LOCAL: Get ready to Zumba for a cause on Saturday A2 FOOD This Easter, dress up the humble egg Baked and deviled versions SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 C4 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018 $1.00 will delight holiday guests Urban F r pet’s s ke schools tougher targets Experts say older security measures can be effective BY COREY WILLIAMS The Associated Press DETROIT — Alondra Alvarez lives about five minutes from her high school on De- troit’s southwest side, but she drives there instead of walking because her mother fears for her safety. Once the 18-year-old enters the building, her surroundings take on a more secure feel almost immediately as she passes through a bank of closely monitored metal detectors. “My mom has never been comfortable with me walking to school. My mom is real- ly scared of street thugs,” said Alvarez, who attends Western International. PHOTOS BY MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM As schools across the U.S. look for ways Dylan, an adoptable dog at Sumter’s SPCA, takes a drink on Tuesday afternoon. As the weather warms up, make sure your to impose tougher security measures after pets have plenty of fresh water available, and keep harmful holiday foods such as chocolate out of their reach. last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead, they don’t Tips to keep our animals safe from springtime hazards SEE SECURITY, PAGE A8 BY KAYLA ROBINS Keep puppies [email protected] away from in- door cleaners, f dogs — and cats and birds and if cleaners are applied to and guinea pigs — are our flooring, make I sure they’re dry best friends, a nonprofit in before the dog Sumter County is asking you to walks on the treat them like one. floor. Our furry, feathery and feline friends need help in avoiding the springtime blues and getting into THE ASSOCIATED PRESS the wrong plant, house cleaner or Alondra Alvarez, a student at Western Interna- insecticide, reactions to which can tional High School, goes through a metal detec- range from minor to life-threaten- tor March 8 in Detroit while her backpack is ing, according to Shannan Dault, springtime pollen, just like humans. being right around the corner, Dault checked as she enters the school. with Sumter SPCA Humane Organi- While most allergies are not se- said. zation. vere or dangerous, Dault said, medi- “They need to eat an excessive Dault, who manages the nonprof- cation prescribed by a vet can get amount of it, but it’s still not good it’s website, social media, adoptions, rid of them. Allergies can spread, for them,” she said. “And there’s a PetFinder account and other duties, too, among pets. lot of foods [they can’t eat].” said each season comes with its own PLANTS CAN BE BAD FOR PETS TRUST YOUR PET-SITTER Community do’s and don’ts when it comes to DURING SPRING BREAK pets interacting with Some can even be deadly. Make humans and nature sure you know what they should Whether you’re boarding a pet or and that she sees a avoid and don’t plant them in your leaving it with a friend, make sure session No. 2 lot of animals yard, Dault said, especially if you you trust the carer as you would come into the have a dog that likes to chew on with your child. building after things and explore outside. “Do a background check … If LEARN MORE negative conse- FERTILIZERS, INSECT SPRAY you’re boarding them in a facility, quences of both. always ask to see the facility,” Dault more orderly For more info on AND CLEANERS ARE NO-NO’S pet care tips and “The first said. “If you ask and they say ‘we services, visit www. thing you want It can be cute and social media don’t do that,’ don’t board there.” Meeting guidelines set early sumterscspca.com. to do if something share-worthy when dogs roll around NOT ALL ANIMALS PLAY NICE happens is contact in a messy pile of mud or grass, but for discussing school closings your vet immedi- fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, Dault said spring is a dangerous ately,” she said. “Es- lawn growth care and other chemi- time for dogs and cats when snakes BY BRUCE MILLS pecially if it’s something cals should not come in contact with start to come out. [email protected] really serious like a snake bite … animals. “We’ve had several people come in They’ll tell you what to start with Dault said dogs and other pets and adopt a dog because the dog was With discussion ground rules set in place before you even make it to the vet. should be kept off grass until the bitten by a rattlesnake, and it killed at the outset of the meeting, Sumter School There’s certain things you can take spray is dry, and don’t let them roll them,” she said. “If you live in a District’s second “community conversation to sort of, you know, vomit it up or around in fertilizer. rural area, be very wary of the sur- session” on a school consolidation proposal whatever you need them to do.” The same goes for indoor cleaning roundings of your pet.” had less outbursts, was more orderly and Dault said if something serious supplies. Make sure any floor clean- ’Possums can be feisty and mean generally went off more smoothly Monday happens after normal business ers are dry before they can walk on to curious dogs and cats, she said. night. hours to take the animal to an emer- them. Bee stings can look scary and be The purpose of the sessions — which run gency veterinarian in Columbia — “If you’ve got a puppy, it’s like a painful and uncomfortable for dogs, through this weekend — is to gather com- the closest late-night facility loca- kid eating those Tide pods,” she but unless they get stung multiple munity feedback on Interim Superinten- tion. Calling before you leave or on said. times, bringing them in to the vet for dent Debbie Hamm’s draft proposal to close your way is vital. JUST BECAUSE WE CAN EAT IT medicine will make the effects go three low-enrollment schools in the district “They’re going to know what to DOESN’T MEAN THEY CAN away without a deadly fright. and move those students into nearby do before you get there,” she said. While not a wild animal in that schools in the county and implement na- “And don’t hesitate.” While it may be more common token, heartworms are transmitted tionally recognized programs into them. Animals get allergies, too. knowledge to keep dogs away from to pets through mosquitoes, which, Dogs and cats can get watery eyes chocolate, it is especially important SEE SESSION, PAGE A8 and runny noses in reaction to to remember that rule with Easter SEE SAFETY, PAGE A8 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B5 WEATHER, A10 INSIDE Vermell M. Davis Robert M. McIntosh BREEZY AND RAINY 3 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES the .com VOL. 123, NO. 109 Eva V. Morris James Luckey Breezy and cooler with rain; Kenneth L. Smith Margaret Singleton clearing and cold tonight Classifieds B6 Opinion A9 Willie Lee Blackwell Geneive Cook HIGH 56, LOW 35 Comics C2 Panorama C1 Food C4 Television C3 A2 | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Zumbathon to raise funds for Sickle Cell foundation 5th-annual ‘fitness party’ scheduled for Saturday BY IVY MOORE [email protected] A Zumbathon is a “fitness party” with a purpose, Zumba instructor Angela Burkett said. Her fifth-annual Zumbathon on Saturday will benefit the James R. Clark Sickle Cell Foun- dation. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the M.H. Newton Family Life Center, 415 Manning Ave. Burkett said she’ll be exercising to the music the entire time, not think- ing about any pain — except that of her two granddaughters, both of whom have the genetic disease for which there is no common cure as yet. “It’s heartbreaking to see how much they suffer when they have a crisis,” she said. “My granddaugh- ter’s legs will hurt so bad she can’t walk.” Sickle cell anemia causes red blood cells to form in the shape of a sickle, crescents that can’t travel freely through blood vessels to deliver much-needed oxygen to all parts of the body, Burkett explained. PHOTO PROVIDED “When they clump and stick and Angela Burkett will present the fifth-annual Zumbathon to benefit the James R. Clark Sickle Cell Foundation at the M.H. Newton Fam- stick to blood vessel walls, they block ily Life Center from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. the flow of blood,” she said. That not only causes excruciating pain, but can also permanently dam- “A very few people have been cured often debilitated by illness and not and a cure. age the body’s organs, from the brain by stem cell treatment and bone mar- able to maintain full-time jobs and so Zumbathon to benefit the James R. and heart to the kidneys, liver and row transplants,” she said. have reduced earnings,” she said. Clark Sickle Cell Foundation will be bones. Willis said the Zumbathon and “We also assist with programs for held from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Satur- Bertha Willis, counselor and coordi- other fundraisers are very important young people like our Christmas giv- day at M.H.