IN SPORTS: P-15’s, Dalzell-Shaw Jets meet in Legion series finale B1 THE CLARENDON SUN
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Sen. Pinckney honored
May job numbers edge up BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
PHOTO BY BILL ROGERS / SOUTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION
Mourners file past Sen. Clementa Pinckney’s coffin Wednesday at the Statehouse in Columbia.
Debates on Confederate symbols continue COLUMBIA (AP) — The Confederate flag flew high Wednesday outside the South Carolina Statehouse, but a large drape kept mourners from seeing it as they filed past the open casket of a veteran black lawmaker and pastor. The slayings of state Sen. Clementa Pinckney and eight others inside their historic black church are prompting national soul-searching concerning historic but divisive symbols. The makeshift drape obscuring the secessionist battle flag only emphasized how quickly this symbol of Southern pride has fallen into official disrepute. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley became the first Southern governor to use his executive power to remove Confederate banners, as four flags with secessionist symbols were taken down Wednesday from a large monument to rebel soldiers outside that state’s capitol. “It has become a distraction all over the country right now,” Bentley said. The iconic Confederate battle flag in particular “is offensive to some people because unfortunately, it’s like the swastika; some people have adopted that as part of their hate-filled groups.” In South Carolina, making any
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Protesters hold signs as they chant during a rally to take down the Confederate flag at the South Carolina Statehouse on Tuesday. The shooting deaths of nine people at a black church in Charleston have reignited calls for the Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the Statehouse in Columbia to come down. changes to “heritage” symbols requires a two-thirds supermajority of both houses of the state Legislatures, and while lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a debate later this summer, few wanted to risk ugly words during a week of funerals. Pinckney’s open coffin was brought to the Statehouse in a horse-drawn carriage and displayed under the dome. He’s the first black given such an honor since at least Reconstruction. The 41-year-old lead pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church served the state for nearly 20 years and spent a lot of time in the sec-
ond-floor lobby where mourners were greeted by five state senators and two former governors as well as his wife and two young daughters. Pinckney came to the Statehouse as a page and in 1997 became the youngest member elected to the House. He became a senator in 2001. To honor him, people also had to file past a statue of former Vice President John C. Calhoun, who argued in the Learn about Emanuel AME Church’s new pastor A3
SEE HONOR, PAGE A10
Committee receives traffic project updates BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter City and County Planning Director George McGregor announced during the Sumter Urban Area Transportation Study Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday that the two remaining Penny Sales Tax
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Projects, traffic improvements to Manning Avenue and Lafayette Drive, are expected to begin within the next two years. McGregor said the city has applied for an encroachment permit to begin landscaping and transportation improvements to Manning Avenue.
He said plans for the improvement project have been altered to not include the closure of some roadways after the planning department received word from South Carolina Department of Transportation that the road closures would be too costly for the city. He said the six- to nine-
DEATHS, B5 Isiah Brown Sr. Alfonzo Starks Macie Perry Ray Helen Mae Williams Arnett Burgess
John H. Logan Vickie G. Parson Edgar M. Smith Sr. Roderick Walker John Lawson
month project should begin this fall. The final penny project, constructing an intersection to connect Lafayette Drive and North Main Street with the U.S. 378 bypass, should begin in late 2016, he said. McGregor said the city has
SEE TRAFFIC, PAGE A10
Pessimists and optimists can both find numbers they will like in the unemployment numbers for South Carolina released Friday by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. Pessimists can point to the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in South Carolina, which edged slightly upward in May, from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent. The seasonally adjusted figures show a loss of nearly 4,900 jobs in the Palmetto State from April to May. Optimists will want to talk about the numbers which do not include the seasonal adjustment, which show total non-farm employment increasing by 7,100 jobs from a year ago. According to the department, seasonal adjustment removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year, such as increased summer tourism and school closings. Richard Kaglic, a regional research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, continues to remain bullish on South Carolina’s job climate. “The preponderance of evidence suggests that labor demand remains very, very firm in the state,” he said. “I think despite the fact that we saw a very downbeat report in May, I don’t think that represents the underlying trend.” Jim Giffin, a business consultant for the Sumter Area Small Business Development Center, said he also thinks the unemployment rate does not accurately reflect the business climate in the area. “It doesn’t surprise me that it would tick up during the summer season with people going on vacations and such,” Giffin said. “I think from looking at the number of clients I have who want to start a business, the economy is going up slowly, which is good.” On a local level, the unadjusted unemployment rate in Sumter County reportedly rose from 7 percent in April to 7.6 percent in May. The unadjusted rate in May 2014 was 6.8 percent, the department reported. Clarendon County unadjusted numbers show an 8.5 percent unemployment rate in May compared to an 8 percent rate in April and 7.9 percent in May 2014. Lee County’s unadjusted numbers jumped to 9.8 percent in May from 8.7 percent in April and from 8.5 percent in May 2014. Analysts caution, however, that county-level reports include a great deal of volatility because of low sample numbers. Only Laurens and Allendale counties showed lower unemployment rates in the unadjusted numbers. The national unemployment rate reportedly increased slightly to 5.5 percent from April’s report of 5.4 percent.
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