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WORK UP THAT APPETITE Turkey Trot returns for its 31st year. A6 VOL. 119, NO. 32 WWW.THEITEM.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
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8 men sentenced in area killings BY RAYTEVIA EVANS revans@theitem.com Guilty pleas at the Sumter County Judicial Center this week have led to eight men being convicted in two separate killings.
Sumter brothers Corey D. Geddie and Christopher D. Lovely pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in the April 2012 shooting death of 23-year-old Akeen Henry. Lovely pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after
the fact of a felony (murder) and received the maximum of 15 years, while Geddie, facing a murder charge and a possible sentence of life without parole, was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his guilty plea.
Meanwhile, six men were sentenced to up to 45 years in jail on Monday for their parts in the shooting death of a 24-year-old Coward man during a Lynchburg convenience store robbery the day after Christmas 2011.
Third Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Young sentenced the men in the two separate cases based on the recommendations of the Third Circuit Solicitor’s Office. SEE PLEAS, PAGE A8
Clinic for poor, uninsured will open next year
‘Principals’ get crash course on running local schools
United Ministries’ Mercy Medical needs variety of donations, help BY IVY MOORE ivym@theitem.com United Ministries of Sumter County will celebrate 20 years of serving the area’s needy by adding a new project next year. Executive Director Mark Champagne said the ministry has long seen a need for medical care for the uninsured poor of the county but did not have a means of helping them directly.
PHOTOS BY RAYTEVIA EVANS / THE ITEM
Deputy Chief Alvin Holston of Sumter Police Department speaks to Pocalla Springs Elementary School students about the importance of education during the 2013 Principal for the Day program on Tuesday.
28 schools participate in annual event BY RAYTEVIA EVANS revans@theitem.com
With help from the community, he said, Mercy Medical will be able to open in 2014. Mariah McKellar will serve as director of the clinic, which will be housed at United Ministries on Artillery Drive. She and Champagne walked through the spacious area that will become Mercy Medical, indicating examining rooms, medical supplies SEE CLINIC, PAGE A5
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s students got off their buses for yet another day of learning and discovery, 28 schools in Sumter County had a different “sheriff” calling the shots. Instead of their appointed principals, students were greeted in the hallways by community leaders participating in the annual Principal for the Day event Tuesday. At Pocalla Springs Elementary School, Deputy Chief Alvin Holston of Sumter Police Department helped monitor traffic at the beginning of the school day SEE PRINCIPALS, PAGE A8
IVY MOORE / THE ITEM
Larry Culick, welding instructor at Sumter County Career and Technology Center, talks to Principal for the Day participant retired Maj. Gen. William “Dutch” Holland.
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United Ministries of Sumter County Executive Director Mark Champagne and Mariah McKellar discuss plans for UMSC’s proposed charitable health care clinic. When the 501(c)3 clinic opens, McKellar will be its director.
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Raymond J. Mathis Jr. Franklin R. Myers Hattie Mae B. Gerow Nancy Nelligan Charlie Mickens John H. Choice Jr.
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NOW ENROLLING FOR SPRING, 2014! CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 13 803.778.6605 www.cctech.edu Central Carolina Technical College does not discriminate in admissions or employment on the basis of race, sex, color, age, religion, national origin or certain legally deined physical or mental abilities.
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