IN SPORTS: Crestwood, Lakewood and Sumter girls in 2nd-round playoffs B1
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South Carolina coast could see offshore wind leases by 2016 A6
Some jails selling e-cigarettes to inmates Area lockups likely to remain smoke free BY LISA CORNWELL The Associated Press CINCINNATI — E-cigarettes keep popping up for sale at county jails across the country even as some government officials, schools and health experts urge tighter control of the de-
vices, especially in public buildings. Electronic cigarettes, growing in popularity since their U.S. introduction about a decade ago, are showing up at jails in more than a dozen states, including Ohio, Illinois, South Carolina and Texas. The battery-powered, smokeless devices heat liquid nicotine solutions to produce inhalable vapor. Many jail officials say the benefits of e-cigarettes outweigh any potential problems or health risks. They say ecigarettes calm agitated inmates, decrease traditional cigarette contraband and bring in more revenue for jails. With most jails and prisons banning tobacco-burning cigarettes, inmates
who smoke often suffer nicotine withdrawal and become agitated and short tempered, said James Frye, chief deputy of Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in Sidney in eastern Ohio. “We’ve seen a big improvement in behavior, with less arguments and fights,” he said. Thomas Borland, jailed in Shelby County since October on a driving infraction, said he is grateful he can buy e-cigarettes. “They help calm me down,” said the longtime smoker, who hopes the devices will help him quit tobacco cigarettes. Other jails, including the Darlington County Detention Center, cite similar
results with providing inmates e-cigarettes. “Our main goal, though, was to cut down on people sneaking in cigarettes and loose tobacco, and we’ve seen a tremendous reduction there,” said Maj. Mitch Stanley, the center director. But the managing editor of Prison Legal News, which advocates for inmate rights, doesn’t see any justification for e-cigarette sales in the prisons. He says the jails are just taking advantage of inmates addicted to tobacco. “Jails that allow these devices don’t do it for some altruistic reason, but
SEE E-CIGS, PAGE A8
Cold weather settles in Midlands Ag producers deal with cold temperatures
Another night of frigid cold before warming
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
BY BRUCE SMITH The Associated Press
Frigid weather should not cause too much concern for most crop farmers, said Clemson Extension Agronomist David DeWitt on Thursday, but wet weather has hampered farmers’ ability to work their fields. “As far as row crop farmers, there’s not a huge effect,” DeWitt said of the extremely cold temperatures that have descended on the area this week. “The rain is probably holding us back from doing anything more than the cold.” Jon Ripstein, general manager at Black Crest Farm on Old Manning Road, said it hasn’t been so cold the Black Angus cattle the farm raises can’t handle it, but they still try to help them through the cold weather. “When it’s colder, we feed them a little extra, and we put straw out so they have better places to lay,” he said. “The biggest thing is a water source. Water pipes and stuff freeze; that takes a lot of time every
CHARLESTON — Although skies were sunny, South Carolina shivered through another day of arctic cold Thursday, and forecasters warned of one more night of frigid weather before a weekend warm up. Winds gusting to 30 mph kept wind chills well below freezing at midday across the state, and the National Weather Service extended a wind chill warning for the Upstate. Forecasters said wind chills early today from Rock Hill west to the mountains could drop below zero. A number of schools across the state opened late, and some planned to do so again today. Utility companies were urging people to conserve power, especially in the morning. “This critically cold period will only last a couple of days. The focus is on those early morning hours when you’re getting up and ready for work or school,” Marc Tye, the senior vice president of customer service for Santee Cooper, KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM the state-owned electric utility,
Alphonza Glassgo III, 4, gets help putting on his backpack from his grandmother Loretta Baker Yates on SEE AG, PAGE A7 Thursday morning at Willow Drive Elementary School.
SEE COLD, PAGE A7
DAYLE FERSNER • 1950 — 2015
Humanitarian instrumental in building SPCA Dayle Fersner dedicated her life to the protection and care of all types of animals, but her compassion extended far beyond, to every person who knew her. “Sumter doesn’t know what they’ve lost,” said Debbie Whitehead, a co-worker and close friend of Fersner. Whitehead joined the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 38 years ago and says Fersner’s impact on animals, the people who knew her and the community at large is, essentially, immeasurable. “She was the most generous person,” said Whitehead. “She made do to help any person or animal that needed it.” The SPCA’s continued growth and support of animals in need will be Fersner’s lasting legacy. In 1969, she was instrumental in creating the Sumter SPCA with the late Sunny Korn, and she started fulfilling her dream of caring for animals in need full time in
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1973. Cindy Cook joined Fersner in 1973 and stayed by her side for 43 years. “She was my best friend,” Cook said. “She was the most compassionate humanitarian and person I’ve ever known.” Cook and Whitehead said Fersner did more behind the scenes than anyone could know. “She did what she did because it was the right thing to do,” Whitehead said. “She never wanted praises or credit, and she did it because she loved it.” Fersner was a quiet woman of few words but of plenty of action. Both friends shared a story that they thought defined who Fersner was as a person. Years ago she prevented a cow from being sold at auction for slaughter, bringing the animal to the SPCA because she felt pain for the cow’s ultimate destination. She cared for the cow for years until
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she died of old age, and the animal’s calf, Flower, is grown and still resides at the SPCA. Both Cook and Whitehead say the now full-grown cow is a living, breathing representation of Fersner’s compassion and legacy. “Dayle basically sacrificed her life for that place,” said Whitehead of Fersner’s dedication to the SPCA. “If any animal or person needed anything at all, she was the first person to say ‘I’ll do whatever you need.’ That’s the kind of person she was.” Fersner helped Korn start the SPCA from “basically nothing,” and Whitehead said for 43 years she did everything for the association, publicly and behind the scenes. “She made it self-sustaining and made it so we could do whatever we could for animals, from guinea pigs on
SEE FERSNER, PAGE A8
DEATHS, B4 and B5 McNeal Fulton Mary Allen Aldon K. Watts Gary J. Mitchell Sophia C. Denny Gene Geddings
George Bradshaw Sr. Terence O. Singleton Harold Spencer Jr. Travis S. Barnes Harmon P. Hodge Sr.
FERSNER
WEATHER, A12 JUST COLD Sunny to partly cloudy and cold with increasing cloudiness HIGH 34, LOW 22
INSIDE 3 SECTIONS, 30 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 107
Science A6 Classifieds B6 Comics A10
Lotteries A12 Opinion A11 Television A9