WINNSBORO – Following a 90-minute executive session Feb. 5, Winnsboro Town Council voted unanimously to authorize DP3 Architectural Services to put together a proposal for renovations to the Old Armory. After the meeting, Mayor Roger Gaddy said the proposal would cost the Town approximately $9,600, and that what to do about the armory has been part of the Town’s long-range plan for some time.
The armory consistently requires repairs and upgrades every eight months to a year. Gaddy said the hope is that DP3 can put that house in order once and for all, while also expanding the potential use of the nearly 70-year-old building.
Council also approved the Town’s new employee handbook after the executive session, but took no action on the other legal matters discussed therein – a revised water contract with the City of Columbia and the Town’s separation from Red Clay Development and the fate of the Mt. Zion Institute building.
Council will meet again Feb. 19 at 6:15 p.m. in Town Hall.
BLYTHEWOOD – Neighbors on Rimer Pond Road will meet at the Wendy’s in downtown Blythewood at 10 a.m. Saturday to discuss the proposed 48-inch waterline slated for construction on their properties.
Residents on the east side of the road received letters in the mail just before Christmas from the City of Columbia’s Department of Utilities and Engineering, asking residents along the road to sign and return a form granting permission to the Department to survey their properties and take soil samples. The letter was written by Hector Garcia, Right-of-Way Agent for the Department’s Real Estate Division.
When asked Tuesday morning about the status of the survey, Garcia referred The Voice to the Department’s Public Affairs office or to Joey Jaco in the Water and Engineering Department. When contacted, Jaco said the survey phase was still underway and that there was no exact timetable for the project. Jaco said the surveyors must have written permission from a homeowner before they can go on a property to survey or test the soil.
During a phone interview in early January, Jaco told The Voice that the purpose of the proposed water line was to improve water pressure and flow services to Northeast Columbia.
“It is also our intent to provide water service to the properties along Rimer Pond Road,” Jaco said.
The letter states that, during the survey phase, “No trees will be cut or other physical damages inflicted to your property or its improvements.”
Once the city acquires the easements, however, Jaco said trees and other improvements in the acquired easements could be removed by the City. Jaco said he expected the entire survey and easement acquisition process to be completed in about a year.
Jaco said those residents who agree to receive Columbia water must sign a covenant to be annexed into the City of Columbia should their property ever become contingent with the City.
FAIRFIELD – Prior to County Council’s vote Tuesday night on the second part of their amended bylaws, Council member Carolyn Robinson (District 2) presented a motion that would effectively unseat sitting Chairman David Ferguson (District 5).
Robinson’s motion, to limit the chairmanship to non-consecutive 2-year terms beginning in 2015 and to add that, in the absence of any other provisions governing meetings, Roberts Rules of Order takes over, came on the heels of intense discussion over the first part of the amended bylaws. That amendment, which ended Council’s long-standing use of committees and replaced them with work sessions, passed 4-3, with Robinson, David Brown (District 7) and Kamau Marcharia (District 4) voting against the changes.
“If I remember right, it was proposed 10 or 12 years ago, that you can’t succeed yourself,” Brown said in support of Robinson’s motion to impose restrictions on the chairmanship.
“It’s never been proposed in 14 years, because I’ve been here 14 years,” Ferguson said. “The only thing I can say about this is ya’ll keep forgetting this is the democratic process. If four members on this council want to support one member on this council to be the chair, they certainly have the right because they’ve got the same constituency everybody else has. Now, when we start saying we don’t like the chairman or we don’t like what the chairman’s doing or the way this council’s going, we’re going to make up rules to keep this chairman from being chairman again. That’s what this is all about. Let’s just come on out and say what we need to say. Let’s just be honest with this thing. There needs to be a real clear understanding, and I’m going to ask Mr. Jack James to address that understanding.”
Ferguson then asked James, the County attorney, for his opinion on who controls council meetings. James confirmed that the Chairman is the “moderator and controller” of all Council meetings.
“In relation to rules?” Robinson asked. “Is that in relation to Roberts Rules if something comes up and we don’t have anything to govern it?”
“You have something to govern it,” Ferguson said. “The chairman runs the council meeting.”
Shryll Brown, Clerk to Council, read at Ferguson’s request an opinion from Thomas Sprott, a previous attorney for Council, confirming that “absent a rule, the chairman rules.”
“I think we’ve pretty well put that issue to bed,” Ferguson said, then called for the vote, which only garnered the support of Brown and Robinson.
FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and agents from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) raided six Fairfield County businesses last week, seizing 27 illegal gambling machines and more than $3,700 in cash. The raids were conducted, the Sheriff’s Office said, after receiving several complaints and tips from the community about the gambling operations. No arrests were made during the raids, the Sheriff’s Office said, but several civil citations were issued.
The joint operation began at approximately 10:43 a.m. Jan. 30, when officers removed 10 gaming machines from Jackie’s Hot Dogs at 405 B. N. Congress St. in Winnsboro. Along with the machines, $1,920 in cash was also seized from the business. A citation was issued to the business owner, Jackie Ray Mincey, 77, of Columbia Road, Winnsboro.
Three machines and $1,785 in cash were seized in a simultaneous raid from Cuz’s Corner, 419 S. Congress St., Winnsboro. Nik Patel, 45 (no address available), was issued a citation in the raid.
At 11 a.m., agents raided the Country Mart at 16683 Highway 21 North in Great Falls and seized three machines. A citation was issued to Rishi Vijay, 45, of Chester Ave., Great Falls. Approximately 30 minutes later, a raid at Brown’s Grocery, 462 W. College St., Winnsboro, netted five machines and $80 in cash. A citation was issued to Robin Ann Alston, 61, of W. College St., Winnsboro.
At 12:22 p.m. the same day, Mincey earned his second citation when agents removed three gambling machines from the Jetco at 420 S. Congress St. in Winnsboro. A third citation was issued to Mincey a short time later when a raid of Jackie’s 2 at 985 Highway 321 Business S. in Winnsboro turned up an additional three machines.
While citations were issued during this operation, the Sheriff’s Office warned that businesses and individuals who continue to operate illegal gambling machines could face jail in the future.
RIDGEWAY – A Ridgeway man was found dead in his son’s home Jan. 29 and the victim’s son and daughter-in-law are behind bars, both facing criminal charges in the incident.
Dwayne Maurice Green, 43, and his wife, Tonya Harris, 48, were arrested by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office Jan. 31 on charges related to the death of 63-year-old Thomas Green, Dwayne Green’s father.
According to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, Fairfield County EMS responded to the home on Bellfield Road in Ridgeway on the evening of Jan. 29. There they found Thomas Green unresponsive and pronounced him dead at the scene. At first glance, the death appeared to have been from natural causes. However, a preliminary examination by the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office found bruises, some recent, on Green’s body and Barkley Ramsey, Fairfield County Coroner, ordered an autopsy.
Thomas Green had suffered a stroke in 1998, Ramsey said, and had health issues related to his heart as well. While Green required a wheelchair for complete mobility, he could, with assistance, stand and walk short distances. Green was unable to care for himself, the Sheriff’s Office said, and had been living in the care of his son and daughter-in-law since the summer of 2012. Prior to coming to live with them on Bellfield Road, Green had been in a nursing home.
Ramsey said the autopsy revealed that Thomas Green had been beaten prior to his death Jan. 29, and that the beating placed significant, and ultimately fatal, stress on Green’s heart. The number and ages of the bruises indicate that this was not the first beating Green had endured in recent months.
Dwayne Green has been charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult resulting in death and could face as much as 30 years in prison, while Harris has been charged with neglect of a vulnerable adult, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. Both Harris and Dwayne Green were being held at the Fairfield County Detention Center as of press time.
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County residents seeking assistance with unemployment benefits will face a bit of a road trip starting Feb. 19, as the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) announced this week that they will be ending services in 17 offices across the state, including the office in Winnsboro.
The Winnsboro location, at 414 A. S. Congress St., will wrap up its DEW services Feb. 15, forcing Fairfield County residents requiring face-to-face assistance to travel to the DEW’s Columbia office at 700 Taylor St. The phone number for the Taylor Street location is 803-737-5627. The Taylor Street office can be reached by email at Midlands-UIER-Responses-DL@dew.sc.gov.
Statewide, the DEW is reducing its employment services offices from 56 to 39. The agency said this week that clients can still get services online (www.dew.sc.gov) or by calling their toll-free number (1-866-831-1724). Although the DEW will end their services at the Winnsboro office Feb. 15, Molly Brantley, a spokesperson for the agency, said that SC Works career centers will remain open at all locations, meaning people looking for employment or assistance with finding employment will still be able to find help at the S. Congress Street office.
Kevin Hill, Regional Operations Manager for SC Works, confirmed that his agency will continue to staff the Winnsboro office and provide employment assistance for those seeking work in Fairfield County.
“Most of the people working in that office are employed by SC Works,” Hill said. “DEW has only a small staff there.”
Businesses looking for employees will also still be able to use the services offered at the Winnsboro office, Hill said.
The DEW cited a loss of federal funds, funds directly related to jobless claims, as the cause of the office closures. Last October, the agency laid off 55 employees statewide and has since cut an additional 75 positions.
“As more and more people go back to work, we see fewer unemployment claims,” Brantley said. “With the decrease in traffic at these locations, we’ve lost a tier of the EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) funds. The DEW centers we are closing have seen the least amount of traffic in recent months.
“The business services will remain at these locations,” Brantley said. “You can still go there to find a job.”
But if you need face-to-face help in filing your unemployment claim, that will have to be done in Columbia. Brantley said the DEW is encouraging clients to use the agency’s online or toll-free phone services to file those claims.
State Sen. Creighton Coleman (D-17) said he was baffled by the decision of Gov. Nikki Haley’s administration to close rural offices, instead of consolidating offices in counties that have more than one DEW location.
“I think it’s the administration’s continuous assault on rural South Carolina,” Coleman said. “We’re going through tough economic times and this is going to make it tougher on the unemployed in the smaller, more rural counties. I’m all for saving money, but this isn’t the way to do it.”
Coleman said that in spite of the 130 layoffs made by DEW since October, the agency is requesting a 60 percent increase in administrative costs and salaries in the upcoming budget, something he said was not likely to curry much favor in the Senate.
Cutting Edge – Beth Reid, Chairwoman of the Fairfield County School Board; Marshall (Sonny) White Jr., Midlands Tech College (MTC) President; David Ferguson, Fairfield County Council Chairman; David Corley, FCHS Principal; Denado Dickson, MTC College and Career Advisor; Jeffrey B. Archie, Senior Vice President, SCANA Corporation, and Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company; Randall (Mack) Jackson, MTC Commissioner; J.R. Green, Superintendent of Fairfield County Schools; and Sierra Robinson, FCHS Student Body President offcially cut the ribbon on the Midlands Technical College/Fairfield Central Success Center.
A Success Center designed to ensure a direct route from high school to higher education was opened Jan. 30 at Fairfield High School. The Center is a collaborative effort between Midlands Technical College (MTC) and the high school in partnership with SCANA Corporation and the School District of Fairfield County. The Center essentially places a college presence within the high school.
The Center offers students college planning and preparation assistance; information on jobs in health sciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and alternate energy. The Center also offers in-school computerized college entrance testing (ACT COMPASS testing). Additional services include career search and financial aid workshops, daily parent outreach for targeted students, curriculum guides and support for faculty and staff, and MTC preparation materials and outreach.
“It is so important to ensure the pipeline from high school to higher education is open and accessible to all students,” said MTC President Dr. Marshall (Sonny) White Jr. “By having a physical presence within Fairfield Central High, MTC will be able to engage more students in early planning for their future education and careers.”
“The Success Center will enable our students to gain access to Midlands Technical College and explore future career opportunities,” said FCHS Principal David Corley. “The widening gap between available jobs and skilled workers is requiring our students to meet the growing demands of employers.”
Fairfield School Superintendent J. R. Green introduced a group of seventh graders who will be the first participants in the program. He thanked White “for giving us the latitude to stretch our students. We’re all about working together to achieve this,” Green said.
The Success Center is located at Fairfield Central High School and is staffed by MTC Program Coordinator Denado Dickson. Any Fairfield Central High School student can utilize the Center through referrals by teachers, faculty or by permission of the principal. All Educational Talent Search and TRIO students have unlimited access to the Success Center. Local school districts, teachers, and parents can access the center by calling 803-605-1332.
GREENBRIER – Fire departments from Greenbrier, Community, Lebanon and Ridgeway responded to a house fire Sunday night on Cowhorn Road, but were unable to salvage the flame-engulfed residence.
According to Maj. William Gonzales of the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety, who was the officer in charge at the scene, the fire was discovered and reported by a neighbor. By the time engines arrived, just before 8 p.m., the flames were coming through the roof at 1461 Cowhorn Road. There were no injuries reported in relation to the fire, and the cause of the blaze remains unknown. Total damages to the home were estimated at $250,000.
Library assistant Rachel Driggers, right, discusses the intricacies of job interviews with client Jamil Knight during a Job Hunting Tips and Tricks session offered at the Blythewood Library.
Looking for a job isn’t easy these days. Even if you have a degree and many years of work experience, you might be out of sync with how to navigate today’s job market. You might not have the basic technology skills, like Microsoft Excel or even Word. You might not know what job-searching tools are available or how to make on-line job applications. You may lack confidence for interviews or the know-how to prepare today’s requisite, cutting edge resume to best show off your skill sets. You may not even know what your skill sets are.
Don’t worry. Rachel Driggers, library associate at Blythewood’s library, can help you with all of these and more. For free. Really!
It’s all part of a program called Job Hunting Tips and Tricks that the Blythewood library began offering last September. The goal of the program, according to Shirley Carter, manager of the library, is to offer the Blythewood community a convenient place right here in town to gain real, comprehensive job searching help similar to that provided by certified career coaches at the Richland Library Job Center in downtown Columbia. Driggers, while not a certified career coach, was trained at the job Center and has access to all of the Center’s resources.
The job-search sessions are held at the Blythewood Library on Fridays by appointment at either 2:30 or 3:30 p.m. Driggers meets with one client at a time, and repeat appointments are available.
“When someone calls for an appointment,” Driggers explained, “I set up a one-hour session and give the client a list of things to bring in, including a resume (if they have one), a general description of desired work , the client’s education, skills and references with phone numbers — things like that.”
When the client arrives, Driggers first spends a good deal of time in conversation, finding out about her client.
“Just chatting can unearth skills, character traits and interests that are important to the client’s job search,” Driggers said. “Building a resume is an interactive process where I try to bring to light elements of the client’s stories that they haven’t felt were related to their resume.”
Then Driggers sets to work making sure the basics are in place for seeking employment.
“We sit down at a table at the library with a laptop and, if clients don’t already have a library card, a copy of his or her Social Security card, an email account, etc., I guide them through the process to acquire these,” Driggers said. “If they are not proficient with computer programs like Microsoft Word and Excel, I teach them the basics and get them started. Not only will they need these skills for their job search, but they’ll need them in most jobs.”
Driggers guides her clients through preparation of the cover letter/resume/reference sheet, a thorough job search through multiple avenues, filling out a job application, preparing for the interview, completing employment paperwork and discussing job-keeping skills. Driggers also explains to her clients how additional education might be needed for their chosen job or career field.
Driggers provides a myriad of resources from helpful books like Richard Bolles’ “What Color is Your Parachute?” to professional networking sites like Linkedin.com.
“I’m always looking for new resources to help our clients not only find jobs and get hired, but to keep those jobs once they’re hired,” Driggers said.
Even with an Associate degree in business, a 4.0 GPA and substantial work experience, Jamil Knight, one of Driggers’ recent clients, found it difficult to merge back into her career field on her own after dropping out for a different job five years ago.
According to Knight, Driggers doesn’t just send the client home with a good book about getting a job and a good luck pat on the back.
“She guided me through the job search process and stayed with me until I was prepared and confident,” Knight said. “If I had questions, I called her. I had someone helping me through it all. Rachel was patient, extremely knowledgeable and, well, very helpful. Not only did she help me find the key points of my skill sets, she showed me how to maximize those skill sets to my advantage when applying for jobs. She always reminded me to stay focused.”
One of the most helpful aspects of her job search session, Knight added, was the preparation for job interviews. “Rachel gave me a list of both traditional questions and behavioral questions that I might be asked,” Knight said. She said that if I would prepare myself to answer those questions that I would be more comfortable and confident during the interview process.”
Indeed, Knight said the questions in the actual job interviews were almost identical to those she was given by Driggers. “It was such a relief to be prepared!” Knight said, smiling broadly. “I was relaxed and confident . . . and I knew the answers.”
While Knight hasn’t yet landed the fulltime job of her dreams, with Driggers’ help she found work through a temporary agency. Knight said that was a big step in her job hunting journey.
“The goal for each client is different,” Driggers said. “But, in the end, we want each one to realize success, whether they can do that in one session or need several. In cases where an individual has a more complex need, I may refer that client to the Job Center downtown.”
While Driggers holds two Bachelor’s degrees and a Master’s degree, she said she knows from her own experience how difficult it is to find employment — at all. And finding the ‘right’ job, she said, is even more difficult.
“I feel extremely fortunate to have the position I have here at the library, and I want to help my clients find the jobs their looking for,” Driggers said. “My goal is to save them worry and help them get back to work as soon as possible.”
To make an appointment for job searching help, call the Blythewood library at 691-9806 and ask for Rachel Driggers.
Applications for Fairfield Magnet School for Math and Science and McCrorey Liston School of Technology will be available at all elementary schools, the District Office, and can be printed from the district website now through Feb. 27. All students in grades Child Development-4 (4-year-olds only) through sixth grade for 2013-2014 are eligible to apply and a lottery will be held to randomly select students for limited slots in each program.
Interested parents are encouraged to attend an Open House at FMSMS or MLST to learn more about these programs: FMSMS on Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. or a Magnet Fair on Feb. 8 from 5-7 p.m., and MLST on Feb. 13 at 9 a.m. or 6 p.m.
Applications will also be available through Feb. 27 for current sixth-graders to be considered for the STEM Early College Academy.
Two letters of recommendation are required with this application. Cumulative Grade Point Average and standardized test scores will be considered along with a student interview and writing sample to determine acceptance as a seventh grade STEM Academy student for the 2013-2014 school year.
For additional information, contact Dr. Jennifer Etheridge at 803-635-4607 Ext 10318, or jetheridge@fairfield.k12.sc.us. Completed paper applications for these programs are due to Dr. Etheridge at the District Office by Feb. 27 at 5 p.m.
