BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s Tre Jackson had a superb 33-point showing at the MLK bash this weekend, but that is not the only feather the Iowa State-commit can add to his cap. Jackson was selected as one of 400 nominees for the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game in Atlanta at the State Farm arena on Mar. 27.
Twenty-four of the top players will be selected by the Games’ Selection Committee to play in the event. The McDonald’s All-American Game has been a running tradition since its inception in 1977 and has showcased a slew of some basketball’s most decorated superstars.
Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and numerous other all-stars and hall of famers have participated in the showcase. Jackson was among six players to be selected from the state of South Carolina. Jackson has average 23 points per game this year to go with almost seven rebounds, four steals and nearly four assists per contest.
COLUMBIA – Calls for the resignation of Richland Two school board chair Amelia McKie grew Tuesday night, with a fellow board member joining in those calls.
Meantime, two other board members are suggesting publicity of missing school board ethics forms has been “racially motivated.”
Board member Lindsay Agostini led the charge of those calling for McKie’s resignation.
“As you try to straighten things up for you and your family, I at a minimum ask that you step down as chair,” Agostini said. “A premier district deserves a premier board.”
In prepared remarks, McKie apologized later in the evening for not filing her ethics forms. She said her forms are now current, and that she’s working with legal counsel to address nearly $52,000 in fines she owes the S.C. Ethics Commission.
“I am responsible and I am not running from those problems,” she said in prepared remarks.
She declined to comment on calls for her resignation, referring The Voice to her prepared statement.
At least two board members injected race into the ethics debate.
Board members Monica Elkins-Johnson and Teresa Holmes said news reports have been inaccurate, but, when asked, wouldn’t say what was incorrect.
“All of the stuff you saw in the paper wasn’t necessarily factual,” Holmes said. Some of it was racially motivated, I do believe that. “Some of it was racially motivated, I really do believe that.”
Stephen Gilchrist, a board member with the Richland Two Black Parents Association, said following state ethics laws is not about race.
“It’s not a racial issue from our perspective,” Gilchrist said. “This is about ethics issues Ms. McKie is dealing with, and of course the board in Richland 2.”
Read more about this story in Thursday’s edition of The Voice.
COLUMBIA – Once again the Richland Two school board plans to discuss ongoing ethics issues behind closed doors.
Only this time the board is also slated to discuss board policies that address how board officers are chosen, suggesting changes to one or more leadership positions.
An agenda for Tuesday night’s meeting lists six executive session items, including one for the “receipt of legal advice regarding Ethics Act issues and Board Policy BD.”
Board Policy BD involves “Organization of the Board,” according to the school district’s website.
Among other things, the policy details the process for the election of officers: chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. Officer elections occur in June, the policy states.
Legally, the board couldn’t proceed with electing officers at Tuesday’s meeting.
Recent changes in state law prohibit public bodies for taking action on an executive session item without also stating on the agenda that action may be taken.
Tuesday night’s agenda lists three executive session items that may receive a vote, but the ethics discussion isn’t among them.
At the board’s Jan. 8 meeting, concerned parent Rhonda Meisner called for board chairwoman Amelia McKie to resign.
Meisner cited a section of state law that says elected officials failing to file Statements of Economic Interest forms with the S.C. Ethics Commission can’t be legally sworn in to office.
A week later, the board scheduled a special meeting that consisted of a single agenda item – an executive session to “receive legal advice concerning Ethics Act issues.” The session lasted an hour and a half. No action was taken in public session.
An investigation by The Voice found that McKie and four other board members failed to file either SEI forms or quarterly campaign disclosure reports, also required under state law.
In June 2018, the ethics commission fined McKie $41,000 and ordered her to pay half by Dec. 31, 2018. When she didn’t, the fine jumped to $51,750, agency records state.
Tuesday’s meeting will be held at the Richland Two Institute of Innovation at 763 Fashion Drive, Columbia. The executive session starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by a business meeting at 7 p.m.
Dr. Clyde McCants, center, receives the Lifetime Membership Award with Hannah Phillips, former Library Director Sara McMaster, Library Director Eric Robinson, and FOL President Michelle Taylor.
WINNSBORO – “It has been a beautiful friendship for me and a life of service to the Fairfield County Library,” Sarah McMaster, former director of the Fairfield County Library, said as she and Library Director Eric Robinson presented a Life Membership Award and other mementos to Winnsboro resident Dr. Clyde T. McCants during the Friends of the Library’s annual meeting on Sunday.
“Dr McCants visited the Library when he first came to Winnsboro and has provided his time, talents and financial support ever since,” McMaster said. “Dr Clyde has donated books and CDs from his own personal collections and provided the financial support that has allowed us to purchase a stellar collection of art and music books. He has been involved in everything from book sales to our very well received music related programs. I was not very much into opera, but he converted me,” McMaster quipped, as a round of laughter erupted from the crowd.
A retired teacher, McCants is a pastor and has authored four books relating to music and is currently working on his fifth.
With nearly 50 Friends of the Library in attendance, FOL President Michelle Taylor opened the program announcing that, “We are now a 501C(3) organization,” which, she explained, will allow donations to be considered tax deductible.
“We are also a part of Amazon Smile so please use this when you make online purchases,” Taylor added.
Taylor said a goal for the Friends for this year is to replace the Book Drop.
“We currently have $445 dollars toward the project, and we need $2000,” she said. “In our effort to go green, we are moving our newsletter distribution to an email where possible, and we are changing our membership schedule to the calendar year to make it easier to keep track of when a membership is due,” Taylor said.
The evening’s speaker was Hannah Phillips, 90, a lifelong resident of Fairfield County who took the evening’s patrons on an eclectic journey of Fairfield County through trivia – from the time that Scotch-Irish settled Fairfield County to when Richard Winn surveyed it and steam engines watered in White Oak.
BLYTHEWOOD – All town of Blythewood business licenses expired on December 31, according to Blythewood Town Clerk Melissa Cowan.
The deadline for applying for a renewal of those licenses, without incurring penalties, is April 15. Business owners who renew their licenses during the month of January will receive a ten percent discount. Those renewing in the month of February, will receive a five per cent discount.
There will be no discount given for business owners renewing between March 1 and April 15, 2019.
License fees will incur penalties of five percent each month thereafter, beginning April 15, Cowan said.
Heyward Trapp and his mom, Doris Trapp, hold the two $100 bills that Trapp won in The Voice’s annual U Pick ‘Em College Bowl contest. | Barbara Ball
BLYTHEWOOD – When Blythewood resident Heyward Trapp received a phone call informing him that he had won $200 in The Voice’s U Pick ‘Em College Bowl context, Trapp said the timing couldn’t have been better.
“My furnace broke recently and the bill for fixing it is about $150.” Trapp said. “That’s great, just in time,” he said, transmitting a broad smile over the phone. “What luck!”
But after picking the wrong team in the first three bowls that included his beloved Gamecocks, Trapp, 51, said he began to doubt his gaming skills.
“I thought…this is not good,” he recalled with a laugh. “Then Iowa was up. I looked at the card and wondered why I picked Iowa. Then, they won! Things were looking better. Then there were some high-scoring wins by a couple of teams that were expected to lose. I got those.”
After Trapp picked several straight winners, Georgia (Trapp’s pick) lost. But even without the Bulldogs’ help, Trapp had already locked in the win. And he almost nailed the tie breaker, missing it by only one point. The total score for the national championship game was 60 and Trapp guessed 59. But he didn’t need it to win.
While Charles Harrison of Winnsboro also picked 12 bowls correctly, he lost his chance to split the jackpot because he failed to submit a tie breaker score which is required.
Trapp said he has entered the contest every year and kept hoping every year he would win.
“This was my lucky year, I guess,” he said with an expression of happy surprise as the money was presented to him at his home.
But Trapp’s easy grin and optimistic outlook belie his difficult circumstances.
Since sustaining a spinal cord injury 15 years ago while working as a backhoe operator during construction of Blythewood High School, Trapp has been dependent on the use of either a cane or wheelchair for mobility.
Now on disability, Trapp lives with his mom, Doris Trapp, in rural Blythewood in a home he purchased following the accident. The home sits on Doris’ family land.
“My mom grew up right here on this road, and I also grew up in Blythewood,” Trapp said. “I love it out here. This house is small, but it’s comfortable,” he said, looking around the tidy living room.
While his world is largely limited to his home now because of his injury, Trapp’s goal is continued independence. He tries to stay active, he said, using his cane instead of the wheelchair as often as possible. And he is quick to celebrate what’s good in his life.
“I was told I would be in a wheelchair in five years. But I’m not,” he said. “I try to get out every day and walk out to the mail box to get the mail. To a lot of people, that’s nothing. But to me, it’s a big deal.”
But the mail box is at the bottom of a slope of ground which makes the maneuver tricky with a cane and impossible in a wheelchair.
To facilitate his daily round trip for the mail, Trapp said he’s been scanning the classifieds recently for a good used, reasonably priced golf cart.
“That would make it a lot easier for me to get out and around, to go to the mailbox,” Trapp said. “It would make a big difference.”
Posing for a photo on the front porch of his home, Trapp and his mom each held up one of the two $100 bills he was presented. After the photo shoot and before going back into the house, Trapp paused, scanning the surrounding rural area from the porch. Perhaps buoyed by the unexpected win or maybe it was his seemingly unwavering optimism, Trapp once again reflected on the good side of his life.
“It’s really nice out here,” he said. “I love it.”
Richland Two school board members, from left: Teresa Holmes, James Manning, Cheryl Caution-Parker, Monica Elkins-Johnson, Amelia McKie, Superintendent Dr. Barron Davis, Lindsey Agostini and James Shadd III. | Barbara Ball
COLUMBIA – Despite some members dismissing an ongoing ethics flap as merely a distraction at a meeting last week, the Richland Two school board spent 90 minutes behind closed doors Tuesday night discussing that topic.
At a special meeting, the board immediately retreated into executive session to receive “legal advice regarding Ethics Act issues.”
No action was taken after the executive session – some of which was audible in the hallway – and the board promptly voted to adjourn.
When pressed by The Voice about whether the executive session pertained to an individual member or the entire board, board chairwoman Amelia McKie wouldn’t say.
“I can’t clarify that any more than what was said in the motion,” McKie said.
Jay Bender, an attorney with the S.C. Press Association, of which The Voice is a member, said if the board discussed individual members’ ethics issues behind closed doors, the discussion would violate state law.
“I don’t see any legitimate reason to get advice unless it’s regarding other board members,” Bender said. “If it’s regarding board members with individual ethics problems, I don’t think they can discuss any punishments that may be meted out.”
During executive session some board member conversations were discernable in the hallway beyond the closed doors to the boardroom.
Those conversations seemed to focus on violations of individual board members, which Bender said is not permitted under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.
The session appeared to become heated at times.
Board member James Manning, one of two sitting board members with no previously missing ethics forms, wouldn’t comment on the specifics of what was discussed.
“There was nothing to take action on. It was all just legal counsel,” Manning said.
Manning noted the issue of ethics is likely to arise at a future board meeting.
“I would keep an eye on the agenda,” he said.
That was difficult to do with Tuesday’s meeting agenda, which was buried among four unrelated press releases in an email titled, “Dear reporters and editors, please find attached four news releases from Richland Two…” with no mention of the agenda or the special called board meeting in the body of the email. The agenda also did not appear on the school’s board docs.
In recent weeks, several board members have come under scrutiny for failing to file various ethics forms required by state law.
Richland Two parent Rhonda Meisner called upon those board members to resign. At the Jan. 9 meeting, Meisner stated during public input that state law prohibits members from being sworn into office if they haven’t filed Statements of Economic Interest (SEI) forms.
In the 2018 election, board members James Shadd III, Cheryl Caution-Parker, Monica Elkins-Johnson, Teresa Holmes and McKie failed to file either SEI forms or quarterly campaign disclosure reports by deadlines set in state law, according to the State Ethics Commission.
Those board members have since filed their forms following a series of investigative reports by The Voice.
McKie, however, has garnered the most attention.
In July 2018, the ethics commission fined her $41,000 for failing to file multiple quarterly campaign reports between 2015 and 2018. Those forms were not filed until last week, the ethics commission website states.
The fine zoomed to $51,750 after McKie failed to pay the first $21,000 of the original $41,000 fine on Dec. 31, 2018.
In all, McKie filed 16 forms on Jan. 9, 2019, including her 2019 SEI form that isn’t due until March 30. Also on Jan. 9, she filed her first quarterly campaign report of 2019, which was due Jan. 10.
After the Jan. 8 board meeting, McKie said she planned to issue a press release addressing the ethics issues, but no statement had been released as of press time.
The status of McKie’s fine remained unclear, however, as the ethics commission, as of Tuesday, listed her outstanding debt at $41,000, the original fine amount, instead of the $51,750, according to the agency’s debtor’s list.
WINNSBORO – Four County Councilmen were sworn into office during a 5 p.m. special session Monday evening. Re-elected to office for a second term were Douglas Pauley (District 6) and Mikel Trapp (District 2), both in the center. Clarence Gilbert, left, (District 7) and Moses Bell, right, (District 1) were newly elected. Councilman Neil Robinson was elected Council Chairman and Councilwoman Bertha Goins was elected vice-chair. Following the swearing in ceremony, refreshments prepared by the Cornwallis Tea Company were served.
Saralyn Yarborough has been hired as Assistant to Town Administrator Brian Cook.
A native of North Augusta, Yarborough is a 2014 graduate of the University of South Carolina-Aiken with a Bachelor’s Degree in History. She also earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Augusta University.
Yarborough has experience assisting the City Administrator of North Augusta and comes to Blythewood after working in the North Augusta Planning and Development Department.
“Ms. Yarborough comes to us with a great resume,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said. “We’re looking forward to having her work on special projects and possibly writing some grants. “
WINNSBORO – A Fort Lawn man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly firing several shots into a Winnsboro residence and vehicle.
Rice
Syrasheon Direll Rice, 25, was arrested on Jan. 4, more than a month after shooting into a home occupied by a woman and a friend.
The woman called sheriff’s deputies on Dec. 15, 2018 to report that she and her friend were in the house when a grey car pulled up in the front yard and began shooting into the direction of the residence. The bullets also hit a vehicle parked at the residence.
After finding a bullet hole in the living room window, deputies reported retrieving six shell casings from the roadway directly in front of the residence.
According to the report, the woman texted deputies that she feared the next time would be worse and that she would die. She also told deputies, according to the report, that the gun used in the shooting had been stolen from her home earlier.
Rice is being held without bond in the Fairfield County Detention Center for the attempted murder charge.
