Base's Role May Expand

IN SPORTS: Laurence Manning to face Heathwood Hall in SCISA 3A quarterfinals B1 THE CLARENDON SUN Clerk of Court has seen 40 years of county’s history B1 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents Base’s role may expand Dalzell man arrested in Shaw, Poinsett surveyed as possible battlefield airmen campus FROM STAFF REPORTS Shaw is chosen, the base could gain up and special operations weather. kidnapping, to 1,000 trainees and 400 instructors. Battlefield airmen presently com- Shaw Air Force Base is being con- Battlefield airmen are trained as a plete their technical training at eight sidered as a possible future training ground component for air operations different locations, and the combined site for battlefield airmen, according and are often embedded with conven- training can take more than a year. assault to an article released by the base tional and special operations forces, ac- The Air Force would save an estimat- Wednesday. cording to previous Air Force press re- ed $36.4 million in training if all eight BY ADRIENNE SARVIS The release said a team of 23 people leases. The battlefield airman designa- battlefield specialties can be combined [email protected] from the Air Force’s Air Education and tion consists of eight officer and enlist- in one area, the release said. Training Command and the 2nd Air ed man specialties including para res- Sumter County deputies ar- Force surveyed the base Feb. 13-17. If cue, combat control, tactical air control SEE SHAW, PAGE A16 rested a Dalzell man on Wednesday for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assault- ing a 78-year-old woman twice during a 12-hour period between Tuesday A ‘road map’ to a bright future locally and Wednesday. Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said the incident started at the victim’s residence in Sce- MCELVEEN nic Lake Mobile Home Park, Dal- zell, about 5 p.m. Tuesday when 66-year-old Edward Earl McElveen knocked on her door asking for food. The victim, who lived next door to McElveen, let him into her residence where they began to have a conversation, Dennis said. Dennis said the victim did not suspect that McElveen would attack her. She said McElveen went to the restroom and came out holding a firearm, he said. The suspect then taped her wrists and arms and sexually PHOTOS BY BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM assaulted her, Dennis said. Bert Hancock, academic program manager for Mechatronics at CCTC, right, talks with high school students and their parents Tuesday He said McElveen forcibly night at the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Training Center in Sumter. took the victim to his residence, which is next door to the victim’s home in the mobile District’s STEM 10 partnership with CCTC home park, where he sexually offers youth in-demand career opportunities assaulted her a second time. The victim said she fell BY BRUCE MILLS asleep after the assault, and [email protected] FOR MORE INFORMATION McElveen left the residence between 2 and 3 a.m. on Wednes- For Logan Burrows of Con- If you want more information on day morning, Dennis said. tinental Tire the Americas, Sumter School District’s STEM 10 During that time, the victim when he was a senior in high program, contact Sumter Career was able to escape to a neigh- school in South Carolina, and Technology Center’s Principal bor’s house about 10:30 a.m. there was not a direct path- Shirrie Miller at (803) 481-8575. on Wednesday by removing way to a high-paying, local ca- some of the tape from her reer in manufacturing. He had arms and wrists, he said. to enter the military and be nance technician,” Burrows Dennis said the victim did trained as an avionics techni- said Tuesday night at a part- not suffer any life-threaten- cian before he could receive nership event between Central ing injuries. She is being an opportunity in industry Carolina Technical College treated for cuts, abrasions that offered competitive pay. and Sumter School District Crestwood freshman Christopher Gooding, left, and his father, and bruises at Palmetto “I came out of the military John, inspect some Mechatronics classroom equipment Tues- Health Tuomey, he said. She fixing helicopters and into a day night at Central Carolina Technical College’s Advanced also has bruising on her neck tire manufacturer as a mainte- SEE STEM, PAGE A16 Manufacturing Technology Training Center in Sumter. indicating that she was choked, he said. According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, authorities arrested McElveen without incidence after they Schwedler: Non-union vote positive for S.C., Sumter located him walking along the roadway in the neighborhood BY BRUCE MILLS on the planet,” Schwedler said. “They tional and nationally desired location on Wednesday afternoon. [email protected] are highly trained and trainable and to manufacture products,” Schwedler A small handgun, described some of the hardest working in the U.S. said. “In terms of impact to Sumter by the victim, was found on South Carolina will continue to be an — without the need for and the surrounding region, it was a him when he was apprehend- attractive state for business recruit- union-organized support.” ‘defeat heard around the world’ and a ed, Dennis said. ment after workers at a major industry The association, which message that while the unions served He said no one had come in the Palmetto State voted overwhelm- has an office in North as a valued place in workplace better- forward with information ingly last week against union represen- Charleston, tried to rally ment, our people are strong, smart and about the incident as of tation, a local economic development Boeing workers around can work with management to create Wednesday evening. official said. promises of better wages the best environment possible.” Dennis said the victim and Jay Schwedler, president and chief SCHWEDLER and more consistent Schwedler added that the reason McElveen had been in a rela- executive officer of Sumter Develop- workplace rules, accord- many companies have selected South tionship for about a year and ment Board, made his remarks Tues- ing to The Associated Carolina as a place to do business is be- had separated about a month day after Boeing Co. workers in North Press. Boeing countered by saying cause, in part, it’s non-union friendly. before the assault. He said Charleston voted last week that they do labor unions break down workplace re- Joe Seiner, a labor law expert with based on the victim’s state- not want to be represented by the In- lationships and often fail to live up to University of South Carolina, called ments, the relationship was ternational Association of Machinists their promises. the association’s loss “embarrassing” intimate. union. Schwedler said South Carolina will and said it’s a setback to organized McElveen, of 5350 Scenic A total of 2,828 of the approximately continue to be known for its pro-busi- labor throughout the state. Lake Drive West, Lot 26, is 3,000 workers eligible to vote cast bal- ness, right-to-work environment with “This is a major hit to the union,” charged with being a felon in lots, with 74 percent — 2,097 votes — the lowest unionization rate in the U.S. Seiner told the Charleston Post & Cou- possession of a weapon; crim- against organized labor representation. at 1.6 percent, according to federal sta- rier, adding that recent talks of layoffs inal sexual conduct, first de- “The Boeing vote continues to show tistics. and cost-cutting at Boeing had given gree; and kidnapping. the world, first and foremost, that South “This further encourages companies the association its best shot at gaining Carolina workers are some of the finest to look toward our state as an interna- traction. SEE RAPE, PAGE A16 VISIT US ONLINE AT CONTACT US DEATHS, B4 WEATHER, A18 INSIDE Information: 774-1200 Julian B. Singleton ANOTHER NICE DAY 2 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES the .com Advertising: 774-1246 Ralph E. Truesdale Partly sunny today and VOL. 122, NO. 94 Classifieds: 774-1234 Naham McBride Sr. quite warm with only a slight Classifieds B6 Opinion A17 Delivery: 774-1258 Magnolia S. Henry News and Sports: 774-1226 chance of rain; tonight, Comics B5 Television A15 Betty Simmons cloudy and mild. Barbara Hodge HIGH 79, LOW 54 Lewis Roacher A2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Search for Salem Baptist presents gospel tribute BY IVY MOORE missing [email protected] Salem Missionary Baptist Church, in woman conjunction with Coffee House Produc- tions, will present A Tribute to Gos- pel’s Golden Age at 5 p.m. Sunday. The free concert is the church’s annual ob- continues servance of Black History Month. Minister of Music Elijah Bradford BY ADRIENNE SARVIS described the program as a celebration [email protected] not only of the gospel music from about the mid-1930s to the mid-’50s, but After two weeks of looking also the gospel groups and singers of into the disappearance of the time. Bradford’s own group, the 80-year-old Barbara Nave of Valentinos, will pay tribute to the Five Sumter County, authorities Blind Boys of Alabama, who began still have not singing about 1939 and are still touring. found any infor- The five-time Grammy winners played mation leading at Sumter Opera House in February PHOTO PROVIDED to her where- 2015. The cast of Sumter Little Theatre’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” will perform “God Specializes,” a abouts. Bradford’s all-female group, Purpose gospel song associated with the Roberta Martin Singers.

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