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TODAY’S EDITION
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VOL. 118, NO. 161 WWW.THEITEM.COM
Who’s gonna fill your shoes? George Jones, 81, dies A7 SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894
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Transportation plan approved BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com
Raising healthy children
ON THE NET
After months of study and gathering public input, the Sumter area’s longterm transportation plan was approved Friday, setting out planners’ goals for the next 25 to 30 years. Meeting in the City Centre on North Main Street, the policy committee of the Sumter Urban Area Transportation Study approved the final version of the plan, bringing an end to the Sumter Planning Department’s five-year review. Local planners began the process of
BY MISSY CORRIGAN Special to The Item
I
t is not a secret that obesity is a serious threat to our youth. With all the unhealthy temptations that we are surrounded by, not only in the schools and community, but also within our homes, being healthy is a struggle. Unhealthy options are just an arm’s length away, and that makes it nearly impossible for us to win the fight against obesity. All too often CORRIGAN we make the excuse that kids can eat sugar-loaded foods because they are kids, or we think that they will “thin out” when they hit a growth spurt, or that they can eat processed foods because they play sports. We are naïve to think this way. This is the time when kids need the best nutrition. They are growing and need essential nutrients to build the foundation for a healthy body. It’s what they learn now that they will keep with them as adults. And no parent wants his or her child to have to struggle. Changing behaviors now will be tough, but children will be all the better for it in the long run. Children learn by watching and will learn their behaviors from you, the parent. Your attitude toward food and physical activity will affect them and the choices they make, so take responsibility, and learn about proper nutrition. Then teach them the difference between what is and
Members of the public can view the plans online at sumtersc.gov/suats-reports.aspx.
updating the plan, required by federal regulations every five years, by holding two open-house meetings with the public in September and February, soliciting public input on improving everything from roads and sidewalks to bus routes and bicycle paths. The report projects the area’s transportation needs out to the year 2040. In the final report, 10 locations are
labeled priority intersections: Broad Street and Wesmark Boulevard; Broad Street and Bultman Drive; Pinewood and McCrays Mill roads; Lewis and Old Manning roads; Guignard Drive and Liberty Street; Liberty Street and Alice Drive; Broad Street and Miller Road; Pinewood and Kolb roads; Lewis Road and Kingsbury Drive; and Wedgefield and Pitts roads. These locations had 260 crashes during a three-year period. Twenty-four other roads or streets that received recommendations in the plan received separate “project sheets” SEE PLAN, PAGE A8
PEGGY TIMMONS CROSSWALK DEDICATION AT MILLWOOD Millwood Elementary School Principal Dr. Johnny Hilton offers a prayer in dedication of the Peggy Timmons Crosswalk at the school on West Liberty Street. Timmons, who died in 2012, “loved what she did and was dedicated to the schoolchildren. There is nothing greater than helping people, and that is what she did,” he said in his remarks. Friends and family were present for the ceremony held during Millwood’s 50th anniversary celebration. Timmons was the crossing guard for 47 of those years. IVY MOORE / THE ITEM
SEE HEALTHY LIVING, PAGE A8
Policemen who worked with Millwood crossing guard Peggy Timmons are seen with the engraved boulder placed at the crosswalk named for and dedicated to Timmons, who died in 2012.
ITEM FILE PHOTO
IVY MOORE / THE ITEM
The late Peggy Timmons, longtime Millwood crossing guard, helps students get safely across the street in this photo from February 1999.
Family wins malpractice lawsuit against Tuomey BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com The family of a Kershaw woman who died in 2008 shortly after outpatient day surgery at Tuomey Regional Medical Center was awarded $430,000 on Friday, as a Sumter County jury ruled in their medical malpractice lawsuit
against the hospital and one of the hospital’s registered nurses. The weeklong civil trial at Sumter County Courthouse between the estate of Sarah Faile versus Tuomey and Denise Dunn concluded, with the 12-person jury taking only a few hours to reach its verdict.
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“The family hopes that the verdict sends a message that Tuomey will take a look at what they’re doing and will do it better so that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” said Patrick Killen, attorney with McGowan, Hood and Felder, the law firm representing the family. Faile was at Tuomey in
DEATHS George Wise Jr. Allen Lee Wise Ashby White Charlie Shannon
Marie Durant Archibald C. Craft Jr. Cora Mae F. Hudson A7
April 2008 for what Killen characterized as “routine day surgery” related to a kidney stone issue the day she died. According to Killen, the 55-year-old Faile was discharged from Tuomey after the procedure but almost immediately started showing signs of complications. Faile then returned to Tuomey, Kil-
OUTSIDE RAIN AHEAD Afternoon showers; drizzle tonight HIGH: 74 LOW: 54 A8
len said, suffering from extensive vomiting, but according to the lawyer was never reevaluated. Faile then left the hospital with family members to return home, only to suffer a heart attack during the trip. Faile was transported to Carolina Pines Regional Medical SEE LAWSUIT, PAGE A8
INSIDE 3 SECTIONS, 32 PAGES
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