IN SPORTS: Area high school football teams begin scrimmaging today B1 THE CLARENDON SUN 11th-annual Nic@Nite set for Tuesday A7 FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents On the table for conversation Lt. Gov. Bryant discusses drug legislation, concealed weapons permits during visit BY ADRIENNE SARVIS be listed include drugs that are com- [email protected] monly associated with opioid abuse as well as less powerful and more widely Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant stopped by used prescription medications, he said. Sumter County Sheriff’s Office to dis- Along with the list of medications, cuss proposed legislation that will af- pharmacies have to provide the pa- fect law enforcement. tients’ names, Bryant said. That is an There is an opioid epidemic in South invasion of privacy, he said. Carolina, Bryant said. And some of Solutions regarding opioid abuse the solutions to the rising drug abuse should focus more on doctors and problem are working, he said. whether they are breaking the law, he One solution that is already in place said. requires that pharmacists provide S.C. Bryant also commented on the pro- RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM Department of Health and Environ- posed legislation that would legalize Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, third from left, looks up the sleeve of William Simmons Jr. during mental Control with a list of all con- medical marijuana in the state. a card game at Sumter Senior Services on Thursday after he cut the deck for card dealer trolled substances that are prescribed, Robert Moore Jr., center. Bryant and his wife, Ann, right, visited Sumter for the day, in- he said. cluding a visit with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office to discuss the opioid crisis and The medications that are required to SEE BRYANT, PAGE A11 other law enforcement matters. Are you ready for some football? Wet weather forecast for the weekend BY JIM HILLEY [email protected] With excitement building about the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, one of the big questions on people’s minds is whether the weather will cooperate and let South Carolinians have a clear view of the event. Chris Rohrbach, a meteorolo- gist at the National Weather Ser- vice in Columbia, says it is still a bit early to make a forecast for eclipse day. “Probably next week they will start having their predic- HILLEY tions cover that time range,” he said. “We really won’t know until about seven days out.” He said the Climate Predic- tion Center does six-to-10-day and eight-to-14-day outlooks, but they are a little more broad then what they put in the fore- cast. DENNIS BRUNSON / THE SUMTER ITEM “It looks like they forecast a The Lakewood High School offensive backs go through drills during practice as they prepare for the upcoming football season. The Ga- little bit more rain than normal, tors will be in their first season under head coach Larry Cornelius and will be on the road against McBee on Aug. 18 to open their sea- which is right at a 50 percent son. Watch for Gridiron 2017, the high school football special preview tab, in the The Sumter Item on Aug. 18. chance of above normal rain- fall,” Rohrbach said. “For the next week or so, we will be in sort of in an active weather pat- tern.” CCTC ready to begin four new certificate programs This weekend appears to be the start of a wet pattern, he said. BY BRUCE MILLS to Hopkins, students may apply pro- “We are going back into that [email protected] CENTRAL CAROLINA gram courses toward the college’s As- regime we had a few weeks ago, TECHNICAL COLLEGE sociate Degree in Applied Science with where there will be a chance of To keep up with the ever-changing a major in management. showers and thunderstorms Four new certificate programs will be offered workplace, Central Carolina Technical by CCTC when the fall semester starts Aug. 22. A Supervision and Leadership Foun- each day, mainly in the after- College is set to roll out four new cer- dations Certificate has also been de- noon,” Rohrbach said. “We could tificate programs when the fall semes- • Entrepreneurship/Small Business signed to help individuals develop spe- see more coverage than what we Management ter begins Aug. 22. Students can com- cific management and supervisory would typically see on a typical plete each new program in a three-se- • Supervision and Leadership Foundations skills to apply to the business world. summer day where you have a mester (fall, spring and summer), 12- • Patient Care Technician Hopkins said the program is appropri- few scattered storms.” month time frame, according to the • Web Development ate for a small business owner looking Rohrbach said the chances of college. to enhance his or her management precipitation are 50 percent Sat- Two of the four new programs are in skills. The program is also helpful for urday and 60 percent Sunday. the accounting and business manage- and e-commerce, among others. The people who are working in industry, Temperatures will be in the ment department. The Entrepreneur- certificate helps develop a person’s ac- but want to develop the skills neces- upper 80s to around 90 for the ship/Small Business Management ademic background when he or she sary to advance to the management weekend but a little cooler Certificate is designed for people seek- wants to start a small business, ac- level, Hopkins said. around storms, he said. ing to start their own small business, cording to Hopkins. The supervision and leadership During the next seven days, according to Program Manager Len “It’s the general things you would foundations program is also a nine- temperatures look near normal, Hopkins. need to know, when you have that course and 27-hour curriculum, and which is about 90. The program introduces students to great idea and you want to actually courses may be applied to the college’s “The lows could be a little bit a variety of topics, such as developing turn it into something that makes you Associate Degree in Applied Science warmer than normal, which is a business idea and plan, and under- a little money, too,” Hopkins said. standing key functions such as busi- The program consists of nine cours- ness law, customer service, marketing es and is 27 semester hours. According SEE CERTIFICATE, PAGE A11 SEE FORECAST, PAGE A11 VISIT US ONLINE AT CONTACT US DEATHS, B5 WEATHER, A12 INSIDE Information: 774-1200 Pia V. Clea Haskel Brunson Jr. SPOTTY STORMS 3 SECTIONS, 28 PAGES the .com Advertising: 774-1246 Samuel L. Anderson Mary Lee Austin VOL. 122, NO. 209 Classifieds: 774-1200 An afternoon thunderstorm Jon N. Green Jr. Herbert Lee Glisson Jr. in spots. Tonight, scattered Classifieds B6-B10 Delivery: 774-1258 Mayes P. Warr Hannah L. Jenkins thunderstorms early. Comics C6 News and Sports: 774-1226 John R. Seech Jackie D. Olson HIGH 84, LOW 71 Opinion A10 Television C4-C5 A2 | FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] LOCAL BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS Chamber offers ‘tiered’ rate structure Service academy appointments available FROM STAFF REPORTS Tiered membership dues range from the way to the chairman’s club while $350 for a benefactor level to the chair- detailing the benefits and services The office of U.S. Sen. Tim The Greater Sumter Chamber of man’s club level at $7,500. available in each tier.” Scott is accepting applications Commerce announced Tuesday it will Chris Hardy, president and CEO of In a news release announcing the for service academy nomina- be transitioning from its traditional the Chamber, said all new members changes, Hardy said other chambers tions now through 5 p.m. Fri- “fair share” membership model to a will be on the tiered level, while renew- have been moving to the tiered struc- day, Oct. 13, according to a new “tiered benefits” structure for new ing members will have an option of ture, and local Chamber employees news release. High school stu- members beginning this month. which model they prefer, including up- and board members have been working dents interested in attending The “fair share” membership model grading to a higher tiered level, until on the change. one of the four service acade- based membership dues on the number April 1, when all members will transi- “We anticipate this to be a huge step mies — the U.S. Military Acad- of employees within a business. The tion to the tiered method after an offi- forward for our Chamber while provid- emy in West Point, New York, “fair share” membership model began cial launch of the tiered program on ing a greater return on our members’ the U.S. Naval Academy in An- at $335 for five or fewer employees and April 1. investment,” Hardy said. “This new napolis, Maryland, the U.S. Air increased to $973 for companies with 16 “We wanted to use these next eight to structure will allow us to engage with Force Academy in Colorado to 25 employees, and for those compa- nine months to present the new struc- our membership on a higher level than Springs, Colorado, or the U.S. nies with more than 25 employees, the ture to our membership and business ever before, and we are so excited to Merchant Marine Academy in Chamber asked for a meeting to dis- community while also allowing our ex- get started.” King’s Point, New York, may cuss options. isting members to evaluate which For more information about this new submit applications and other The “tiered benefits” membership tiered level was best for them,” he said.