Sumter poised to grow Edens addresses Rotarians on impact of penny tax projects BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com
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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES | VOL. 120, NO. 236
Sumter County Councilman Charles Edens announced on Thursday that most of the items on the 2008 Capital Penny Sales Tax project list have been completed while a few of the major roadway projects are still underway during the Rotary Club of Sumter Palmet-
to meeting. Voters approved the sales tax ballot question in 2008, and the county began collecting money in 2009 to fund 16 infrastructure and improvement projects throughout the city and county. Collection will end by May 2016 or when $75 million is EDENS collected, whichever comes first. Edens said the penny sales tax has kept Sumter moving forward despite starting out during the recent recession. He said the county attempted to
pass the penny sales tax two times before the public voted to pass the initiative in 2008. He said city and county officials learned that the previous lists were not as inclusive as the public would have liked. He said the needs of all Sumter County residents needed to be taken into account for the penny tax to work. The 2008 project list was created through a collaboration of residents from different professional fields and with various interests, he said. Edens said collection for the 28 penny projects for the 2016 sales
SEE PROJECTS, PAGE A6
Learning about lift at the library STATE TOURNAMENT SATURDAY WEDNESDAY RILEY PARK
American Legion state tournament Special guide to a big week of baseball inside today C1
DEATHS, B4 AND B5 Abraham Pendergrass Bernard W. McCaffrey Robert D. Jones Jr. Clarence McKenzie Jeffrey H. Gunter Jr. Samuel M. Greene Joanne W. Charles
William Hilton James Watford Tiffany Mellott Carmen J. Bouyea Jane F. Mason Nancy S. Russell Buddy Atkinson
WEATHER, A8 COOLER AND STORMY Mostly cloudy with good chance of storms HIGH 92, LOW 71
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Cassie, from Sciencetellers, uses a leaf blower on Brenna Aleshire, 9, to illustrate the concept of lift during her show at the Sumter County Library on Thursday. Cassie then used a roll of toilet paper with the blower to show how the concept succeeded.
Haley beefs up Guard facility security BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com
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Gov. Nikki Haley announced Monday that security measures will be increased at all South Carolina National Guard facilities in response to the fatal shooting of one U.S. Navy officer at a military recruiting center and four U.S. Marines at a Navy operations support center in Chattanooga, Tennessee
on July 16. “In the wake of the shootings in Chattanooga, I have ordered a full review of all South Carolina National Guard facilities and installations statewide,” Haley said in a news release from the governor’s office. The governor authorized National Guard officials be armed based on vulnerability assessments of all Guard recruitment stations, facili-
ties and installations in the state. Haley also authorized that National Guard officials continue active shooter exercises with local law enforcement, continue active coordination and training with law enforcement and provide a method of instant contact with law enforcement. According to a news release from
SEE HALEY, PAGE A6
Hartsville-based nuclear exercise takes over local airspace Airport is beehive of activity
BY GAVIN JACKSON Florence Morning News FLORENCE – Hundreds of officials participated in the second day of an emergency drill involving the Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville Wednesday in a simulation that involved a fictional radiological release event. The drill, the largest of its kind, brought together dozens of local and state agencies with a heavier focus of federal agencies with representatives from around throughout the country. The officials were into the second day of the mock incident, issuing press releases that said the plant was stable following a broken ventilation relief valve, holding press conferences announcing that the president had issued an emergency declaration and that 30,000 people from a 10-
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
JIM HILLEY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Physicist Peter Wasiolek monitors telemetry from an aircraft taking part in the Department of Energy’s Southern Exposure 15 nuclear accident response exercise. mile emergency planning zone area were being safely evacuated to Florence. The plan evolved into a 50-
mile ingestion path that focuses on consumable products,
SEE EXERCISE, PAGE A3
What would happen if there were a major accident at Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville? Numerous federal, state and local agencies have been taking part in an exercise called “Southern Exposure 15” intended to improve the response to such an event. While most of the exercise is taking place in the Florence, Hartsville, West Columbia, Sumter Airport has been a beehive of activity as an operational base for aerial radiological monitoring of the “accident,” said Les Winfield, aviation manager for Department of Energy’s Las
Vegas Field Office. “By using aerial assets to survey large areas where there may be contamination, we can provide information to emergency managers so they can make decisions on such things as closWINFIELD ing roads or embargoing crops,” he said. David Bowman, acting associate administrator of emergency operations and director of the Office of Emergency Response for Department of Energy, said aerial monitoring is a critical component of
SEE AIRPORT, PAGE A3