Consent decree raises concerns at Crosswell $1.50
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2015
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
5 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES | VOL. 121, NO. 34
2015
Children’s home executive director worries how lawsuit will affect care BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com A consent decree between South Carolina Department of Social Services has Jerry Allred, executive director of John K. Crosswell Home for Children in Sumter, con-
cerned about the facility’s ability to provide services to children under the age of 6. The decree was brought about by a lawsuit by Children’s Rights, a national advocacy group for children, and South Carolina Apple-
seed Legal Justice Center against Gov. Nikki Haley and DSS Director Susan Alford. The lawsuit alleged, among other things, ALLRED that too many children were placed in institutions and detention centers and were moved too often.
SEE CROSSWELL, PAGE A10
Cavaliers win SCISA 1A state title
iris
Keep poinsettias great through the holidays
Save energy with holiday decorations
Holiday living
holiday gift guide
made easy
2015 Gift Guide finally arrives Learn easy ways to make the holidays more festive PANORAMA
Garden Club offers ‘Southern Christmas’ C1 MONEY
3 startups aim to help millennials save A8 DEATHS, A11 and A13 Inez Williams-Leaf James H. DuBose Lamar Rufus Lois Jones Julia S. Smith Elbert B. Hubbard Jr.
Neola Benjamin Marie Mantalbano John H. Adams Melba Henry Luis Riley Lubertha Sanders
WEATHER, A14 CONTINUING TO COOL OFF
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
Robert E. Lee Academy senior tackle Travis Christmas, 55, hoists the Class 1A SCISA State Championship Trophy towards the fans after the team received the trophy Saturday night. The Cavaliers beat Colleton Prep 38-16. See page B1 for more.
Lincoln High alumni host ‘Saving Our Heritage’ Friday 9th Annual Gala will provide for more preservation efforts BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com The Lincoln High School Preservation Alumni Association presents its Ninth Annual Gala on Friday, and Lincolnites have much to celebrate this year, its officers say. Preservation of the beloved school at 24 Council St. is progressing at a good
pace, a major gift for renovations has been received and the building itself has been named to the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Founded as a grammar school for black children in 1874, Lincoln gradually added
PHOTO PROVIDED
Lincoln High School’s legacy is commemorated by this marker on the front lawn, and Friday a marker acknowledging the school’s entrance SEE LINCOLN, PAGE A11 into the National Register of Historic Places will be unveiled.
Cooler with clouds breaking during the day; clear and colder tonight. HIGH 55, LOW 31
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Brussels hunkers down amid warning of Paris-style threat BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian authorities closed down Brussels’ subway system and flooded the streets with armed police and soldiers Saturday in response to what they said was a threat of Paris-style attacks. The decision to raise the threat alert to the highest level in the Bel-
gian capital came as the manhunt continued for a suspect missing since the carnage in neighboring France. It was taken “based on quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris,” said Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel.
The tip authorities received suggested that an attack would involve “several individuals with arms and explosives launch actions, perhaps even in several places at the same time,” he said. The U.S. Embassy in Belgium urged Americans in the country “to shelter in place and re-
main at home” while the U.S. European Command issued a 72-hour travel restriction for U.S. military personnel on travel to Brussels — a city of more than 1 million that is home to the headquarters of the European Union, the NATO alliance and
SEE BRUSSELS, PAGE A10