Wildlife attacks on pets rise in summer
A8
Hitchhiking robot starts U.S. trek After travelling Europe and Canada, hitchBot tries out the America road A6 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
$1.50
SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2015
PANORAMA: Train project lands 4th-grader in museum
RETURNING TO ROOTS
C1
Deputies shoot man
Nat Bradford talks about the watermelons his family has grown for 170 years in Northern Sumter County.
39-year-old suspect hospitalized BY COLLYN TAYLOR intern@theitem.com Two Sumter County Sheriff’s Office deputies were involved in a shooting Saturday morning that resulted in one Sumter County man being hospitalized. Deputies received a report about a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 100 block of Colts Run in Dalzell about 10:15 a.m. Saturday. When deputies arrived, they were reportedly confronted by Michael Dinkins.
According to preliminary sheriff’s office reports, Dinkins, 39, became physically aggressive with both deputies outside of the residence. They deployed Tasers to try to subdue Dinkins, but reports state he continued to be physically aggressive toward the deputies. Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Braden Bunch said the details of the physical altercation are unknown at this time, but he said it was more than a
SEE DEPUTIES, PAGE A11
Sumter couple raises amoeba awareness
When the crop of Bradford watermelons are harvested a percentage is held back to harvest the seeds for future crops.
PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Nat Bradford talks about the watermelons his family has grown for 170 years in northern Sumter County. When the crop of Bradford watermelons are harvested a percentage is held back to harvest the seeds for future crops.
Family behind Bradford watermelons talk tradition BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com The story behind the Bradford watermelon, said by many to be the sweetest and most flavorful watermelon, began nearly 170 years ago with one man and a handful of seeds. The Bradford watermelon came into existence in the 1850s after Nathaniel Bradford of Sumter created it by crossing various breeds of watermelons. The melons gained a great popularity in the south between the 1850s to the early 1900s until the fruit disappeared from markets because of its fragile rind, which lim-
VISIT US ONLINE AT
the
.com
ited shipping methods. Transporting the watermelons proved to be difficult and melons with tougher rinds were preferred because high quantities could be shipped with less chance of damage. While many believed the Bradford watermelon to be extinct for more than 100 years, the Bradford family continued to grow the fruits, although the family misplaced its link to the watermelons. Nathaniel “Nat” Bradford, part of the seventh generation of Bradfords since the first cultivation of the wellknown watermelons, came across a book listing the Bradford watermelon as one
of the best fruits of the 1850s while conducting research for an internship in 1997. For years after this discovery, Bradford wondered if his family was somehow linked to the Bradford family mentioned in the book. It turned out Nat Bradford’s family had a history just as rich as the watermelons his family had grown for many generations. In 2013, Bradford and his family planted a half-acre of watermelons using seeds saved from past harvests. Each season, the family saves seeds from two watermelons to be used for future seasons.
SEE WATERMELON, PAGE A9
CONTACT US
DEATH, A11
Information: 774-1200 Advertising: 774-1237 Classifieds: 774-1234 Delivery: 774-1258 News and Sports: 774-1226
Hermeina Spann
SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO
Walt Driggers, father of Blake Driggers, surrounded by Blake’s friends and cousins, releases nine red balloons in Dillon Park in June 2013. Nine balloons were selected because his son would have been nine that year, and red was his favorite color.
Driggerses also provide free nose plugs BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com It was just another weekend on the lake for Walt and Gingi Driggers and their children on July 7, 2012. They never imagined that would be the last time they took a family trip with their 8-year-old son, Blake. Blake died July 17, 2012, after contracting Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as “brain-eating amoeba,” 10 days after jumping off a dock into Lake Marion. Naegleria fowleri can cause a rare and devastating infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, according to the
Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention website. The amoeba infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. It cannot be contracted by accidentally swallowing the water, according to Jim Beasley, spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. “The water must reach your nasal cavity with enough force so it can make its way into the brain,” Beasley said. One of the most effective ways to prevent the chances of being infected is either holding your nose as you
SEE AMOEBA, PAGE A9
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
HOT AND HUMID
5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 232
A thunderstorm possible this evening. Partly cloudy and humid. HIGH 97, LOW 76
Business D1 Classifieds D5 Comics E1
Still Waiting? Act Now Before Mortgage Rates Rise. Sumter: 469-0156 Manning: 433-4451 bankofclarendon.com ."//*/( t 4"/5&& t 46..&350/ t 8:#00 t 46.5&3
Lotteries A12 Opinion A10 Television E3