BLACK COWBOY FESTIVAL: We’ve got more photos from Saturday’s event on page A6
SCISA semifinals Robert E. Lee, Wilson Hall, Laurence Manning baseball squads return to action today B1 TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2014
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Mammoth bill heading to conference committee BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 The bill making a South Carolina mammoth the official state fossil has one month before it faces extinction. A simple proposal originally made by a
New Zion elementary school student has been bogged down in a political fight between the Senate and the House of Representatives since it was introduced earlier this year. Senators refused last week to rescind controversial amendments to the bill that earlier failed to pass the House, and a conference committee is now tasked with
working out a compromise version. “I never thought it would take all this,” said Rep. Robert Ridgeway, D-Manning, who introduced the bill in the House after receiving a request from an 8-year-old girl in
SEE MAMMOTH, PAGE A9
Kitty in the window
INSIDE 3 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 172
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Donation helps SPCA construct special feline area BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250
WEATHER, A10 GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT Partly sunny and hot today; clear tonight HIGH 91, LOW 60
DEATHS, B6 Douglas T. Riley Jr. Patricia Ann Brunson Ella M. Jordan John A. Haynesworth Milton C. Shuping Eulalie Johnson Lynn C. Rye Clara Fowler Ronald M. Denton Douglas P. Bleecker
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Will Anderson, a Sumter artist, paints the exterior of Tommy’s Cat House to look like a home. The feline enclosure now takes up part of the gift shop area at the Sumter SPCA. Also, check out our coverage from the SPCA’s “Woofstock 2014: A Music Festival Going to the Dogs!” on page A3.
Cats at the Sumter SPCA now have a new space to stretch out, thanks to a donation in memory of a loved one. Tommy Hawkins, one of the co-founders of Hawkins and Kolb Construction, died in a car wreck in June 2011. “He was well liked and loved,” said Linda Hawkins, his wife of nearly of 30 years. “One of those reasons was he was so kind and generous with charities. His No. 1 favorite charity was the SPCA. He loved animals.” She wanted to do something in his honor. So she went to the Sumter SPCA and asked what was needed. Manager Cindy Cook told her about this idea for a cat
room, and Linda Hawkins readily agreed. Part of the gift shop was converted into a place to showcase the cats, and the outside was painted to look like a home. “You can’t really get to know them when they’re in a cage,” Hawkins said. At any given time, the local SPCA has 30 to 45 cats and kittens, Cook said. She usually puts eight to 14 adult cats in the room at a time or 12 to 14 kittens. “This way they can get more sunshine and fresh air,” Cook said. “They can move around more so it’s healthier for them. They can look out the window (and) chase lizards. The cats in there have a ball, (and) it helps the cats. You can see their personalities better. Clients and customers love to watch them play and interact.” The felines are rotated out on a regular basis except for two that have learned to use the exercise wheel and seem
SEE SPCA, PAGE A9
Help local letter carriers Stamp Out Hunger BY IVY MOORE ivym@theitem.com (803) 774-1221 Every day on their rounds, many letter carriers deliver mail to homes where there are hungry people, both
young and old. And every year, on the day before Mother’s Day, they take steps to get nourishing food to them. On Saturday, with the help of their postal customers and other concerned citizens in the community, rural carriers
and members of The National Association of Letter Carriers Local Branch 904 will collect food from homes on their regular rounds to be donated to local people who need it most. Statistics about hunger in America are staggering, retired
letter carrier and food drive coordinator David Floyd pointed out. According to the AARP, United Way and the NACL: • 49 million, or 1 in 6, Americans are food insecure;
SEE STAMP OUT HUNGER, PAGE A9