VOL. 119, NO. 49 WWW.THEITEM.COM | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA | FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894 60 CENTS
Most Wonderful Time of the Year Need to get in the Christmas spirit? Find out how on C1.
Special election date still unclear BY TYLER SIMPSON tyler@theitem.com Despite Pinewood Town Council receiving a resignation letter from former Mayor
Al Pridgen last week, council is still unclear when it will hold a special election. According to state law, council would have to hold a special election 13 Tuesdays
after the mayor announces his resignation, meaning the election should be held on March 4. But according to Mayor Pro Tempore Sarah Mathis, the election may be
held at a later date because Pridgen told her not to read the letter until Dec. 17. According to a letter council received from Field Services Manager Bill Taylor
of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, the countdown to the election should begin on the date that the SEE ELECTION, PAGE A10
Roads 1st on list of uses for possible tax
COMMUNITY GATHERS FOR COURTHOUSE CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com
PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE ITEM
ABOVE: Spectators fill the yard of the Sumter County Courthouse on North Main Street during Friday’s annual tree-lighting ceremony. Choirs from Willow Drive, Millwood, Cherryvale, Wilder and Lemira elementary schools and Furman Middle School performed at the event. LEFT: Community members take photos of the Christmas tree in front of the courthouse on Friday after the ceremony. Children and their families also were able to take a stroll with Santa to the Sumter County Public Library for stories and treats during the Sumter County Recreation Department’s annual Walk with St. Nick after the lighting.
Hearing will ask to exonerate 14-year-old executed in 1944
STINNEY
MANNING (AP) — A hearing that supporters say could exonerate a 14-year-old boy executed in 1944 for the killings of two girls will likely take place in the next month, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Solicitor Ernest A. “Chip” Finney III came to a rally by civil
SEE PENNY TAX, PAGE A8
George Frierson, center, tells a crowd at a rally calling for justice on Tuesday in Manning that he won’t stop fighting to exonerate George Stinney. Stinney was 14 in 1944 when South Carolina executed him after a jury said he was guilty of killing two white girls.
rights groups who want to keep pressure on officials to clear George Stinney of all charges in the deaths of two girls in Clarendon County. Finney told the crowd he has no evidence to argue against a
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEE STINNEY, PAGE A10
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Roads will be one of the main focuses of a new penny sales tax, if discussions by Sumter County Council on Tuesday are any indication. Council members reviewed proposals for paving or resurfacing several roadways throughout the county at a specially called meeting, with total cost estimates reaching into the millions. “We estimate resurfacing will cost $200,000 a mile, and paving will cost $500,000 a mile,” said County Administrator Gary Mixon. “And that’s just for construction. It doesn’t cover right-of-way acquisition.” A list of potential sites in need of paving prepared by county staff identified portions of 67 roadways, averaging .32 miles each, serving more than 700 homes. An additional 18.9 miles of roadway could be resurfaced, at a cost of $3,780,000. Paving could cost an estimated $11,950,000. Members agreed roads are a main concern for constituents and could be a main selling point when the
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Ann R. Chadeayne Brown McKenzie Leigh Duke Cindy E. Williams Hazel H. Willis Karen HIll Beulah Miller
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Partly sunny today; mainly clear and cold tonight HIGH: 54 LOW: 31 B4
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