Reflections: Sumter reacts to Pearl Harbor
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2015
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Need for kidneys, livers critical Save a life with an organ donation BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Twenty-two people die every day in the United States waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. That is approximately one person every 90 minutes, according to LifePoint Inc. Organ & Tissue Donation Services for South Carolina. Sumter resident Arthur Russell, 46, said he is thankful to be alive after a double-transplant surgery provided him with a new liver and kidney.
Russell was diagnosed with cirrhosis, a slowly progressing disease in which healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue, eventually preventing the liver from functioning properly, according to WebMD. The disease also affected his kidney, requiring a kidney transplant. He was also diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a liver inflammation and damage caused by a buildup of fat in the liver, according to WebMD. Although he is still feeling weak and has lost about 120 pounds as a result of the disease, Russell said he is grateful for the transplant liver and kidney.
SEE DONATIONS, PAGE A9
Manning Mayor thankful for 2nd chance at life BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY lonstantin@theitem.com PHOTO PROVIDED
Manning Mayor Julia A. Nelson, left, and Sumter resident Arlene Anderson McCloud, a kidney donor, were involved in a national live donor exchange pair program, in which Nelson received a kidney from a woman in Indianapolis, and McCloud donated her kidney to the woman’s father.
Dec. 11 will mark a year since Manning Mayor Julia A. Nelson received a kidney transplant from a donor in Indianapolis. Nelson was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in 2009, a disorder
SEE MAYOR, PAGE A9
Pinewood on Parade
Above, a participant in the Pinewood Christmas Parade brings his four wheeler up on two wheels during the parade Saturday in downtown Pinewood. Members of the Manchester Elementary School Chorus, left, sing their way down the street in the parade. PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Economists: S.C. finally bouncing back from Great Recession BY JEFFREY COLLINS The Associated Press COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s economy is humming. The unemployment rate is at an eight-year low and lawmakers will open next January’s session trying to figure out how to spend an additional $1.2 billion in projected tax revenue. Some of the recovery from the Great Recession was expected as part of a typical economic cycle. But Univer-
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sity of South Carolina economists said South Carolina has also done some things well to encourage growth. Here is what the state is doing well, what parts of the economy could be South Carolina’s best path to more growth and what might be the state’s biggest competitor:
SOUTH CAROLINA’S GROWTH South Carolina’s growth shouldn’t stop next year.
University of South Carolina economists Doug Woodward and Jospeh Von Nessen are predicting the state’s economy to grow by nearly 3 percent in 2016. Manufacturing helped South Carolina pull out of the Great Recession, but construction is catching up. South Carolina officials made a smart decision by sticking to the state’s core advantages to help pull it out of the bad times, Wood-
DEATHS, A11 Kenneth E. Hudak Anthony H. Sherman Edith R. Brown Ollie T. Hackney Lawrence W. Green Sr.
Virtus G. Edmundson Wiley McCray Joseph R. Crisler Kevin Belser Willie F. Rembert
WHERE CAN SOUTH CAROLINA KEEP GROWING?
ward said. “We didn’t turn our back on our heritage, which is in industry and manufacturing. If anything, that was a smart strategy relative to North Carolina,” Woodward said. More people are also coming to the state. South Carolina added 200,000 people since 2010 and is approaching a population of 5 million, according to U.S. Census estimates.
Health care is an obvious choice in a state where 16 percent of its residents are age 65 or over, compared to 12 percent just 15 years ago. Major health care providers such as the Cleveland Clinic are looking at South Carolina, because of the number of people retiring here, Woodward said.
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5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 45
Plenty of sun today with mild temperatures; tonight, partly cloudy with a good chance of showers. HIGH 61, LOW 43
SEE ECONOMY, PAGE A8
Business D1 Classifieds D6 Comics E1
Lotteries A12 Opinion A10 Television E3