November 18, 2014 by The Sumter Item

IN SPORTS: Laurence Manning football team working toward 2nd state title B1 GIVE A LITTLE BIT

It’s time to lend a helping hand TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

| Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894

Suit no longer involves county

75 cents

Your community is in need, so spread some holiday cheer A4

Hosing down Sumter Mall

Sumter had been on defendants list in wrongful death case BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com A judge this month ruled to dismiss Sumter County from a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a fatal 2012 crash. The motion, filed Monday in Sumter County common pleas court, removed the county from the list of defendants in the case. Sumter County was the lone governing body named in the original June 2013 complaint. The lawsuit also listed the S.C. Department of Transportation and the S.C. Department of Public Safety as defendants. The civil action came little more than a year after Jerome Dennis, a 33-year-old

SEE LAWSUIT, PAGE A9

POST OFFICE TIPS

What do you need for holiday mailing? BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Beginning this week, the U.S. Postal Service will be delivering packages seven days a week in major cities and high-volume areas through Christmas Day. And with deadlines creeping up to attempt to ensure the expected 15.5 billion cards, letters and packages reach their destinations on time, Harry Spratlin, communications coordinator for Greater South Carolina District, wants people to know their options. “The unique thing about Sumter is the number of alternative sites,” he said. “You have three contract postal units (CPUs) for retail access. Customers can go to a CPU after the PO (post office) closes, because they have longer hours. Of course, there are lots of retail stores and banks that offer stamps on consignment, (and) Sumter is surrounded by small towns in Sumter County that have post offices such as Dalzell, Mayesville, Pinewood, Rembert and Wedgefield.” The tri-county area features nearly 30 post offices or contract postal units. To locate the one closest to you, visit http://1.usa.gov/18I6GF4. “We do our best to keep wait time in line at a minimum this time of year,”

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Despite the rain Monday, Dwayne Hart power washes the bricks at Sumter Mall. William Miller, right, fought occasional high winds and rain while he kept an eye on his co-worker.

YOU CAN HELP THE LESS FORTUNATE

Sheriff ’s office takes nominations for those in need, donations for annual food drive BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is kicking off it’s second-annual Elizabeth Foxworth Helping Hands Food Drive. Named for one of its own who died in December two years ago, it is the perfect way to honor the senior corporal for her unconditional loyalty to both the office and residents of Sumter County, sheriff’s office officials said. “She was always giving of her

time,” said Lt. Petrina Wiley who worked with Foxworth. “She just never stopped and was always looking to see how she could make a positive impact. She was the epitome of teamwork. She was always trying to be a part of the effort here. It didn’t matter which department, she was always around trying to help out.” In the inaugural year, the sheriff’s office collected about 2,900 canned good and nonperishable food items to distribute to 135 families, said Braden Bunch, public in-

DEATHS, B6 The Rev. Sim Smith Ashton Benbow Jr. Mason Mickens Johnnie Mae Harrison Harry Lee B. Conner

Joan King Larry Wilson Maurice Middleton Johnnie D. Williams III

formation officer. Submissions for families in need are being taken now through Dec. 12. Contact Wiley at (803) 436-2026. Donations are being accepted at the sheriff ’s office, 1281 N. Main St., now through Dec. 18. Prepackaged food bags are available for $6.10 at Save-A-Lot, 674 W. Liberty St., but the sheriff ’s office will accept any and all nonperishable food items for this project. For more information, contact Wiley at (803) 436-2026.

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

GONNA GET CHILLY

2 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 30

Partly sunny, breezy and cooler today; cold tonight HIGH 45, LOW 22

Classifieds B7 Comics B5 Lotteries A12

Opinion A10 Television A11

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: pressrelease@theitem.com

LOCAL & STATE BRIEFS FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

More than $27,000 in pot seized in bust Sumter County narcotics officers captured one man and seized several pounds of marijuana during a drug bust in RemGARY bert on Monday. Tyquan Gary, 25, of 6644 Springhill Road, was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana in connection with the incident. Officers arrested him during a traffic stop on his block, according to a release from Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The release indicated narcotics agents conducted surveillance along Springhill Road and found the drugs in a Chevrolet Impala after K9 units identified the vehicle. Deputies arrested Gary and located about six pounds of a substance thought to be marijuana inside the car. Sheriff officials estimate the drugs have a street value of more than $27,000.

Shoot a turkey, help raise Relay funds This is the last week to participate in the 2014 Lee County Relay For Life Turkey Shoot. Competitions will start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Bosmith Furniture, 538 Wisacky Highway, Bishopville. All proceeds and donations will support the Lee County Emergency Services Relay For Life Team. For more information, call EMS at (803) 428-4221 or the fire department at (803) 4845274.

Hydrant tests set for Wednesday, Thursday The City of Sumter will perform fire hydrant flow tests on Clement Road, Beck Avenue, South Lafayette Drive, Barwick Road, Webb Street and East Newberry Avenue between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Water customers in the surrounding area may experience temporary discolored water.

Grand Strand job growth among fastest in nation MYRTLE BEACH — The rate of job growth along South Carolina’s Grand Strand has been one of the fastest in the nation during recent months. The Sun News reports that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Myrtle Beach Metropolitan Area had the sixth highest rate of job growth nationally between August 2013 and August of this year. The metropolitan area includes South Carolina’s northeast coast as well as Brunswick County in North Carolina. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 5,500 new jobs have been created, many in the tourism industry.

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASS DIANA M. COSSABOOM / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM

Julie Hovis, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron endangered species biologist, monitors the growth of a Longleaf Pine tree at Poinsett Electronic Combat Range. The Longleaf Pine is a native tree to the area that has a bud on the top of the tree hidden in the pine needles.

Poinsett Range ecosystem is in Shaw’s capable hands BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASS DIANA M. COSSABOOM 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Special to The Sumter Item Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, previously called Poinsett Bombing Range, opened in 1952 as a real-world training range for military personnel. The 12,500-acre training range, 20 minutes from Shaw, is used by military members from all branches to fly sorties and practice targeting with the munitions they carry, as well as ground training including tactical air control party, explosive ordnance disposal and survive, evade, resist and escape training. The responsibilities that go with supporting the flying mission, however, go way beyond a traffic control tower and pilots. Using the land as a range meant Shaw also had to undertake the responsibility to care for the land and all the wildlife that reside there. Ronald June, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron chief of natural and cultural resources, and four other personnel were assigned to regulate the natural and cultural resources on Shaw and Poinsett. Their mission goals include re-establishing the endangered species of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, restoring native plant species to Poinsett, including the Longleaf Pine, and ensuring the health of the entire ecosystem. Monitoring the ecosystem for the range includes ensuring the plants and animals in the area are healthy. When something adverse happens,

White lines are painted on trees and marked with numbers at Poinsett Electronic Combat Range. The white lines signify there is a cavity of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, an endangered species, in the tree. the smaller animals and plants are the first to be affected. In 2001, there were only five clusters of Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity trees at Poinsett. Today that number has grown to 27 clusters. The ecosystem for Poinsett is healthy, and the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers that reside in Poinsett are unaffected by the flying mission. In fact, through habitat management improvements, they have been able to foster growth for the woodpecker population in Poinsett. “I like the unique relationship that we have with the Air Force training mission where we can manage the natural resources but at the same time accomplish our missions needs and goals,” said June. Since another mission of

the range includes shooting thousands of bullets and dropping bombs, there are more steps that need to be taken in order to keep the animals and the people who work there safe. “(Explosive ordnance disposal) is responsible to clear any explosive hazard out on Poinsett,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Nielsen, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal journeyman. “When we do range clearance, our primary munitions are typically training bombs. However, because Poinsett is also an emergency drop range, we may be called out to clear munitions that may have been dropped there due to an emergency with the aircraft.” Once determined to not be hazardous, the munitions are then turned over to the Poinsett staff who secures them

until they’re turned into scrap metal. The primary mission for EOD members on Poinsett is to ensure that the range is cleared of explosive hazards to keep the range safe, said Nielsen. “Natural resources integrates really well with the Air Force training mission,” said June. “There are not a lot of ground maneuvers that could cause harm, just small target areas. Most of the range is a buffer area in case something goes wrong, so that leaves all these natural forested areas to manage.” The natural resources team not only keeps the ecosystem healthy, but makes sure the area is suitable for munitions to be dropped safely. One of the most effective tools used to accomplish this is prescribed fire. Prescribed fire is used in order to reduce the excess vegetation and fuels on the ground at Poinsett. This helps keep the range open since it eliminates the flammable material in the areas where munitions may stray and have the potential to start a fire. “The natural resources team at Shaw Air Force Base and Poinsett Range has been able to integrate seamlessly and work together with Shaw range operations to accomplish the mission of the Air Force,” said June. Even though Poinsett is a large area to cover, it has been able to support the Air Force mission while creating a healthy habitat to support the environmental mission of the Department of Defense.

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STATE

THE SUMTER ITEM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

S.C. Medicaid needs $30M more for autism services BY LAUREN SAUSSER The Post and Courier South Carolina’s Medicaid agency plans to ask the Legislature for $30 million to comply with a new federal autism rule next year, but the department is less concerned about getting the money than finding enough autism specialists to treat the thousands of children who will become newly eligible for services. “The primary issue is a capacity issue,” said Pete Liggett, Medicaid’s deputy director for long-term and behavioral health. “There’s simply not enough board-certified behavior analysts in the state or in the country.” The department estimates 9,700 children covered by the low-income Medicaid pro-

gram will qualify for autism therapy services next year. There are only enough specialists in South Carolina to treat 4,000 of them. Today, the Medicaid agency covers autism therapy for 625 children enrolled in a special waiver program. At any given time, 1,200 children with an autism spectrum disorder are wait-listed for services, but the department has never been able to enroll them in the waiver program because there aren’t enough providers, Liggett said. Nevertheless, the federal government issued a new rule this summer that will require every state to cover services for autistic children enrolled in a Medicaid plan. The mandate sparked anxiety across the country be-

cause autism services are so expensive. One of the most effective treatments — called applied behavioral analysis — costs more than $10,000 per child per year. There are a variety of other, less-expensive treatments for autism spectrum disorders, too. Different therapies teach children skills ranging from communication to personal hygiene. Christian Soura, who will replace outgoing South Carolina Medicaid Director Tony Keck on Thursday, said this issue seemed a concern among many other Medicaid directors at a recent national conference in Washington. “This was the subject that got people, one, most excited and, two, where people were the least clear about what the feds were going to tell us and

how to go forward,” he told a room full of autism experts at an Autism Summit in Columbia on Wednesday. “The good news is that I think the political will seems to be gelling already … what we’re focusing our efforts now inside the agency is not really the ‘if’ but the ‘how.’” Soura will testify before a state Senate finance subcommittee later this week about the agency’s 2016 fiscal year budget proposal. He anticipates that the $30 million autism request “will probably be the first thing we talk about right out of the box.” If approved by the Legislature, about 70 percent of the request will be paid for by the federal government. “That ($30 million) number is somewhat arbitrary,” Soura said. “It’s our effort to set a fig-

ure ... even though we know the provider resources are inadequate to meet that need in the upcoming fiscal year.” Some of that money will be used to pay autism therapists more to treat Medicaid children. Lorri Unumb, vice president of state government affairs for Autism Speaks, a national advocacy group, said reimbursement rates set by Medicaid in South Carolina are much lower than other insurers. For example, she said, the military’s Tricare plan pays board-certified behavior specialists $125 per hour. South Carolina Medicaid pays about $60. “We pay about the lowest in the country,” Unumb said. Liggett said the new reimbursement rates have not been set.

National group gives state failing grade for child custody laws BY CYNTHIA ROLDAN The Post and Courier

enting after separation or divorce. It seeks to reform the nation’s family courts with laws that establish equal rights and responsibilities for both fathers and mothers. The organization said the inaugural report card is the nation’s first comprehensive analysis of custody laws across the nation. The Palmetto State shared its failing ranking with neighboring North Carolina and Tennessee. Georgia received a “C.” A higher number of children are being raised in single-parent households, and the organization argues those children account for high numbers of teen suicides, high school dropouts, juveniles in prison and

COLUMBIA — South Carolina, along with most states, received a failing grade from a national parenting organization for laws that discourage shared custody of children and, instead, promote single-parent families. The National Parents Organization gave South Carolina and 22 other states a grade of “D” for its laws in its 2014 Shared Parenting Report Card. Most states got a “C” or below, with only eight states receiving a “B.” None got an “A.” According to its mission, the organization’s goal is to promote shared par-

homeless and runaway children, among other issues. “Conversely, children on average do much better on all these measures if they have shared parenting,” the report said. “Children ardently desire shared parenting in most cases and are happier with it.” The organization encourages states to enact laws that encourage both parents to play equal roles, regardless of whether they live in the same home. The group calls for neither parent to have a child for less than one-third of the time. Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, was a primary sponsor of a bill introduced during the 2014 legislative session that called for parents to share almost

Little’s

Regulators OK more time to build nuke fuel plant SAVANNAH RIVER SITE (AP) — Federal regulators have granted a 10-year extension to the company building a South Carolina facility where spent nuclear weapons materials will be turned into commercial nuclear reactor fuel. Last week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had granted the request by Shaw Areva MOX Services. In May, the company asked for more time to build the mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility at the Savannah River Site near Aiken. The project is part of an

agreement with Russia to turn weapons-grade plutonium into commercial nuclear reactor fuel. Construction began in 2007, but the project

equal amounts of time with a child, unless there was proof of abuse or neglect on behalf of either parent. The bill failed to gain traction in the Senate, when no subcommittee picked it up for discussion, Shealy said. “I think there’s a lot of opposition against it, but I don’t know why,” Shealy said. “All kids need both parents.” Shealy said fathers who wanted to take an active role in their children’s lives approached her about the measure, because the state still tends to favor the mother as the preferred parent in divorces. Courts, she said, don’t look at both parents like they should. Shealy said she plans to revisit the bill during the upcoming legislative session.

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LOCAL

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

end someone a helping hand this holiday season. The fol-

lowing are just a few of the needs in our community. If your non-profit organization would like to be included on this list, email needs to rhonda@ theitem.com. John K. Crosswell Home for Children, 11 Crosswell Drive, is licensed to provide care for as many as 40 children. Children live in cottages based on their age and gender and are supervised at all times by cottage parents. All cottages are in need of the following: • Gift cards to help purchase clothing and toys at stores such as Walmart, JCPenney, Kmart, TJMaxx, Burke’s, etc.; gift cards, passes or financial sponsorships to pay for activities during Christmas break such as movies, roller skating, bowling, McDonald’s, Chick-fil-a, Chuck-e-Cheese, Monkey

Joe’s, Riverbanks Zoo Christmas Lights, EdVenture Kids Museum, etc. Cottage A (4- to 7-year-old girls and boys): 10 twin boy and/or girl comforter sets and sheets; two queen-size comforter sets and sheets; 10 children’s throw blankets; eight door mirrors; set of pots and pans; oven mitts; adult cups and plates; flatware; coffee maker; heavy-duty commercial vacuum cleaner; large toy chest; educational games; large toy trucks; CD player; music CDs such as Kids Bop, contemporary

Christian, etc.; room decorations for young boys and girls; 10 non-pushpin fabric picture boards for rooms; children’s picture frames; two large area rugs; throw pillows; hair bows/clips/ties; 10 bedside lamps; 10 night lights; six window toppers with curtain rods; two sets of two matching window toppers with curtain rods. Cottage B (Infant to 6-year-old girls and boys): Wooden high chairs; five twin boy and/or girl comforter sets and sheets; five toddler bed comforter sets; five crib comforter sets; 10 toddler throw blankets; 10 bedside lamps; 10 night lights; children’s picture frames; children’s dishware; sippy cups; teapot; heavy-duty commercial vacuum cleaner; toddler potty chairs; kitchen towels; two pack-n-plays; two umbrella strollers; two doubleumbrella strollers; Diaper Genie; pre-school furniture/ sofa chairs; cushioned glider rockers; two 8-by-10 preschool rugs; CD player; CDs of preschool songs; preschool DVDs; six window toppers with curtain rods; two sets of

THE SUMTER ITEM two matching window toppers with curtain rods. Cottage C (8- to 17-year-old boys): 10 twin boy comforter sets and sheets; two queen size comforter sets and sheets; 10 boy throw blankets; heavy duty commercial vacuum cleaner; set of pots and pans; oven mitts; towels and washcloths; tablecloths; placemats; set of flatware; throw pillows; two large area rugs; 10 non-pushpin fabric picture boards for rooms; eight door mirrors; 10 bedside lamps; 10 night lights; picture frames; Wii games for boys; sports or hunting-themed framed posters for rooms; sports balls; six window toppers with curtain rods; two sets of two matching window toppers with curtain rods. Cottage D (6- to 15-year-old girls): 10 twin girl comforter sets and sheets; two queen comforter sets; heavy-duty commercial vacuum cleaner; set of pots and pans; baking utensils; sewing machine; eight door mirrors; 10 bedside lamps; 10 night lights; girl/ pre-teen framed posters for rooms; 10 non-pushpin fabric

picture boards for rooms; picture frames; stereo system; placemats; dish/glass set for 10 plus; DVD player; craft kits; CDs such as Kids Bop, contemporary Christian; hair bows/clips/ties; six window toppers with curtain rods; two sets of two matching window toppers with curtain rods. Campus general needs: AA, AAA, C, D and 9-volt batteries; Christmas boxes; life-size manger scene; DVDs (G and PG movies); disposable cameras; large umbrellas; bicycle helmets; photo albums; picture frames; kitchen and bathroom mats; towels; children’s throw blankets; and photo albums. These items do not need to be wrapped. Donations may be dropped off at the administrative building front desk Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 778-6441 or email krowell@ crosswellhome.org. Because of storage and staff constraints, Crosswell cannot accept unsolicited donations of used clothing, toys, etc.

POLICE BLOTTER PROPERTY DAMAGE A 2006 Chevrolet Malibu reportedly sustained $1,000 in damage while parked in the 1700 block of Bermuda Drive about 11 a.m. Wednesday. A 2006 Chevrolet Impala and a 1990 Toyota Corolla sustained $500 apiece in damage when their tires were cut in the 4300 block of Rosewood Drive before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. A Chevrolet Tahoe parked in the 400 block of Robney Drive reportedly sustained $2,000 in damage

when a fire began in the vehicle about 10:45 p.m. Thursday. A vehicle reportedly sustained $2,000 in damage while parked in the 4600 block of Bum Hill Lane, Wedgefield, about 1 p.m. Sunday. STOLEN PROPERTY Four pair of shoes valued at $400, a video game valued at $60 and $6,000 in cash were reportedly stolen from a Wedgefield home in the 500 block of Duffie Drive about 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

A Cobra .380-caliber handgun was reportedly stolen from a 2014 Dodge Avenger parked in the 4700 block of Cannery Drive, Dalzell, after 7:30 p.m. Sunday. A .40-caliber Glock handgun valued at $475 was reportedly stolen from a home in the 1000 block of Vaughn Street about 7 p.m. Sunday. An Xbox valued at $550, a TV valued at $298, assorted jewelry items valued at $150, and several video games valued at $850 were reportedly stolen from a Wedgefield

home in the first block of Tierra Lane just before 8 p.m. Saturday. A Ruger P95 9 mm semi-automatic pistol was reportedly stolen from underneath the driver’s seat of a 1987 Pontiac Firebird parked in the 4000 block of Patriot Parkway after 9:30 Saturday night. A stove valued at $400 and ceiling fan valued at $150 were reportedly stolen from a Wedgefield mobile home in the 5500 block of Cane Savannah Road about 5:45 p.m. Saturday.

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HEALTH

THE SUMTER ITEM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Stents may require longer blood thinner use BY MARILYNN MARCHIONE The Associated Press

attacks and can kill. To prevent that, people with drug-coated stents are told to take aspirin and a second type CHICAGO — Millions of peoof anti-clotting drug for a year. ple with stents that prop open But no one really knows how clogged heart arteries may long the second drug is needed. need anti-clotting drugs much The study involved nearly longer than the one year doc10,000 people who took aspirin tors recommend now. A large plus either of the drugs Plavix study found that continuing for or Effient for one year after another 18 months lowers the getting a drug-coated stent. All risk of heart attacks, clots and stayed on aspirin for another 18 other problems. months, and half stayed on Even quitting after 30 Plavix or Effient, too. months made a heart attack About 6 percent of those takmore likely, raising a question ing only aspirin suffered a of when it’s ever safe to stop. heart attack, clot or other It’s a big issue because the THE ASSOCIATED PRESS heart-related problem during drugs can be expensive and Boston Scientific shows the drug-coated Taxus Express Paclitaxel Elud- that time versus about 4 perbring risks of their own. The ing Coronary Stent System. cent of those taking a second result also is a surprise, bedrug. Blood clots also were cause the trend has been toward shorter treatment, espeministration. Results were dis- an arm, doctors push a tube to more common in the aspirinonly group. cially in Europe. cussed Sunday at an American the clog, inflate a tiny balloon The added benefit of dual “It’s a wake-up call. It’s the to flatten it, and place a mesh Heart Association conference treatment came with a cost: tube called a stent to keep the opposite of where we’ve been in Chicago and published onmore cases of moderate or segoing,” said Dr. Patrick O’Gara, line by the New England Jour- artery open. vere bleeding. Still, the balance Early bare-metal stents clinical cardiology chief at nal of Medicine. is in favor of continuing the didn’t work well — arteries Brigham and Women’s HospiThe FDA says it is mulling drugs because bleeding rarely tended to reclog quickly. Coattal in Boston and president of the results and that doctors was serious, Mauri said. the American College of Cardi- should not change practice yet. ed ones that ooze drugs to preA potential concern: There vent that problem came out a The study concerns care ology. were more deaths from nondecade ago but have their own after angioplasty, a procedure He had no role in the study, drawback: a small risk of clots heart-related causes among which was led by Brigham’s Dr. done on millions of people that occur months later, a seri- those taking two drugs. Most worldwide each year. Through Laura Mauri, at the request of ous type that often cause heart were from cancer or trauma. a blood vessel in the groin or the federal Food and Drug Ad-

Researchers looked back and found that more people with cancer at the outset of the study wound up in the twodrug group, perhaps explaining the difference. The FDA is looking closely at the “unexpected finding,” but preliminary reviews of this study and previous ones “do not suggest an increased risk of death” from the drugs, said Mary Ross Southworth, a safety official at the agency. Eight drug and device makers and a grant from the FDA paid for the study. A separate part of the study looked at nearly 3,000 patients given bare-metal stents. It also found greater risks when the second anti-clotting drug was stopped after a year. Are the drugs needed indefinitely after a stent? “It does raise that question,” O’Gara said. “Cost and possible side effects like bleeding might temper the decision” to stay on them, and each patient needs to discuss it with a doctor, he said. Older, frail people and those with frequent nosebleeds or who bruise easily may not want to take the drugs longterm.

Hand transplant recovery sheds new light on touch BY LAURAN NEERGAARD The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Recovery of feeling can gradually improve for years after a hand transplant, suggests a small study that points to changes in the brain, not just the new hand, as a reason. Research presented Sunday at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience sheds light on how the brain processes the sense of touch and adapts when it goes awry. The work could offer clues to rehabilitation after stroke, brain injury, maybe one day even spinal cord injury. “It holds open the hope that we may be able to facilitate that recovery process,” said

Dr. Scott Frey, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Missouri in Columbia. When surgeons attach a new hand, nerves from the stump must regenerate into the transplanted limb to begin restoring different sensations, hot or cold, soft or hard, pressure or pain. While patients can move a new hand fairly soon, how quickly they regain feeling and what sensations they experience vary widely. After all, the sense of touch isn’t just about stimulating nerves in the skin. Those nerves fire signals to a specific brain region to decipher what you’re touching and how to react. Lose a limb and the brain quickly rewires, giving those neurons new jobs. Frey’s

work shows the area that once operated a right hand can start giving the left hand a boost. Brain scans suggest those changes are at least partially reversible if someone gets a hand transplant years later. But little is known about how the brain’s reorganization affects recovery. Telling where on the palms or fingers they’re being touched without looking is a persistent problem for hand transplant recipients, and a function of the brain’s main sensory area. Frey’s team compared four transplant recipients, four patients whose own hands were reattached immediately after injury, and 14 uninjured people.

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The longer the time since their surgeries, the more accurately patients located a light touch, Frey reported. Two who’ve had transplanted hands for eight and 10 years, respectively, were almost as accurate as uninjured people. So were two patients whose own hands were reattached

1½ and three years earlier. Nerve regeneration is thought to take about two years, Frey said. “Yet their sensory abilities and motor abilities continue to improve, albeit gradually, as long as we’ve been measuring,” he said, suggesting the brain continues to adapt.

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Health care push comes to bars, nail salons

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Transition House, a homeless shelter in Santa Barbara, Calif., volunteer Jodi Kirkland, center right, helps out with Transition House’s children’s program at the shelter.

Child homelessness on the rise SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report that blames the nation’s high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing and the impacts of pervasive domestic violence. Titled “America’s Youngest Outcasts,” the report being issued Monday by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013. The number is based on the Department of Education’s latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by estimates of homeless pre-school children not counted by the DOE. The problem is particularly severe in California, which has one-eighth of the U.S. population but accounts for more than one-fifth of the homeless children with a tally of nearly 527,000.

Carmela DeCandia, director of the national center and a coauthor of the report, noted that the federal government has made progress in reducing homelessness among veterans and chronically homeless adults. “The same level of attention and resources has not been targeted to help families and children,” she said. “As a society, we’re going to pay a high price, in human and economic terms.” Child homelessness increased by 8 percent nationally from 2012 to 2013, according to the report, which warned of potentially devastating effects on children’s educational, emotional and social development, as well as on their parents’ health, employment prospects and parenting abilities. The report included a composite index ranking the states on the extent of child homelessness, efforts to combat it, and the overall level of child well-being. States with the best scores were Minnesota, Nebraska and Massachusetts. At the bottom were Alabama, Mis-

sissippi and California. California’s poor ranking did not surprise Shahera Hyatt, director of the California Homeless Youth Project. The crux of the problem, she said, is the state’s high cost of living, coupled with insufficient affordable housing. “People think, ‘Of course we are not letting children and families be homeless,’ so there’s a lot of disbelief,” Hyatt said. “California has not invested in this issue.” Hyatt, 29, was homeless on and off throughout adolescence, starting when her parents were evicted when she was in 7th grade. At 15, she and her older brother took off and survived by sleeping in the tool sheds, backyards and basements of acquaintances. “These terms like ‘couch surfing’ and ‘doubled-up’ sound a lot more polite than they are in practice,” she said. “For teenagers, it might be exchanging sex for a place to stay or staying someplace that does not feel safe because they are so mired in their day-to-day survival needs.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The pitch for health care coverage is being made at nail salons, pizzerias, mosques and even bars. As the second enrollment period under President Barack Obama’s health care law begins, advocates are employing new tactics and expanding old ones to reach people who need insurance. Some groups are targeting populations they believe slipped through the cracks during the last enrollment period. “We’ve had great success at laundromats,” said Robin Stockton, the navigator program director for the Center for Family Services, a nonprofit based in Camden, New Jersey. The informal chat between wash-and-dry cycles can pique interest and lead some customers to call their hotline for more information, she said. “Typically,” she said, “the question you get back is: ‘Is this that Obamacare thing?’” Open enrollment started Saturday and runs until Feb. 15. The HealthCare.gov website, where people can sign up and search for coverage, appeared to be running smoothly Saturday. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell tweeted that the website opened shortly after 1 a.m., with more than 23,000 people submitting applications within the first eight hours. She said 1.2 million unique visitors looked at coverage using the site’s window-shopping tool in the last week. In Washington state, though, the health care exchange shut down after the first few hours of open enrollment as state officials

and software engineers tried to resolve a problem with tax credit calculations. And just days before open enrollment, an old video clip surfaced showing an adviser who helped draft the law saying “the stupidity of the American voter” helped Democrats pass the complex legislation. Obama, just before leaving an economic summit in Australia on Sunday, said the public was not misled about provisions of the law. He said there was no provision that was not extensively debated or made fully transparent. The Obama administration aims to have 9.1 million paying customers enrolled in 2015. That’s well below the 13 million that the Congressional Budget Office had projected. In Philadelphia, Enroll America organizer Neil Rickett is armed with a list of 500 bars and restaurants as he makes his way through downtown, popping in and out of eateries. He approaches bartenders, wait staff and other service industry workers whose high turnover and odd hours often result in a lack of health coverage. He gets workers’ contact information and sometimes schedules appointments to meet with them. “By going to them, we’re upping our chance of getting the people we missed or didn’t get enrolled last time,” Rickett said. In New Jersey, Stockton’s nonprofit is among the community-based groups guiding people through the enrollment process. When they aren’t taking appointments, the 17 navigators take their enrollment message on the road.

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Turkey production down, wholesale prices up BILL DRAPER Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Turkey production is at its lowest level in nearly three decades and wholesale prices are at an all-time high, but Thanksgiving cooks probably won’t see much difference in the price they pay at the stores for their frozen birds. This year’s anticipated stock is 235 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service — the lowest since 1986, when U.S. farmers produced roughly 207 million birds. While the estimated 2014 number doesn’t indicate a shortage of turkeys, which can remain in cold storage for a year or longer, it does reflect a pullback in recent years by poultry producers who were forced to reduce their flocks to remain afloat. “Last year was a bloodbath. It was bad,” said John Zimmerman, a farmer in Northfield, Minnesota, who produces about 300,000 turkeys a year. He said scaled back his numbers in recent years because higher feed and transportation prices, among other things,

cut into his bottom line. Even the price of soybean meal — which accounts for about 30 percent of turkey feed — is at a historical high, he said. All areas of livestock production — poultry included — were drastically cut after the widespread 2012 drought in an attempt to stifle losses, says Corinne Alexander, a Purdue University agricultural economist. Plus, many farmers are using feed that they bought in the wake of the drought, which cost more than the current market price. “What’s happening in the turkey sector is a mini-story of what is happening in other sectors, where the impact has been really dramatic,” Alexander said. “If you look at beef cattle, we have the smallest beef cattle herd since 1951, and prices for beef are up 17 percent this year.” October wholesale prices for live turkeys jumped 12 percent from 2013, from 72 cents per pound to 81 cents, NASS commodities statistician Michael Klamm said. And frozen turkey wholesale prices were expected to be between $1.12 and $1.16 per pound in the fourth quarter — up from $1.05 per pound at

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Narragansett turkeys roam a pasture near Trimble, Mo., Wednesday. The American Poultry Association recognized the Narragansett in 1874. this time last year, the USDA said. But consumers won’t necessarily see that reflected in the price of their Thanksgiving meal centerpiece. “There’s really no correlation between what grocery store chains are

paying and what they’re selling them at,” USDA agriculture economist David Harvey said. Turkey numbers peaked in 1996, with nearly 303 million birds. Alexander doesn’t expect the paltry poultry numbers to stick around, because, compared with other livestock, it doesn’t take as long to rebuild the flock — about three to five months to raise a turkey to market size. Plus, this year’s record corn harvest will help the process, she said, as current projections indicate corn prices are about half of what they were in September 2012. Zimmerman doubts corn prices will fall much more because of demand for ethanol and exports, and because farmers are rebuilding cattle and swine herds, too, cutting further into the nation’s abundant corn supply. “It takes a while to recover, once you have a shock to the system, because premium stock gets liquidated and it takes time to raise it back up,” he said of the nation’s turkey supply. “There’s not going to be a quick change of price, but there should be a moderate change in the next six months.”

Opponents seek ban on animal testing on cosmetics WASHINGTON (AP) — Hoping to build off recent bans in Europe and India, opponents of animal testing for cosmetics plan to make a big push for a similar prohibition in the United States. The effort could be a tough sell in a Republican-controlled Congress. Virginia Democrat Don Beyer is expected to take the lead on the issue when the new Congress convenes next January. He is succeeding retiring Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who has introduced legislation that would prohibit testing cosmetic products on animals, as well as the sale of any BEYER new cosmetics if the final product or any component was developed using animal testing. “The United States must be a GRIMM world leader and not a follower,” Beyer told supporters in a campaign email highlighting the issue. His state is home to several cosmetic companies, such as Tri Tech Laboratories of Lynchburg, a custom manufacturer of personal care products. Last year, the European Union banned the sale of new cosmetic products containing ingredients tested on animals, and India followed with a similar ban. Sara Amundson, executive director of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, called the Moran bill a “marker” to build political support, with a sustained lobbying effort to follow next year. To date, more than 140 cosmetic companies have endorsed the bill, including Paul Mitchell, the Body Shop and LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. The legislation might not face the most receptive environment next year, with regulation-averse Republicans running both houses of Congress, but Amundson said that proponents will cast it in a pro-business light. “If U.S. companies have to comply with what’s already transpiring, for example, in the

EU, one would want to ensure there aren’t any trade barriers,” she said. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, said if a bill is introduced next year, “we could take a look at it to get a better understanding at that time.” Of the 55 co-sponsors of the Moran bill, only one was a Republican — Michael Grimm of New York. The Humane Soci-

ety Legislative Fund donated $5,000 to Grimm’s campaign, citing his leadership and advocacy on animal protection issues. “I have a puppy that I rescued from a puppy mill and I think that these are issues that are close to my heart and close to the hearts of many of my constituents back home in Staten Island and Brooklyn,” Grimm said. The bill would not affect ani-

mals used for biomedical research. The cosmetic industry trade group, the Personal Care Products Council, referred to an earlier statement by its executive vice president for government affairs, John Hurson, who said the legislation echoes the industry’s “longstanding commitment to ultimately eliminate the need to conduct animal testing” on cosmetics. Hurson said cosmetic companies largely stopped animal

testing on finished products in the 1980s, and now only consider using them when mandated by government bodies or for safety evaluations of new ingredients when no viable alternative is available. Under federal law, manufacturers aren’t required to test cosmetics on animals to prove product safety, but the FDA says it’s consistently advised cosmetic manufacturers to employ whatever testing is appropriate and effective.

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THE SUMTER ITEM

‘20th hijacker’ claims he can be informant

Military corruption astounds prosecutors WASHINGTON (AP) — Fabian Barrera found a way to make fast cash in the Texas National Guard, earning roughly $181,000 for claiming to have steered 119 potential recruits to join the military. But the bonuses were ill-gotten because the former captain never actually referred any of them. Barrera’s case, which ended last month with a prison sentence of at least three years, is part of what Justice Department lawyers describe as a recurring pattern of corruption that spans a broad cross section of the military. In a period when the nation has spent freely to support wars on multiple fronts, prosecutors have found plentiful targets: defendants who bill for services they do not provide, those who steer lucrative contracts to select business partners and those who use bribes to game a vast military enterprise. Despite numerous cases that have produced long prison sentences, the problems have continued abroad and at home with a frequency that law enforcement officials consider troubling. “The schemes we see really run the gamut from relatively small bribes paid to somebody in Afghanistan to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of contracts being steered in the direction of a favored company who’s paying bribes,” Assistant Attorney General Leslie

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell speaks in Washington. “The schemes we see really run the gamut from relatively small bribes paid to somebody in Afghanistan to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of contracts being steered in the direction of a favored company who’s paying bribes,” Caldwell said in an interview. Caldwell, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in an interview. In the past few months alone, four retired and one active-duty Army National Guard officials were charged in a complex bribery and kickback scheme involving the awarding of contracts for marketing and promotional material, and a trucking company driver pleaded guilty to bribing military base employees in Georgia to obtain freight shipments — often weapons which required satellite tracking — to transport to the West Coast. More recently, a former contractor for the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, which provides transportation for the service, was sentenced to prison along with a businessman in a bribery case in which cash, a wine refrigerator and other gifts traded hands in exchange for favorable treatment on telecommunications work. Also, three men, including two retired Marine Corps officers, were charged with cheating on

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lawyers for Saudi Arabia said flatly: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had no role in the attacks of September 11, 2001.” They also noted that the United States “has said often and vigorously that Saudi Arabia is an important ally in the fight against terrorism.” Even so, his attempts to cooperate in the civil cases stand in contrast to the defiant attitudes of other al-Qaida defendants who have endured after years of confinement without volunteering information except for claims they were tortured. Moussaoui, who is 46 and refers to himself in writing as “Slave of Allah,” has been a curious character from the moment he was arrested on immigration charges in August 2001 after employees of a Minnesota flight school became alarmed that he wanted to learn to fly a Boeing 747 even though he had no pilot’s license. He was in custody on Sept. 11 and pleaded guilty in April 2005 to conspiring with the hijackers to kill Americans. The plea initially seemed to subdue the mercurial Moussaoui, who during a three-year legal fight repeatedly insulted the judge and tried to fire his lawyers. But his combustible side reemerged at his death penalty proceedings, when he surprised everyone by testifying that he had planned to pilot a plane into the White House on Sept. 11.

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Rembert man, died in a single-car wreck on U.S. 76/378 near Wateree River the morning of May 14, 2012. Initial reports indicated he swerved off the highway and slammed into a tree after losing control of the 2005 Ford he was driving. Representatives of the deceased plaintiff filed the wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Dennis’ beneficiaries claiming a pool of water in the roadway caused him to lose control of his vehicle during the fatal crash, which occurred during a rain storm. The complaint argues the county and both state agencies were negligent and failed to maintain safety on U.S. 76/378, alleging water in the road did not drain effectively and the accumulated standing water caused Dennis’ vehicle to lose traction and crash. Court records indicate attorneys representing Sumter County made a case to be dismissed from the onset. In their original answer to the complaint, Sumter County lawyers denied all the allegations and argued that the plaintiff failed to make a claim against the county. The county filed an amended answer in October 2013, arguing it was entitled to sovereign immunity from the suit as an “alter ego of the State of South Carolina.” A Sumter County judge ruled in the county’s favor with a written order on Nov. 7 that dismissed it with prejudice as a defendant in the case. SCDOT and Department of Public Safety remain as defendants in the suit, the order stated.

Spratlin said. “Customers can (also) get 80 percent of the services they get at a post office on usps.com.” An estimated 3 million customers are expected take advantage of the Click-N-Ship option this year, according to usps.com. Besides 2014 holiday stamps, post offices across the nation offer festive Priority Mail boxes and other packing items such as bubble mailers, mailing cartons, bubble wrap and packaging tape.

MILITARY The postal service also offers a “Military Care Kit” based on items that are most frequently requested. They are: • Two Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office Large Priority Boxes; • Two medium Priority Mail Boxes; • Priority Mail tape; • Priority Mail address labels; and • Appropriate customs forms. To order a kit, call 1-800-6108734. “USPS is the only shipper that ships to APO/FPO addresses at domestic postal rates and gives a military discount,” Spratlin said.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

com include: • Dec. 2, First-Class and Priority Mail International; • Dec. 10, Priority Mail Express International; • Dec. 15, Standard Post Domestic; • Dec. 17, Global Express Guaranteed; • Dec. 20, First-Class and Priority Mail Domestic; and • Dec. 23, Priority Mail Express Domestic. To speed the process, usps.com offers the following tips: • Enjoy convenience: Order free Priority Mail shipping supplies on usps.com, and have them delivered to your door, free of charge. • Be informed: Check usps.com to verify that your items can be shipped. • Pack smart: Pick a strong and sturdy box; cushion contents with packing peanuts, newspaper or bubble wrap; and tape it closed with strong packing tape. • Save a trip: Visit usps.com to pay for postage and request free Package Pickup at your door. • Track it: Sign up for text and email alerts through my.usps. com to track the delivery status of your packages. • Gift options: Pick up a gift card from your local post office.

Other tips for those mailing packages to service members include: •Use a Large Priority Mail Flat Rate box. It costs $15.90 and includes a $2 per box discount for military mail being sent to APO/ FPO/DPO (diplomatic post office) destinations worldwide. • Use the service member’s full name when shipping to ensure it reaches the correct person. • Include the service member’s unit and APO/FPO address with the nine-digit zip code. • Always include a return address. • Use Click-N-Ship to automatically standardize the APO/FPO address if it has been added to the postal service database. • Visit usps.com/ship/apo.htm for shipping restrictions and additional information.

DEADLINES The deadline for APO/FPO Standard Post has passed, but you can still send APO/FPO First-Class letters and cards as well as APO/FPO Priority Mail by Dec. 10 to try to guarantee deliver by Christmas Day. The APO/FPO Priority Mail Express Military Service deadline is Dec. 17. Other deadlines listed on usps.

Europeans have prominent role in IS beheading video PARIS (AP) — The coldeyed militants lined up behind their victims in the latest Islamic State video appear to come from outside the Middle East, including one from France and possibly two from Britain, as the extremist group tries to show a global reach. The grisly video — clearly aimed at a Western audience — lingers as much on the faces of the camouflaged extremists as the men who are beheaded. The victims include American aid worker Peter Kassig and more than a dozen Syrian soldiers. The images of the Islamic State militants, who are

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up to

shown one by one in close-up, allowed authorities to identify one of them Monday as a 22-year-old Frenchman who converted to radical Islam. Maxime Hauchard has been on the radar of French authorities since 2011 when he took two trips to Mauritania to attend a Quranic school, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins. The prosecutor said investigators were trying to determine if another Frenchman also is in the video. President Obama confirmed Kassig’s slaying after a U.S. review of the video. The overwhelming majority of Islamic State fighters are from the Mideast, but the ex-

tremist group is trying to cement its claim on an Islamic empire straddling Iraq and Syria. Europe appears to be a fertile ground to find supporters, with officials saying thousands of young Europeans have headed off to jihad. More than 1,000 people in France alone are under surveillance for suspected plans to join the militants, officials said. In the video released Sunday, some of the knife-wielding extremists standing behind their kneeling victims had distinctly Asian features. Another whose face was hooded had the familiar London accent of the jihadi who also appeared in beheading videos

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Ed and Paula Kassig, parents of Peter Kassig, speak during a news conference Monday in Indianapolis. Peter Kassig was captured Oct. 1, 2013, while delivering aid in Syria through a relief organization he founded. The White House confirmed Peter Kassig’s death Sunday after the Islamic State group released a video showing that Kassig had been beheaded. ning. There also were indications that a Welsh medical student may be the man standing next to Hauchard.

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A10

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

N.G. Osteen 1843-1936 The Watchman and Southron

THE SUMTER ITEM

H.G. Osteen 1870-1955 Founder, The Item

H.D. Osteen 1904-1987 The Item

Margaret W. Osteen 1908-1996 The Item Hubert D. Osteen Jr. Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Graham Osteen Co-President Kyle Osteen Co-President Jack Osteen Editor and Publisher Larry Miller CEO Rick Carpenter Managing Editor

20 N. Magnolia St., Sumter, South Carolina 29150 • Founded October 15, 1894

SOUTHERN WITH A GULF COAST ACCENT

A very clever pilgrim

COMMENTARY

Where the polls were wrong — and why

ere the polls wrong? It’s a question asked after every election. Sometimes, as in 1948, the answer seems as obvious as the answer to the question, “Why did Custer lose at Little Bighorn?” Sometimes the answer is less obvious, as it is this year. “The polls were skewed toward the Democrats,” writes Nate Silver, who as proprietor of FiveThirtyEight has earned the distinction of being the nation’s most assiduous polling analyst. Silver gives short shrift to partisans — Democrats this year, Republicans in 2012 — who complained that polls were systematically biased against their side. The skew varies unpredictably, he says, perhaps because pollsters overcompensate in response to previous mistakes. He finds polls skewed against Democrats in 2006 and 2012 and against Republicans in 2002 and 2014 — all winning years for Michael those parties. Barone Silver measures the skew by comparing the percentage margin for candidates in his website’s average of the most recent pre-election polls to the percentage margin for candidates in the actual results. He finds that Republicans this year won bigger margins than in the polls in 24 of 36 Senate races and 28 of 35 governor’s races. Here’s another way of looking at it, concentrating on those races that were seriously contested. In seriously contested Senate races — the chief event of this election cycle — the polls were quite accurate in presaging the percentages received by seven Democratic incumbents. Those Democrats ran from 3.2 percent ahead to 1.7 percent behind their RealClearPolitics polling averages. Also, three of the four Democrats running in open Democratic seats ran within that range of poll results. Where the polls missed was in projecting Republicans’ votes in Republican-held seats. Pat Roberts ran 10.6 percent ahead of polls in Kansas, Mitch McConnell 7.2 percent ahead in Kentucky and David Perdue 5.2 percent ahead in Georgia. There’s a similar but not identical pattern in seriously contested races for governor. In seven states where Democrats were defending governorships, Democratic nominees ran very close to the polls in five. Only in two close New England races, where polls had high undecideds, did they run further ahead. In nine states with Republican-controlled governorships, Republicans all ran ahead of their poll numbers, from 3.2 percent in Alaska (where final results are not in at this writ-

ing) to 7.4 percent in Kansas. All this suggests that pollsters did a better job of finding Democratic voters than they did of finding Republican voters. That accounts for the Democratic tilt in polling Silver finds when looking at candidates’ percentage margins rather than percentage totals. One possible reason is that Republicanleaning voters were more hesitant than Democratic-leaning voters about committing to vote for their party’s candidates. The bulk of those undecided in polls in Kansas, Kentucky and most of the states with Republican governors were Mitt Romney voters in 2012. There has been a similar phenomenon when pollsters ask people to rate the two parties’ members of Congress. During most of this campaign cycle (but less so toward the end), Republicans in Congress were getting lower ratings than Democrats in Congress because more Republican voters gave their own party’s members negative ratings. Another possible reason, advanced by Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is that pollsters are doing a poorer job of sampling opinion in rural areas than in large metropolitan areas. Outside their states’ three major metropolitan areas, Roberts won 63 percent of the vote, and McConnell won 61 percent. Polls seem to have missed this. A third possible explanation — and all three may be overlapping — offered by RealClearPolitics analyst Sean Trende is that local pollsters were able, because of their greater experience and understanding of their states, to spot Republican trends that national pollsters missed. Trende credits the University of Arkansas poll, Ann Selzer’s Des Moines Register poll in Iowa and Charles Franklin’s Marquette University Law School poll in Wisconsin. Pollsters face an increasingly difficult task. Telephone polling techniques were developed in a nation with universal landline phone service and a population that answered the phone when it rang. We no longer live in such a nation. Only 9 percent of pollsters’ calls resulted in completed interviews, the Pew Research Center reported in 2012. Maybe rural Republican voters are harder to reach or maybe they’re too grumpy to commit until they have to. In 1948, Gallup famously stopped polling eight days before the election, and “Dewey Defeats Truman” became one of history’s most famous headlines. Gallup stayed in the field later after that had happened. The good news is that today’s pollsters too can learn from experience.

ne minute after Halloween is over I start thinking about the holiday I truly love ... Thanksgiving. No stress, no hassles, just a great meal with family and friends, all tied together with a thankful heart. At least that’s the way I thought of Thanksgiving until about six years ago when I got promoted from a guest who brings a cake, to the chief cook who prepares the meal. Others help here and there, but the main items, including Tom Turkey, are left up to Leslie Anne me. Being able Harrison to cook a good, moist turkey is similar to the ability to sew. It tends to skip a generation. Why should little Martha Mae learn to make her own clothes when her mama (Mary Mae) is the best seamstress in the county? Years later, when Mama Mary Mae is gone, Martha Mae realizes she doesn’t even know how to thread a needle. That’s when Martha Mae’s daughter Minnie Mae steps in and learns to sew. See? It skips a generation. That’s what has happened with the Thanksgiving meal in our family. Grandmother always roasted a giant turkey plus all the trimmings that fed our rowdy crowd. My own mother had never cooked a bird that big in her entire life. She, along with the other daughters, showed up with a few side dishes and enough desserts to fill a separate table. When Granny passed on to the heavenly side of Thanksgiving, my mother realized that not only had she never cooked a turkey, but didn’t even own a roasting pan that big. “I think I’d be a nervous wreck trying to cook a turkey!” she told me with a sad little look on her face. The first year with no home-cooked bird, I think we bought a turkey from the youth group down at The First Karaoke Church, where they were deep frying them in the parking lot to raise funds for a new big-screen TV, but Daddy said he favored a more traditional protestant bird, so

COMMENTARY after that, it was left up to me to figure out how to cook the fowl. What I have going for me that my mother is still learning to navigate, is the knowhow of using the Internet to teach myself anything. Cousin Rosie Belle from Robertsdale taught herself how to ballroom dance in only two weeks by watching reruns of Bobby and Cissy on the Lawrence Welk YouTube channel. So, taking a hint from her, I grabbed my laptop and typed in, “How to cook a turkey” and good-gosh almighty, 40-gazillion videos came up for my viewing pleasure. I poured myself a glass of traditional protestant juice, put my feet up and within a few hours, was an expert who was ready to roast a Thanksgiving turkey. My very first turkey came out so juicy and delicious that now, I not only cook one in November, but I also pop one in the oven whenever they go on sale at the Piggly Wiggly. It’s now a year-round dish in our home, and with teenage boys in the house, a giant pan of roasted meat and gravy doesn’t last long. But something’s been nagging me, and doesn’t quite add up. My mother is a great cook, which leads me to believe she may have just been calculating this Thanksgiving sidestep all along. Could she have really premeditated such a devious plan to let Grandmother host Thanksgiving for the first 40 years, then, when the pendulum swung, claim not to have the know-how nor an adequate pan, so I would assume the task? While I’m running around my kitchen the day before Thanksgiving, wrestling with a 22-pound fowl, I’ll bet my mama is home with her feet propped up and a glass of traditional protestant juice of her own. Martha Mae and my mother are both very clever pilgrims. Leslie Anne Harrison is a contributing writer for The Sumter Item and Gulf Coast Newspapers — www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com. She also has a popular website — Fairhope Supply Co. — which can be found at www.fairhopesupply.com. She can be reached at la@ fairhopesupply.com.

A very clever pilgrim always plans ahead for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

LESLIE ANNE HARRISON / SPECIAL TO THE SUMTER ITEM

LETTER TO THE EDITOR SUMTER ITEM WAS PUSHING HARD FOR PASSAGE OF PENNY TAX Congratulations for selling another 7 years of taxes on the people of Sumter County. The liberal “movers and shakers” used the playbook of the Social Democrats in the federal government to get the needed votes. First by doing it in an election year when only about 35 percent to 40 percent of voters go to the polls and second by “buying votes” to promise folks without asphalt roads and sidewalks that they would be built eventually. Great strategy. Not long after the vote, the editorial page slammed voters against the tax as “regressive, obstructionist, and against progress.” The residents of this county not only have a right to disagree with those in power, but an

obligation to voice their opinion. Part of the problem in Sumter County is with The Sumter Item. Not many years ago, newspapers were the watchdog of the government, not biased supporters of government. The Sumter Item has proven every step of the way they were pushing the tax and then reprimanding voters who were against the tax. The Sumter Item went to great lengths to explain each part of the law but chose not to revisit the current law and publish which projects were completed, which projects were being worked on, which projects were not started and where the financial aspect of the law is currently. Have all of the completed projects been paid for? Are funds available for projects underway? Will all projects be completed and paid

for completely before any “new” projects of the second law begin? With all the publicity from The Sumter Item about the new law, none of those questions were addressed, and more than myself asked those questions. About a week before the vote, I wrote a letter to The Sumter Item asking them to publish the original list from the current law and update those projects and the financial statements from each project, but the letter was never published, and I would be surprised if mine was the only one. At any rate, it is what it is. Congratulations. THOMAS MARTIN Pinewood EDITOR’S NOTE: The Sumter Item reported extensively on the original Penny Sales Tax projects as well as all

28 new projects recently voted on and passed by Sumter County Council (see Nov. 2 edition). Also, Mr. Martin misquotes the post-election editorial of Friday, Nov. 7, claiming it “slammed voters against the tax as regressive, obstructionist and against progress.” Here is what was actually written: “As usual, the anti-progress mossbacks made a lot of noise in their opposition, trotting out another round of childish signs that bombed with the voters.” And finally the letter Mr. Martin wrote was received on Friday, Oct. 31, two days after the deadline of Wednesday, Oct. 29, which had been announced three separate times on the Opinion page. (A previous letter he wrote opposing the penny was published on Thursday, Oct. 23.) We’re pleased to set the record straight for Mr. Martin.

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‘Cold War Roadshow’ recalls diplomatic detour BY KEVIN MCDONOUGH What if we invited the leader of our most dangerous foreign adversary to our shores, allowed him to travel freely and covered his antics like an ongoing television event? That’s exactly what happened some 55 years ago, as recalled in the “American Experience” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) presentation “Cold War Roadshow.” As President Dwight Eisenhower’s second term neared its conclusion, he wanted to conduct summit meetings with the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to ease the dangers of thermonuclear brinksmanship. It’s difficult to believe, but after devising the hydrogen bomb in the early 1950s, both America and the U.S.S.R. tested it in the atmosphere with great frequency. Prior to their meeting, Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to conduct a tour of the United States in the fall of 1959. The Soviet leader, a burly man of peasant origins, traveled from city to city, almost as if he were conducting a political campaign. He met factory owners and movie stars and was greeted with polite curiosity by Americans eager to see if he was the bogeyman he had been made out to be. He received in chilliest reception in Southern California, then a hotbed of far-right politics. Khrushchev seemed personally hurt that he was denied entry to Disneyland. “Roadshow” recalls the circuslike atmosphere surrounding Khrushchev’s caravan. From his encounters with Elizabeth Taylor to a tumultuous Iowa farm tour, he was surrounded by both American and Soviet security agents and a crush of hundreds of reporters and newsreel and television cameras. His travels appeared on television in prime time every night. Despite his foreign tongue, primitive past and rough-hewn manner, Khrushchev proved to be an adept showman, often overshadowing Eisenhower and holding his own with Marilyn Monroe. “Roadshow” includes the recollections of Eisenhower’s granddaughter Susan, who was embraced by the Soviet leader when he visited the Eisenhower’s family farm in Pennsylvania. Khrushchev’s son Sergei also recalls the remarkable 12-

day event. He has since become an American citizen. “Roadshow” highlights a simpler time, when Americans seemed at once less complicated and more confident than today. • A former NBA star leads the fight against elephant poaching in Kenya on “Saving Africa’s Giants With Yao Ming” (10 p.m., Animal Planet).

p.m., ABC, TV-PG) * A fateful inheritance on “Supernatural” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) * An ex sues Will on “About a Boy” (9:30 p.m., NBC, TV-14) * An invasion of privacy on “The Mindy Project” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-14).

LATE NIGHT

TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS • Reese infiltrates the NYPD on “Person of Interest” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14). • A helicopter crash devastates a neighborhood on “Chicago Fire” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14). • Musical royalties may have inspired murder on “Forever” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14). • Jax has to face an ugly truth on “Sons of Anarchy” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).

SERIES NOTES Another petty officer expires on “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG)

KRISTIAN SCHMIDT / WILDAID

Yao Ming, left, watches over a herd of orphaned elephants in Kenya. The former NBA star works to help end elephant poaching on “Saving Africa’s Giants With Yao Ming” airing at 10 p.m. today on Animal Planet. * The man who has everything on “Selfie” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14) * Tony steels himself on “The Flash” (8 p.m., CW, TV-PG) * Haley turns the tables on Phil and Claire on “Modern Family” (8:30 p.m., r, ABC, TV-14) * Mardi Gras can be murder on

“NCIS: New Orleans” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) * Annie clashes with Jake’s mom on “Marry Me” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14) * A guru conducts a teachers’ conference on “New Girl” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) * Ancient secrets on “Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D” (9

Benedict Cumberbatch is scheduled on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (11 p.m., Comedy Central) * Eva Longoria sits down on “The Colbert Report” (11:30 p.m., Comedy Central) * Charlie Day and Hiss Golden Messenger appear on “Late Show With David Letterman” (11:35 p.m., CBS) * Jimmy Fallon welcomes U2 on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) * Shaquille O’Neal, Eddie Redmayne and Gary Vaynerchuk visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) * Craig Ferguson hosts Jane Lynch and Metallica on “The Late Late Show” (12:35 a.m., CBS). Copyright 2014, United Feature Syndicate

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

AROUND TOWN The Carolina Coin Club will 1975 will hold a reunion meet at 7 p.m. today at the meeting at 1 p.m. on SaturParks and Recreation Depart- day, Nov. 22, at St. Paul AME Are you coin collector? ment building, 155 aHaynChurch Shaw. Join the group sworth St. The club meets on on Facebook at Hillcrest High the third Tuesday of each School Class of 1975. month and visitors are alWine & Cheese Sip, sponsored ways welcome. Call (803) by the Comrades and Ladies 775-8840 for information. Auxiliary of VFW Post 10813, Get a free 4x6 picture of your will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. little one with Santa! Jolly Old on Sunday, Nov. 23, at 610 St. Nick himself will be visitManning Ave. Enjoy an eveing Farmers Telephone Coop. ning of community fellowoffices in Sumter, Lee and ship, music, great cheese Clarendon from 2:30 to 5:30 and fine beverage. Donation: p.m. on the following dates: $5 at the door. today, Manning business ofThe Lou-Von Foundation will fice, 2389 Paxville Highway; host a free community ThanksWednesday, Nov. 19, North giving dinner at 11 a.m. on Sumter business office, 631 Tuesday, Nov. 25, at the ImN. Pike West; Thursday, Nov. perial Restaurant, 451 Broad 20, Shaw business office, St. Reserve your place at the 1280 Peach Orchard Road; table by calling Natisha and Friday, Nov. 21, Wesmark Owens at (803) 773-1838, ex(Sumter) business office, 255 tension 227. W. Wesmark Blvd. The Lincoln High School PreserThe Sumter County Education vation Alumni Association will Association-Retired will meet sponsor its Eighth Annual Gala at noon on Wednesday, Nov. Banquet / Fundraiser 6:30 p.m.19, at the North HOPE Center, midnight on Friday, Nov. 28, 904 N. Main St. Call Brenda at the Lincoln High School Bethune at (803) 469-6588. gymnasium, Council Street. The Pinedale Neighborhood AsDr. Lois Weston Green, 1960 sociation will meet at 4:30 graduate, will speak. Call p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, at James L. Green at (803) 968the South HOPE Center, 1125 4173. S. Lafayette Drive. Call FerdiThe fourth Green School Renand Burns at (803) 968-4464. union will be held at noon on The General George L. Mabry, Saturday, Nov. 29, at the TrinJr. Chapter 817, Military Order ity Lincoln Center (old Linof the Purple Heart will meet coln High School), 25 Council at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. St. Contact Linwood at (803) 20, at the Elks Lodge, 1100 W. 773-6363 or Shirley at (803) Liberty St. All Purple Heart 481-0587 for information. recipients are invited. Call The Manning High School Class (803) 506-3120. of 1974 will hold its 40-year The Sumter Combat Veterans class reunion at 6 p.m. on Group will meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, at the Friday, Nov. 21, at the South Manning Restaurant, 476 N. HOPE Center, 1125 S. LafayBrooks St., Manning. Call ette Drive. All area veterans Russell A. Miller at (803) 410are invited. 7311 or Sylvia Lindsey-Spann The Lincoln High School Preser- at (803) 225-0964. vation Alumni Association will The St. Jude Alumni Association hold a dinner fundraiser 11 & Friends 10th Annual Harvest a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, Ball will be held 7:30 p.m.at the Lincoln High School midnight on Saturday, Nov. gymnasium, Council Street. 29, at Serendipity Catering Cost is $7 per dinner and inand Café, 118 S. Main St. Adcludes baked chicken or fish, mission is $40 per person. red rice, green beans, roll Attire is semi-formal. Call and a drink. Dine in or take Claude Esperson at (917) out. Call James L. Green at 589-2737 for tickets. (803) 968-4173. The annual Evening Optimist A Relay for Life craft show fund- Christmas Parade will be held raiser will be held from 9 a.m. at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. on Main Street. The parade 22, at the Gamecock Shrine will feature marching bands, Club on U.S. 15 South. beauty queens, festive holiday floats and more. Hillcrest High School Class of

PUBLIC AGENDA TAX ACCOMMODATIONS ADVISORY BOARD Today, 3 p.m., Swan Lake Visitors Center SUMTER CITY COUNCIL Today, 5:30 p.m., Sumter Opera House, 21 N. Main St.

FIRST FLIGHT INC. Today, 6 p.m., 750 Electric Drive. Call 778-1669, Ext. 119. CLARENDON COUNTY PLANNING & PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION Today, 6 p.m., planning commission office, Manning

SUMTER COUNTY DISABILITIES & SPECIAL NEEDS BOARD INC. CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTS INC. INDEPENDENT LIVING INC. ABILITIES UNLIMITED INC. ADAPTIVE LIFESTYLES INC. MAGNOLIA MANOR INC.

CLARENDON SCHOOL DISTRICT 2 Today, 6:30 p.m., district office

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Avoid getting EUGENIA LAST into an argument. If you don’t have the answer or you can’t bring yourself to make a decision, remove yourself from the situation and re-evaluate the outcomes you are faced with.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t let others see your vulnerability. Keeping your beliefs and concerns a secret will allow you to find out what everyone else thinks before you commit to anything that entails working with others. An argument will result in an unexpected change.

The last word in astrology

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Do what you love the most. Make a point to get out with people you find interesting or who have something to offer you. Altering your outlook will encourage professional advancement. Learn something new or pick up helpful skills. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You’ve got the right idea, so figure out how to implement the information you have in an orderly but unique manner. Don’t let uncertainty in your personal life cost you. Take care of business, regardless of what’s going on around you. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Keep a cool head and a diplomatic approach. What you do at work will make a bigger impact on your future than how you deal with personal matters. Don’t let the complaints regarding your work hours slow down your progress. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Say what’s on your mind. You need a little excitement in your life. Follow a new path, learn, form alliances and expand your creative dream. Express your feelings, concerns and plans for the future. Love is on the rise. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take a chance and do things a little differently. Look at the facts and add your unique touch to stylize the way you intend to move ahead. Bring any concerns you have out in the open and disclose your plans.

DAILY PLANNER

WEATHER

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Make personal changes that will help you get ahead professionally. Put your reputation on the line and gather as much knowledge as you can to help support your ideas, plans and concerns. Love is highlighted, and romance will help improve your personal life. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Speak up, but don’t act out emotionally. You have to have your strategy in place and your information accurate. Knowing exactly what you want will help you avoid being coerced into an emotional battle. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You know what you want, but trying to get it will be difficult. Use reverse psychology to improve your chances of closing a deal or getting someone to agree with your plans. Romance is in the stars. Plan a celebration with someone special. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Go over important papers and any plans you have to contribute to something you feel is worthwhile. Sending out a positive message will help you reconnect with people you’ve worked with in the past.

AccuWeather® ﬁve-day forecast for Sumter TODAY

TONIGHT

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Partly sunny, breezy and colder

Cold

Cold with plenty of sunshine

Sun mixing with clouds; warmer

Some sunshine

Sunshine and patchy clouds

45°

22°

47° / 29°

57° / 33°

58° / 35°

60° / 45°

Chance of rain: 10%

Chance of rain: 5%

Chance of rain: 10%

WNW 10-20 mph

N 3-6 mph

S 4-8 mph

WSW 6-12 mph

W 4-8 mph

ENE 6-12 mph

TODAY’S SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER

Gaﬀney 38/16 Spartanburg 40/16

Greenville 41/20

Columbia 45/20

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Sumter 45/22

Aiken 42/17

ON THE COAST

Charleston 49/27

Today: Partly sunny, breezy and much colder. High 46 to 50. Wednesday: Cold with plenty of sunshine. High 48 to 52.

LOCAL ALMANAC

LAKE LEVELS

SUMTER THROUGH 4 P.M. YESTERDAY

Today Hi/Lo/W 37/23/s 19/15/c 51/34/s 25/14/sf 51/32/s 83/56/pc 49/33/s 32/23/pc 57/40/pc 33/22/pc 72/48/s 69/55/pc 36/24/pc

SUN AND MOON 7 a.m. yest. 355.71 74.46 74.37 96.99

24-hr chg -0.01 +0.02 +0.02 -0.19

Sunrise 6:57 a.m. Moonrise 3:04 a.m.

RIVER STAGES River Black River Congaree River Lynches River Saluda River Up. Santee River Wateree River

0.14" 0.74" 1.60" 32.15" 44.15" 42.29"

NATIONAL CITIES City Atlanta Chicago Dallas Detroit Houston Los Angeles New Orleans New York Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix San Francisco Wash., DC

Full pool 360 76.8 75.5 100

Lake Murray Marion Moultrie Wateree

73° 45° 66° 41° 85° in 1993 24° in 1995

Precipitation 24 hrs ending 4 p.m. yest. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date

Wed. Hi/Lo/W 47/32/s 30/15/sf 59/38/s 33/20/sn 65/49/pc 76/57/pc 59/45/s 34/31/s 66/45/pc 35/30/s 73/48/pc 66/54/sh 39/34/pc

Myrtle Beach 47/26

Manning 45/19

Today: Partly sunny, brisk and colder. Winds west 12-25 mph. Wednesday: Sunny and warmer. Winds southwest 4-8 mph.

Temperature High Low Normal high Normal low Record high Record low

Florence 44/22

Bishopville 43/19

Temperatures shown on map are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Sunset Moonset

5:17 p.m. 3:00 p.m.

New

First

Full

Last

Nov. 22

Nov. 29

Dec. 6

Dec. 14

TIDES

Flood 7 a.m. 24-hr stage yest. chg 12 2.26 +0.01 19 3.40 none 14 2.82 -0.07 14 2.95 -0.14 80 76.12 +0.35 24 4.81 -0.66

AT MYRTLE BEACH

Today Wed.

High 5:39 a.m. 5:44 p.m. 6:25 a.m. 6:30 p.m.

Ht. 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0

Low 12:26 p.m. --12:36 a.m. 1:14 p.m.

Ht. 0.7 --0.5 0.5

REGIONAL CITIES City Asheville Athens Augusta Beaufort Cape Hatteras Charleston Charlotte Clemson Columbia Darlington Elizabeth City Elizabethtown Fayetteville

Today Hi/Lo/W 31/14/pc 40/19/pc 44/16/pc 49/26/pc 43/28/pc 49/27/pc 40/17/pc 42/22/pc 45/20/pc 44/20/pc 43/23/pc 43/23/pc 43/21/pc

Wed. Hi/Lo/W 42/27/s 47/27/s 49/23/s 52/30/s 42/34/s 52/31/s 45/26/s 47/31/s 48/27/s 46/26/s 43/32/s 45/30/s 45/29/s

Today City Hi/Lo/W Florence 44/22/pc Gainesville 52/25/pc Gastonia 39/18/pc Goldsboro 41/21/pc Goose Creek 48/25/pc Greensboro 36/18/pc Greenville 41/20/pc Hickory 36/19/pc Hilton Head 49/30/pc Jacksonville, FL 51/25/pc La Grange 41/20/s Macon 43/16/s Marietta 35/19/pc

Wed. Hi/Lo/W 47/28/s 56/27/s 45/26/s 43/28/s 52/29/s 41/27/s 45/28/s 42/27/s 50/36/s 54/28/s 51/27/s 50/23/s 45/29/s

Today City Hi/Lo/W Marion 34/14/pc Mt. Pleasant 49/28/pc Myrtle Beach 47/26/pc Orangeburg 45/22/pc Port Royal 49/25/pc Raleigh 39/18/pc Rock Hill 40/17/pc Rockingham 41/16/pc Savannah 50/25/pc Spartanburg 40/16/pc Summerville 49/26/pc Wilmington 47/23/pc Winston-Salem 36/18/pc

Wed. Hi/Lo/W 44/25/s 52/31/s 48/33/s 49/28/s 52/30/s 43/27/s 45/25/s 45/23/s 54/29/s 46/29/s 51/32/s 48/30/s 42/27/s

Weather(W): s–sunny, pc–partly cloudy, c–cloudy, sh–showers, t–thunderstorms, r–rain, sf–snow ﬂurries, sn–snow, i–ice

your qualifying Trane 0% APR and Purchase system before Dec. 15, 2014 and take your choice of 0% APR for 48 with equal payments or up 48 MONTHS months to a $1000 trade-in allowance.

CLARENDON SCHOOL DISTRICT 3 Thursday, 7:30 p.m., district office, Turbeville

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Check out destinations that intrigue you or courses that can help you develop greater insight into an unusual interest. Don’t get sidetracked by someone using emotional tactics to get you to spend money or make a contribution.

THE SUMTER ITEM

Call today for complete details & schedule your FREE in-home consultation to learn how much you can save.

803-795-4257

LOTTERY NUMBERS PALMETTO CASH 5 MONDAY

POWERBALL SATURDAY

MEGAMILLIONS FRIDAY

7-16-29-33-37 PowerUp: 3

13-16-33-35-51 Powerball: 28 Powerplay: 2

3-49-61-62-68 Megaball: 15 Megaplier: 5

PICK 3 MONDAY

PICK 4 MONDAY

0-5-6 and 7-2-9

0-5-3-3 and 7-9-9-5

PICTURES FROM THE PUBLIC Jane and Ken Privette attended a conference in Washington, D.C., in September and took their grandchildren, Olivia and Austin Burdick, with them. Mrs. Privette comments on their visit to the Washington Monument on Sept. 11, “All the flags were at half mast around the Washington Monument and it was quite moving.” She shares a photo she took of her grandchildren.

HAVE YOU TAKEN PICTURES OF INTERESTING, EXCITING, BEAUTIFUL OR HISTORICAL PLACES? Would you like to share those images with your fellow Sumter Item readers? E-mail your hi-resolution jpegs to sandrah@theitem.com, or mail to Sandra Holbert c/o The Sumter Item, P.O. Box 1677, Sumter, SC 29150. Include clearly printed or typed name of photographer and photo details. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of your photo. Amateur photographers only please.

SECTION

Who’s next to lead the Gators football team?

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

Call: (803) 774-1241 | E-mail: sports@theitem.com

USC FOOTBALL

PREP FOOTBALL

Glad, sad but still a winner Spurrier has mixed emotions after 23-20 OT win against Florida BY DAVID CARAVIELLO Post and Courier COLUMBIA — For all the pride he felt over what his team had accomplished a day earlier, there was still a slight twinge of disappointment in Steve Spurrier’s voice. South Carolina’s improbable 23-20 overtime victory at Florida on Saturday had two immediate effects — it boosted the morale of a Gamecocks team which is now one win from bowl eligibility with two SPURRIER games left to play, and it led the Gators to announce Sunday afternoon that head coach Will Muschamp would be fired effective the end of the season. For the South Carolina coach, who considers Muschamp a good friend, it was sad news. “I hate to see it about coach Muschamp,” Spurrier said on his weekly teleconference. “Will is a good person, and I think he’s a very good coach. He’s sort of been unlucky, I think you would say, with some of the close losses he’s had over the years. We all

SEE SPURRIER, PAGE B3

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Laurence Manning linebacker Tripp Mason (44) and the Swampcats defense will try to avenge one of their two losses on the season on Saturday when they face Hammond for the SCISA 3A state title at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium in Columbia beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Building on history LMA football team after first title since 1997 BY DENNIS BRUNSON dennis@theitem.com

The last time Laurence Manning Academy played for the SCISA 3A football state title was in 1997. The Swampcats completed an undefeated 13-0 season with a 32-30 victory over PorterGaud and former National Football League fullback Ovie Mughelli in Manning. LMA will get a shot at winning another title on Saturday when it takes

on Hammond at 7:30 p.m. in Columbia at Benedict College’s Charlie W. Johnson Stadium. “It’s a goal that we’ve set our sights on accomplishing,” said Laurence Manning linebacker Tripp Mason, whose team beat Wilson Hall 44-7 on Friday to advance to the title game. “We knew it had been a while since (LMA) had played for the title. We can’t be satisfied with just making it there though.” The Swampcats will bring an 11-2 re-

cord into the contest against the Skyhawks, who are undefeated at 12-0. This will be the ninth consecutive title game appearance for Hammond, although it has come up on the short end each of the past two years, falling to Augusta Christian in 2012 and Wilson Hall last season. The Skyhawks had won the crown the six years prior to that. The regular-season meeting between

SEE CATS, PAGE B6

CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Stoudt might get challenge from Schuessler for start Watson injury not as serious as first thought

BY AARON BRENNER Post and Courier CLEMSON — Nobody could have guessed in August that Cole Stoudt would have to fend off Nick Schuessler to keep his post as Clemson’s starting quarterback. That’s the quandary in front of Stoudt and Schuessler, with just two THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SCHUESSLER weeks left in the Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt, left, might be challenged for the Tigers’ regular starting job third-string QB Nick Schuessler after throwing two interseason. With no more Orange ceptions that were returned for touchdowns in the Tigers’ 28-6 loss to Bowl or Atlantic Coast ConGeorgia Tech on Saturday. Clemson plays host to Georgia State on ference title hopes to chase, Saturday. it’s about pride, a double-digit

win campaign — and snapping a five-game losing streak to a certain opponent on the horizon. “Pretty much a train wreck (Saturday) in Atlanta, to say the least,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney lamented Sunday evening. However, a day after that train wreck, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Clemson (7-3, 6-2 ACC) will not lose its bright young star for the coming months. Freshman quarterback Deshaun Watson left the first quarter of Saturday’s 28-6 loss at Georgia Tech with a knee injury. However, an MRI on Sunday showed no significant

ligament damage. According to team doctors, Watson has a sprained lateral collateral ligament and bone bruise, proving two reports erroneous from recruiting web sites Saturday indicating Watson had torn his ACL — a diagnosis which cannot be confirmed without an MRI, taken after the swelling goes down in a player’s leg. Clemson also received positive news on senior left guard David Beasley, who also departed Saturday’s game with a knee injury. Beasley has patellar tendon inflammation. “We received some great

SEE TIGERS, PAGE B3

NASCAR

Harvick wins Homestead to claim 1st Sprint Cup championship BY JENNA FRYER The Associated Press HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There was no trick to Kevin Harvick’s first Sprint Cup championship. Competing for the title against three other drivers, he seized his opportunity with a relentless dash through the field in the closing laps of the season finale. It was exactly what NASCAR was looking for when it revamped its playoff format this year to try to force drivers to win races. Harvick picked off car after car, and passed two other title contenders on a series of restarts as he aggressively chased both the victory and the title Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

His desperate drive from 12th to first over the final 15 laps gave Harvick the championship over Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano. All four were determined to claim their first career title, and all four raced to win — because winning, it turned out, mattered in this Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. “If you want to win the championship, you’re going to have to figure out how to win races,” Harvick said. “In the end, that’s what it came down to, was winning the race to win the championship. It all worked out.” The four drivers all found themselves racing each other at the front of the field after

the sun went down on the 400mile race. It was Hamlin, the Charlotte Bobcats season-ticket holder who had Michael Jordan cheering from his pit, who seemed to have the race in control until a caution with 20 laps to go. All four teams were forced to make tough strategy decisions that ultimately decided their fate. Joe Gibbs Racing decided not to pit Hamlin, which moved him to second on the restart. Richard Childress Racing gave Ryan Newman two tires, while Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers made the risky call for four tires. Team Penske also had planned to give Joey Logano

SEE HARVICK, PAGE B4

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kevin Harvick holds up the trophy and celebrates after winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship on Sunday in Homestead, Fla. Harvick went from 12th to first over the final 15 laps to win the race.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

SCOREBOARD TV, RADIO TODAY

5 a.m. -- College Basketball: High Point at Hawaii (ESPN). 5 a.m. -- Professional Baseball: MLB All-Stars vs. Samurai Japan National Team Game Five from Tokyo (MLB NETWORK). 7 a.m. -- College Basketball: Iona at Wofford (ESPN). 9 a.m. -- College Basketball: Northern Iowa at Stephen F. Austin (ESPN). 11 a.m. -- College Basketball: Manhattan at Massachusetts (ESPN2). 11 a.m. -- Professional Golf: Asian Tour Chiangmai Golf Classic Third Round from Chiangmai, Thailand (GOLF). 11:55 a.m. -- International Soccer: Belarus vs. Mexico from Borisov, Belarus (ESPNEWS). Noon -- College Basketball: Baylor at South Carolina (ESPN, WDXY-FM 105.9, WNKT-FM 107.5, WDXY-AM 1240). 2 p.m. -- College Basketball: Memphis vs. Wichita State from Sioux Falls, S.D. (ESPN). 2:30 p.m. -- International Soccer: Ireland vs. United States from Dublin (ESPN2). 4 p.m. -- College Basketball: Utah at San Diego State (ESPN). 6 p.m. -- College Basketball: Legends Classic Regional-Round Game -- Toledo at Virginia Commonwealth (ESPNU). 6:05 p.m. – Talk Show: Sports Talk (WDXY-FM 105.9, WDXY-AM 1240). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: Champions Classic from Indianapolis -Michigan State vs. Duke (ESPN). 7 p.m. -- College Football: Playoff Selection Committee Top 25 (ESPN2). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: Long Beach State at Xavier (FOX SPORTS 1). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: Texas A&M (Corpus Christi) at Georgetown (FOX SPORTS 2). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: South Carolina State at Virginia (FOX SPORTSOUTH). 7 p.m. -- College Basketball: NIT Season Tip-Off Regional-Round Game -Stony Brook at Georgia (SEC NETWORK). 7:30 p.m. -- College Basketball: Marquette at Ohio State (ESPN2). 7:30 p.m. -- NHL Hockey: San Jose at Buffalo (NBC SPORTS NETWORK). 8 p.m. -- College Football: Northern Illinois at Ohio (ESPNU). 8:30 p.m. -- NHL Hockey: Carolina at Dallas (SPORTSOUTH). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: Champions Classic from Indianapolis -- Kansas vs. Kentucky (ESPN). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: Texas Tech at Louisiana State (ESPN2). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: Drake at DePaul (FOX SPORTS 1). 9 p.m. -- College Basketball: Chattanooga at Butler (FOX SPORTS 2). 9 p.m. -- Professional Baseball: MLB All-Stars vs. Samurai Japan National Team Game Five from Tokyo (MLB NETWORK). 9:30 p.m. -- College Basketball: Arkansas (Little Rock) at Brigham Young (BYUTV). 10 p.m. -- NFL Football: Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket Semifinalists Announcement (NFL NETWORK). 10 p.m. -- NBA Basketball: New Orleans at Sacramento (NBA TV). Midnight -- NHL Hockey: Nashville at Toronto (FOX SPORTSOUTH).

GOLF The Associated Press

OHL Classic at Mayakoba Par Scores Sunday At Mayakoba Resort (El Camaleon) Playa del Carmen, Mexico Purse: $6.1 million Yardage: 6,987; Par: 71 Final Charley Hoffman (500), $1,098,000 66-68-67-66—267 -17 Shawn Stefani (300), $658,800 66-65-68-69—268 -16 Andres Gonzales (163), $353,800 69-67-66-67—269 -15 Danny Lee (163), $353,800 66-69-67-67—269 -15 Jerry Kelly (110), $244,000 69-66-67-68—270 -14 Brice Garnett (100), $219,600 66-68-71-66—271 -13 Jason Bohn (88), $196,725 66-65-67-74—272 -12 Tony Finau (88), $196,725 65-72-70-65—272 -12 Blayne Barber (66), $141,171 66-68-72-67—273 -11

LORENA OCHOA INVITATIONAL PAR SCORES

Sunday Club de Golf Mexico Mexico City Purse: $1 million Yardage: 6,804; Par 72 Final a-denotes amateur Note: x-won on second hole of playoffs x-Christina Kim, $200,000 65-69-68-71–273 -15 Shanshan Feng, $103,449 72-67-68-66–273 -15 Inbee Park, $75,045 70-70-69-68–277 -11 Brittany Lincicome, $52,390 70-71-69-69–279 -9 So Yeon Ryu, $52,390 70-69-69-71–279 -9 Pornanong Phatlum, $38,231 69-68-71-72–280 -8 Jenny Shin, $30,018 71-71-71-68–281 -7 Azahara Munoz, $30,018 66-71-71-73–281 -7

NBA STANDINGS By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE

TODAY’S GAMES

L.A. Lakers at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. New York at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. Oklahoma City at Utah, 9 p.m. New Orleans at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

NFL STANDINGS By The Associated Press AMERICAN CONFERENCE EAST New England Miami Buffalo N.Y. Jets SOUTH Indianapolis Houston Tennessee Jacksonville NORTH Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh Cleveland WEST Denver Kansas City San Diego Oakland

SUNDAY’S GAMES

L 2 4 5 8

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .800 .600 .500 .200

PF 323 249 200 174

PA 218 180 204 265

W 6 5 2 1

L 4 5 7 9

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .600 .500 .222 .100

PF 310 229 144 158

PA 253 204 223 282

W 6 6 6 6

L 3 4 4 4

T 1 0 0 0

Pct .650 .600 .600 .600

PF 224 261 261 216

PA 221 181 239 195

WL T 7 3 0 7 3 0 6 4 0 0 10 0

Pct .700 .700 .600 .000

PF 293 241 218 152

PA 224 171 192 265

NATIONAL CONFERENCE EAST Philadelphia Dallas N.Y. Giants Washington SOUTH Atlanta New Orleans Carolina Tampa Bay NORTH Detroit Green Bay Chicago Minnesota WEST Arizona San Francisco Seattle St. Louis

W 7 7 3 3

L 3 3 7 7

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .700 .700 .300 .300

PF 299 261 205 204

PA 251 212 263 256

W 4 4 3 2

L 6 6 7 8

T 0 0 1 0

Pct .400 .400 .318 .200

PF 238 261 215 194

PA 255 252 300 279

W 7 7 4 4

L 3 3 6 6

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .700 .700 .400 .400

PF 188 330 215 181

PA 156 225 290 220

W 9 6 6 4

L 1 4 4 6

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .900 .600 .600 .400

PF 237 211 260 185

PA 176 212 215 258

THURSDAY’S GAME

Miami 22, Buffalo 9

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Chicago 21, Minnesota 13 Kansas City 24, Seattle 20 Cincinnati 27, New Orleans 10 St. Louis 22, Denver 7 Houston 23, Cleveland 7 Atlanta 19, Carolina 17 Tampa Bay 27, Washington 7 San Francisco 16, N.Y. Giants 10 San Diego 13, Oakland 6 Arizona 14, Detroit 6 Green Bay 53, Philadelphia 20 New England 42, Indianapolis 20 Open: Baltimore, Dallas, Jacksonville, N.Y. Jets

NHL STANDINGS By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L OT Montreal 19 14 4 1 Tampa Bay 18 12 4 2 Boston 19 11 8 0 Detroit 17 8 4 5 Ottawa 17 8 5 4 Toronto 18 9 7 2 Florida 15 6 4 5 Buffalo 19 4 13 2 METROPOLITAN DIVISION GP W L OT Pittsburgh 16 12 3 1 N.Y. Islanders 17 11 6 0 N.Y. Rangers 17 7 6 4 New Jersey 18 8 8 2 Washington 17 7 7 3 Philadelphia 16 7 7 2 Columbus 17 6 10 1 Carolina 17 5 9 3

Pts 29 26 22 21 20 20 17 10

GF 55 66 51 45 47 56 33 30

GA 47 48 49 42 45 51 37 68

Pts 25 22 18 18 17 16 13 13

GF 60 54 49 46 50 51 44 37

GA 35 50 53 53 49 53 59 51

Pts 25 24 21 21 20 17 16

GF 49 43 51 37 50 47 49

GA 33 35 36 42 39 61 61

WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL DIVISION St. Louis Nashville Chicago Winnipeg Minnesota Colorado Dallas PACIFIC DIVISION

GP 17 17 18 19 17 19 18

WL 12 4 11 4 10 7 9 7 10 7 6 8 6 8

OT 1 2 1 3 0 5 4

L 2 5 5 8 9

Pct .800 .444 .375 .273 .000

GB – 31/2 4 51/2 71/2

L 2 4 5 6 7

Pct GB .778 – .556 2 .500 21/2 .400 31/2 .364 4

L 3 3 5 7 7

Pct GB .700 – .625 1 .500 2 .364 31/2 .300 4

GP W L OT Pts GF GA Anaheim 19 11 4 4 26 51 46 Vancouver 18 12 6 0 24 53 52 Calgary 19 11 6 2 24 59 50 Los Angeles 18 9 5 4 22 45 40 San Jose 20 10 8 2 22 56 53 Arizona 18 8 9 1 17 47 57 Edmonton 18 6 10 2 14 44 60 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

Pct GB .900 – .900 – .700 2 .625 3 .556 31/2

L 3 7 8 7 7

Pct .700 .364 .273 .222 .222

L 2 3 4 5 9

Pct GB .800 – .625 2 .600 2 .500 3 .100 7

GB – 31/2 41/2 41/2 41/2

New York 109, Denver 93 Milwaukee 91, Miami 84 Houston 69, Oklahoma City 65 Golden State 136, L.A. Lakers 115

Eagles, Hurricanes earn upset victories CLEMSON – Winthrop University defeated Clemson 77-74 on Monday at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Eagles, who improved to 2-0 on the season, trailed 36-34 at halftime. Keon Johnson led Winthrop with 19 points, while Keon Moore 18, Andre Smith 16 and Derrick Henry 10. Landry Nnoko had 19 points and MOORE nine rebounds to lead the 1-1 Tigers. Donte Grantham added 13, Jaron Blossomgame had 12 and Rod Hall 11. MIAMI 69 (8) FLORIDA 67

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Angel Rodriguez scored 24 points, none bigger than those that came on a fallingdown, hand-in-the-face 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining, and Miami overcame a 15-point deficit to upset No. 8 Florida 69-67 on Monday night. The Hurricanes (2-0) scored 48 points in the second half as Rodriguez took over. The former Kansas State guard hit three consecutive 3-pointers that helped Miami take the lead with 1:45 left. His free throw tied it with 1:13 remaining. But his fifth 3 of the game was the shot that ended Florida’s

school-record, 33-game winning streak at home. (7) LOUISVILLE 88

includes current Hornets owner Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant.

JACKSONVILLE STATE 39

NUGGETS 106

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Montrezl Harrell scored 15 points as No. 7 Louisville easily beat Jacksonville State 88-39 on Monday night.

CAVALIERS 97

(12) VILLANOVA 81 MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE 44

PHILADELPHIA — Kris Jenkins had 15 points to lead No. 12 Villanova to an 81-44 rout over MarylandEastern Shore on Monday night. (24) MICHIGAN 77 BUCKNELL 53

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Zak Irvin scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half, and No. 24 Michigan rolled to a 77-53 victory over Bucknell on Monday night. NBA MAVERICKS 107 HORNETS 80 CHARLOTTE — Monta Ellis scored 18 points, Chandler Parsons had 17 and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 107-80 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory. Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 points to become the fourth player in NBA history to eclipse 27,000 career points with the same franchise, joining a prestigious group that

CLEVELAND — Ty Lawson scored 24 points, Arron Afflalo added 23 and the Denver Nuggets ended Cleveland’s four-game winning streak with a 106-97 victory Monday night. Denver took the lead for good early in the third quarter and was up by as many as 14 points midway through the fourth. LeBron James, who missed the morning shootaround because of a cold, led Cleveland with 22 points. GRIZZLIES 119 ROCKETS 93

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Conley scored 19 points and the Memphis Grizzlies easily defeated the Houston Rockets 119-93 on Monday night in a matchup of the teams with the NBA’s best records. Whatever showdown was expected from the two 9-1 teams and among the best defensive squads in the league never materialized as Memphis took a 16-point lead in the first quarter and extended it in each of the remaining periods, until it reached 36 points in the fourth frame. From wire reports

SPORTS ITEMS

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves dealt outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday for pitcher Shelby Miller and a minor-leaguer. The deal ends Heyward’s tenure with his hometown team and lands a young pitcher to bolster Atlanta’s rotation. John Hart, the Braves’ new general manager, signaled the start of a major overhaul after the team slumped to its first losing season since 2008. He dealt a player who was due HEYWARD to make $7.8 million next season and then become eligible for free agency. Miller went 10-9 with a 3.74 for the Cardinals, after going 15-9 with a 3.06 ERA as a rookie in 2013. He is not eligible for arbitration until after next MILLER season, so the deal represents a significant payroll savings for the Braves. The Braves also acquired right-hander Tyrell Jenkins, who pitched for Class A Palm Beach this past season.

with the team on a $325 million, 13-year contract. Team owner Jeffrey Loria has confirmed the deal, the most lucrative for an American athlete. The deal includes a no-trade clause, and Stanton can opt out after six years. A news conference was planned Wednesday. HOFFMAN RALLIES TO WIN IN MEXICO

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Charley Hoffman began to wonder if he would ever win another PGA Tour event. Even after he rallied to win the OHL Classic at Mayakoba on Sunday, he was reminded of how long it had been when his wife and two young daughters joined in the celebration. That would be his oldest daughter, who just turned 4. Hoffman rallied from a three-shot deficit on the El Camaleon course, taking advantage of Danny Lee’s mistakes on the back nine and Shawn Stefani failing to put any pressure on him at the very end. Hoffman closed with a 5-under 66 after taking two putts for a bogey on the 18th. It was his third career victory. He had gone 105 starts between his first and second win, and this time went 108 starts until winning the final PGA Tour event of the calendar year.

SUMTER MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFERENCE BASKETBALL JAMBOREE HELD TODAY

SUNDAY’S GAMES

San Jose 2, Carolina 0 Minnesota 4, Winnipeg 3, OT Montreal 4, Detroit 1 Chicago 6, Dallas 2 Florida 6, Anaheim 2 Arizona 2, Edmonton 1 Tampa Bay at N.Y. Rangers, late

TODAY’S GAMES

St. Louis at Boston, 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m. Detroit at Columbus, 7 p.m. San Jose at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. Nashville at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Pittsburgh at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. New Jersey at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Carolina at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

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BASKETBALL ROUNDUP

Heyward to Cards; Braves get Miller in trade

MONDAY’S GAME

Pittsburgh at Tennessee, late

WESTERN CONFERENCE SOUTHWEST DIVISION W Houston 9 Memphis 9 Dallas 7 New Orleans 5 San Antonio 5 NORTHWEST DIVISION W Portland 7 Utah 4 Oklahoma City 3 Denver 2 Minnesota 2 PACIFIC DIVISION W Golden State 8 L.A. Clippers 5 Sacramento 6 Phoenix 5 L.A. Lakers 1

W 8 6 5 2

MONDAY’S GAMES

ATLANTIC DIVISION W Toronto 8 Brooklyn 4 Boston 3 New York 3 Philadelphia 0 SOUTHEAST DIVISION W Washington 7 Atlanta 5 Miami 5 Charlotte 4 Orlando 4 CENTRAL DIVISION W Chicago 7 Cleveland 5 Milwaukee 5 Indiana 4 Detroit 3

MONDAY’S GAMES

Dallas at Charlotte, 7 p.m. Denver at Cleveland, 7 p.m. Orlando at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix at Boston, 7:30 p.m. Miami at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. Houston at Memphis, 8 p.m. Philadelphia at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. New Orleans at Portland, 10 p.m. Chicago at L.A. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

THE SUMTER ITEM

The boys portion of the Sumter Middle School Conference basketball jamboree will be held today at Bates Middle School beginning at 5 p.m. The jamboree will feature teams from Alice Drive, Bates, Chestnut Oaks, Ebenezer, Furman, Hillcrest and Mayewood. Admission is $3 per person.

MEXICO CITY — Christina Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title in nine years, beating Shanshan Feng in a playoff after losing a five-stroke lead. Kim won with a tap-in par on the par-4 18th on the second extra hole at Club de Golf Mexico.

STANTON, FISH AGREES TO RECORD $325M DEAL

MIAMI — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton has agreed to terms

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THE SUMTER ITEM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

UF wants coach with offensive track record BY MARK LONG The Associated Press GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s next football coach will have a “track record of success on the offensive side of the ball.” Athletic director Jeremy Foley said Monday that Florida fans want that and “we’re certainly going to try to provide for them.” Foley didn’t rule out a defensive coach, but made it pretty MUSCHAMP clear the Gators don’t plan on hiring another defensive coordinator without head-coaching experience. Florida failed miserably with former defensive coordinators Ron Zook (2002-04) and Will Muschamp (2011-14). Foley fired coach Muschamp on Sunday, a day after a 23-20 loss to South Carolina that was Florida’s third straight at home and knocked the Gators out of contention in the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division. “We would obviously like an individual that’s been successful on the offensive side of the ball,” Foley said. “I think obviously that’s what the Gator Nation wants, and we see that, and that’s what we’re certainly going to try to provide for them.” Muschamp will coach the final two regular-season games, against Eastern Kentucky and Florida State, but won’t stick

TIGERS FROM PAGE B1 news tonight,” Swinney said in a statement late Sunday evening. “Both players are not seriously injured, something we feared on Saturday. They are listed day-to-day and their status will be evaluated later this week.” However, while Watson recovers, Clemson must make do. Schuessler, who had to pay his way for a short time after transferring from Mississippi State before being placed on scholarship last year, will undoubtedly get more reps in practice this week leading up to Clemson’s Senior Day vs. Georgia State (1-9) at Memorial Stadium. “Not gonna name a starter today. Probably won’t name one tomorrow, probably won’t name one Tuesday. We’ll see,” Swinney said Sunday. But the way Swinney sounded a little later in the call, it’s still Stoudt’s gig to lose. “I think Cole brings everything we need to the offense to win. My heart hurts for him,” Swinney said. “He’s a better player than what he showed (Saturday), and he knows that. It’s our job to have him ready to go. “As far as Nick, he doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he does know the system and he has really improved that last few weeks because he’s gotten a lot of reps.” Schuessler has completed 7 of 8 passes in his career, for just 36 yards and no touchdowns, which, for contrast, is 25 fewer yards and one less score than former Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins threw in college. “Absolutely, I compete every day and try to make the most of each rep I get,” Schuessler said. “If (a change) is what the coaches are looking for, I’ll be ready.” Stoudt has been ineffective for the most part, firing just five touchdowns against eight interceptions. “Just got to keep going and stay with the team,” Stoudt said Saturday. “I’ve got a great group of guys who are staying with me, making sure I have the level head, and I do.” His inconsistent and injuryriddled performance the past month had been good enough

around for a potential bowl game. The Gators (5-4, 4-4) need to win one of the two to become bowl eligible. “Our guys will respond the right way and handle it with class, like they always have in all situations,” said Muschamp, who seemed to handle the decision as professionally as possible. “It’s important for us to get these seniors a win here in the Swamp.” Foley, Muschamp and outgoing school president Bernie Machen spoke at the news conference. Foley choked back tears while talking about how difficult a decision it was to fire Muschamp, who cleaned up a program rampant with arrests and did everything right off the field. But Muschamp couldn’t get the results on the field, and Foley said he likely would have needed to win out to save his job following last month’s 42-13 debacle to Missouri on homecoming. Muschamp is 27-20 in threeplus seasons, including 17-15 in SEC play. His main issues were on the offensive side of the ball, where he had three coordinators, three line coaches, four receivers coaches and five quarterbacks in four seasons. All of them failed to impress a following that had grown accustomed to seeing passing, points and prosperity under Steve Spurrier and Meyer. The Gators finished 105th, 103rd and 113th in total offense during Muschamp’s first three

seasons. They rank 88th this year through nine games. “They got a deep and talented roster, so don’t let that new guy tell you he ain’t got no good players,” Muschamp said. “Tell you that right now. They got some good football players in that locker room. I feel like we’ve headed the right direction at quarterback, as far as the depth and quality of the guys you got in the room, both lines of scrimmage, talented secondary as I’ve been around as far as those guys coming back, linebackers. You got some good players. “Special place, special people and I don’t leave with any hard feelings or regrets at all.” Foley has some critical criteria for Muschamp’s replacement. “First and foremost is high integrity and character,” Foley said. “Our mission statement says ‘championship experience with integrity.’ That is paramount us as we move forward. ... What does that mean? This is not a place for everybody. Not everybody fits in here. As we go through the process, we want to make sure they do fit in here.” Don’t expect Florida to hire anyone with unwanted baggage, so Louisville’s Bobby Petrino, Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen and former Oregon coach Chip Kelly (now with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles) are probably out. Foley hopes to have a new coach in place before Christmas.

AMWAY TOP 25 POLL

way to sugarcoat that,” Swinney said. “We’ve got to get his confidence back. That’s the bottom line. The guy’s led us, he’s won for us, and he can win again. It’s amazing what a week can do if you play the right way. We know we’re good enough to win with him.” Schuessler completed all four passes he threw after Stoudt was benched, for 19 yards, while taking two sacks. On the year, Watson has completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,203 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions, in addition to three rushing scores. But he’s sustained three injuries in 2014: a broken collarbone knocking him out for Clemson’s spring game, a broken hand sidelining him for three games this fall, and now however long this knee injury him out. “Kind of new territory around here. We haven’t had quarterbacks get hurt around here,” Swinney said. “Kyle Parker played every game when I got the job, and Tajh Boyd never missed a game in three years. It’s been a little frustrating.”

The Amway Top 25 football coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 15, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, and previous ranking: Record Pts Pvs 1. Florida State (39) 10-0 1518 2 2. Alabama (17) 9-1 1494 3 3. Oregon (6) 9-1 1434 4 4. Mississippi State 9-1 1296 1 5. TCU 9-1 1279 5 6. Baylor 8-1 1272 6 7. Ohio State 9-1 1228 7 8. Mississippi 8-2 1041 10 9. Michigan State 8-2 1030 12 10. Georgia 8-2 981 14 11. Kansas State 7-2 880 13 12. UCLA 8-2 862 15 13. Arizona 8-2 726 18 14. Arizona State 8-2 721 8 15. Wisconsin 8-2 715 22 16. Georgia Tech 9-2 511 23 17. Auburn 7-3 508 9 18. Marshall 10-0 427 21 19. Nebraska 8-2 409 11 20. Missouri 8-2 406 NR 21. Utah 7-3 286 NR 22. Oklahoma 7-3 265 24 23. Colorado State 9-1 259 25 24. Southern Cal 7-3 132 NR 25. Duke 8-2 130 19 Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 118; Clemson 69; LSU 43; Boise State 32; Minnesota 29; Louisville 19; Iowa 7; Miami (Fla.) 6; Texas 5; Cincinnati 3; Texas A&M 3; Northern Illinois 2; Stanford 2; Arkansas 1; West Virginia 1.

while Clemson’s defense carried the day, but Stoudt threw three interceptions — two returned for touchdowns — to snap the Tigers’ six-game winning streak. “Obviously, Cole Stoudt played really poor. There’s no

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Florida quarterback Treon Harris (3) gets rid of a pass as South Carolina linebacker Skai Moore (10) applies pressure during the Gamecocks’ 23-20 overtime victory on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.

SPURRIER FROM PAGE B1 complain about close losses, but he’s had his share of them. And unfortunately, we as coaches, we’re all based on whatever your record is, and Florida decided they wanted to make a change. But he’s an excellent coach.” It was the comeback by Spurrier’s team which ultimately led Florida to act. The Gamecocks blocked first a field goal, and then a punt to set the stage for Mike Davis’ game-tying touchdown with 12 seconds remaining, and then snapped a four-game SEC skid when quarterback Dylan Thompson hoofed it into the end zone on USC’s first possession of overtime. It was only South Carolina’s second win in the Swamp, and Florida’s third consecutive home loss, which for the Gators, was evidently too much. For South Carolina, though, the outcome was a vindication of sorts for a defense which entered the game ranked last in the SEC, and a needed confidence boost for a team which somehow kept picking itself off the mat after blowing two-score fourthquarter leads against first Missouri, and then Kentucky, and then two weeks ago against Tennessee. “We were a little bit in the dumps after the last one

here to weeks ago,” Spurrier said. “But our players, I’m really proud of how they got over it. Nobody pointed fingers, who did this, that or the other. We played well as a team (Saturday). Offense struggled a whole bunch from about the second quarter until the end of the game, but special teams contributed, and the defense really played well against the run and pretty well against the pass.” USC (5-5, 3-5 SEC) now returns home for a Saturday noon game against Sun Belt member South Alabama.

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AP TOP 25 POLL The Associated Press The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 15, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Record Pts Pv 1. Florida St. (43)10-0 1,476 2 2. Alabama (16) 9-1 1,439 4 3. Oregon (1) 9-1 1,385 3 4. Mississippi St. 9-1 1,289 1 5. TCU 9-1 1,237 5 6. Baylor 8-1 1,232 6 7. Ohio St. 9-1 1,167 8 8. Mississippi 8-2 1,064 10 9. Georgia 8-2 948 16 10. Michigan St. 8-2 941 12 11. UCLA 8-2 876 14 12. Kansas St. 7-2 868 13 13. Arizona St. 8-2 720 7 14. Wisconsin 8-2 707 22 15. Arizona 8-2 695 17 16. Auburn 7-3 531 9 17. Georgia Tech 9-2 523 24 18. Marshall 10-0 383 21 19. Missouri 8-2 376 NR 20. Utah 7-3 349 25 21. Nebraska 8-2 291 11 22. Colorado St. 9-1 281 23 23. Oklahoma 7-3 206 NR 24. Southern Cal 7-3 195 NR 25. Duke 8-2 85 19 Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 74, Clemson 52, Boise St. 29, Louisville 29, LSU 26, Minnesota 10, West Virginia 8, Miami 3, Texas A&M 3, Arkansas 2.

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SPORTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

PRO FOOTBALL

Falcons win kicking game, beat Panthers BY STEVE REED The Associated Press CHARLOTTE— Matt Bryant said he borrows a page from the movie Happy Gilmore before each field-goal attempt. “I just try to go to my happy place,” Bryant said with a laugh. Bryant had four field goals, including the go-ahead score with the 2:08 left in regulation to help the Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers 19-17 on Sunday and move into a firstplace tie with New Orleans in the NFC South. BRYANT “If you’re not able to block that out, you’re already behind the eight-ball,” Bryant said. “I try to treat every kick the same, so that when I go out there to try and kick the game-winner, it feels just like that kick in the first quarter.” The Falcons (4-6) clearly won the kicking game as Carolina’s Graham Gano missed

HARVICK FROM PAGE B1 four tires, but a problem with the jack destroyed Logano’s chances and he plummeted from sixth to 21st, ending his championship bid. Harvick restarted 12th with 15 laps to go and not much time to pick his way through traffic. As Hamlin passed leader Jeff Gordon on the restart, Harvick shot past four cars to move to seventh. “The seas kind of parted down the backstretch and we were able to get three or four cars or six, I guess, or five. You’ve got a very short time to do it,” he said. “You had all the championship guys show up at the front of the pack. I was just going to hold the pedal down and hope for the best.” Then came another caution, and Hamlin, on old tires, knew he was in trouble. Harvick, on the four fresh tires, rocketed through the middle on the restart, dicing his way through traffic to pick up another four spots and move into second. “I loved our chances, but they weren’t there at the end,” Hamlin said. “Strategy is part of winning, and the strategy for us didn’t work out with the cautions.” Harvick got by Hamlin, then Newman passed Hamlin for second and the championship became a battle of drivers who had essentially swapped seats this year. There was one more caution, forcing Harvick to nail one final restart with three laps remaining, and he eased his way ahead of Newman on his way to the win. The victory capped a magical first season at StewartHaas Racing, where Harvick moved this year after 13 seasons with Richard Childress that failed to produce a championship. Harvick, who had to win last week at Phoenix just to advance into Sunday’s final four, wrapped up his third victory of this Chase and fifth of the season. He leaned this week on team co-owner Tony Stewart, a three-time champion, and Jimmie Johnson, the six-time champion who moved from California to North Carolina to chase a career in NASCAR about the same time as Harvick made the move east. “Been trying for 13 years,” an emotional Harvick said. “This week ate me up. If it wasn’t for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, I would have been in bad trouble this week. Those guys really helped me get through the week. After every practice, Jimmie was in there, and in our team debriefs Tony was constantly telling me just to go race and that it’s just another race.” Stewart shared an emotional hug with Harvick, and then beamed during the cele-

a 46-yard field goal with 1:27 remaining and then had a desperation 63-yarder blocked as time expired. “Since he’s been an Atlanta Falcon I can’t tell you how many game-winning field goals he’s kicked for us, but he’s been a big part of our success,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We get the ball to a certain point on the field depending on the weather or how he kicked in warm-ups and he’s going to put it between the pipes.” Gano tried to stay positive after the two misses which cost his team sole possession of first place in the division. He had missed only two field goals coming into the game. “I just have to put it through the uprights,” Gano said. “Given another opportunity, I’m confident I would’ve hit that kick again. It’s tough. It hurts for sure. I know the fans are disappointed, the team’s disappointed, but I don’t think there’s anybody more disappointed than I am right now.” Things we learned from the

Falcons’ 19-17 win over the Panthers: CONSERVATIVE DEBATE

Panthers fans will likely spend Monday questioning the conservative nature of offensive coordinator Mike Shula’s play-calling late in the game. After the Panthers reached the Falcons 32-yard line late in the fourth quarter with two completions by Cam Newton, Shula suddenly got conservative. The Panthers ran the ball three straight times and failed to pick up a first down. Carolina settled for a 46-yard field-goal attempt with 1:27 left, which Gano hooked left. “We forced them to use timeouts,” coach Ron Rivera explained. “We ran what we felt were good runs. If we get the first down, great, we are closer. If not, they use all three timeouts. We make the field goal. We kickoff and now they don’t have any timeouts.” WHITE REACHES MARK

Roddy White went over 10,000 yards for his NFL ca-

FORD ECOBOOST 400 RESULTS The Associated Press Sunday At Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Fla. Lap length: 1.5 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (5) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267 laps, 132.7 rating, 43 points, $346,498. 2. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, 108.2, 42, $244,450. 3. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 104.5, 41, $231,758. 4. (16) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, 87.1, 40, $172,664. 5. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, 84.9, 39, $165,239. 6. (3) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, 101.5, 38, $160,151. 7. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 118.7, 37, $108,315. 8. (6) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 267, 97.2, 36, $127,481. 9. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 105.7, 35, $135,001. 10. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, 138.2, 36, $143,626. 11. (2) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, 85.8, 34, $82,340. 12. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, 91.7, 32, $96,640. 13. (27) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 267, 88.5, 31, $109,085. 14. (11) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 100.4, 30, $88,890. 15. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 267, 74, 29, $108,523. 16. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 105.1, 28, $116,356. 17. (10) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 79.4, 27, $107,873. 18. (32) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 267, 67.7, 26, $87,665. 19. (18) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, 66.6, 25, $116,276. 20. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 267, 55.3, 24, $104,373.

bration. “That’s about as emotional as you can get, to have one of your greatest friends go out in one of your race cars and win a championship in the toughest series in the country,” Stewart said. Newman, winless on the season, finished second. Hamlin faded to seventh and Logano was a distant 16th. Harvick’s wife, DeLana, sobbed on the pit stand and buried her head in her hands when Harvick crossed the finish line. She hugged Childers, who dabbed his eyes, before she made it

21. (38) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267, 48.4, 23, $75,290. 22. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 267, 58.6, 22, $114,265. 23. (13) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 267, 77.7, 21, $110,215. 24. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 267, 48.7, 20, $91,998. 25. (24) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 67.5, 19, $123,751. 26. (42) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 267, 44.5, 18, $77,290. 27. (17) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, 58.7, 17, $103,335. 28. (30) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 267, 53.3, 0, $85,448. 29. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 267, 47.4, 0, $76,590. 30. (31) David Ragan, Ford, 267, 41.2, 14, $94,912. 31. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 267, 37, 13, $81,165. 32. (37) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 267, 35.7, 12, $72,940. 33. (41) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 264, 40.5, 11, $72,740. 34. (15) Carl Edwards, Ford, 263, 62.8, 10, $91,540. 35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 263, 30.7, 9, $72,340. 36. (43) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 262, 28.9, 8, $80,115. 37. (34) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, accident, 254, 30, 0, $71,888. 38. (40) Blake Koch, Ford, accident, 254, 27.9, 0, $66,730. 39. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 246, 73.7, 5, $110,571. 40. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 235, 60.6, 4, $58,730. 41. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 220, 52.5, 3, $99,305. 42. (26) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 204, 46.6, 0, $50,730. 43. (28) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, accident, 182, 46, 1, $81,388.

SPRINT CUP FINAL POINT STANDINGS Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 5,043; 2. R.Newman, 5,042; 3. D.Hamlin, 5,037; 4. J.Logano, 5,028; 5. B.Keselowski, 2,361; 6. J.Gordon, 2,348; 7. M.Kenseth, 2,334; 8. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,301; 9. C.Edwards, 2,288; 10. Ky.Busch, 2,285; 11. J.Johnson, 2,274; 12. Ku.Busch, 2,263; 13. A. Allmendinger, 2,260; 14. G.Biffle, 2,247; 15. K.Kahne, 2,234; 16. A. Almirola, 2,195.

reer on Sunday, finishing with eight catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. “Certainly he’s shown great longevity throughout his career and has made a huge impact on my own career, so couldn’t be happier for him. Now he’s got to go get to 11,000,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. DOUGLAS STEPS UP

Harry Douglas stepped up late in the game as the Falcons drove for a go-ahead field goal. He had three catches for 29 yards helping set up Bryant’s 44-yard field goal. The Falcons are hoping Douglas and Devin Hester can begin to take some of the pressure off Julio Jones and White as the season progresses. “There’s never any pressure in those situations, Douglas said. DAVIS CAN STILL PLAY

Not that there was any doubt, but Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis proved again that he has tremendous heart. Davis, who continues to play at a high level after overcoming three torn ACLs to the

same knee, had a team-high 12 tackles and forced a key fumble on Hester in the second half that helped turn the game around when the Falcons were up 16-3 and driving for more points. RUNNING GAME WOES

Down 16-3, the Panthers seemed to get a lift from running back Fozzy Whittaker, scoring on the first two possessions after he entered the game. Whitaker only ran three times for 11 yards, and Rivera was non-committal when asked if Whittaker will see more playing time moving forward. “With Fozzy, DeAngelo (Williams) and Jonathan Stewart we have a nice trifecta of running backs,” Rivera said. “... It’s a good combination of guys. They all bring something different to the table.” TOLBERT RETURNING

The Panthers will get Pro Bowl fullback Mike Tolbert back after the bye week. He has missed eight games on the injured reserve/designated to return list.

DEA agents raid medical staffs after NFL games BY JIM LITKE The Associated Press Federal drug enforcement agents showed up unannounced Sunday to check at least three visiting NFL teams’ medical staffs as part of an investigation into former players’ claims that teams mishandled prescription drugs. There were no arrests, Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne said Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers’ staff was checked at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, after they played the New York Giants. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ staff was checked at Baltimore-Washington International airport after playing the Redskins. The Seattle Seahawks, who played at Kansas City, confirmed via the team’s Twitter account that they were spot-checked as well. The operation was still ongoing, and other teams

may be checked later Sunday, Payne said. “DEA agents are currently interviewing NFL team doctors in several locations as part of an ongoing investigation into potential violations of the (Controlled Substances Act),” Payne said. The spot checks were done by investigators from the federal DEA. They did not target specific teams, but were done to measure whether visiting NFL clubs were generally in compliance with federal law. Agents requested documentation from visiting teams’ medical staffs for any controlled substances in their possession, and for proof that doctors could practice medicine in the home team’s state. “Our teams cooperated with the DEA today and we have no information to indicate that irregularities were found,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email.

down to the victory celebration. She met Stewart, who had retired from the race earlier with a car problem and was in street clothes, for an embrace and kiss before holding her son for the victory celebration.

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COMICS

THE SUMTER ITEM

BIZARRO

SOUP TO NUTZ

ANDY CAPP

GARFIELD

BEETLE BAILEY

BORN LOSER

BLONDIE

ZITS

MOTHER GOOSE

DOG EAT DOUG

DILBERT

JEFF MACNELLY’S SHOE

Widow with younger lover is uneasy about future DEAR ABBY — I am a widow who has fallen in love with a wonderful man who is almost 30 years my junior. He Dear Abby proclaims his love for me ABIGAIL every day, VAN BUREN and I know it’s real. I have been warned by others to be aware of “devious males on the make for comfortably situated widows.” After discussing it with the man, I have determined this is not his motive. Right now, we’re good friends who love each other’s company. If marriage is in the future for us, I’m afraid of the age factor. He is not. Could you comment and give me some

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

guidance? Cautious in Kansas DEAR CAUTIOUS — Everyone knows there are devious males — and females — out there, but not all men are predators. If your friend is financially independent, then it’s unlikely he’s looking for a sugar mama. While it is unusual, I know several couples in which the wife is considerably older than the husband, and they seem very happy together. If and when you plan to marry, it makes sense to discuss this with your attorney and have a prenuptial agreement created. If your friend has no ulterior motives, he will understand it’s for the protection of both of you and sign it. You have only one life to live — so live it without worrying about what others may think.

THE DAILY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

DEAR ABBY — Have you ever — out of the blue — thought of someone you hadn’t seen, heard from or thought of in a long time, and later discovered they died around that time? This has happened to me more times than I can count. No one I have spoken with — friends or family — has experienced this. Have you ever heard of this phenomenon, and is there a name for it? Miss J. in Oklahoma DEAR MISS J. — I have never had that experience, but I have heard of the phenomenon. It’s called either ESP or coincidence, depending upon which psychic plane you dwell. However, I HAVE had friends “pop into my head” and thought I should give them a call, only to hear from them a few days later.

JUMBLE

SUDOKU

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

HOW TO PLAY: Each row, column and set of 3-by-3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 through 9 without repetition.

ACROSS 1 Italian scooter 6 Weird 11 “This is so frustrating!” 14 Sharon of Israel 15 Old-timey “Yikes!” 16 Coventry bathroom 17 Like a fajita pan 19 Perrier, to Pierre 20 Casual Friday top 21 FAO Schwarz specialty 22 Turn away 24 __ vivant 25 Tiny bit 27 Daisy-plucking words 33 Farm or home ending 34 Troubles 35 “Now __ me down to sleep ...” 37 James of “The Godfather” 38 Count Chocula wear 39 Turn on a pivot 40 Start of many Internet addresses 41 Actor Thicke 42 “I can take __!” 43 To the point 46 Bonny girl

47 Owned 48 Hangout for some 38Down 51 Word spoken while pointing 53 Short change? 56 Month after avril 57 Not a likely chance, and, literally, a hidden feature of 17-, 27- and 43-Across 61 Pre-holiday time 62 Part of USNA 63 “Keen!” 64 Twin of Bert Bobbsey 65 Picket fence parts 66 Barbershop band? DOWN 1 Like outer space 2 Weird-sounding lake 3 Clothing label number 4 Candy in a collectible dispenser 5 With everything accounted for 6 Choosing word 7 Omelet base 8 Cheering syllable

9 Binding words 10 Real __ 11 Delight 12 Crowd cacophony 13 Defeat decisively 18 Prefix with sphere 23 Disappeared 24 Skinny sort 25 Hawaii component 26 Siberian city 27 Box score numbers 28 Moor 29 Luxurious homes 30 Online finance company 31 Stan’s partner 32 Gibe 33 UCLA or USC 36 To this point 38 Some strays 42 Rouses from

bed 44 Synthetic fibers 45 In pumps, say 48 “So be it!” 49 Volcano output 50 Burden for some debtors 51 Future atty.’s exam 52 Many Manets 53 Blacken on the grill 54 Four-legged Emerald City visitor 55 Halt 58 “Friendly Skies” co. 59 New Deal energy prog. 60 Put in rollers

SPORTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

CATS FROM PAGE B1 the teams at LMA’s Billy Chitwood Field wasn’t much of a contest. Hammond scored 20 points in the first quarter and led 30-0 at halftime on the way to a 37-7 victory. Swampcats quarterback J.T. Eppley believes the response

THE SUMTER ITEM

of his team following that loss was the turning point in the season. It was a 48-3 victory over 2A Orangeburg Prep, but it set LMA for its final three 3A contests against who would eventually be the Nos. 3-5 seeds behind No. 1 Hammond and No. 2 Laurence Manning. “They (Hammond) killed

us, and we knew how bad a half we had played,” Eppley said. “We came back and played well (against OP) and that got us ready for a big 3-game stretch against Ben Lippen (69-21), Porter-Gaud (15-10) and Wilson Hall.” The Swampcat defense has allowed just 132 points all season, with 58 of them coming

against Hammond and Ben Lippen. Those are the only teams to record more than 20 points in a game even though LMA had only two shutouts. “It’s been partly coaching and partly making plays,” Mason said of the defense’s performance. “With the exception of one half against Hammond and one quarter against

Florence Christian (an 8-7 loss), we’ve been very good. “It was hard to tell how good we would be,” he added. “We did well in the passing leagues and the 7-on-7s, but that’s just one element of the defense. As we started the season, we thought we were going to be pretty good and we’ve been pretty dominant.”

departed this life on Nov. 11, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born on May 16, 1949, in Sumter County, he was a son of Ashton Sr. and Rever Ford Benbow. A service of celebration will be held at 1 p.m. today at True Word Baptist Church, Paxville, with the Rev. Robert E. Gibson, eulogist. Interment will follow in Benbow Cemetery. A public viewing was held from noon to 7 p.m. on Monday in the Robert Scriven Jr. Memorial Chapel. Professional services entrusted to Ephriam D. Stephens Funeral Home, 230 S. Lafayette Drive, Sumter, (803) 775-8911. “Where Dignity is the Watchword”

Mr. Wilson will be placed in the church at noon on Wednesday for viewing until the hour of service. Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Salem Chapel and Heritage Center, 101 S. Salem Ave., with Pastor Stanley E. Hayes Sr. Interment will follow in Mulberry Baptist Church Cemetery, Sumter. Job’s Mortuary Inc., 312 S. Main St., Sumter, is in charge of arrangements. Online memorials may be sent to the family at jobsmortuary@sc.rr.com or visit us on the web at www.jobsmortuary. net.

JOHNNIE D. WILLIAMS III

BISHOPVILLE — Mason Mickens, of 560 S. Lee St., Apartment 8-E, died on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, at McLeod Hospice House in Florence. Arrangements will be announced by Boatwright Funeral Home of Bishopville.

Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery. The Rev. Jerry Gardner will officiate. The family will receive friends from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday prior to the service at the church. Mrs. King passed away on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014. Born in Williamsburg County, she was a daughter of the late John Henry and Mary Elise Pack Ard. She was a member of Faith Baptist Church and enjoyed traveling, gardening and working with her flowers. Surviving are her husband on 26 years, Roger Lee King; daughter, Terri Taylor Carter (James); brother, John Henry Ard Jr.; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Tammy Wazney; stepson, Brian King; sisters, Virginia Cooper Goodman and Lorene Douglas; and brothers, Emmit Ard, Richard Ard, Clyde Ard and Leonard Ard. Sign the online register at www.powersfuneralhome.net.

JONNIE MAE HARRISON

LARRY WILSON

Jonnie Mae Ford-Evans Harrison, 70, widow of Robert Harrison, departed this life on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. She was born on May 20, 1944, in Sumter, a daughter of the late Woodrow Sr. and Geneva Pearson Ford. The family will be receiving friends at the home, 1051 Sweetbriar Drive, Sumter, SC 29154. Funeral plans are incomplete and will be announced later by Job’s Mortuary Inc. of Sumter.

Larry “Groove” Wilson was born on Jan. 6, 1950, in Sumter, to Ruby Gary and the late Moses Gray Sr. He departed this life on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at Providence Hospital, Columbia. He graduated from Lincoln High School Class of 1968. He leaves to celebrate his memories: one loving devoted mother of the home, Ruby Gary; three children, Vanessa (Eric) Pinkney of Bowie, Maryland, Stacie (Jonathan) Collins of Hull, Georgia, and Brishara (Danett) Wilson of Brooklyn, New York; five grandchildren, London Smith, Lauryn Smith, Evan Pinkney, Deonte’ Collins and Glorious Sun Bea-Wilson; five sisters, JoAnn Wilson and Rudine Richardson, both of Sumter, Brenda (Eddie) Pringle of Columbia, Cynthia Porter of Batesburg and Vanessa (Israel) Bowman of Augusta, Georgia; one brother, Jerome (Karla) Gary of Charlotte, North Carolina; a sister-inlaw, Delores Ann Gary; one special friend, Mary Lee Muldrow; and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Moses Gary Sr.; and one brother, Moses Gary Jr. Public viewing will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. today at Job’s Mortuary

OBITUARIES THE REV. SIM SMITH The Rev. Sim Smith, 78, passed away on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, at the home of his son. Born in Kershaw County, he was a son of the late James Clyburn Smith and Colzie Elmore Smith. Sim always said he grew up poor with humble beginnings in Camden. He SMITH shined shoes and sold the Columbia Record on the streets of Camden at a very early age. As a teen, he worked at Dub Marshall’s Grocery and the Camden Food Shop. Once at Dub’s Grocery, Mr. J.C. Lee asked Smitty to cut up a chicken. “Don’t know how! I’ve never done that,” said Sim. “Give it a try,” said Mr. Lee. The next day Mr. Lee stopped by the store and said, “Smitty, I didn’t know what part of the chicken I was eating, I just knew it was chicken, and it was good.” Sim attended Camden schools and graduated from Antioch High School. He was ordained at Hermitage Baptist Church in Camden. After preaching for a while, a group of ladies from Hermitage Baptist Church paid Sim’s way to Mars Hill Baptist College. In his senior year at Mars Hill, his fellow students and the group’s critic chose Sim to bring the yearly senior message at Mars Hill Baptist Church. Sim was introduced as the young man with a winsome smile. That smile stayed with him. He later attended the University of South Carolina and Coker College. Rev. Smith preached and pastored for more than 63 years. He preached in nearly 150 revivals across Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He went on a preaching tour of the West Indies and preached in the Holy Land. He served as pastor of Pinewood Baptist Church for 18 years. While pastoring, he worked parttime for the S.C. Department of Agriculture as a surveyor for 25 years and was a parttime fishing guide for Pack’s Landing. Sim loved people and it showed. Sim gave, gave, gave! Survivors include his wife, Jewel F. Smith; three sons, Robbie Smith (Joyce) of Pinewood, Mark Smith (Karen) of Sumter and Paul Smith (Kelly) of Sumter; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; eight step-great-grandchildren; a stepson, John Joyner (Jen) of Camden; a stepdaughter, Beverly Johnson of Camden; a brother, Jesse Smith (Betty) of Camden; and a sister, Nancy Stokes (Jim) of Greer. He was preceded in death by his wife of nearly 45 years, Carolyn Branham Smith; two brothers; and two sisters. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Pinewood Baptist Church with the Revs. Homer Hinson, Frank Davis, Bennie Barwick and Kirk Carlisle officiating. Burial will be in Pinewood Cemetery. The family will receive friends from noon to 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Pinewood Baptist Church and from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the home of Paul and Kelly Smith, 2955 Cains Mill Road. Memorials may be made to Pinewood Baptist Church Youth Fund, P.O. Box 176, Pinewood, SC 29125-0176. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. www.ecsfuneralhome.com

ASHTON BENBOW JR. Ashton “Tony” Benbow Jr.

MASON MICKENS

HARRY LEE B. CONNER Harry Lee Budden Conner, 88, widower of Rebecca Jefferson, departed this life on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, at Regency Hospital, Florence. He was born on Oct. 22, 1926, in Sumter, a son of the late Lucille Montgomery Riley. The family will be receiving friends at the home, 4735 Starks Ferry Road, Sumter, SC 29154. Funeral plans are incomplete and will be announced later by Job’s Mortuary Inc. of Sumter.

JOAN KING BISHOPVILLE — Celebration of life service for JoAnn King, 75, will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Faith Baptist

MAURICE MIDDLETON Maurice “Shorty” Middleton, 52, entered eternal rest on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. He was born on Aug. 7, 1962, in Harlem, New York, a son of Maggie Bracey Middleton and the late John E. Middleton. He was reared by his grandparents, the late Isaac and Anna Pearson Williams. He attended the public schools of Sumter County and was a 1980 graduate of Sumter High School. He was a member of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. He was employed by Carolina Furniture, Pilgrim’s Pride (formerly Gold Kist), Santee Print and Eaton. Survivors are his mother, Maggie Bracey Middleton of the home; a daughter, Tianna Keiller of Brooklyn, New York; a sister, Romona (Van) McFadden of Sumter; foster sister, Patricia (Tracey) Morales; an aunt, Ethel Bracey; a niece, Keisha Grant; three nephews, Dante Middleton, Tracey and Sanchez Morales; a special friend, Emma Jones and her daughter, Lameka Jones; and a host of other relatives and friends. Maurice can be viewed from 3 to 6 p.m. today at the funeral home. Funeral services will be held at noon on Wednesday at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Willie A. Wright Jr., the Rev. Leroy Blanding, Minister Calvin K. Hastie Sr. and the Rev. Daniel Bennett. Burial will be in Bradford Cemetery. The family is receiving visitors at the home, 1031 Old Pocalla Road, Sumter. Online memorials can be sent to comfhltj@sc.rr.com. Community Funeral Home of Sumter is in charges of these arrangements.

Johnnie D. Williams III, 79, a faithful and dedicated servant of the Lord, was called home on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014, at his home in Matthews, North Carolina. Born on Dec. 2, 1934, a native of Sumter County, he was a son of the late Johnnie II and Sammie Williams. He was educated in the public schools of Sumter County and was a graduate of Lincoln High School Class of 1953. He continued his education at South Carolina State College and Morris College. He was a member of Middle St. AME Zion Church, Charlotte, where he served as chairman of the trustee board, Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher and president of the senior choir. Johnnie loved his church and loved talking about the Lord. He was married to the late Maude Williams. To cherish his memories, he leaves behind his loving sister, Deloris W. Turner; his nephew, George A. Cox, whom he lived with; his grandnephew, George Tariq Cox; a stepdaughter, Linda Sturgis; two step-granddaughters, Tahillary Sturgis (whom he and his wife raised) and “Cookie;” two step-grandsons, Kevin and Chavis Sturgis; his only aunt whom he loved dearly, Rose A. Williams; and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his only child, Johnnie D. Williams; and his twin sister, Jeannie B. Williams. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 325 Fulton St., Sumter, with the Rev. James Blassingame, pastor, eulogist, assisted by the Rev. Lee Dingle, the Rev. Johnnie M. Gist and the Rev. Alfred Washington. The family is receiving family and friends at the home of his sister, Delores Turner, 70 Albert Spears Drive, Sumter. The remains will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. The procession will leave at 1:30 p.m. from the home of his sister. Floral bearers and pallbearers will be Lincoln High School Class of 1953. Online memorial messages may be sent to the family at williamsfuneralhome@sc.rr. com. Visit us on the web. Services directed by the management and staff of Williams Funeral Home Inc., 821 N. Main St., Sumter.

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CLASSIFIED DEADLINES 11:30 a.m. the day before for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday edition. 9:30 a.m. Friday for Saturday’s edition 11:30 a.m. Friday for Sunday’s edition.

CLASSIFIEDS

We will be happy to change your ad if an error is made; however we are not responsible for errors after the first run day. We shall not be liable for any loss or expense that results from the printing or omission of an advertisement. We reserve the right to edit, refuse or cancel any ad at any time.

Garage, Yard & Estate Sales

Help Wanted Full-Time

Manufactured Housing

ANNOUNCEMENTS

LARGE GARAGE SALE 1st & 3rd Weekend Tables $2

Lost & Found

FLEA MARKET BY SHAW AFB

Bristol General Contractors, LLC has openings for both Carpenters and Laborers located at Shaw Air Force Base, SC. This is a regular, full-time, benefit-eligible position and is expected to last approximately 18 months.

For Sale Nice 4 Br 2 Ba D/W MH w/ dinning rm, den w fire place, bonus rm. c//h//a, new carpet & paint, brick underpinning, lg fenced lot 803-983-0408

Found on Indigo Dr.: young male cat 3-6 months old. Black & white. Owner call 983-2400 to identify.

Open every weekend. 905-4242

For Sale or Trade

BUSINESS SERVICES

Please visit our website at www.brist ol-companies.com to view the full job description and to apply. Resumes will not be accepted. Vice President of Lending Sumter, SC SAFE Federal Credit Union

Business Services

Help Wanted Part-Time

New 7x10 Storage building with insulated top, shelves, electricity inside, $800 or Equal Trade Call 803-481-8197

& Lock Out 24 Hour Service 803-834-BIRD (2473)

American Red Cross New Crop Variety Shelled Pecans 803-775-2363

Home Improvements Winter is hear time to insulate your attic. Call Nunnery Roofing & Remolding 803-968-2459

Lawn Service Four Seasons Lawn Care Serving Sumter for almost 20 yrs! Free est. 494-9169/468-4008

Roofing All Types of Roofing & Repairs All work guaranteed. 30 yrs exp. SC lic. Virgil Bickley 803-316-4734.

Tree Service

Expert Tech, New & used heat pumps & A/C. Will install/repair, warranty; Compressor & labor $600. Call 803-968-9549 or 843-992-2364

RENTALS

A Notch Above Tree Care Full quality service low rates, lic./ins., free est BBB accredited 983-9721

STATE TREE SERVICE Worker's Comp & General liability insurance. Top quality service, lowest prices. 803-494-5175 or 803-491-5154 www.statetree.net

PETS & ANIMALS Dogs OBEDIENCE TRAINING Basic Commands, Behavior problem solving, Advanced training. Ask about our vacation package. Call 803-972-0738 or 972-7597

MERCHANDISE Want to Buy Golden Kernel Pecan Co. 1214 S. Guignard Dr. Sumter 803-968-9432 We buy pecans, We sell Pecan halves & Pieces, Chocolate, Sugarfree Chocolate, Butter Roasted, Sugar & Spiced, Prailine, Honey Glazed, English Toffee Gift Packages available . M-F 9-5 Sat 9-1

WANTED: Sheet Metal Worker [Welding experience a plus] & Commercial Roofer, exp. preferred but not required. Benefits include Paid Holidays, Paid Vacation. Apply Mon-Thurs, between 9 & 4 at 14 W Oakland Ave Sumter. No Phone Calls Please. Hill Plumbing Co. 438 N. Main St. Sumter SC, is submitting a proposal on the USC School of Law on 11/18/14. We are searching for certified DBE subcontractors interested in providing a proposal to us for the following trades: Core cutting, pipe insulation, & fire caulking. Subcontractor must provide DBE certificate. Call Renee 1-800-849-8884 for more info. Tow driver needed. Pay is commission based. Must be able to pass DOT physical & have a clean driving record. Call Cary Cook at 803-499-9086 to set up interview.

Persons having claim against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the indicated Personal Representatives, appointed to administer these estates, and to file their claims on Form #371PC with the Probate Court of Sumter County Courthouse, N. Main Street, Sumter, SC, 29150, on or before the date that is eight months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors, (unless previously barred by operation of Section 62-3-803), or such persons shall be forever barred as to heir claims. All claims are required to be presented in written statements, indicating the name and the address of the claimant, the basis of the claim, the amount claimed, the date when the claim will become due, the nature of any uncertainty as to the amount claimed and the date when due, and a description of any security as to the claim.

Notice Of Application Notice is hereby given that The Gold Room, LLC intends to apply to the South Carolina Department of Revenue for a license/permit that will allow the sale and ON premises consumption of Liquor at 2199 Kingstree Hwy., Manning, SC 29102. To object to the issuance of this permit/license, written protest must be postmarked no later than November 27, 2014. For a protest to be valid, it must be in writing, and should include the following information: (1) the name, address and telephone number of the person filing the protest; (2) the specific reasons why the application should be denied; (3) that the person protesting is willing to attend a hearing (if one is requested by the applicant); (4) that the person protesting resides in the same county where the proposed place of business is located or within five miles of the business; and (5) the name of the applicant and the address of the premises to be licensed. Protests must be mailed to: S.C. Department of Revenue, ATTN: ABL, P.O. Box 125, Columbia, South Carolina 29214; or Faxed to: (803) 896-0110

Estate: Willie Edward Johnson #2014ES4300623 Personal Representative

Diane P. Johnson C/O William H. Johnson Attorney at Law PO Box 137 Manning, SC 29102 Estate:

Nice 1BR Apartment $475/mo & $325/dep. No pets. 803-775-5638

Unfurnished Homes 2 & 3BR Apt & houses available in Sumter. No Sec. Dep. required. Call 773-8402 for more info.

R & R Motors 3277 Broad St. 803-494-2886 07 'Chevy Impala $7495, 02' Jeep Liberty $5295, 08' Hyundai Santa Fe $8759, 08' Ford Escape $8559, 05' Pontiac G6 $5549, 06' Ford Taurus $4250

Stanley K. Steen, Jr. C/O J. Cabot Seth Attorney at Law PO Box 1268 Sumter, SC 29151

Rent: 2 BR house suitable for mature couple. $400 mo+$400 Dep Call 803-494-3095

Mobile Home Rentals

Estate:

Clara Mae Wilson #2014ES4300218

Personal Representative

Tanika A. Wilson C/O Calvin K. Hastie, Sr. Attorney at Law 7 East Hampton Avenue Sumter, SC 29150

2, 3 & 4 Br, all appliances, Section 8 accepted. 469-6978 or 499-1500

STATEBURG COURTYARD

Liston H. Bailey, Jr. #2014ES4300616

Personal Representative

Thomas L. Bailey 1605 Old Abbeville Hwy. Greenwood, SC 29649 Estate:

Marian Althea Grimm Rucker #2014ES4300636

Personal Representative

Janet L. Geig C/O William A. W. Buxton Attorney at Law 325 West Calhoun Street Sumter, SC 29150

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES

Senior Living Apartments for those 62+ (Rent based on income) Shiloh-Randolph Manor 125 W. Bartlette. 775-0575 Studio/1 Bedroom apartments available EHO

Help Wanted Full-Time

Large grooming operation in Sumter is now hiring experienced groomers. Please email resume to: marylynch0413@gmail.com

1999 Ford Taurus 3.0 AT, AC, 144K Salvage title, Runs good, $2100 OBO Cash 803-972-0900

Unfurnished Apartments

Martin's Used Appliance Washers, Dryers, Refrig., Stoves. Guarantee 464-5439 or 469-7311

Locally established Heating & Air condition Co. looking for Exp. Service Tech. Needs to have good driving record. Pay range from $33k-$46k a year plus health insurance, retirement, bonus and commission available. Apply in person at 1640 Suber Street.

Autos For Sale

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES

Beer & Wine License

Estate Notice Sumter County

Hickory & Oak firewood. Seasoned/Green $65 Delivered. Notch Above Tree Service. 983-9721

EMPLOYMENT

TRANSPORTATION

Accepting applications for all positions. Apply in person on Wednesday between 4p-5p at Sonic on McCrays Mill Rd. Sumter.

Firewood for Sale Will Deliver. Call 803 651-8672

Ricky's Tree Service Tree removal, stump grinding, Lic & ins, free quote, 803-435-2223 or cell 803-460-8747. Mention this ad & get 10% off.

Land & Lots for Sale DALZELL/WALMART 1 AC. PAVED, SEPTIC OPTIONAL! $5990! 888-774-5720

$$$ AVON $$$ FREE TRAINING! 803-422-5555

Cemetery Plots- Two plots with vaults, opening/closing fees and granite marker with vase in Evergreen Memorial Park, Sumter, SC. Save thousands. Call 803-469-9763

Mobile Home with Lots 3BR 2BA MH 1 Acre. Owner Fin. with 5K dwn Call 983-8084

For details, please visit our website at: http:/www.safefed.org

Bird's Towing

LOW CREDIT SCORE? Been turned down for bad credit? Come try us, we do our own financing. We have 2-3-4 bedroom homes. For more information, call 843-389-4215.

Estate Notice Sumter County

LEGAL NOTICES

Estate:

Beatrice J. Lane #2014ES4300626

Personal Representative

Barbara Ann Wright 2183 Bob White Drive Sumter, SC 29154 Estate:

Elizabeth M. Brown #2014ES4300647

Personal Representative

Candace Brown 2985 Trent Street Dalzell, SC 29040 Estate:

Sara Well Rogers #2014ES4300621

Personal Representative

Jennings Melton Rogers, Jr. 3090 Leach Drive Sumter, SC 29154 Estate:

Rosa Elizabeth Way Hodge #2014ES4300624

Personal Representative

Lillian Lavonne Hodge Bailey A/K/A Lavonne H. Bailey 1605 Old Abbeville Highway Greenwood, SC 29649 Estate:

Susan Ward Smith #2014ES4300644

Personal Representative

C. Furman Smith, Jr. 109 Horseshoe Cove Sumter, SC 29150

2 & 3 BRs 803-494-4015

REAL ESTATE Homes for Sale 3BR 1BA on 1 acre of land $49,000 Call 803-775-5638 821 Holiday Drive, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, possible owner financing. 803-983-7064.

place my

PETS Puppies for sale...

s e n i l d a e D Thanksgiving tising

In-Line AdverDEADLINE

r 24 at 11:30pm Mon., Novembe 5 at 9:30am r2 Tues., Novembe 25 at 11:30pm r Tues., Novembe r 26 at 9:30am Wed., Novembe r 26 at 11:30pm Wed., Novembe

EDITION

r 25 Tues., Novembe r 26 Wed., Novembe 28 Fri., November 29 r Sat., Novembe r 30 Sun., Novembe

ing! v i g s k n a h T y p p a H Have a Safe OanPdROOF DEADLINEoSf is required N

ORDER YOUR CLASSIFIED AD ONLINE 24/7. WWW.THEITEM.COM

Holiday Open House Thursday, November 20th unique gifts, jewelry and accessories, stationery, monogramming, etc.

105 E. Wesmark Blvd. #9 • Sumter, SC 803-774-5570

earlier if p

ber 1. ill reopen Decem w e W . th 28 d ember 27th an ill be closed Nov 29150 Business office w t • Sumter, SC ee tr S lia no ag M 20 N. 803-774-1200

24 hours Deadline is

4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Enjoy 20% off all regular-priced merchandise (some exclusions apply) Specialty Baskets Available, and light refreshments. Doolallies is now under New Management Heather Rowland Hodge, Owner

CLASSIFIEDS

THE ITEM

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

It’s the After Thanksgiving Sale NOW - Before Thanksgiving at Mayo’s! Sale

Entire stock of Suits - Buy 1 Regular Priced Suit, Receive 2nd Suit of Equal Value FREE!

You Heard It Right!

MAYO’S SUIT CITY

Why Wait till the Day after Mayo’s is starting “NOW!” SHIRTS, TIES, PANTS & SHOES

If your suits aren’t becoming to you, It’s a good time to be coming to Mayo’s!

Buy 1, Get a 2nd “like” item at HALF PRICE!

Wesmark Plaza • 773-2262 • Mon-Sat 10-7

Estate Notice Sumter County

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES

Estate:

James Tayloe Futrell #2014ES4300618

Personal Representative

Estate:

Dotsy Ruth Parnell #2014ES4300620

Estate:

Personal Representative

Helen B. King-Brookes Futrell 1010 Golfcrest Road Sumter, SC 29154

Estate:

Mary Helen Tilford #2014ES4300642

Personal Representative

Erma Viola Dwyer #2014ES4300634

Personal Representative

Velma Geraldine Faile 1325 Sewanee Avenue Florence, SC 29501

Estate:

Personal Representative

Estate:

n o t l i B LINCOLN 70 W. Wesmark Blvd. Sumter, SC 29150

773-7339

www.biltonlm.com

My name is PEPPER and I’m a 2 year old black and white female Chihuahua/ Rat Terrier mix.

OARDING NN

ETS NC

Professional Pr Boarding, Gr Grooming & Clipping

35 Years Boarding Experience 33 Years Grooming Experience Lori Cook Briggs Groomer & Stylist

Graduate of Academy of Dog Grooming

Hours: 9am - 5:30pm Closed Wednesday & Sunday

2007

Pet Supplies & “Life is Good” Dealer

773-2501

Michael R. Mease C/O J. Cabot Seth Attorney at Law PO Box 1268 Sumter, SC 29151

Linda S. Norwood 2396 Tolliver Hills Lane Ellenwood, GA 30294

Estate:

Personal Representative

Victor Louis Harper #2014ES4300630

Personal Representative

Phyllis B. Buckner 2808 Sequoia Drive Sumter, SC 29154

Linda Marie Harper 130 Gray Fox Court Sumter, SC 29154

S.P.C.A. • 1140 S. Guignard Dr., Sumter 11AM - 5PM Daily, Closed Wed & Sun Animal Receiving: 11AM - 4PM M, T, Th, F & 11AM - 2PM Sat

VISIT US ONLINE AT:

My name is ADELE and I’m a 12 week old tricolored female Sheltie/Shepherd mix.

My name is LADYBUG and I’m a 3 month old blond and white female Retriever mix.

MY BUDDY B I F P I .

Richard Phillip Mease #2014ES4300617

Personal Representative

www.sumterscspca.com Bailey

Marcy

Catherine M. Zyback, D.M.D.

Pepper

My name is HALFPINT and I’m a 12 week old white and gray male American Shorthair.

Estate:

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, aka SPCA SPCA,, has an abundance of friendly pets looking for nice, warm homes with lots of love to share. Shown are just a few of the adoptable pets now available at the shelter.

Adele

Ladybug

t Halfpin

Personal Representative

Mary E.D. Bartlette #2014ES4300613

Adopt Me

John M. Norwood #2014ES4300637

Sharon K. Smith 2983 Dalzell Street Dalzell, SC 29040

Jacqueline R. Moore 316 Downs Drive Columbia, SC 29209

803-773-9292

Estate:

Personal Representative

Laura B. Moore #2014ES4300641

Maynard Dorr, Jr. 5225 Dorr Acres Road Gable, SC 29051

Catherine L. Spiegel #2014ES4300632

Mary L. Dwyer 526 S. Main Street Sumter, SC 29150

Estate: Maynard Shirley Dorr Sr #2014ES4300614

Judy Miles 1010 Mabe Drive Summerton, SC 29148

My name is MARCY and I’m a 7 month old tricolored female Boxer mix.

Vanilla

My name is VANILLA and I’m a 6 month old white female Chihuahua mix.

My name is BAILEY and I’m a 6 year old tricolored female Beagle.

803-905-5280

PLEASE ADOPT A FRIEND!

2565 Lindo Ct. • Sumter, SC 29150

Marilyn

Bear

Finnick

My name is MARILYN and I’m a 12 week old tricolored female Hound mix.

My name is BEAR and I’m a 1 year old tan male German Shepherd/ Blue Heeler mix.

My name is FINNICK and I’m a 1 year old orange tabby male American Shorthair.

Gremlin

Sasha

Joon

Maddie

My name is GREMLIN and I’m a 12 week old gray and white male American Shorthair.

My name is SASHA and I’m a 1 year old black and white female Manx/Domestic Mediumhair mix.

My name is JOON and I’m a 1 year old gray tabby female American Shorthair.

Pearl

Casper

My name is MADDIE and I’m a 2 year old gray tabby female American Shorthair.

My name is PEARL and I’m a 2 year old white female American Shorthair.

My name is CASPER and I’m a 12 week old black and white male Domestic Mediumhair.

Other things you can do to help! Though not everyone can take a pet home, the SPCA is always accepting donations. Monetary Donations • Collars • Animal Food • Leashes Cat Litter • Treats • Beds • Clean Newspapers Blankets • Trash Bags • Towels • Paper Towels Adoption Fee: $100.00 This includes the ﬁrst vaccinations, ﬁrst deworming and a voucher towards the spaying or neutering of the animal. Hours of Operation: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Closed Wednesday and Sunday

1140 S. GUIGNARD DR.

BE A SPONSOR ON THIS PAGE AND HELP THE SPCA TODAY!

Happy Pets “Home Away From Home” For 35 Years

Please Contact The Classified Dept. at

803-774-1200 or classified@theitem.com

2 Locations to serve you! 1091 Broad Street 2022 McCrays Mill Rd.

SALES - SERVICE - PARTS

469-9030

Broad Street Ext. • Sumter www.sumterchryslerjeepdodge.com SALES HOURS: SERVICE HOURS: 9AM-8PM MON-FRI 7:30AM-5:30PM MON-FRI 9AM-6PM SAT 7:30AM-1PM SAT

Your Best Deal Is...Just Around The Corner!