IN SPORTS: Lakewood takes on Darlington to open region play B1 REVIEWS
‘Making a Murder’ latest bing-worthy series on Netflix A5 SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016
| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894
75 cents
Police officer’s widow recalls man she loved
Hospital experiences banner day BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com There was a new arrival at the Sumter local hospital Friday as an enthusiastic crowd filled the lobby to mark the ceremonial end of the Tuomey Health Care System and the beginning of Palmetto Health Tuomey. With the ceremony chased indoors by a gentle rain, Michelle Logan-Owens — retained as CEO of the Sumter facility — told those assembled it was another step in the more than 100-year journey from a 130-bed infirmary to a modern 301-bed, acute-care hospital. “I am proud of our journey,” LoganOwens said to those gathered, including many hospital staff. “It hasn’t always been easy, but your belief is our mission has been unshakable.” She said the best is yet to come. “We are standing strong as Palmetto Health Tuomey, and you are standing with us,” Logan-Owens said. Former Tuomey board chairman and current Palmetto Health board member John Brabham said it was a great day in Sumter. “At first it was bittersweet,” he said, recounting that all of his family had been born at Tuomey. “But I realized that now we are part of the largest health care system in the state with the ability to fund much needed improvements.” He said it was a perfect cultural fit. “The people of Sumter have been fortunate to have an excellent hospital for 100 years, and we look forward to another 100 years,” he said. Palmetto Health CEO Charles Beaman Jr. emphasized the Palmetto Health mission: “To have the vision to be remembered by each patient for providing the care and compassion we would want for
SEE FLAG, PAGE A6
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Joyce Nesbitt wipes away a tear as she talks about her late husband, Cpl. Charles Nesbitt, who was killed in the line of duty in 2011. He was hired by Sumter Police Department in 2001.
‘Some days are fine; some days are not’ BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Fulfilling a childhood dream, the late Cpl. Charles “Chuck” Richard Nesbitt Jr., of Sumter Police Department, loved every aspect of being a law enforcement officer, said his wife, Joyce Wells Nesbitt. Nesbitt, 39, died after a head-on collision with another vehicle on U.S. 521 north of Rembert, on Jan. 21, 2011. Nesbitt was the driver of the vehicle with retired Master Patrolman James V. Cox, as passenger. The two officers were on their
NESBITT
way back from transporting a juvenile to a detention center in Columbia, when the wreck occurred. Nesbitt died several hours after the wreck at KershawHealth in Cam-
den. Today is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, designated by the National Concerns of Police Survivors organization as a day to honor law enforcement officers for their service. It has been almost five years
since the tragic day that ended her husband’s life, but Joyce remembers all of the details as if it was yesterday. “Every second,” she said. “I got a call from Sumter Police Department Lt. Mike Evans who told me to meet him in the parking lot of a store where I was at the time. I didn’t know much right then except that he had been involved in an accident.” By the time Evans and Joyce arrived at KershawHealth in Camden,
SEE WIDOW, PAGE A6
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUTMER ITEM
Charles D. Beaman Jr., CEO of Palmetto Health, welcomes Palmetto Health Tuomey into the Palmetto Health system after unfurling a flag with the new name of the hospital.
U.S. employers hire at robust pace, defying global trends WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy is motoring ahead despite slowing global growth that caused upheavals in financial markets around the world this week. Employers added a robust 292,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate stayed low at 5 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. Job gains in the October-De-
VISIT US ONLINE AT
the
.com
cember quarter averaged 284,000, the best three-month increase since last January. The strong hiring underscores the resilience of the United States at a time of slow global growth and financial turmoil. Healthy consumer spending, modest gains in home construction and an uptick in government spending should
offset drags from overseas and bolster growth this year, economists said. The report “immediately puts to rest a lot of the worries that the U.S. economy will come undone because of the intensifying global headwinds coming out of China and the Middle East,” said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo.
DEATHS, A7 Rodrigo O. Washington Phillip Newman Windell Palmer Raekwon C. Shannon James D. Haislip Rubin W. Watford Jr. Jacqueline K. Miller
James Hill Ellie J. McLeod Jr. James L. Richardson Rosemary K. Moses Rosa Lee M. Linton Shaon Ann J. Smoot James H. Hill Sr.
For all of 2015, employers added 2.65 million jobs, a monthly average of 221,000. That made 2015 the secondbest year for hiring since 1999, after 2014. The unemployment rate has held at 5 percent for the past three months, despite the solid job gains, because nearly 1 million more Americans have begun seeking work
since September. Wages were the one weak spot in December as average pay slipped a penny to $25.24 an hour. Hourly pay has risen 2.5 percent in the past year, only the second time since the Great Recession ended in mid2009 that it’s reached that level. Yet pay growth remains
SEE ECONOMY, PAGE A7
WEATHER, A8
INSIDE
MILD TEMPERATURES
2 SECTIONS,14 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 72
A shower or two possible this afternoon; cloudy and mild tonight with another shower possible. HIGH 60, LOW 54
Classifieds B6 Comics B5
Lotteries A8 Television A4