March 1, 2015

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Changes continue at Sumter Chamber Lakewood girls win 3A lower state title game D1

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2015

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2 locals win in different categories at national dog show BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Two dogs trained by Sumter County residents took The Westminster Kennel Club’s 139th Annual Dog Show by

storm, winning the Best of Breed categories at the event held Feb. 16-17 in New York City. Pocotaligo’s Nama “Karoo” won in the Best of Breed category for Boykin Spaniels. The five-year-old Boykin is owned by Christina Gebhard and

Kim Parkman of Sumter. “It was quite a thrill to win,” said Parkman. “We really felt like Karoo’s best chance to win was last year, but that didn’t happen. This year we decided to go again, and it worked out well.” Carolina’s Running With

The Hare nicknamed “Blew” won in the Best of Breed category for American Water Spaniels. The threeyear-old spaniel is owned by David and Lois H. McCracken of Wedgefield. “The feeling is like having your child win Miss South

Carolina,” said David McCracken. “It makes you very proud of your dog.” Both Parkman and the McCrackens have been involved in dog shows for a long time.

SEE WINNERS, PAGE A7

SUMTER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE HOLDS TRAINING SESSION

16 officers, 13 agencies, 1 MRAP

KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Cpl. Jeff Hofer stands next to the MRAP he’s been driving for Sumter County Sheriff’s Office since last year. Sixteen officers from 13 state agencies participated in a training session with the vehicle on Thursday. “Whenever you have extreme situations, you want to be able to have an extreme response to that,” sheriff’s office spokesman Braden Bunch said.

16 learn to drive 27-ton armored tactical vehicle BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com The garage door slid open, and a 27ton armored truck emerged from its bay with the foreboding poise of a steam locomotive. The 54,000-pound transporter, a

hulking military-styled tactical vehicle known as the MRAP Caiman, eased into a hazy junkyard behind the Sumter County Public Works armory amid a backdrop of battered, disabled and outdated squad cars and patrol vehicles. The tires of the massive truck dug into the sod as it turned to exit the armory, leaving deep tracks in the fresh mud. More than a dozen officers from across the state came onto the grounds of Sumter County Sheriff’s

Office on Thursday to train on how to operate the weapons-resistant combat vehicle. Among them was Sumter County Deputy Jeff Hofer, who’s served as the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle driver since last year. “It’s an armored vehicle we can deploy to an active shooter situation,” Cpl. Hofer said. “It can get us right up front, close and personal with them. We can have the whole (SWAT Team) safe and in the vehicle to get us inside

that building and get the scene safe and secure.” The federal government donated the vehicle to Sumter County Sheriff’s Office last year as an addition to its Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team. The bullet-proof vehicle is cased in reinforced steel and aluminum and built to veer into such perilous situations as hostage standoffs and dangerous terrain.

There’s hope for a healthy heart

Born with a heart defect that caused her to turn blue from lack of oxygenated blood, Rilee Hatfield shows off an award for raising money for the American Heart Association. She’s now 15, and so far, her family has given $50,000 to the nonprofit organization.

Family shares experiences with daughter’s condition, treatment BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Misty Hatfield is thankful her daughter was born when she was. “If she had been a baby five years before that, they didn’t have the correct technology,”

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Hatfield said. “They didn’t have a heart-lung bypass for babies. So we are always very grateful.” Now 15, Rilee Hatfield was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a condition that causes low oxygen levels in the blood and leads to cyanosis, a bluishpurple tint to the skin, accord-

ing to a MedlinePlus article. Located at nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus, it is the National Institutes of Health’s website produced by the National Library of Medicine. “My mom would tell me, ‘cover that baby up,’” Misty

Helen R. Hancock Hazel W. Mack Everlena Y. Scarborough Paul Burroughs Jr. Anna N. James Lilly C. Grant

PHOTO PROVIDED

SEE RILEE, PAGE A5

DEATHS, A8, A9 and A11 Shirlee Ann Bills Catherine Ray Scott Patty A. Nelson Michael C. Adams Louis B. Fulton Jr. Tina Ford

SEE TRAINING, PAGE A11

Patricia A. Wilson Fred D. Addison Vivian P. Johnson Thomas David Jr.

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

CHILLY AND RAINY

5 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 115

Cloudy with a shower or two and cold today; more showers tonight HIGH 41, LOW 39

Business D1 Classifieds D5 Comics E1 Lotteries A12

Opinion A10 Outdoors D4 Stocks D2 Television E3


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