Public Safety Complex Project Is on the Rise by ADRIENNE SARVIS Since Construction Started in February
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LOCAL: Don’t miss photos of Shaw firefighters training during simulations A3 NATION Could new tech in pillows, mattresses improve your sleep? TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents A7 Public Safety Complex project is on the rise BY ADRIENNE SARVIS since construction started in February. [email protected] The new police department building is planned to be approximately 36,000 square feet, Construction of the second and third proj- and the fire department building is planned to ects on the 2016 Capital Penny Sales Tax proj- be 21,600 square feet with a four-bay garage. ect list, new headquarters buildings for Sum- Geddings said contractors have completed ter Police Department and Sumter Fire De- masonry work on the back portion of the po- partment, is underway and anticipated to be lice department building and are installing completed by early 2018. steel bar joists inside the structure. RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM City of Sumter Construction Manager Mi- The next step for the police department The Public Safety Complex, financed through the Penny for Progress chael Geddings said the $10.6 million Public sales tax initiative, has now started going vertical. Safety Complex project has been going well SEE COMPLEX, PAGE A5 Summertime blues? BRUCE MILLS / THE SUMTER ITEM Kynlee Ebersole, left, shows off her blue tongue to her grandparents Saturday while eating ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on Broad Street. Her sister, Lily, looks on. Saturday’s tem- perature reached the high 90s in the afternoon. Ministry encourages Man volunteers his you to do something time to clean up city New series recognizes those who out of the ordinary help to make community better BY CAITLAN WALZER BY ADRIENNE SARVIS after losing [email protected] [email protected] housing when the A quick Google search for hours at his Editor’s note: In an effort to ap- the definition of the word job were plaud those who dedicate “care” will inform you that drastically their time to others or to the the meaning is “the provision decreased. Sumter community through of what is necessary for the Kinley acts of kindness, The Sumter health, welfare, maintenance said Mr. L’s Item has started a new series and protection of someone or hours eventually decreased to called Sumter Thumbs Up. If something,” said Travis Kin- the point that it was time for you have a person you’d like to ley, Sumter United Ministries him to look for more work. recommend, send an email to Managing Editor emergency shelter director. When he found out Mr. L Rick Carpenter at [email protected]. Essentially, it is to see a was looking for a job, Kinley need and take action, he said. directed him to various temp Sumter Thumbs Up recognizes the dedica- Like many service providers agencies and the Sumter SC tion of a 72-year-old Sumterite who volunteers throughout the community, Works office. his time and efforts to make Sumter litter free. Sumter United Ministries ex- Some time passed, but Mr. L Nearly every morning, for more than 10 ists to do just that, he said. had not gained employment. years, Billy Sams has been picking up trash Specifically, it exists to take “He was still looking for and cleaning the Sumter community, one gal- action when Sumter County work, and I could see the con- lon bucket at a time. residents come to the organi- cern in his eyes about his situ- “There was an older gentleman that used to zation in crisis. ation,” Kinley said. live across the street from me,” Sams said. “At the emergency shelter, After asking about Mr. L’s “When he passed away, I saw that it was im- we see people from many dif- work history and his exper- CAITLAN WALZER / THE SUMTER ITEM portant to keep his work up and continue pick- ferent walks of life come to us tise, a light bulb turned on Billy Sams, 72, cleans litter from the area around ing up the trash. I feel that I was called to it.” in crisis,” Kinley said. his neighborhood nearly every morning. Mr. L came to the shelter SEE CARING, PAGE A5 SEE SAMS, PAGE A5 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B3 and B4 WEATHER, A10 INSIDE Annie Simpson Xavier L. McCoy Earl E. Hammett STORMS POSSIBLE 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES the .com VOL. 122, NO. 191 Margie M. Richardson Carlos T. Harvin Penny N. McGee A storm around this Lillian Drastura Emma Mae McFadden Hazel McCoy evening; partly cloudy Classifieds B6 Sports B1 Franklin Potts Dora Sinkler Evelyn J. Rembert and humid tonight Comics A9 Television B5 Azalee S. Dingle John H. Lowery Carrie G. Harvin Edwin Blaylock II HIGH 90, LOW 73 Opinion A8 A2 | TUESDAY, JULY 11, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] LOCAL & STATE BRIEFS Help students gear up for learning FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS FROM STAFF REPORTS ers with clasps; 700 pocket folders with- Baptist Church, 107 E. Liberty St., be- Lee county chamber out clasps; 450 round-tip scissors; 1,650 tween 9 a.m. and noon. In preparation for the upcoming college-rule spiral notebooks; 4,200 Donations will be processed until event set for July 18 school year, Sumter United Ministries wide-rule spiral notebooks; 550 compo- Aug. 16. will be collecting school supplies for sition notebooks; 1,000 colored pencils; Mark Champagne, director of Sum- Central Carolina Technical local students for its annual Gear Up 250 kindergarten reading books; 400 ter United Ministries, said Sumter College, 200 N. Main St., Bish- for Learning program. first- to third-grade reading guide School District provides the supply list opville, will host the Lee Sumter United Ministries' wish list books; and 400 rulers. each year and determines how the sup- County Chamber of Com- includes: 950 packs of crayons; 2,000 SUM asks that supplies be delivered plies will be divided among the differ- merce July After Hours from glue sticks; 1,150 highlighters; 4,650 ink to the main office at 36 Artillery Drive ent schools. Teachers and guidance 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 18. pens — black or blue; 1,100 packs of between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. beginning counselors will give the supplies to stu- The event will be upstairs in college-rule notebook paper; 2,200 today or to a remote location, Bynum dents in need. the Library Building. The packs of wide-rule notebook paper; Insurance at 1170 Wilson Hall Road. Beginning today, call (803) 775-0757 public is welcome to join in 1,550 three-ring binders; 22,000 pencils; Supplies will be collected at SUM's with a donation commitment. Finan- the event which will include 350 large plastic pencil boxes; 350 pri- main office until Aug. 9, after which, cial donations are also welcome and refreshments and fellowship. mary writing tablets; 6,400 pocket fold- donations can be delivered to First can be designated to Gear Up. For more information, call (803) 483-2800. 1st case of West Nile Virus reported in state HILTON HEAD ISLAND — State health officials said West Nile Virus has been found in a person in South Carolina for the first time this year. The Department of Health and Environmental Control said it found a few groups of mosquitoes on Hilton Head tested with the virus last month. The agency now says it's been detected in a person on the resort island. The per- son's name was not released. State epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said those who de- velop a fever or other symp- toms after being bitten by a mosquito should be checked by a doctor. Bell said most people infected with the virus have no symptoms. North Charleston could set murder record in ‘17 NORTH CHARLESTON — The North Charleston mayor is calling on parents to report their children to police, if necessary, as the city is on pace to set a record for the number of murders in 2017. The Post and Courier of SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTO Charleston reports 33 people The Williams-Brice House is the primary exhibition space of the Sumter County Museum at 122 N. Washington St. As a designated Blue were homicide victims in Star Museum, the Sumter County Museum offers free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day. North Charleston last year, a record. In the first six months of 2017, 21 people have been slain, compared to Active-duty military, dependents admitted free 15 at this point last year. Mayor Keith Summey shifts some of that responsi- to Sumter County Museum through Labor Day bility to parents, who he said should pay closer attention to their children and report BY IVY MOORE the struggles of reintegration, Blue The Sumter County Museum is a them to police when there's [email protected] Star Museums offer them the opportu- complex of buildings, gardens and ex- trouble. In the past two nity to visit museums during the sum- hibits at 122 N. Washington St. An ex- weeks, he posted two videos The Sumter County Museum is a mer, when resources and time togeth- tensive indoor textile exhibit is inside online with that theme. Blue Star Museum, which means it of- er are often restricted. the Williams-Brice House, which is the Community leaders are de- fers free admission to active-duty U.S. The program provides for free ad- main exhibition space, and also con- crying a lack of public pro- military personnel and their families mission, not just for the military ID tains a jewelry and fine arts collec- grams to distract youths from Memorial Day through Labor holder, but also for up to five family tion, a military exhibit of the coun- from the streets.