Novemeber 12, 2014 by The Sumter Item

IN SPORTS:

Saints looking for revenge against Bobcats

Remember your veggies Mix things up this holiday season with new recipes C8

SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

75 CENTS

Don’t miss sign-ups for health coverage

Home of the brave

Experts at health center can help during enrollment dates BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com The Affordable Care Act Marketplace opens again for enrollment Saturday. This time, the window to sign up is much shorter — Nov. 15 through Feb. 15, 2015, versus October 2013 to April 2014. There are five companies offering as many as 64 plans in four categories — catastrophic, bronze, silver and gold. Rates differ depending on an applicant’s county. But don’t worry. You don’t have to figure this all out on your own. Sonya Del Rio and Quinnishia Dennis are outreach and enrollment coordinators with Sumter Family Health Center who aim to help people understand their options and how to enroll. As certified application counselors, they have had 20 hours of online training and passed tests to receive their identification numbers. Their services are free.

SEE HEALTH CARE, PAGE A5

Group invites community to its 2nd march BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM

Three months after storming onto the scene with an anti-violence rally that drew hundreds of supporters, a Sumter-based coalition will be staging another “Stop the Violence” march this weekend in town. OneSumter, an alliance of local leaders, activists and elected officials, is organizing the march, which is slated to step off at 10 a.m. Saturday from Crosswell Drive Elementary School, 301 Crosswell Drive. Group officials set plans for the event during OneSumter’s monthly meeting Sunday night at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. They are expected to finalize the march’s route during a planning meeting Thursday night. The march will mark the second time this year OneSumter takes its concerns to the streets. In August, more than 500 people turned out for a march up Main Street in what proved to be the community group’s introduction to Sumter. It comes on the heels of a town hall discussion concerning crime which took place Thursday night. OneSumter officials said the panel discussion and march are part of an effort to bring more awareness of crime in the community. OneSumter bills itself as a comprehensive

SEE MARCH, PAGE A9

Maj. Jason Kneuer salutes during the national anthem while standing with his daughter Josephine Kneuer, right, as his daughter Claire Kneuer waves an American flag at the annual Veterans Day Program put on by the Sumter County Veterans Association in front of the old Sumter County Courthouse. After the program, 40 businesses and nonprofit organizations thanked active military members and veterans for their service and shared information about services they offer to military members. The keynote speaker was Col. Stephen Jost, commander of 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base.

Toxic landfill gas builds up at dump DHEC says vapors aren’t immediate threat to lake BY SAMMY FRETWELL The State COLUMBIA — Hazardous chemical vapors are leaking through the top of an industrial waste dump along Lake Marion and are suspected of contaminating shallow groundwater near the surface of the 36-year-old site. Nearly 20 different chemicals, some at concentrations above safe drinking water standards, have shown up in groundwater atop a plastic liner installed decades ago to protect the environment from the now-abandoned waste dump near Pinewood, according to a recent con-

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sulting study. State regulators have known about the issue for about three years, records show, but they said the contamination isn’t a threat to Lake Marion. Several consultants familiar with the closed landfill, however, say something needs to be done before pollution begins trickling toward the lake from the site. They favor beefing up protective barriers in the landfill’s oldest section to safeguard Lake Marion, a plan the state Department of Health and Environmental Control says could cost more than $12 million. The main area of concern is the Sumter County landfill’s original and most leak-prone section. Lake Marion, a water supply source and major recreation destination, is four football fields from

Helen Haltiwanger Carol Burr Eli M. Parker Eloise Sparks Howard Ruth T. Robinson Tanisha D. Brailsford

Leroy Briggs Anne S. Lynch Willie J. Hickmon Moses Scriven Virginia Bennett Ashton Benbow Jr.

Mary H. Rickman Johnny Washington James Montalbano William T. Murphy

the dump. A drainage ditch to the lake is about 75 feet away from part of the landfill. Clemson University researcher Ron Falta said the state may need to improve the existing cap or install a new cap over the original part of the dump to limit seeping vapors, protect groundwater and shield Lake Marion from potential threats. Installing a new cap would involve dumping more dirt and clay on top of the existing cap and installing another synthetic liner. A stronger cap over the original section of the landfill not only would help keep toxic vapors inside, but would also keep rainwater from leaking in from the outside, said Falta, who studies the transport of hazardous chemicals.

SEE LANDFILL, PAGE A9

WEATHER, A10

INSIDE

A LITTLE FOGGY

3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 25

Fog this morning, then sunny; partly cloudy tonight HIGH 76, LOW 52

Classifieds B7 Comics C6 Lotteries A10 Opinion A8 Television C7

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

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

LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS

Wreck cuts power to about 500 in Manning About 500 Manning residents woke up without power Tuesday morning after a truck crashed into a utility pole. The crash occurred just before 7 a.m. and disrupted residential and commercial services near Spencer Street. The wreck caused a severely damaged pole to fall down. Utility workers restored power a little more than three hours after reports of the outage initially surfaced, according to Duke Energy District Manager Theo Lane. Lane said safety precautions created a delay in repairs because crews had to de-energize the power lines before replacing the damaged pole. There was also a commercial feeder line attached to the fallen utility pole.

Deputies nab 5 in drug roundup BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com Sumter County deputies arrested five Sumter men during the weekend as part of a drug investigation. According to a news release from Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, officers nabbed the quintet Saturday during a warrant roundup that culminated a three-month probe. South Carolina Department of Pro-

bation, Parole and Pardon Services assisted in rounding up the suspects, all of whom were transported to SumterLee Regional Detention Center. The following were among those arrested: • Bobby Davis, 34, of 1228 Mooneyham Road — six counts of distribution of crack cocaine; • Jimmy Jenkins, 30, of 90 Bowen Drive — two counts of distribution of crack cocaine;

• Michael Howard, 35, of 4395 Wrangler Trail — two counts of distribution of crack cocaine; • Kaleem Sims, 23, of 15 Weatherly Drive — three counts of distribution of crack cocaine; and • Brandon Hunt, 29, of Cedar Hill Mobile Home Park — six counts of distribution of crack cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, two family court bench warrants.

Sheriff’s office names public information officer Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has named Braden Bunch as the public information officer for the department. Bunch joins the sheriff’s office having previously served as the senior news editor for The Sumter Item and brings with him more BUNCH than a decade of experience in print and radio journalism, as well as public relations. “Adding Braden to the department provides us with another asset to better serve the people of Sumter County,” said Sheriff Anthony Dennis. As part of his duties, Bunch will serve as the liaison between media outlets and the department. Any media inquiries into activities of the sheriff’s office can be directed to Bunch via either email at bbunch@sumtercountysc.org or his office phone at (803) 4362034. The sheriff’s office recently created the position by reallocating administrative funds after the retirement of an officer.

Deltas to ring Salvation Army bell on Saturday Members of the Sumter Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. will be ringing the Salvation Army bell in front of Big Lots in Wesmark Plaza throughout the day Saturday. All money received will support families in need in the Sumter area. The sorority is a national and international public service organization with more than 250,000 members worldwide. Each year, the sorority develops new projects to stimulate economic growth to support the local community. The president of the Sumter Alumnae Chapter is Abigail Busby-Webb, assistant principal of Lakewood High School.

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Students at Crosswell Drive Elementary School participate in National Walk/Bike to School Day in March. Crossing Guard Appreciation Week will begin next week.

Show your appreciation to a crossing guard Special week to honor them begins Monday

emphasized recognizing staff and faculty as they are all part of the district family that cares for their students throughout the school year. According to an SCDOT news release, schools can nominate crossing guards BY RAYTEVIA EVANS for recognition with the resource center ray@theitem.com during next week’s celebration. Award recipients will be formally announced The South Carolina Department of and recognized for their work with Transportation recently announced that the state’s first Crossing Guard Ap- schools and students during Crossing preciation Week will begin Monday and Guard Appreciation Week. The SC Safe Routes to School Rerun through Nov. 21. SCDOT and the SC Safe Routes to School Resource Cen- source Center provides materials, services and technical assistance to partter are encouraging schools and comnered schools in South Carolina to enmunities throughout the state to use courage more students to walk and the week to recognize crossing guards bike to school safely and to encourage and their role in student safety. more physical activity. With a $400,000 Through the years, Sumter School grant from the U.S. Department of District schools and other schools in Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Sumter County have stressed the importance of continuing to improve safe- program, Crosswell Drive Elementary ty for walkers and bikers during arrival School is one of the schools in the county looking to move forward with and dismissal for students, and Superensuring safety for walkers and bikers intendent Frank Baker has repeatedly

during arrival and dismissal times. The Sumter Planning Department received notice that it was approved for the grant in July and is developing plans to improve crosswalks and infrastructure surrounding the schools. Crosswell was also one of many schools in the district that participated in this year’s National Walk/Bike to School Day. According to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, a number of schools throughout South Carolina have successfully developed strategies and found funding to supplement Safe Routes to School improvements, including schools in Bluffton, Spartanburg and Rock Hill. SCDOT’s newly created Grossing Guard Appreciation Week is one of many different ways the state and the Safe Routes to School organization try to encourage safety procedures for students and emphasize the need to invest in safe routes for children walking and biking to school.

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THE SUMTER ITEM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Taking flight Evan Turner, right, drags in his plane after competing in the Southeastern IMAC Regionals 2014 competition at Modern Turf Sod Farm in Dalzell. Pilots came from as far north as Virginia and as far west as Tennessee to compete. Pilots, below, wait to take off during Saturday’s event for the International Miniature Aerobatic Club. PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM

POLICE BLOTTER CHARGES Jesuel Rosa Castillo, 31, of 30 Spanish Moss Circle, was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence after an incident that reportedly occurred about 10:56 p.m. Friday. A woman identified as the victim reportedly told deputies that the suspect dragged her by her hair and choked her. She had marks on the right side of her neck as well as a mark on the right side of her nose and swelling. Witnesses told law enforcement the suspect struck the victim. Tracy Levon Conyers, 49, of 1795 N. Main St., was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence after an incident that reportedly occurred about 10:35 a.m. Saturday. When deputies responded to the scene, a woman identified as the victim had a bloody face, and both eyes were starting to turn black. She reportedly told deputies that the suspect head-butted her, and blood was located on his forehead. The victim declined medical attention. Hayward Luther Odom, 39, of

4760 Camden Highway, Dalzell, was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence after an incident that reportedly occurred about 3:02 a.m. Sunday. A woman identified as the victim told deputies the suspect pushed her in the back, causing her to hit her back on a small table. Emergency Medical Services responded and transported her to Tuomey Regional Medical Center with complaints of lower back pain. Charles Edmond, 25, of 2520 Autumn Terrace, Dalzell, was arrested and charged with criminal domestic violence after an incident that reportedly occurred about 10:26 p.m. Sunday. A woman identified as the victim reportedly told deputies that the suspect struck her on the left side of her face and neck as well as threw her, causing scratches to her left arm. She later went on her own to the hospital. Trevaughn St. James Low, 19, of 902 Furman Drive, was charged with armed robbery and first-degree burglary Saturday. A warrant issued Saturday alleges the suspect, along with a co-defendant, entered a home in the 3000 block of Claremont Road by forcing in the back

door the night of Oct. 29. Once inside, the suspects struck one person in the head with the butt of a gun and held others at gunpoint while the suspects reportedly stole a TV valued at $200. STOLEN PROPERTY A 32-inch flat-screen TV valued at $250, a PlayStation 3 and 50 games valued at $350 and two camouflage game trail cameras valued at $100 were reported stolen about 11:01 a.m. Friday from the 300 block of Neeley Street. A door reportedly sustained $250 in damage as well. A 46-inch Hisense flatscreen TV valued at $600, a 32-inch LG flat-screen TV valued at $350, a Nikon digital camera valued at $400, a 10-inch Acer tablet

valued at $200, a Nintendo WiiU valued at $300, two Nintendo Wiis valued at $400, a Compaq laptop valued at $300, an HP laptop valued at $200, a gold ring valued at $200 and a diamond ring valued at $200 were reported stolen about 1:26 p.m. Friday from the 900 block of Mayfield Drive. A Nintendo Wii valued at $200, a Sony DVD player valued at $50, a 42-inch Samsung flat-screen TV valued at $500, a stereo system valued at $40, two 32-inch Samsung flatscreen TVs valued at $250 each and a PlayStation 3 valued at $300 were reported stolen about 8:07 a.m. Saturday from the 2000 block of Waterwheel Drive. A door sustained an estimated $150 in damage. A gray-and-white pit bull

valued at $900 and a dog cage valued at $25 were reported stolen about 10:20 p.m. Saturday from the 3000 block of Queen Chapel Road. A door sustained an estimated $250 in damage. A shotgun was reportedly stolen from a pickup truck in the 1700 block of U.S. 15 about 8 a.m. Monday. DAMAGED PROPERTY A water faucet was reportedly stolen from a vacant rental property in the 700 block of Boulevard Road just before 3:30 p.m. Monday, causing an estimated $15,000 in water damage. A bathroom sink, toilet, several doors and numerous light fixtures were reported stolen from a vacant Dalzell rental property in the 4900 block of Seymour Road about 5:15 p.m. Monday.

Sumter County Delinquent Tax Sale scheduled for December 2, 2014 has been rescheduled for March 2, 2015.

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WORLD

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

Obama, Putin circle each other warily in China BY JOSH LEDERMAN The Associated Press BEIJING — On the surface, President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were all niceties — a pat on the back here, a pleasantry there. But away from the cameras, the two leaders circled each other warily at a global summit in China, coming face to face while relations between their countries continue to deteriorate. The White House said Obama and Putin spoke three times Tuesday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic meeting, tackling some of the tough issues that have strained their relationship, including Russia’s provocations in Ukraine and support for Syria’s embattled government. They also discussed the fast-approaching deadline in nuclear talks with Iran, in which the U.S. and Russia find themselves on the same negotiating team. Unlike at some of their past meetings, Obama and Putin kept their deep-seated policy disagreements behind the scenes. But their public encounters suggested their relationship remains tense. Picturesque Yanqi Lake, just outside of Beijing, became the venue for an awkward pas de deux between two

of the most powerful leaders in the world. Entering an ornate, wood-paneled room for the start of the summit, Obama and Putin looked a bit like sidekicks to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit’s host led the way, with the American on one side and the Russian on the other. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Putin said in Obama’s direction. Yes, it is, concurred a reticent Obama, avoiding eye contact with Putin and addressing his response to no one in particular. As the three presidents came to a stop at the head of the table, Putin reached out to give Obama a slap on the back. But Obama had turned in a different direction, and it didn’t appear that Putin’s hand landed on its intended target. A few hours later, the two again found themselves in close quarters under an overcast sky as leaders planted trees in honor of their countries. Putin strode confidently up to his tree, ahead of Obama, who clasped his hands behind his back before picking up a shovel and greeting a Spanish TV crew with a wave. Neither the White House nor the Kremlin offered much in the way of detail about the policy conversations Obama

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and President Obama are seen on the sidelines during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit on Tuesday in Beijing. and Putin had on the sidelines of the summit. Putin’s spokesman said only that the two had spoken a few times, touching on “bilateral relations, the situation around Ukraine, Syria and Iran.” The U.S. is furious about Russia’s presumed role in fueling pro-Russian rebels in neighboring Ukraine. White House officials have accused Russia of sending heavy weapons to the separatists and shelling Ukrainian troops and have denounced Russia’s buildup of

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forces along the border. A truce reached in September between the rebels and Ukraine’s government is teetering, destabilized by what the White House calls a “blatant escalation” by Russia and rebel-organized elections in eastern Ukraine that the U.S. condemned as a “sham.” Vice President Joe Biden, in a phone call last week with Ukraine’s president, vowed further U.S. sanctions against Moscow “if Russia continued to willfully violate the terms”

of the cease fire. Russia’s economy has taken a major hit because of U.S. and EU sanctions — the ruble has plunged by a third this year and hit an all-time low last week — but Putin has dismissed the notion that he’s hurting at the hands of the West. Addressing the Asia-Pacific economic summit here Monday, Putin said his government had the resources to stabilize its currency without taking any emergency measures.

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LOCAL

THE SUMTER ITEM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

HEALTH CARE

WHAT’S COVERED IN THE HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACE

FROM PAGE A1 While Dennis is new, Del Rio is part of the Sumter Family Health Center team that answered the questions of 3,041 individuals during the first enrollment period, helped complete 2,365 applications and enrolled 748 people. She recently recertified. There are still four ways to apply — online, on the phone, paper application and in person — and the CACs can help with all of them. Online is the easiest and fastest way if you have an email address, Del Rio said. It also allows you to view different options and estimates. While they cannot advocate for any one company or plan, they tend to recommend silver plans because the bronze ones have such high deductibles. CACs provide a folder full of information, including a resource guide that outlines terms such as deductibles, co-pays, etc., to people they help in person. They encourage people to look at their stage of life. For instance, a person of child-bearing age might need different coverage than someone who has chronic diabetes, said Holly Chase, director of community development. Tax credits affect the amount of your insurance premium. They’re the part the government will subsidize your payment. So, for example, say the plan you choose has a premium that is $193 a month but your tax credit is $181. You would only pay $12 a month, Del Rio said. You do have to file taxes to get tax credits, she said, and tax credits are only available on income earned such as wages and tips. Other funds such as child support, disability payments, etc. don’t qualify. Also, if your employer offers insurance and you opt to take a Marketplace plan, then you will not qualify for a tax credit, Dennis said. Before you actually sign up for a plan, check with your health care providers to see which insurance companies they accept. They may not take all five, and once you have registered for a plan, you cannot change it unless you have a qualifying lifechanging circumstance, Del Rio said.

JADE REYNOLDS / THE SUMTER ITEM

Sumter Family Health Center employees Sonya Del Rio, left, Quinnishia Dennis, center, and Holly Chase are available to help people understand the Affordable Care Act Insurance Marketplace. Open enrollment starts Saturday and lasts only three months. The second major step is to follow up. Once you have selected and signed up for a plan, call the insurance company after three days to verify its staff received your information. They will send you an invoice, and as soon as you pay it, you’ll get your insurance card, Del Rio said. Your insurance coverage must be effective March 1, 2015, to avoid a penalty. So you must make your first payment to the insurance company by Feb. 28, Del Rio said. You also must continue to make monthly payments in order to maintain coverage. Tax penalties start this coming year. So when you file your 2014 taxes, if you did not have insurance of some form — be that personal, through your employer or with the Marketplace — then you will face a fine unless you fall in the “doughnut hole.” “The Affordable Care Act was put into law originally with the premise that states would expand Medicaid,” Chase said. “The Supreme Court upheld the law in 2012 except it saved the right of the state to expand or not expand Medicaid.” South Carolina and 22 other states chose not to expand Medicaid, Del Rio said. The concern was that in three years when the federal money for the program runs out, the state has to find a way sustain it, Chase said. Some people fall into the “dough-

nut hole” of making too much money to qualify for Medicaid but also not qualifying for tax credits to help pay for their insurance premiums in the Marketplace, Chase said. If you fall in this category, your tax preparer can help you make sure you’re not penalized, Del Rio said. Starting next week, CACs will be available for walk-ins and appointments during regular business hours at Sumter Family Health Center’s main site, 1278 N. Lafayette Drive. They will also be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Carolina Women’s Specialists, 319 N. Main St., and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays at Pinewood Family Health Center, 25 E. Clark St. Assistance is available in English and Spanish. If you live outside the county, the CACs with Sumter Family Health Center can connect you with the appropriate people in other counties through their community health center’s association. If you qualify for Medicaid, they can also refer you to someone to walk you through that process. CACs are also available to speak at gatherings and events, Chase said. For more information locally, call (803) 774-4632 or (803) 774-6463 or email enroll@sumterfhc.com. For more information at the national level, visit healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596.

Essential health benefits include at least the following items and services: 1. Outpatient care — the kind you get without being admitted to a hospital; 2. Trips to the emergency room; 3. Treatment in the hospital for inpatient care; 4. Care before and after a baby is born; 5. Mental health and substance use disorder services: This includes behavioral health treatment, counseling and psychotherapy; 6. Your prescription drugs; 7. Services and devices to help you recover if you are injured, have a disability or chronic condition. This includes physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, psychiatric rehabilitation and more; 8. Your lab tests; 9. Preventive services including counseling, screenings and vaccines to keep you healthy and for managing a chronic disease; and 10. Pediatric services: This includes dental care and vision care for children. Specific health care benefits may vary by state. Even within the same state, there can be small differences between health insurance plans. When you fill out your application and compare plans, you’ll see the specific health care benefits each plan offers. Source: Healthcare.gov

SPECIAL ENROLLMENT To register for the Marketplace during a Special Enrollment Period, you must have a qualifying life event such as: • Marriage or divorce; • Having a baby, adopting a child or placing a child for adoption or foster care; • Moving your residence, gaining citizenship, leaving incarceration; • Losing other health coverage because of losing job-based coverage, the end of an individual policy plan year in 2014, COBRA expiration, aging off a parent’s plan, losing eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP and similar circumstances; or • For people already enrolled in Marketplace coverage, having a change in income or household status that affects eligibility for premium tax credits or cost-sharing reductions. Voluntarily ending coverage doesn’t qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period. Neither does losing coverage that doesn’t qualify as minimum essential coverage. Source: Healthcare.gov

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NATION

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

THE SUMTER ITEM

City preps for word on possible charges in shooting of teen BY JIM SALTER The Associated Press

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A woman kneels at a headstone after placing an American flag and cross at Fort San Houston National Cemetery on Tuesday in San Antonio. America thanked its veterans for their service on Tuesday.

America marks Veterans Day with parades, concert, more NEW YORK (AP) — Americans marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with parades, speeches and military discounts, while in Europe the holiday known as Armistice Day held special meaning in the centennial year of the start of World War I. Thousands of veterans and their supporters marched up Fifth Avenue in New York, home to the nation’s oldest Veterans Day parade. At 11 a.m. — the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — a solemn hush fell over Manhattan’s Madison Square Park as veterans laid wreaths under the Eternal Light Monument to honor the fallen. The parade featured a float carrying rapper Ice-T, who is an Army veteran, plus six military dogs and their handlers, all of whom have served in the U.S. armed forces. Here is how the holiday was celebrated elsewhere across the country and overseas.

attend an event at the Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, a state-operated cemetery where more than 56,000 veterans and their family members are buried. Faculty and students in Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, were to read the names of troops killed during deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

well as mom-and-pop retailers across the U.S., offered free goods and services to anyone who has served in the military, a trend that has been growing since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They included IHOP pancakes, Starbucks coffee and even admission at select theaters to see the World War II film “Fury,” starring Brad Pitt.

CHRISTIE TO HONOR THE FALLEN In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie was scheduled to

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CELEBRITY CONCERT Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Eminem and Metallica were among the headliners for a free concert on the National Mall to raise awareness for issues affecting veterans in Washington, D.C. Tuesday’s first-of-its-kind Concert for Valor is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans to the Mall. The Veterans Day event was spearheaded by Starbucks president Howard Schultz.

VETERANS PERKS AND FREEBIES Veterans Day is not only a time to honor those who have served in the military. For American businesses, it’s also a time to back up that appreciation with a freebie. Many national chains, as

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ARMISTICE DAY Europe marked Armistice Day with ceremonies and moments of silence as France opened an international memorial on a former battlefield. The events had special significance because this year is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. Tuesday was the 96th anniversary of the armistice that ended the war on Nov. 11, 1918. French President Francois Hollande placed a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier under Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. Later, he was to head to northern France to inaugurate an international war memorial at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in the presence of German, British and Belgian officials. The Ring of Memory carries the names of 600,000 soldiers who died in the region during the war.

WELDON SPRING, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that law enforcement officials have been working around the clock to make sure residents and businesses are kept safe once prosecutors announce whether a suburban St. Louis police officer will face charges for fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown. A grand jury is expected to decide later this month whether to indict Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, in the Aug. 9 death of Brown, who was black and unarmed. Weeks of protests followed the shooting, and officials are trying to make sure things remain calm once the grand jury decision is announced. Nixon said looting and violence that marred mostly peaceful protests will not be tolerated. “That ugliness was not representative of Missouri, and it cannot be repeated,” he said. Nixon said that once the decision is announced, the state highway patrol will work with St. Louis County and city police as one unified command. The National Guard will also be available if needed. During the protests after the shooting, police donned riot gear and patrolled in armored vehicles, drawing widespread criticism and raising questions about a program that supplies surplus military equipment to local police departments.

A small number of protesters in those first few days attacked squad cars, tossed molotov cocktails at officers and, in a few cases, shot guns in the direction of police and looted local businesses. Police responded with tear gas, smoke canisters and rubber bullets. On many nights, dozens were arrested. St. Louis County police initially handled security, but criticism of their tactics prompted Nixon to put Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson in charge. He and other police leaders said the response was necessary to protect officers, protesters and the public. Some protest organizers fear police will be heavyhanded after the grand jury announcement. Ashley Yates of St. Louis, co-creator of the group Millennial Activists United, noted the vast majority of protests have been peaceful and said Nixon should focus on addressing the systemic problems faced by minority communities, “not reactionary policing techniques.” It isn’t just law enforcement getting ready for the announcement. Organizers of Yates’ group and other protesters gathered Tuesday for training that includes how to take notes and shoot video of police actions on the streets. “There is a significant effort to make sure that people’s rights are protected and that there’s no violence on either side,” said Andy Stepanian, a spokesman for several protest groups.

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WORLD

THE SUMTER ITEM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Europe ready to land 1st probe on comet

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Rosetta mission poster shows a combination of various images to illustrate the deployment of the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from the Rosetta spacecraft.

BERLIN (AP) — How do you land a spacecraft on a comet that is streaking by at 41,000 mph? That’s a problem scientists have been grappling with for more than a decade as they prepare for one of the most audacious space adventures ever — the European Space Agency’s attempt to land a scientific probe on the giant ball of ice and dust known as 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. They’ll find out today whether their plan will work when the agency’s mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, gives its unmanned Rosetta space probe the final go-ahead to drop a lander on the comet. The event marks the climax of Rosetta’s decade-long journey to study the icy celestial bodies that have long fascinated humanity. Scientists hope that the data collected

by Rosetta and its sidekick lander, Philae, will provide insights into the origins of comets and other objects in the universe. On Tuesday, the agency announced that systems aboard the Philae lander had failed to switch on properly at first. Fearing a cosmic calamity, scientists tried a reboot. “The lander successfully powered up, and preparations are now continuing as planned,” the agency said on its website. The hitch demonstrates how much can still go wrong with the $1.62 billion mission first conceived more than two decades ago. Launched in 2004 after a year’s delay, the Rosetta spacecraft had to swing around Earth three times — and once around Mars — to gain enough speed to chase down the comet. After traveling 4 billion

miles, it pulled up alongside 67P in August. Now Rosetta and the comet are flying in tandem at 41,000 mph between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, 311 million miles from Earth. The vast distance means the European Space Agency has to rely on NASA’s Deep Space Network of giant radio antennas to communicate with Rosetta. Early today, Rosetta will execute a series of complicated maneuvers to reach the optimum drop-off point. About 3:35 a.m., the lander will separate from the mother ship. If anything goes wrong then, scientists will be powerless to do anything but watch. Because it takes more than 28 minutes for a command to reach Rosetta, the lander has been programmed to perform the touchdown autonomously.

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THE SUMTER ITEM H.D. Osteen 1904-1987 The Item

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COMMENTARY

Educational fraud

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THANKS TO FOLKS AT VOTER REGISTRATION OFFICE

full-time work at Tuomey. Subsequently, she advanced her knowledge and skills through additional courses, completing It seems that all too often hard-working the Neonatal Resuscitation program, people who accomplish their mission which she then began teaching at Tuomwithout fanfare or notoriety are overey. Afterward, she received her National looked. On behalf of all the candidates Certification in Neonatal Care, one of who filed for office in the spring, ran for only about 100 in the United States. Later their party nomination in June and put their faith in the wisdom of the citizens in she began teaching the Perinatal Continuing Education program at Tuomey inthe recent general election, I want to exvolving more complex problems. press our sincere appreciation to Pat JefThrough per persistence over the years, ferson and her staff at the voter registrashe has moved from LPN to clinical mantion office for a job well done. I hope the ager (head nurse). As nursing has be30,375 voters who benefited from the come more technologically oriented, Barsmooth process feel the same way. ERNEST “CHIP” FINNEY bara has kept up with the advances, takSumter ing courses and working at Richland Memorial Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with KENAWY’S WORK WITH BABIES their highly trained nurses and neonatolA TRUE GIFT TO SUMTER ogists on many of her free weekends. Her commitment to infant care is furA recent special Sunday Sumter Item ther evidenced by her willingness to be section titled “Extraordinary Women” available for call back to the hospital for featured Barbara Wood Kenawy, clinical newborn emergencies whenever needed manager at Tuomey Regional Medical Center’s nursery. It told of a compassion- — to do what she loves — to provide bedside care for preterm and sick babies. ate program, “Touching Hearts,” which Her primary beneficiaries, many countshe initiated. Let me tell you a little of less babies, may never know her, but her career in providing care for many their mothers and fathers, co-workers thousands of newborns over nearly 40 and pediatricians appreciate her years of years. dedication in providing knowledge, skill Barbara began her career here as a and her special touch in caring for babies teenager after graduating from the Sumter School of Practical Nursing in 1975 as and teaching other nurses what she has learned — all a true gift to the Sumter a LPN (licensed practical nurse). A few community. years later, she earned her registered WILLIAM F. “TED” YOUNG, M.D. nurse degree (R.N.) at the former Sumter Retired Pediatrician Technical College, now Central Carolina Sumter Technical College, while continuing her

t would be unreasonable to expect a student with the reading, writing and computing abilities of an eighth-grader to do well in college. If such a student were admitted, his retention would require that the college create dumbed-downed or phantom courses. The University of North Carolina made this accommodation; many athletes were enrolled in phantom courses in the department of African and African-American studies. The discovery and resulting scandal are simply the tip of the iceberg and a symptom of a much larger problem. A UNC learning specialist hired to help athletes found that during the years 2004 to Walter 2012, 60 perWilliams cent of 183 members of the football and basketball teams read between fourth- and eighth-grade levels. Eight to 10 percent read below a thirdgrade level. These were black high-school graduates, and their high-school diplomas were clearly fraudulent. How cruel is it for UNC to admit students who have little chance of academically competing on the same basis as its other students? Black students so illequipped run the risk of ridicule and reinforcing white stereotypes of black mental incompetence. If these students are to retain their athletic eligibility or minimum GPA requirements, universities must engage in academic fraud. Academic fraud benefits the entire university community except the black students. If universities can maintain the scholar-athlete charade, they earn tens of millions of dollars in sports revenue. Other than as a pretense, academics can be ignored. The university just has to create academic slums, where weak students can “succeed.” Stronger academic departments benefit because they do not have to compromise their standards and bear the

burden of having to deal with weak students. Then there’s that feather in the diversity hat upon which university administrators are fixated. I guarantee you that academic fraud is by no means unique to UNC. As such, it represents gross dereliction and dishonesty on the parts of university administrators and faculty members. Unfortunately, and to the detriment of black people, there is broad support among black members of the academic community for practices that lead to academic fraud. In the wake of the UNC scandal, the Carolina Black Caucus — a campus group of administrators, staff and faculty — rushed to the defense of the black athletes and the department of African and African-American studies, claiming an unfair investigation and unfair public and media attack. One campus student group said that the student-athlete fraud scandal is actually a result of “white supremacist, heteropatriarchal capitalism.” Focusing solely on the academic problems of blacks at the college level misses the point. It is virtually impossible to repair 12 years of rotten primary and secondary education in the space of four or five years of college. Proof of that is black student performance on postgraduate tests, such as the GRE, LSAT and MCAT. The blackwhite achievement gap on those tests is just as wide as it is on the SAT or ACT, which high schoolers take. That’s evidence that primary and secondary education deficiencies have not been repaired during undergraduate years. The academic achievement level for white students is nothing to write home about. Only 25 percent of white high-school graduates taking the 2011 ACT met its benchmarks for college readiness in all subjects for which it tests. Only 4 percent of black students were collegeready in all subjects, according to their scores on the ACT. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. © 2014 creators.com

Welcome to the New South — black and conservative

n 1956, 19 Democratic senators and 82 Democratic House members signed a Southern Manifesto pledging to resist the integration of Southern public schools as ordered by Earl Warren’s Supreme Court. Only two GOP House members, both from Virginia, signed. The American South was as solidly Democratic as it was solidly segregationist. The break in the dam came in a special election in Texas in 1961 to fill the Senate seat of Lyndon Johnson, newly elected vice president. John Tower became the first Republican since Reconstruction to win a Southern Senate seat by popular election. After a raucous rally in South Carolina in 1966, Richard Nixon told this writer the future of the GOP was in the South. That was a year after passage of the Voting Rights Act and LBJ’s forecast that Democrats could lose Dixie for a generation. Nixon believed that once desegregation was done, its natural conservatism would bring the South into the party of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan. History has proven him right. In 1972, President Nixon would sweep all 11 Southern states. As for the Voting Rights Act,

COMMENTARY while it led to the enfranchisement and empowerment of the black South, it has proven a death sentence for Boll Weevils and Blue Dogs. Southern white Democrats, descendants of the men who voted for that Southern Manifesto, are an endangered species, a dying breed. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Patrick Louisiana Buchanan and Arkansas will not send a single white Democrat to Congress, if Mary Landrieu loses her run-off. The only Democrats in the House from Deep South states will be blacks. Tennessee, North Carolina and West Virginia are trending the same way. Republican dominance in the New South is partly explained by the conservatism of the region, which is in tune with the national GOP. But the rise of the black Democrat and extinction of the white Democrat is also traceable to the Voting Rights Act. Required by law and the Justice Department to create dis-

tricts where blacks would be competitive, Southern legislatures began to draw up majority-minority districts where the black vote was so concentrated as to ensure the election of a black. The GOP offer on the table for black Democrats was safe seats in Congress they could hold for decades, to build up sufficient seniority to garner real power to use on behalf of their constituents. As Republicans took over legislatures, they not only followed the VRA mandate, they went beyond it. They created secure House seats for black candidates, which inevitably resulted in heavily white districts, tailor-made for conservative Republicans. Moderate and liberal Democrats were squeezed out as black Democrats colluded with conservative Republicans to carve up Southern states in a way to ensure the results we see today. As Hispanics, also geographically concentrated, begin to register and vote in greater numbers, Republicans will likely use the same strategy to carve out deeply Hispanic districts for them. Thus the end result of the Voting Rights Act is likely to be more districts represented by blacks, Hispanics and

Asians. These will be largely Democratic and come to represent a plurality of Democrats in the House, as white Democratic Congressmen shrink in number. Moreover, by using naked race-based ads in the Nov. 4 elections, Democratic strategists are pushing us to an America where the GOP is predominantly white and the Democratic Party, especially in Dixie, is dominated by persons of color. As Jeremy Peters of the New York Times wrote in the paper’s lead story a week before the elections: ‘’Democrats in the closest Senate races in the South are turning to racially charged messages — invoking Trayvon Martin, the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Jim-Crow era segregation. ... ‘’The images and words they are using are striking for how overtly they play on fears of intimidation and repression.” The ads worked. But while Dixie Democrats rolled up landslides among black voters, Michelle Nunn, daughter of Sen. Sam Nunn, carried only 27 percent of the white vote in Georgia, and was wiped out. Ironically, as Republicans capture state legislatures across the South, they will wield their power as energeti-

cally to guarantee black Democrats get safe districts as the old Dixiecrat Democrats wielded their power to ensure that black folks could not vote. This weekend, 2 million Catalans went to the polls in Spain and in a non-binding referendum voted 4-1 to secede. This follows the vote by 45 percent of the Scottish people to secede from Britain. As ethnonationalism pulls at the seams of many countries of Europe, it would appear it is also present here in the United States. When political appeals on the basis of race and ethnicity are being made openly by liberal Democrats, as in 2014, we are on a road that ends in a racial-ethnic spoils system — and national disintegration. ‘’There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism,” roared Teddy Roosevelt, “a hyphenated American is not an American at all.” Typical hate crime by a man unappreciative of our diversity. Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.” © 2014 creators.com

LOCAL

THE SUMTER ITEM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

MARCH FROM PAGE A1 community organization aimed at improving the quality of life for Sumter County residents in the areas of economic development, public safety, family and education. Officials note crime is the first topic of many that the group plans to address with forums and events such as Saturday’s march. To that end, the group installed education and mentoring program committees during its meeting Sunday. A crime study released Friday by Safe Choice Security named Sumter as one of the most improved cities in the state on public safety, with a nearly 22 percent decrease in crime rates between 2007 and 2012. That comes on the heels of a pair of studies released earlier this year that found Sumter to have one of the highest crime rates in the state, based on 2012 statistics. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark spoke to a roomful of residents during the town hall forum last week and warned about reading too much into such studies. He noted all of them rely upon 2012 FBI data and noted Sumter has seen a 12 percent overall decrease in crime since then.

LANDFILL FROM PAGE A1 Falta outlined the vapor problem in a September report for Kestrel Horizons, the site’s manager from 2004 until this month. Vapors rising through the landfill may be seeping through the plastic liner or finding holes that have developed in the liner. “Eventually, the cap may need to be rebuilt to modern standards in order to reduce water infiltration and to reduce contaminated vapor transport through the cap,’’ Falta wrote in a Sept. 15 report. Contaminants in groundwater include solvents and cancer-causing materials, such as benzene and vinyl chloride, records show. The discovery of toxic vapors and polluted groundwater presents a potentially new set of challenges for state regulators charged with protecting the 100,000-acre lake from toxins buried in the landfill off S.C. 261 in rural Sumter County. Instead of concerns only about leaks through the bottom of the dump, the top of the landfill also has prompted questions about its stability, documents obtained by The State newspaper show. Leaks near the top and sides of the landfill threaten the environ-

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Local protestors march down Main Street in downtown Sumter in August decrying violence in Sumter. OneSumter group’s second rally and march will take place beginning at Crosswell Drive Elementary School on Saturday at 10 a.m., and the public is invited.

ment and could result from a failed top liner, according to Kestrel. The old Laidlaw/Safety Kleen landfill also has a synthetic liner at the bottom. In a recent interview with The State, DHEC officials contended that vapors found in the soil above the top liner don’t pose an imminent threat to the lake and, for now, they do not favor a new cap. The seeping vapors were discovered more than three years ago, records show. “We’re not sure exactly what is going on, but we don’t think it’s impacting groundwater,’’ DHEC’s David Scaturo said when asked about gas rising from the landfill. Scaturo, however, said the department plans to install more groundwater-monitoring wells around part of the landfill to learn more. The agency also will continue to monitor soil gas in the landfill’s cover. In a later email to The State, DHEC officials emphasized

that there is no “known or suspected environmental threat’’ from the landfill. Agency officials also said the landfill gas is not unusual. But Falta said gas from a hazardous waste dump is substantially different than gas at a county landfill. “A regular landfill takes garbage, and it rots,’’ Falta said. “This is all chemical waste. It’s chlorinated solvents, pesticides, things like that. This is not anything rotting. You have all these chemicals that are fairly volatile. Some are in drums. Some stuff was just poured in.’’ DHEC and Kestrel Horizons’ principal Bill Stephens have been at odds for months about management of the closed 279acre dump. From 2004 through much of this year, the company’s duties included overseeing toxic water that has built up inside the landfill and making sure plastic liners on the top and bottom of the landfill

are working. Citing millions of dollars in costs paid by DHEC to Kestrel, agency director Catherine Templeton forced the company to resign last summer. Kestrel’s final day was Oct. 31. The landfill is now being overseen by two lawyers with backgrounds in environmental issues. One of the key disputes between Kestrel and the state is whether to install systems to prevent leaks from getting into the lake or to continue to monitor for problems that DHEC says may, or may not, develop. Stephens said the site needs a new cap, a system to extract landfill gas, an improved system to capture contaminated water already inside the landfill, a metal wall to keep polluted groundwater from flowing to the lake and a bigger French drain. The drain could better detect leaks than moni-

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A10

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

FYI call (803) 774-6181. Hospice Care of Sumter LLC is in need of volunteers in SumThe DAV will have certified volter and surrounding coununteers to assist all veterans in Offer your help or find some help ties. Opportunities available filing claims with the VA from 9 for you to use your time and a.m. to noon on Mondays, talents to be of assistance Wednesdays and Fridays at include reading, musical talthe VA Clinic, 407 N. Salem ents, companionship, light St., and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on housekeeping, etc. Contact Thursdays at the Chapter 5 Joyce Blanding at (803) 883home, 18 Hardpack Drive, off 5606 or hospicecareofsumof S.C. 441, behind Shaw Air ter@yahoo.com. Force Base. Call L. Pearson at Agape Hospice is in need of vol- (803) 499-9596 or Paul Fisher at (803) 840-1001. unteers. Whether your passion is baking, knitting, read- The Society for the Prevention ing, singing, etc., Agape Hos- of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) pice can find a place for you. office, 1140 S. Guignard Contact Thandi Blanding at Drive, has many animals (803) 774-1075, (803) 260-3876 available for adoption. Adopor tblanding@agapsenior. tion fees cover the first com. shots and first deworming and spaying or neutering. Hospice Care of South Carolina is in need of volunteers in Sum- The office is open 11 a.m.5:30 p.m. every day except ter County. Do you have one extra hour a week? Opportu- Wednesday and Sunday. Call (803) 773-9292 for details. nities are available for patient/family companionship, The American Red Cross has a administrative support, meal permanent blood service locatpreparation, light household ed at 1155 N. Guignard Drive, projects, student education Suite 2. For information on and various other tasks. donating blood, call (803) Contact Whitney Rogers, re775-2364. Blood can be dogional volunteer coordinator, nated for the general popuat (843) 409-7991 or whitney. lation or for your own surrogers@hospicecare.net. gery. Amedisys Hospice is in need of The National Kidney Foundation volunteers. Volunteer opporof South Carolina is in need of tunities include 1) special unwanted vehicles — even ones projects of baking, sewing, that don’t run. The car will be knitting, crafts, carpentry towed at no charge to you and yard work; 2) adminisand you will be provided trative/office duties of copywith a possible tax deducing, light filing and answertion. The donated vehicle ing phones; and 3) patient will be sold at auction or recompanionship — develop cycled for salvageable parts. one-on-one relationships For information, call (800) with hospice patients (train488-2277. ing provided free of charge). The Muscular Dystrophy Family Contact Rhoda Keefe, volunFoundation Inc. (MDFF), a nonteer coordinator, at (803) profit organization, accepts ve469-3047 or rhonda.keefe@ hicle contributions. To comamedisys.com. plete a vehicle donation, Hospice Care of Tri-County is in contact MDFF to make arneed of volunteers. Volunteers rangements by calling 1-800offer support, companion544-1213. Donors may also ship and care to the caregiv- log onto the organization’s er by running errands, readWeb site at www.mdff.org ing to patients, listening and and click on the automobile just being there for patients icon to complete an online who need companionship. vehicle donation application. All you need is a willing The Rembert Area Community heart and some time to give Coalition (RACC) is accepting to others. No medical backapplications for the 2014-15 ground is required. Hospice after school program. ApplicaCare of Tri-County will protions can be obtained at the vide you with the tools you main office, 8455 Camden need to become a hospice Highway, Rembert, SC 29128. volunteer. Call Carol Tindal For information, call (803) at (803) 905-7720. 432-2001. ROAD to RECOVERY is in need Having cancer is hard. Finding of volunteers in the Sumter help shouldn’t be. Free help for area. The program provides cancer patients from the cancer patients with transAmerican Cancer Society. portation to and from treatTransportation to treatment, ments. Call the American help for appearance related Cancer Society at (803) 750side effects of treatment, nu1693. trition help, one-on-one The Sumter James R. Clark Sick- breast cancer support, free le Cell Memorial Foundation, housing away from home 337 Manning Ave., offers free during treatment, help findSickle Cell Disease and Sicking clinical trials, someone le Cell Trait screenings to the to talk to — all free from Sumter and Clarendon comyour American Cancer Socimunities. For appointments, ety. Call (800) 227-2345.

DAILY PLANNER

WEATHER TODAY

TONIGHT

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Fog in the a.m.; periods of sun

Partly cloudy

Mostly cloudy

Partly sunny, brisk and colder

A full day of sunshine, but cool

Cloudy with a chance of rain

76°

52°

66° / 40°

53° / 30°

52° / 35°

55° / 41°

Chance of rain: 0%

Chance of rain: 10%

Chance of rain: 15%

Chance of rain: 10%

Chance of rain: 35%

NNW 4-8 mph

NE 3-6 mph

NNW 4-8 mph

NNE 10-20 mph

NE 6-12 mph

NE 4-8 mph

TODAY’S SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER

EUGENIA LAST

misunderstanding turn into a temper tantrum. Curb your reaction and focus your energy on what you can do to feel better about yourself and what you have to offer. Confidence will help you overcome any mishaps. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Make sure you can afford the purchases you make and the entertainment you engage in. Too much of anything will lead to a problem with a friend, lover or relative. An unpredictable turn of events will work against you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do your own thing. Don’t ask anyone to tag along or you will find it difficult to get what you want out of your expedition. Question a relationship that continually holds you back or disagrees with your choices. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Learn as you go. Your ability to pick up information intuitively will help you gain ground and impress someone who can help you advance. Discussing your plans and following through will show that

Greenville 72/46

Columbia 77/49

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Sumter 76/52

Aiken 77/48

ON THE COAST

Charleston 77/54

Today: Times of clouds and sun. High 73 to 77. Thursday: A shower or two; only in the morning in southern parts. High 67 to 73.

LOCAL ALMANAC

LAKE LEVELS

SUMTER THROUGH 4 P.M. YESTERDAY

Today Hi/Lo/W 67/41/pc 33/21/pc 45/27/pc 41/26/pc 57/37/pc 69/57/c 63/46/pc 66/40/r 79/56/s 67/37/sh 80/59/s 66/58/pc 64/40/pc

SUN AND MOON 7 a.m. yest. 355.86 74.57 74.45 97.39

24-hr chg -0.01 -0.07 -0.01 +0.03

Sunrise 6:51 a.m. Moonrise 10:36 p.m.

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

0.00" 0.60" 1.03" 32.01" 44.00" 41.72"

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

77° 50° 68° 42° 81° in 2006 25° in 1973

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

Thu. Hi/Lo/W 55/31/c 33/21/sf 41/27/c 38/24/sf 50/31/c 69/59/c 55/38/c 50/36/pc 81/58/pc 51/34/pc 80/60/s 68/55/r 52/34/pc

Myrtle Beach 73/54

Manning 77/51

Today: Clouds and sun. Winds west 3-6 mph. Partly cloudy. Thursday: Cooler with variable clouds. Winds northwest 4-8 mph.

Temperature High Low Normal high Normal low Record high Record low

Florence 76/51

Bishopville 76/51

Sunset 5:20 p.m. Moonset 11:37 a.m.

Last

New

First

Full

Nov. 14

Nov. 22

Nov. 29

Dec. 6

TIDES

Flood 7 a.m. 24-hr stage yest. chg 12 2.30 -0.02 19 3.30 none 14 3.36 -0.20 14 2.89 none 80 75.42 -0.31 24 6.14 +1.60

AT MYRTLE BEACH

Today Thu.

High 12:24 a.m. 12:40 p.m. 1:15 a.m. 1:29 p.m.

Ht. 2.8 3.1 2.7 3.0

Low 7:02 a.m. 7:47 p.m. 7:51 a.m. 8:35 p.m.

Ht. 0.7 0.9 0.9 1.0

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

Today Hi/Lo/W 62/42/pc 74/42/pc 79/47/pc 76/55/pc 66/54/pc 77/54/pc 73/46/pc 75/48/pc 77/49/pc 76/49/pc 75/47/pc 75/50/pc 76/48/pc

Thu. Hi/Lo/W 51/26/pc 62/33/c 69/40/c 73/45/sh 61/47/c 73/45/sh 58/32/c 64/37/c 67/40/c 64/37/c 60/39/c 64/40/c 60/38/c

Today City Hi/Lo/W Florence 76/51/pc Gainesville 77/53/s Gastonia 73/46/pc Goldsboro 76/47/pc Goose Creek 77/53/pc Greensboro 69/44/pc Greenville 72/46/pc Hickory 69/43/pc Hilton Head 72/57/pc Jacksonville, FL 77/55/s La Grange 70/43/pc Macon 76/45/pc Marietta 66/39/pc

Thu. Hi/Lo/W 66/39/c 76/46/pc 58/33/c 60/38/c 72/44/sh 52/30/c 60/33/c 55/29/c 71/46/sh 76/46/pc 58/31/c 63/32/c 53/29/c

Today City Hi/Lo/W Marion 66/44/pc Mt. Pleasant 76/54/pc Myrtle Beach 73/54/pc Orangeburg 77/52/pc Port Royal 74/56/pc Raleigh 73/43/pc Rock Hill 73/46/pc Rockingham 74/47/pc Savannah 79/56/pc Spartanburg 72/48/pc Summerville 73/58/pc Wilmington 76/51/pc Winston-Salem 68/42/pc

Thu. Hi/Lo/W 54/30/c 72/46/sh 69/42/sh 68/42/c 71/46/sh 54/33/c 59/33/c 58/37/c 75/46/sh 59/35/c 71/46/sh 68/41/sh 53/29/c

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.

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

803-795-4257

you mean business. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Stick to what you know and do best. Focus on work and how you can earn a decent living. Don’t expect to please everyone, but do your best to set your sights on what will bring you the greatest joy and rewards. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Communication will be the key to getting what you want. Sharing your thoughts and opinions will give those in a position to help greater insight into what you want to accomplish. Positive alterations at home will promote greater creativity.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put business before play. Once your GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Unusual financial affairs are in order, you circumstances will arise with regard will know what’s left over for fun to donations or helping others. and games. A change at home can Make home improvements geared lead to good fortune if you invest toward entertainment, but don’t wisely and maintain your budget. overspend. Renting to someone to CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): help cover your costs will help you Don’t make changes without get your finances back in order. permission. Partnership problems CANCER (June 21-July 22): Address partnership issues. Voice your complaints instead of letting your hostility grow. Once you clear the air, you can create an atmosphere conducive to accomplishing your goals. Adding a little spice to your life will make you more appealing.

Gaﬀney 72/47 Spartanburg 72/48

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

SUMTER COUNTY VOTER REGISTRATION / ELECTION COMMISSION Thursday, 5:30 p.m., registration / election office, 141 N. Main St.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t let an emotional

AccuWeather® ﬁve-day forecast for Sumter

PUBLIC AGENDA

The last word in astrology

THE SUMTER ITEM

will arise if you aren’t open about the way you feel and what you want to do. A project that will take you in a new direction looks promising, but will require a lifestyle change.

LOTTERY NUMBERS PALMETTO CASH 5 TUESDAY

POWERBALL SATURDAY

MEGAMILLIONS FRIDAY

3-13-17-24-36 PowerUp: 3

9-19-33-38-54 Powerball: 15 Powerplay: 3

31-35-41-65-66 Megaball: 5 Megaplier: 5

PICK 3 TUESDAY

PICK 4 TUESDAY

1-2-0 and 1-7-6

0-7-9-7 and 6-1-5-6

PICTURES FROM THE PUBLIC Luke Reuwer of Sumter recently participated in the worldwide Fencing Flash Mob Day at Boyd Plaza at the Columbia Museum of Art. Reuwer is wearing the neon socks. Photo submitted by Peggy Kinney.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Direct your energy into making the changes necessary to improve the way you earn a living. Consider new ways to use your skills, talents and knowledge in a new and diverse manner, and you will find a new source of income. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Focus on investments, contracts and how you can utilize your talents to bring in more money. Negotiations will favor you if you use your imagination to present and promote what you have to offer to others.

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

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 Call: (803) 774-1241 | E-mail: sports@theitem.com

PREP FOOTBALL

Cruz, Littell, Patrick, Harvin week’s best BY DENNIS BRUNSON dennis@theitem.com Tony Cruz didn’t even play in the first two games of the football season for Laurence Manning Academy. One can’t help wonder what Swampcats head coach Robbie Briggs and his staff were thinking. He got a chance to start at safety when starter Adam Lowder was the only available quarterback after the player he was splitting QB duties with, J.T. Eppley, was injured. Cruz has been an integral part of the LMA defense ever

since. He topped himself on Friday though in Laurence Manning’s SCISA 3A quarterfinal playoff game against Cardinal Newman. He had a season in one quarter, coming up with three interceptions in the Swampcats’ 51-14 victory to go along with 11 tackles. When asked if he was in the right place at the right time or reading things? “It was a little bit of both,” Cruz said properly. “I was just out there trying to do my job.” Because of his performance, Cruz has been select-

ed as The Sumter Item Defensive Player of the Week. Carolina Academy running back Jared Littell is the Offensive selection, Wilson Hall offensive guard Walker Patrick is the Offensive Lineman of the Week and Sumter punter Pressley Harvin is the Special Teams Player of the Week. Players are selected based on weekly nominations by local high school coaches. The quartet will be honored at the weekly breakfast meeting of the Sumter Touchdown Club Presented by FTC on Friday beginning at 7:15 a.m.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

LITTELL OFFENSIVE PLAYER

CRUZ

PATRICK

DEFENSIVE PLAYER

at the Quality Inn on Broad Street Extension. University of South Carolina running

HARVIN

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN

SPECIAL TEAMS

backs coach Everette Sands

SEE POW, PAGE B4

USC FOOTBALL

Carolina awaits final SEC challenge BY PETE IACOBELLI The Associated Press COLUMBIA — Steve Spurrier and South Carolina have a final chance to shake off the doubts after a Southeastern Conference season gone terribly wrong. The Gamecocks (4-5, 2-5 SEC) were preseason favorites to win the East and play for a league title. Instead, they’ve lost four straight conference games in a season for just the second time in Spurrier’s 10 years. The last opportunity to break the streak comes Saturday at Florida (5-3, 4-3), Spurrier’s alma mater and former team that’s turned a corner its past two games. Spurrier said Tuesday he’ll look around Ben Hill Griffin Stadium during warmups and reflect on his 1966 Heisman Trophy as Gators quarterback and the 1996 national championship he earned there as

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson (17) drops back to pass while being pressured by Tennessee’s Curt Maggitt, center, during the Gamecocks’ 41-38 overtime loss in Columbia. USC will travel to Gainsville, Fla., on Saturday to take on the Gators in its final SEC contest of the season. coach. “This is the fifth time I’ve been on the opposing sideline,

so it’s not that big a deal anymore,” he said. That’s where Spurrier’s

wrong: It’s always a big show when the Head Ball Coach returns to The Swamp.

“He has a statue outside of

SEE CAROLINA, PAGE B3

Clarendon Hall prepared to play aggressive vs. CA BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER michaelc@theitem.com The last time the Clarendon Hall football team met Carolina Academy was just two weeks ago, and the Bobcats spoiled Senior Night for the Saints with a 38-6 victory at Robinson Field in Summerton. The teams will meet again on Friday in Summerton with much more on the line, a spot in the SCISA 8-man state

championship game, and the Saints are determined not to let Carolina be a spoiler again. “We just have to attack the ball this week,” CH TINDALL senior Daniel Pappas said. “When we played them two weeks ago, we were kind of playing on our heels. “We weren’t as aggressive as we

should’ve been, and they came out ready to play against us because they had their backs against the wall,” Pappas added. “They were hitting us hard, and we weren’t ready for that, and this week we know what to expect and how to respond.” Clarendon Hall, 9-2 on the season and a No. 2 seed out of Region I, while the 8-3 Bobcats are riding a 4-game winning streak and are averaging 38.4

points a game offensively while allowing 25.2. “We expect the same thing out of Carolina,” Clarendon Hall head coach Michael Tindall said. “They’re going to line up in the I formation and run the ball out of it.” The Bobcats are led running back Jared Littell, who has rushed for over

SEE SAINTS, PAGE B4

CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Tigers trying to put it all together for last ACC game of season against Georgia Tech BY AARON BRENNER Post and Courier CLEMSON — Only three more games left to keep the offensive line of five guys held together with adhesives and chewing gum. The latest on Clemson’s options up front: junior center Ryan Norton was benched to begin last Thursday’s game at Wake Forest, though when makeshift starter Reid Webster struggled snapping out of the shotgun, Norton entered and played 66 snaps, pushing Webster back to right guard. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS “I thought Ryan responded Clemson’s Wayne Gallman (9) and the rest of the Tigers offense will to the move we made,” offenrun behind a healthier but makeshift offensive line on Saturday at sive coordinator Chad Morris noon when they travel to Georgia Tech. said. “Actually played a de-

cent game, showed some improvement. That’s what you ask for, when a guy loses his job.” Norton was on the Rimington Trophy preseason watch list. “He’s got to get back to the edge that he had a year ago,” Morris said. “I don’t know exactly (why) he hasn’t played at a consistent basis this year. We were really counting on him as a veteran guy. I’m excited to see what Ryan does this week because he did respond.” Now sophomore center Jay Guillermo is possible to return this Saturday at Georgia Tech, after missing the past four games recovering from

toe surgery. “We’ll watch him in practice this week, and gauge his comfort,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “We know he’s capable of playing.” Meanwhile, the senior Webster is still at right guard for now over freshman Tyrone Crowder. Junior Isaiah Battle (save for a suspension in the Syracuse game) has been entrenched at left tackle, while seniors David Beasley and Kalon Davis are settling in at left guard and right tackle, respectively. The only available reserves are senior Eric Mac Lain and junior Joe Gore. Gore had an

SEE TIGERS, PAGE B3

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

SCOREBOARD TV, RADIO TODAY

4 a.m. – Professional Baseball: MLB All-Stars vs. Samurai Japan National Team Game One from Osaka, Japan (MLB NETWORK). 11 a.m. – Professional Golf: Asian Tour Panasonic Open India Final Round from New Delhi (GOLF). 2:25 p.m. – International Soccer: Netherlands vs. Mexico from Amsterdam (ESPN2). 6 p.m. – Women’s College Volleyball: Mississippi State at Alabama (ESPNU). 6 p.m. – Major League Baseball: Baseball Writers’ Association of America Cy Young Awards (MLB NETWORK). 6:05 p.m. – Talk Show: Sports Talk (WDXY-FM 105.9, WDXY-AM 1240). 7 p.m. – Women’s College Basketball: Auburn at Florida (SEC NETWORK). 7:30 p.m. – NBA Basketball: Indiana at Miami (ESPN). 8 p.m. – College Football: Kent State at Bowling Green (ESPN2). 8 p.m. – College Football: Ball State at Massachusetts (ESPNU). 8 p.m. – NHL Hockey: Boston at Toronto (NBC SPORTS NETWORK). 8 p.m. – Professional Football: FXFL Game – Brooklyn at Omaha (YOUTOO). 9 p.m. – Professional Baseball: MLB All-Stars vs. Samurai Japan National Team Game One from Osaka, Japan (MLB NETWORK). 10 p.m. – NBA Basketball: Houston vs. Minnesota from Mexico City (ESPN). 10:30 p.m. – NHL Hockey: Los Angeles at Anaheim (NBC SPORTS NETWORK). 4 a.m. – PGA Golf: European PGA Tour Turkish Airlines Open First Round from Antalya, Turkey (GOLF).

PREP FOOTBALL BRACKETS First Round

3A Upper State (1) A.C. Flora 37, (4) Daniel 14 (2) Lancaster 26, (3) Chapman 20 (1) Wren 56, (4) Pickens 13 (2) Emerald 28, (3) Broome 14 (1) South Pointe 56, (4) Blue Ridge 0 (3) Seneca 40, (2) Chapin 34 (1) Greer 17, (4) Clinton 13 (2) Belton-Honea Path 28, (3) Camden 9 Lower State (1) Hartsville 33, (4) OrangeburgWilkinson 21 (3) Georgetown 44, (2) Airport 7 (1) Berkeley 35, (4) Dreher 28 (3) Midland Valley 35, (2) North Myrtle Beach 21 (1) Swansea 45, (4) Wilson 21 (2) Marlboro County 14, (3) Beaufort 13 (1) Myrtle Beach 69, (4) Gilbert 28 (2) Hanahan 42, (3) Lakewood 12 Second Round Friday Upper State (2) Lancaster at (1) A.C. Flora (2) Emerald at (1) Wren (3) Seneca at (1) South Pointe (2) Belton-Honea Path at (1) Greer) Lower State (3) Georgetown at (1) Hartsville (3) Midland Valley at (1) Berkeley (2) Marlboro County at (1) Swansea (2) Hanahan at (1) Myrtle Beach 2A Division I Upper State (1) Fairfield Central 55, (8) Mid-Carolina 14 (4) Strom Thurmond 49, (5) Pendleton 14 (3) Newberry 52, (6) Indian Land 10 (2) Woodruff 42, (7) Powdersville 27 Lower State (1) Dillon 41, (8) Aynor 6 (5) Waccamaw 21, (4) Lake Marion 6 (3) Loris 42, (6) Wade Hampton 0 (2) Ridgeland-Hardeeville 51, Garrett 19 Second Round Friday Upper State (4) Strom Thurmond at (1) Fairfield Central (3) Newberry at (2) Woodruff Lower State (5) Waccamaw at (1) Dillon (3) Loris at (2) Ridgeland-Hardeeville 2A Division II Upper State (1) Chesnee 55, (8) Chesterfield 34 (5) Keenan 29, (4) Central 26 (6) Ninety Six 35, (3) Cheraw 21 (7) Abbeville 34, (2) Batesburg-Leesville 28 Lower State (1) Woodland 42, (8) Johnsonville 14 (4) Andrews 28, (5) Bishop England 9 (3) Whale Branch 21, (6) Barnwell 12 (2) Timberland 42, (7) Academic Magnet 0 Second Round Friday Upper state (5) Keenan at (1) Chesnee (7) Abbeville at (6) Ninety Six Lower State (4) Andrews at (1) Woodland (3) Whale Branch at (2) Timberland 1A Division I Upper State (1) Christ Church 62, (8) Dixie 0 (5) St. Joseph’s 36, (4) Fox Creek 25 (3) Williston-Elko 54, (6) Southside Christian 40 (2) McBee 61, (7) Lewisville 0 Lower State (1) St. John’s 8, (8) Latta 7 (4) Bamberg-Ehrhardt 48, (5) Hannah-Pamplico 14 (3) Hemingway 20, (6) Calhoun County 0 (2) Allendale-Fairfax 38, (7) East Clarendon 6 Second Round Friday Upper State (5) St. Joseph’s at (1) Christ Church (3) Williston-Elko at (2) McBee Lower State (4) Bamberg-Ehrhardt at (1) St. John’s (3) Hemingway at (2) Allendale-Fairfax 1A Division II Upper State (1) Lamar 62, (8) North 0 (5) Ridge-Spring Monetta 33, (4) Great Falls 21 (3) McCormick 31, (6) Whitmire 9 (2) Hunter-Kinard-Tyler 44, (7) Blackville-Hilda 7 Lower State (1) Lake View 47, (8) C.E. Murray 6 (5) Timmonsville 67, (4) Military Magnet 12 (3) Cross 50, (6) Branchville 14 (2) Estill 70, (7) Lincoln 0 Second Round Friday Upper State Ridge Spring-Monetta at (1) Lamar (3) McCormick at (2) Hunter-KinardTyler Lower State (5) Timmonsville at (1) Lake View (3) Cross at (2) Estill

PREP SCHEDULE FRIDAY

Local Varsity Football Playoffs SCHSL 4A Division I Sumter at Summerville, 7:30 p.m. SCISA 3A Wilson Hall at Laurence Manning, 7:30 p.m. SCISA 8-Man Carolina Academy at Clarendon Hall, 7:30 p.m.

NBA STANDINGS

.429 .286

2 3

Pct .750 .500 .429 .286 .250

GB – 2 21/2 31/2 4

PRO BASEBALL

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

L 1 1 3 3 3

Pct .857 .857 .571 .500 .500

GB – – 2 21/2 21/2

L 3 5 4 5 5

Pct .571 .375 .333 .286 .167

GB – 11/2 11/2 2 21/2

L 1 2 3 3 5

Pct .833 .714 .571 .571 .167

GB – 1/2 11/2 11/2 4

MONDAY’S GAMES

Indiana 97, Utah 86 Cleveland 118, New Orleans 111 Atlanta 91, New York 85 Chicago 102, Detroit 91 San Antonio 89, L.A. Clippers 85

TUESDAY’S GAMES

Orlando at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Memphis, 8 p.m. Oklahoma City at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. Sacramento at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Charlotte at Portland, 10 p.m. San Antonio at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAMES

Detroit at Washington, 7 p.m. Utah at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Indiana at Miami, 7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at Boston, 7:30 p.m. Orlando at New York, 7:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at New Orleans, 8 p.m. Brooklyn at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Portland at Denver, 9 p.m. Houston vs. Minnesota at Mexico City, Mexico, 10 p.m.

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

W 7 5 5 2

L 2 4 4 8

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .778 .556 .556 .200

PF 281 191 227 174

PA 198 182 171 265

W 6 4 2 1

L 3 5 7 9

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .667 .444 .222 .100

PF 290 206 144 158

PA 211 197 223 282

W 6 5 6 6

L 3 3 4 4

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .667 .611 .600 .600

PF 209 197 261 261

PA 172 211 239 181

W 7 6 5 0

L 2 3 4 9

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .778 .667 .556 .000

PF 286 217 205 146

PA 202 151 186 252

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

W 7 7 3 3

L 2 3 6 6

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .778 .700 .333 .333

PF 279 261 195 197

PA 198 212 247 229

W 4 3 3 1

L 5 6 6 8

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .444 .350 .333 .111

PF 251 198 219 167

PA 225 281 238 272

W 7 6 4 3

L 2 3 5 6

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .778 .667 .444 .333

PF 182 277 168 194

PA 142 205 199 277

W 8 6 5 3

L 1 3 4 6

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .889 .667 .556 .333

PF 223 240 195 163

PA 170 191 202 251

THURSDAY’S GAME

Cleveland 24, Cincinnati 3

SUNDAY’S GAMES

San Francisco 27, New Orleans 24, OT Kansas City 17, Buffalo 13 Detroit 20, Miami 16 Baltimore 21, Tennessee 7 N.Y. Jets 20, Pittsburgh 13 Atlanta 27, Tampa Bay 17 Dallas 31, Jacksonville 17 Denver 41, Oakland 17 Seattle 38, N.Y. Giants 17 Arizona 31, St. Louis 14 Green Bay 55, Chicago 14

EASTERN CONFERENCE Pct .857 .667 .500 .250 .000

GB – 11/2 21/2 41/2 6

L 2 2 3

Pct .714 .714 .500

GB – – 11/2

NEW YORK (AP) — Baltimore’s Buck Showalter was voted AL Manager of the Year for the third time on Tuesday, and Washington’s Matt Williams won the NL honor following his first season as a big league skipper. Showalter received 25 of 30 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He kept up his pattern of winning the award once a decade following victories with the New York Yankees in 1994 and Texas in 2004. “I won’t be doing it 10 years from now,” Showalter said on SHOWALTER the MLB Network telecast. The Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Scioscia was second with four firsts and 61 points, and Kansas City’s Ned Yost third with 41 points. Seattle’s Lloyd McClendon followed with 29 points. Showalter guided the Orioles to a 96-66 record and their first AL East title since 1997. Voting took place before the playoffs, where Baltimore swept Detroit in the Division Series and then was swept by Kansas City in the AL Championship Series. Until the ALCS, the Orioles had not lost four in a row since May and had not dropped consecutive home games since June 28-29. Showalter became the third Orioles winner, following Frank Robinson in 1989 and Davey Johnson in 1997. “It’s such a great reflection on our organization,” Showalter said. “It’s pretty humbling.” Williams, who played under Showalter in Arizona from 1998-00, guided the Nationals to an NL-best 96 wins. He joined Houston’s Hal Lanier (1986), San Francisco’s Dusty Baker (1993) and Florida’s Joe Girardi (2006) as the only men to win for their first seasons as big league manager.

Williams got 18 first-place votes and 109 points. Pittsburgh’s Clint Hurdle, who earned the NL honor last year, was second with eight first-place votes and 80 points. Bruce Bochy of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants was third with three firsts and 30 points. Miami’s Mike Redmond also got a firstplace vote and finished fifth, behind St. Louis’ Mike Matheny. A hard-nosed player and five-time AllStar over 17 seasons, Williams was coaching third base for the Arizona when he was hired by Washington. Now he is the franchise’s fourth winner, joining Johnson (2012) and Montreal’s Buck Rodgers (1987) and Felipe Alou (1994). “Not having the experience of being there before, but you can rely on folks,” he said. Williams credited his players for the award, saying, “These guys made my transition easy.” The Nationals had hoped to contend for the Series title in 2013 under Johnson and came into this season with high expectations. Some predicted they would take the crown — that can often dampen a manager’s chances of winning this award. Williams stressed fundamentals from the start of spring training, and worked on creative defensive alignments. His biggest stamp might’ve come in late April when he benched young star Bryce Harper in the middle of a game for failing to run out a grounder. The 48-year-old Williams kept the Nationals on track despite injuries to Doug Fister, Ryan Zimmerman and several other stars, and Washington won the NL East by a whopping 17 games, the biggest margin in the majors. “It’s a great moment for the guys,” he said. “It takes a village.” The Nationals lost to the Giants in four games in the NL Division Series.

MONDAY’S GAME

NHL STANDINGS By The Associated Press

SPORTS ITEMS

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

Pts 23 21 20 19 18 17 12 8

GF GA 58 41 37 42 47 37 40 37 47 42 38 34 20 30 20 54

Pts 21 18 16 15 14 14 13 9

GF GA 55 27 42 42 45 43 45 42 39 46 40 49 35 44 36 51

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

GP 14 14 15 15 13 16 14

W 9 9 8 8 7 4 4

L 3 4 5 6 6 7 6

OT 2 1 2 1 0 5 4

Pts 20 19 18 17 14 13 12

GF GA 35 28 35 28 30 32 41 28 37 29 40 50 40 50

GP W L OT Pts GF GA Anaheim 16 10 3 3 23 41 32 Vancouver 16 11 5 0 22 49 44 Calgary 17 9 6 2 20 50 45 Los Angeles 15 8 4 3 19 37 30 San Jose 16 8 6 2 18 50 46 Arizona 14 6 7 1 13 34 47 Edmonton 15 6 8 1 13 38 51 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

TODAY’S GAMES

L 1 2 3 6 7

Showalter, Williams voted Managers of Year

Philadelphia 45, Carolina 21

MONDAY’S GAMES

ATLANTIC DIVISION

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington manager Matt Williams was voted NL Manager of the Year on Tuesday after guiding the Nationals to the league’s best record in his first season on the job. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter earned the AL honor.

EAST

Boston 4, New Jersey 2 Carolina 4, Calgary 1

By The Associated Press

W Toronto 6 Brooklyn 4 Boston 3 New York 2 Philadelphia 0 SOUTHEAST DIVISION W Miami 5 Washington 5 Atlanta 3

Charlotte 3 4 Orlando 2 5 CENTRAL DIVISION W L Chicago 6 2 Cleveland 3 3 Milwaukee 3 4 Detroit 2 5 Indiana 2 6

THE SUMTER ITEM

Boston at Toronto, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Colorado at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. Winnipeg at Carolina, 7 p.m. Boston at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Nashville at St. Louis, 8 p.m. Buffalo at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Arizona at Calgary, 9 p.m. Ottawa at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m. Dallas at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

49ers linebacker Patrick Willis out for season SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Willis so hoped he would be able to withstand the pain in his troublesome toe and play on this season, and ultimately help lead the San Francisco 49ers to another playoff run. Instead, Willis will miss the remainder WILLIS of the season and require surgery for a strained muscle in his left big toe. He was placed on the seasonending injured reserve list Tuesday after getting hurt in the third quarter at St. Louis on Oct. 13. A Pro Bowler in his first seven NFL seasons, Willis had missed six games in his career before this latest injury sidelined him for the final 10 games of 2014 for San Francisco (5-4). He had 34 tackles and an interception this season for the Niners. Willis is a captain and leader of a 49ers team that has reached the NFC championship game in each of the past three seasons. Willis had hoped the injury wasn’t so serious to side-

line him long term. He missed practice last week after returning in a limited role the previous week. Willis indicated his toe has been bothering him for several years and that he continued to play as long as he could stand the pain. After resting through the Oct. 26 bye, Willis was back as part of the 49ers’ full active squad on the field for the start of practice Oct. 29, but he had been limited primarily to individual work. CLEMSON’S RODRIGUEZ WINS ARMED FORCES AWARD

CLEMSON — Clemson receiver and Bronze Star Medal recipient Daniel Rodriguez earned the Armed Forces Merit Award from the Football Writers Association of America. Rodriguez is a senior who also plays special teams for the 18th-ranked Tigers. The award, announced Tuesday, is presented to an individual or group with a military background who’s made an impact on college football. Rodriguez served in the Army from 2006-10 and fought in the Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan in

2009 where 38 U.S. troops faced 300 Taliban fighters. Eight Americans were killed in the fighting and 22 were wounded, including Rodriguez. He was also awarded the Purple Heart. In 2012, Rodriguez was offered a walk-on spot with Clemson and has played in 35 straight games for the Tigers. NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE AT HOMESTEAD SOLD OUT

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — NASCAR’s season-ending championship race has sold out all of its grandstand seats. Homestead-Miami Speedway President Matthew Becherer says all premium seating has also been sold out for Sunday’s finale. Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman are the four drivers racing for the Sprint Cup championship. The title will go to the highest-finishing driver. Tickets remain available for the Truck Series finale on Friday night and the Nationwide Series finale on Saturday. From wire reports

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

THE SUMTER ITEM

Oregon up to 2 in playoff rankings; TCU now 4th BY RALPH D. RUSSO The Associated Press Oregon jumped undefeated Florida State and moved into second in the College Football Playoff rankings while TCU took over the fourth spot Tuesday night. Mississippi State remained No. 1. The Seminoles (9-0) slipped to No. 3. Oregon (9-1) moved up after winning at Utah. The Ducks now have three wins against teams LONG currently in the top 25 (Michigan State, UCLA, Utah). Florida State has beaten two teams in the top 25 (Notre Dame and Clemson). Committee chairman Jeff Long, the athletic director at Arkansas, said the panel had a long and hard discussion about the merits of the Ducks and Seminoles. “We looked beyond the record,” Long said. “The committee placed significant value on Oregon’s quality of wins.” The 12-person selection committee will chose the four playoff teams on Dec. 7. Alabama (8-1) is No. 5 and Arizona State (8-1) is sixth, and both appear to be in good shape to secure a spot in the playoff if they can keep winning. Alabama hosts Mississippi State on Saturday. If Arizona

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS Team Record 1. Mississippi St. 9-0 2. Oregon 9-1 3. Florida St. 9-0 4. TCU 8-1 5. Alabama 8-1 6. Arizona St. 8-1 7. Baylor 8-1 8. Ohio St. 8-1 9. Auburn 7-2 10. Mississippi 8-2 11. UCLA 8-2 12. Michigan St. 7-2 13. Kansas St. 7-2 14. Arizona 7-2 15. Georgia 7-2 16. Nebraska 8-1 17. LSU 7-3 18. Notre Dame 7-2 19. Clemson 7-2 20. Wisconsin 7-2 21. Duke 8-1 22. Georgia Tech 8-2 23. Utah 6-3 24. Texas A&M 7-3 25. Minnesota 7-2 The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will issue weekly rankings each Tuesday, with the final rankings being announced Sunday, Dec. 7. The playoff semifinals will match the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 4 seed, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The semifinals will be hosted at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015. The championship game will be on Jan. 12, 2015 at Arlington, Texas.

State wins out, it would have to go through Oregon in the Pac12 championship game. Baylor (8-1) moved to seventh, but is still behind Big 12 rival TCU (8-1), which lost to the Bears in Waco, Texas, by a field goal last month. The Bears and Horned Frogs could end the season tied atop the Big 12. If that happens, the conference has said Baylor and TCU would be co-champions. The selection committee has been directed to use conference championships and

‘ The committee placed significant value on Oregon’s quality of wins.’ JEFF LONG College Football Playoff committee member on the recent poll head-to-head matchups as ways of distinguishing between teams with similar resumes. Long said TCU’s overall body of work, which includes two wins against the top 25 (Minnesota and Kansas State) outweighed Baylor’s last-second victory against the Horned Frogs. Long stressed that Baylor could still move past the Horned Frogs. “They can make their case by their body of work and resume,” Long said. Ohio State (8-1) is up to eighth after its big victory at Michigan State. The Buckeyes are the highest ranked team from the Big Ten. Auburn, which had been in the top four the first two weeks of the rankings, fell to No. 9 after losing to Texas A&M at home on Saturday.

Clemson to test Jackets’ strong running game

the stadium,” Florida coach Will Muschamp said. Spurrier had hoped he would get to bring another championship team down there, too. The Gamecocks have won only once in 14 games at Florida, a 36-14 victory in 2010 that clinched the SEC East for Spurrier at his latest SEC school. After three consecutive 11-2 seasons — and no division crowns — South Carolina was a runaway pick to end up at the Georgia Dome next month. Instead, it’s been a disheartening series of late collapses that have often left Spurrier angry and speechless. After a 45-42 overtime home loss to Tennessee on Nov. 1, Spurrier spent less than a minute at the postgame microphone, not knowing how to sum up a contest where the Gamecocks held a two-touchdown lead with less than five minutes left, yet were beaten. “The only thing anybody cares about is the ‘W’ and ‘L’ there,” Spurrier said. “And we’ve been on the bad side of a lot of games where we’ve made a lot of yards.” There were earlier fourth-quarter meltdowns against Missouri (the Gamecocks were up 20-7 with seven minutes to go before losing 21-20) and Kentucky (the Gamecocks led 38-24 with 12 minutes to go before losing 45-38) that have left the players wondering how it all went so bad. “Before this season, I’ve only lost six games total,” redshirt junior tailback Brandon Wilds said. “I’ve never been on a losing team. Hopefully, I don’t have to go out that way.”

Every year, Clemson has to set aside an entire week (or, in this year’s case, 10 days) to prepare for the triple option employed by Georgia Tech’s offense. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

against blitzes. ... It makes the other team a little hesitant to jump in nickel and dime (packages), and all that stuff.” Georgia Tech’s productive running game will be boosted by the return of former starting running back Zach Laskey, who missed three games with a shoulder injury. Johnson said Synjyn Days will start against Clemson and share carries with Laskey. Days, a senior, ran for a career-high 157 yards with a touchdown in last week’s 56-23 win at North Carolina State. It was his third straight 100-yard game, but he said he was “a little” surprised Laskey wasn’t returning as the starter. “I guess coach has been pleased with my performance lately,” Days said. “But I’m pretty sure we’re going to rotate because Zach is a great player. We both have great skill sets that I think will work well with each other.” Georgia Tech (8-2, 5-2 ACC) is one game behind Duke in

the Coastal Division. Clemson (7-2, 6-1) is chasing Florida State in the Atlantic Division. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Georgia Tech will be “our most difficult challenge defensively, for sure.” “They’re executing at a high level,” Swinney said. “They’re always tough. They’re always in the top 10 in rushing every year.” Quarterback Justin Thomas leads the Yellow Jackets with 781 yards rushing. Thomas has 14 touchdown passes — the high mark for any quarterback in Johnson’s seven years. “Their quarterback is really playing at a high level, making good decisions and is a really good runner,” Swinney said. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for his ability to throw the ball. They have made some big plays in the passing game.” Backup quarterback Tim Byerly leads Georgia Tech with seven rushing touchdowns — one on every 6.4 carries.

The task is clear for the Gamecocks: win two of three for the chance to finish .500 and perhaps make a bowl. That didn’t happen in 2007 — Spurrier’s only other season with four straight SEC losses with the Gamecocks — when South Carolina ended with five consecutive defeats after starting 6-1 and did not make the postseason. Muschamp understands the losing. The Gators were just 4-8 a year ago and looked headed down a similar path this fall before rallying for victories over Georgia and Vanderbilt the past two weeks. Florida’s coach feels bad for Spurrier, whom he considers a friend and supporter. “I mean, you’ve got great respect for these guys,” Muschamp said. “Sitting behind the chair, you understand what you go through.” Spurrier said last week his plan is to be back for an 11th season at South Carolina, although he’s quit answering more questions about his future. He’s already the leader in coaching victories at Florida and South Carolina and stands second to the late Paul “Bear” Bryant in overall wins as an SEC coach and in SEC triumphs. Spurrier, who turns 70 next April, said this summer he didn’t “need to hang around” South Carolina if things turned bad. Still, Spurrier said his staff has assured him help is on the way with a strong recruiting class. He wishes some of it could arrive in time for Saturday’s game. “It’s what it is,” Spurrier said. “Got to shake it off, shake it off, come back. That’s what we’re trying our best to do right now.”

TIGERS FROM PAGE B1

DON’T CHOP THE CUTS

Georgia Tech running back Synjyn Days (10) runs against Virginia safety Anthony Harris (8). The Yellow Jackets’ strong running game will be tested by a Clemson defense that is allowing an average of nearly 91 yards per game.

CAROLINA FROM PAGE B1

emergency appendectomy Oct. 1, missing three games before logging 18 snaps vs. Syracuse. “Joe’s a young guy that’s got to continue to grow up and mature. He’s got to want it just as bad as we want it for him, just to be blunt,” Morris said. “The talent’s not an issue with Joe Gore. He runs well, he’s big and physical. He’s got to want it.” Both Mac Lain and Gore only appeared on special teams at Wake Forest. The Tigers have sustained 69 tackles for loss allowed, more than 110 teams nationally.

BY CHARLES ODUM The Associated Press ATLANTA — The most revealing plays of Saturday’s matchup of Georgia Tech’s running game against Clemson’s defense may come on third downs. The outcome will help determine which team protects its Atlantic Coast Conference championship hopes. It’s a matchup of strength against strength. Georgia Tech’s offense leads the nation in thirddown conversions. Clemson has the nation’s best defense on third downs. The No. 24 Yellow Jackets are second in the nation in rushing. The No. 18 Tigers are second in total defense and fourth against the run. Coach Paul Johnson said he can’t let Clemson’s imposing run defense influence his normal run-first attack in Georgia Tech’s spread option offense. “We’re going to do what we do,” Johnson said Tuesday before using clichés to illustrate his point. “We’ll be successful or they will, but we’re not going to throw out the baby with the bath water,” he said. “Dance with the one that brung us. That’s all I know to do.” Georgia Tech averages 335.6 yards rushing per game. Clemson allows an average of only 90.9 yards rushing. Johnson said his offense must continue to avoid thirdand-long plays. The Yellow Jackets have converted 70 of 118 third downs for a 59.3 percent success rate that leads the nation. Clemson’s defense is No. 1 by allowing first downs on only 23.2 percent of third-down plays. Georgia Tech avoids difficult third-down situations by averaging 6.1 yards per carry. On the rare third-and-long plays, the option offense keeps defenses guessing. “We haven’t been in a lot of third and longs because of the nature of what we do,” Johnson said. “The nature of the offense, for a lot of teams third and 6 is a passing down. Not so much for us. ... It limits blitzes. We’ve had some success running the ball

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Part of the novelty is dealing with “cut blocks,” as linemen will go low on potential tacklers which endangers their knees. It’s not a concern to Swinney. “Georgia Tech does an excellent job in how they coach it and teach it. They’re chopping people down at all levels, but they do it right. They do it legally,” Swinney said. “They have the occasional chop block just like all of us do, but there’s nothing intentional or anything like that.” There is a difference. A legal cut block is contacting an unengaged defensive player below the waist; a chop block, which carries a 15-yard penalty as a personal foul, is hitting a defender low who is already being contacted above the waist by another offensive player.

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SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

AREA SCOREBOARD BASKETBALL YOUTH LEAGUE SIGNUP

The Sumter County Recreation Department will be taking registration for its youth basketball leagues through Thursday. Registration is open to children ages 5 through 17. There will be co-ed leagues for 6-and-under, 8-U, 10-U, 12-U, 14-U and 17-U. Players will be placed in leagues based on their age as of Sept. 1, 2014. The registration fee is $40 for ages 5-6 and $45 for the other ages. Registration is being taken at the recreation department located at 155 Haynsworth

Street. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For anyone interested in coaching, there will be meeting on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the recreation department. For more information, visit www.sumtercountysc. org or call (803) 436-2248.

Nov. 25-27. People can register online at www.ymcasumter.org. For more information, call the Sumter Family YMCA at (803) 774-1404.

ROAD RACING

The University of South Carolina Sumter will host a 4-week baseball camp beginning on Jan. 3, 2015. Fire Ants head coach Tim Medlin will direct the program in conjunction with the U.S. Baseball Academy. Classes are available for players in grades 1-12 and are limited to six players per coach. Sessions are offered in advanced hitting, pitching, catching, fielding and base running. Registration is now being taken.

TURKEY TROT

The 32nd Annual Turkey Trot 5K and Gobbler Dash will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 27. Early registration for the event will run through Nov. 24. The entry fee is $20 per individual, while the cost for a family is $20 for the first member and $10 for each additional family member from the same househould age 10 or older. The fees increase by $5 for those who register

BASEBALL U.S. BASEBALL ACADEMY CAMP

THE SUMTER ITEM For more information, visit www.USBaseballAcademy.com or call 866-622-4487. SCISA UMPIRES NEEDED

The South Carolina Independent School Association is looking for anyone who might interested in becoming a baseball umpire. Experienced umpires are preferred. For those who are interested, contact SCISA District Director of Umpiring, Teddy Weeks at TWeeks51@aol.com.

SOFTBALL SCISA UMPIRES NEEDED

The South Carolina Independent School Association is looking for anyone who might interested in becoming a softball umpire. Experienced umpires are preferred.

GOLF LAKEWOOD TEE IT UP CLASSIC

Lakewood Baseball’s First Tee It Up Classic will be held on Dec. 6 at The Links at Lakewood. The format for the tournament will be 4-man Captain’s Choice and will begin at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start. The cost is $200 per team or $50 per player. Lunch will be provided. The registration and payment deadline is Nov. 21. For more information, call Lakewood baseball head coach Mike Chapman at (843) 685-0568 or (803) 506-2700 (Ext. 1001) or email him at Chapmonis@gmail.com.

POW FROM PAGE B1

PRO FOOTBALL

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Philadelphia’s Mark Sanchez (3) passes during the Eagles’ 45-21 victory over Carolina on Monday in Philadelphia. Sanchez threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns and the offense didn’t seem to miss a beat without starter Nick Foles.

Sanchez, Eagles don’t miss a beat BY ROB MAADDI The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA —Mark Sanchez spent the early morning hours on his 28th birthday eating cheesesteaks, taking selfies with fans and celebrating a victory following his first start in nearly two years. Sanchez threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a 45-21 win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday night. Afterward, he drove to Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks to sample two of the city’s iconic sandwiches. Fans were thrilled to see the winning quarterback at both places and immediately posted pictures on social media sites. “That’s just the type of guy that Mark is; he’s just a regular guy,” coach Chip Kelly said Tuesday. Sanchez might be a regular guy, but he has a city’s Super Bowl aspirations on his shoulders. “I think when you take a step back, you appreciate it so much and you miss it so much,” Sanchez said. “I just kept telling myself when I was out that if I get a chance to get back out there, I don’t ever want to be out again until I retire. I want to keep playing.

You just have so much respect for this whole thing and the preparation and what goes into it. I’m just happy to be in the system that we have here with so many good offensive coaches.” The Eagles are 7-2 after dismantling the defending NFC South champion Panthers before a national audience. Prime-time games have brought out the best in the Eagles this season. They beat Andrew Luck and the Colts in Indianapolis on Monday night in Week 2. They shut out Eli Manning and the New York Giants, 27-0, on Sunday night in Week 6. Despite missing their offensive leader (Nick Foles) and defensive captain (DeMeco Ryans), the Eagles didn’t miss a beat against Carolina. The defense dominated and scored its fourth touchdown of the season. Special teams chipped in with its fifth TD. Sanchez had one of the best games of his career and he had never thrown for more than 265 yards without an interception until this start. But he still has room for improvement. “There are plenty of things to clean up,” Sanchez said. “I don’t care how many yards we threw for, there are a couple out there that I can’t miss and a couple reads that I need to be much better at. So by no means is it perfect.”

SAINTS FROM PAGE B1 2,500 yards. Littell had 350 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries as the Bobcats beat Region II No. 1 seed Patrick Henry 44-16 in its playoff opener. Conner Floyd had 14 tackles to lead CA. The Saints, who are averaging 37.2 points and allowing 25.4, found success in the second half of the loss to Carolina after switching their defense from a 3-4-1 to a 3-5. “There were just some things I don’t think we were

For those who are interested, contact SCISA District Director of Umpiring, Teddy Weeks at TWeeks51@aol.com.

quite in sync with last time,” Tindall said. “I expect, I wouldn’t say a different outcome, but I expect a much closer game.” Clarendon Hall showed some poise in its 36-30 victory over Cathedral Academy in its playoff opener last week. Trailing 30-18 at halftime, the Saints found a way to move the ball in the second half while getting a shutout from its defense. “We regrouped at halftime; the guys came out with big

The offense racked up most of the yards through the air. LeSean McCoy had only 19 yards rushing on 12 carries after breaking 100 in two of his past three games. The Eagles finished with 37 yards rushing, their secondworst total this season. “We didn’t play well offensively at all,” Kelly said. “I just didn’t think we were very consistent overall. I think we could have sustained some drives. We missed a couple key conversions on short-yardage situations that we didn’t convert. I think that if you asked the guys on the offensive side of the ball, they felt like they didn’t play well. I believe we didn’t really play up to our potential on the offensive side of the ball.” Yet the offense still scored 31 points, though turnovers helped. The Eagles are a half-game ahead of Dallas as they continue their quest to repeat as NFC East champs. They have a tough task at Green Bay against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (6-3) on Sunday. “We have a huge challenge ahead. We definitely have to get after Aaron Rodgers,” linebacker Brandon Graham said. “We can’t give him lanes to run through because he can definitely beat you with his legs, too.”

hearts and we’re flying around to the football on defense and I think we held them to the least rushing yards they’ve had all season,” Tindall said. “The offense finally came around and they played well and with a lot of aggression in the second half.” Offensively the Saints accumulated 339 total yards, including 288 rushing. Gavin Allan led the team with 121 yards and a touchdown. He, along with quarterback Dustin Way and Pappas, will hope to continue to have success on the ground.

“Offensively we just need to hold onto the ball and make our key blocks,” Way said “Defensively, we’ve got to fly to the ball, wrap up and (have) no arm tackles and maybe try to force some turnovers.” Allan also led the defense with 12 tackles and Mac Davis added 10, including three for loss. Trey Thomas and Cody Armstrong added nine tackles and two TFLs each. Both Tindall and his players agree the team will have to come out with more intensity on Friday in order to be

will be the guest speaker. Cruz’s picks came after Cardinal Newman had scored early in the third quarter to make it 27-14. Not only did they stop the Cardinals’ offense, it helped set up Laurence Manning for a couple of easy scores. “He just does a great job back there for us,” said LMA defensive coordinator Elmer Bench. “He just does a great job of reading between the run and the pass, and when he sees it’s a pass he goes after it. He gets there fast.” Cruz has eight interceptions on the season and has 128 tackles, 67 of them solo. LMA head coach Robbie Briggs said Cruz has made the most dramatic improvement from one season to the next than any other player he has ever coached. “I’ve just been watching a lot of film,” Cruz said when asked why he has improved so much. “I’ve been trying to get better and feel like I’m doing the right things.” In Carolina Academy’s 44-16 victory over Patrick Henry Academy in a quarterfinal game in the SCISA 8-man state playoffs, Littell rushed for 350 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries. Littell has had a tremendous season for the 8-3 Bobcats, who play Clarendon Hall on Friday in a semifinal matchup. He has rushed for 2,561 yards and 24 touchdowns on 299 attempts. “He’s really had to step up for us this year because we lost some running backs from last year,” said Carolina head coach T.J. Joye. “He can run, he can fly. It’s 8-man football, but we’ve got some great athletes in this league.” In Wilson Hall’s 49-19 victory over Heathwood Hall in a quarterfinal game in the SCISA 3A playoffs, Patrick graded out at 86 percent as the Barons rolled up 322 yards on 29 carries. “Walker played consistent all night,” said Wilson Hall head coach Bruce Lane, whose Barons will travel to Manning on Friday to play Laurence Manning Academy in a semifinal matchup. “Our entire line graded out at 80 percent. They opened up some huge holes for us to break off some big runs.” Running back John Ballard had touchdown runs of 51, 29 and 48 yards in the fourth quarter as the Barons broke the game open. In Sumter’s 31-15 victory over Socastee, Harvin only punted three times, but he made the most of them. He averaged 42 yards a punt and had a punt that would have pinned the Braves inside their 5-yard line nullified by a penalty.

more successful against the Bobcats. “Everyone is going to have to be on their A-game, ready and focused to play and I think we’ll be alright,” Way said. “I know we won’t ever give up and we just have to come out with more intensity.” The winner of Friday’s semifinal will face the winner of the other semifinal between Andrew Jackson and defending state champion Richard Winn. The state championship game will be held on Friday, Nov. 21, at a location to be determined.

SPORTS

THE SUMTER ITEM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

USC battling to keep Key commitment

he University of South Carolina football program had to battle to get a commitment from defensive end Arden Key (6-feet-6-inches, 225 pounds) of Atlanta in June. The Gamecocks are now going to have to battle to keep him. Key, who has 16.5 quarterback sacks this season, remains committed, but he will take four other official visits. “Nothing really bothers me about South Carolina,” Key said. “I’m looking to make sure I haven’t missed anything.” Key said Louisiana State is the strongest competition for USC right now, and he was in Baton Rouge on Saturday for the Tigers’ 20-13 overtime loss to Alabama. He was at Louisville for the Florida State game and is going to try to get to the Auburn at Georgia game. Key hasn’t been to USC this season. He is hoping to get to Columbia for the South Alabama game, and he’d like to hear more from the coaches. “I don’t feel like I’m getting enough communication,” he said. He did see his recruiter, defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward, when he visited during the Gamecocks’ off week. Key hasn’t yet scheduled his official visit with the Gamecocks. He has scheduled an official to LSU for Jan. 23 and to UGA on Jan. 30. He said he will also set a date with Miami and is looking at Oregon and Mississippi for his fifth visit. However, as for now, the commitment to USC remains in place. “I still feel good about South Carolina,” Key said. “I’m committed, but also looking around.” Key and his teammate, fellow Gamecock commitment defensive back Antoine Wilder, visited Alabama last week. First and foremost on Wilder’s mind right now, however, is USC, though Wilder said he’d feel better if all doubt about the future of head coach Steve Spurrier would be cleared up. “Only concern I’ve got with South Carolina is is Steve Spurrier leaving,” Wilder said, adding that he’s heard the talk from recruiters, fans and through the Internet. “At his press conference, he said he’s not going nowhere. I believe Steve. I believe in what he stands for. I believe everything he says. If Steve says something, he means that, so I really believe he’s going to stay. But if he leaves, that’s going to be like, ‘wow, you’re going to leave?’ ” Wilder said he’s solid with his commitment unless he’s blown away by another school on an official visit. “In 2015 I really believe we’re going to shock the world. I’m really just focused on South

Carolina to be honest with you. When I had my knee (injury), they didn’t back off. They were loyal to me.” USC lost a linebacker from its 2015 class when Davon Durant decommitted and committed to Arizona State. Seeking to fill that spot, the Gamecocks have offered LB Daniel Fennell (6-3, 217) of Loganville, Ga., and have reestablished communication with former target Amonte Caban of Smith Station, Ala., who is a Louisville commitment. Fennell has 22 offers, but is mostly focused on USC, Michigan State, Missouri, Duke, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin. USC recruiter GA Mangus contacted Fennell’s head coach, Mickey Conn, about a week ago and then reached out and offered Fennell, who was excited to land it. “They are in the SEC (Southeastern Conference),” Fennell said. “This year is not one of their better years, but they have been a contending team.” Fennell has scheduled an official visit with the Gamecocks for Nov. 21. He also plans to take official visits to Michigan State and Duke. As a junior, Fennell had 111 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He plays the weak LB, but could play in the middle in college. Caban said he was contacted by USC LB coach Kirk Botkin a couple of weeks ago. “We were just talking, and he was telling me how they still want me and he wants me to keep in touch with them,” Caban said. “I like Louisville a lot, but I’m just going to let everything play out.” Caban is looking at taking an official visit to USC on Nov. 21. He is going to Louisville in January and also wants to visit Oklahoma. UGA also is in the mix. He went to Athens for the Vanderbilt game and the Bulldogs want him to come back for an official. This season, Caban had 157 total tackles with 11 sacks. JUNIORS CLEMSON AND USC

Clemson will receive another visit from offensive lineman Sean Pollard of Southern Pines, N.C., when the Tigers host USC on Nov. 29. Pollard spent two weekends ago on an unofficial visit to Clemson with his mother. He also visited for the North Carolina game with his father and brother. Clemson and USC have offered Pollard, and both are showing a lot of interest. “Clemson is telling me that they really want me to commit for the 2016 class and help them land some more big recruits,” Pollard said. “I mostly talk to (OL) Coach (Robbie) Caldwell, and we’re building a good relationship. (USC OL) Coach (Shawn) Elliott and I talk some too, but

it’s been hard lately with how busy they are and how busy I am. I really like Coach (Elliott) and we have good conversations. He makes me

schools that have offered me have a lot to offer, so we’ll see what happens.” Valdez has visited USC twice this season. His offers are from USC, Tennessee, NCSU, South Carolina State and WF. Tight end Isaac Nauta of Buford, Ga., has set Dec. 15 for his announcement date. He’s deciding between USC, FSU, Ole Miss and UGA. Nauta was at USC for the UGA game, and he’s planning a return trip for the SA game. He also saw the Gamecocks at Auburn. USC recruiter Mangus is keeping in touch with Nauta and trying to sell him on the Gamecocks’ heavy use of the TE. “He sent me some stats on the tight ends, that 75 percent of their plays are with two tight ends and 91% are with one tight end in the game,” Nauta said. “He’s just showing me that they always have a tight end on the field.” Nauta is going to try to make the Auburn-UGA and Mississippi State-Ole Miss games. He was at FSU for the Clemson and Notre Dame games and won’t make it back to Tallahassee this season. That won’t quell the Internet speculation that Nauta will choose the Seminoles. “I’ve been there twice and I’ve expressed that I like them a lot, but I haven’t decided yet and don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m wide open. I’m trying to narrow down the pros and cons between the four and then it’s just a gut feeling.” USC commitment wide receiver Kyle Davis of Lawrenceville, Ga., called his commitment “very strong,” but he does plan to take other visits. Several schools remain in touch with Davis, though he said UGA hasn’t contacted him since offering. Davis plans to take other visits, but isn’t sure where he will go at this point. USC offered ‘17 running back Anthony McFarland Jr. of Maryland last week.

BASKETBALL

DB Darnay Holmes and WR Keyshawn Johnson Jr., both ‘17 recruits, will take unofficial visits to Clemson for the USC game.

Columbia is home to two of the nation’s top uncommitted ‘15 prospects in 6-7 PJ Dozier of Spring Valley High and 6-5 Tevin Mack of Dreher High. With the early signing period beginning today, both are just about ready to make their decisions. Dozier is down to two schools and is pretty sure about which school he will choose. “He’s pretty close to figuring it out,” said his father and head coach Perry Dozier, who did not reveal the final two. PJ will make his announcement at Spring Valley today around 12:15 p.m. He has been considering USC, UNC, Louisville, Michigan and Georgetown. USC head coach Frank Martin did meet with the Doziers on Friday, the last head coach to get into see PJ before the decision. Mack and his mother, Paula Mack, visited with the USC coaches on Saturday for about an hour after their practice. And, over the weekend, she said she heard in one form or another from all of the other head coaches in contention -- Brad Brownell of Clemson, Shaka Smart of Virginia Commonwealth, Mark Fox of UGA and Kevin Ollie of Connecticut. UGA was the first of the schools to send a letter of intent to the Macks. Tevin Mack will sign during a ceremony at Dreher today at noon. Clemson and Charlotte are the top two with 6-9 Ebuka Izundu of Nigeria. He attends Victory Christian School in Charlotte. Izundu had over 40 offers, according to his head coach, Aurice McCain. Izundu has taken two unofficial visits to Clemson and will take an official visit on Dec. 11. “Right now I think it’s 50-50 between Charlotte and Clemson,” McCain said. “Some days it’s Clemson. some days it’s UNCC. You just never know.” Izundu is in his second year at Victory Christian. He averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots per game last season. Zane Najdawi, a 6-8 forward from Midlothian, Va., committed to The Citadel. Najdawi averaged 16.1 points last season.

OTHERS

BASEBALL

Defensive back James Valdez of Lake Marion High in Santee did not make it to USC for the Tennessee game, but is planning to be in for the South Alabama game. He’s also thinking about going to Clemson for the USC game. “I don’t really have any favorites,” Valdez said. “Right now, I am just exploring my options. I lot of the other

Arkansas has began to show interest in OL John Guthrie of Byrnes High in Duncan and that interest is being reciprocated. Guthrie has been invited to see the Razorbacks in person this season, but has been unable to make the trip. That will not keep him from visiting in the future. Guthrie has not received any offers to date, but is hearing from Purdue, Pittsburgh, NCSU and GT. Guthrie has visited GT several times and remains interested in the Yellow Jackets.

Left-handed pitcher Hank Nichols (6-5, 195) of J.L. Mann High in Greenville committed to USC on Saturday for its ‘15 class. He’s the 16th reported commitment for the class. Nichols originally committed to The Citadel in December of ‘12. USC also gained a commitment from ‘17 prospect Carmen Mlodzinski (6-2, 190) of Hilton Head High. He is a right-handed pitcher and a shortstop. He’s the fifthh commitment for USC’s ‘17 class.

to be her second church home, and its priests made her feel special. A talented artist, she exhibited at the Springs Art Show, the Columbia Museum of Art, and the Sumter County Gallery of Art. Helen was an avid gardener who propagated many of the plants in her lovely gardens. She adored all creatures great and small and was a dedicated Anglophile. Family members looked forward to dining at her home, where she turned ordinary meals into extraordinary experiences. Above all, she adored her children and extended family. Helen is survived by her children, Helen and Heyward Clarkson of Greenville, Douglas McKay III and Patricia of Columbia, Bentham “Ben” and Brenda McKay of Greenville, and Julius “Jay” McKay II of Columbia; stepchildren, Susie Ashley (the late Joe Ashley), James “Jim” and Maxie Haltiwanger, and Elizabeth “Betsy” and Tom Egan; and daughter-in-law, Cheryl Haltiwan-

ger. Survivors also include grandchildren, Nat and Kelly Clarkson of Charlotte, Walker and Chris Smith of Greenville, Douglas McKay IV of Columbia, Buchanan (Buck) and Emma McKay of Los Angeles, Catherine and Jeff Kotz of Charleston, James McKay of Greenville, Cain and Robert McKay of Columbia; and step-grandchildren, Summer and Will Holmes of Sumter, Joseph (Joe) Ashley Jr. of Philipsburg, Montana, James and Christine Haltiwanger of Anderson, Katherine Haltiwanger of Columbia, John “J.T.” Egan of Columbia, Andrew “Andy” Egan of Charleston, Charles “Charlie” Haltiwanger III and Anne Marie of Charlotte, Daniel “Dan” and Adriana Haltiwanger of Aiken and Rebecca Haltiwanger of Columbia. Helen is survived by 10 great-grandchildren and was beloved also by 23 nieces, nephews, and their families. She was predeceased by a stepson, Charles S. Haltiwanger Jr.; her four sisters, Mary

Walker, Catherine Stradley, Elizabeth (Betty) Edmunds and Virginia Bland; and one brother, Murdoch Walker, M.D. Over the past years, Helen could not have been as comfortable without the loving care of her friends, especially Bubba Grimes of Columbia, Doris Acosta and Debra Nix of Greenville. Memorials may be made to the Salvation Army; Pawmetto Lifeline, 1275 Bower Parkway, Columbia, SC 29212; Christ Church Episcopal Pastoral Care Endowment, 10 N. Church St., Greenville, SC 29601; or the charity of one’s choice. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is taking care of the arrangements.

Phil Kornblut RECRUITING CORNER

laugh.” Pollard’s other offers include Duke, East Carolina, UNC, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Miami and Penn State. He visited USC his sophomore season, but has not made it back to Columbia this year. There is a possibility that he could return in the spring. Pollard does not have any favorites and did not indicate a time frame for a decision. OL John Simpson of Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston took in USC’s game with Tennessee along with his freshman teammate, QB Dakerion Joyner, who already holds a USC offer. USC was the first to offer Simpson, and he’s gotten plenty of exposure to the program. He camped there last summer and went to two games earlier in the season. He knows the Gamecocks are not having the kind of season expected of them, but said that’s not impacting his view of the program. “It doesn’t really change how I feel about Carolina,” Simpson said. “Wherever I go, I want to make it a better place to watch football. I don’t really care about who’s winning. It’s mostly about academics.” Simpson will not be back for USC’s final home game later this month. He will go to Clemson for the Georgia State and USC games. The Tigers are his other offer along with USC. He was at Clemson a couple of weeks back. He’s also now drawing interest from Alabama. Simpson now has USC and Clemson even at the top of his list. “I’m stuck in between the two,” he said. Simpson won’t make a decision until after his senior season or as late as the ‘16 National Signing Day. Alabama has offered Goose Creek High DE Jayvon Kinlaw. He also has offers from USC, Clemson, Florida and ECU. USC

CLEMSON

OBITUARIES HELEN HALTIWANGER GREENVILLE — Helen Gertrude Walker McKay Haltiwanger, 96, daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. James Bentham Walker (Anna Gertrude Wilson) of Sumter, died on Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, at McCall Hospice, after a brief illness. She was the widow of Charles Summer Haltiwanger of Columbia and was HALTIWANmarried previGER ously to the late Douglas McKay Jr. The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the home of Doug and Pat McKay, 1346 Kathwood Drive, Columbia. The graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday at Sumter Cemetery, 700 W. Oakland Ave. Following the service, a celebration of Helen’s life will be held at Walker Hall, Church of the Holy Comforter, 213 N. Main St., where her father was the

Episcopal rector for many years. Born on May 27, 1918, Helen attended the public schools of Sumter and later attended Coker College and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. She transferred to the University of South Carolina and was Miss Garnet and Black. A member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and Beaux Arts Society, she graduated magna cum laude in 1940. During World War II, Helen volunteered as a grey lady at the Columbia Army Air Corps Base. For 69 years, she was a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, where she resided. She served as a longtime president of the Hyacinth Garden Club and was a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America; The Assembly of Columbia; the Junior League of Columbia; Forest Lake Club; and the Junior League Book Club. Since her move to Greenville in 2010, Helen considered Christ Episcopal Church

SEE OBITUARIES, PAGE B6

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

CAROL BURR Carol “Papa” Burr passed away on Nov. 10, 2014, at Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia, surrounded by his family and loved ones. Born in Anson County, North Carolina, he was a son of the late Hamer Lee and Pearl Watkins BURR Burr. After graduating from Ansonville High School, Carol attended mortuary school before joining the United States Air Force. He retired after 20 years of service to his country. During his service, Carol was awarded a Bronze Star, an Air Force Commendation Medal, an Organizational Excellence Award, an Air Force Good Conduct Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Vietnam Service Medal, a Longevity Service Award, an NCO Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon, a Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, a Vietnam Campaign Medal, and a Meritorious Service Medal. In addition to his many military accomplishments, Carol became a licensed contractor and a licensed real estate broker. He was a Shriner, member of the Sumter Jamil Temple Shrine Club and a Master Mason, member of the Spring Hill Lodge. Carol also served on Sumter County Council for 12 years and was a past president of the Sumter County Republican Party. Carol was a member of Alice Drive Baptist Church for 30 years. The accomplishment he was most proud of began after basic training in 1953, when he married Loretta Helms. Carol and Loretta were wed in a double ceremony with Carol’s twin brother Harold and Harold’s wife, Tonie. In the following years, he would become the proud father of three children and proud “Papa” of five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Carol is survived by his wife of 61 years, Loretta Burr; sons, Michael Carol Burr (Rhonda) and Robert Wayne Burr (Fonn); and daughter, Katherine Lee Burr Sydow (Mike). He is also survived by five grandchildren, Mandy Burr Ashley (Nick), Jessica Burr Lea (Jamie), Trenton Wayne Burr (Ashley), Caroline Elizabeth Sydow and Katherine Morgan Sydow; and six great-grandchildren, Collen Michelle Ashley, Aislin Fonn Lea, Caleb Whitner Ashley, Lauren James Lea, Ella Kay Burr and Evienne Reese Lea. He is survived by his twin brother, Harold Burr (Tonie); his brother, Hugh Watkins; his sister, Jo Alexander (Allen); and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Nancy Louise Burr, Alma Watkins Webb and Ruth Watkins Gray; two brothers, John T. Watkins and William H. Watkins; and his cherished daughter-inlaw, Rhonda Posey Burr. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and other times at the home. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Alice Drive Baptist Church with Dr. Clay Smith and the Rev. Jock Hendricks officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery. Pallbearers will be Rickey Adcock, Joshua Burr, Landon Burr, Chandler Joyner, Dean Burr, Marty Atkinson, Richard Deese, Gerald Phillips and Chuck Bowers. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the men’s Sunday school class of Alice Drive Baptist Church. Memorials may be made to Alice Drive Baptist Church, 1305 Loring Mill Road, Sumter, SC 29150 or to the Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675. (www.woundedwarriorproject.org). Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. www. ecsfuneralhome.com

ELI M. PARKER COLUMBIA — Following a

massive stroke, Eli “Mac” McFaddin Parker, 67, husband of Joyce Kriesick Parker, died on Monday, Nov. 10, PARKER 2014, at Palmetto Health Baptist hospital. Born on Aug. 14, 1947, in Sumter, he was a son of the late Eli Emmanuel and Katie McFaddin Parker, and was raised on their family farm in Sumter County. Mr. Parker was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Sumter, and was a 1965 graduate of Edmunds High School, where he was a member of the marching band and a bus driver. He was very active in the 4-H Program and received numerous awards for his work. He was a graduate of the University of South Carolina and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He was a former geological surveyor with the S.C. Development Board and was formerly employed in real estate with C.W. Haynes & Co. He later joined his wife in their barber and cosmetology business located at Capital Quarters in Columbia. Mac loved animals. He will be remembered for his wonderful smile and as a loving, caring, and kind-hearted person and as a man of many trades. Surviving are his wife; a son, Eli Parker of Columbia; a daughter, Laurel Gaddy (Mark) of Columbia; a stepson, Charlie Taylor of Columbia; a sister, Faye Bauman (Bob) of Severna Park, Maryland; a brother, Thorny Parker (Harriet) of Jekyll Island, Georgia; and three grandchildren, Caleigh and Roman Taylor, and Theron McFaddin Gaddy. He was preceded in death by a stepdaughter, Karen Taylor Osborne. A Memorial Celebration of Mac’s life will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday at the Capital Quarters Arcade Mall, 1216 Washington St., Columbia. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Sardinia Church Cemetery with Dr. David Richardson officiating. The family will receive friends following the graveside service. Memorials may be made to the Epworth Children’s Home, P.O. Box 50466, Columbia, SC 29205. Online condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements, (803) 775-9386.

ELOISE SPARKS HOWARD GARDEN CITY — Eloise Sparks Howard, age 90, died on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014, at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center. Born in Jonesville, North Carolina, she was a daughter of the late Thomas and Ila Sparks. She was a member of Belin Memorial United Methodist Church. She was preceded in death by her husband, George W. Howard Sr.; and sister, Madge S. Buehler. Survivors include her son, George W. Howard Jr. and wife, Beth, of Tampa, Florida; daughter, Libby Singleton of Sumter; grandchildren, Jason and wife, Courtney Derry, and Trey and Rebecca Howard; brother-inlaw, Bailey E. and wife, Lettie Mae Howard; nephews and nieces, Bailey E. Howard, Vickie Howard, Chuck and Carol Strong, Becky and Wes McLeod, and Dan Strong; caregivers, Irene Cook and Terrye Walsh; and many close friends. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Belin Memorial United Methodist Church with visitation one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be held at noon on Friday at Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery in Sumter.

OBITUARIES Memorial donations may be made to Belin Memorial United Methodist Church, 4182 U.S. 17 Business, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 or Berea College, 101 Chestnut St., Berea, KY 40403. Sign an online guestbook at www.goldfinchfuneralhome.com. Goldfinch Funeral Home, Beach Chapel, is in charge of the arrangements.

RUTH T. ROBINSON MANNING — Ruth Thompson Robinson, 62, wife of Noel Robinson, died on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at her residence She was born on Dec. 21, 1951, in the Home Branch section of Clarendon County, a daughter of Herman Ridgeway Sr. and the late Readus Thompson. The family is receiving friends at the residence, 213 Walnut St., Manning. These services have been entrusted to Samuels Funeral Home LLC of Manning.

TANISHA D. BRAILSFORD BISHOPVILLE — Tanisha Danielle Brailsford, daughter of Stacey Dix Sanders and Darrell Brailsford, entered eternal rest on Nov. 7, 2014, in Kershaw County. Visitations will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. today at the mortuary. Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Jerusalem Baptist Church, Jamestown Road, Bishopville, with Pastor Julia V. Sanders officiating. Burial will follow in Jerusalem Cemetery. Wilson Funeral Home, 403 S. Main St., Bishopville, is in charge of arrangements.

LEROY BRIGGS Leroy Briggs, 78, departed this life on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at his residence. He was born on Sept. 30, 1937, in Sumter County, a son of the late Damon and Julia Bolden Briggs. The family is receiving friends at the home of his niece, Daisy Howard, 13 Cecil St., Sumter, SC 29150. Funeral plans are incomplete and will be announced later by Job’s Mortuary Inc. of Sumter.

ANNE S. LYNCH Anne Sprott Lynch, age 84, went to be with the Lord on Nov. 8, 2014. She was the beloved wife of the late Charles “Chuck” Lynch. Anne was born on Oct. 8, 1930, in Foreston, and grew up in Sumter. She was a daughter of Claude and Lillian Sprott. Anne graduated from Winthrop College and worked in banking in Sumter and later continued that career in California, where she and Chuck lived for 22 years. On retirement, they moved to Connestee Falls in Brevard, North Carolina, where they enjoyed many years of living in the mountains. They were active members of First United Methodist Church of Brevard before moving to Covenant Place, where they joined Trinity United Methodist Church. She is survived by her sister, Claudia Robinson of Sumter; stepson, Gregg “Buzz” Lynch of Tryon, North Carolina; stepdaughter, Susan Petralgia; three cousins whom she loved liked sisters, Ellen Taylor, Nancy Hodge and Mary Ann Land; and a special friend, Alice Glencamp. Anne was preceded in death by a sister, Helen Sprott; and a brother-in-law, Robbie Robinson. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday at Trinity United Methodist Church Chapel with the Rev. Holler officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be the FaHoLo Sunday School Class. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service from 1 to 2 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church Chapel. Memorials may be sent to Covenant Place, 2825 Carter Road, Sumter, SC 29150 or to Trinity United Methodist Church, 226 W. Liberty St., Sumter, SC 29150. You may sign the family’s guest book at www.bullockfuneralhome.com. The family has chosen

THE SUMTER ITEM Bullock Funeral Home of Sumter for the arrangements.

Funeral plans are incomplete and will be announced by Ephriam D. Stephens Funeral Home of Sumter.

MARY H. RICKMAN

WILLIE J. HICKMON Willie James Hickmon, 49, departed this life on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014, at KershawHealth Medical Center at Camden. Born on Oct. 18, 1965, in Lee County, he was a son of the late Pearl Wilson. He was educated in the public schools of Lee County. He worked a number of jobs, including Burlington Industries, Hermitage Industries, Wateree Textile and WalMart tire and lube. He was a member of Mt. Calvary Holiness Church, where he served as a trustee, member of the usher board and member of the male chorus. He leaves to cherish his memories: his wife of 17 years, Mary E. Hickmon; three children, Christopher Burch, Antinashia Burch and Latisha (Brandon) Miller; four stepchildren, Larry, Marlo, Jasper and Cynthia Jackson; three godchildren, Jasmine Johnson, Lataspisha Alexander and Anton Jenkins; one brother, Christopher Wilson; one sister, Pearla Hickmon; five grandchildren; two brothers-inlaw; five sisters-in-law; a caregiver, Mary McDuffie; a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pearl “Pumpkin” Wilson; a brother, Darren “Boggie” Hickmon; and his grandmother, Frances Hickmon. Funeral services will be held at noon today at Mt. Calvary Holiness Church, 771 Central School Road, Rembert, with the Rev. James W. Epps Sr., pastor, and Pastor Stephanie Nelson, eulogist. The family is receiving family and friends at the home, 185 Beaver Dam Road, Camden. The remains will be placed in the church at 11 a.m. The procession will leave at 11:30 a.m. from the home. Floral bearers will be cousins. Pallbearers will be Mt. Calvary Male Chorus. Burial will be in the Mt. Calvary Holiness Church cemetery, Rembert. 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.

MOSES SCRIVEN Moses Scriven, 73, died on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born on July 3, 1941, in Kershaw County, he was a son of John W. Williams Jr. and Lillian Hopkins. The family is receiving friends and relatives at his home, 5335 Long Branch Drive, Dalzell. Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Williams Funeral Home Inc. of Sumter.

VIRGINIA BENNETT REMBERT — Virginia Gay Miller Bennett, 72, beloved wife of the late Reven Roy Bennett, died on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at Providence Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced by Bullock Funeral Home of Sumter.

ASHTON BENBOW JR. Ashton “Tony” Benbow Jr., 65, of 1640 Poole Road, departed this life on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born in Sumter County, he was a son of Ashton Sr. and Rever Ford Benbow. The family will receive relatives and friends at the residence, 1640 Poole Road.

WEDGEFIELD — Mary Havens Rickman, age 86, widow of James Andrew Rickman, died on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014, at Palmetto Health Richland. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Bullock Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Ridgedale Cemetery, 1112 Ridgedale Road, Saltville, Virginia. You may sign the family’s guest book at www.bullockfuneralhome.com. The family has chosen Bullock Funeral Home of Sumter for the arrangements.

JOHNNY WASHINGTON SUMMERTON — Johnny Washington, 78, died on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at Clarendon Memorial Hospital, Manning. He was born on Monday, July 13, 1936, in Summerton. He was the brother of Charlie Washington. Funeral services are incomplete and will be announced at a later date by King-Fields Mortuary of Summerton. The family is receiving friends at the home of his brother, Charlie Washington, 1301 Wausau St., Summerton.

JAMES MONTALBANO James “Jim” Montalbano, widower of Peggy Montalbano, died on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at his home. Services will be announced by Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, (803) 775-9386.

WILLIAM T. MURPHY SHALIMAR, Florida — William T. “Teddy” Murphy, 40, died on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, at his home in Shalimar. Born in Sumter, he was a son of Teretha Ann Christmas Murphy and the late William R. Murphy. He was a U.S. Navy veteran. Survivors include his mother; three sisters, Diane Huffman, Karen Gentry and Amie Scott; five brothers, Danny McElveen, Andrew McElveen, Gary McElveen, Kevin McElveen and Brent McElveen; 15 nieces and nephews; and 14 great-nieces and great-nephews. Graveside services will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery with the Rev. Lamar Christmas officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be Cory Gladish, Joseph Christmas, Craig Berberich and Norman Zanders. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday at the home of Joe and Nell Welch, 205 S. Wise Drive. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family, c/o Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home, 515 Miller Road, Sumter, SC 29150. Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements. www. ecsfuneralhome.com

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Garage, Yard & Estate Sales

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

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

FLEA MARKET BY SHAW AFB

Open every weekend. 905-4242

Affordable Lawn Care, free estimates Call 803-406-5075 Lordy, Lordy My gorgeous sister is 40! Happy Birthday Mindi Harrelson Dubose! We love you. Love Ashley, Chris, Wayne (husband) and all your friends and family near and far! Such a beautiful person inside and out!

Lost & Found FOUND: in ETV parking lot in Sumter, approx. intact 6 mo. old male gray/black striped cat. Owner call 803-669-3611 to identify.

In Memory

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

Tree Service 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. 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

Annual Coin Show Sat. Nov. 15 9am-5pm. Will appraise up to 10 coins free. Drawing for gold coin. Bethesda Church of God, Fellowship Hall. 2730 Broad St., Sumter (next to Honda dealership) For more info call 803-775-8840 Expert Tech, New & used heat pumps & A/C. Will install/repair, warranty; Compressor & labor $600. Call 803-968-9549 or 843-992-2364 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 Martin's Used Appliance Washers, Dryers, Refrig., Stoves. Guarantee 464-5439 or 469-7311 Firewood for Sale Will Deliver. Call 803 651-8672

Cats Kitten needs a good home. 4 mths old, female tabby, great indoor companion. Call 803-596-2449

In Loving Memory of Andrew Bubacz 09/15/87-11/12/2010 To our son, we love you so. You are special, I hope you know. With every day that passes by, you're more the twinkle in our eye. You were so loving, so giving, a heart of gold, always my baby even when we are old. Your love shines through for all to see, I feel so proud you are a part of me. Love forever Mom & Dad.

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

EMPLOYMENT Help Wanted Full-Time Local Insurance Agency representing major auto insurer seeks P & C agent. Experience in auto and home preferred. Excellent oral, written and organizational skills required. Reply with resume to: rarmfield@geico.com Local Construction Company in search of concrete former and field supervisor. Must be able to read blueprints and set grade. Also have a valid SC drivers license. Send resumes to: Box 374 c//o The Item, PO Box 1677 Sumter SC 29151

One

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. Please visit our website at www.brist ol-companies.com to view the full job description and to apply. Resumes will not be accepted. RN's/LPN's Needed Immediately Tender Care Home Health Care of SC. Pediatric exp. Highly Desired. Apply with resume at tchhemployment@att.net (888) 669-0104 Full time maintenance position available full benefits, vacation, sick leave, insurance, paid holidays. Call 803-435-4492

For Sale or Trade

Roofing

Child care providers needed (FT/PT/Sub) for local daycare. Prefer at least 6 months exp. Must be HS graduate & dedicated worker. Send resume to P 373 c//o The Item, PO Box 1677 Sumter SC 29151

LPN, MA, Front Office / Clerical & PRN X-Ray Tech. needed for busy internal medical practice. Competitive salary and benefits. Fax resume to office manager @ 803-905-6810

Help Wanted Part-Time PT in Manning quick book experience flexible hours send resume to missy1stchoice.hvac@gmail.com $$$ AVON $$$ FREE TRAINING! 803-422-5555 Accepting applications for all positions. Apply in person on Wednesday between 4p-5p at Sonic on McCrays Mill Rd. Sumter.

Trucking Opportunities P/T Class-A CDL drivers needed to haul poultry. Night Shift. Must have 2yrs verifiable exp & good MVR. Call 804-784-6166

Schools / Instructional

Office Rentals

RENTALS Unfurnished Apartments Senior Living Apartments for those 62+ (Rent based on income) Shiloh-Randolph Manor 125 W. Bartlette. 775-0575 Studio/1 Bedroom apartments available EHO Hampton Pk Hist. Dist Clean, attractive 1BD (3 rm apt.) Range, Refrig.,Washer & Dryer Ceiling fans, No pets. Off Street parking $410 Mo. +Sec Dep w/Yr Lease Credit report & Refs Req.Call 773-2451

Large 4BR home Woodlawn Ave $550 deposit/rent. Call 803-468-1900.

Mobile Home Rentals

STATEBURG COURTYARD

Commercial Rentals 4,000 sq ft retail space available. Call Bobby Sisson, 464-2730.

REAL ESTATE Manufactured Housing 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 1987 Singlewide 2 br 1.5 ba, on rented lot, $1900 OBO 803-607-9301.

2 & 3 BRs 803-494-4015

Mobile Home with Lots

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

2BR 2BA MH with 1 acre of land in Rembert Area $12,000. Call 803-847-9405

Fall Special No Payment Til Dec. As Low As $175.00 Per Mo. On Site Rent. For A Limited Time Only.

Why Rent When You Can Own? “Close to Everything”

Work Wanted

Bring back this ad & receive FREE application fee.

STATEBURG COURTYARD

Christmas, Birthday, Parties, etc. Large room available. Call Bobby Sisson at 464-2730

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

• Free Appliances • AC/Heat • 1 Month Free Cable

I am a reliable CNA looking to sit with your elderly loved ones day or night. Ref. provided. Call 803-225-0924 or 803-225-0543

Business Rentals

Unfurnished Homes

Do you need certification in CPR, First aid or Osha? Please contact gram4mobile@gmail.com. Reasonable rates.

Need in home caregiver? CNA Available daily. Ref.upon request. Call 803-305-7650

Office rentals: 712 Bultman Dr. Upstairs Space, 450 sq ft - 2 units $325 mo 170 sq ft 1-office $165 mo, 550 sq ft can divide $395 mo. 275 sq ft 2 units $250 mo. 250 sq ft 1 office $225 mo. Call 469-9294 or 491-6905

Call Now! 469-8515

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

Land & Lots for Sale Sumter Cemetery Lot for sale 10 spaces, marble coping included. $5000 Evergreen Cemetery Lot for sale 4 spaces near walkway up to cross $5000 Call 803-968-1084 DALZELL/WALMART 1 AC. PAVED, SEPTIC OPTIONAL! $5990! 888-774-5720

RECREATION

Campers / RV's/ Motorhomes Camper Spots Available at Randolph's Landing on Beautiful Lake Marion. Boat Ramp, Boat Docking, Fishing pier, Restaurant and Tackle Shop. All season weekly rates for motel. Call for rates: 803-478-2152.

Shaw Flea Market

Auctions

At Shaw AFB • 494-5500

CLASSIFIEDS

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.

Shopping You can find everything you need for the new house or the new spouse in one convenient place-our Classifieds! Spacious 2 & 3 Bedroom Units Paved Streets & Parking Well Landscaped Lawns Central Heat & Air Patrolled by Private Security Quiet Family Living

Private lot, Near Shaw, 1 block from Peach Orchard Plaza

GOT STUFF?

• Sporting Goods • Electronics • Appliances • Furniture • Cameras • Jewelry • Dishes • Books ...plus a whole lot more!

All Tables Just $1

Buy or Sell

For More Info Call: 803-494-4015 774-1234 It’s the After Thanksgiving Sale NOW - Before Thanksgiving at Mayo’s! Sale

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

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

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

MAYO’S SUIT CITY If your suits aren’t becoming to you, It’s a good time to be coming to Mayo’s! Wesmark Plaza • 773-2262 • Mon-Sat 10-7

CLASSIFIEDS

THE ITEM

TRANSPORTATION

LEGAL NOTICES Legal Notice

Autos For Sale 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 BETTER THAN WALKING SPECIAL "Remember Cars are like eggs" Cheaper in the country! Financing Available '90 Toyota Celica $1800 '99 Mercury Sable $2495 '01 Nissan Altima GLE $3995 '00 Olds Intrigue GL $3995 '04 Nissan Altima S $5995 '07 Chevy Malibu LS $6995 '01 Chevy Subarban $3495 Ernest Baker Auto Sales & Equip. 3349 N. Main St., Hwy 15N. Across from Mozingo Conv. Store 803-469-9294

Project Name: GM Duramax 6.6L running complete "new" diesel engine. Project Number: SWRTA 14/15-04 Project Location: Sumter, SC Description of Project: Acquire a GM Duramax 6.6L running complete new engine Delivered Location: Attn: Larry Jennings, 121 Holmes Gardner Road, Sumter, SC 29153 Submit Quote by: November 21, 2014 @ 2:00PM Agency/Owner: Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority. For Copy of Solicitation, please contact the Agency Coordinator listed below. Name & Title of Agency Coordinator: Patricia Drakeford Address: 129 South Harvin Street, P.O. Box 2462, Sumter, SC 29151 Telephone: (803) 934-0396 Fax: (803) 938-9867 E-Mail: pdrakeford@swrta.com Hand Deliver/Fed Ex/UPS Quote to: Compliance Officer, SWRTA, 129 South Harvin Street, Sumter, SC 29150, Solicitation: SWRTA 14/15-04 Mail Quote to: Compliance Officer, SWRTA, P.O. Box 2462, Sumter, SC 29151, Solicitation: SWRTA 14/15-04 Storage Auction Moore's Mini Storage 1117 N. Main St. Sumter Saturday Nov. 15, 2014, 9 am

Summons & Notice SUMMONS IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CASE NO. 2014-CP-43-0871 SUPER SALE Chevy Z71 4x4 Dodge Ram 4x4 Ford F-150 Starting at $3,900 Price is Right Auto Sales 3210 Broad St 803-494-4275

HOT CARS & TRUCKS FAll SPECIALS: '05 Mustang GT loaded $12995 '06 Honda Accord $8995 '08 Honda Accord loaded $12995 '10 Toyota Avalon loaded $10995 '10 Dodge Charger SE $12995 '11 Chevy Malibu $11995 '10 Ford Explorer Ed Baurer 3rd seat $16995 '03 Toyota Tacoma Excab. SRS $8995 '04 Chevy Z71 Excab 4x4 $10995 '04 GMC Crewcab SLT $11995 '04 Dodge Quad Cab SLT $8995 '03 Ford Sporttrac $7995 Ernest Baker Auto Sales & Equip: 3349 N. Main St. Sumter Call 803-469-9294 2002 Isuzu Axiom 4Dr SUV 157K mi. $3500 OBO Call Rick 803-481-7108 aft 4.

Miscellaneous

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF SUMTER Green Tree Servicing LLC Plaintiff, -vsAnn Aavik, The Estate of Thomas Aavik, acting by and through its Personal Representative, whose name is unknown, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Ford Motor Credit Company LLC, and any and all persons claiming any right, title, estate or interest in real estate described in the Complaint any unknown adults being as a class designated as John Doe, and any unknown infants or persons under disability being as a class designated as Richard Roe, Defendant(s) YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices, 1640 St. Julian Place, Columbia, South Carolina 29202, within thirty (30) days after service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for a judgment by default granting the relief demanded in the Complaint. TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON

Summons & Notice

WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDE(S), AND/OR TO PERSON UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY, INCOMPETENTS AND PERSONS CONFINED:

ALSO INCLUDED: one (1) 1999 Liberty MH (42 x 56)

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem within thirty (30) days after service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by the Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF FILING COMPLAINT YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Complaint in the above-captioned action were filed on May 6, 2014, in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Sumter County, South Carolina. NOTICE OF ORDER APPOINTING GUARDIAN AD LITEM NISI AND NOTICE A GUARDIAN AD LITEM APPOINTED PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT an action involving real property known as 4650 Christine Dr., Sumter, SC 29150, in which you may have an interest, has been commenced in the Court of Common Pleas for Sumter County, South Carolina and that, by Order of the Clerk of Court filed therein on November 29, 2014, Kimberly Allen Raber has been appointed Guardian ad Litem Nisi for all minors and persons under legal disability as a class designated as Richard Roe, Defendants herein. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT, unless you or someone on your behalf apply to the Court for appointment of a suitable person to act as Guardian ad Litem herein, within thirty (30) days after service by publication of this Notice, the appointment of Kimberly Allen Raber as Guardian ad Litem shall be made absolute.

LIS PENDENS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an action has been commenced and is now pending in this Court upon the Complaint of the above-named Plaintiff for the foreclosure of a certain mortgage of real estate given by Ann Aavik and Thomas Aavik to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as a nominee for 1st Choice Mortgage/Equity Corporation of Lexington dated January 19, 2005, and recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Sumter County on January 24, 2005 at 3:39 PM in Book 967 at Page 86 The premises covered and affected by the said mortgage and the foreclosure thereof, were, at the time of making thereof and at the time of the filing of the Lis Pendens, as described on the attached Exhibit "A".

EXHIBIT "A" All that certain piece, parcel, or lot of land, together with the improvements thereon, if any, situate, lying, and being in the Township of Privateer, County of Sumter, State of South Carolina, being shown and designated as Lot #63, Havenwood Subdivision, Section # 9, as shown on that certain plat prepared by Croft Engineers, RLS, and recorded in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Sumter County in Plat Book 87 at page 349, and having such metes and bounds as are shown on said plat, this description being in lieu of metes and bounds, as permitted under Section 30-5-250 of the 1976 Code of Laws of South Carolina. This is the property known as 4650 Christine Drive.

This is the identical property conveyed to Thomas Aavik and Ann Aavik by deed of Ruby O. Cain dated May 24, 2003 and recorded May 30, 2003 in the Office of the Register of Deeds for Sumter County, South Carolina in Book 891 at page 889; thereafter, re-recorded September 10, 2003 in Book 907 at Page 1316 to correct the spelling of the grantee's name. Crawford & von Keller, LLC. PO Box 4216 1640 St. Julian Place (29204) Columbia, SC 29240 Phone: 803-790-2626 Attorneys for Plaintiff

Public Hearing NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING By ordinance enacted on December 7, 1999 (the "Ordinance"), the City Council of the City of Sumter, South Carolina ("City Council"), established a Redevelopment Project Area (the "District") as permitted by the TIF Law (the "Act") set forth in Sections 31-6-10 to 31-6-110, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as amended. Pursuant to Section 31-6-80(F)(2) of the Act, certain provisions of the Ordinance may be amended. The City Council does not intend to change the boundaries of the District, which were established by the Ordinance in 1999. These boundaries contain 196.13 acres (+/-) of property completely within the City of Sumter. The District contains 402 separate parcels of property. The boundaries are as follows: Beginning in the north, the District is bounded by parcels along Calhoun Street from Washington Street to Baker Street on the north side of Calhoun Street and to Magnolia Street on the south side of Calhoun Street. The boundary then proceeds south along Magnolia Street to East Hampton Avenue. The boundary then proceeds east to North Lafayette Drive, and then proceeds south to East Liberty Street. The boundary then proceeds west, where it contains the parcels along the north side of East Liberty Street. The boundary then proceeds south along South Harvin Street where it contains the parcels along both sides of such street. The boundary then proceeds west along West Oakland Avenue, where it contains the parcels along the north side until the intersection with Washington Street. The boundary then proceeds north along Washington Street, including parcels on both sides until the boundary reaches Warren Street. A map showing all parcels within the District is available for inspection at the administrative offices of the City located at 21 N. Main Street, Sumter, South Carolina. Notice is hereby given that on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014, AT 6:00 P.M. IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 21 N. MAIN STREET, SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA, City Council will conduct a public hearing on the approval of amendments to the Ordinance to extend the maximum term of obligations to be issued under the redevelopment plan approved by the Ordinance (the "Plan") from December 7, 2014 to December 7, 2029, and therefore also to extend the duration of the Plan, and to extend the maximum amount of the obligations to be issued under the Plan (the "Obligations") from $5 million to $10 million.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 Public Hearing

Public Hearing

improvements required in order to attract private sector investment and business development within the downtown area of the City of Sumter, South Carolina, such improvements including (but not necessarily limited to):

in use of the proceeds of the Obligations in relation to the Plan so that such proceeds may be applied to defray the cost of designing and constructing a multi-level parking facility to be owned by the City and to be located within the District.

1. An ongoing planning effort to determine the extent of potential public assistance necessary to renovate buildings for future private sector investments;

ALL INTERESTED PERSONS WILL BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD AT THE PUBLIC HEARING.

2. A Master Land Use Plan for public areas such as parks, street improvements, parking lots, and related facilities; 3. Major renovation to and/or replacement of sidewalks to improve the safety and appearance of the project area; 4. Improvements to the streets to improve the safety and appearance of the project area; 5. Installation of underground utilities, and elimination of overhead power lines and metal and wooden power poles located within various parking lots and public streets, in order to improve the visual appearance of the downtown; and 6. Repairs and landscaping to City owned or leased parking lots which serve private businesses, in order to attract potential customers of the Main and Liberty Street merchants; The City is also proposing a change

City Council, City of Sumter, South Carolina Destruction of Special Education Records (300.573) Sumter School District will be destroying special education records for students exiting during or prior to the 2009-2010 school year. Records being destroyed include all special education referral records, evaluation reports, testing protocols, notifications of meetings, Individual Education Plans (IEP), reviews of existing data summaries, and all other personally identifiable information therein. Under state and federal law, special education records must be maintained for a period of five years after special education services have ended. Former students over the age of 18, or parents of students over the age of 18, who have retained parental rights through the court's determination, may obtain special education records by contacting and making an appointment with Mrs. Lillarweise Seymore at (803) 774-5500 (ext. 210).

INVISTA has openings for Control Equipment Technicians and General Mechanics. We are seeking dependable individuals with solid problem-solving and communication skills who are able to work safely in an industrial environment.

Control Equipment Technicians: •Work Schedule: Day based, 8-hour day, Monday through Friday OR rotating 12-hour shifts •Competitive pay and benefits, commensurate with experience (start rate ~$21.50/hr)

General Mechanics: •Work Schedule: Day based, 8-hour day, Monday through Friday OR rotating 12-hour shifts •Competitive pay and benefits, commensurate with experience (start rate ~$18.50/hr) In order to be considered for employment, please visit us online at http://kochcareers.com and submit your resume to the job in which you are interested. A valid email account is required to apply. It is important to check email frequently as communication regarding your application will be via email.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran

Manufacturing Facility Camden, South Carolina

As approved by the Ordinance, the purpose of the Plan is to address the

Full Time Party Director Needed

Reconditioned batteries $35. New batteries, UBX 75-7850. Golf cart batteries, 6V. exchange $300 per set, while they last. Auto Electric Co. 803-773-4381

YOUR AD HERE

Must work flexible hours and weekends. Experience required in party planning, booking and making arrangements for parties of 25 to 2,500. Must present resume with references.

Serious inquiries only contact

803-983-7448 or email to: yarber.t.admin@ubimf.com

We Want to Sell Your Car

Now! 4 Lines

+ 4 Days

FOR ONLY

$24!

No refund for early cancellation. Private Party Only! Business and commercial accounts not eligible. All ads must be prepaid. All advertising subject to publisher’s approval. Special cannot be combined with discounts. Other restrictions may apply.

Ribbon Cutting Join Great Southern Homes and Russell & Jeffcoat for the Grand Opening of The Arbors community in Sumter.

Wednesday, November 12th

*PHOTO INCLUDED

20 N. Magnolia Street Sumter, SC www.theitem.com

You Are Invited

Ceremony Begins at 11:00am Tour of Homes and BBQ Lunch to Follow Be among the first to preview these lovely homes built by Great Southern Homes and learn about their GreenSmart technology and Energy Guarantee.

Limited Time

803. CALL

774.1234

Directions: Take Hwy 378 to Carter Road; continue on Carter Road for 1 mile. The Arbors subdivison will be on the left.

SECTION

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 Call Ivy Moore at: (803) 774-1221 | E-mail: ivy@theitem.com

Feeding the hungry for 20 years BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com

eraldine Singleton has cooked more than 1,000 turkeys over the past 19 years, and for the 20th, she’ll again prepare dressing, rice and gravy, ham, vegetables, cranberry sauce, bread and desserts — and around 60 turkeys. And then the 70-year-old will give it all away. On Nov. 23 at the annual Thanksgiving dinner she hosts for anyone who needs a good meal, she expects to serve more than 1,000 people. Last year, more than 1,200 attended. Quick to acknowledge the numerous volunteers who help prepare and serve the dinner, Singleton said, “People are so generous with donations of food and money — and others with their time and work. They realize there are so many homeless people, shut-ins and others who would not have a Thanksgiving dinner otherwise.” The dinner began with a group of women Singleton met through work more than two decades ago; calling themselves the Today’s Ladies Club, they started delivering food and other necessities to elderly shut-ins. Now the only member still able to continue the endeavor, Singleton depends on her daughter Lauretha McGhaney and a cadre of volunteers and donors. They don’t just feed those hungry for a good meal; Singleton always sees that there is a spiritual element to the occasion. Again this year, the Rev. Joshua Dupree and Minister Mary Jane Ragin will offer blessings for the meal, those who provide and serve it and those who eat together in the South Sumter Gym. “I’ve got three gospel groups who will sing, too,” Singleton said, “and anybody else who wants to sing or play an instrument is welcome, too.” She said she’s blessed by the gratitude of participants and by those who step in to help her feed them. In addition to the many turkeys and hams she’s gone through in 20 years, Singleton “wore out my stove” last year. “A lady called me on New Year’s Day and said she really wanted to help,” Singleton said. The following Saturday, she got a gift card in the mail for $400 to use toward a stove at Lowe’s. “God stepped in and touched her to do that,” Singleton said. The new stove is about to see its first real test, as she begins cooking this week. Volunteers also provide for a

PHOTO PROVIDED

Geraldine Singleton has been providing a free Thanksgiving dinner to more than 1,000 people each year for 19 years. With the help of volunteers, she’ll cook and serve turkey and all the trimmings to around 1,200 for the 20th time on Sunday, Nov. 23. clothes giveaway, something new for the project that she hopes will benefit the homeless. She admits to considering “retirement” from her project, Singleton said, but then her thoughts turn to “all the elderly at home who really need the food. ... . Volunteers who deliver their meals say they all are so grateful someone is thinking about them. How can I quit?” She hopes McGhaney will take over for her someday. During the mornings, Singleton can be found at the Sumter Cut Rate Soda Fountain visiting with friends over coffee; she often receives donations from customers who come through then. Anyone who wants to donate money or food, or volunteer to help cook or serve, can also talk to her there or call her, she said. On the day of the Thanksgiving dinner, which is set for noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, Singleton arrives at 8:30 a.m. to receive prepared and canned foods and other items. It’s the only Sunday she misses church. As always, Singleton said, anybody who needs a Thanksgiving dinner is invited to attend the noon to 2 p.m. event at the South Sumter Gym on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and South Sumter Street. To contribute before the event or for more information, contact Singleton at (803) 775-2047.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Volunteers prepare plates for the Thanksgiving dinner spearheaded by Geraldine Singlton at the South Sumter Gym last Thanksgiving. Around 1,200 people received a free turkey dinner thanks to Singleton, volunteers and donors of food and money. This year’s dinner will be served at the South Sumter Resource Center on Sunday, Nov. 23.

Museum’s oyster roast tickets going fast; wreath workshop, Backcountry Christmas coming up T

he Sumter County Museum has been the place to be this fall, what with the writers’ luncheons and receptions, the Carolina Backcountry Harvest event, last Saturday’s “meet and Out & About greet” with demonstraA guide to arts & leisure tions of Native AmeriIVY MOORE can traditions by the Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians and more. Annie Rivers, museum director, said the staff has no plans to slow down. Now that there’s a little nip in the air, it’s time for the much anticipated Carolina Backcountry Oyster Roast, set for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. Fresh Lowcountry and Chesapeake oysters roasted over an open fire are the stars of the event, but museum staff and volunteers always prepare several other dishes. If any guests are not oyster lovers, they can fill up on Charles Bostic’s whole hog barbecue, the Edens family’s famous chili and Glenn Evans’ drunken collards. “I’m not sure what makes them drunken,” Rivers said. “Let’s just say it’s a secret.” Beverages include beer, wine, soft drinks and water, and the museum furnishes

SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO

Guests at last year’s Carolina Backcountry Oyster Roast dig in to all the oysters they can eat. The Sumter County Museum’s popular fundraiser will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20. utensils. Guests are invited to bring their own oyster knives, gloves and towels if they prefer, Rivers said, but there will be plenty available. Each November, many guests also bring their own homemade cocktail sauce and hot sauce. Guests line up on either side of long tables as the oyster roasters dump baskets full of the steaming bivalves in front of them. Bread and stacks of saltine crackers, melted butter,

all add to the feast. For those who need to take a little break, there’s a bonfire to warm them up so they can head back for more. It’s an allyou-can-eat event. Rivers noted that tickets for the oyster roast always go fast. Get them for $50 in advance, $55 at the door, if any are left. To get tickets, call the museum at (803) 775-0908, go by the museum’s Williams-Brice House, 122 N. Washington St.,

or order them at the website, www.sumtercountymuseum. org/events.html#oysterroast. Also on the museum’s endof-year schedule are the annual wreath-making workshop on Dec. 3 and the Carolina Backcountry Christmas program, one of my favorites, on Dec. 13. Hot roasted chestnuts, cider, music, beautiful natural decorations. This event will really get you in the spirit. Other events may

be scheduled, as well. A few tickets remain for Thursday’s Saxsational concert sponsored by the SumterShaw Community Concert Association. Rob Verdi will bring some of his huge collection of the many different sizes and types of saxophones to the Sumter Opera House at 7:30 p.m. He’ll present a brief “history lesson” within a mostly jazz and pop concert. Tickets will be available at the door, or you can contact the Sumter Opera House at (803) 436-2616 or http://www.sumtersc.gov/ sumter-opera-house.aspx. And Friday brings the Sip and Stroll wine-tasting event that happens downtown from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Get your tickets before 4 p.m. Friday, and they’re $25; wait until 6, and they’re $35 — if there are any left, which is highly unlikely, as this is a very popular event and fundraiser for its host, Sumter Senior Services. For tickets call (803) 773-5508 or visit the website http://www. sumtersipandstroll.org. The South Sumter Resource Center recently turned 20, and staff and supporters will be celebrating that milestone on Nov. 22 at the center. Many special guests will be there. Staff are working on the program now. Mark your calendar, and watch The Sumter Item for more details soon.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

FOOD

THE SUMTER ITEM

Make the most of a make-ahead turkey gravy BY SARA MOULTON The Associated Press or the home cook,

If you’re having eight folks at the big meal, you’ll need to start with a quart of stock. To turn the stock into gravy, Thanksgiving can be it must be thickened. The formula is 2 tablespoons each of the most stressful fat and flour for every cup of day of the year. The crux liquid. So, a quart of stock (4 cups) will require ½ cup (one of the problem is not only stick) of butter and ½ cup of the extravagant length of flour, preferably Wondra. Introduced in 1963, Wondra is the menu, but the need to “instant” flour formulated to serve every dish piping hot help prevent lumps. (It also does a splendid job as a coatat exactly the same moing for fish or meat in a saument, a problem made all teed dish.) If you can’t find Wondra, all-purpose flour will the more acute by the fact do. that the oven is probably Flour tastes raw unless you cook it both before and after going to be hogged by the you add the liquid. So start by big bird for most of the melting the butter in a saucepan, adding the flour, and day. cooking it for several minutes. Heat the stock to roughly the What’s a cook to do? I’ll offer two pieces of advice. same temperature as the roux (the flour-butter mixture) beFirst, keep in mind that the turkey will stay rip-roaring hot fore mix them together. In my experience, this step for up to an hour after you pull gets me that much closer to it from the oven. This gives us lump-free perfection, though ample time to use the oven to there is no hard rule about the cook the stuffing or pies. Sectemperature of the liquid. ondly, many dishes can be made a day ahead. The obvious What’s beyond dispute is the importance of mixing well and candidates are casseroles and constantly when you do comstuffing. But there’s another bine the roux and the liquid. do-ahead you may not have considered — the gravy. Here’s The right tool for the job? A flat whisk. It helps you get into how it’s done. the corners of the saucepan It’s the day before Thankswhere the roux tends to stick. giving. Start by making a stock. Ideally, your turkey will Don’t have one? A wooden have defrosted enough by then spoon or rubber spatula with a squared corner also works. to allow you to extract the To maximize the flour’s package of giblets and the thickening ability, it must be neck from inside the bird’s heated to no less than 200 F. cavity. (Sometimes it’s placed Then let the gravy simmer for under the skin flap at the botat least as many minutes as tom of the bird). You should also cut off the last joint of the you have tablespoons of flour. Season it, then place a sheet of turkey wings. parchment paper or plastic Combine all these parts in a wrap on the gravy’s surface to pot with chicken broth and vegetables and simmer for sev- prevent a skin from forming while it cools, then chill it. eral hours. (But leave out the On the great day itself, after liver, which would make your you’ve transferred the turkey stock bitter. Instead, sauté it up as a little snack for yourself to a platter to rest, you should while you cook.) Starting with “marry” the gravy to the pan drippings by deglazing the botchicken broth rather than tom of the pan (with all those water seriously amps the flavor, but you’re welcome to use tasty bits) using wine, broth or water. Then add your makewater. Then again, if making ahead gravy and heat it up. turkey stock from scratch Phew! Simple, right? At the strikes you as too much trouvery least, this strategy saves ble, just omit this step and you the stress of having to constart your gravy with storejure up a boatload of gravy at bought chicken broth. the critical moment. More imHow much gravy do you need? I recommend ½ cup per portantly, I think the gravy tastes even better when made person, which should ensure that there’ll be plenty left over. this way.

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The turkey stock used in this gravy recipe takes a few hours to make, but it is mostly hands off.

MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY GRAVY The turkey stock used in this gravy recipe takes a few hours to make, but it is mostly hands off. It can be done up to several days ahead of time and refrigerated. The gravy itself also can be prepped ahead up to the point of needing the roasted turkey drippings, then quickly finished just before serving. Don’t feel like making your own turkey stock? Use chicken stock and start the recipe at the “To prepare the gravy” stage. When stirring the gravy, a flat whisk is the best tool for the job. But if you don’t have one, a wooden spoon or rubber spatula with a squared corner should work just as well to let you get into the corners of the pan. Start to finish: 4 hours (30 minutes active) Servings: 8 For the stock: The giblets, neck and wing tips from 1 turkey 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water 1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped 1 small carrot, halved lengthwise 1 celery rib, halved lengthwise 1 small parsnip, halved lengthwise 1 sprig fresh thyme 1 sprig fresh parsley 1 bay leaf 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns For the gravy: ½ cup turkey fat (skimmed from the stock) or butter 1/3 cup Wondra flour or all-purpose flour Salt and ground black pepper 1 cup dry white wine (optional) To prepare the stock, in a small to medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the giblets, neck and wing tips with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer, skimming and discarding the scum that rises to the surface.

After about 20 minutes, when there is no more scum rising to the surface, add the onion, carrot, celery, parsnip, thyme, parsley, bay leaf and peppercorns. Return to a simmer and cook, adding water as needed to maintain the level, for 3 to 4 hours. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, skim off and reserve any fat that accumulates on the surface. Strain the stock and discard the solids. Set the stock aside. To prepare the gravy, if your stock has been chilled, heat it just to a simmer. In a medium skillet over medium-low, heat the turkey fat until melted. If you don’t have a full ½ cup of fat from making the stock, substitute butter for the missing fat. Add the flour and whisk until the roux (the butter-flour mixture) looks like wet sand, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the warm stock in a stream, whisking or stirring, and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Don’t worry if the gravy seems thick, you will be adding more liquid when you finish it. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly, transfer to a bowl and cover the surface of the gravy with kitchen parchment. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. When the turkey is cooked and resting on a platter, it is time to finish the gravy. Pour off any fat from the roasting pan, then place the pan over 2 burners. Heat the pan over medium heat. Add the wine, if using, or a cup of chicken broth or water to the pan and simmer, scraping up the brown bits with a metal spatula, until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the make-ahead gravy, stirring, and some of the juices from the turkey resting platter. Simmer the gravy in the pan until it is reduced to the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Nutrition information per serving: 170 calories; 110 calories from fat (65 percent of total calories); 12 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 35 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 2 g protein; 130 mg sodium.

Cornbread, buttermilk together in a biscuit BY ALISON LADMAN The Associated Press These rich cornmeal biscuits aren’t just an easy and delicious way to have fresh bread at the Thanksgiving table. They also let you get a jump on your dinner prep. The biscuits can be prepared up to the point of baking, then arranged on the pan, wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen for up to two weeks. They can be baked right from the freezer, but be sure to allow 3 to 4 minutes of extra cooking time than is called for in the recipe. These biscuits also are easily customized. We offer four suggestions for additions to the basic biscuit dough. Use one or all or any combination.

CORNBREAD BUTTERMILK BISCUITS Start to finish: 30 minutes Servings: 12 2 cups all-purpose flour

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Cornbread Buttermilk Biscuits can be prepared up to the point of baking, then arranged on the pan, wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen for up to two weeks. 1 cup cornmeal 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 1/2-inch cubes 1 egg 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup buttermilk Optional additions: 1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeno

pepper slices 2/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon or chopped ham 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives Heat the oven to 400 F. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and sugar. Add the butter and use 2 knives or your fingertips to work the cubes into the dry mixture until no clump is larger than the size of a

pea. If using any optional additions, mix them into the dry ingredients at this stage. Set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg, cream and buttermilk. Add to the dry mixture and stir just until a dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a 1-inch-thick round. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into rounds, gently reworking the scraps to cut addi-

tional biscuits (but do this only once). Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them several inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. Nutrition information per serving without additions: 240 calories; 110 calories from fat (46 percent of total calories); 13 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 55 mg cholesterol; 28 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 4 g protein; 320 mg sodium.

FOOD

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014

Make cranberry sauce impossible to pass up We get it. The allure of canned cranberry sauce goes well beyond convenience. There’s something about the ridges on the side, about the way it jiggles on the plate, about the way it slides down your throat. We get. So you should to. On this day of giving thanks (and indulgence), embrace canned cranberry sauce. But that shouldn’t preclude you from offering up an alternative, too. After all, we are celebrating a bountiful harvest. The beauty of homemade cranberry sauce is that it’s so easy to make it so good. It’s also incredibly versatile. The classic technique involves nothing more than simmering the whole berries on the stovetop with a whole mess of sugar. Given a few minutes, those cranberries soon burst and bubble and thicken into a deliciously thick tangy-sweet sauce. But did you know cranberries also shine in raw sauces? Though these really are more of a relish or salsa, they are just as delicious. Raw cranberry sauces are great with the usual turkey and sides, but also can do double duty as a starter served with tortilla chips or spooned over a cream cheese or warm brie and paired with slices of baguette. To help get you going, we’ve collected 10 fresh ways with homemade cranberry sauce — five cooked and five raw.

5 NEW WAYS WITH COOKED CRANBERRY SAUCE Start with a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries, 1 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¾ cup water. Combine in a medium saucepan with your chosen flavorings below. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook for 10 minutes, or until the cranberries pop and the mixtures becomes thick and saucy. Cool to room temperature. • Vanilla-chai: Before adding the water, bring it to a boil and steep 3 chai teabags in it for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and combine the tea with the remaining ingredients as well as half a vanilla bean, split and scraped, ¼ cup honey, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom. • Caramelized onion: Chop 2 large yellow onions and cook slowly for 15 to 20 minutes in a splash of oil until well browned and sweet. Stir in 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, then add to the master recipe above. • Merlot: Replace the water in the master recipe with merlot wine and add the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon. • Bacon-date: Reduce the sugar to ¾ cup, then stir in ¾ cup chopped dried dates. Stir in ¾ cup crumbled cooked bacon just before serving. • Maple-miso: Use maple syrup in place of the sugar in the master recipe and add 2 tablespoons sweet white miso paste.

5 NEW WAYS WITH FRESH CRANBERRY SAUCE Start with a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries, 1 cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. Combine everything in a food processor — along with a selection below — and pulse until well chopped. Serve cold. • Mojito: Add the zest and juice from 2 limes and ½ cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves. Stir in 1 tablespoon

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light rum. • Melba: Add a 10-ounce bag of thawed frozen peaches and 6 ounces fresh raspberries. • Smoky chipotle: Add 1 minced chipotle pepper and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 2 cloves garlic. • Ruby citrus: Add the zest of 1 orange, 1 lemon and 1 lime. After processing, stir in 1 cup chopped segments of ruby red grapefruit. • Herbed: Add 3 tablespoons each of chopped fresh chives, tarragon, basil, parsHerbed Cranberry Sauce is an easy adaptation of homemade cranberry sauce. ley and cilantro.

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Thanksgiving Greetings Draw a line connecting two syllables to make a WWI word from this page.

Color this World War I soldier.

Then look for photos of modern military uniforms in the newspaper or online. What is similar? What is different?

2014 is the 100th Anniversary of the outbreak of the first World War. People all over the world have been buying little ceramic poppies to “plant” outside the Tower of London. The goal is to “plant” one for every British or Commonwealth soldier killed in World War I.

Yuval weitzen/Wikipedia

BY ALISON LADMAN The Associated Press

How many poppies would that be? Do the math to discover the answer: oppies were the flowers that grew on the battlefields and they became a symbol to remember fallen soldiers. In Britain and the United States, people wear poppies on November 11th, the day that soldiers on both sides of World War I stopped fighting and had what is called an armistice. Armistice means a pause in fighting agreed upon by the two sides in a conflict. Today, people in Britain call November 11th Remembrance Day. In the United States, this day ay is called Veterans Day. In both countries it is a day to rememberr those who served their countriess in the military.

Replace the missing words.

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple written directions.

444,123 + 444,123 VETERANS TRENCHES MEMORIAL POPPIES ALLIED SYMBOL PHOTOS WORLD PEACE TROOP TRUCE ZONES SING MAIL GOAL

Countries joined one of two sides in WWI. On one side were France, Russia and Great Britain. They were the Allied Powers. The United States joined the Allied Powers in 1917. On the other side were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. They were called the Ce Cent ntra ral Powers. Central How many WWI airplanes can you find on this page? Have a friend try. Who found the most?

For the first time ________, machine guns guns, poison gas and airplanes were used in __________. Photography changed how people connected with wars. Pictures from the war zones were published and people thousands of miles away could see the _____________ of the war. Aerial photography was used to survey troop positions and watch their ________________.

e exchanged In some places, small gifts wer a quick game and there were even reports of of soccer between troops.

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Use the skills and strategies of the reading process to follow written directions.

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E N D S P R L I A M S E D L O B M Y S E A S Y W P O O R T M Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognized identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.

Use pictures and words cut from the newspaper to design your own Veterans Day flag. Display your flag in your classroom or in a window at home. Standards Link: Visual Art: Know how subject matter, symbols and ideas are used to communicate meaning.

Send your story to:

Imagine you could talk to a tree that has lived for many, many years. What would the tree tell you about its life? Deadline: December 7 Published: Week of Jan. 4, 2015 Please include your school and grade.

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Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information.

a. Giving gifts to someone you don’t like or know very well.

c. An unscheduled soccer match.

E O G R S T L C A A N V E N E L A O T I

Write a poem about war that expresses your feelings and opinions or how you would honor the memory of fallen soldiers. Use the newspaper to find words to use in your poem.

After reading the article A Christmas Truce, what do you think the word truce means?

b. An agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a certain amount of time.

T S O T O H P V H O R N T R U C E A E L

Memorial Poem

Because so many men went to fight in the war, women started _____________ in jobs that had previously been “men’s jobs.” These jobs included working in factories, delivering mail and more.

iers from On Christmas Day in 1914, sold t was called both sides stepped out into wha lefield “no man’s land” between the batt e hands trenches to greet each other, shak and sing Christmas carols.

Find the words in the puzzle. Then look for each word in this week’s Kid Scoop stories and activities.

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COMICS

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BIZARRO

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GARFIELD

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Mother teaches skill of writing thank-you notes DEAR ABBY — The issue of thank-you notes comes up often in your column. May I share how I learned to Dear Abby write them? When I was ABIGAIL young, my VAN BUREN mother asked me one day why I was so resistant. I said I hated addressing them and I never knew what to say! It was overwhelming to me. Mother taught me some phrases such as, “I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” and ways to close like, “I hope to see you again soon.” She gently reminded me that

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the sooner I wrote, the easier it would be to express words of gratitude. She also made a deal with me: If I quit complaining and procrastinating, she’d address them for me until I turned 18. When I turned 18 she gave me an address book filled with the addresses of our family and friends, beautiful new stationery and a book of stamps. In case you’re curious, my 18th birthday gifts were all acknowledged with thank-you notes addressed by me! I’m 22 now, and I have never missed a note. Sarah B., Ansonia, Connecticut DEAR SARAH B. — Thank you for your charming letter. Your mother was not only a good negotiator, she also

THE DAILY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

taught you a skill that will be valuable as you grow older. I print letters about this subject so often because of the number of complaints I receive about the failure to receive a thank-you note. When a gift (or check) isn’t acknowledged, the message it sends is that the item wasn’t appreciated, which is insulting and hurtful. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www. DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order “How to Be Popular.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 610540447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

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 Union foes 5 Sing like Joe Cocker 9 Cowl wearer 13 ‘90s-’00s Lakers great 15 Kevin’s “A Fish Called Wanda” role 16 __ sprawl 17 Progressive Era muckraker 19 Walk away 20 Charms 21 Grain Belt st. 23 TV diner owner 24 “Spring forward” letters 25 “Pretty darn good” 28 Carte start 29 Settle up 30 More unusual 31 Hobby shop wood 33 “Terrific!” 34 With 26Down, fashionable footwear 37 Assume a military posture 42 Child-care writer LeShan 43 Stirs in 44 Sunburncausing emission, for short 45 Driving __ 47 Readers of MSS. 49 Corp.-partnership hy-

brid 50 Waved from the curb, perhaps 54 One of four in Minnesota: Abbr. 55 Chicago trains 56 Sun. address 57 Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior 59 In again 61 NSA surveillance activity ... or, the process needed to dig out the info hidden in 17-, 25-, 37- and 50-Across? 64 Sink down 65 Villainous 66 Proofreader’s mark 67 Store 68 “Good shot!” 69 “One more thing ...” DOWN 1 Louis XIV, par exemple 2 Ran over 3 Vegetarian side 4 Occupied, as a booth 5 Cocktail named for a Scottish hero 6 Bikini tryout 7 Mo. town 8 Bikini feature in a 1960 hit 9 Field fare,

briefly 10 2009 Peace Nobelist 11 Orange variety 12 Mournful ring 14 Fast flight 16 Radii-paralleling bones 18 Gossipy Barrett 22 Bewilder 26 See 34-Across 27 Network with the slogan “Not Reality. Actuality.” 28 Core muscles 29 Knee protector 32 Traffic problem 33 Officer-to-be 35 Unlikely tomboy 36 Pair on a football field

38 “Storage Wars” network 39 Boston Bruins’ home 40 Letters after mus 41 Lincoln Ctr. site 46 Man of fables 47 Sigh with relief, say 48 Carpe __ 50 Grazing groups 51 Wide awake 52 Insistent words from a sandbox 53 Commonly dusty room 54 Capital of Yemen 58 Open __ night 60 Ticket word 62 Bird: Pref. 63 Sporty Pontiac

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Christmas (HD) 112 Buying and Selling (HD) Property Brothers (HD) Buying and Selling (N) (HD) Hunters (N) Hunters (N) Property Brothers (HD) Buying (HD) 110 American Pickers (HD) American Pickers (HD) American Pickers (N) (HD) Down East Dickering (N) (HD) (:03) American Pickers (HD) American (HD) Cold Case: Committed Assumed Cold Case: Saving Patrick Bubley Cold Case: Start-Up Dot-com million- Cold Case: Honor Former POW mur- Cold Case (HD) 160 Cold Case: Colors Baseball player killed with bat. (HD) identity. (HD) Youngest brother. (HD) aire dies of stress. (HD) dered after return home. (HD) 145 (6:00) The Promotion (‘08, Comedy) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (‘06, Comedy) aac Will (:01) Mr. Woodcock (‘07, Comedy) aa Billy Bob Thornton. A young man Talladega Night aa Seann William Scott. (HD) Ferrell. NASCAR star faces French driver. (HD) tries to stop his mother from marrying his old gym teacher. (HD) (‘06) aac (HD) 76 Hardball with Chris (N) (HD) All in with Chris Hayes (HD) The Rachel Maddow Show (N) Lawrence O’Donnell (HD) All in with Chris Hayes (HD) Maddow (HD) 91 Thunderman Max Shred Full Hse Full Hse Full Hse Full Hse Prince Prince Friends (HD) Friends (HD) How I Met 154 Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Cops (HD) Impact Wrestling (N) (HD) Tito vs. (HD) Unrivaled (HD) Cops (HD) The Adjustment Bureau (‘11, Thriller) aaa Matt Damon. Shocked politician learns of The Almighty Johnsons: Charlie Path of Destruc152 (6:00) The Bourne Ultimatum (‘07, Thriller) Matt Damon. An amnesiac assassin seeks answers. (HD) shadowy organization coordinating everyone’s lives. Truman Out of control. (HD) tion (‘05) (HD) Seinfeld: The Invi- Family Guy Lois Family Guy The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang Conan Actress Jessica Chastain. (N) Cougar Town 156 Seinfeld: The Wait Out (HD) tations (HD) cheats. Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) (HD) (HD) In This Our Life (‘42, Drama) aaa Bette Davis. A young woman breaks Tortilla Flat (‘42, Comedy) aaa Spencer Tracy. A fisherman struggles fi- H.M. Pulham, 186 (6:00) Our Mother’s House (‘67, Drama) aaa Dirk Bogarde. up with her fiance and runs away with her sister’s husband. nancially when he inherits a watch and two houses. Esq. (‘41) aac 157 My Strange My Strange Extreme (HD) Extreme (HD) Extreme (N) Extreme (HD) Sex Sent Me to the ER (HD) Extreme (HD) Extreme (HD) Sex (HD) The Book of Eli (‘10, Drama) aaa Denzel Washington. In post-apocalyp- (:16) The Island (‘05, Science Fiction) aaa Ewan McGregor. Two people escape holding fa158 Castle: Recoil Senator William H. Bracken. (HD) tic America, an enigmatic wanderer protects a rare book. (HD) cility to expose truth behind Utopian society. (HD) 102 S. Beach S. Beach S. Beach S. Beach S. Beach S. Beach (N) S. Beach S. Beach (:01) Pawn (:31) Pawn (:02) S. Beach 161 Hogan (:40) Hogan (:20) Family Feud (HD) Friends (HD) Friends (HD) Cleveland (N) The Exes (N) Cleveland The Exes (HD) Queens (HD) 132 Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Modern Family Chrisley Knows Chrisley Knows Modern Family Modern Family: Modern Family Modern Family: White Collar (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) Best (HD) Best (HD) (HD) My Hero (HD) (HD) Pilot (HD) (HD) Law & Order: Savior (HD) Law & Order: Deceit (HD) Law & Order: Atonement (HD) Law & Order: Slave (HD) Law & Order: Girlfriends (HD) Law (HD) 172 Funniest Home Videos (HD) Funniest Home Videos (HD) How I Met How I Met How I Met How I Met Rules (HD) Rules (HD) Parks (HD)

‘Nashville’ teeters close to the edge of ludicrous BY KEVIN MCDONOUGH Is “Nashville” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) still worth watching? The series has always showcased good music and did a masterful job including intelligent characters into what might otherwise be dismissed as a prime-time soap. But it’s teetering close to the edge of ludicrous. Deacon, Gunnar and Avery have all had to react to instant paternity — the oldest TV plot twist in the book. Once interesting, Scarlett has been reduced to harmonizing with a homeless man and mentoring Rayna’s confused daughter Maddie. All of that makes more sense than her pill-popping freak-out last season — the show’s most overwrought and unintentionally funny scene. But while Scarlett is turning into Snow White, the evil corporate honcho Jeff Fordham has become the best thing about “Nashville.” At least he’s consistently evil. Sadly, Rayna is becoming pretty consistent as well. Consistently dull. I wished she’d do something unexpected, self-destructive and exciting. Speaking of evil corporations, how many ABC product placements can “Nashville” cram into each episode? Rayna and Luke are forever popping up on “Good Morning America,” promoting ABC’s broadcast of the CMA Awards and negotiating appearances on “Dancing With the Stars.” Perhaps Scarlett will discover a cure for cancer and pitch it on “Shark Tank.” Or Gunnar can take his new instant family to a Disney theme park. In addition to shameless ABC promotions, there are appearances by real country stars, plugging songs that have nothing to do with the story. It’s hard to shoehorn byzantine plot twists into a 42-minute showcase stuffed to the gills with other marketing agendas. Viewers are being asked a lot to keep up with “Nashville.” They’re more than likely paying a cable bill, sitting through commercials and watching a show that is itself a commercial. That’s three, maybe four, prices of admission for a show that has become, at best, an exercise in embroidering the art of the corporate sellout. • The documentary “Footsteps in the Snow” (8 p.m., Lifetime Movie Network) recalls

the coldest case ever solved, the 1957 murder of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph. Audaciously low budget, “Footprints” includes archival photos of the small, tight-knit community of Sycamore, Illinois, a place that could stand in for a postcard of Eisenhowerera America. We’re also offered interviews with the girl’s friends, neighbors and siblings, now well into their dotage, as well as re-enactments of moments from Maria’s last days and an interview with her convicted killer from behind prison walls.

TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS • Are chefs the new rock stars? “Restaurant Revolution” (8 p.m., Esquire, TV-14) profiles the most influential chefs of the past generation. • Grant becomes a murder suspect on “Arrow” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14). • A child porn investigation brings help from Chicago on “Law and Order: SVU” (9 p.m.,

NBC, TV-14). The gang from New York returns the favor as the crossover concludes on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, TV14). • Lost in translation on “Modern Family” (9 p.m., ABC, TVPG). • Eccentric freelancers turn every opportunity into a bargain on a new season of “Down East Dickering” (10 p.m., History, TV-PG). • Elsa’s new act has a whiff of menace on “American Horror Story” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).

SERIES NOTES Fate throws the kitchen sink at Frankie on “The Middle” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) * A dodgeball setback on “The Goldbergs” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) * Social media can be murder on “Criminal Minds” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) * Teens rally around Nurse Jackson on “Red Band Society” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14) * Wick and Raven bicker on “The 100” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) * A lesson in self-reliance on “black-ish” (9:30

MATT DINERSTEIN / NBC

Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) of “Law and Order: SVU” has a drink with Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) on tonight’s crossover episode of “Chicago P.D.” airing at 10 p.m. on NBC. p.m., ABC, TV-PG) * A deranged fan terrorizes a young actress on “Stalker” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).

LATE NIGHT Steve Carell is scheduled on “The Daily Show With Jon Stew-

art” (11 p.m., Comedy Central) * Jessica Chastain appears on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS) * Terence Tao is on “The Colbert Report” (11:30 p.m., Comedy Central) * Jennifer Lawrence and Boris Johnson appear on “Late Show With David Letterman” (11:35 p.m., CBS).

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PHOTOS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fennel-Cumin Roasted Butternut Squash

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For a better butternut, leave seasoning to the end BY J.M. HIRSCH The Associated Press

FENNEL-CUMIN ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Start to finish: 45 minutes (15 minutes active) Servings: 8 4 pounds butternut squash Olive oil

e tend to associate vinaigrettes with salad, but they actually are an easy — and speedy — way to add tons of flavor to all manner of dishes. One of my favorites is roasted vegetables. Too often, we only season roasted veggies before they go into the oven. While this certainly can produce delicious results, it can be limiting. By adding the seasonings before the vegetables are roasted, you effectively rule out any delicate flavors that can’t hold up to a sustained heat for a prolonged period. And that’s where a vinaigrette comes in for this easy roasted butternut squash recipe that’s perfect for Thanksgiving. We start by oiling some cubed butternut squash, then roasting it until lightly browned outside and tender inside. Only once it’s fully cooked do we season it. And for that we use a lightly warmed lemon vinaigrette spiked with toasted

2 teaspoons fennel seeds 2 tablespoons cumin seeds 2 tablespoons lemon juice Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and seed the squash, then cut it into 1-inch chunks. Mound the squash on the baking sheet, then drizzle with several tablespoons of olive oil. Toss with your hands to coat evenly, then spread in an even layer. Roast for 15 minutes, then use a spatula to turn the pieces and roast for another 15 minutes, or until evenly browned. During the final 5 minutes of roasting, in a small dry skillet over low heat, toast the fennel and cumin seeds, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. When the squash is done, transfer to a bowl. Drizzle the dressing over it and gently toss to coat. Serve warm. Nutrition information per serving: 230 calories; 80 calories from fat (35 percent of total calories); 9 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 33 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 4 g protein; 180 mg sodium.

cumin and fennel seeds. The result is intensely flavorful and incredibly balanced. And the

best part is that it takes almost no extra time or effort than traditional roasting.

Buttered Leeks with Thyme and Sausage

Bring leeks in from the sidelines of Thanksgiving BY ALISON LADMAN The Associated Press Leeks too often are a sideshow. They are given bit parts in other dishes, usually a soup or a saute. And in the process, all that is wonderful about leeks is lost. So this Thanksgiving, we decided to give leeks the star treatment. They are deliciously sweet, yet pair wonderfully with so many savory ingredients. They also are easy to cook. Like onions, they will caramelize and soften over a gentle heat with little effort by the cook. We top our buttered leeks with thinly sliced applechicken sausage, a nice accompaniment to the rest of the Thanksgiving meal.

BUTTERED LEEKS WITH THYME AND SAUSAGE Start to finish: 35 minutes Servings: 8 6 large leeks 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme Kosher salt and ground black pepper 12-ounce package apple-chicken sausage, sliced lengthwise, then into thin halfmoons Trim and discard all dark green parts and the root ends from the leeks. One at a time, slice the leeks first lengthwise, then crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Place all the leeks into a bowl, then add enough cool water to cover completely. Swish around, separating the pieces to allow all the dirt between the layers and slices to fall to the bottom of the bowl.

Using your hands or a slotted spoon, scoop the leeks out of the water and transfer to a kitchen towel on the counter. With a second kitchen towel, blot the leeks dry. In a large, deep saute pan over medium heat, melt 5 tablespoons of the butter. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 18 minutes, or until very tender. Stir in the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the leeks to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm. Return the pan to the stove and heat on medium-high. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and add the sausage. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until well browned and crisp at the edges. Spoon the sausage slices over the leeks and serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving: 200 calories; 130 calories from fat (65 percent of total calories); 14 g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 70 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 8 g protein; 470 mg sodi-

Green Beans with Tarragon, Mustard and Sunflower Seeds

Elevate green beans from an afterthought BY ALISON LADMAN The Associated Press Admit it, when it comes to preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the greens are an afterthought. You give all your focus to the bird, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, probably even a couple orange vegetables. But the green stuff ? Um... How long does it take to microwave frozen green beans? It doesn’t have to be that way. That’s why we created this delicious — yet ridiculously simple — recipe for skillet green beans bathed in brown butter, then tossed with fresh tarragon, Dijon mustard and lemon zest. Top the whole thing with toasted sunflower seeds and call it good. Total effort? Only about 20 minutes, and about half of that is hands-off. Sunflower seeds (get unsalted) don’t do it for you? Substitute toasted pumpkin seeds (sometimes called pepitas) or chopped toasted hazelnuts.

GREEN BEANS WITH TARRAGON, MUSTARD AND SUNFLOWER SEEDS Start to finish: 20 minutes Servings: 8 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter 2 pounds green beans, trimmed 1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard Zest of 1 lemon ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds

In a large deep skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook the butter for 5 minutes, or until it is toasty and fragrant. Add the green beans and salt, then stir to coat. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the green beans are just tender. Stir in the tarragon, mustard, lemon zest and sunflower seeds. Serve hot. Nutrition information per serving: 140 calories; 100 calories from fat (71 percent of total calories); 11 g fat (6 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 25 mg cholesterol; 10 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 3 g protein; 340 mg sodium.