SPORTS Knights QB arrested but will suit up Friday FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2018 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents B1 Community health center to open operation on Pike Sumter Family Health Center to move women’s health, pediatric services to 34,000-square-foot facility BY BRUCE MILLS other management team Community Health Center Currently, the Community tion rooms, according to San- [email protected] member with Sumter Family will be moving all of its wom- Health Center offers pediatric dra Sturkie, the practice’s Health Center discussed en’s health and pediatric ser- services at its main facility at vice president of operations; In response to continuous Thursday the planned open- vices into the facility at 370 S. 1278 N. Lafayette Drive, and and, she said, because wom- growth, one of Sumter’s larg- ing of a 34,000-square-foot Pike West, which is the for- women’s health services oper- en’s health and pediatrics are est health care providers will newly renovated facility on mer National Bank of South ate as Carolina Women’s Spe- often co-related services, it be getting even bigger with an South Pike that is set for early Carolina Operations Center. A cialists, at 319 N. Main St. in will be great to have both expansion soon to include an October. second pharmacy center with the downtown area. under one roof. additional facility. When renovations are com- drive-thru service will also be The new facility on South Two vice presidents and an- plete, the private, nonprofit located in the building. Pike will include 60 examina- SEE FACILITY, PAGE A9 Suspect in weekend auto 2 political newcomers shop shooting waives his file for Area 2 extradition from Florida seat on board Board vice chairwoman holds Sumter seat now BY BRUCE MILLS [email protected] Two political newcomers have added their names to the list of candidates run- ning for the open Area 2 seat on Sumter School Board that is held by board Vice Chairwoman Karen Michalik. Sherril Ray and Charles Smith spoke Thursday on filing for the non-partisan seat that is up for grabs in the November general election. Filing for six available seats — four area seats and both at-large seats — on the nine-member school board ran from July 16 through Wednesday. On the first day of the filing pe- RAY riod, Michalik announced she wouldn’t be seeking re- election. Ray, 64, was a lifelong edu- cator for almost 40 years in the former Sumter School District 2 and the now-con- solidated district, she said. SMITH She spent 15 years as a high school English teacher before moving into school administra- tion. After serving as an assistant princi- pal at three schools, Ray served as prin- cipal at Furman Middle School for four years before becoming the Lakewood High School principal for nine years, she said. BEN NAIM / PONTE VEDRA RECORDER The last 3 1/2 years of her career, Ray Demetrius Brown appears in front of a judge at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Pre-Trial Detention Facility on Thursday after worked in the district office as the disci- being apprehended the previous day in the area. He will be extradited back to Sumter soon. plinary hearing officer with the consoli- dated district. She retired in January 2017, she said. Declared sovereign citizen arrested in Jacksonville Based on her background in public ed- ucation, Ray said she thinks she can pro- BY KAYLA ROBINS vide solid leadership as a board member. [email protected] “I have experience and knowledge that I feel I can still continue to share and The self-proclaimed Moorish help the district advance and be the best sovereign citizen who is accused in we can be,” Ray said. “I know that is al- the fatal shooting of a man at Auto ways a difficult task because the district Doctors in Sumter during the is a complex entity to run. We need the weekend waived extradition in a best leadership possible, and I feel that I Jacksonville, Florida, courtroom can provide that leadership.” Thursday afternoon and will be Ray said she has a bachelor’s degree brought back to South from Clemson University and a masters Carolina to face mur- from the University of South Carolina. der charges. She said she thinks the board is mov- Demetrius Alexan- ing in the right direction now, and she der Brown, 38, who wants to help promote it and support it. has had a handful of Smith, 45, has owned Smith Properties known addresses in on Broad Street since 2004. That business BROWN Sumter and Lee coun- includes real estate sales and manufac- ties, is suspected of tured homes. He’s also a residential con- shooting Sharmine Pack, 34, on tractor and owns C&C Insurance Agen- Saturday, according to the sheriff’s cy, which is connected to Smith Proper- office and previous Sumter Item re- Brown is seen in court on Thursday in Jacksonville. ties. ports. He said he’s worked ever since before A hearing Thursday only lasted Pike Road East business about 4:30 cording to Ken Bell, public infor- he graduated high school in North Caro- a few minutes, according to Ben p.m. on Aug. 11 to find Pack suffer- mation officer for the Sumter lina and has now lived in Sumter for 20 Naim, a reporter at the Ponte ing multiple gunshot wounds. He County Sheriff’s Office. years. This is also his first time running Vedra Recorder, which is a sister later died at Palmetto Health Tu- “We want to thank the U.S. Mar- for an elected office. paper to The Sumter Item. He said omey. shals Service as well as other agen- Smith said he thinks his business expe- Brown appeared to be cooperative Brown fled the area. After being cies that helped make this arrest,” rience can help the board in the area of and had a chance to quickly speak spotted in Jackson County, Geor- Sumter County Sheriff Anthony fiscal responsibility. to the judge. gia, on Monday, he was caught in Deputies responded to the South Florida late Wednesday night, ac- SEE SUSPECT, PAGE A9 SEE SEATS, PAGE A9 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B4 and B5 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Douglas Ray Cook Almetta Dow Moore Sharmine Pack STORMS COMING 3 SECTIONS, 28 PAGES the .com Patsy R. Crump Elizabeth Green Oxendine Robert Lee Rhames VOL. 123, NO. 215 A storm around USA Today C1 Opinion A10 Dorothy Ann Jones-Grooms Susie Marsh Wayne Elijah Sanders this afternoon and Classifieds B6 Television C4 Jim Stanley Raymond Woods Sr. Sean Micheal Wright again this evening Mary Liza Green Bracey Boyd Murphy Jr. Evelyn Harris Hawkins Comics C6 HIGH 92, LOW 73 Dorothy Mae Nelson Louise DuRant Kennedy Betty Jo Lowder Burgess Clarendon Sun A7 Graham Alfonso Billie A2 | FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Quote of the week "Few people in the history of our city have been as universally loved or left as indelible a mark as Aretha ... Throughout her extraordinary life and career, she earned the love — and yes, the respect — of millions of people, not just for herself and for women everywhere, but for the city she loved so dearly and called home." DETROIT MAYOR MIKE DUGGAN On Thursday’s passing of music legend Aretha Franklin MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM Emergency crews work the scene Thursday after a City of Sumter truck with three occupants crashed into a brick building. All three were injured and taken to a hospital but were expected to be released that day. Local brief City truck crashes into old furniture store DAR donates Constitution Week posters BY KAYLA ROBINS [email protected] The driver appeared to be awake and re- sponsive as she sat on a stretcher that was Sumter’s Home Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- West Liberty Street slowed to a crawl taken to the ambulance. One of the passen- can Revolution, represented by Constitution Week Thursday morning as emergency crews gers was strapped down to a stretcher to se- Chairwoman and Secretary Linda Hawkins and Re- worked the scene of a wreck in which a City cure him, and he had a neck brace on. The gent Katherine Barrett, presented a Constitution of Sumter vehicle slammed all the way into other passenger appeared to walk out before Week poster to each of Sumter School District’s an old furniture store. being checked by EMS and transported. school media specialists on Aug. 14. The posters will Three people were transported to the hospi- "We are grateful to our emergency person- be displayed in their respective libraries. tal after the truck came to rest inside McDuff- nel who were on the scene immediately and to Constitution Week, celebrated Sept. 17-23, com- ie’s Priced Rite Furniture at the corner of the State Highway Patrol who are continuing memorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution. In Liberty and Walker Avenue, which is just be- with their investigation," said Shelley Kile, 1955, the president general of the DAR, Gertrude S. fore Guignard Drive. spokeswoman for the city. "Additional details Carraway, adopted a project to promote the obser- The 2015 International Dump Truck was will be forthcoming pending the highway pa- vance of the U.S. Constitution with a memorial week heading east on West Liberty Street when the trol's report and as we learn more about the beginning on the anniversary of its signing on Sept. driver, a 59-year-old woman from Bishopville, circumstances of this accident." 17.