CLARENDON SUN: A capella Plantation Singers preserve Lowcountry culture C1
Crack cocaine distribution ring busted. A2 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014
| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894
75 cents
Child, 7, dies in collision Passenger, 8, in hospital in Columbia BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com A 7-year-old Sumter girl is dead, and an 8-year-old Sumter girl is in serious condition at a Columbia hospital after a collision early Monday morning. The autopsy for Nevaeh Elaine Cruze is scheduled today, said Sumter County Coroner Harvin Bullock, but the cause looks to be bluntforce trauma sustained in the wreck. “The Delaine Elementary School family was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of one of our students,” said the first-grader’s principal,
JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM
A Saturn sits at the intersection of Eagle Road and U.S. 378 after first responders cut the roof off to get to an entrapped passenger. The wreck took place a little after 7 a.m. Monday and resulted in the death of a 7-year-old Sumter girl. An 8-year-old passenger was also injured and SEE WRECK, PAGE A10 taken to Palmetto Health Richland for treatment. The incident remains under investigation by the S.C. Highway Patrol.
No foul play in Apex Tool fire Blaze thought to be caused by equipment malfunction BY TYLER SIMPSON tyler@theitem.com RAYTEVIA EVANS / THE SUMTER ITEM
Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, left, and state Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, speak to teachers about contacting their local lawmakers and speaking out about their concerns with public schools during a roundtable discussion on Monday hosted by the Sumter Teacher Forum.
Forum’s roundtable brings teachers, leaders together Education advocates share their perspectives BY RAYTEVIA EVANS revans@theitem.com During the Sumter Teacher Forum roundtable on Monday afternoon, a number of the school district’s educators received information and advice about how to make their concerns about the public school system known to their local leaders. Rotating through six tables, Teacher Forum members heard from education advocates from different perspectives, including legislative, school leadership and school
district. Teacher Forum Chairman Trevor Ivey said the roundtable discussion was the organization’s first, and it’s important for educators to discuss how to continuously improve education. “We’re all educators, but really our teachers, this conversation is for you,” he said. “The first step in being a warrior in public education is to be a knowledgeable advocate.” A common message among the speakers
SEE ROUNDTABLE, PAGE A6
The Sumter Fire Department has ruled out foul play as the cause of the fire at Apex Tool Group’s Sumter plant early Friday morning, suspecting it to be accidental. Although the final call on what caused the fire has yet to be made, the fire department did not see anything at the scene of the fire to make it suspect an outside source was involved. It is suspected the cause was a malfunction in the manufacturing equipment in the forgery area of the factory, according to Battalion Chief David White. “We’re pretty confident that this will be ruled as an accidental fire,” White said. According to a report from the fire department, the fire caused a total of $2 million in damage to the factory, with $1.5 million in damage done to the structure and $500,000 lost in contents. The damage also caused the factory to be without power for several days, but no jobs at the facto-
ry were threatened. According to Communications Director Kelly Blazek, power was restored to a majority of the facility, but the scene of the fire is still without power and is currently under construction. A majority of the factory workers returned Monday to resume normal factory operations. A total of 16 firefighters responded to the fire at 12:15 a.m. Friday morning and arrived at 12:33 a.m. to find the fire had consumed the rear corner of the structure where the factory melted down metal. Part of the structure had already collapsed before the fire department arrived. The fire department managed to contain the fire approximately two-and-a-half hours later, saving the factory from losing an additional $48.5 million in damage. The fire is under investigation by both the fire department and the factory’s insurance providers. Reach Tyler Simpson at (803) 774-1295.
Ice, snow prompt Sumterites to seek help from charity BY JACK OSTEEN jack@theitem.com After a week of some of Sumter’s worst weather seen in a number of years, Fireside Fund donations were quite a bit down from the week before. Much of that could be attributed to folks not being
VISIT US ONLINE AT
the
.com
able to get out and about because of icy and unsafe road conditions. That kind of freezing, icing weather can only mean more problems for Sumter residents in regard to busted pipes and heaters not working properly. So for The Salvation Army,
it’s been a busy week that brought many folks in worried they may need kerosene, according to Pamela Lassiter,
DEATHS, B6 Shawn H. Myers Lillian H. Munoz Ethel P. Sinkler Barbara Ann St. Clair Esther H. Davis
Janet A. Davis Nelson R. Greene Elizabeth G. Suderman Billie Nalley Frankie E. Chin
Salvation Army Social Worker. In fact, one of the area providers has been out of kerosene for more than a week, according to Lassiter. “One lady came in for assistance and needed kerosene, as the repair people couldn’t get there before the bad weather
started,” she said. The lady “thanked God I will at least be warm in the snow.” Lassiter also wants to remind residents that they are still taking applications for the free smoke detectors which include delivery and
SEE FIRESIDE, PAGE A10
WEATHER, A10
INSIDE
NOT AS WARM TODAY
3 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 94
It’ll be cooler throughout the day with a little rain and clouds sticking around tonight. HIGH 48, LOW 46
Classifieds B8 Comics B7 Lotteries A10
Opinion A9 Sports B1 Television B5