Base honors those held, still missing in conflicts Annual ceremony pays tribute to thousands 75 CENTS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014
BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com
SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES | VOL. 119, NO. 289
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
The Air Force Sergeants Association at Shaw Air Force Base hosted its annual Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day, which was first started in 1984. The recognition involved events that spanned from Thursday afternoon into Friday as the base paid tribute to service members who became prisoners of war and the more than 83,000 still considered miss-
ing in action since World War II. Friday marked the end of the commemoration, which started Thursday with a 24hour POW/MIA run around Memorial Lake. Runners had 30-minute shifts carrying the POW/ MIA flag, while a flag detail read the names of prisoners and those missing. The 20th Security Forces Squadron and the Green Knights Motorcycle Club escorted the final runner,
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JOE KEPLER / THE SUMTER ITEM
Beverly Davis Mims sits with retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Dutch” Holland at the closing ceremony for POW/MIA Recognition Day at Shaw Air Force Base. Mims’ husband, Capt. George Ivison Mims Jr., went missing during the Vietnam War and has never been found.
It’s a pirate-themed feast, mateys
Sumter had the biggest increase in tri-county
Going for 4 straight
BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com
Gamecocks aim for win as they host Rock Hill B1 EDUCATION
Students learn about peace with project A2 BUSINESS
Legal moonshine is spreading across state A3 DEATHS, A7 James A. Campbell Lula Mae Pace George Lindsey James F. Kennedy Sr. Frank Cooper Jr. Bonnie F. Brenneman
Rosella L. Shumaker Oliver Servance Sr. Kate E. Ermis Milton D. Carr Shannon Richardson
WEATHER, A8 PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
CLOUDY SOMETIMES Times of clouds and sun; mainly clear tonight
Lois Gerard dances at Thursday’s pirate-themed Sumter Green Fall Feast at USC Sumter near the Nettles Building. The event’s motto is “Ye might get some.”
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Jobless rate rises in all 46 counties
Sam Dairyo enjoys crab legs at the event Thursday. The fundraiser for Sumter Green is “one of the best parties in Sumter,” said Lynn Kennedy, chairwoman of the group. Sumter Green is a nonprofit organization that plants flowers and greenery and maintains the main entrances to the city. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event went toward the group’s efforts.
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Unemployment numbers were up across all 46 counties last month, according to a report released Friday morning by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce. Despite the national jobless rate’s drop to 6.1 percent, as was announced earlier this month, South Carolina’s rate jumped from 5.8 in July to 6.4 in August. In the tri-county area of Clarendon, Lee and Sumter, Sumter saw the biggest month-to-month increase, going from 7.3 in July to 8.1 in the current report. Despite the results, the county is still down 0.8 percent from August 2013. Clarendon has the highest unemployment rate in the tricounty area at 9.9 percent, up 0.7 from July, but also has trimmed its year-to-year rate by 1.5 percent. Lee County also had a 1.5 percent drop since August 2013 and had the smallest increase in unemployment across the tri-county area last month, with a jump of 7.8 to 8.1. This is the fourth straight month of slow employment numbers for Sumter, which was never able to improve on April’s 5.7 percent low, which hadn’t been seen since 2001. In the July DEW report, Sumter’s unemployment rate jumped 0.6 percent, Clarendon added a full percentage point, and Lee went up 0.9 percent. Manufacturing and education and health services were the leading industries for job growth in South Carolina, adding 1,400 and 3,200 new jobs, respectively. Sumter’s Metropolitan Statistical Area lost 100 non-farm jobs from July to August but still is up
SEE JOBLESS, PAGE A6
Don’t miss street dance, parade, contests and more at festival Lee County celebrates cotton with events BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com The Lee County Cotton Festival is set for Oct. 10-12, said Lee County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jina Williams. Events in Bishopville will kick off with a Coca-Cola Classic 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, Oct. 4. Registration is from 7:30 to 8 a.m. at Lee County Chamber of Commerce, 102 N. Main St., Bishopville. For more information or an application, visit www.
strictlyrunning.com. A cotton-picking contest is tentatively scheduled for later that day. “We want to have a cottonpicking contest, but that is going to be dependent on if the cotton has opened by that time or not,” Williams said. “If it’s not open and blooming, we can’t have the contest. It depends on how the cotton fields do.” The Little Miss and Teen Miss Cotton Festival and Bishopville Pageant will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, at the South Carolina Cotton Museum, 121 W. Cedar Lane. “It’s put on by Cathy Israel,” Williams said. “It is an of-
ficial Little Miss South Carolina preliminary.” Williams said contestants may register through Sept. 29 at the Chamber website, www.leecountychambersc.com. Events begin at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, with the Friday Night Street Dance, arts and craft vendors and food vendors. “We are closing down the streets at 4 p.m.,” Williams said. “All of our food vendors are going to be lined up on the west side of Main Street, and our arts and crafts vendors are going to be inside the Easy Living Furniture Building right on Main Street from 5 to 10 p.m. The Friday Night
Street Dance is from 6 to 10 p.m. on Main Street. We are going to have a flatbed trailer on Council Street. She said dee jay Chip Brown will provide the entertainment. “Saturday we have all kinds of stuff going on,” Williams said. “At 10 a.m., we have a parade going from Food Lion to Cedar Lane.” Line up time for the parade is at 9 a.m., she said, and entrants are asked to preregister; entry forms are available at the chamber’s website. A carnival will be set up at 11 a.m. on Cedar Lane across from the Cotton Museum, and there will be a car show in
the Presbyterian Church parking lot. The time for the car show will be announced later. “We are also having a barbecue cook-off in the parking lot behind the chamber office, and the barbecue is going to be for sale in front of the chamber office,” Williams said. Local church groups will perform at Praise in the Park at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, at the football field at the Old Bishopville High School. For more information, visit leecountychambersc.com or call the Lee County Chamber of Commerce at (803) 4832800.