GREAT EXPECTATIONS Gamecocks to play in preseason tourney at Red Bank Invitational today at White Knoll High in Lexington
RELAY FOR LIFE: Indoor yard sale happening Saturday in Lee County A2 VOL. 118, NO. 111 WWW.THEITEM.COM
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Coastal Carolina student dead after shooting near campus A5 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
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Local officials talk sequestration BY ROBERT J. BAKER bbaker@theitem.com What national lawmakers meant only to be a financial doomsday scenario could likely become a fiscal reality Friday. Sequestration means across-theboard cuts at the federal level totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years, with the majority of the hurt to be felt by the military, but local leaders have few indications how the budget standoff between President Obama and Congress will affect Sumter, Clarendon, Lee and the surrounding communities.
“It’s sort of crazy to be adopting as policy something that was designed to be a failure if it had to happen at all,” said Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen. “When it comes to budgets, serious choices have to be made, but not in this way. I don’t think it’s a real sensible way to do it.” McELVEEN The sequester was designed by Congress in prior budget discussions to be such a mess, if allowed to occur, that lawmakers would
Obama, top lawmakers to meet as cuts kick in
SEE SEQUESTRATION, PAGE A8
SEE BUDGET, PAGE A8
WASHINGTON (AP) — With big, automatic budget cuts about to kick in, House Republicans are turning to mapping strategy for the next showdown just a month away, when a government shutdown instead of just a slowdown will be at stake. Both topics are sure to come up
FIT TO FIGHT Soldiers sign up for hand-to-hand combat training
at the White House meeting Friday between President Obama and top congressional leaders, including Republican House Speaker John Boehner. A breakthrough on replacing or easing the imminent acrossthe-board spending cuts still seems
County takes step to OK tax agreement Project Dark Wolf ordinance gets 1st reading approval
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com An Army foot patrol on the streets of Afghanistan suddenly turns into hand-to-hand combat, with an American soldier’s life depending on his instinctive fighting skills. It could happen at any time. But fortunately for the service members involved, this incident is happening in a gym at Shaw Air Force Base, part of a demonstration of the Army’s hand-tohand combat training. This kind of combative training takes place at Army bases across the country, preparing soldiers to defend themselves in any situation. But before last month, the Third Army lacked a combatives team at Shaw until
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com
SEE TRAINING, PAGE A10
ABOVE: From left, Spc. Adam Oakley and Senior Airman Josh Sergent deploy hand-to-hand combat techniques on an aggressive individual portrayed by Spc. Ben Chambers in a course demonstration Wednesday at Shaw Air Force Base. The two demonstrated how the techniques can be used on foot patrol during an overseas deployment. LEFT: Instructors Pvt. Lane McCartney, left, and Spc. Kurt O’Conner spar with each other during the course. The Third Army recently added the course to prepare servicemen and -women for hand-to-hand combat. PHOTOS BY BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE ITEM
A “Dark Wolf” is prowling Sumter County, and it may pounce on a million-dollar industrial expansion. At its biweekly meeting Tuesday, Sumter County Council gave first reading approval to a new fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement with an economic development project code named Project Dark Wolf. The proposed project will make an investment in the expansion of a manufacturing facility worth $30 million over five years. Under the terms of the agreement presented to council, the company will enter into a fee agreement in lieu of tax payments as an inducement, utilizing a 6 percent assessment ratio for a period of 20 years. While Dark Wolf will not be identified until the project is prepared to move forward, the ordinance establishing the tax incentive identifies Dark Wolf as an expansion project involving “the acquisition of land, a building, and improvements thereon,” “the construction of improvements ... and/or the acquisition of personal property,” including machinery, equipment and furniture for SEE DARK WOLF, PAGE A10
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