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IN SPORTS: The Masters golf tournament gets underway in Augusta today B1 THE CLARENDON SUN Puddin Swamp Festival starts today in Turbeville A6 THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents Tornados, wind, rain ravage Southeast SLED reports ATLANTA (AP) — A large of powerful, long-lived torna- eled some distance on the tornado touched down in increase in tornado toppled trees and does as severe storms raked ground in rural Stewart southeastern Alabama be- power lines in rural Georgia the region. Schools, churches County. It left downed power fore crossing into Georgia, and nearly a half dozen sus- and some businesses shut lines and trees on roads, said forecasters said. All told at violent crimes pected twisters roughed up and practice for the Masters Sandra James, a county least five possible tornados other areas of the Southeast tournament in Augusta, sheriff’s office dispatcher. had been reported across Al- BY ADRIENNE SARVIS on Wednesday as heavy rain Georgia, was rained out. Georgia emergency officials abama, Georgia and South [email protected] and hail fell in spots. National Weather Service reported no catastrophic dam- Carolina as the day wore on. Forecasters said a wide meteorologist Keith Stell- age by late afternoon from In its annual report analyz- area including large parts of man said a powerful tornado that and other storms and no MORE TO THE STORY ing crimes committed Alabama, Georgia and South touched down at midday in deaths or serious injuries. throughout the state in 2015, Carolina were under threat southwest Georgia and trav- Elsewhere, a suspected Read on at www.theitem.com. South Carolina Law Enforce- ment Division reported a slight increase in violent crime rates committed in 2015 compared to 2014. The report was created with statistics submitted from law enforcement agencies Jews celebrate liberation throughout the state and is the latest state crime report avail- able from SLED. A news release from SLED indicated although the report shows a decrease in the com- mission of crimes such as murder and sexual battery, an increase in the state’s popula- tion skewed crime rates, which are based on crimes commit- ted per 10,000 people. According to the crime re- port, there was a .9 percent in- crease in violent crimes com- mitted in the state in 2015, with approximately 24,000 vio- lent crimes reported. Of the 375 murders that were committed throughout the state, nearly 80 percent involved the use of firearms. There were 308 murder arrests made. SLED reported an approxi- mately 10 percent increase in sexual battery crimes — about 22 percent of which were com- mitted by a relative of the vic- tim. Approximately 20 percent of victims were under the age of 10. RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM According to the report, ABOVE: Temple Sinai features stained glass windows shipped from Poland. Each window depicts a historic scene from the Hebrew Bible. nearly 11 percent of reported The original synagogue burned in 1900 and was replaced by the present structure in 1913. These elaborate stained-glass windows are sexual battery crimes were not visible from the outside because their protective coverings let light through but are not clear. BELOW: A plate from a past seder at committed by an intimate Temple Sinai shows the six traditional foods that remind Jews of the many years they were in slavery in Egypt. Clockwise from top cen- partner. ter, they are charoset, karpas, chazeret, beitzah, maror and zeroah. There were more than 3,900 reports of robberies throughout the state, with about 28 percent Passover at Temple Sinai set for Monday taking place at a residence, ac- cording to the report. There BY IVY MOORE is read during the seder. was a 1.4 percent decrease in [email protected] “God had sent several the use of firearms during the plagues upon Egypt in order commission of a robbery al- The story of Passover is a to get the Pharaoh to free the though more than half of the familiar one, as it commemo- Jews,” she said. The final robberies committed involved rates the liberation of the plague was the slaying of the the use of a gun by the offender. Jews from centuries of slav- firstborn sons of the Egyp- SLED also reported there ery in Egypt. It’s a very im- tians, including the Pharaoh was a 15 percent increase in portant ritual that is observed himself. The Israelites were the use of firearms during the in temples and private homes told to paint their doorposts commission of aggravated as- each year, and in Sumter, the with the blood of a lamb so saults in 2015 compared to Passover seder, or ceremonial the Angel of Death knew to 2014, although the number of dinner, is held on the first pass over their homes. reported aggravated assaults night of Passover. This year’s This final plague worked, stayed almost the same. seder will begin at 6:30 p.m. but when the Israelites were And more than 34,900 in- Monday at Temple Sinai on freed, they left in such a stances of breaking and enter- the corner of West Hampton hurry, their bread didn’t have ing were reported statewide in Avenue and Church Street. time to rise; therefore, unleav- 2015, a 6 percent decrease com- Marlene Denemark, president ened bread, or matzoh, is pared to 2014. of the Temple Sisterhood, said the actual story of the Passover SEE SEDER, PAGE A9 SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO SEE SLED, PAGE A9 Comic symposium brings out various artistic expressions BY KASEY MEREDITH classic films such as “Labyrinth.” “It’s a great way to express yourself [email protected] Kalista Anderson, 18, who placed and meet others who share similar in- second in the 15 and up age division, terests,” Anderson said. Colorful costumes, quirky vendors made her entire costume from scratch. Collecting rare and vintage mer- and comic artists themselves took over “When designing your costume you chandise is just as much a part of the Patriot Hall last Saturday for the 3rd have to think about how it will sew to- fandom as cosplaying and reading the Comic Arts Symposium. gether evenly,” Anderson said. comic books themselves. The symposium featured panels by From Anderson’s homemade cape, Ken Bernard said he decided to clean prevalent comic book drawers, color- ear pieces and horns to her hand-paint- up his garage by selling rare and vin- ists and authors, as well as vendors ed shirt, scarf and shoes, Anderson tage memorabilia that spanned an en- and a costume contest. said the process was easier than she tire hallway. The costume contest was an opportu- thought it would be. “It started out with my first collect- nity for the attendees to dress up as “Most of the time, I don’t know what ible in college,” said Bernard. “Then it their favorite fictional character for a I’m doing, but it comes out great by grew to a closet full of them, to a room, KASEY MEREDITH / THE SUMTER ITEM day. There was a slew of Marvel char- some sort of miracle,” said Anderson. to a wing of the house dedicated to Washington artist Dani Dejong makes acters, such as Harley Quinn, but con- Anderson has “cosplayed,” or cos- them,” said Bernard. framed pieces like this one using the testants got creative and entered as tume played, as two characters from tape and wheels from old cassettes. characters from Web comics and cult the same Web comic, “Homestuck.” SEE ART, PAGE A9 VISIT US ONLINE AT CONTACT US DEATHS, B4 WEATHER, A12 INSIDE Information: 774-1200 Doris R. Rodgers DRY AND COOLER 2 SECTIONS, 18 PAGES the .com Advertising: 774-1246 Dollie McClary VOL. 122, NO. 124 Classifieds: 774-1234 Partly cloudy today and Tiffany V. Cannon cooler and breezy; tonight, Classifieds B6 Delivery: 774-1258 Larry Maple Comics B5 News and Sports: 774-1226 Titus Rogers mostly clear and chilly Winnie Lee Turbeville HIGH 64, LOW 44 Opinion A11 Dorothy A. Dantzler Television A10 A2 | THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Recognizing victims of child abuse PHOTOS BY BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM Community leaders hold Candles of Remembrance on Tuesday night at the Light of Hope Candlelight Vigil at Sumter County Judicial Center. The vigil was administered by the Sum- ter/Lee Guardian ad Litem Program in recognition that April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. From left are Tia McDuffie of Sumter County Department of Social Ser- vices, Tyrone Smalls of Crosswell Home for Children, Chief Deputy Hampton Gardner of Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Justice Kindell of Sumter/Lee Guardian ad Litem Program, Erica Clark of Wateree Community Actions Head Start Program and Superintendent Frank Baker of Sumter School District. According to a news release from DSS, there were 43,924 reports of child abuse and neglect in South Carolina from June 2015 to June 2016, with ap- proximately 25,000 child protective service cases investigated and abuse found in more than 10,000 of those cases. For more information on Child Abuse Prevention, visit www.sc- Children.org/cap-month. Lecture details search for earliest inhabitants BY JIM HILLEY Robert Costello, center, answers Costello said he began [email protected] questions from students as they searching for artifacts along look at his display of some of the the shores of Lake Marion When did the first human artifacts he has collected in South when water levels were down inhabitants come to the New Carolina. several years ago.

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