District Leader Addresses Teachers, Staff
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IN SPORTS: New Gators head football coach was intrigued by opening B1 INSIDE Grab a bonnet and musket for this getaway A6 THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents District leader addresses teachers, staff Interim superintendent says turmoil for the school district after the she wants everybody to turn the page revelation in December of a financial and focus on the opportunities the new year offers opportunity crisis with the release of the fiscal new year brings. year 2016 audit report. That report "That was then, this is now," Hamm BY BRUCE MILLS showed the district overspent its bud- said. "It's the beginning of an awe- [email protected] get by $6.2 million in fiscal year 2016 some school year for all of us." and had an ending general fund bal- Hamm said she thinks the school With the themes of unity and a ance on June 30, 2016, of $106,449 — a district has enormous potential, and fresh start, Sumter School District's critically low level, according to the the overall community shares the de- interim superintendent welcomed district's auditor. sire to have a great district. back teachers, staff and administra- Position cuts, freezes to several bud- Hamm then shared with everyone tors Wednesday at the district's annu- get line items and other cost-cutting her "four squares" philosophy on edu- al opening meeting at Sumter County measures ensued in the last six cation, which includes continual Civic Center. months of the school year to preserve learning, character, community and After starting with the district about more than $6 million and help the dis- joy. two weeks ago, Interim Superinten- trict end the fiscal year in the black. Hamm said she thinks this school RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM dent Debbie Hamm told the crowd of In July, then-Superintendent Frank year represents a critical juncture for Sumter School District Interim Superin- an estimated 1,600 to 1,800 that she Baker retired after the financial diffi- the school district, but she's approach- tendent Debbie Hamm addresses teach- was happy to be in Sumter, and the culties. ing it positively with the slogan of ers representing their respective schools new school year represented a great But Hamm — brought in for this "One Sumter, One Awesome Year" and Wednesday at the district’s opening meet- opportunity to start afresh. school year by the district's board of ing at Sumter County Civic Center. Last school year was headlined with trustees on Aug. 1 — said Wednesday SEE DISTRICT, PAGE A5 Covering our schools in prayer Police search for suspect in robbery FROM STAFF REPORTS Sumter detectives are asking for the public's help in identifying a woman suspected of robbing a beauty supply store on Tuesday. The woman fled Sally's Beauty Sup- ply at 1285 Broad St. after giving a note to a clerk indicating she was armed and SUSPECT wanted money. The clerk gave the sus- pect an undetermined amount of cash, and the woman reportedly fled toward a nearby restaurant. Officers with Sumter Police De- partment were called about 10:50 a.m. to the store. The woman is described as a white female between 40 and 50 years old, about 5 feet 4 inches tall and 200 pounds. She wore all black clothing and dark, short hair. Anyone with information is asked to call the department at (803) 436-2700. Information can be given anony- mously by calling Crime Stoppers PHOTO PROVIDED at (803) 436-2718 or 1-888-CRIME- On Wednesday morning, groups prayed over our area schools with teachers and left notes of encouragement for the coming school SC. A cash reward may be avail- year. All Sumter County schools were visited. Groups from Alice Drive, Grace, Rafting Creek and First Baptist churches took part in the able for information leading to an annual prayer walk. See more photos of the walk on A3. arrest. Trump attacks Amazon again: Many jobs being lost President Trump accused items that can be bought on Amazon. S.C. claims company owes Amazon on Wednesday of com, but the company acts solely as a “doing great damage to middleman between buyers and sell- state $12.5M in taxes, tax-paying retailers.” ers. Amazon processes the payments penalties and interest and offers other support to the parties THE ASSOCIATED PRESS involved. The state claims that Amazon owes WASHINGTON (AP) — President the state $12.5 million in taxes, penal- Trump renewed his attacks on e-com- ties and interest from the first quar- merce giant Amazon, saying Wednes- ter of last year alone, according to the day that the company is "doing great complaint obtained by The Associated damage to tax paying retailers." Press. Trump, in a tweet, said that "towns, Amazon had a five-year moratori- cities and states throughout the U.S. um on taxes, the state wrote in the are being hurt — many jobs being complaint, giving the company "fair lost!" warning that its sales of tangible per- The president has been a frequent dle of next year. tax from a retailer, the retailer must sonal property in South Carolina sub- critic of the company and CEO Jeff Trump has said that Amazon does have a physical presence within state jected it to South Carolina's taxing ju- Bezos, who also owns The Washington not pay "Internet taxes," but it's un- borders. risdiction." Post. clear what he meant by that. Amazon. The issue arose recently in South The state's case is in the early stag- Many traditional retailers are clos- com collects state sales taxes in all 45 Carolina, which is attempting to re- es, and a court date has not been set. ing stores and blaming Amazon for a states with a sales tax and the District coup tax revenue it says it's owed in For years, the Seattle company shift to buying goods online. But the of Columbia, according to its website. court. This summer, the state Depart- fought against collecting sales taxes company has been hiring thousands State governments have sought to ment of Revenue filed a case with the from its customers. According to the of warehouse workers on the spot at capture sales taxes lost to internet re- Administrative Law Court, alleging National Conference of State Legisla- job fairs across the country. Amazon tailers, though they have struggled that Amazon had failed to collect tures, South Carolina was among 10 has announced a goal of adding with a 1992 Supreme Court ruling taxes on third-party merchant sales. 100,000 full-time workers by the mid- that found for a state to collect sales Third-party merchant sales involve SEE AMAZON, PAGE A5 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B3 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Elizabeth W. Taylor Viola P. Hargrove MIX OF CLOUDS AND SUN AGAIN 2 SECTIONS, 14 PAGES the .com Harold McFadden Rockie Williams A stray afternoon thunderstorm likely; VOL. 122, NO. 218 Vermelle Capers-Ervin Istney W. Hutley warm and humid at night. Classifieds B6 Opinion A7 Charlie H. McLeod HIGH 95, LOW 77 Comics B4 Sports B1 Donald H. Smith Obituaries B3 Television B5 A2 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] A Grand Day Generations learn importance of passing on their faith BY ADRIENNE SARVIS Josh Castleberry, Central Carolina [email protected] Technical College Environmental and Natural Resources Department chair- Grandparents and grandchildren man, brought in five snakes to show to from two different churches joined to- the children and grandparents. gether to attend the A Grand Day event Most people only think of snakes as at Church of the Holy Comforter on representing Satan and temptation, but Saturday to learn the importance of God has also used the snake to show passing their faith down through the his power and redemptive character in generations. the Bible, Sosnowski said. The event was a joint effort between Valjean Jenkins said Saturday was a Church of the Holy Comforter day for her and her granddaughter and Jehovah Missionary Emma Grace, 9, to bond. Jenkins, Baptist Church. a member of Church of the Father John Sos- Holy Comforter, said A nowski of Holy Grand Day was the first Comforter said the time she and her grand- purpose of A Grand daughter spent time Day was to encourage alone together since grandparents to take Emma Grace's par- an active role in pass- ents got married not ing down the legacy of too long ago. their faith to their grand- Jenkins children. said she al- He said many grandpar- ready under- ents are not as active in their stood the im- children's and grand- portance of children's lives com- Grand- bringing up pared to decades ago, parents children in but there is a national and grandchil- the faith, but movement to change dren attending the A Grand Day she did learn that. event at Church of the Holy Comforter on a thing or The children and Saturday decorated fish-shaped posters to two about grandparents went to symbolize their trust in God as it relates to snakes. "I lessons to learn about Luke 5:10-11. didn't know the significance of faith they would and the importance of passing it on have snakes," she said. through generations. They also deco- Minnie Evans, a member of Jehovah, rated fish-shaped posters together. attended the event with her grand- Sosnowski said the fish represents daughter Jordan, 11. Evans said she when Jesus taught Simon to trust in and her granddaughter already spend God when he was unsuccessful at fish- a lot of time together while Jordan's ing.