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More find jobs in September State jobless rate up slightly while tri-county improves BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com Despite a drop in unemployment across all 46 counties, the South Carolina jobless rate went from 6.3 percent
District gets C grade on recent state report card
in August to 6.6 percent in September, according to an initial estimate by South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. The study, released Monday, shows that the labor force increased by 8,964, while the employment level dropped 2,527. DEW executive director Cheryl M. Stanton said in an emailed statement
that “South Carolina’s job outlook remains positive with more than two million South Carolinians working. In the last year, more than 21,000 people have found work, and there are over 43,000 new jobs in the Palmetto State.” In the tri-county area of Clarendon, Lee and Sumter, Clarendon saw the biggest month-to-month drop, falling from 9.9 percent in August to 9.2. With
the drop, the county now has improved its unemployment numbers by 2.2 percent since September of 2013 but still holds the highest unemployment rate in the tri-county area. Lee County had a 0.3 percent drop from month to month and is down 1.0 percent from last year, and Sumter
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Dogs celebrate Halloween, too
3 high schools improve BY RAYTEVIA EVANS ray@theitem.com As a whole, the state of South Carolina saw some improvements according to new federal report cards, while Sumter School District’s overall weighted points dropped slightly from 74.6 in 2013 to 72.9 this year — maintaining the district’s overall grade of C. The S.C. Department of Education released the information Tuesday morning on the cards related to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. “I am extremely pleased with the progress at our high schools, and I commend the 14 schools that met or exceeded state standards,” said Superintendent Frank Baker. “Collectively, we will continue to work diligently to improve test scores across the board.” The method used to calculate the 2014 federal report card was modified by the South Carolina Department of Education in the spring and approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Some of the updates to the calculations for this year include not calculating grades for new schools until the schools have been in operation for two years and considering on a caseby-case basis the calculation of grades for reconstituted schools. ESEA scores for school districts are calculated to include a number of annual measurable objectives for each school for every district. The scores are calculated to include English and language arts, math, science and biology, social studies, graduation rate (for high schools), percentage tested for math and percentage tested for English language arts. Sumter School District had a 1.7 point decrease overall, but some of the individual schools graded much higher in 2014 than in 2013. All three high schools in the district improved by at least one letter grade overall with Lakewood High School seeing the biggest improvement, jumping from an average grade of F in 2013 to a C for the 2014 federal report card. Sumter High School, which in 2013 received a D with only 60.3 overall weighted points, received an even 78 points and a grade of C in 2014 — improving
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Zeus the boxer dressed up as Emmitt Smith for Dog Day at Patriot Park on Tuesday. Sumter Stormwater Solutions in partnership with Sumter County Public Works and the Sumter County Recreation Department put on the event to celebrate the installation of four new pet waste stations to help park visitors pick up after their pets. Angel Baby, left, is dressed as Bat Dog for the event. Pets entered a costume contest, and their owners enjoyed free giveaways at the event. PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Candidates face off in last gubernatorial debate BY JEFFREY COLLINS The Associated Press GREENVILLE — The two major challengers to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley used their final debate Tuesday to attack her handling of problems at the state’s child welfare agency and what they said is her lack of support for a law to take guns away from people convicted of criminal domestic violence. The theme of the debate at Furman University was health care and education, giving the challengers more opportunities to go after the Republican incumbent than they had during the first debate, which dealt with Haley’s
signature issue, the economy. Haley cited examples from her time in office to dispute the criticism, engaging more with Democrat Vincent Sheheen, who ran against her in 2010, than with independent candidate Tom Ervin. Tuesday’s second debate is the final scheduled one before the Nov. 4 election.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Ervin said he decided to run — and spend nearly $3.5 million of his own money on the campaign — because of how Haley had handled problems at the Department of Social Services. He said she stood by while an incompe-
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tent leader of the agency let children be abused and killed because of poor management. “She knew when she took office that we had a crisis at DSS. She knew case workers had too many cases assigned to them. And yet, she sent her Cabinet appointee over to the Senate investigative committee and lied about the numbers,” said Ervin, a former judge and legislator who calls himself a conservative Republican but is running as an independent. Sheheen said Haley’s handling of DSS shows she isn’t honest. “Kids have died. Kids have been harmed.
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