Wilson Hall, Sumter, Lakewood all victorious B1 Artists’ Guild Winners Show opens Thursday SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2018 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 $1.75 A7 District focuses on teacher recruitment light of the teach- tion season to hire new teach- Koumas said the district ob- Koumas said. Board plans to travel er shortage in the ers. tained some state funding to Hamm has said previous- country for job fairs district and According to John Kou- help with recruiting now and ly that teacher retention is across the state. mas, the district’s executive will be traveling this spring to a good recruitment strate- BY BRUCE MILLS In the fall, act- director of human resourc- several job fairs at various gy, and the district’s Board [email protected] ing Superinten- es, six new full-time teach- colleges and also traveling to of Trustees approved a mo- dent Debbie ers have been hired since Pennsylvania and Michigan tion at its meeting Monday HAMM Sumter School District is Hamm said the the beginning of December. for recruitment. to allow her to develop and pursuing several initiatives to district would be There are still 43 teaching “Our department is doing implement a new employee fill classroom positions, ac- trying to take advantage of position vacancies, he said things outside the box now to cording to district staff, in the December college gradua- Thursday. help with our recruiting,” SEE TEACHERS, PAGE A11 Mother: ‘I don’t want her to be forgotten’ Woman is still searching for daughter after Stacy Renee Lester has been 8 years missing missing since 2009. She was last seen at Tuomey Regional Medical BY ADRIENNE SARVIS Center on Aug. 9, 2009. “I’m [email protected] holding out hope that Stacy left to live a better life,” her mother, A Sumter mother is asking Ruby Lester, said. the public to look past her daughter’s flaws as she and her family continue to search for Stacy Renee Lester, who has been missing for eight years. Stacy lived a high-risk life- style, but she was more than her addiction, Ruby Lester, Stacy’s mother, said. Ruby last saw Stacy — her youngest child — on Ruby’s birthday on July 31, 2009. Ruby’s oldest daughter asked her to pick up Stacy from Manning Avenue and bring her to her house. After locating Stacy in the ADRIENNE SARVIS / THE SUMTER ITEM area, Ruby had a difficult time The missing person case file and poster for Stacy Renee Lester is seen at Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. convincing her daughter to get in the car. man a ride, but Ruby refused. scruffy, which was unusual Stacy was reported missing they did not want to add any She was with some guy, She told Stacy she had to go to because she always made three months later. more stress. Ruby said. He was short work and that she would give sure to look presentable, Ruby fell ill after July 31 “Nobody had heard from and had a hat pulled down Stacy a ride to her sister’s Ruby said. Stacy was also and had a heart attack in Sep- her,” Ruby said. over his face, and he didn’t house. anxious when she got in the tember, and she stayed in the Stacy has disappeared for get close enough to the ve- After an argument, Stacy car, she said. hospital in October after hav- days at a time to Myrtle Beach hicle to get a good look, she got into the car but got out Ruby searched the area for ing triple bypass surgery. or Conway, but she always said. and walked away while they her daughter but left and She asked her five other stayed in contact, she said. Stacy asked her mother to were stopped on Main Street. went to work after getting children about Stacy, and they give her and the unknown Stacy looked pretty frustrated. told her she was fine because SEE MISSING, PAGE A11 A success story below the clouds Business, community leaders form motivational job-search ‘Dream Team’ BY BRUCE MILLS Williams decided to maintain his Jamaican citi- [email protected] zenship. That meant to work here, he had to first obtain a work permit. At times, we all need a little help to get over Williams earned that permit in April 2017 and life’s hurdles. was looking forward to finding work in the elec- That was the case for Garfield Williams when trical field. he moved to Sumter in late 2016 from his native However, today’s typical job hunting tech- Jamaica. niques — which often initially involve online job Williams, his wife, Althia, and their two chil- applications followed by phone calls with imper- dren moved here permanently from Kingston in sonal recruiters — didn’t work into Williams’ November 2016 after his wife obtained a multi- favor. BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM year contract school teaching position in Gree- It took a connection to a group of local busi- Sumter City Councilman and “Dream Team” member Calvin Hastie, leyville in Williamsburg County. ness leaders with the desire to give back to the left, shakes hands with Garfield Williams on Friday at Hastie Law Firm, An experienced electrician by trade in his 7 E. Hampton Ave. homeland with a desire to one day move back, SEE TEAM, PAGE A11 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B5 WEATHER, A12 INSIDE Reanell N. Bradley Alma Lemmon WINTER RETURNS 4 SECTIONS, 30 PAGES the .com Janie Spry Robert L. Garner Mostly sunny and chilly today VOL. 123, NO. 62 Nancy White Shirley Burgess with little chance of rain; Classifieds C8 Panorama A5 William J. Green Russell McLeod tonight, clear and cold. Comics D1 Reflections C4 Leatha B. Haynesworth Hazel M. Randolph HIGH 44, LOW 22 Rickey Smith Weldon H. Shumate Opinion A10 USA Today C1 Outdoors C7 Yesteryear C5 A2 | SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Body with gunshot wounds discovered Identified as 34-year old Jarvis Omar Rush BY ADRIENNE SARVIS [email protected] Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a 34-year-old Sum- ter man after his body was found with apparent gun- shot wounds near East Red Bay Road on Saturday morn- ing. The man was identified as Jarvis Omar Rush, according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker. Deputies found Rush’s Cases of the flu are already widespread this year locally and throughout the United States. body on East Newberry Ave- nue about 10:30 a.m. The shooting appeared to have taken place hours before the body was discovered, states a With harsh flu season, doctors news release. Rush’s family has been no- tified, and an autopsy is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Monday in Newberry. say best answer is still vaccine Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s BY KAYLA ROBINS The Australian flu season is winding office’s investigative office at [email protected] READ MORE down as the flu season in the northern (803) 436-2011, or give tips For more on the flu and its effects on hemisphere picks up," Brant said. anonymously to Crime Stop- Amid a harsh flu season that is being patient visits in the U.S., go to page A4. The issue with making an effective pers at (803) 436-2718 or complicated by a shortage of IV bags vaccine is that the virus mutates and 1-888-CRIMESC. Information being produced in hurricane-ravaged has dozens of strains, according the leading to an arrest could re- Puerto Rico, health care officials are The CDC reported widespread influ- The Associated Press, and it can cross sult in a cash reward. reminding Sumter County that getting enza activity in 46 states by the end of back and forth between other animals a flu shot remains important. 2017 and more than 32,000 confirmed and humans, creating the potential for cases between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30. a new, lethal strain. WHAT IS THE FLU? "The predominant strain this year is It takes about two weeks for the im- Influenza is caused by a virus that at- the H3N2, which caused 20,000 deaths mune system to respond after the vac- LOCAL BRIEFS tacks the upper respiratory tract — the in 2012-13 and 2014-15 flu seasons," cine, Brant said. FROM STAFF REPORTS nose, throat and bronchi and some- Brant said. Still, he said, it is never too late to get times the lungs — according to the He said the center is seeing a rising a flu shot. Clarendon DSS moves World Health Organization. number of flu cases but that, "so far, If symptoms begin to appear, a doc- Symptoms include fever, headache, none have been serious." tor can prescribe Tamiflu within 48 to to its new location coughing, sore throat, muscle and body Many hospitals are struggling to se- 72 hours of their onset to have a The South Carolina Depart- aches and fatigue. The infection usual- cure enough IV bags to help treat pa- chance of shortening the length of ill- ment of Social Services in ly lasts about a week, but it can last tients because many of the factories ness. Clarendon County has moved longer and be more severe. that produce them are in Puerto Rico, "It does not appear to reduce the its offices to a new location, It is contagious from person to per- which is still recovering from Hurri- rates of admission to the hospital, nor which will open on Tuesday.