Chicken plant employees strike over reported slur Pilgrim’s Pride workers protest outside Thursday BY ADRIENNE SARVIS Thursday shift employees Thursday morn- [email protected] FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 75 CENTS morning, ing, some of whom refused to said the work. SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894 Employees of Pilgrim’s Pride plant Some employees said they think Corp. Sumter ended their shifts manager the alleged comment was meant to 3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES | VOL. 123, NO. 86 early after hearing that the plant spoke be a racial slur toward black peo- manager allegedly made a deroga- ROSE STEWART over the ple. tory remark referring to employ- radio at “I got here this morning and saw RELIGION ees. an earlier my people standing out here,” said The employees, who were pro- shift that “there are too many Mykelle Rose, an employee in the testing in front of the chicken pro- roaches walking in the hallway.” duction plant on U.S. 15 South on Word was spread to the incoming SEE SLUR, PAGE A9 Cops and kids and valentines Raccoons, tangerines and God’s 4-letter words A4 NATION Sessions wants mental health, violence studied A11 PHOTOS PROVIDED CLARENDON SUN Police Be My Valentine cards were shared by officers on Wednesday with youngsters at Crosswell, Lemira and Wilder ele- mentary schools. There were a lot of hugs, high fives and fist bumps in return. Participating were Officers Michael Austin Family wants to see Yates’ and Gloria Prescott, Sgt. Gary Atkinson and Staff Sgt. James Sinkler. name on memorial A7 DEATHS, B5 Maggie L. Ragin Leona Dow Bessie Mae Myers Vinson Vaughn Barbara R. Powell Rosa Lee Dickey Alecia Lawrence Pearline Y. Stokes Devin D. Dinkins WEATHER, A12 IT’S STILL WINTER, RIGHT? Mostly cloudy today; cloudy and mild tonight HIGH 81, LOW 53 Annual memorial scholarship INSIDE CONTACT US Classifieds B6 Info: 774-1200 fundraiser is set for March 15 Comics C6 Advertising: 774-1237 Religion A4 Classifieds: 774-1200 BY BRUCE MILLS March 15 on Monday at the district’s Opinion A10 Delivery: 774-1258 [email protected] board of trustees meeting at Alice Sports B1 News and Sports: Drive Middle School. Television C4 774-1226 In the spirit of carrying on the Bordeaux, a 2011 Sumter High USA Today C1 torch for future educators, current School graduate who was a junior and former Sumter School District early childhood education major at VISIT US ONLINE AT the .com teachers of the year will host an an- the University of South Carolina, nual scholarship fundraiser next died in a boating accident on July 4, PHOTO PROVIDED month. 2014. She was a South Carolina The Hailey Bordeaux Memorial Interim Superintendent Debbie Teaching Fellow and was on the Pres- Scholarship dinner is scheduled Hamm provided details on the dis- ident’s List at USC. She also worked for March 15 at Kingsbury Ele- trict’s annual Hailey Bordeaux Me- mentary School, according to dis- morial Scholarship dinner set for SEE FUNDRAISER, PAGE A9 trict staff. Howard Conyers speaks during Morris College’s Clarendon native, NASA scientist, BBQ honors fall 2017 semester convo- cation on Thurs- day. Conyers is a master inspires Morris College students NASA engineer and is known for Howard Conyers gave to his pit-mastery in tradition- also said it can propel you on- his BBQ pit al South Carolina whole hog ward. master skills. keynote speech at barbecue in a keynote address As he became more and on Thursday to Morris College more well-known for his MICAH GREEN / THE honors convocation honors students at their fall whole hog barbecue, he said, SUMTER ITEM 2017 semester convocation. other people were forced to BY KAYLA ROBINS “You never know where notice him. [email protected] you’ll find your passion,” “Food transcends race,” he Conyers said. said. “Barbecue was therapeu- Not many people are actual The Paxville native and tic also for me for helping me rocket scientists. Not many Manning High School gradu- deal with work and people people are nationally re- ate said food has served two who may not have believed an nowned barbecue masters. benefits to his life and career. African American should be Howard Conyers is both. He asked the students to re- in those rooms.” A connection between the member their heritage and Conyers, who cooked his two may not be immediately their ancestors who grew the first whole hog when he was clear, but Conyers, a Manning best rice in Africa before being 11 by following a recipe hand- native who has been a NASA sold into slavery. ed down through his family Stennis Space Center engineer Food, in that sense, can be a for nine years, linked that job link to the past, but Conyers SEE CONYERS, PAGE A9 A2 | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Sumter PD County council approves costs seeks public comment for for dam project, veterans park accreditation BY ADRIENNE SARVIS A Tuskegee Airmen P-51 plane will as it sees fit. [email protected] also be featured in the park, he said. The county will not be affected if Preparation for the reconstruction residents of the district do not pay BY ADRIENNE SARVIS Sumter County Council approved project at Second Mill Pond has taxes because the county is only ob- [email protected] third and final reading to add ex- started and is anticipated to be com- ligated to deliver the money that is penses to the county's 2017 budget pleted this spring. collected, he said. for two public projects during its NEW TAX DISTRICT REQUESTED The proposal may be approved Sumter residents will meeting on Tuesday. TO FIX BOYLES DAM after two more readings and a public have the opportunity to The council passed an amendment hearing. voice opinions of Sumter to add two purchases to the county's The council approved first reading OTHER MEETING NOTES Police Department's perfor- 2017 budget: $500,000 to construct a of an ordinance to establish the mance during a public in- veterans memorial park on Broad Boyles Pond Special Tax District and The Sumter County Council ap- formation session at 7 p.m. Street Extension adjoining Shaw Air authorize a tax that would be collect- proved second reading of an ordi- Tuesday, Feb. 27, in Sumter Force Base and $281,000 to purchase ed for 22 lots in the area to rebuild nance to amend definitions regard- City Council Chambers, automated spillway gates for the and maintain the dam at the pond. ing real estate, contractor, subdivi- fourth floor of Sumter dam at Second Mill Pond. If approved, the tax district would sion project and commercial project Opera House, 21 N. Main St. The $500,000 will be transferred be monitored by three people — a signs. The amendment will permit Since 1995, Sumter Police from the county's hospitality fund. president, a vice president and a more square footage for the signs, Department has been ac- The memorial park is a joint proj- treasurer — who can be members of mimicking the city's zoning and de- credited by the Commission ect between the county, the city of the Boyles Pond HOA Inc., according velopment ordinance for project on Accreditation for Law Sumter — which will also contribute to the proposed ordinance. signs, said George McGregor, direc- Enforcement Agencies Inc. $500,000 — and Shaw. The state has Sumter County Attorney Johna- tor of Sumter City-County Planning which requires agencies to also expressed interest in providing than Bryan said the county's role in Department. be in compliance with state- $200,000 for the project, Sumter the matter is to collect the tax money Sumter County Council requires of-the-art standards in four County Administrator Gary Mixon each year and deliver it to the Boyles three approvals and a public hearing areas: policy and proce- said. Pond HOA, which will use the money before a matter is passed. dures, administration, oper- ations and support services to the community. The department is as- THIS MONTH IN S.C. HISTORY sessed every three years. A copy of the compliance standards is available for re- Friendship College view at Sumter Police De- students protest in front partment, 107 E. Hampton of McCrory’s in Rock Hill Ave. in 1960. Anyone who is unable to attend the meeting can pro- vide comments by phone or PHOTO PROVIDED BY WWW.ZINNEDPROJECT.COM mail. Residents can speak with a CALEA assessor by call- ing (803) 436-2737 between 2 and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Phone comments, as well as appearances at the public information session, are limited to 10 minutes and must address the police department's ability to com- ply with CALEA's stan- dards. Written comments should be mailed to Commission on Accreditation for Law En- forcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA), 13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320, Gainesville, VA 20155. Lt. C.L. Johnson Sr., ac- creditation manager for the Sumter department, said the assessment team is com- posed of public safety prac- titioners from out-of-state law enforcement agencies of similar sizes who will re- view written materials, in- February 1960: S.C. experiences its first ‘sit-in’ terview individuals and visit offices and other facili- FROM THE S.C. HISTORICAL SOCIETY ties where compliance to praised the students in his 1960 address closed that door. And that clang, you standards can be witnessed. On Feb. 12, 1960, several black stu- to the NAACP convention. The protests can still hear it." Johnson can be reached at dents from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill continued for more than a Once at the prison farm, the nine (803) 436-2729 or (803) 795- in Rock Hill asked to be served lunch at year.