DEAR ABBY: Boyfriend keeps ex’s lingerie as ‘trinkets’
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SCIENCE NEWS
The mountains, beach or space? 1st test of new tourism balloon is a success A4
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SHS grad Final Frontier commander Colonel will help monitor objects, debris in Earth’s orbit at California base’s center BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 Col. John W. Giles grew up in a military family, but that doesn’t mean he automatically wanted to
GILES
A tragedy of tragedies
follow in his father’s footsteps. Giles graduated from Sumter High School while his father, Lt. Col. John Giles, was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base. But after graduation, he went to college to study physics and later got a job in
possibility. Then when he was working for an engineering firm in Raleigh, I think it started to shimmer in his mind.” Eventually, Giles did enter the
engineering, not yet envisioning himself in his father’s uniform. “Initially he did not,” said the elder Giles, now retired from the service. “In high school, he was not much interested in it. At college, I think he began to probe the
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Chillin’ out
Family of loved one lost to suicide turns to faith, group support Editor’s Note: According to statistics from save.org, someone commits suicide every 16.2 minutes in America, totaling 30,000 a year. This story is part one of a series about the families left behind when a loved one commits suicide and the pain the families have endured since.
BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com (803) 774-1225 Every day, Sumter County Coroner Harvin Bullock deals with death, both natural and unnatural. Every case begins with his arrival and ends with a call to an unsuspecting family. With a heavy heart, he tells them someone very dear to them has passed. Recently, Bullock responded to a suburban home in Sumter County. He felt in his stomach that it would be a tough one, but he had no true understanding until he arrived. “There aren’t that many that get to me,” he said, a somber tone in his voice. “But this one ... it’s sticking with me.” To Bullock’s dismay, the subject of his call was a person who took his own life. “Death is always sad, suicides especially so,” Bullock said. “It’s even worse when it’s a young person. It’s just terrible for everyone.” With the family now dealing with one of the worst pains imaginable, Bullock said even he was at a total loss. “There are no answers; there are no words,” Bullock said. Sadly, cases such as these are far more common than most could imagine. Whether they’re teens, young adults or the elderly,
Lovell Stevenson, above, plays in the water fountain at Crosswell Park at the intersection of Crosswell and Lafayette drives on Thursday when temperatures were sweltering. Sumter has two other spray parks for families for cooling off: North HOPE Park at North Main and Vining streets and South Sumter Park, 630 South Sumter St. Roger Simmons, seen left at right, holds Michael Harley while being refreshed at the park on Thursday. PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
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Central Carolina students go ‘behind the fence’ Annual trip teaches how DJJ really works BY RAYTEVIA EVANS revans@theitem.com (803) 774-1214 The inside look at what the administration at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice refers to as “behind the fence” was not exactly
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what students in Central Carolina Technical College’s juvenile delinquency class expected. Professor Chris Hall said touring the facility is a regular part of the course each year, and with every group of students, they normally experience the unexpected. “The majority of these students are studying for a degree in criminal justice, so this gives them the opportunity to go through different facilities and departments at DJJ, and they’ll see
how things work,” Hall said. “I do think television kind of plays into what they may be expecting, but once they get there, they’ll see something totally different.” After touring DJJ departments, including the transition home for girls, the dormitory and the high school, the students definitely had a different perspective, many voicing their expectations that DJJ would be more similar to prison. The visits provided the students the
DEATHS, B6 Mary C. Brock Sharon F. Stokes Ella C. Carter James C. Yarborough
Nathan A. Coutrier Gary J. Sweeney Russell M. Hildebrand III David A. Hatfield
opportunity to become more familiar with the juveniles’ day-to-day activities and the services DJJ provides them. With that in mind, the administration and guards on duty still make it very clear that the juveniles do have restrictions. Jesse Van Norman, one of the 26 Central Carolina students, said the facility is quite different from what he expected and what it offers the
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