Was March colder than February? Shifts in temps not uncommon, weather experts say WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018 $1.00 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 BY BRUCE MILLS similar across the state. A TALE OF TWO MONTHS’ TEMPS IN SUMTER [email protected] National Weather Ser- 3 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES | VOL. 123, NO. 124 vice meteorologists Doug February March If you’re into numbers Anderson and Chris Average daily overall 56.3 50.0 and statistics, you proba- Rohrbach, based out of Average daily high 67.2 63.2 bly speculated it could Columbia, crunched the Average daily low 45.3 36.8 Board votes happen. numbers from their offi- After experiencing its cial databases and pro- Source: National Weather Service, second-warmest Febru- vided an analysis for The Columbia. Temperatures measured in ary on record this year Sumter Item. degrees Fahrenheit. dating back to 1930 at 56.3 The meteorologists ex- 5-3 to close degrees, Sumter County plained that multiple per- saw an average daily tem- sistent, long-wave pat- followed by cooler air A broad, upper-level perature decrease of 6.3 terns of warmer air masses in March were re- trough over the East degrees to 50 for March. masses in the upper-level sponsible for the shift in Mayewood The weather trends were atmosphere in February temperatures. SEE TEMPS, PAGE A8 Middle and F.J. Delaine Meet your Schools will be consolidated into local farmers R.E. Davis, Cherryvale elementary schools. Read more at www.theitem.com. PANORAMA Author Hoyle will speak about her book C1 ADRIENNE SARVIS / THE SUMTER ITEM Vendors at the Farmers Market at USC Sumter offer a variety of items from locally grown produce, meats and handmade soaps to birdhouses. DEATHS, B5 USC Sumter opens annual market Eleanor H. Jamison Leonard Roberts Sr. BY ADRIENNE SARVIS natural ingredients. Billy B. Parker [email protected] Other items include Bruce D. Hancock plants, handmade soaps, bath Katina M. Hunter he second year of the Farm- bombs, birdhouses, knives Christene H. Williams ers Market at University of and artwork. T “We had a really good time, WEATHER, A10 South Carolina Sumter start- and the turnout was phenome- SUNNY AND WARM ed off with a bang after some ven- nal,” said Marie Dorr of Dorr Farms, dors sold out of items because of an organizer of the farmers market. Sunshine and patchy clouds; clear tonight She said some of the HIGH 68, LOW 45 the large crowd of customers. vendors, including her- The market is open from 1 to 6 p.m. self, even sold out of on Fridays and features a variety of items because they did INSIDE CONTACT US vendors selling locally grown pro- not expect such a large Classifieds B6 Info: 774-1200 duce, locally raised meats and hand- crowd. Comics C2 Advertising: 774-1237 made items. This year’s market is Food C4 Classifieds: 774-1200 Edible items include fruits, vegeta- looking good with the partic- Opinion A9 Delivery: 774-1258 bles, honey, jam, eggs, whole milk, ipation of double the amount Sports B1 News and Sports: cream, butter, cheese, kettle corn, pas- SEE MARKET, PAGE A8 Television C3 774-1226 tries, lemonade, beef, chicken, pork, shrimp and gourmet foods made with VISIT US ONLINE AT the .com Zuckerberg discloses Facebook working with Russia probe BY MARY CLARE JALONICK The founder of the social media by Mueller’s team, but “I know we’re tious hearing, Zuckerberg said it had and BARBARA ORTUTAY giant publicly apologized for his com- working with them.” He offered no de- been “clearly a mistake” to think the The Associated Press pany’s errors in failing to better pro- tails, citing a concern about confiden- data-mining company Cambridge An- tect the personal information of its tiality rules of the investigation. alytica had deleted user data that it WASHINGTON — Facebook CEO millions of users, a controversy that Earlier this year Mueller charged 13 had harvested in an attempt to sway Mark Zuckerberg disclosed Tuesday has brought a flood of bad publicity Russian individuals and three Russian elections. He said Facebook had con- his company is “working with” special and sent the company’s stock value companies in a plot to interfere in the sidered the data collection “a closed counsel Robert Mueller in the federal plunging. He seemed to achieve a mea- 2016 presidential election through a case” because it thought the informa- probe of Russian interference in the sure of success: Facebook shares social media propaganda effort that tion had been discarded. 2016 presidential campaign — and surged 4.5 percent for the day, the big- included online ad purchases using Facebook also didn’t alert the Fed- working hard to change its own opera- gest gain in two years. U.S. aliases and politicking on U.S. eral Trade Commission, Zuckerberg tions after the harvesting of users’ pri- Zuckerberg told the Senate Judicia- soil. A number of the Russian ads said, and he assured senators the vate information by a Trump cam- ry and Commerce committees that he were on Facebook. paign-affiliated data-mining company. has not been personally interviewed During Tuesday’s at-times-conten- SEE FACEBOOK, PAGE A8 A2 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Author-historian to discuss South Sumter cleans up S.C. soldiers in Civil War BY IVY MOORE Special to The Sumter Item SUMTER COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING WHERE: Swan Lake Presbyterian Church, 912 Author and historian Herbert “Bing” Haynsworth St. Chambers will be the guest speaker at Mon- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 16 day’s meeting of the Sumter County Genea- PHONE: (803) 774-3901 logical Society. During the 7:30 p.m. meeting at Swan Lake Presbyterian Church, he will discuss his three books on the Civil War. Veterans and Edisto Historical Society. He is Chambers said his presentation will center married and has a daughter, two grandchil- on the development of his three books, two dren and a son-in-law. of which have been published and one that Chambers’ first two volumes of “And Were he is writing. The title of the books is “And the Glory of Their Times – Men Who Died Were the Glory of Their Times – Men Who for South Carolina in the War for Southern Died for South Carolina in the War for Independence” will be available for purchase Southern Independence.” and signing. The price for each is $80, includ- The first two volumes discuss the artillery ing tax, by cash, check or credit card. casualties and the cavalry casualties. The Chambers will be the presenter at the third, which Chambers is currently working Sumter County Genealogical Society at 7:30 on, will include results of his research on in- p.m. Monday at Swan Lake Presbyterian, 912 fantry casualties. Haynsworth St. “It is a huge project, as there were so Society spokesman Johnny Raffield also many more casualties in the infantry ser- announced that the society has Allan Thig- vice,” he said. “The soldiers' entries include pen’s book, “The Illustrated Recollections of a biographical/genealogical sketch of each Potter’s Raid, April 5-21, 1865” available for and much more.” sale in its research center on the ground Chambers’ research, completed over 18 floor of the Williams-Brice House, Sumter years, uncovered “approximately 5,000 South County Museum, 122 N. Washington St. The Carolinians who died in the war but had 662-page softcover book sells for $40. Thigpen PHOTO PROVIDED never been reported or recorded before,” he is the president of the Sumter County Gene- Volunteers hold hands and pray Saturday at 810 S. Main St. before said. “The books contain the names and bi- alogical Society, to which he is donating the the South Sumter Beautification Association’s Trash Pick-Up Day. ographies of the newly discovered soldiers proceeds from book sales. According to event leaders, about 100 volunteers — including along with those previously known. The Sumter County Genealogical Society some airmen from Shaw Air Force Base — participated in the clean- “My talk will also center around research- meets monthly from September through up efforts in preparation for this week’s annual Festival on the Ave- ing for Confederate ancestors, the signifi- May. The public is invited to attend at no nue, which runs Thursday through Saturday. Event organizers said cance of their lives, the tumultuous times in charge. Refreshments are served following the volunteers collected about 300 bags of litter and other items which they lived, how it has affected us in the presentations. Visitors interested in ge- Saturday. the present generation, and how we should nealogy and local history can join the soci- view them today.” ety at the meetings. Membership includes Chambers is a native South Carolinian, a nine monthly newsletters during the year graduate of the University of South Carolina and free use of the Sumter County Genea- and Vietnam veteran who served in the 1st logical Society Research Center. Annual Infantry Division, U.S. Army. He is a mem- dues are $30 for an individual membership All Republican candidates ber of the Society of Independent Southern and $35 dollars for family. For more informa- Historians, South Carolina Historical Soci- tion, call the society’s research center at ety, Abbeville Institute, Sons of Confederate (803) 774-3901. for statewide office are expected at Saturday event tions, fabricator delays, etc., the bridge LOCAL / STATE BRIEFS should be reopened to traffic by July 30. FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Because of relatively low traffic volumes BY BRUCE MILLS and to minimize the construction duration, [email protected] OLD-FASHIONED Wreck on South Pike West leaves 1 cost and impact to property owners in the STUMP MEETING area, the road will be closed and traffic de- WHERE: Antioch School dead, Sumter police investigating toured during construction.