June 23, 2013

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Check out the Readers’ Choice Awards winners

FTC Challenge of the Carolinas

Weinberg offers follow-up talk on Tuomey’s trustees

Sumter hopes to finish tournament on high note

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VOL. 118, NO. 210 WWW.THEITEM.COM

SUNDAY, JUNE 23, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894

$1.50

DuRant granted $120K bond

Larry DuRant, 58, said little during a bond hearing held Saturday morning at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center for charges by the Sumter Police Department and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office that DuRant engaged in sexual batteries by using his position as a minister.

Pastor facing child sex charges released; more details surface BY ROBERT J. BAKER bbaker@theitem.com A Sumter minister accused Friday of committing multiple sexual batteries against three female church members, at least one of whom is a minor, was released from jail Saturday afternoon after being granted bond earlier in the morning. Magistrate George R. Gibson gave Larry DuRant, 58, of

ROBERT J. BAKER / THE ITEM

Abusing 911

2080 Four Bridges Road, a $120,000 surety bond for six charges of criminal sexual conduct from the Sumter Police Department and two more from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday morning. DuRant was free by 11 a.m., according to the jail’s website. DuRant, the pastor of Word International Ministries on

‘One of the victims has told us that (DuRant) told her God told him to do this to her in order to give her blessings.’

SEE DuRANT, PAGE A8

Det. Natalie Kelly, Sumter Police Department

PLASTIC MODELERS’ SOCIETY REGIONAL

Town’s budget needs work Pinewood officials push to reach June 30 deadline

ROB COTTINGHAM / THE ITEM

Dispatch operator Malarie Shannon awaits her next call at the local dispatch center recently. The operators at Sumter Dispatch collectively handle up to 1,100 calls a day.

Emergency responders discuss system’s abuse, misuse by some callers BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com

BY ROBERT J. BAKER bbaker@theitem.com

ABOVE and BELOW: Visitors to the International Plastic Modelers’ Society Regional held Saturday at the Sumter County Civic Center got to see models of practically anything pertaining to “The Atomic Age,” including spacecraft.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT J. BAKER / THE ITEM

“If you’re ever in trouble, pick up the phone and dial 911.” Since we were children, those words have been etched into our minds like a divine message chiseled into granite. In just a short time, it becomes a reflex response to an emergency, and just like taxes, you can always rely on 911 personnel to answer the phone and send help quickly. That rings true for every emergency, every call. However, not every call is an emergency. Operator: 911? Caller: Is there a policeman near Mary Ann’s Deli on Guignard Drive? Operator: Near where on Guignard? Caller: Uh... Mary Ann’s Deli. Operator: I can get one near there. What’s going on? Caller: Well, there is like a poisonous lizard in the car ... and we can’t get him out. And ... um ... There’s like 5 women trying to get it out of the car. Calls like this are commonplace, according to emergency dispatcher Shirlene Skipper. “It happens pretty often,” Skipper said. “We

ABOVE: Columbia resident Clyde Buchanan enjoyed what he said was “one of the most realistic models I’ve ever seen” on Saturday when viewing La Sirene, the recreation of a French warship from 1650, at the International Plastic Modelers’ Society Regional held at the Sumter County Civic Center. Buchanan said the model drew him in because “the wood looks like wood, and there’s just an astonishing attention to detail, even down to how realistic the flags look. It’s incredible.”

One thing was clear on Thursday night as Pinewood Town Council members held a workshop to work on the town’s 2013-14 budget. There’s still some work to be done before the budget is finalized for passage by the June 30 deadline mandated by state law. “I’m not sure where we’re at,” said Councilwoman Frances Lester on Saturday. “I know what we went over on Thursday night, but we did not vote on it Thursday night. We’ve had first reading that I believe was legal, but I think we need to hold a public hearing again.” Before Thursday’s meeting, Pinewood’s general fund budget for the next fiscal year stood at $171,795, with its water and wastewater budget slightly less at $149,700. These numbers carried over from first reading, which was held in May. Council members held a nominal public hearing in June. Lester thinks, however, the

SEE 911, PAGE A9

SEE PINEWOOD, PAGE A8

20 N. Magnolia St. Sumter, SC 29150 (USPS 525-900)

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