September 25, 2016

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KayDeAeis brings New Orleans cuisine to Sumter D1 PANORAMA

Parlais-vous francais? Event returns to USC Sumter with 6 French films C1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

IN SPORTS: Gamecocks look for redemption at Kentucky

Hundreds flock to Art in the Park The band Kasino Club entertains the crowd attending Art in the Park at Memorial Park on Saturday. See more photographs online at theitem. com.

Drug may cure braineating amoeba BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com

KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

Annual downtown event doubles in size BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com Forty-two vendors and several hundred people were in attendance at the 10th annual Art in the Park held at Memorial Park on Saturday. This year’s event was about twice as

large in size as last year, and besides the arts and crafts, it also included food and nonprofit organization vendors, said Stephen Winn, one of the three organizers of the event. The event was organized by the Heart of Sumter Neighborhood Association. “We wanted to make it as big and special as we could this year,” said Winn, who serves as vice president of the organization. Each art and craft vendor paid a flat fee to set up his or her tent. A percent-

age of the profits raised will be donated to three entities, including Palmetto Health Tuomey Hospice, Willow Drive Elementary School and Shaw Officers’ Spouses Club, Winn said. Art and craft vendors included painters, woodworkers, jewelry makers, stained glass artists, basket weavers and more. Susan Hontz of Manning was displaying what she calls “living art.”

SEE PARK, PAGE A9

American Legion hosts 100th county fair BY IVY MOORE ivy@theitem.com You can see the American Legion Post 15 Sumter County Fair from even higher than the top of the Ferris wheel next week. How high can you go? That’s up to you and your helicopter pilot. Carolina Helicopters LLC will be at the fairgrounds on West Liberty Street offering prime, bird’s eye views of the fair for $20 a ride, said Legion Adjutant Nick Nero. “You’ll be able to see Swan Lake and some other places, too,” he said. The ride in a real helicopter is just one of the attractions for this year’s fair, Nero said. “We’re pulling out all the stops for this one because it’s our 100th anniversary.” For one, Reithoffer Shows, which got rained out for the last few days of last year’s fair, when Sumter experienced a devastating flood, is bringing its Super Spectacular ride, Tango, to the fair for the first time. Nero said Tango was his

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Reithoffer Shows is bringing its Super Spectacular ride Tango to American Legion Post 15’s Sumter County Fair for the first time this year. Rides classified as Spectacular are considered even more thrilling than Reithoffer’s Thrill rides. first choice for the midway. Get a sneak preview of Tango online at http://bit. ly/2cWI8o2. Ricky Reithoffer, who is in charge of the midway, said they are also bringing a Wacky Mouse roller coaster with the kiddie rides. “It’s 100 feet long and two

CONTACT US Information: 774-1200 Advertising: 774-1246 Classifieds: 774-1234 Delivery: 774-1258 News and Sports: 774-1226

stories high,” he said. “Parents can ride with their kids, too. It’s quite a thrill for the kids.” Reithoffer Shows is the oldest traveling midway in the U.S., celebrating its 120th anniversary, as the Sumter County Fair observes its 100th. The midway brings many more rides, including

DEATHS, A11 Thomas L. Windham Odell E. Lambert Nira Hinkle Robert J. Bailey Wilma Hatcher

several for children, plus games, shows and fair food. Nero said Reithoffer will set up its midway in the fairgrounds today, so everything will be set for Tuesday’s 5 p.m. opening. “They’re planning an outstanding show,” Nero said. Mel Curtis, fair manager for American Legion Post 15, said the Post is dependent on attendance for its livelihood and that the better the attendance, the more businesses in Sumter also benefit. The Legion has a contract with Reithoffer and depends on a portion of the revenue from ride tickets to support their annual efforts. “The flood was devastating for the Legion, too,” he said. “We lost a lot of money, and we’re hoping the people of the community will come out and support us this year so we can recoup some of our losses.” There are now only 13 county fairs in S.C., Nero said. “When I started in this

A drug originally developed in Germany to treat breast cancer might one day be in hospitals across the nation as a cure for what is known as “braineating amoeba.” In all but four cases of people contracting the amoeba in the nation since 1962, infection has been fatal. In three of those cases, miltefosine was administered to the patients, according to Todd MacLaughlan, chief executive officer of Profounda Inc., the company that developed the drug. Naegleria fowleri can cause a devastating infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis, according to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention’s website, www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria. The amoeba infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose with a certain amount of force. Once a person is infected, the illness progresses rapidly, usually resulting in death in one to 12 days, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s website. Between 2006 and 2015, there were 37 documented infections in the United States. South Carolina has had two reported cases, in 2012 and 2016, both of which were fatal. According to the CDC, since 1962, 138 people have been infected, and all but four of them have died. It is considered a rare infection. But some cases may be unreported. A study in Virginia that looked at more than 16,000 autopsy records from patients who died of meningitis found five previously unreported cases of “brain-eating amoeba,” according to WebMD, www.webmd.com. About 90,000 capsules of the drug are available at a storage

SEE DRUG, PAGE A9

MORE INFORMATION ONLINE For more information on miltefosine (Impavido), visit www.impavido.com. For more information on the Kyle Lewis Amoeba Awareness Foundation, visit www. kylelewisamoebaawareness. org. For more information on the late Blake Driggers’ story, visit www. rememberblake.com.

SEE FAIR, PAGE A5

WEATHER, A12

INSIDE

ANOTHER SUNNY DAY

5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 288

Mostly sunny and warm again today; tonight, cloudy and humid with good chance of showers. HIGH 88, LOW 69

Business D1 Classifieds D4 Comics E1 Food C4

Opinion A10 Outdoors D3 Stocks D2 Television E3

Back from vacation. Back to school. Back to basics. We go where you go. Sumter: 803.469.0156 Manning: 803.433.4451 bankofclarendon.com ."//*/( t 46.5&3 t 4"/5&& t 46..&350/ t 8:#00


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September 25, 2016 by The Sumter Item - Issuu