff immediately — and on the record — blamed the results on Obama. In turn, Obama got his revenge last week by sabotaging a $450 billion “tax extender” deal that Reid had painstakingly negotiated. But the Democrats’ civil war goes far beyond the petty and the personal. It’s about fundamental strategy and ideology. The opening salvo was Sen. Chuck Schumer’s National Press Club speech, an anti-Obama manifesto delivered three weeks after Election Day openly denouncing Obamaism, its policies and priorities. In essence: Elected with a mandate to restore the economy and address the anxieties of a stagnating and squeezed middle class, Obama instead attacked, restructured, reorganized and destabilized a health care system that was serving the middle class relatively well. Eighty-five percent of Americans already had health insurance, argued Schumer. Yet millions have suffered dislocations for the sake of a minority constituency — the uninsured — barely 13 percent of whom vote. This has alienated the Democrats’ traditional middleclass constituency. Indeed, in a 2013 poll cited by The New York Times’ Thomas Edsall, by a margin of 25 percent, people said Obamacare makes things better for the poor. But when the question was does it make things better “for people like you,” Obamacare came out 16 points underwater. Moreover, for whites, whose support for Democrats hemorrhaged in 2014, 63 percent thought Obamacare made things worse for the middle class.

‘So while Republicans are debating the tactics of stopping presidential lawlessness — an inherently difficult congressional undertaking, particularly if you still control only a single house — Democrats are trying to figure out what they believe and who they represent. Which do you think is the more serious problem?’ That’s how you lose elections, Schumer argues. And forfeit large chunks of the traditional Democratic coalition. Health care was not a crisis in 2009 (nor in 1993 when Hillarycare led to another Democratic electoral disaster); it was an ideological imperative for Barack Obama and the liberal elites in charge of Congress — their legacy contribution to the welfare state. As are Obama’s current cherished causes — climate change and amnesty for illegal immigrants. These are hardly the top priorities of a working/middle class whose median income declined as much during the Obama recovery as during the Great Recession. The underlying Schumer challenge is that catering to coastal elites and select minorities is how you end up losing 64 percent of the white working class — which, though shrinking, is almost 50 percent larger in size than the black and Hispanic electorates combined. While Schumer lobbed artillery at Obama’s faculty-room liberalism, the left — through Elizabeth Warren’s progressive populism — kept up its fire on the party center. Warren is looking beyond Obama to Hillary Clinton, cozy as Clinton is (Schumer, too) with Wall Street, the bete noire of the party base. Which is why Clinton actually said: “Don’t let anybody tell you that, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs” — a stupendously clumsy attempt to parry Warren by parroting her. From opposite sides of the (Democratic) spectrum, Schumer and Warren are trying to remake and reorient the Democratic Party postObama. So while Republicans are debating the tactics of stopping presidential lawlessness — an inherently difficult congressional undertaking, particularly if you still control only a single house — Democrats are trying to figure out what they believe and who they represent. Which do you think is the more serious problem? Charles Krauthammer’s email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com. 2014, The Washington Post Writers Group

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THANKS TO THOSE WHO HELPED WITH FREE THANKSGIVING MEAL

LETTER ABOUT PIPELINE CARTOON WAS INACCURATE

Dear Donors, Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your gifts and monetary donations. The free Thanksgiving meal held recently at the South Side Gym was a huge success, mainly due, in part, to your help. Your generosity made a difference in our community as we served more than 1,100 people, and I hope we can repeat this accomplishment on Dec. 21, 2014, for a free Christmas meal. Thank you, also, for your contribution of clothes and shoes that we were able to distribute to our needy neighbors. We are looking forward to having more donations to give out on the 21st. In addition, we were able to provide an uplifting church service featuring Pastor DuPree, Minister Reagan and local gospel singers. We are seeking participants for the Christmas meal service for all interested individuals. If you would like to contribute in any way, please contact me at (803)775-2047. Again, thank you for your generosity. Happy holidays. GERALDINE SINGLETON Sumter

The Sumter Item is right on with their political cartoons. The recent letter concerning the Keystone XL pipeline cartoon got many facts wrong. Yes the pipeline will supply limited exports. The very name XL (eXport Limited) implies such. But is that bad for our nation? Has anyone else noticed gas prices falling at the pump? Thanks to those shale oil fields there is now a greater supply of oil than there is demand. This caused prices to drop as is a basic rule in supply and demand. Mr. Young would like you to believe XL will only help big, evil, rich, oil companies. The reality is it will help local oil companies and stop our money from going to Middle Eastern countries that currently use some of that oil money to fund terrorism. The dirty little secret though is it will help Americans keep more money in their pockets as fuel prices drop and raw goods made from petroleum products are also reduced in cost. As of the time of the writing of this letter two companies who are supplying that shale oil are operating in the red (they are not making a profit and are losing money). OPEC has not cut back their output and that has made it not profitable to remove the oil from the shale. Why still do it? Well, if costs were cheaper to ship the product to refineries, say with a pipeline, then costs might become profitable again. Those companies are betting that people will realize this and that it is beneficial as it will keep fuel prices low. But again it is all about keeping our money here at home. Some argue it doesn’t matter because all this oil will be exported. Those people need to understand we live in a global economy. If China has its fuel demands met by oil from shale then that means the Middle East will not be selling to them. They will have to sell to America at a cheaper rate because of the supply being greater than the demand. JOHN GAYDOS Wedgefield Editor’s note: Because this letter exceeded the 350-word length as stated in our Editorial Page Policies which appears regularly on this page, it can be read in its entirety under Opinion on The Sumter Item’s website, www. theitem.com.

COUNTY THINKS NOTHING OF TAXING OUR HARD-EARNED MONEY Well, you got me again. I voted for the recent “Penny for Progress” sales tax extension using what I thought was a valid argument. Using the principles of the “Fair Tax” movement, we could fund these projects by having everyone pay versus the homeowners. Many of the projects are necessary if we are to have the infrastructure to compete for commercial and manufacturing expansion. Some of the projects were frivolous, but overall the package was worthy. At the last county council meeting a “simple explanation” was given of why property taxes will be raised. Sumter County government has patterned itself after an ever-greedy federal government that thinks nothing of taxing, taking and redistributing other peoples’ hard-earned money. I would rather our county government be honest and up front with their intentions. And, if I could, I’d like to take my vote back. SUSAN SCOUTEN Sumter

WHO REPRESENTS YOU SUMTER COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 Naomi Sanders 5605 Borden Road Rembert, SC 29128 (803) 499-3947 (home) DISTRICT 2 Artie Baker 3680 Bakersfield Lane Dalzell, SC 29040 803-469-3638 (home) DISTRICT 3 Jimmy R. Byrd Jr. 1084 Broad St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 778-0796 (office) (803) 775-2726 (Fax) countycouncil3@ftc-i.net DISTRICT 4 Charles T. Edens 760 Henderson St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 775-0044 (home) DISTRICT 5 Vivian Fleming-McGhaney 9770 Lynches River Road Lynchburg, SC 29080 (803) 437-2797 (home) (803) 495-3247 (office) DISTRICT 6 Larry Blanding Chairman P.O. Box 1446 Sumter, SC 29151 (803) 775-8518 (home)

DISTRICT 7 Eugene Baten Vice chairman P.O. Box 3193 Sumter, SC 29151 (803) 773-0815 (home)

WARD 6 David Merchant 26 Paisley Park Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 773-1086 STATE LAWMAKERS

SUMTER CITY COUNCIL MAYOR Joseph T. McElveen Jr. 20 Buford St. Sumter, SC 29150 803-773-0382 jmcelveen@sumter-sc.com WARD 1 Thomas J. Lowery 829 Legare St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 773-9298 WARD 2 Ione Dwyer P.O. Box 1492 Sumter, SC 29151 (803) 481-4284 WARD 3 Calvin K. Hastie Sr. 810 S. Main St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 774-7776 WARD 4 Colleen Yates WARD 5 Robert Galiano 608 Antlers Drive Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 469-0005

Rep. Grady Brown, D-Bishopville District 50 420 S. Main St. Bishopville, SC 29010 (803) 484-6832 Columbia: (803) 734-2934 Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins District 70 P.O. Box 5 Hopkins, SC 29061 (803) 776-0353 Fax: (803) 734-9142 Columbia: (803) 734-2804 jn@schouse.org Rep. Dr. Robert L. Ridgeway III, D-Clarendon District 64 117 N. Brooks St. Manning, SC 29102 (803) 938-3087 Columbia: (803) 212-6929 Rep. Ronnie A. Sabb, D-Greeleyville District 101 P.O. Box 311, Greeleyville, 29056 (843) 355-5349 Columbia: (803) 212-6926

Rep. Murrell Smith Jr., R-Sumter District 67 P.O. Box 580 Sumter, SC 29151 (803) 778-2471 Fax: (803) 778-1643 Columbia: (803) 734-3042 murrellsmith@schouse.gov Rep. J. David Weeks, D-Sumter District 51 2 Marlborough Court Sumter, SC 29154 (803) 775-5856 Columbia: (803) 734-3102 Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington District 29 1216 Salem Road Hartsville, SC 29550 (843) 339-3000 Columbia: (803) 212-6148 Sen. Kevin L. Johnson, D-Manning District 36 P.O. Box 156, Manning, 29102 (803) 435-8117 Columbia: (803) 212-6108 Sen. J. Thomas McElveen III, D-Sumter District 35 P. O. Box 57, Sumter, 29151 (803) 775-1263 Columbia: (803) 212-6132

NATIONAL LAWMAKERS Rep. Mick Mulvaney — 5th District 1207 Longworth HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-5501 531-A Oxford Drive Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 327-1114 Rep. Jim Clyburn — 6th District 319 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3315 1703 Gervais St. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 799-1100 jclyburn@hr.house.gov Sen. Lindsey Graham 290 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-5972 Midlands Regional Office 508 Hampton Street, Suite 202 Columbia, SC 29201 Main: (803) 933-0112 Sen. Tim Scott 167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-6121 (202) 228-5143 (fax) 1301 Gervais St., Suite 825 Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 771-6112 (803) 771-6455 (fax)

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

AROUND TOWN especially active duty and A Lee County Relay for Life retired military members fundraiser yard sale will be Find some great buys while helping Relay held 7 a.m.-noon on Satur- and their families, are infor Life vited to attend this event. day, Dec. 6, at the old Bishopville gym in Bishop- Perry Moses III, former flotilla commander of the ville. All proceeds will go U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, to Relay for Life of Lee will speak. After the brief County. ceremony, attendees are Clarendon School District One will conduct free vision, welcome to help hang the wreaths along the cemehearing, speech and developmental screenings as part tery fence. Heartz 2 Soulz will hold its of a child find effort to annual “Giving Back to the identify students with Community Christmas Dinner special needs. Screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to and Gift-Giving Event” for local homeless, addicts, noon at the Summerton Early Childhood Center on prostitutes, battered women, etc., from noon to the following Thursdays: 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. Dec. 11; Jan. 8, 2015; Feb. 13, at CJS Café N Catering, 12, 2015; March 12, 2015; 226 N. Washington St. (inApril 9, 2015; and May 14, side Econo Lodge). Dona2015. For more information, call Sadie Williams or tions of hats, scarfs, gloves, coats, blankets Audrey Walters at (803) and toiletries are being 485-2325, extension 221. accepted for this event. The Wateree AIDS Task Call (803) 774-2233 or (803) Force pre-Christmas sup406-2446. port group gathering will The Sumter Branch NAACP be held at 11:30 a.m. will hold its annual memtoday. If interested, call bership meeting at 5 p.m. Kevin Johnson at (803) on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 778-0303 for more inforHigh Hills Baptist Church, mation. The Pinewood Christmas Pa- 6750 Meeting House Road, rade will be held at 10 a.m. Dalzell. The One Sumter Community on Saturday, Dec. 6, on meeting will be held at 6 Clark Street. For entry information, call Tom Moore p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14, at Mount Zion Missionary at (803) 464-4662 or Gary Baptist Church. Graham at (803) 686-0077. Performing Arts for the HoliThe Campbell Soup friends days will be held at 6:30 lunch group will meet at p.m. on Monday, Dec. 15, 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, at Patriot Hall, 135 HaynDec. 6, at Golden Corral. sworth St. All forms of enManning High School Class of 1971 will hold its Christ- tertainment are welcome: mas gathering at 5:30 p.m. instrumental, vocalists, on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the mimes, choirs, poetry, praise dancers, and more. new Manning Restaurant, For additional informa476 N. Brooks St., Mantion, call the South Sumter ning. For more informaResource Center at (803) tion, call (803) 236- 8049. 436-2276. The annual Evening Optimist The Sumter County EducaChristmas Parade will be tors Association — Retired held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, on Main Street. The will hold its Christmas parade will feature march- program and luncheon at ing bands, beauty queens, noon on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at New Beginnings festive holiday floats and Restaurant, 1335 Peach more. The theme for this Orchard Road. Call Brenda year’s parade is “What Bethune at (803) 469-6588 Christmas Means to Me.” for additional information. The 10th Annual Christmas The Sumter Combat VeterLuminary Memorial Service ans Group will meet at 10 presented by Evergreen a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, at and Hillside Memorial the South HOPE Center, Parks will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 1125 S. Lafayette Drive. All area veterans are invited. 802 N. Guignard Drive. Rain date will be Tuesday, Good Samaritans For All People will mark its 20th anniDec. 16. versary with the nonprofThe Mary McLeod Bethune Sumter Branch will meet at it’s Christmas giveaway starting at 8 a.m. on Sat5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12, at Morris College. Call Lu- urday, Dec. 20, at Lee Central High School, 1800 Wicile Washington at (803) sacky Highway, Bishop773-1987. ville. All families who The Civil Air Patrol Sumter need help are welcome to Composite Squadron’s attend for toys, clothes Wreaths Across America cer- and food. Bicycles will emony will be held at noon also be available. For on Saturday, Dec. 13, at more information, call the Sumter Cemetery, 700 W. Rev. Eddie Thomas at Oakland Ave. The public, (803) 459-4989.

DAILY PLANNER

THE SUMTER ITEM

WEATHER

AccuWeather® ﬁve-day forecast for Sumter TODAY

TONIGHT

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Clouds and breaks of sun

Partly cloudy

Cloudy with a shower or two

Some sun, then clouds and cooler

Times of clouds and sun

Partly sunny

63°

47°

70° / 45°

59° / 41°

54° / 37°

61° / 35°

Chance of rain: 15%

Chance of rain: 20%

Chance of rain: 60%

Chance of rain: 25%

Chance of rain: 10%

Chance of rain: 5%

NE 6-12 mph

ENE 3-6 mph

SW 4-8 mph

NE 10-20 mph

NE 8-16 mph

NNE 6-12 mph

TODAY’S SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER

Gaﬀney 56/46 Spartanburg 57/48

Greenville 58/47

Columbia 64/48

Temperatures shown on map are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Sumter 63/47

Aiken 64/49

ON THE COAST

Charleston 69/52

Today: More clouds than sun; pleasant in the afternoon. High 63 to 70. Saturday: An afternoon shower in places. High 67 to 72.

LOCAL ALMANAC

LAKE LEVELS

SUMTER THROUGH 4 P.M. YESTERDAY

Today Hi/Lo/W 66/56/c 39/32/r 76/47/r 40/32/c 77/62/sh 69/56/pc 76/61/c 46/45/c 80/62/s 46/45/r 75/58/pc 64/56/r 50/47/r

SUN AND MOON 7 a.m. yest. 356.82 74.50 74.16 96.38

24-hr chg +0.04 -0.03 none -0.09

Sunrise 7:12 a.m. Moonrise 4:55 p.m.

RIVER STAGES River Black River Congaree River Lynches River Saluda River Up. Santee River Wateree River

0.00" 0.00" 0.41" 35.01" 46.44" 44.01"

NATIONAL CITIES City Atlanta Chicago Dallas Detroit Houston Los Angeles New Orleans New York Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix San Francisco Wash., DC

Full pool 360 76.8 75.5 100

Lake Murray Marion Moultrie Wateree

58° 49° 60° 36° 80° in 1978 18° in 1960

Precipitation 24 hrs ending 4 p.m. yest. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date

Sat. Hi/Lo/W 70/43/r 37/25/pc 61/43/pc 41/26/r 73/55/c 70/56/pc 76/53/sh 54/38/r 81/62/pc 56/39/r 76/54/c 63/54/pc 58/40/r

Myrtle Beach 63/51

Manning 63/49

Today: Variable cloudiness. Winds eastnortheast 3-6 mph. Saturday: Occasional rain and drizzle. Winds west-southwest 4-8 mph.

Temperature High Low Normal high Normal low Record high Record low

Florence 61/46

Bishopville 61/47

Sunset Moonset

5:12 p.m. 6:07 a.m.

Full

Last

New

First

Dec. 6

Dec. 14

Dec. 21

Dec. 28

TIDES

Flood 7 a.m. 24-hr stage yest. chg 12 7.36 +0.06 19 3.82 -0.18 14 8.16 +0.15 14 3.32 -0.03 80 77.24 -0.13 24 9.20 -1.58

AT MYRTLE BEACH

Today Sat.

High 7:49 a.m. 8:10 p.m. 8:34 a.m. 8:56 p.m.

Ht. 3.6 3.1 3.6 3.0

Low 2:05 a.m. 2:50 p.m. 2:52 a.m. 3:37 p.m.

Ht. -0.5 -0.2 -0.5 -0.1

REGIONAL CITIES City Asheville Athens Augusta Beaufort Cape Hatteras Charleston Charlotte Clemson Columbia Darlington Elizabeth City Elizabethtown Fayetteville

Today Hi/Lo/W 58/46/c 63/50/c 67/48/c 70/54/c 59/52/pc 69/52/c 55/45/c 61/50/c 64/48/c 60/45/c 61/47/c 60/48/pc 58/45/pc

Sat. Hi/Lo/W 63/38/r 68/41/r 73/45/c 72/53/c 63/48/sh 73/49/c 63/42/r 65/43/r 70/46/c 67/45/sh 67/49/c 67/50/c 66/48/c

Today City Hi/Lo/W Florence 61/46/c Gainesville 78/57/pc Gastonia 57/46/c Goldsboro 58/46/pc Goose Creek 69/52/c Greensboro 52/44/c Greenville 58/47/c Hickory 54/45/c Hilton Head 67/56/c Jacksonville, FL 75/55/pc La Grange 74/56/c Macon 68/52/c Marietta 65/54/c

Sat. Hi/Lo/W 69/46/sh 79/56/pc 64/43/r 65/49/sh 73/49/c 59/41/r 62/43/r 60/41/r 69/52/c 77/55/pc 75/42/sh 74/43/c 68/41/r

Today City Hi/Lo/W Marion 55/45/c Mt. Pleasant 68/53/c Myrtle Beach 63/51/c Orangeburg 65/49/c Port Royal 68/55/c Raleigh 55/45/c Rock Hill 58/45/c Rockingham 57/44/c Savannah 73/56/c Spartanburg 57/48/c Summerville 68/55/c Wilmington 65/50/pc Winston-Salem 51/44/c

Sat. Hi/Lo/W 62/39/r 72/50/c 68/48/c 72/47/sh 71/54/c 62/43/r 64/41/r 64/45/r 78/54/pc 64/44/r 70/51/c 70/51/c 58/42/r

Weather(W): s–sunny, pc–partly cloudy, c–cloudy, sh–showers, t–thunderstorms, r–rain, sf–snow ﬂurries, sn–snow, i–ice

your qualifying Trane 0% APR and Purchase system before Dec. 15, 2014 and take your choice of 0% APR for 48 with equal payments or up 48 MONTHS months to a $1000 trade-in allowance.

Call today for complete details & schedule your FREE in-home consultation to learn how much you can save.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You will pick EUGENIA LAST up information quickly and can selectively choose topics that will help you reach your professional goals. Insight into helping those who don’t have a voice will be your calling. Your appeal is amplified and romance is on the rise.

The last word in astrology

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Problems will not go away unless you deal with whatever is bothering you before your temper has a chance to grow. Dealing with matters diplomatically will bring much better results. Don’t let your work suffer because you are fretting. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t be afraid to change your direction. As long as you get the results you are looking for, the path you take won’t matter. Changes at home will improve your personal life and motivate you to make a positive relationship choice.

disillusionment must not be disregarded. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Make plans for the weekend. A short trip, a little shopping or assisting in a good cause will put you in a good mood. Satisfaction will come from knowing you have fulfilled something of meaning. Romance is on the horizon. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Follow the road less traveled, but be particularly careful when it comes to your money, possessions or dealing with people from your past. Cover your back by taking care of your responsibilities before you opt to follow a personal path. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Temptation is the enemy. You can have fun without being indulgent. Be true to yourself as well as to the ones you love. Positive changes will add to your comfort, convenience and your emotional well-being. Plan a surprise for someone special.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Look for the obvious. Don’t trust anyone with your secrets or your intentions. Don’t make a fuss, just take care of your responsibilities and get some rest. Quiet time will help you reassess your position and your competition.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Be careful whom you share secrets with. Focus on money matters and look for tax write-offs and investments that will keep your money working for you. Don’t expect everyone to be on your team. Avoid unpredictable people.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You can make a difference if you put your efforts into something you believe in or care about. Social events will allow you to drum up followers who support your cause. Don’t slow down when you should be speeding up. Love is highlighted.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take care of matters that concern elderly relatives or friends. Your help will be appreciated and rewarded. Positive changes at home will bring you closer to your personal goals. Prepare to have visitors.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Tread carefully when dealing with domestic matters. Not everyone will agree with your plans. You will have to use persuasive tactics if you want to reach your personal goals. Deception and

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Jealousy will surface if you feel threatened by someone interfering in your work or home life. Refuse to let anyone know how you feel and you will find a way to outmaneuver any opponent you encounter.

803-795-4257

LOTTERY NUMBERS PALMETTO CASH 5 THURSDAY

POWERBALL WEDNESDAY

MEGAMILLIONS TUESDAY

11-20-24-32-37 PowerUp: 3

25-30-32-46-54 Powerball: 26 Powerplay: 3

13-18-22-49-62 Megaball: 11 Megaplier: 5

PICK 3 THURSDAY

PICK 4 THURSDAY

0-3-5 and 1-5-6

6-4-6-8 and 7-0-1-5

SPCA PET OF THE WEEK Marcy, a 7-month-old tricolored female boxer mix, is available for adoption at the Sumter SPCA. She is sweet, loving, affectionate, gentle, playful and active. She is great with other dogs, children and even cats. Marcy is extremely sweet-natured and adores attention. She would make a great family dog. The Sumter SPCA is located at 1140 S. Guignard Drive, (803) 773-9292, and is open 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except Wednesday and Sunday. Visit the website at www.sumterscspca. com.

SECTION

Texans DE Clowney shut down for season

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Call: (803) 774-1241 | E-mail: sports@theitem.com

PREP BASKETBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

One more step

McGee in limbo after UAB cuts program BY DENNIS BRUNSON dennis@theitem.com Alonzo McGee had a “whirlwind romance” with the University of Alabama-Birmingham football program less than a year ago. UAB hired Bill Clark as its new head coach on Jan. 22; he and his staff saw film of McGee, a linebacker at Georgia Military College, liked what it saw and brought him in for a visit the following weekend. The Blazers offered and McGee signed on Feb. 5, two weeks to the day from Clark’s hiring. McGee, a former MCGEE Crestwood High School standout, is now looking for another school to attend, but not because of dissension or discord between himself and the coaches. Instead it’s because the school’s administration chose to shut down the program on Tuesday. “It really just kind of came out of the blue,” McGee said on Thursday. “Now I have to go through the recruiting process again.” University President Ray Watts met with the team on Tuesday and told it of his decision to close the program. UAB cited a 16-page report indicating it would cost at least another $49 million over the next five years to field a competitive football team. He didn’t think the university could handle that, so UAB became the first school since Pacific in 1995 to close its football program. McGee said he had heard some rumblings about the possibility of the program shutting down. However, the Blazers went 6-6 this season, their best record in 10 years, and became bowl eligible on Saturday with a 45-24 victory over Southern Mississippi.

Defending 3A lower state champion Lady Knights return 9 with eyes set on 1st title BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER michaelc@theitem.com Expectations are high for the Crestwood High School varsity girls basketball team following a historic, but disappointing, finish last year. The Lady Knights went 25-4 on the season played for the 3A state title, losing 56-44 to Dreher in the title game. Crestwood entered this year with a preseason No. 2 ranking by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association and return nine players from last year’s squad. “I think some of the girls were nervous and others were just happy to be there, but we now know what it takes to win the game and to get to that level, and to get back takes a lot of hard work,” Crestwood head coach Tony Wilson said of this season’s expectations. “I told them we’re ranked preseason No. 2 and people know about Crestwood. People know Crestwood had a young team (last year) and a lot of people don’t expect us to get back, but I keep telling them we can’t get back because of what people say. We just have to go out there and play hard day in and day out every day to get back to that level.” Crestwood opened its season on Tuesday with a 57-43 victory over 1A Timmonsville. It will play at 4A Sumter today beginning at 6 p.m. The Lady Gamecocks are 3-1 under firstyear head coach Jason Loudenslager. “We know it’s a rivalry game, but I told the girls not to put too much emphasis on the Sumter game,” Wilson said.

SEE MCGEE, PAGE B3

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Crestwood’s Shaquandra Miller-McCray (30) and the rest of the Lady Knights have high expectations again this season, returning nine players from last year’s 3A state runner-up squad. CHS was SEE STEP, PAGE B5 ranked second overall in 3A in the preseason coaches rankings.

Crestwood boys off to fast start BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER michaelc@theitem.com The Crestwood High School varsity boys basketball team went 6-13 last season, 4-6 in Region VI-3A. The Knights are already very close to matching that victory total with a 4-0 start. “We went down and played well in a Thanksgiving tournament in Georgetown,” Knights head coach Dwayne Edwards said of the Steel Town Shoottout. “We’re just trying to work on some things and improve on building unity. I think this beginning is more because of the team chemistry.” After going 3-0 in the Georgetown tournament, Crestwood beat 1A Timmonsville 81-47 on Tuesday. The Knights face a major test today as they face Sumter High at the SHS gymnasium. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 5 in the 4A boys preseason poll by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association. “We know going into that game it’s going to be a battle,” Edwards explained. “It’s your crosstown rival and last year they beat us two games to one and this

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Devin Nelson (22) and the rest of the Crestwood boys basketball team are off to a 4-0 start this season and have thrived on an all-around team game thus far. year we just hope we play well. When you play your crosstown rival anything can happen and we want to continue to play competi-

tive.” The Gamecocks opened their season on Tuesday with a 63-54 victory over 3A Lower Richland.

The Knights will carry 14 players on the roster, with half returning from last

SEE START, PAGE B5

Playoff scenarios: Who makes it if things get weird? BY RALPH D. RUSSO The Associated Press The 12-member College Football Playoff selection committee will gather Saturday in Texas to watch the final weekend of the season play out and then rank the top 25 teams in the country. The top four will compete for the national championship in the sport’s first ever playoff. How difficult the committee’s job will be depends on the outcome of about a half dozen games to be played today and Saturday. “At that point, we will have had a season long body of work to evaluate, in addition to knowing who the conference champions are,’’ committee chairman Jeff Long said. The top four heading into the weekend are in order: Alabama, Oregon, TCU and Florida State. If they all take care of business, there is a good chance that will be the top four on Sunday, too. Probably. Maybe? But what happens if things don’t go as expected? Let’s dive into the possibilities. What happens if ....

MISSOURI BEATS ALABAMA? The unthinkable — at least for

SEE SCENARIOS, PAGE B3

SPORTS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

BOYS AREA ROUNDUP

Furman Middle slips by Chestnut Oaks 43-41 Furman improved to 2-0 on the season after holding off Chestnut Oaks 43-41 on Thursday at the Indians gymnasium. Niquan Steeterson led Furman with 13 points and six assists. Trayvious Epps pitched in a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards. Treshawn Moore added nine points and 10 rebounds. Allan Clark had four points and seven rebounds. Furman will host Alice Drive on Monday. ALICE DRIVE 69 HILLCREST 41

DALZELL — Keonte Gregg had 22 points and eight assists as Alice Drive defeated Hillcest by a score of 69-41 on Thursday at the Wildcats gymnasium. Kwaleek Jones had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Naquan Mickens added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. O’Donnell Fortune finished with eight points and six rebounds. The Hawks will return to action on Monday as they travel to Furman to battle the In-

dians. LEE CENTRAL 68 C.E. MURRAY 19

Lee Central picked up its first victory of the season with a 68-19 win over C.E. Murray on Thursday. Javonte McCloud led the Stallions with 16 points. Deablo Harry had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Johnson added 10 points. LC travels Wednesday to play Alice Drive at 5:30 p.m. in a boys only contest.

B TEAM BASKETBALL SUMTER 43 CRESTWOOD 32 Sumter High’s B boys team picked up its first victory of the season on Thursday with a 43-32 victory over Crestwood. Randall Wilson led the Gamecocks with 16 points and Ronald McGee pitched in 10. SHS will host Spring Valley on Monday.

JV BOYS BASKETBALL WILSON HALL 38 FLORENCE CHRISTIAN 13 Wilson Hall picked up its first victory of

the season on Thursday with a 38-13 victory at Nash Student Center. The Barons were led by Corbin Bruce’s seven points while Jacob Cotton added six. WH travels to Heathwood Hall today. LAKEWOOD 46 CAMDEN 36

Keonte Pack had 12 points and Gary Sanders added 11 to help the JV Gators to a 46-36 season-opening victory on Wednesday. Lakewood will travel to face Lee Central at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

VARSITY BASKETBALL TRINITY-BYRNES 100 ST. FRANCIS XAVIER 52 Saint Francis Xavier got 29 points from Dalton Foreman but fell 100-52 to Trinity-Byrnes on Wednesday at the Birnie Hope Center. The Padres will travel to West Florence today to play in a Christmas tournament at 5:30 p.m. SFX Foreman 29, Meyers 6, Smith 2, McFadden 4, Rickabaugh 4, Eugh 5, Hartwood 2.

GIRLS AREA ROUNDUP

Taylor, Alice Drive edge Hillcrest DALZELL — Teniesha Taylor’s 15 points helped Alice Drive Middle School edge Hillcrest 29-27 on Thursday at the Wildcats gymnasium. Tamerah Brown added 12 points in the win for the Lady Hawks. LEE CENTRAL 41 C.E. MURRAY 13

Crestwood picked up its first victory of the season after holding off Sumter 19-18 on Thursday. Keonna McElveen led the JV Knights with 12 points. CHS will play next Thursday at Sumter. WILSON HALL 29

Lee Central picked up its first victory of the season with a 41-13 victory over C.E. Murray on Thursday. The Lady Stallions were led by Robionne Myer’s 16 points while Brynasia Wesley added nine.

JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL CRESTWOOD 19 SUMTER 18

FLORENCE CHRISTIAN 11

Wilson Hall improved to 3-0 with a 29-11 victory over Florence Christian School on Thursday at Nash Student Center. Diamond Crawford led the Lady Barons with eight points while Mary Daniel Stokes added six. WH will travel to Heathwood Hall today.

THE SUMTER ITEM

SCOREBOARD TV, RADIO TODAY

6 a.m. – Professional Golf: European PGA Tour Nedbank Challenge Second Round from Sun City, South Africa (GOLF). 2 p.m. -- NHL Hockey: St. Louis at Nashville (FOX SPORTSOUTH). 2 p.m. -- PGA Golf: Hero World Challenge Second Round from Windermere, Fla. (GOLF). 5 p.m. -- Women’s College Soccer: NCAA Women’s College Cup Semifinal Match from Boca Raton, Fla. -- Virginia vs. Texas A&M (ESPNU). 6:05 p.m. -- Talk Show: Sports Talk (WPUB-FM 102.7, WDXY-FM 105.9, WDXY-AM 1240). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: SEC/Big 12 Challenge -- Texas at Kentucky (ESPN). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: Wyoming at Southern Methodist (ESPNEWS). 7 p.m. -- College Football: Mid-American Conference Championship Game from Detroit -- Bowling Green vs. Northern Illinois (ESPN2). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: Florida International at Louisville (FOX SPORTSOUTH). 7 p.m. -- NBA Basketball: Denver at Washington (NBA TV). 7 p.m. -- NBA Basketball: New York at Charlotte (SPORTSOUTH). 7:30 p.m. -- Women’s College Soccer: NCAA Women’s College Cup Semifinal Match from Boca Raton, Fla. -- Florida State vs. Stanford (ESPNU). 8 p.m. -- College Hockey: Boston College at New Hampshire (NBC SPORTS NETWORK). 9 p.m. -- College Football: Pacific-12 Conference Championship Game from Santa Clara, Calif. -- Washington vs. Arizona (WACH 57). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: SEC/Big 12 Challenge -- Florida at Kansas (ESPN). 9 p.m. -- College Hockey: Penn State at Wisconsin (ESPNEWS). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: Coastal Carolina at Auburn (FOX SPORTSOUTH). 9 p.m. -- NASCAR Racing: Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony from Las Vegas (FOX SPORTS 1). 9:30 p.m. -- College Basketball: SEC/Big 12 Challenge -- Missouri at Oklahoma (ESPNU). 10 p.m. -- NBA Basketball: Indiana at Sacramento (NBA TV). 3 a.m. – Professional Golf: European PGA Tour Nedbank Challenge Third Round from Sun City, South Africa (GOLF).

PREP SCHEDULE TODAY

Varsity Basketball Crestwood at Sumter, 6 p.m. Scott’s Branch at Lakewood, 6 p.m. Lee Central at Lamar, 6 p.m. Varsity and JV Basketball Manning at East Clarendon, 4 p.m. Wilson Hall at Heathwood Hall, 4 p.m. Laurence Manning at Pinewood Prep, 4 p.m. Robert E. Lee at Pee Dee, 4 p.m. Sumter Christian vs. Northside Christian (in Northside Tournament in North Charleston), noon B Team Basketball Wilson Hall at Heathwood Hall, 4 p.m. Varsity Sporting Clays Wilson Hall in Sporting Clays Tournament (at Backwoods Quail Club in Nesbitt), TBA Varsity Wrestling Sumter in Southern Slam (at Eastside High in Greenville), TBA

SATURDAY

Varsity Basketball Sumter Christian in Northside Tournament (in North Charleston), TBA Varsity and JV Basketball Lakewood at Lee Central, 4 p.m. Varsity Wrestling Sumter in Southern Slam (at Eastside High in Greenville), TBA

Thursday At Isleworth Golf and Country Club Windermere, Fla. Purse: $3.5 million Yardage: 7,354; Par: 72 (36-36) First Round Jordan Spieth 31-35—66 Zach Johnson 37-30—67 Steve Stricker 34-33—67 Rickie Fowler 36-31—67 Henrik Stenson 34-33—67 Graeme McDowell 34-34—68 Hideki Matsuyama 36-32—68 Jimmy Walker 34-34—68 Matt Kuchar 37-32—69 Bubba Watson 34-35—69 Chris Kirk 37-33—70 Hunter Mahan 37-34—71 Jason Day 37-34—71 Keegan Bradley 34-38—72 Justin Rose 38-34—72 Billy Horschel 38-35—73 Patrick Reed 36-37—73 Tiger Woods 41-36—77

NBA STANDINGS By The Associated Press

Woods stumbles to a 77 in return

ATLANTIC DIVISION

BRAVES SIGN FORMER ANGELS RELIEVER KOHN

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves have agreed to terms with right-hander Michael Kohn on a one-year deal. The minor-league contract includes an invitation to the Braves’ spring training.

The 28-year-old Kohn was 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA in 25 relief appearances with the Los Angeles Angels last season. He missed the 2012 season following Tommy John surgery. He has a 5-6 career record with five saves in four seasons with the Angels. He appeared in a career-high 63 games and had a 3.74 ERA in 2013. JUNIOR WINS MYERS BROTHERS AWARD

LAS VEGAS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won NASCAR’s prestigious Myers Brothers Award given to a person who makes significant contributions to the sport. The award was named after short-track drivers Billy and Bobby Myers and has been presented annually since 1958. It is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association. Earnhardt this year won the Nationwide Series championship as a car owner with Chase Elliott. He also made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship and won four races. LSU 74 (16) WEST VIRGINIA 73

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Reserve guard Tim Quarterman scored 21 points and Josh Gray made the

game-winning layup with 7.4 seconds left to help LSU upset No. 16 West Virginia 74-73 on Thursday night. Jarell Martin had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers (6-2), who overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half. Keith Hornsby scored 15. The Mountaineers were led by Juwan Staten’s 17 points. USC UPSTATE 65 NORTH CAROLINA A&T 54

SPARTANBURG — Ty Greene scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field to lead USC Upstate to a 65-54 victory over North Carolina A&T. Michael Buchanan came off the bench to add 11 points and five boards for the Spartans (7-2). Fred Miller finished with 10 points, five rebounds. CHARLESTON SO. 105 COLUMBIA INT. 55

CHARLESTON — Saah Nimley scored 21 points, including four 3-pointers, Arlon Harper added 17 points, and Charleston Southern handily beat Columbia International 105-55. Javis Howard scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Buccaneers (5-2). From wire reports

-6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -3 -3 -2 -1 -1 E E +1 +1 +5

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Washington Atlanta Miami Orlando Charlotte CENTRAL DIVISION Chicago Cleveland Milwaukee Indiana Detroit

W 15 8 5 4 1

L 4 9 11 15 17

Pct .789 .471 .313 .211 .056

GB – 6 8 1/2 11 13 1/2

W 12 11 9 7 4

L 5 6 9 14 15

Pct .706 .647 .500 .333 .211

GB – 1 3 1/2 7 9

W 12 9 10 7 3

L 7 7 10 11 16

Pct .632 .563 .500 .389 .158

GB – 1 1/2 2 1/2 4 1/2 9

L 3 4 5 5 8

Pct .833 .778 .750 .722 .500

GB – 1 1 2 6

L 4 9 13 14 13

Pct .778 .500 .278 .263 .235

GB – 5 9 9 1/2 9 1/2

L 2 5 8 9 14

Pct .882 .722 .579 .500 .263

GB – 2 1/2 5 6 1/2 11

WESTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHWEST DIVISION W Memphis 15 Houston 14 Dallas 15 San Antonio 13 New Orleans 8 NORTHWEST DIVISION W Portland 14 Denver 9 Oklahoma City 5 Utah 5 Minnesota 4 PACIFIC DIVISION W Golden State 15 L.A. Clippers 13 Phoenix 11 Sacramento 9 L.A. Lakers 5

AMERICAN CONFERENCE EAST New England Miami Buffalo N.Y. Jets SOUTH Indianapolis Houston Tennessee Jacksonville NORTH Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh Cleveland WEST Denver San Diego Kansas City Oakland

W 9 7 7 2

L 3 5 5 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .583 .583 .167

PF 378 301 264 190

PA 253 232 217 319

W 8 6 2 2

L 4 6 10 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .667 .500 .167 .167

PF 382 287 213 186

PA 283 247 338 329

W 8 7 7 7

L 3 5 5 5

T 1 0 0 0

Pct .708 .583 .583 .583

PF 260 328 320 252

PA 247 242 298 245

W 9 8 7 1

L 3 4 5 11

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .667 .583 .083

PF 361 279 277 176

PA 276 249 224 337

NATIONAL CONFERENCE EAST Philadelphia Dallas N.Y. Giants Washington SOUTH Atlanta New Orleans Carolina Tampa Bay NORTH Green Bay Detroit Chicago Minnesota WEST Arizona Seattle San Francisco St. Louis

W 9 8 3 3

L 3 4 9 9

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .667 .250 .250

PF 375 302 257 244

PA 285 273 319 322

W 5 5 3 2

L 7 7 8 10

T 0 0 1 0

Pct .417 .417 .292 .167

PF 291 323 228 220

PA 299 318 331 314

W 9 8 5 5

L 3 4 7 7

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .667 .417 .417

PF 380 231 253 233

PA 267 207 337 257

W 9 8 7 5

L 3 4 5 7

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .667 .583 .417

PF 258 298 231 261

PA 224 221 244 285

THURSDAY’S GAME

Dallas at Chicago (late)

SUNDAY’S GAMES

N.Y. Giants at Tennessee, 1 p.m. Carolina at New Orleans, 1 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. St. Louis at Washington, 1 p.m. Baltimore at Miami, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Tampa Bay at Detroit, 1 p.m. Houston at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Buffalo at Denver, 4:05 p.m. Kansas City at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. San Francisco at Oakland, 4:25 p.m. Seattle at Philadelphia, 4:25 p.m. New England at San Diego, 8:30 p.m.

MONDAY’S GAME

Atlanta at Green Bay, 8:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, DEC. 11

Arizona at St. Louis, 8:25 p.m.

ATLANTIC DIVISION GP Tampa Bay 26 Montreal 27 Detroit 25 Toronto 24 Boston 26 Florida 23 Ottawa 24 Buffalo 25 METROPOLITAN DIVISION GP Pittsburgh 24 N.Y. Islanders 25 N.Y. Rangers 24 Washington 24 New Jersey 25 Philadelphia 25 Carolina 24 Columbus 24

W L OT Pts 17 6 3 37 17 8 2 36 14 6 5 33 13 8 3 29 14 11 1 29 10 7 6 26 10 9 5 25 9 14 2 20

GF 92 70 77 81 63 50 63 45

GA 69 68 65 72 63 58 66 77

W 17 18 11 10 9 8 8 7

GF 82 80 71 68 58 66 56 54

GA 55 67 70 69 72 81 69 84

GF 65 67 78 55 67 73 67

GA 48 55 49 58 56 89 79

L OT Pts 5 2 36 7 0 36 9 4 26 10 4 24 12 4 22 13 4 20 13 3 19 15 2 16

WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION Nashville St. Louis Chicago Winnipeg Minnesota Dallas Colorado PACIFIC DIVISION

GP 24 25 25 26 24 25 25

GP Anaheim 27 Vancouver 25 Calgary 26 Los Angeles 25 San Jose 26 Arizona 26 Edmonton 26 NOTE: Two points overtime loss.

W L OT Pts 16 6 2 34 16 7 2 34 16 8 1 33 13 9 4 30 14 9 1 29 9 11 5 23 9 11 5 23 W 16 17 16 13 12 10 6 for

L OT Pts GF GA 6 5 37 76 72 7 1 35 79 69 8 2 34 83 66 7 5 31 67 57 10 4 28 70 71 13 3 23 64 81 15 5 17 58 90 a win, one point for

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Anaheim 5, Philadelphia 4, SO Minnesota 2, Montreal 1 Chicago 4, St. Louis 1 Winnipeg 3, Edmonton 2, OT

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Vancouver at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Washington at Carolina, 7 p.m. New Jersey at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Dallas at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Columbus at Florida, 7:30 p.m. St. Louis at Nashville, 8 p.m. Colorado at Calgary, 9 p.m. Los Angeles at Arizona, 9 p.m. Boston at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAMES

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Washington 111, L.A. Lakers 95 Chicago 102, Charlotte 95 Atlanta 112, Miami 102 Boston 109, Detroit 102, OT Brooklyn 95, San Antonio 93, OT Houston 105, Memphis 96 Dallas 107, Milwaukee 105 Philadelphia 85, Minnesota 77 Toronto 123, Utah 104 L.A. Clippers 114, Orlando 86

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Cleveland at New York, 8 p.m. Indiana at Portland, 10 p.m. New Orleans at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAMES

NFL STANDINGS By The Associated Press

EASTERN CONFERENCE

HERO WORLD CHALLENGE PAR SCORES

Toronto Brooklyn Boston New York Philadelphia SOUTHEAST DIVISION

Philadelphia at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Golden State at Chicago, 8 p.m. Phoenix at Houston, 8 p.m. Minnesota at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. Orlando at Sacramento, 10 p.m. New Orleans at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

NHL STANDINGS By The Associated Press

GOLF The Associated Press

SPORTS ITEMS

WINDERMERE, Fla. — Tiger Woods took on any shot without pain or worry Thursday, a feeling he hasn’t had on the golf course in a long time. As for his short game? He hadn’t seen anything like it in longer than he can remember, and it was shocking. Woods flubbed four chips. He took two shots to get out of a bunker on the par-5 seventh hole. He didn’t have a birdie putt inside 20 feet until the 11th hole. And on the four birdie chances he had inside 10 feet on the back nine, he made only one of them. And that was a tap-in. In his first competition in nearly four months, Woods wound up with a 5-over 77 at Isleworth, his home course for his first 16 years as a pro. That put him in last place in the 18-man field, 11 shots behind Jordan Spieth, who is coming off a runaway victory last week in the Australian Open.

Indiana at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Oklahoma City at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Denver at Washington, 7 p.m. New York at Charlotte, 7 p.m. Cleveland at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Boston, 7:30 p.m. Atlanta at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. San Antonio at Memphis, 8 p.m. Houston at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Phoenix at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Miami at Milwaukee, 8:30 p.m. Orlando at Utah, 9 p.m.

Anaheim at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Colorado at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Montreal at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. St. Louis at N.Y. Islanders, 1 p.m. Philadelphia at Los Angeles, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Toronto, 7 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Detroit, 7 p.m. Columbus at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. Buffalo at Florida, 7 p.m. Washington at New Jersey, 7 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 7 p.m. Montreal at Dallas, 7 p.m. Boston at Arizona, 8 p.m. San Jose at Calgary, 10 p.m.

TRANSACTIONS By The Associated Press BASEBALL

American League SEATTLE MARINERS _ Agreed to terms with OF Nelson Cruz on a four-year contract. TEXAS RANGERS _ Agreed to terms with RHP Colby Lewis on a one-year contract and LHP Michael Kirkman on a minor league contract. Named Jason Wood manager of Round Rock (PCL); Joe Mikulik manager of Frisco (TL); Spike Owen manager and Bobby Rose hitting coach of High Desert (Cal); Jose Perez hitting coach of Hickory (SAL); Dustin Vissering trainer of Spokane (NWL); and Salomon Manriquez hitting coach and Alex Rodriguez trainer of the AZL Rangers. TORONTO BLUE JAYS _ Agreed to terms with OF Ezequiel Carrera on a minor league contract. National League ATLANTA BRAVES _ Agreed to terms with RHP Michael Kohn on a minor league contract.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

THE SUMTER ITEM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

MCGEE FROM PAGE B1 “We thought with the season we had that they would keep the program going,” McGee said. “We had our best record in 10 years, and we’ve got a chance to go to a bowl game. We thought we moving in the right direction. We were caught off guard and I think the coaches were too.” McGee said that the team had bonded in taking the program to another level with the first-year coaching staff. “This has just been really hard,” McGee said. “To come out here with these coaches, to be part of this team; we’re like a family. Our goal was to win conference (UAB is a member of Conference USA) next year. “This feels like a death in the family. We’ve had a lot of support from fans, but this really did hurt.” McGee played in all 12 games, starting three of them. He split time at linebacker, and is tied for sixth in tackles with 42 and is fifth in solo stops with 30. He has five tackles for loss, one quarterback sack, two hurries, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one pass broken up and one defended. McGee said he has already been contacted by several Football Bowl Subdivision schools, like UAB about transferring. McGee would be able to play immediately and has two years of eligibility remaining. He’s heard from Georgia State, Appalachian State, Arizona, Hawaii and Georgia Southern and hopes to get more offers. While the contact from Arizona, which is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, is intriguing, McGee said he wants to stay in the Southeast and play for an FBS school. “If that doesn’t work out, I’ll just stay in school, get my degree and not play football,” he said. McGee hopes to make the decision within the next couple of weeks. UAB will find out this weekend if it will receive a bowl bid. McGee said if the Blazers are to be considered for a bowl they need No. 22 Boise State to beat Fresno State in the Mountain West Conference championship game and No. 18 Oklahoma to beat Oklahoma State on Saturday. The bowl bids will be announced on Sunday.

SCENARIOS FROM PAGE B1 many down South. There is a very real possibility the Southeastern Conference would be left out of the playoff. Missouri is ranked 16th in the latest playoff rankings. That’s a long way to go to get in the four-team field. The committee clearly is not loving Missouri’s ugly losses (at home against Indiana and 34-0 to Georgia), so it’s doubtful it will forgive Alabama for losing to the Tigers and allow the Crimson Tide to back into the field. If the Tigers pull an upset, the SEC is going to need a lot of help. The Crimson Tide is favored by 14.5.

ARIZONA BEATS OREGON? The Wildcats are seventh in the rankings, heading into a rematch with Oregon Friday. Two wins away from home against the Ducks would be like holding a pair of aces: tough to beat. It could come down to a resume contest between Baylor and/or Ohio State and Arizona. Don’t bet against the Wildcats making the big jump. The Pac-12 and

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain, left, has been hired by Florida as its next head football coach. McElwain officially accepted the job Wednesday after working out a deal to reduce his $7.5 million buyout.

Florida hires McElwain away from Colorado St. BY MARK LONG The Associated Press GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley wanted a coach with an offensive track record of success. Foley even agreed to pay extra to get him. After working though a sticky buyout issue, Jim McElwain left Colorado State on Thursday to become Florida’s next head coach. “It’s an honor to be a part of the one of most powerful brands in college athletics in the Florida Gators,’’ McElwain said in a statement. “I’m humbled, yet very excited about the tremendous opportunity. I can’t tell you how eager I

am to get to Gainesville to set a course for who we are going to be and what we will be all about.’’ The Gators announced the hiring at the same time McElwain started a team meeting with players and assistants. Reporters heard a loud ovation before McElwain exited the room in tears. McElwain agreed to a sixyear deal at Florida that will average $3.5 million annually. He made $1.5 million this season at Colorado State. “Coach McElwain was someone we targeted from the beginning of the search,’’ Foley said. “The more we worked through the process and did our due diligence, coupled with our

commissioner Larry Scott are touting their championship as a playoff play-in game. They might be right. Despite losing the first game, Oregon is favored by 14.5.

considering who those teams are playing, that doesn’t seem so like such a stretch. Florida State is favored by 4.

GEORGIA TECH BEATS FLORIDA STATE?

The Horned Frogs got a pass for squeaking by at Kansas last month. That can’t happen again against a 30-point underdog at home. If it does, it would open the door for either Baylor or Ohio State to replace the Frogs in the top four. With the Bears and Buckeyes in position to add marquee wins to their resumes, the third-ranked Horned Frogs better exert some serious game control against the Cyclones.

Considering the fourthplace and unbeaten Seminoles have been dropping when they win, there’s no doubt they’d be done with a loss. Georgia Tech is 11th and beating Florida State would mean finishing the season with three straight wins against ranked teams. The Yellow Jackets would probably need Baylor (vs. Kansas State) and Ohio State (vs. Wisconsin) to lose to reach the top four, but

TCU STRUGGLES TO BEAT IOWA STATE?

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meeting and conversations with him and those around him, it was obvious he is the right person to lead the Florida Gator football program.’’ McElwain accepted the job after working with Colorado State to reduce his $7.5 million buyout. Florida will pay the Rams $3 million over six years. McElwain will pay $2 million over time. The Gators also guaranteed Colorado State $2 million for a game in Gainesville between 2017 and 2020. ESPN first reported the hiring. “We wish him well and are confident we can recruit a coach who is committed to a sustained program of excellence at Colo-

Three of the top four teams lose? Assuming it won’t be TCU, the Big 12 would be looking good to get two teams in the field. TCU, Baylor, Ohio State and Arizona sounds about right in this scenario. If Baylor were to lose to K-State, the ninth-ranked Wildcats could become a viable option, though that scenario probably allows Georgia Tech to squeeze through.

ALABAMA, OHIO STATE AND BAYLOR LOSE? This is how Missouri could get in. Assuming Arizona and Georgia Tech also lose, the final spot with Florida State, TCU and Oregon comes down to Missouri, Kansas State and Wisconsin. Michigan State

rado State over the long term,’’ Frank said. Florida fired Muschamp on Nov. 16. He agreed to coach the final two regularseason games and finished with a 28-21 record in four seasons. McElwain went 22-16 in three seasons at Colorado State. He was Alabama’s offensive coordinator for four years, helping the Tide win two national titles, before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado. He took over a program that went 3-9 for three consecutive seasons (2009-11), but has enjoyed a quick turnaround since his arrival. The Rams went 4-8 in 2012 and 8-6 last year before this season’s breakthrough performance.

(eighth) and Mississippi State (10th) would likely come back into the conversation, but neither would have the conference championship that those other three would have on their resumes. And what team would have a better win than Missouri if it takes down the committee’s No. 1 team on a neutral field?

THE TOP 6 TEAMS ALL LOSE? Long and his crew might have to pull an all-nighter. The questions with this doomsday scenario are: Could it allow Alabama to back in? Would Mississippi State and/ or Michigan State get in? And how bad will the TV ratings be for a final four of Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kansas State and Wisconsin or Missouri?

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SPORTS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

MARK MY WORDS

THE SUMTER ITEM

PRO FOOTBALL

Consider what really makes a sports hero F

or me it was Roger Maris, and for Eddie across the street it was Mickey Mantle. He liked Bart Starr, I liked Johnny Unitas. I liked Jerry West and Pete Maravich and he liked, well, Eddie did not like basketball. Having become a Sumter native, I wish my baseball idol could have been Bobby Richardson. It would have made the story better, but even still, I was a Yankees fan so Bobby got plenty of notice. I was in Mariachis Mexican restaurant about a year ago and was standing in line waiting to pay for my meal and struck up a happenstance conversation with a gentleman who was also waiting to pay. He actually engaged me once he heard Michael (Pereira, fellow PTC professional) and me talking about Darryl Dawkins, the former professional basketball player. The gentleman interjected, “My friend actually tried to recruit him.” “Do you coach basketball,” I asked. “No, no,” he replied, “I used to coach baseball. I just remember my friend talking about how great it would be to get him to come to Carolina.” Puzzled, I pressed on and extended my hand. “Hi, I’m pleased to meet you. I am Mark Rearden, who are you.” “Great to meet you too, Mark. I am Bobby Richardson.” Most of you lifelong Sumter natives have had the chance to meet Bobby Richardson, hear him speak, become an acquaintance or you lucky few have had him teach you how to play baseball. For me, it was somewhat of a surreal moment. After almost regaining my poise, I told him it was an honor to meet him, and I tried to think of something to say that let him know I was a hardcore Yankees fan. My mind went blank. I had nothing. I choked big time. We paid our bills and went our separate ways. As soon as Michael and I got in the car, I had stats, years, teammates, World Series info, all of it. And I immediately projected my own performance anxiety onto Michael! “You have no idea what a big deal that was. We just met one of the best baseball players of all time.” Michael was kind in not saying he could tell by how badly I locked up. So where am I headed here. Well, I want to talk a bit about hero worship. As sports fans, we all have players who we put on a pedestal. For you folks who are my age, we had the luxury of watching our heroes without the 24-hour news cycle finding a way to taint every single one of them. Sometimes I think there are things we just don’t need to know. I am not talking about the million dollar thugs who beat up their

wives, who take guns into restaurants and who think it is OK to take what makes them feared in sports out into the real world. I am just saying we Mark don’t need to know Rearden every time one of them takes a wrong turn. I don’t think any of us could stand up to that kind of scrutiny. I think it is really difficult for kids today to find heroes in the sports world who don’t eventually let them down in some way. Our kids are constantly on the computer looking up one thing or another. If they read everything that is out there about their player they will eventually find something on this end of the spectrum that is unflattering, all the way to the other end that defines their hero as criminal or deviant in some way. So how do we keep our kids’ feelings about such things safe from the likely letdown that may come from a fallen hero? We begin by asking them what it is they like about this person or player. Is it their athletic prowess they adore? Is it how they carry themselves on and off the field? Your child may think you are a major league goober for asking such questions, but if it causes them to consider why they like this person, it may pay dividends in other areas down the road (choice of spouse comes to mind). Knowing why we feel the way we do is not always easy to get at, but it is very beneficial. Bobby Richardson was not my favorite Yankee when I was a lad. He is now because I recognize he was worthy of hero worship. How do I know? Because every person I have ever spoken with here says so. Sumter is truly fortunate it has a sports legend who we don’t have to manage conversation about. We can talk about him unfettered. We don’t have to dance around the time he was caught doing this or that. Recently I was fortunate to hear another of my heroes. This man was not a sports figure and many in Sumter had never heard of him. His name is Ravi Zacharias. He is one of the leading authorities on Christian Apologetics. Simply stated, he knows practically all there is to know about the defense of the faith. He spoke at Wilson Hall School and captivated all who were there. Let’s all hope we can point our kids toward men like these who are truly worthy of our praise.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Overall top NFL draft pick and former South Carolina standout Jadeveon Clowney (90) will have to undergo a second knee surgery and is done for the season.

Top overall pick Clowney out for season with 2nd knee surgery BY KRISTIE RIEKEN The Associated Press HOUSTON — Top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney will have a second surgery on his right knee, ending his rookie season for the Houston Texans after just three games. Clowney visited Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Florida, on Wednesday to have the knee examined and coach Bill O’Brien announced the news on Thursday. “This guy’s been injured and it’s time to clean it up and get him back to feeling good and get him back on the field as soon as we can,’’ O’Brien said. The outside linebacker was injured in Week 1 and had arthroscopic surgery Sept. 8. He has played three games since then, but has never completely recovered from the procedure and said last week that he’s still in a lot of pain. O’Brien lauded the 21-year-old for trying to fight through this injury and stay on the field. He saw his most extensive action of the season

against the Bengals on Nov. 23 when he was in for about 50 plays and had three tackles, including one for a loss. But he experienced swelling in his knee after that and missed his eighth game of the year last week. “He’s a tough kid,’’ O’Brien said. “He tried to go out there and play in the Cincinnati game. He came back in the first Tennessee game — he really wanted to play. He really wanted to be out there for his teammates. But at the end of the day he wasn’t able to do the things that he really wants to do to be the player that he can be.’’ O’Brien wouldn’t give details of Clowney’s surgery or when it will be performed. Clowney didn’t speak to the media on Thursday, but O’Brien talked about how he’s dealing with his latest setback. “He wants to play football. He wants to be good so I think he was disappointed right off the bat,’’ O’Brien said. “But I think he understands what he has to do and why this is necessary and he knows that

he has to rehab hard and get back out there.’’ Clowney has had a difficult time since Houston took him first in this year’s draft, eager to put him on a defense already featuring rush specialist J.J. Watt. He left a dual practice Aug. 20 after a helmet-to-helmet hit with Denver Broncos tight end Jacob Tamme. He missed the Texans’ final two preseason games, but said he passed the NFL protocols for head injuries in just over a week. He had to sit out the beginning of camp, too, after offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia. The Texans drafted Clowney after a threeyear career at South Carolina in which he had 130 tackles, 24 sacks, 47 tackles for losses and 20 quarterback pressures. He also caused a school-record nine fumbles and deflected seven passes. The 6-foot-5, 266pound Clowney also set a school record with 13 sacks in 2012. Houston will continue relying on Whitney Mercilus to fill in for Clowney on Sunday at Jacksonville.

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THE SUMTER ITEM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

START

STEP FROM PAGE B1 “Sumter is a crosstown rival, but the Sumter game doesn’t define our season if we’re going to be state champions.” “Sumter always has competitive teams year in and year out. We know each other well and I believe Sumter has won their region for the past three or four years, so we know Sumter is a good team, and playing teams like that is a good challenge and will make us better when region time comes.” Gone from the Crestwood roster is all-state performer Keanua Williams, but returning are the next top two scorers in juniors Cawasha Ceaser and Shaquandra MillerMcCray. Other experienced players include seniors Ladazha Cole, Venecia Nickens, Deandrea Jenkins and Aaliyah McCall along with junior Avis Murphy and sophomores Tyana Saunders and Lindsey Rogers. “Lindsey Rogers was on the team last year and probably would’ve been starting last year at point guard, but she had a torn ACL so she missed the whole year,” Wilson said. “With Tyanna Saunders and Ladazha Cole’s experience and toughness, and now you add Janche Whitfield and Destinee Jamison, I think this year’s team will be deeper at the guard position more so than last year.” Hoping to add more depth to the team are freshmen Jayla Bolden, Whitfield and Jamison. Miller-McCray, who is already getting looks from Arizona, Auburn and other NCAA Division I schools as a junior, will once again be the focus in the post for the Lady Knights. Wilson hopes the development of Murphy and Bolden will help solidify a better inside presence. Wilson feels the team will be quicker and hopes to use its transition game and switch to a full court defensive press to put pressure on its opponents. “We can get to the basket quickly or we can shoot it if they leave us open,” Wilson

FROM PAGE B1

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Crestwood’s Tyana Saunders, right, is one of nine returning players for the Lady Knights as they try to take the final step in what has been a multi-year journey establishing themselves as one of the top programs in 3A. said. “I think we’re more of a press team than we were last year. Last year we were more of a zone team because we weren’t that deep at the guard position like we needed to be.”

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It’s one thing to talk about competing for a state championship and another to execute it. Wilson said he’s told the girls they haven’t accomplished anything yet and in order to earn a championship

they’re going to have to take it. Crestwood has excelled in region play, winning the last three Region VI titles and has won 23 straight region contests.

year’s squad. Edwards said Darnell Robateau, Devin Nelson and Temetrius Morant have led the team in scoring thus far. Add James Brailsford and Gerald Dunn as inside post players to the mix and the Knights have players they look to as leaders—something that didn’t happen a season ago. “We didn’t have that team chemistry that felt like we needed and we didn’t have that leadership,” Edwards said. “And all of that plays into our confidence sometimes when we go into games. We would play good this game and not play good the next game because we just didn’t have those individuals to step up and take that leadership role. “I think we’re stronger this year with leadership and making better decisions from the point guard position and we’re a little more mature in that area. Then we have some post players that are returning from last year that are more experienced.” Nothing has changed offensively or defensively, but rather the team is executing better. Edwards said the team has also prepared for several different types of offenses and defenses. Edwards said every player has contributed thus far and hopes the confidence continues to build as the season goes along. “I really believe we’re a year older and better,” the Knights said. “A lot of them have put the time in over the summer, and we just hope we can build and get better each game. They trust one another and seem at this point to seem to have confidence to play together.”

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NBA

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

Sixers avoid tying futility mark with win over Wolves BY JON KRAWCZYNSKI The Associated Press

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Charlotte’s Lance Stephenson, left, and the rest of the Hornets have struggled to a 4-15 record so far this season despite coming into the year with optimistic expectations.

Hornets, Stephenson off to sluggish start BY STEVE REED The Associated Press CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Hornets brought in Lance Stephenson figuring he’d help take the franchise to the next level. So far the only step the Hornets have taken is backward. Charlotte is 4-15 and mired in a 10-game losing streak, a start coach Steve Clifford called “disappointing.’’ “I thought at this point we would be in a much different place than we are,’’ Clifford said Thursday.

Stephenson has struggled since his arrival in Charlotte, shooting 37.9 percent from the field and a woeful 17.5 percent from 3-point range. The fiery swingman who was brought in to provide a needed weapon in clutch situations has been benched in the fourth quarter three different times this season due to lack of production. Stephenson said it’s been tougher than he thought trying to fit in with new teammates and learning a new system after four seasons in Indiana, but is

starting to get more comfortable with his role. “I have to take time and watch film and learn my new teammates,’’ said Stephenson, adding that he expects his shooting to improve when he gets more familiar with his surroundings. Still, $27 million over three years is a lot to pay a player who is sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter. Stephenson said being removed in those situations at times this season has been a “frustrating’’ experience because he’s so competitive and feels like he can be a factor.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Philadelphia 76ers were 16 seconds into their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Henry Sims was stepping to the free throw line when referee Zach Zarba blew his whistle and stopped the game. Turns out the Sixers were going in the wrong direction, just like they have been all season long. The foul was wiped away, the teams switched sides and the game was restarted and the Sixers got pointed the right way. The 76ers avoided tying the record for the worst start to a season in NBA history, ending their 0-17 skid with an 85-77 victory over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night. A loss to the Timberwolves would have tied the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets for the worst start to a season in league history at 0-18. Many of these Sixers, including point guard Michael Carter-Williams and coach Brett Brown, were part of the team that lost 26 straight games last season, which tied the record for consecutive losses. One-and-17 never felt so good. “For me personally, I think it’s a big relief off my chest,’’ Carter-Williams said. “And the same is for the rest of the guys now that we got a win.’’ Particularly the first one for a team with the youngest roster in league history. “We feel like this validates the work they’ve put in,’’ Brown

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Philadelphia guard Michael CarterWilliams (1) shoots over Minnesota forward Andrew Wiggins, left, and guard Mo Williams during the 76ers’ 85-77 victory on Wednesday in Minneapolis. said. “I just have a tremendous amount of respect for the fact that they never once quit on themselves, short-circuited a practice, and they were rewarded tonight.’’ Carter-Williams had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and Robert Covington added 17 points in a game between two of the worst teams in the league. The Sixers shot just 39 percent against the poorest defense in the NBA, turned the ball over 19 times and scored only nine points in the second quarter.

OBITUARIES RUFUS BENNETT Rufus Bennett was born on Sept. 8, 1954, in Summerton, to the late Charles “Mann” and Mary Rivers Bennett. Rufus was the 10th of 13 children born in a loving Christian home. He departed this life on Dec. 1, 2014, at the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg. Rufus received a formal educaBENNETT tion in the public schools of Clarendon County and graduated from Scott’s Branch High School in Summerton in 1972. At an early age, he accepted Christ and became a member of the Historic Liberty Hill AME Church. Rufus found peace and strength in his daily Bible devotional reading. Rufus was a hard working man devoted to providing for his family. The awesome spirit of Rufus Bennett will be cherished by his devoted wife of 24 years, Debbie Watson Bennett; his blessed children, Rufus (Cheryl) Bennett Jr. of Waldorf, Maryland, Tamika S. Bennett of Silver Spring, Maryland, Shameka Ragin of Georgia, Nicholas Parker of Summerton, Kandriqua Brailsford of Columbia, Alex Bennett of Anderson, and Jesse Bennett and Brianna Bennett of Elloree; his supportive siblings, Charles (Grace) Bennett II of Jamaica, New York, Irene (Gene) Wyatt of Springdale, Maryland, Esau Bennett of Newark, New Jersey, Willie Mae Bennett of Jamaica, New York, Louise Hunter of Bloomfield, Connecticut, Alfred (Margie) Bennett of Lugoff, Shirley Hardy of New York, New York, Harold (Berdina) Bennett of Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Geneva Bennett, Onesa Bennett and Betty Bennett, all of Summerton; adorable grandchildren, Justin, Jaivon, Jordan, Jonathan, Toni, Naquise, Special, Jaiden and ZyNajah; a host of wonderful nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by a sister, Josephine Coard. Funeral services for Mr. Bennett will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Historic Liberty Hill AME Church. Service will be officiated by the Rev. Robert L. China, pastor. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The remains will be placed in the church at 10 a.m. until the hour of the service. Online condolences may be

sent to summertonfuneralhome@gmail.com. Viewing will be held from noon until 6 p.m. today at the funeral home. The family will receive friends at 1968 Jim Ross Road, Summerton. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Summerton Funeral Home LLC, 23 S. Duke St., (803) 485-3755.

JACKIE WATSON Jackie “Blonnie” Watson was born on Nov. 20, 1921, in Summerton, a son of the late Rosa Watson. He departed this earthly life on Nov. 29, 2014, at Lake Marion Nursing Home in Summerton. He was united in holy matrimony to the lovely Novella Pearson- WATSON Watson, who predeceased him. He was a kind and compassionate person, always willing to assist when and wherever he was needed. His gentle spirit will be missed. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Ogretta Watson-Greene; and two sons, Jackie Watson Jr. and Harold Watson. He leaves to cherish his beautiful memory: four sons, James (Romain) Brailsford of Baltimore, Maryland, Robert (Gertrude) Watson of Brooklyn, New York, Elijah (Dorathy) Watson of Yonkers, New York and Eugene (Judy) Watson of New York, New York; five daughters, Rosa Lee (George) Gibbons of Summerton, Artrell Pugh and Odell Johnson, both of New York, and Wonnetta (David) Richardson and Annetta Watson, both of Summerton; a granddaughter he raised as his own, Alfreda Curry of Orangeburg; daughters-in-law, Barbara Watson and Beverly Carter of Miami, Florida; 40 grandchildren; a host of great-grandchildren, greatgreat-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Funeral service for Mr. Watson will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Prayer House Mission Church. Pastor Eartha B. Carter will preside and the Rev. Bobby McDonald will serve as eulogist. Burial will follow in Briggs Chapel Baptist Cemetery. The remains will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. until the hour of the service. Online condolences may be

sent to summertonfuneralhome@gmail.com. Viewing will be held from noon until 6 p.m. today at the funeral home. The family will receive friends at the home of his daughter and son-in-law, Wonnetta (David) Richardson, 1275 Brailsford Lane, Summerton. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Summerton Funeral Home LLC, 23 S. Duke St., (803) 485-3755.

AMANDA L. BENTON SANTEE — Amanda Lane Benton, 35, died on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at the Hospice Center of Charleston. Born on June 28, 1979, in Manning, she was a daughter

of Frances Louise Matthews “Fran” Dantzler (Dane) and Wayne Harlan Benton. She was a member of Cor- BENTON nerstone Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church. She is survived by her mother and stepfather of Santee; her father of Manning; three sons, Cameron Cross, Matthew Dantzler and Ethen Dantzler, all of Santee; two brothers, James Hearne (Lisa) of Florence and Justin Hearne of Manning; a sister, Ann Carroll (Bo) of Tifton, Georgia; maternal grandparents, Ray and Tora Richburg of Manning; four uncles; and

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two aunts. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Foreston Cemetery with the Rev. John Matthews officiating. The family will receive friends at the home of her grandparents, 1461 Calumet Drive, Manning. Memorials may be made to Cornerstone Fellowship Free Will Baptist Church, 2116 Greeleyville Highway, Manning, SC 29102. Stephens Funeral Home & Crematory, 304 N. Church St., Manning, is in charge of arrangements, (803) 435-2179. www.stephensfuneralhome. org

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MARY WILDER Mary Wilder, age 56, entered into eternal rest on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014, at Palmetto Health Richland hospital, Columbia. Born on June 2, 1958, in Clarendon County, she was a daughter of Louise Adger Wilder and the late Pinckney Wilder. She was a member of St. Mark WILDER Missionary Baptist Church, Silver. She leaves to mourn her passing and grow from her memories: her mother, Louise A. Wilder; two sons, Kelvin (Alleyah) Wilder and Hykeem Riley; four brothers, Felix Boston, Pinckney (Shellyanne) Wilder III, Harold (Nanako) Wilder and Kenneth Wilder; nine sisters, Bessie Spence, Barbara Wilder, Thelma Wilder, Cora Shannon, Dorothy Wilder, Betty Lou Richardson, Brenda Watkins, Marguerite Wilder and Linda Shannon; and a host of other close relatives and friends. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, Silver, with the Rev. W.J. Chandler, pastor, officiating. Final resting place will be the St. Mark Church cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. today at Dyson’s Home for Funerals Chapel. Ms. Wilder will be placed in the church one hour prior to the service (noon). The family is receiving friends at the home of her mother, Louise Adger Wilder, 1143 Coard Road, Panola community, Pinewood. Online condolences may be sent to www.dysonshomeforfunerals.com. Professional services entrusted to Dyson’s Home for Funerals, 237 Main St., Summerton, (803) 485-4280.

MARY H. PRINCIPE KEYMAR, Maryland — Mary Hugh Price Principe, 93, died on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014 in Banner Elk, North Carolina, surrounded by her family. Born on July 31, 1921, in Lineville, Alabama, she was a daughter of the late Shadrick Levoid and Nannie Mae Linderman Price and the sister of the late Deward D. Price. She was predeceased by her husband, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Louis F. Principe. They married on Sept. 25, 1943, and she was his lifelong companion during his 22 years of United States Air Force service during World War II, the Occupation of Japan, and the Korean War, as well as his 20 years of service with Sumter Area Technical College and until his death. They were residents of Sumter for more than 33 years and of Columbia and Greenville in retirement. Mrs. Principe worked for Pi Kappa Phi National Fraternity when it was headquartered in Sumter. She volunteered tirelessly at various organizations in all the communities in which they lived. She is survived by her daughters, Donna Principe Dicks and husband, Bill Dicks, of Banner Elk and Nan Principe Crockett and husband, Dennis Crockett, of Keymar; grandchildren, Jennifer Marie Dicks Cantrell and husband, Doug, of Lebanon, Tennessee, Chief Warrant Officer 3 David William Dicks and wife, Tiffany, of Montgomery, Texas, and 2nd Lt. Kathleen Principe Crockett of Keymar; and greatgrandchildren, Madelyn Rose and Jaxon William Cantrell of Lebanon. Memorials may be made to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Pleasant Grove Road, Lineville, AL 36266; The Literacy Council of Sumter, 220 Hasel St., Sumter SC 29150; or the Palmetto Chapter of the American Red Cross, where she served as a bloodmobile volunteer for two decades. A graveside service will be held in the spring of 2015 at Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery in Sumter.

JOSEPH WILSON Joseph Wilson, also known as “Jo-Jo,” was born on Dec. 10, 1957, in Lee

County, to the late Willie Sr. and Elizabeth G. Wilson. He departed this life on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. He was a 1977 graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School, Elliott. Joseph was employed by Florence Concrete Inc. for many years, until his health failed. He had a passion for football as his favorite sport. Joseph leaves to cherish his memories: one son, Terrance Cosby of Bradenton, Florida; five sisters-in-law, Viola Jefferson, Ella (Herman) Brunson of Mayesville, Queen (Raymond) Shaw, Ethel (John) Brunson of Sumter, and Patricia Wilson of the home; two brothers, Willie Jr. (Connie) Wilson of Sumter and Sammie Lee Wilson of the home; one aunt, Lillie Mae Mack of Sumter; one grandaunt, Ethel Cotton of Sumter; two special friends as brothers, Melvin Plowden and Elijah Williams; a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Public viewing will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. today at Job’s Mortuary. Mr. Wilson will be placed in the church at 2 p.m. on Saturday for viewing until the hour of service. Funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Salem Chapel & Heritage Center, 101 S. Salem Ave., Sumter, with Brother Sylvester McCray officiating. Interment will follow in Mayesville Community Cemetery. The family will be receiving friends at the home of his sister, Ethel (John) Brunson, 1910 Saltertown Road, Sumter. Job’s Mortuary Inc., 312 S. Main St., Sumter, is in charge of arrangements. Online memorials may be sent to the family at jobsmortuary@sc.rr.com or visit us on the web at www.jobsmortuary.net.

CHARLES T. FRANKLIN Charles Tony Franklin was born on April 16, 1956, in Sumter, to Vivian B. Franklin and the late Bennie Lee Franklin. He departed this life on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in St. Augustine, Florida. He was a 1974 graduate of Sumter High School, where he played basketball and football. After high school, he joined the United States Air Force as a security force specialist. He traveled nationally and internationally while in the military to include Texas, California, Arkansas, Turkey, Belgium, North Dakota, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Florida, where he was called home to be with the Lord. He leaves to cherish his memories: a loving and devoted wife, Mary P. Franklin of Palm Coast, Florida; one daughter, Tekella (Lee Ray) Franklin; one son, Elliott (Khalea) Hayes of Fort Knox, Kentucky; two stepdaughters, Allessa (Cedric) Peeples and Marie N. (Francisco) Archbold of Tampa, Florida; two brothers, Bennie J. Franklin of Sumter and Samuel Q. (Cynthia) Franklin of Columbia; two sisters, Sharon Brown of Wilberforce, Ohio, and Vivian (Douglas) Bankston of Dickson, Tennessee; a host of other relatives and friends. Memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Salem Chapel & Heritage Center, 101 S. Salem Ave., Sumter, with Pastor Napoleon Bradford officiating. The family will be receiving friends at the home of his brother, Bennie Franklin, 10 S. Magnolia St., Sumter. Job’s Mortuary Inc., 312 S. Main St., Sumter, is in charge of arrangements. Online memorials may be sent to the family at jobsmortuary@sc.rr.com or visit us on the web at www.jobsmortuary.net.

MARY JANE SMITH BISHOPVILLE — Mary Jane Smith, 84, passed on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center, Hartsville. The family will receive relatives and friends at the home, 522 N. Heyward St., Bishopville. Funeral services are incomplete and will be announced by Square Deal Funeral Home of Bishopville.

EARNEST CENTRY BISHOPVILLE — Earnest Centry, affectionately known as “Charlie,” entered eternal rest on Nov. 29, 2014, at McCoy Memorial Nursing Center, Bishopville. Visitations will be held from 1 until 6 p.m. today at the funeral home. Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday at St. John AME Church, Bishopville, with the Rev. Don Robinson Sr., pastor. Wilson Funeral Home, 403 S. Main St., Bishopville, is in charge of arrangements.

WILLIE LEE BROWN POMPANO BEACH, Florida — Willie Lee Brown, 62, died on Nov. 20, 2014, a son of the late William Sr. and Mary Emma Baxter Brown. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 6569 Old Georgetown Road, Manning, with the Rev. Dr. Leon Winn, pastor. Burial will follow in the churchyard cemetery. The family is receiving friends at the home of his brother, William Brown Jr., 706 Lawson St., Manning. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 Scott Varney and Taylor Varney; six great-grandchildren, Peter Weems, David McInnis, Sarah Louise McInnis, Wesley Cohn, Jay Henry Cohn and Sophia Feierstein; one sister, Vashti Bearden of Evans, Georgia; and numerous nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Chapel of Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home with the Rev. Karen Starr and the Rev. Jerry Watson officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1 to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home and other times at the home of her daughter, 682 Mattison Ave. Memorials may be made to Lewis Chapel United Methodist Church, 1510 Plowden Mill Road, Sumter, SC 29153 or to a charity of one’s choice. Online condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals. com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements, (803) 773-9386.

PENNIE L. JONES Pennie Louise Jones, 72, wife of Thomas Jones, died on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, in Bronx, New York. Born on Feb. 2, 1942, in Sumter County, she was a daughter of Katie Jackson. The family is receiving friends and relatives at the home of Annie Mae Merdith, 3255 Sargent Road, Dalzell. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter.

BENJAMIN HICKMAN Benjamin Hickman, 57, departed this earthly life on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born on Sept. 27, 1957, in Lee County, he was a son of the late Mable Hickman. He attended the public schools of Lee County. At an early age, he joined Barnettsville Baptist Church, Manville community. Benjamin was employed with Cooper Tool and Harvin Meat Co. He leaves to cherish his memories: one brother, Ira Hickman; one uncle, Benjamin Franklin Hickman; one aunt, Emily Hickman Canty; a host of other relatives and friends. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m.. on Saturday at the John Wesley Williams Sr. Memorial Chapel, Williams Funeral Home Inc., 821 N. Main St., Sumter, with the Rev. Lavaron Johnson officiating, eulogist. The family is receiving relatives and friends at the home of his brother, Ira Hickman, 308 S. Harvin St., Sumter. The procession will leave at 10:30 a.m. from the home of his brother. Online memorial messages may be sent to the family at williamsfuneralhome@sc.rr. com. Visit us on the web at www.williamsfuneralhomeinc.com. Services directed by the staff and management of Williams Funeral Home Inc., 821 N. Main St., Sumter.

VISTA PEEBLES Vista Pearl Keels Peebles, 91, widow of Mason Haynesworth Peebles Jr., died on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at a local nursing center. Born in Lynchburg, she was a daughter of the late Emory Roy and Druie Floyd Keels. Mrs. Peebles was a member of Lewis Chapel United Methodist Church, where she served as a longtime Sunday school teacher and as a member of the Women’s Missionary Society. She retired from Jo Roberts Dress Shop at the age of 88, after many years of service. Surviving are three daughters, Diane P. Parks (Tom) of Columbia, Suzette Britton (Jay) of Sumter and Wendy Varney (Kim) of Columbia; nine grandchildren, Sonny Weems, Scott Weems, Kristi McInnis, Chersten Cohn (Ron), Curtis Bean (Paula), Steven Bean, Kasey Varney,

MARY JANE MURRAY FORESTON — Mary Jane Murray, 92, widow of Leo Murray, died on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, at Clarendon Memorial Hospital, Manning. She was born on Sept. 3, 1922, in Greeleyville, a daughter of the late George and Janie Keels Green. The family is receiving friends at the residence, 4777 S. Brewington Road, Foreston. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

RUTH R. RICHARDSON PINEWOOD — Ruth Ragin Richardson, 90, widow of Charlie Buster Richardson, died on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at her residence. She was born on Dec. 18, 1923, in Summerton, a daughter of the late Edward Hollomon Johnson and Laura Ragin. The family is receiving friends at her residence, 4384 Old River Road, Pinewood. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

AARON RHODES GABLE — Aaron Rhodes, 85, widower of Vivian McFadden Rhodes, died on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, at his residence. He was born on Nov. 24, 1929, in Florence County, a son of the late Robert and Annie Frances Rhodes. The family is receiving friends at the residence, 2627 Black River Road, Gable. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

CARRIE LEE WELLS PINEWOOD — Carrie Lee Wells, 74, widow of Robert Well Sr., died on Dec. 3, 2014, at the home of her daughter, Regina (Ronnie) Colclough, 901 S. Main St., Sumter. She was born on Oct. 17, 1940, in the Silver section of Clarendon County, a daughter of the late David Chatman and Anna Bell Pugh Conyers and reared by her stepfather, the late James Conyers. The family is receiving friends at her residence, 1066 St. Mark Road, Pinewood. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

BETTIE M. MONTGOMERY Bettie Ann McBride Montgomery peacefully departed this life on the morning of Dec. 3, 2014. She was a daughter of the late Thomas and Lucinda McBride. Bettie was born on Aug. 17, 1943, in Sumter County. She was educated in the public schools of Sumter County. Bettie retired from Sumter County School District 17 in 2007 after 13 years of service. She was also a dedicated

member of New Birth COGIC. Throughout her life, Bettie was a very diligent, devoted, compassionate and supportive mother. Her humor and humility were incomparable. As she singlehandedly reared nine children and one special grandson, Bettie remained humble and optimistic throughout life’s various circumstances. Bettie leaves cherished memories to her eight children, Betty (Frank) Bennett, Shirley Pressley, John Montgomery and Johnny Montgomery, all of Sumter, James (Karen) Montgomery of Manning, Brian (Debra) Montgomery of Arlington, Texas, and Almetis (William) Bolden and Tonya Scott, both of Fort Worth, Texas; two brothers, Ellision (Jeanette) McBride and Roosevelt Ingram; four sisters, Racheal Ritter, Willie Mae Sharpe, Rosa (Charles) Seymour and Nora Lee McBride; a son-in-law, Darryl Simmons; four sisters-in-law, Thelma (Rubin) Billie, Dianne Kelly, Ivory (Ernest) Rose and Cynthia (Leroy) Wilson; one brother-in-law, Richard (Shirley) Lowry; a special grandson, Jordan Montgomery; a special goddaughter, Wanda (Lenn) Ramsey; a host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Bettie was preceded in death by her husband, James Ervin Montgomery; her daughter, Tracelyn Denise Montgomery Simmons; two brothers, Thomas McBride Jr. and Major Lee McBride; two brothers-in-law, Jimmy Lowery and Terry Lowery; her parents; and her paternal and maternal grandparents. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at New Birth Church of God in Christ, 307 W. Oakland St., with Elder Julius C. Ragin, pastor, officiating. Interment will follow in Wells Cemetery, Alcolu. Public viewing will be held from 2 until 6 p.m. today in the Robert Scriven Jr. Memorial Chapel. The family is receiving family and friends at the residence of her son-in-law and daughter, Frank and Betty Bennett, 1106 Daisy Drive. Ephriam D. Stephens Funeral Home, 230 S. Lafayette Drive, Sumter, is in charge of arrangements, “Where Dignity is the WatchWord.”

ELEASE H. LEVY MANNING — Evangelist Elease Hicks Levy, 67, wife of Robert Lee “Brother” Levy, died on Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, at Clarendon Memorial Hospital in Manning. Born in the Foreston section of Clarendon County, she was a daughter of the late Charlie Council Hicks and Carrie Weathers Hicks. At the age of three months, Elease’s family migrated to Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from the Baltimore City Public School System. Elease retired from Weston Electric, Baltimore. Evangelist Levy was a former member of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Baltimore, until she and her husband relocated to Manning. Evangelist Levy later joined Holly Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Manning. While serving at Holly Hill, she was licensed to preach under the pastorage of the Rev. O’Donald Dingle. Elease leaves to cherish her memories: her husband, Robert L. Levy of the home; two children, Lisa D. Goodwin and Brian A. Levy; four grandchildren, Chase, Cross, Moriah and Zaria; four sisters; and a number of other relatives and friends. Public viewing will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. today at Fleming and Delaine Funeral Home Chapel. Evangelist Levy will be placed in the church at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Society Hill AME Church, 1030 Morello Road, Manning, with the Rev. O’Donald Dingle officiating and the Rev. Mary F. Rhodes, eulogist. Interment will follow in the Society Hill AME Church Cemetery, Manning. The family will receive friends at 1266 Tara Lane, Manning. Fleming and Delaine Funeral Home and Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

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Bird's Towing & Lock Out 24 Hour Service 803-834-BIRD (2473) TAXES Income - Payroll - Sales Same day service. 507 Broad St. Locally owned. Tesco 773-1515

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Carpenters, helpers & laborers needed. Must have transp. and valid Dr. Lic. Call 803-473-4254

$$$ AVON $$$ FREE TRAINING! 803-422-5555

Travel as you work with Klean E-Z amazing cleaner. Looking for Sales Rep., Must be 18 to apply, no experience necessary. Earn $350-$500 per week. Return transportation available. Call Mr. Peters at 803-360-3284 Established Heating and Air Conditioning Company looking for a Laborer/helper for the installation dept. Employer needs to have valid driver’s license, able to lift more than 10 lbs., work well with others and experience with duct work would be good but not necessary. Mail resume to PO Box 2378, Sumter 29151 or apply in person 1640 Suber Street, Sumter SC. Live in position in Santee. Cash + rent free apt. Couple/Single to clean motel rooms. Call 803-854-3378. LOCAL CORPORATION seeking upbeat, highly motivated and energetic individual for Full Time Position. Must have proficient computer skills, merchandizing & management skills, be able to work well in a team-oriented environment, be adaptable to a flexible work schedule, possess excellent communication skills and have the ability to multi-task. Please send Resume' to P-379 c//o The Item, PO Box 1677 Sumter SC 29151 Carpenters, helpers & laborers needed. Must have transp. and valid Dr. Lic. Call 803-473-4254 Laborers and Masons needed for Shaw AFB Project Contact: sharon.colaconstructors@gmail.com Full time maintenance position available full benefits, vacation, sick leave, insurance, paid holidays. Call 803-435-4492 STC Now Hiring Diesel Mechanic Qualified candidates must have: •Valid driver license •High School Diploma or GED •Three years or more of diesel mechanical experience •Must provide tools / picture at interview EOE and Drug Free Workplace Contact - Pat Joyner 803-775-1002 x107

Garage, Yard & Estate Sales

Help Wanted Part-Time

Locally established Heating & Air condition Co. looking for Exp. Service Tech. Needs to have good driving record. Pay range from $33k-$46k a year plus health insurance, retirement, bonus and commission available. Apply in person at 1640 Suber Street.

STC offers competitive salary and benefits

Horse Hay for sale. Tight sq. bails $5. Heavy rnd. bails $40. Corn oats hog feed. Call Warren 843-319-1884

RNs/LPNs Needed Immediately Tender Care Home Health Care of SC Pediatric exp. highly desired Sign on Bonus Offered Apply with resume at tchhemployment@att.net (888) 669-0104

Unfurnished Apartments

Work Wanted I will sit with elderly or sick. Will provide ref/exp. Call 803-236-3603 for more info.

RENTALS Rooms for Rent

Unfurnished Homes

Bordering house with open rooms for female occupants. Call 803-565-7924.

4980 Hwy 15 S. 3br 1ba, liv. rm, din rm, kit., $650/mo + dep. Call 803-481-7118 Sect 8 OK 3BR 2BA 1900 sq. ft, large fenced backyard $950 Mo + $950 Dep 840-0207

PAXVILLE 3BR, Stove, Refrig. Housing Authority & Sec 8 welcome 452-6998 / 225-4276 2br, 1.5ba dpx C/H/A, Stove, Frig, W/D. New carpet/paint. No Pets/Smoking $625/mo. & dep. Call after 10am 983-8463.

Medical Help Wanted In-home care for seniors avail in Sumter, Lex, Cola, and Camden. Must be clean background, strong references and reliable transportation. Celebrating 10+ yrs in business. Apply online today at www.retireease.com

Senior Living Apartments for those 62+ (Rent based on income) Shiloh-Randolph Manor 125 W. Bartlette. 775-0575 Studio/1 Bedroom apartments available EHO

2 Rooms, 1 ba, kit., over garage, priv. entrance, $625/mo + $400/dep incl elec & water 803-491-7832

ROOMS FOR RENT, $100- $125 /wkly. All utilities & cable included. 803-938-2709

Going on

3BR 2BA Brick Home, Dalzell $725 Mo.+$725 Dep. Big yard! Close to Shaw. 803-316-6449 Rent- 3BR/1BA Recently renovated on W Hampton St $850 Mo+Dep. 803-464-5872 3BR 2.5 BA in Twin Lakes $1000 mo.+ dep. 1yr lease. Call 775-7326 or 775-1201.

vacation? Don’t Miss A Thing!

Let your carrier save your paper for you while you are on vacation!

Call 803-774-1258 Customer Service Dept. Hours Mon-Fri 8am - 5pm

Need OTR Truck Drivers. 2yrs exp. Good driving records. Dependable & willing to work. Paid weekly. Paid Vacations. Call 888-991-1005

Moving Sale! 119 Lawrence St, Manning Sat 7-12 Inside & out . hshld, furn, dishes, & more

LOCAL DRIVERS WANTED

“$2,000 - SIGN ON BONUS”

.45/mi on all miles • Layover Pay • Loading/unloading $15 from 1st hr Achievable Goals for Lucrative Incentives - CDL (Class A) w/ hazmat & tanker - At least 2 yrs. exp. - Clean MVR - Excellent pay ($.45 per running mile - includes $.06 per diem non-taxable expense) - Paid Vacation - Paid Holidays - Paid Sick Days - BC/BS Health Ins. - Dental Insurance - Life Insurance - Short Term Disability - 401(k) w/co. Match

CONTACT Pat Joyner at 803-775-1002 Ext. 107 OR visit our website to download a job application and fax to (954) 653-1195 www.sumtertransport.com 170 S. Lafayette Drive Sumter, SC 29150 EOE

20 N. Magnolia Street

803-774-1258

It’s Mayo’s “More for your money Christmas Sale”! Buy 1 Regular Priced Suit, Receive 2nd Suit of Equal Value FREE! Great Selection & Savings!

SHIRTS, TIES, PANTS & SHOES Buy 1, Get a 2nd HALF PRICE! IN-STORE ALTERATIONS, FOR THOSE LAST MINUTE OCCASIONS

MAYO’S SUIT CITY If your suits aren’t becoming to you, It’s a good time to be coming to Mayo’s! Wesmark Plaza • 773-2262 • Mon-Sat 10-7

CLASSIFIEDS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 05, 2014 Unfurnished Homes For Rent Waterfront Home on Wyboo, 2bd, 2bth. Fenced with pier. $750 month $750 Dep. 803-478-4541

Mobile Home Rentals

STATEBURG COURTYARD

REAL ESTATE Homes for Sale Tudor Place: 2241 Preot 3/3, all appl., washer/dryer, new roof, h.w. heater, carpet, vinyl and paint. Call 803-469-9381

2 & 3 BRs 803-494-4015

THE WILLOWS: 1029 Cutleaf 2/2, all appl, washer/dryer. Call 803-469-9381

Rent to own 2BR/1BA all appl. incl. C/H/A, water & sewer incl. $385/mo. + $400 Dep.Call 803-464-5757

For Rent or Sale 821 Holiday Drive 2BR 1BA possible owner financing. 803-983-7064.

3Bd 2Ba MH near Pinewood New carpet & appliances, no pets $500 mth + dep. Call 843-884-0346

Manufactured Housing

Near Shaw: 2br/1ba w/ large porch $400/mo Lot # 28 fenced yard 840-3371 or 494-3573 3 Br, 2 Ba, DW mobile home. $685 mo. + dep. Stove & refrigerator incl. Private quiet lot. Call 803-506-4557 or 406-1582. 2, 3 & 4 Br, all appliances, Section 8 accepted. 469-6978 or 499-1500

Autos For Sale

LOW CREDIT SCORE? Been turned down for bad credit? Come try us, we do our own financing. We have 2-3-4 bedroom homes. For more information, call 843-389-4215. For Sale Nice 4 Br 2 Ba D/W MH w/ dinning rm, den w fire place, bonus rm. c//h//a, new carpet & paint, brick underpinning, lg fenced lot 803-983-0408

Land & Lots for Sale WALMART/SHAW 16.6 ACRES PAVED, ELEC. WATER $2350/ACRE 713-870-0216

TRANSPORTATION

Vans / Trucks / Buses

3BR 2BA $500/mo. + $400 dep. Cockerill Rd near industrial park No Pets. Background check req'd. 481-8635 or 418-9302. 585 Caroland Dr. 3BR/1BA. Pvt lot. $475/mo + $475/dep. Call 803-481-7118 Sect 8 OK 1165 McArthur Dr 2BR/2BA SW $450 Mo/Dep. No section 8 Call 775-2344

Mobile Home Lot Rentals Extra large Lots for sale or rent 1008 Booker St. & 119 Murphy St. 840-3904 or after 7pm 778-1083.

Commercial Rentals 1012 Pocalla Rd. (Old Parts Connection bldg.) 2,000 sq ft heated w/ 2 offices, 3 baths, showroom/lobby, 3,000 sq ft warehouse space. $1,350 mo/dep. 803-775-2344.

Commercial buses. Perfect for church or daycare. 5 to choose from. Affordable prices, financing available. Call American Auto Sales 803-775-2344 or come by 408 S. Lafayette.

Summons & Notice

Autos For Sale Crown Victoria Police Interceptors Over 15 in stock from years 2000 2008. Affordable prices & pymts. 775-2344 or come by American Auto Sales. 408 S. Lafayette St

Miscellaneous

THE ITEM

You are hereby summoned and required to Answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the said Complaint on the Plaintiff, or her attorney, Kenneth R. Young, Jr., within thirty (30) days after the service thereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer to the said Complaint within the time aforesaid, the Plaintiff will apply to the Court for a default judgment granting the relief demanded in the said Complaint.

TO: HEIRS OF THE DECEDENT:

Reconditioned batteries $35. New batteries, UBX 75-7850. Golf cart batteries, 6V. exchange $300 per set, while they last. Auto Electric Co. 803-773-4381

LEGAL NOTICES Summons & Notice SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF HEARING IN THE COMMON PLEAS COURT OF THE THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO.: 2014-CP-43-2291 Victoria Rose a/k/a Victoria Rose Johnson, Plaintiff vs. Gene Davis, Joseph Henry Davis, Lizzie Nelson, Robert Powell, Emma Powell, Rhoda Nelson, and the unknown Heirs of any named Defendant herein who is deceased, and John Doe, a fictitious person representing as class all persons suffering under legal disability and claiming an interest in the property described, Defendants

TO: HEIRS OF THE DECEDENT:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Complaint to Establish Heirs and the Order for Publication in the above captioned matter were filed in the Common Pleas Court for Sumter County, South Carolina, the object and prayer of which is an action to establish heirs of the decedent and other related relief as set forth in the Complaint PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a Hearing has been scheduled in the above captioned matter to be held on December 30, 2014 at 10:00 o'clock a.m. in the Sumter County Judicial Center located at 215 North Harvin Street, Sumter, South Carolina. Dated at Sumter, South Carolina, on the 17th day of November, 2014. Young, Keffer & Associates, P.A. Kenneth R. Young, Jr. Attorney for Plaintiff 23 West Calhoun Street Sumter, SC 29150 Telephone: 803-773-4371

SUMMONS Deficiency Judgment Waived IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS DOCKET NO. 14-CP-43-1929

Summons & Notice

agency the Internal Revenue Service; The South Carolina Department of Revenue; Colorado Capital Investments, Inc. assignee of Washington Mutual Bank; Brian K. Cornwell; Defendant(s). (011847-03615)

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT pursuant to the South Carolina Supreme Court Administrative Order 2011-05-02-01, you may have a right to Foreclosure Intervention. To be considered for any available Foreclosure Intervention, you may communicate with and otherwise deal with the Plaintiff through its law firm, Rogers Townsend and Thomas, PC. Rogers Townsend and Thomas, PC represents the Plaintiff in this action. Our law firm does not represent you. Under our ethical rules, we are prohibited from giving you any legal advice. You must submit any requests for Foreclosure Intervention consideration within 30 days from the date you are served with this Notice.

TO THE DEFENDANT(S), Lance E. Jones: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear and defend by answering the Complaint in this foreclosure action on property located at 2975 Lens Heavins Road, Sumter, South Carolina 29154, being designated in the County tax records as TMS# 1840002035, of which a copy is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices, 220 Executive Center Drive, Suite 109, Post Office Box 100200, Columbia, South Carolina, 29202-3200, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND/OR MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY: YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem to represent said minor(s) within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by the Plaintiff(s) herein. Columbia, South Carolina November 5, 2014

U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee for the holders of the First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-FF10 Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-FF10, Plaintiff, v. Lance E. Jones; The United States of America acting by and through its

or email to: rodneyrichburg_ubi@yahoo.com

NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE INTERVENTION

WHY ISN’T YOUR AD?

FTC is seeking two Service Representative IIs to join our team at the Wesmark Business Ofﬁce in Sumter. The successful candidates must meet the following requirements: high school diploma; working knowledge of computers; data entry skills; two years experience in customer service; excellent verbal communication skills; personality for dealing with the public; excellent organizational skills. FTC is a Workkeys® Company. The following Workkeys® scores are required for this position: Observation 5

Reading for Information 4

WorkKeys® information may be obtained by calling Central Carolina Technical College at 803-774-3306 or Florence Darlington Technical College at 843-413-2715. The following requirements are desired: associate degree or minimum of two years of college; proactive selling skills. Excellent beneﬁts package. Send resume to: Human Resources Representative, P. O. Box 588, Kingstree, SC. Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Perfect Housewarming Gift The Sumter Item is locally owned and run. We’re part of this community and we believe in Sumter.

OUR WORLD IS IN COLOR...

Service Representative II

We only have 10 openings for this division, so please don’t hesitate to call for your personal interview.

803-458-3606

Rogers Townsend and Thomas, PC ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF Robert P. Davis (SC Bar #74030) Andrew W. Montgomery (SC Bar #79893) Andrew A. Powell (SC Bar #100210) J. Pamela Price (SC Bar # 014336) Laura R. Baer (SC Bar # 101076) H. Guyton Murrell (SC Bar # 064134) John J. Hearn (SC Bar # 6635) Kevin T. Brown (SC Bar # 064236) Ashley M. Wheeling-Goodson (SC Bar # 101423) 220 Executive Center Drive Post Office Box 100200 (29202) Columbia, SC 29210 (803) 744-4444 A-4497552 11/28/2014, 12/05/2014, 12/12/2014

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Complaint, of which the foregoing is a copy of the Summons, were filed with the Clerk of Court for Sumter County, South Carolina on September 11, 2014. Columbia, South Carolina November 5, 2014

Full Time TeleSales Life Agents

Contact Rodney Richburg

IF YOU FAIL, REFUSE, OR VOLUNTARILY ELECT NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN FORECLOSURE INTERVENTION, THE FORECLOSURE ACTION MAY PROCEED.

NOTICE TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF SUMTER

• Licensed • No cold calling • Best Lead Program in the business • Excellent commissions + bonuses • Company Conventions (to those that qualify) • Medical Benefits

20 N. Magnolia St. | Sumter, SC 803.774.1200 www.theitem.com

B10

CLASSIFIEDS

THE ITEM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 05, 2014

Here's My Card Please call 803-774-1234 for more information! J&T’s Local Moving and More, LLC

H.L. Boone

Owner / Notary Public

“Saving time & money with no worries” Over 20 years of experience Jamie Singleton

64 Wilder Street Sumter, SC 29150 803-236-4008 or 803-773-3934

Owner

H.L. Boone, Contractor All Types of Improvements

1 Monte Carlo Court Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 773-9904

*Free Estimates *Moving (Home & Ofﬁce) www.jtslocalmovingmore.com

Remodeling, Painting, Carports, Decks, Blow Ceilings, Ect.

THE GAMECOCK SHRINE CLUB

M& S

is Available for Rent! CALL NOW FOR DATE AVAILABILITY!

DISTRIBUTORS Goodman HVAC is back in Sumter For a local Goodman Dealer call Butch Davis 803-905-1155

Rent for your “Special Occasions” Craft Shows • Weddings • Banquets • Retirement Parties• Family Reunions Call 983-1376

Your Local Authorized Xerox Sales Agency

18 E. Liberty St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 778-2330 Xerox® is a Trademark of Xerox Corporation

If you want the Best…call the Best one Right! Cleaning D

Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Water & Fire Damage • Smoke/Odor Removal Mold Sampling and Remitiation 24/7 Emergency Service Hiram Spittle 1500 Airport Road 803-938-5441 Sumter, SC 29153 www.spittlescleaning.com

Timothy L. Griffith Attorney at Law

803.607.9087

Mike Stone 2160 Thomas Sumter Hwy. Sumter, SC 29153 Phone: 803-905-1902 • Fax: 803-905-1906 License #M97151 www.hatfieldexpress.com

Piano Tuning Repairs & Refinishing

Senior Citizens 15% Discount

WALKER PIANO

Cincinnati Conservatory Certified Since 1947

www.tlgriffith.com

20 Years!

803-485-8705 Summerton, SC

YEAR ROUND LAWN MAINTENANCE • LICENSED AND INSURED

LAWN & GARDEN EQUIPMENT • SALES & SERVICE

OVER 32 YEARS EXPERIENCE

(803) 495-4411

LICENSED, BONDED & INSURED 803-460-5420 OR 803-478-5957

Parts & Service Center

SALES & SERVICE ON ALL BRANDS

Chris Mathis

Jimmy Mathis

INSURANCE AGENCY LLC

Shop and Save!

What do you have to lose-FREE Quote! Ernie Baker Ernest Baker, Jr. 803.491.4417 803.491.6905 712 Bultman Drive • Sumter, SC • 774-0118

Tel: (803) 469-8899 Fax: (803) 469-8890 Hours: M-F 10am-6pm

NATHANEL DELLINGER DIVISION MANAGER

803-774-8269 FAX:

803-774-8270 CELL: 803-883-1066

119 S. HARVIN STREET PO BOX 3589 SUMTER, SC 29151 www.jfcontractors.com ndellinger@jfcontractors.com

(Across from Hardee Cove)

Senior Citizen & Military Discount

905-3473

M-F 8:00-5:00 | Sat 8:00-12:00

PAINTING & MINOR REPAIRS

Ephriam D. Stephens FUNERAL HOME

STEVEN B. MCNAMAR

Rev. Ephriam D. Stephens, Owner

the little guy

Licensed Funeral Director & Embalmer 230 S. Lafayette Dr. ~ PO Box 1306 ~ Sumter, SC 29151 Office: 803-775-8911 ~ Fax: 803-773-5092 Cell: 843-599-6490 Email: covstephens@aol.com

5720 Bethel Church Road Pinewood, SC 29125 803-795-8832 3 795 8832 mcnamarpainting@outlook.com

Rentals Available!

OPEN YEAR ROUND

2535 Tahoe Dr.

“Where Dignity is the Watchword”

A Southern Knead

Mobile Therapeutic Massage Parties / Private Sessions

SUMTER ELKS LODGE #855 Sweet 16 Parties, Business Meetings, Weddings, Reunions, Birthday Parties and more... Sizes for all functions.

Swedish Relaxation / Deep Tissue Neuromuscular / Hot Stones Aromatherapy

Stephanie C. Wisecarver, LMT (843) 371-0242 asouthernknead@gmail.com www.asouthernknead.com SC#7131

Call Cindy Davis at 316-3396 or 469-8899 1100 W. Liberty Street • Sumter, SC

Excel Alterations 103 N. Main Street

Pretty is...you!

Sumter, South Carolina

SAME DAY PANTS & JEANS HEM ••• REPLACE ZIPPERS IN LEATHER JACKETS

803.775.8728

(On the corner of Main and W. Hampton Streets, same intersection as Alderman’s Drug Store.) HOURS: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

To buy Avon products or join the #1 team in the area

Let’s Talk. Call Today!

Call ~ Vi Crutchley

Customized Gift Baskets Available!

AVON has something for everyone!

I can make your days a little easier. Affordable pricing all the time on things you use everyday!

TUNING • REFINISHING • REPAIRS

CLINT BARWICK Piano Service

26 Crescent St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 773-8955

vi.avon@yahoo.com • www.youravon.com/viola

As lifelong residents of Clarendon County, you know who we are and that we are committed to provide you with all the comforts of home.

Don & Faye 1000 Myrtle Beach Highway Sumter, SC 29153

803-934-6292 vi.avon@yahoo.com

We have always been just around the corner.

OFFICE:

FOUR SEASON’S LAWN CARE 803.494.9169 • 803.468.4008 • davidlowe1958@yahoo.com

DAD’S SMALL ENGINES

Heating and Air LLC

61 W. Wesmark Blvd. Sumter, SC 29150 www.jacksonhewitt.com

Mowing • Pruning • Fertilization Aeration • Landscaping • Irrigation Repair • Leaf Removal • Straw/Mulch

FOR ALMOST

CALL ALGIE WALKER 19 S. Cantey Street

Jimmy’s

BAKER

for a Beautiful Lawn

Serving Sumter

For Expert Service Family Law • Divorce Visitation & Custody Criminal Defense • DUI • Federal and State Court

Professional Care