June 26, 2013

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Supreme Court strikes down key part of Voting Rights Act. A5

Sumter P-15’s Andrew Reardon returns to mound after long pitching absence

B1 VOL. 118, NO. 212 WWW.THEITEM.COM

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

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Government: Tuomey team to blame Sides file new motions in ongoing legal battle BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com In very direct terms, federal prosecutors place the blame for Tuomey Healthcare System’s current legal dilemma at the feet of the local hospital’s management team and board of directors in a brief filed with the

United States District Court late Monday night. “It is Tuomey’s own management and board who are responsible for permitting the damages and penalties to amount to the level ultimately found by the jury,” the federal government writes in its motion supporting the request for a judgment of more than $237 million

against the local hospital. The motion later argues, “Tuomey’s executives and management decided to throw caution to the wind and refused to terminate the contracts until the first jury declared them illegal.” In fact, the government said if Tuomey ended the contracts when it initially learned of potential illegali-

ties, the fines would have amounted to less than $5 million — much less than what it now faces. Last month, Tuomey was found guilty by a 10-person federal court jury of violating both Stark Law and the False Claims Act by collecting more than $39.3 million in fraudulent Medicare claims between 2005 and 2009. They did so, the government argued, by signing 19 local physicians to lucrative part-time

New general takes command of Third Army Cannons are fired at Shaw Air Force Base on Tuesday to signal the change of command from Lt. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks to Lt. Gen. James L. Terry on Tuesday, the first commander of the Third Army installed at the command’s Sumter headquarters.

PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS NICHOLAS SALCIDO, THIRD ARMY/ARCENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS

SEE TUOMEY, PAGE A8

Dixon owns SWEET 16, not district Bynum asked chief of schools to copyright evaluation system BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com

PHOTOS BY BRISTOW MARCHANT / THE ITEM

INSET: Lt. Gen. Terry receives the Third Army colors from Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John F. Campbell assuming command of Third Army/ARCENT during a change of command ceremony held at Patton Hall’s Lucky Park.

Lt. Gen. Terry takes reins during ceremony BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com A new general is now in charge of administrative control of U.S. Army forces throughout the Middle East, including supporting ground operations in the ongoing war in Afghanistan. In a Tuesday morning ceremony, Lt. Gen. James L. Terry assumed command of the Third Army and U.S. Army Central, the first change of command since the Third Army moved to its current headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base. Terry is familiar with the challenges facing American soldiers in the

nearly 12-year war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda elements. He served in Afghanistan from June 2012 as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command, part of the NATO-led security mission. He was simultaneously deputy commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and commander of the U.S. Army V Corps, responsible for command and control for all U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Now, as head of the Third Army, Terry will oversee the “retrograde” action of moving thousands of soldiers and SEE CHANGE, PAGE A6

The SWEET 16 teacher evaluation system used by the Sumter School District is the property of Cassandra Dixon, the district’s chief of schools, and not the district itself, several members of the district’s board of trustees discovered during their meeting Monday night. The revelation, which caused further concerns with trustees regarding the embattled evaluaDIXON tion system, came while INSIDE trustees were Trustees OK $9.7M questionbond for technoloing Dixon gy upgrades. A4 about the end-ofthe-year review of the program. During the first two hours of a three-hour meeting, trustees raised several questions with both Dixon concerning SWEET 16 — or “Systematic Way to Ensure Effective Teaching” — and Lisa Norman, chief curriculum officer for the district, concerning the district’s standardsbased report card grading system. At the trustees’ previous meeting this month, officials discussed changes to both programs, including reducing the number of SWEET 16 evaluations by half in the coming school year, and the modification and expansion of the standards-based report cards for earlier grades to include third grade next school year. After acknowledging her ownership of the system during questioning by trustee Karen Michalik, Dixon SEE SWEET 16, PAGE A4

An Army trumpeter plays as part of Tuesday’s change of command ceremony.

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