IN SPORTS: A look ahead at Sumter’s key region battle and local rivalry games B1 FACT CHECK
A look back at the CNBC Republican presidential debate A5 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015
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County can start process for repairs BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter County department heads were given the green light from Federal Emergency Management Agency project specialists Thursday to move forward with repair projects during an applicant
Tuomey grade drops in survey
kickoff meeting. Project Specialist Dave Clark said the county can begin procedures for bidding out repair projects as long as it follows procurement guidelines detailed in its code of ordinances and follows state and federal procurement regulations.
According to a handout from FEMA, any project that requires repairs or replacements in excess of $121,800 is considered a large project and projects that require materials and equipment for no more than $121,800 are considered small projects. Clark said the county will
have to account for all materials and purchases for large projects. He said it is better for the county to overestimate because FEMA will not step in if not enough funds have been appropriated for projects. Clark said the county has 60 consecutive days after the
meeting to provide all projects to FEMA. He said it would be best for the county to even list projects that it may or may not need to make happen. Kathy Kosnoff, project specialist, said the county can
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‘Violence is violence’
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com The latest Leapfrog Hospital Survey shows a slight drop in the quality of care at Tuomey Healthcare System, but the drop from a ‘B’ to a ‘C’ grade may represent a change in the data used to produce the ratings, according to the Leapfrog Group, which produces the survey. “The Fall 2015 Hospital Safety Scores highlight a significant change in grade for 46 percent of all reporting hospitals, due to a considerable data update following the Spring Score,” said the statement released by the Leapfrog Group. Twice each year, Leapfrog Hospital Survey issues a report assessing hospital safety, quality and efficiency based on national performance measures covering a broad spectrum of hospital services, processes and structures, according to the organization’s website at www.LeapfrogGroup.org. “We will utilize the findings from the survey as a guide to direct our efforts moving forward,” said Michelle Logan-Owens, President and CEO of Tuomey Healthcare System. “Our staff is committed every day to delivering high-quality health care to our community, and we don’t believe this score is a reflection of the care that we provide.” The Leapfrog Survey
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Sumter residents hold candles in memory of all victims that died as a result of domestic violence during a ceremony held by the YWCA of the Upper Lowlands on Thursday evening at the old Sumter County Court House.
Community, supporters hold vigil to remember victims BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com A small crowd stood outside the Sumter County Courthouse on Thursday evening in remembrance of the men and women killed as a result of domestic violence. Third Judicial District Solicitor Ernest “Chip” Finney III said domestic violence is a crime that is not limited to people of certain demographics. He said Gov. Nikki Haley signed a domestic violence bill in June that gives prosecutors more tools to work
with when trying to convict those facing domestic violence charges. Finney asked that the community think of those who are still victims of abuse while remembering those who were killed. Assistant Solicitor Margaret McClurkin Held said in 2014 that 39 people, 29 women and 10 men, were killed as a result of domestic violence in South Carolina. Three of those individuals were from Sumter and two neighboring counties: Julia Richburg, 57, of Clarendon County, who was allegedly shot by her husband; Mallory Richardson, 22, of
Sumter County, who was allegedly killed by his live-in girlfriend; and Charles Burroughs, 39, of Williamsburg County, who was allegedly killed by his girlfriend. The three suspects are all awaiting trial. Sumter City Councilwoman Ione Dwyer told the crowd about a neighboring family, a husband and wife, that lived on her street when she was a child. She said one day, the woman left and never came home. Dwyer understood when she was
SEE VIGIL, PAGE A8
Does response to school cop video show law enforcement rift? BY JULIET LINDERMAN AND MEG KINNARD The Associated Press COLUMBIA — When FBI Director James Comey told a national gathering of law enforcement leaders that cops might be easing up for fear of being caught on camera, the conference attendees included a South Carolina sheriff whose deputy was about to star in the nation’s next viral police video.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott returned home to an uproar about images of a school resource officer flipping a 16-year-old girl out of her desk and dragging her across the floor of her math class Monday at a high school in Columbia. In announcing the deputy’s firing two days later, Lott called on the public to shoot more video, not less. “I would hope that every citizen that has a cellphone
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of cellphones in policing. They come at a moment when departments are tasked with at once clamping down on violent crime and repairing fractured trust with the public. And they hint at a possible disconnect between beat cops and the brass on the impact of such footage. The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into the South Carolina school video, the most recent example of
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that has a camera on it, if they see something that’s going on and they have questions about it, they need to film it,” Lott said Wednesday. “Our citizens should police the police. That’s their job, too.” Comey’s and Lott’s comments — one questioning whether video is causing a chilling effect, the other saying it can only help — are the latest contribution to an intensifying debate on the role
Jannie Mae Washington Dora Mae Blanding Sallie Lynn Eadon Annie Ward Ruth E. Galloway Ricky L. Jones
Susan H. Richardson Essie Bowman Nathaniel Dukes Sr. Torey L. Jenkins Laurie D. McIntosh Jr. Virginia Coleman
Kenneth M. Rosales Cleoza Gibbs Sr. Magline Singleton Joseph V. Caputo
how citizen-shot footage of police encounters is inspiring not just outrage but criminal investigations. In June, Officer Michael Slager of North Charleston was charged with murder after a witness captured video of him shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in the back as Scott was running away. In July, a University of Cincinnati Police officer was
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