Public to Help Find Lee Man Officers Say 52-Year-Old Left Area Bar Aug
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ENTERTAINMENT: How long can NFL cable ratings remain strong? B5 Mummy? Dracula? Learn to do your Halloween makeup at gallery Friday A2 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents Irma takes aim at Florida Police ask public to help find Lee man Officers say 52-year-old left area bar Aug. 25 and hasn’t contacted family BY ADRIENNE SARVIS [email protected] Authorities asked for the public’s help Wednesday morning during a news conference at Sumter Police Department in locating 52-year-old Tommy Brailey, who has been missing since Aug. 25. According to a flier from the po- lice department, Tommy Brailey, an employee of Continental Tire the Americas, left work early on Aug. 24 and went to Brewers Bar & BRAILEY Grill at 106 E. Wesmark Blvd. A coworker saw Brailey leave the bar alone in his vehicle about 2 a.m. Brai- ley drives a silver 2004 BMW 325i with S.C. li- cense tag LYB406 and a chrome Pittsburgh SEE BRAILEY, PAGE A5 PREPARE FOR THE STORM Come by The Sumter Item, 36 W. Liberty St., to pick up a copy of this year’s South 3rd-graders could Carolina Hurricane Guide, produced by the state’s Emergency Management Division. In the guide, you’ll find preparation tips, a supply checklist, information on returning be held back if they home if you evacuate, getting pets ready for severe weather and everything you should know before and after the storm if it heads don’t meet reading toward South Carolina. standards this year PHOTOS BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BY BRUCE MILLS Motorists head north on US 1 on Wednesday in Key Largo, Florida, in anticipation of Hurricane Irma. Keys officials an- [email protected] nounced a mandatory evacuation Wednesday for visitors, with residents being told to leave today. Beginning this school year, third-graders in public schools who don’t meet reading profi- Tri-county area could see effects from storm early next week ciency requirements or don’t meet one of seven good-cause exemptions will be held back. MIAMI (AP) — Florida resi- This is a part of the state’s Read to Succeed dents picked store shelves clean, Act that was passed in 2014. However, the law and long lines formed at gas S.C. DOT is systemically revamping reading pumps Wednesday as Hurricane instruction positively in K-12 pub- Irma, a Category 5 monster with lic education, according to a Sum- potentially catastrophic winds of ter School District administrator. 185 mph, steamed toward the prepares Cynthia Graham, the district’s Sunshine State and a possible di- director of literacy programs, rect hit on the Miami metropoli- spoke on the state law recently. tan area of nearly 6 million peo- for storm GRAHAM She said sections of the law have ple. had staggered implementation in The most powerful hurricane FROM STAFF REPORTS recent years to allow for a smooth transition ever recorded in the Atlantic de- South Carolina Depart- and stronger student reading proficiency. As stroyed homes and flooded streets Employees of a building supply store ment of Transportation has the district’s Read to Succeed liaison to the as it roared through a chain of load sheets of plywood for a custom- been monitoring Hurricane state Department of Education, Graham has small islands in the northern Ca- er in the back of a truck during prep- Irma since Labor Day week- overseen local implementation of the law’s ribbean some 1,000 miles from aration for Hurricane Irma on end, and maintenance forc- standards. Florida. Forecasters said Irma Wednesday in Orlando. es started the first steps in In adherence to the law, the district hired 16 could strike the Miami area by storm preparations on reading coaches, who are certified teachers — early Sunday, then rake the en- Hurricane Irma locally beginning Tuesday as the storm moves one for each of the district’s 15 elementary tire length of the state’s east Monday night and into Tuesday. closer to the United States. schools and one primary school. During the coast and push into Georgia and Improved conditions are expected SCDOT Deputy Secretary last three years, the reading coaches have re- the Carolinas. in the area Wednesday, the NWS for Engineering Leland Col- ceived intensive training from the state depart- According to the National said. vin said all actions are pre- ment and then instructed all district elementa- Weather Service in Columbia, “This thing is a buzz saw,” liminary. ry school teachers on best practices to better there is a strong possibility of seeing significant effects from SEE IRMA, PAGE A6 SEE DOT, PAGE A6 SEE READING, PAGE A5 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B3 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Richard Brown Jr. Wendy H. Durant NOT SO HUMID FINALLY 2 SECTIONS, 14 PAGES the .com VOL. 122, NO. 233 Elliot Boler James Burgess Jr. Mostly sunny and less humid; Leona R. Butler Patricia McDonald clear sky tonight Classifieds B6 Sports B1 Robert Conner Mariah M. Boyd HIGH 82, LOW 57 Comics B4 Television B5 Opinion A7 590 Shockwave Sale September 7 through September 9, 2017 our pr ice 40 W Wesmark Blvd. • Sumter • 6 Shot Cleanout Tube $ 96 MSRP 803-773-3397 • 12 GA • 14” Barrel 349 $455 • Raptor Grip/Corn Cob Forend w/Strap A2 | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Council approves sewer line contract, zoning changes penny sales tax and are in the 15 South from Agricultural Irma a possibility, City Man- Highland Avenue residents reassured sidewalks design stages. He assured the Conservation to General Com- ager Deron McCormick said are coming soon as part of penny tax projects attendees that the order the mercial. the city is doing all it can to penny tax projects were listed In new business, council be ready. BY JIM HILLEY walks, and portions of the in the Penny Tax Election also approved a procurement “As you know, anytime se- [email protected] street get flooded even after does not represent their prior- resolution to accept a $109,235 vere weather is in the news, short rains, said Randolph ity, as some have suggested. bid from B&B Construction to all of the city departments are City Council Chambers Black, a local contractor and The sidewalks were listed remove and replace 830 feet of preparing and trying to stay were packed with residents a former city council candi- near the end of the projects sewer lines and pavement in prepared. These are things, from the Highland Avenue date who lives on the street. during the election. the Crosswell Drive and unfortunately, we have experi- area urging Sumter City Black said area residents In old business, council Yeadon Street area. ence with,” he said. “We are Council to install sidewalks had tried numerous avenues passed the final reading of or- Assistant City Manager Al in contact with other agen- on the street so children liv- to have the sidewalks built but dinances to change the zoning Harris said the sewer project cies, including the county’s ing in the area who attend haven’t been successful. of 1.45 acres of land at 36 and would include replacing lines emergency management di- Willow Drive Elementary Mayor Joe McElveen as- 40 Artillery Drive from Resi- under Lafayette Drive. Some of rector, and we have been and School can more easily get to sured Black and the other at- dential-6 to Limited Commer- the sewer lines being replaced will continue to be prepared school. tendees that the sidewalks cial and to change zoning of are 80 to 90 years old, he said. for what comes the best we Highland Avenue lacks side- had been funded through the 1.34 acres of land at 1750 U.S. With a visit from Hurricane can,” McCormick said. LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS Hiring will begin mid-month 2 Community Circles canceled ahead of storm Sumter Volunteers Inc. has canceled its first two Commu- for Sumter Easy Home facility nity Circles because of con- cerns about Hurricane Irma. The project will now begin on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at Mill- wood Elementary School cafe- teria. Jo Anne Morris, execu- tive director of Sumter Volun- teers Inc., said she hopes to re- schedule the Community Cir- cles for Willow Drive and Alice Drive elementary schools after the danger of the hurricane is over. Meanwhile, she is still looking for volunteers for the remaining circles. For more information, call Morris at (803) 775-7423. Become a pro with Halloween makeup Halloween is still almost seven weeks away, and that might be a good thing, in that it allows plenty of time to work on and perfect your cos- tume — especially your make- up. At 6 p.m. Friday, Kelly Melton, actor and Sumter High School’s award-winning drama teacher, will conduct a one-night Special FX work- shop at Sumter County Gal- lery of Art. Whether you want to look like a member of KISS, a zom- bie or a vampire, a mummy, a witch or almost anything else, JOE PERRY / SUMTER COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Melton can teach you how to Contractors work on the interior of the Sumter Easy Home LLC building on North Wise Drive. The company, a manufacturer and distribu- do it effectively. tor of housewares, plans to be operational in mid-September. Fee for the class is $30 for gallery members, $35 for non- housewares for such clients ty, according to Andy Sear- Searles said. “Everything is members, which includes Company transforms as Walmart, Lowe’s and Tar- les, a process engineer on state of the art.” makeup and light refresh- spec building with get.