USC faces Missouri in key SEC East showdown
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Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce Presents
Porches of Sumter simply delicious OCTOBER 2ND 6:00 - 9:00 PM Memorial Park
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894
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Business as usual leads to
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Corridors ready for a face-lift Renewed penny tax would mean major road improvements would bring a number of changes. “We will look at those corridors and put together a menu EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of stories examining of solutions based on the budget, if approved,” said George $75 million worth of new conMcGregor, Sumter’s Planning struction needs in Sumter County, as identified in the pro- Director. “That would add posal for a renewed penny sales trees, better sidewalks and tax. Sumter County voters will crosswalks to make those corridors more esthetic and safer be asked to approve the tax in November, and funds raised by for pedestrians.” The Manning Avenue and the tax, should it pass, will go toward a series of building, in- North Main Street corridors, frastructure and other projects what County Administrator Gary Mixon describes as “the throughout the county. spine of the community,” connects neighborhoods to the A trio of penny tax projects north and south of the city’s would bring major safety and downtown. Important buildinfrastructure improvements ings such as Tuomey Regional to major parts of the city. A Medical Center, Morris Colcombined $5 million for the lege, Central Carolina TechniManning Avenue and North cal College’s Health Sciences Main Street corridors will Center, the Sumter Opera help improve a vital 3.5-mile House and nearly all of the city stretch through the heart of and county government builddowntown Sumter, while $600,000 for changes to the Wil- ings highlight the “spine.” Added in with the $2.5 milson Hall Road and Wise Drive lion on the Manning Avenue intersection aims to relieve bridge, the $7.5 million going congestion on a packed road. to the corridor will offer major Starting up by Morris Colchanges, but there is also hope lege and Robert E. Graham that future federal funding Freeway, the North Main Street corridor stretches south could supplement those imto Manning Avenue and its in- provements. The Transportation Investment Generating tersection with South Lafayette Drive. The improvements, Economic Recovery, or TIGER Discretionary Grant program, with $4 million in money for Manning Avenue and $1 million for North Main Street, SEE PENNY TAX, PAGE A11
BY JOE KEPLER joe@theitem.com
JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM
Paul Tomlinson, founder and owner of Waxed Designs LLC, points to where the motion sensor is located on the Spider-Man standup display. When activated, it encourages children to “Snack Like A Super Hero” by reaching for fruit and vegetables.
Sumter businesses work with fruit company to promote healthy eating habits among kids BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com
T
hree Sumter companies, working in conjunction with a fruit company out west, have come together to encourage children to eat healthful foods. Now the campaign they created, “Snack Like A Super Hero” is a finalist in the 2014 Produce Marketing Association Impact Awards. “Everybody loves super heroes,” said Paul
Tomlinson, founder and owner of Waxed Designs LLC. “The whole campaign is about promoting healthy living. It can be hard to get kids interested in that. There are a lot of bad food choices out there. So if we can get them excited about a product and at the same time they choose healthy food as a result, I think it’s a win-win for everyone.” His partners in this venture are Team Image Marketing and Sumter Packing Corporation, and the client is Sage Fruit. The
SEE HEALTHY, PAGE A11
Family, friends unite to remember murdered loved ones Vigil held on old courthouse lawn BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com They lined up in unison, each of them cradling a small candle in the palms of their hands. They were fathers, mothers, sisters, nieces, aunts and close
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friends, each of them facing an unbearable pain. Yet they derived strength in knowing they weren’t battling their grief alone. It was a day of remembrance Thursday in South Carolina, and nearly 100 people turned out to pay homage to the tolls of violence during a vigil on the lawn at Sumter County Courthouse. A local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children hosted the
Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims in Sumter. Maggie Richardson, whose 20-year-old son, Michael Ray Richardson, was killed during a shootout in 2000, founded the Sumter chapter in March as a network for surviving families and friends of those killed in acts of violence. “This, I believe, is the beginning of our Stop the Violence
MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
SEE VIGIL, PAGE A9
DEATHS, A11 Dorothy C. Brogdon Cameron M. Shoemaker Esther D. Briggs Joseph Woods
Anne Mack is comforted by Maggie Richardson on Thursday during the Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims in Sumter event.
William McCathern Charles Smith II Andrew Gaulding Howard J. Woodard Sollie Benjamin
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INSIDE
A FEW CLOUDS
5 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 296
Don’t expect much sunshine today; cloudy with a shower or two tonight HIGH 79, LOW 67
Business D1 Classifieds D3 Comics E1 Education C5
Lotteries A12 Panorama C1 Public Record D5 Opinion A10
Outdoors D6 Reflections C4 Stocks D2 Television E3
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