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S.C. UNEMPLOYMENT
A5
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SUICIDE IN SUMTER COUNTY
Jobless Inside the sheriff ’s office’s rate holds steady
SAFE ROOM
Percentages go up in tri-county area BY MEG KINNARD The Associated Press COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s unemployment rate held steady during the last month, state officials said Friday. In its monthly release, the state’s Department of Employment and Workforce said the state’s jobless rate for May was 5.3 percent. That figure is 2.6 percent lower than one year ago and is the largest year-to-year drop in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to figures released by the Employment and Workforce department, the jobless rate rose in all counties in the tri-county area: Sumter County’s jobless rate jumped from 5.7 percent to 6 percent, Clarendon County’s rate rose from 7.2 percent to 7.5 percent, and Lee County’s rate went up from 6 percent to 6.3 percent. Nationally, unemployment last month was 6.3 percent. When South Carolina’s unemployment dropped to 5.3 percent in April, officials said that figure was the state’s lowest level in 13 years. Last month, South Carolina’s labor force was more than 2.1 million, more than 1,200 higher than April. There are more than 2 million working South Carolinians, a figure that state officials said has been going up for 10 consecutive months. Over the last month, jobs in trade, transportation, utilities and manufacturing increased by 5,000. Those combined sectors are up more than 16,000 jobs compared to the same time one year ago. Unemployment went up in all but three of South Carolina’s counties, and those jobless rates remained unchanged. Lexington County had the state’s lowest unemployment, at 4.2 percent, while Marion County’s rate of 9.6 percent was the state’s highest.
MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Two guns wrapped in red plastic bags labeled “biohazard” lean against a wall in a safe keeping room at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office on Friday. These two weapons were recovered from suicides.
Think suicide isn’t happening here? Think again BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com (803) 774-1225
W
ithin the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office campus, there’s a building
where investigators conduct forensic research for their cases. Inside, there are several rooms dedicated to the storage and cataloging of evidence from criminal investigations. Some hold drugs, some hold
seized weapons, and others host recovered stolen items. Along the broadest wall of what is called the “Safe Room” is a locker that holds very specific items used in very specific scenarios. Open it, and you’ll find a collection of handguns. Unlike weapons in other rooms that were taken during a drug raid or recovered as suspected murder weapons, the wielders of some of these items shared the same target: themselves. “Some of these are weapons confiscated from people who attempted or threatened to commit suicide,” Sgt. Michael Bean said in a recent interview.
“We hold these weapons until an authorized family member or friend can reclaim them or until the person who owned them is considered stable enough to take them back.” “We have other guns in evidence lockers that were actually used to commit suicide,” said Investigator Bobby Richardson. “They’re actual evidence, so only investigators have access to them.” Many of the weapons used in suicides end up being destroyed, as family members typically don’t want to reclaim them.
SEE SUICIDE, PAGE A7
STATE BUDGET
Bus shop, Lake Ashwood vetoes overturned BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 Two Lee County sites were given a reprieve from the state budget ax after state legislators voted to overturn the governor’s budget vetoes this week. The Legislature’s actions
will ensure state funding for both sites for the next fiscal year. The shop used to repair Lee County School District’s buses will receive funding at the same level as last year; Gov. Nikki Haley wanted to scrap the portion of the education budget guaranteeing funding to the Lee County bus shop. Likewise, Department
DEATHS, A7
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of Natural Resources funding for Lake Ashwood near Bishopville was saved from the governor’s veto pen. Both the House and Senate voted by a two-thirds majority to overturn most of the budget vetoes issued by Haley’s office. Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, whose district also includes much of
Cicely P. Harden Cary J. Russell James M. Percer Ivory Stukes
Ruth G. Parrott Kenneth C. Fowler Allen Williams Jr. Kenneth B. Bradley Sr.
Lee County, voted to restore funding to both. The day the Senate overturned the cuts, he said, “was a very good day for Sumter and Lee counties.” Haley issued 76 vetoes to the state budget on June 11, two of which targeted the Lee sites. The governor cut $250,000 from the DNR budget
for Lake Ashwood, a 75-acre public fishing lake leased by the department through its leased lands management program. Haley labeled the appropriation “good old-fashioned pork.” “We should not be earmarking funds for a lake that isn’t
SEE VETOES, PAGE A7
WEATHER, A8
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2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 212
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