Saturday’s edition might arrive late in an effort to include high school basketball state championship game results. SCIENCE
Tracking species Scientists test DNA in water to find invasive, rare animals A4
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Downtown will have new patio in time for spring
Autopsy reveals gunshot to head Officials hunting for suspect after man’s body discovered BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office deputies are seeking the suspect responsible for the killing of a 24-yearold man whose body was discovered Tuesday morning near Manning. An autopsy conducted Wednesday revealed that the victim, Emanuel Torres, died from a gunshot wound to the head, said Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett. As of Thursday morning, Garrett
SEE AUTOPSY, PAGE A7
PETA offers $5K reward to help find farm vandal FROM STAFF REPORTS
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Danny Glover, an employee of New Millennium Concrete Finishing, smooths out the concrete patio next to the new Subway on Liberty Street on Thursday. JF Contractors are the builders and say, weather permitting, the project will be finished next week.
An animal rights group that normally would be fighting against animal farms has offered a reward for help in solving the case of the killing of hundreds of thousands of chickens being raised in local farms for slaughter. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has offered as much as $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for killing more than 300,000 chickens in Clarendon and Sumter counties. This is a rare reward from the animal rights organization, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which actively fights similar laws, such as “ag-gag” laws that limit access to factory farms and target PETA’s eyewitness investigations. Since mid-February, someone has apparently tampered with the temperature and ventilation controls
SEE REWARD, PAGE A7
Bill to change local government funding sent to Senate BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem A bill which changes the name of the Local Government Fund to the Local Government Revenue Sharing
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Fund and removes the requirement that the fund receives 4.5 percent of general fund revenues from the previous year has been passed by the South Carolina House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.
While the previous funding formula has not been fully funded by the General Assembly since 2008, supporters of the bill, H.3374, say it would give local municipalities and counties a better idea of how to plan their budgets and
would more closely reflect actual funding. Most of the Sumter House delegation voted for the bill, with the exception being Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter. “I voted against it because I think it is about time for the
DEATHS, B5 and B6 Courtney A. Singleton Troy A. Graham Clyde W. Strain Corine Peterson Malcolm R. Rivers James C. Still Jr.
Mary W. Williams Earline S. Hunter Mary B. White George Wells Jr. Trolley Lee Frank Louis Fulton Jr.
Shirley Ann Drinkard Elma Kea Mary B. Taylor Naomi R. Aaron
state of South Carolina to honor its commitments,” he said. “We made a commitment based upon that formula to appropriate the funds to local government, and we
SEE BILL, PAGE A7
WEATHER, A10
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2 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 119
Partly sunny and cooler; clear and cold HIGH 48, LOW 27
Classifieds B8 Comics A8 Lotteries A10
Opinion A9 Television B7