May 21, 2014

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Voters will decide on Sunday alcohol sales City council votes 5-1 to move forward on referendum WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014

75 CENTS

SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 Now it’s up to the people to decide. As expected, Sumter City Council voted Tuesday to move forward

3 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES | VOL. 119, NO. 185

SPORTS

with a referendum allowing city residents to decide whether to permit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday. But the vote didn’t advance without more discussion and a last-minute attempt to limit its scope.

Voters will now decide in November whether to allow Sunday alcohol sales in bars and restaurants inside the city limits. Before second and final reading on the contentious alcohol motion,

SEE ALCOHOL, PAGE A6

Delicate flowers? More like muscle power Prenatal fitness offers benefits for moms, babies BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250

Done decision Kennedy reflects on choice to leave Gamecocks B1 PANORAMA

Monsoons and marbles: Mission trip helps farmers, children C1 DEATHS, B6 Frank F. Cusumano Sr. Doris Blyther Marion Williams Herbert Lee Nelson John K. Winder Raymond B. Harrington Shirley S. Georgia

Elizabeth P. Robinson Paula A. Abdullah Geraldine Drayton Queen S. Adams Lila H. Elmore James D. Green

WEATHER, A8 GETTING WARMER Partly sunny today and a partly cloudy sky tonight HIGH 91, LOW 66

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Info: 774-1200 Advertising: 774-1237 Classifieds: 774-1234 Delivery: 774-1258 News and Sports: 774-1226

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Ashley Hustad, who is 24 weeks pregnant, does squats at the Sumter Family YMCA on Monday. She admits some adjustments have to be made to accommodate her growing abdomen. Physicians recommend that pregnant women keep up their exercise routines.

Being active is important for everyone, including expectant women. “It’s most important for moms to be as healthy as possible before getting pregnant,” said Dr. Carol Alan with Carolina Women’s Specialists. “Being active or in sports, as long as there are no issues, can continue. It can help prevent hypertension and gestational diabetes. It helps the baby tolerate labor and prevents the baby from getting so big.” There are some limits on higher-risk activities such as horseback riding or scuba diving, she said, and she recommended checking with your health care provider about options that are right for you. Lisa Pinto and Ashley Hustad both approached their physicians with Sumter OB/GYN about continuing exercise routines they were doing when they became pregnant. “My blood pressure is good, and my blood sugar is great,” said Pinto, who is 31 weeks along. “Anything I did before I was pregnant, I can do now. I asked at what point I needed to stop before I would go into labor, and they said keep going. You do have to make some adjustments because your center of gravity is different.” She meets with Michelle Barnes, a personal trainer at the Sumter Family YMCA, three times a week because the first-time mom said she needs the accountability. Hustad, who is 24 weeks along with her second

SEE FITNESS, PAGE A6

Tuomey spends $18M in legal fees on its case BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com (803) 774-1201 Tuomey Healthcare System has spent $18 million in legal fees in defending itself in its federal lawsuit battle, prosecutors pointed out in a brief filed late Monday night with the appellate court overseeing the nine-year-old case. Responding to Tuomey’s request that the local hospital only have to place $30 million in escrow to continue its appeal of the $239 million judgment against it — instead of the $70 million ordered by a lower court — federal prosecutors highlighted the legal expenditures, as well as recent spending practices by the local hospital, as evidence

that Tuomey could afford the larger amount. “There is no evidence that Tuomey’s commercial bondholders would be harmed by an order requiring the deposit of the Escrow Funds into the district court. The bonds are secured not only by revenues, but also by the hospital itself,” prosecutors argue. “Tuomey valued its capital assets alone at over $90 million.” Tuomey is facing the $237.5 million judgment after a federal jury last year found the hospital in violation of Stark Law. In its verdict, the jury determined Tuomey had signed illegal contracts with several of its doctors and as a result had submitted more than 21,000 false Medicare

claims between 2005 and 2009. As the local hospital continues the process of appealing the verdict, it has also said it could be forced to file for bankruptcy should it be required to set aside the full

$70 million. Still, in their latest filing with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, federal prosecutors have suggested to the courts another way of allowing Tuomey to continue its appeal without meeting the $70 million requirement ordered by the federal district court. In the new scenario, federal attorneys recommend the appellate court order Tuomey to take the $50 million it currently has in escrow and transfer it to the district court, then have the court place a lein for the remaining judgment against the hospital’s properties. According to federal prosecutors, this move would, in essence, make the federal

SEE TUOMEY, PAGE A6


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