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Category: News

  • DHEC confirms a Fairfield County resident is infected with the Coronavirus

    BREAKING – The Voice has confirmed with the Department of Health and Economic Control (DHEC) just after 12 Noon that a Fairfield County resident has been verified by DHEC to be the county’s first case of the coronavirus. It was also confirmed that this case does not change the number of cases in the state, which now stands at 33, but was previously counted as a Kershaw County case. 

    The Voice will post more information as it becomes available.

  • Fairfield officials say ER sale was flawed; call for review by DHEC

    WINNSBORO  – Following Prisma Health’s surprise announcement last week that it had signed a deal to acquire Providence Health – Fairfield Emergency Room (ER) along with three other hospitals, Fairfield County officials have requested the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which signed off on the deal, to pump the brakes on the proposed purchase agreement.

    The county is joined by requests from three other governments of Camden (KershawHealth), Columbia (Providence Hospital) and Richland County (Providence Northeast) along with Lexington County.

    In a letter dated March 13, Fairfield County, through its attorneys, Bruner, Powell, Wall and Mullins, LLC, formally requested DHEC to conduct a final review of the decision that allowed Prisma Health to acquire the four health care facilities, documents obtained by The Voice state.

    Fairfield County and (the former) Fairfield Memorial Hospital are questioning the legality of the DHEC staff’s approval of an amended Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) that cemented the deal between Prisma and Providence Health, according to the request.

     “Grounds for this request,” the letter states, “are that DHEC’s proposed decision regarding the amendments to the Prisma Health COPA is in error as a matter of law and unsupported factually in numerous respects.”

    Among other things, the letter states that DHEC “failed to publish notice of receipt of the request in the State Register and failed to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation that the application was complete and otherwise provide notice to affected persons of the rights to request a public hearing. Indeed, Fairfield County and Fairfield Memorial Hospital were not made aware of the proposed transaction or the efforts to modify the COPA until the staff decision was issued on February 28 modifying the COPA and Prisma published its press release announcing the agreement to acquire the assets of Kershaw Health and Providence Health [hospitals].

    “To this date, Fairfield County is not privy to the details of the proposed transaction and the information contained in DHEC’s file that would reflect the potential benefits or disadvantages to the citizens of Fairfield County,” the letter states.

    “Upon review of the entire DHEC file,” the letter states, “…the [DHEC] Board should overturn the staff decision and remand the matter to the DHEC staff for a full, open and fair review…to include a directive for compliance with the public notice requirements and opportunity for public comment and hearing as provided by statute.”

    Fairfield County has raised financial considerations as well.

    Fairfield and Providence have a deal in which the county agreed to provide $1 million a year for 10 years to Providence Health to be used solely for the use and operation of the Providence Health Fairfield ER.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor said the county had expected to receive about $250,000 in property taxes a year from Providence, revenue that would likely disappear now since, he said, county officials have been told that Prisma operates as a non-profit.

    When contacted Monday afternoon about Fairfield’s request for a review, DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said via email that she was “focused on COVID-19,” and deferred comment to another spokesperson who wasn’t made available as of press time.

    Prisma says the acquisition will provide the Greenville-based health provider with “new opportunities to advance the delivery of accessible high-quality care in communities across the regions it serves,” a news release said.

    “Providence and KershawHealth are known to share our commitment to improving patient experiences, clinical quality and access to care,” Mark O’Halla, president and chief executive officer of Prisma, said in the release. “We look forward to continuing our mutual goal of enhancing the health of our communities.”

    Taylor said the Prisma deal injects uncertainty into residents’ future access to healthcare, and injecting uncertainty during a pandemic is a prescription for disaster, he said.

    “Any uncertainty in healthcare lately is not a welcome development,” Taylor said. “With the coronavirus, we do not need to be uncertain about the status of healthcare in the county.”

    Taylor said county officials have a lot of questions that need to be answered.

    “That’s why we’re asking for this slowdown,” Taylor said. “Fairfield County and all the impacted communities around us, we need to have certainty that we’re going to have medical coverage for our citizens.

    “We should have had the ability to input. We want that and to know how the sale is going to affect us,” Taylor said.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

  • Attorney disputes JWC lawsuit against councilwoman

    JENKINSVILLE – Fairfield councilwoman Bertha Goins plans to fight a defamation lawsuit filed by the Jenkinsville Water Company, an organization whose water quality she’s criticized in the past, her attorney said Tuesday.

    “I don’t think there’s a direct statement that would rise to the level of necessitating a lawsuit by a public entity against a private individual,” said attorney Tommy Morgan, who is representing the Fairfield County councilwoman.

    The JWC filed suit on March 4, seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages.

    No court date has been set, though the parties have until September 30 to complete any pretrial mediation. Morgan said Goins plans to defend against the suit.

    “It’s unfortunate that Ms. Goins is being singled out by a public entity such as the Jenkinsville Water Company for raising concerns that many individuals throughout the community have had as to the quality and safety of the drinking water,” Morgan said.

    Government suing a citizen complaining about the government is inappropriate.

    Jay Bender, Media Law Attorney

    JWC attorney Jeff Goodwyn, an attorney representing the water company, said Goins’ statements that the water is “substandard” and that “there is sediment in the water” are untrue.

    “The above-referenced statements are false, defamatory and impugne [sic] the good reputation Jenkinsville Water Co. has with respect to the quality of its water,” the suit states.

    Goins also implied, according to the suit, that there is a “casual connection” between her husband’s medical conditions and JWC water.

    “Defamatory statements have never been protected by the First Amendment,” Goodwyn said. “She said the water had caused her husband to be ill, which is not true. There’s no evidence at all of that.”

    Morgan said Goins never specifically attributed her husband’s illness to Jenkinsville drinking water.

    “She has questioned and wondered about that, but so have many other individuals,” Morgan said. “There’s never been an outright declaration that this is the sole cause of her husband’s illness.”

    The suit also states that Goins would not allow representatives of the S.C. Department of Environmental Control (DHEC) to test her water.

    “She no longer lets DHEC test her water for some reason,” Goodwyn said. “They identified themselves as DHEC workers coming to test her water. She didn’t say ‘next time, make sure you have proper identification.’ She just said ‘don’t test my water anymore.’”

    Morgan said the DHEC official showed up unannounced and without identification, raising concerns about trespassing and personal safety.

    “We all read in the news about people claiming to be police officers and trying to pull people over,” he said. “I’m not quite sure how the Jenkinsville Water Company knows what DHEC was or was not doing on Ms. Goins’ property.

    “If DHEC would like to come out, we’d be more than happy to make the arrangements,” Morgan continued.

    “A little bit of advance notice, a courtesy heads up, would probably go a long way.”

    Jay Bender, a media law attorney specializing in First Amendment issues, but not part of the case, doesn’t think the suit has merit. He said criticizing government activity is constitutionally protected free speech.

    “This was a special purpose district created by the General Assembly,” Bender said. “That makes it part of the government, and the government suing a citizen complaining about the government is inappropriate.”

    The JWC calls itself a private entity in the litigation. However, in 2011 the S.C. Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion that the water company is a public body.

    Additionally, during the early 1970s, the JWC received a series of startup loans and grants from state and federal sources.

    The January 14, 1976 edition of the News and Herald (Winnsboro) includes a story about state lawmakers presenting $20,000 in grant money to the JWC. The story notes the JWC had also received a $130,000 loan and a $38,500 grant from the federal government.

    And there were other government grants over the years, including a $240,000 grant from the Midlands Central Council of Governmnts JWC applied for on Aug. 19, 2014 to cover cleanup costs after JWC received a Notice of Violation from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for high levels of radium in well 15 on Clowney Road. County Council facilitated that grant by signing off on it.

    That makes the JWC a public body, Bender said.

    “You can stand up on the Statehouse steps and say these guys don’t know what they’re doing, and their water tastes bad, smells bad and looks bad,” he said. “That’s protected.”

    The lawsuit calls significant attention to state and national awards the agency says it has won, including awards for best tasting water in the state in 2017 and 2019.

    In reality, only four or five of more than 240 eligible water providers actually entered the state water tasting contest sponsored by the S.C. Rural Water Association, a non-profit trade association to which the JWC belongs.

    Amy Kinard, the association’s events and marketing coordinator, previously told The Voice that the association doesn’t require contest participants to authenticate the source of the water samples they submit.

    “We give them the benefit of the doubt. We take them at their word. They’re members of our organization,” Kinard said. “Whoever wants to can bring their water samples [to the annual meeting] and they are judged on taste, clarity and a few other things.”

    Morgan said results of a trade show contest aren’t as telling as government testing, which found multiple violations in recent years.

    The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has cited the JWC at least five times since 2010. Most recently, last July, DHEC cited the water company after tests detected radioactivity in water samples, agency documents state.

    “You can ask my kids, and they think the best food in the world is chicken nuggets and fish sticks,” Morgan said. “Tasting water is nothing more than an opinion.”

    He also questioned the authenticity of the JWC water samples.

    “We can’t even be sure that the water that [the JWC] presented actually came from their water system,” he said. “There’s just no way to even verify the water came from the Jenkinsville water system.”

    Goodwyn disputed any assertions that the JWC used water from another source.

    “Jenkinsville Water Company didn’t do that,” he said.

    Former Councilman Kamau Marcharia, in whose district the Town of Jenkinsville lies, said from the dias in 2014 (referring to JWC’s water), “I’ve heard that water is real bad and some peoples’ dogs have become extremely ill from drinking that water,” Marcharia said. “I haven’t heard anything about an individual being sick or having to go to the hospital, but I wouldn’t trust it.”

  • Mom sues county over son’s detention center death

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man’s death at the Fairfield County Detention Center has prompted a wrongful death lawsuit from the inmate’s mother.

    Debra Knight Croxton, mother of Brent Ray Croxton, filed the suit Feb. 4 in Fairfield County Circuit Court.

    Croxton died in his cell on Jan. 27, 2019, when deputies found him hanging from a sheet tied to a bunk bed. His death was due to negligence of detention center officers who failed to follow proper procedures, according to the suit.

    “It is more likely than not that the above actions and/or inactions of the Defendants caused Mr. Croxton to needlessly suffer, both physically and mentally, and ultimately die,” the suit states.

    The suit lists Fairfield County, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, the Fairfield County Detention Center, Southern Health Partners and one of its physicians as defendants. All parties have been served, but no responses had been filed as of press time.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. No court date has been set, though a deadline of Aug. 28 has been set to complete mediation. 

    Croxton was booked at the county jail on Jan. 24 on a weapons charge, according to the Fairfield County Public Index.

    According to the lawsuit, Croxton had been booked on prior occasions and while he previously expressed suicidal tendencies, those tendencies weren’t documented, the suit states.

    “Had a proper screening been carried out, the decendent’s obvious suicidal ideations would’ve been apparent, requiring immediate placement on a suicide watch and referred to mental health,” the suit states.

    A day later, on Jan. 25, Croxton appeared for a bond hearing.

    At the hearing, the presiding judge and an officer noted that Croxton showed no emotion and had “a flat affect” when he was denied bond. Later, Croxton told the jail’s medical officer he was feeling “not good,” the suit states.

    Instead of ensuring Croxton received medical care, the medical officer said she’d talk to a doctor about taking him off medical watch. Inmates on medical watch are checked every 15 to 20 minutes, the suit continues.

    Croxton was taken off medical watch on Jan. 26. He was found dead the next day, according to the suit.

    The lawsuit includes two medical opinions saying Croxton shouldn’t have been taken off medical watch, including an opinion from Dr. Edward O’Bryan with the Medical University of South Carolina. 

    “It is more likely than not that had Mr. Croxton received the appropriate examination by medical staff, there likely would have been a more appropriate treatment plan in place at the jail,” O’Bryan’s statement said. “The conscious failure to ensure that Mr. Croxton received the appropriate examination by medical staff was another example of a violation of the appropriate standard of care.”

    Also submitting a statement was Amy Crittenden, a nursing professor based in Ohio. Crittenden stated the jail failed to properly oversee its hired health provider, failed to provide basic medical care and failed to communicate with other staff about Croxton’s condition. 

    The jail also failed to provide the proper medical treatment, failed to keep accurate records and failed to properly monitor and evaluate Croxton, according to the statement. 

    “It is more likely than not that the above actions and/or inactions caused Mr. Croxton to needlessly suffer, both physically and mentally,” the statement added. 

    The lawsuit seeks actual, consequential and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

  • Two dogs executed, left in RW cemetery

    WINNSBORO – Two young adult pit bull dogs, a male and a female, were discovered dead – each shot in the back of the head – and left in the Antioch Cemetery on Antioch Cemetery Rd. in Ridgeway.

    The discovery was made on Friday, Feb. 28, when a man and his dog stopped by the cemetery to visit a grave. His dog found the bodies of the two dead dogs.

    The call came in to the Fairfield Animal Control office about 4:30 in the afternoon, and an animal control officer went to the cemetery.

    The incident report stated that there was no evidence that the dogs had been shot on site, that they may have been shot and killed elsewhere, then dumped at the cemetery.

    A necropsy report stated that the female dog was brown and weighed 56 pounds. She had been shot at least twice in the back of the head, the report stated. She was wearing a wide blue nylon collar that appeared to be fairly new. A handgun bullet was recovered from the female dog’s head wound.

    The male dog was a gray brindle with a white chest, and weighed 65 pounds. It had been shot once in the back of the head. A retractable leash was still attached around the male dog’s neck (with no collar), and the handle part of the leash was laying on the dog’s body.

    Both dogs were of “adequate nutritional status, with adequate body fat stores,” the attending veterinarian stated.

    Both dogs, according to the veterinarian’s report, had good body weight and no bite marks or other injuries. They both still had food in their stomachs from their last meal and some food was partially digested in their intestines, the necropsy report stated.

    “We don’t know who they belonged to or anything about them,” Fairfield County Animal Control Director Bob Innes said. “The vet report said they were both very healthy with good musculature and appeared to be well taken care of. They didn’t appear to be fighting dogs. There were no other wounds so we assume they were not bait dogs. We don’t know why they were shot,” Innes said. “If there are cases where people no longer want their dogs, we want them to know they can bring them here. We’ll take them.”

    Innes is asking anyone with information about the dogs and who shot them to contact the Animal Shelter at 803-815-0805.

    Innes said he wants to know what happened and to see those responsible for the dogs’ deaths brought to justice.               

  • Fairfield County asks Prisma to slow ER purchase

    Council spends $1M annually on ER, but was not aware it was being sold

    WINNSBORO – In a strongly worded statement issued Tuesday morning, Fairfield County Council called on Prisma Health to “provide more information to the public, and to us,” regarding the impending acquisition of Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room in Winnsboro.

    In the statement, the council said it is joining the elected leaders in Kershaw, Lexington and Richland counties in seeking more information. Those counties’ hospitals (Providence in Columbia, Providence Northeast in Richland County and KershawHealth in Camden) are also being purchased by Prisma Health. All four hospitals are owned by LifePoint Health out of Brentwood, TN.

    Following the announcement of the pending sale last week, County Administrator Jason Taylor told The Voice that the county was having an attorney look at its contract regarding Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room to see if there are any possible negative ramifications.

    “I have also talked with our Providence representative, Joseph Bernard, to ask if we could expect any changes,” Taylor said. “He said there should be none.”

    The ER was funded by $12M from LifePoint Health for construction of the new facility and $10M ($1M a year for the next 10 years) from Fairfield County. South Carolina’s Hospital Transformation Program, which supports rural access to healthcare resources, contributed nearly $4M in transformational funding.

    Our citizens deserve a voice in the future of their health care choices.

    Fairfield County Council

    The statement issued by council stated that “Prior to the March 6, 2020 media coverage publicly announcing this impending sale of these health care service providers, we had not been informed or consulted about this important change in the delivery of health care services in our communities. Our citizens deserve transparency and a voice in the future of health care choices where they call home.”

    Council called on Prisma Health to slow down the process of the sale and to “begin a conversation with the citizens that count on available health care services in their communities. “

    The ER opened in December 2018 near the intersection of Highway 34 and US Bypass 321 in Winnsboro to assure continued emergency health care for the citizens of Fairfield County as Fairfield Memorial Hospital began its process of closing its doors.

    Bernard addressed the Fairfield County Council Monday evening with the purpose of updating Council, saying he would update council on the pending sale of the ER to Prisma, but his comments were limited, with no specifics.

    “Right now, I have no idea what the timeline is for the sale to be finalized,” Bernard said. “We’re confident, however, that this is an enhancement for the community’s health care.”

    “There are a lot of unanswered questions at this point,” Council Chairman Neil Robinson said following Monday night’s meeting. “As the council, we want to be sure that our citizens are provided the health care services that they need and deserve. We have questions.”

  • Forgiveness offered for some driver suspensions

    The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) will hold its 2020 Driver Suspension Eligibility Week statewide for drivers with licenses suspended for various reasons.

    During the week of March 16 – 20, drivers in South Carolina, who lost their driving privileges due to certain suspensions, may be able to reduce or clear the remaining time of their suspension. Drivers with the following types of suspensions are eligible for the program:

    • Excessive points for someone under the age of 18
    • Operating an unlicensed taxi
    • Operating an uninsured vehicle that they did not own
    • Operating or allowing someone else to operate an uninsured vehicle
    • Driving under suspension, excluding alcohol or drug related convictions

    Drivers who may qualify for the program must complete the Driver Suspension Eligibility Application (SCDMV Form DL-601) and visit an SCDMV branch during the week of March 16 – 20. This special program is only available one week a year. Only drivers who clear all suspensions may apply for a license. Depending on the type of suspension, drivers may be required to pass the knowledge and road tests before receiving a new license.

    Qualified drivers must meet all conditions of their suspension. Drivers must pay all fees. No fees will be waived. If required, suspended drivers must get a Certificate of Insurance (SR-22) filed by their insurance company.

    If a driver has more than one suspension, the SCDMV will recalculate the suspension time. Drivers with suspensions not covered by the program will need to continue serving those suspensions.

    The SCDMV branches in Blythewood and Fairfield County will process Driver Suspension Eligibility Week applications from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Wednesday, March 18, applications for Driver Suspension Eligibility Week will take place from 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

    For more information, visit the SCDMV or call the Contact Center at 803-896-5000.

  • Abduction story turns out to be fake

    UPDATE – After a 14-year-old Northeast Columbia girl told sheriff’s deputies last month that a masked man tried to abduct her, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department released a statement Wednesday that the girl had made up the story.

    A sheriff’s spokesperson said the teen had actually met another person outside her home on the evening of Feb. 26, then concocted a story describing how she was grabbed by a man in dark clothing and dragged toward a waiting dirty white van. According to sheriff’s deputies, she said she only escaped after her dog bit the man.

    But investigators eventually learned that only the girl saw the van and the alleged abductor, contrasting what deputies were originally told, the sheriff’s department said.

    The girl made up the abduction story to avoid getting in trouble with her parents after meeting with another person outside the home that evening, according to the release.

    The sheriff’s department said it is exploring possible legal action to recover the costs of the investigation.

    “We do not have a monetary figure at this time,” sheriff’s department officials said in the release.

    Sheriff Leon Lott thanked those who called in tips and reviewed their surveillance videos in hopes of catching the van.

    Read the abduction story here.

  • Commission OKs plan for phase 4 of Abney Hills

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood planning commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve a sketch plan for the fourth and last phase of the Abney Hills subdivision off Fulmer Road.

    Town Administrator Brian Cook said the 131.94-acres, formerly owned by Essex Homes and recently purchased by Stanley Martin Homes, will be divided into 174 lots with an average lot size of 18,097 square feet.

    The lots are zoned R-12 (single family residential district.)

    As discussed during the preliminary plat approval for Phase 3 last year, a secondary access onto Valley Estates Drive from Mount Valley Road will continue to be an ‘Emergency Only’ access point.

    Cook explained that if the commission approved the plan Monday night, Martin Homes can move ahead with construction drawings, but Cook said there are some wetlands that will be reviewed by Richland County before construction of the subdivision can proceed.

    Also, approval of the sketch plans by the commission will be contingent upon the results of the traffic study that currently requires an auxiliary lane at Turkey Farm and Fulmer Road. But that lane would not be required until 2025. According to Martin Homes Project Manager Shane Alford, a final determination on the necessity of auxiliary lanes will be made by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

    Cook suggested that the planning commissioners might want to look more closely or have suggestions regarding open space reserved for active or passive recreation as well as any potential for sidewalks and street trees.

    The build out for Phase 4 is expected to be between three and five years. Total lots in the completed subdivision will be 347.

    The commission voted 6 – 0 to approve the sketch plan.

  • Barclay School closes

    RIDGEWAY – The small special needs school in Ridgeway that was struggling under the weight of financial challenges closed its doors last week, after more than a decade in operation.

    In a hastily planned graduation, four students were recognized to receive their diplomas – and the remaining 12, who were not set to graduate this year, had to find other schooling options, said Gillian Barclay-Smith, head and founder of the school, whose vision for a holistic, abilities-focused model of special education was what got the school started 11 years ago.

    “It just breaks my heart,” said Barclay-Smith of the closure, ex pressing gratitude for the way the community has wrapped its loving arms around the school in the years it’s operated. “People have been nothing but kind.”

    The Barclay School was part of the community in Ridgeway, a town with a tiny downtown but a big heart.

    The school always operated on a shoestring, and the community offered up its love in everything from donations of used books and equipment to volunteers who taught things like art, gardening, and life skills and helped to facilitate regular excursions for the students in the town.

    The school, which was known for its family-like atmosphere and kept several class pets, regularly involved the students in community service projects; the children were always taught to give back. 

    It became public in December that the school had suffered funding disruptions and was struggling to pay its bills.

    In an effort to help it stay open, landlord MEKRA Lang North America – a major industrial employer in Ridgeway – gifted the school a year of free rent. Parents and others pitched in with fundraising in an effort to help the Barclay School finish the spring semester and allow time to make a plan for the future.

    Donations came in from around the community and also from far outside, but in the end it was not enough, and at the end of last week the school closed its doors. 

    Barclay-Smith, for whom education has been a lifelong passion, expressed her thanks to everyone who played a role – big or small – in keeping this special place going for the past 11 years.

    “The community – everybody’s been wonderful,” she said. “What a privilege to spend the time in the company of these amazing kids and the wonderful support that we always got from the community, the kindness of people. That’s kind of what I’m left with.”