September 19, 2014

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LOCAL: Kids, you can test your soccer skills Saturday

A3

Anniversary of a monster State remembers Hugo’s power, lessons learned 25 years ago from storm A4

SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

75 CENTS

Brighter future could come for local park Penny tax money would help to renovate lighting, update fields at Palmetto Park BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of stories examining $75 million worth of new con-

struction needs in Sumter County, as identified in the proposal for a renewed penny sales tax. Sumter County voters will be asked to approve the tax in November, and funds

Flu season begins with some cases reported already

raised by the tax, should it pass, will go toward a series of building, infrastructure and other projects throughout the county. The sixth-annual Ashlie Pipkin Tournament was held last weekend, stretching across Sumter’s three major parks: Patriot Park

SportsPlex, Dillon Park and Palmetto Park. The tournament hosted 81 travel softball teams for every age range from players under 8 years old all the way up to high school age. They came to the city from as far away as Georgia and North Carolina, bringing their families along with them for the

three days of action. All 16 of the fields available around the three parks were in use, but at one park, there was a noticeable difference. “The lighting system is so old at Palmetto Park that we still have wooden poles out there, and the lighting is not

SEE PARK, PAGE A7

Trio in botched, fatal 2013 home invasion sentenced

Protect yourself now with vaccine BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com If you’ve stepped into a pharmacy lately, you’ve seen the signs. “Get your flu shot here,” they proclaim. That’s right. The 2014-15 flu season is underway in South Carolina. Though there have only been a few sporadic cases in the state so far, according to the weekly Flu Watch by the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, the virus is already on people’s minds. “Vaccination optimally should occur before onset of influenza activity in the community,” said Letitia Pringle-Miller, administrative director with Tuomey Healthcare System. “It takes about two weeks for protection to develop after the vaccinaAN OUNCE OF tion, and protecPREVENTION tion lasts several The influenza months to a year. vaccination is the best Health care promethod for preventing viders should the spread of the virus, offer vaccination but other steps include: soon after vaccine • Wash your hands often becomes available with soap and water. — by October, if Wash them for as long possible.” as it takes to sing the And there are Happy Birthday song now a dizzying twice. array of options • Cover your nose and depending on mouth with a tissue your needs and when you cough or resources: sneeze, and throw the • Inactivated intissue in the trash. fluenza vaccine, • Stay home if you are quadrivalent sick until you have been (IIV4), standard symptom-free without dose; taking fever-reducing • Inactivated inmedicine for 24 hours. fluenza vaccine, • Try to avoid close trivalent (IIV3), contact with sick standard dose; people. • Inactivated in• Eat a healthy diet, fluenza vaccine, exercise and get plenty trivalent, stanof rest. dard dose, cell culture-based (ccIIV3); • Inactivated influenza vaccine, trivalent (IIV3), high dose for those 65 and older; • Recombinant influenza vaccine, trivalent (RIV3); and • Live attenuated influenza vaccine, quadrivalent (LAIV4) intranasal spray. There is also a so-called “ouchless” injectable version that uses a 90 percent smaller needle and goes into the skin instead of the muscle. It is prepared preservative-free, too, Pringle-Miller said, and is approved for adults 18 to 64. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending the nasal spray for healthy children between the ages of 2 and 8 over the shots, according to The Associated Press. A recent study suggests the spray may

SEE FLU SHOTS, PAGE A7

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MATT BRUCE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Tony Wright, 18, stands with his defense attorney Scott Robinson during a sentencing hearing Thursday morning inside the Clarendon County Community Complex. Wright was on trial for his part in the fatal shooting of Akiame Osborne Cousar on April 20, 2013, in Manning during a home invasion. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Men collectively get 80 years in prison for shooting BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com MANNING — Officials on Thursday disposed of a Clarendon County case of a April 2013 home invasion, during which a 24-yearold man was shot and killed. Tony Wright, 18, stood before a judge inside the Clarendon County Community Complex and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in what prosecutors described as a burglary gone wrong. Wright became the third and final defendant to be convicted in the case, after pleading guilty Wednesday to a pair of charges tied to the shootout. The Manning defendant submitted another plea to an unrelated incident during his sentencing hearing Thursday morning. Circuit Court Judge Deandrea Benjamin presided over all three defendants’ proceedings this week.

She issued Wright the 20-year prison term on a charge of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of armed robbery. That came one day after she handed down 30 years to Leron Dingle, a 20-year-old Manning man, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder, armed robbery, two counts of attempted murder, firstdegree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commisDINGLE sion of a violent crime. Raheem Nivens, 22, of Summerton, pleaded guilty to those same charges Monday and also received a 30-year sentence. NIVENS The three men all admitted to participating in a botched robbery at a Manning home in the 2000 block of Kingstree Highway late during the

DEATHS, B7 Sammy Carter Jr. Lula Mae Keels Pace Sarah Lou Howard Erma V. Dwyer Celia Gill

Richard Murphy Sammie Lee Tindal Lynda L. Ford Frank Cooper Jr. Gloria B. Wright

night of April 20, 2013, which quickly escalated into a gun fight that left one man dead and one of the suspects wounded. Officials found 24-year-old Akiame Osborne Cousar dead at the scene of the incident from two gunshot wounds. He was one of three men inside the home at the time of the incident. Nivens also suffered injuries in the form of a gunshot wound to the upper leg. Prosecutors noted they found samples of his blood at the scene and tied Dingle to the shooting from a fingerprint found on a car outside the residence. Wright told investigators he was at the scene but never went into the house — a claim supported by forensic evidence at the scene. Clarendon County officials said the trio parked their vehicle down the road from the home and walked to the residence. When

SEE SENTENCED, PAGE A7

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

SHOWERS POSSIBLE

2 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 288

Variable clouds with a shower; mostly cloudy tonight HIGH 80, LOW 64

Classifieds B8 Comics A10 Lotteries A12

Opinion A11 Sports B1 Television A9


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September 19, 2014 by The Sumter Item - Issuu