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  • Did FCHS ‘fire drill’ force walkout?

    FCHS students exit the school during the 17-minute ‘fire drill’ that coincided with the 17-minute national student walkouts last week. | wistv.com

    WINNSBORO – Students in schools around the country, including those at Fairfield Central High School, walked out of classes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 14 and remained outside for 17 minutes in remembrance of the 17 people recently killed at a school in Florida.

    But some parents of Fairfield High School students took to Facebook claiming that the FCHS walkout was not the choice of all students and that the timing of a fire drill was contrived by the school administration to force all students to participate.

    “Will the Fairfield County School Board please explain why [some] students were forced to participate in the school walkout disguised as a fire drill?” one parent wrote on School Board Chairman William Frick’s Facebook page.

    “I am working to find out how this occurred,” Frick posted. “As I understand it, this was not originally intended to endorse any particular view. Unfortunately, as it transpired, it did just that. While I certainly support an individual’s right to express their political opinion, a certain political view should not be endorsed by our school as a whole. I have expressed my personal displeasure with this situation today.”

    When asked for a comment, FCHS principal Tracie Swilley e-mailed the following statement to The Voice: “In an attempt to prevent a potential confrontation with students who wished to express their acknowledgement for the lives lost during the Florida tragedy, we decided to conduct our monthly fire drill.  While out during the drill some students elected to discuss their concerns relating to school safety.  There was no mention of politics or gun control but an opportunity for students to understand how to appropriately express their voice.  Some students remained outside for several minutes after the drill, while others returned immediately.”

    As parents continued to comment, one post stated: “We should not lend any validity to this thinly veiled attempt to cover this up as something that it’s not.”

    By one parent’s account, some students did not want to participate, so at exactly 10 a.m., the students were alerted that a fire drill was taking place and all marched outside, ostensibly for the fire drill, and stayed outside as TV cameras from WIS-TV and WLTX-TV rolled. Then, after 17 minutes, the students returned to their classrooms.

    While school officials claimed that what was perceived as a walkout was actually a fire drill, some parents who posted on Facebook and called The Voice questioned the fire drill’s timing, that it coincided to the minute with the national walking out and, in effect, forced students to participate.

    “I think that’s probably what happened,” Frick said. “By doing a contemporaneous fire drill, it ended up being an actual walkout,” he said.

    Frick told The Voice that he did not know who called the television stations to be at the school at the time of the fire drill.

    “That was an issue I raised because I saw it was on WLTX & WIS. It was my concern,” Frick said.

    “It was perceived as a political event. It’s a touchy issue and I don’t like it for the school to appear to take a side,” Frick said. “I want to be sure we have an open dialogue and that people know what’s going on…I understand the parents’ concerns. There was an implication that we need to take some corrective action and whatever we need to do we’re going to do.”

  • Winnsboro man shot in Five Points

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man was gunned down along with two other innocent bystanders in Five Points Saturday night, following the annual St. Pat’s Day celebration.

    Deal

    Kidron Amaziah Deal, 20, was in a crowd that lingered after the celebration when he was shot in the face. A Hopkins man, Arthur Jones, Jr., 27, is charged with three counts of attempted murder after firing shots into the crowd. According to officials, none of the victims or the shooter knew each other.

    Deal, a 2015 graduate of Fairfield Central High School, was a wide receiver for the Griffins football team.

    “The kid is the epitome of a student athlete,” said coach Demetrius Davis. “He was a very good football and baseball player. However, he was a better student and an even better young man. His work ethic and smile were so contagious that it rubbed off his classmates and teammates.”

    “Kidron is a great young man and we are saddened by this tragic occurrence,” Fairfield Central Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green said. “We will keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.”

    According to a victim’s advocate during the bond hearing, Deal remains on a ventilator in critical condition.

    Jones, Jr. faces three counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime and remains in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center under a $3 million bond.

  • BAR hears bakery proposal

    BLYTHEWOOD – A bakery/café business may be coming soon to downtown Blythewood in the Bookhart-Blume House at the corner of Langford and Sandfield Roads in the Town Center District.

    The Bookhart-Blume house may soon become a bakery-café. | Barbara Ball

    The Board of Architectural Review (BAR) held a preliminary discussion Monday evening at the request of Keefer and White Enterprises, LLC, whose members are Blythewood residents Jay and Christine Keefer, Charles White and Chanin White. They have a sales agreement with the sellers which is contingent in part on obtaining a Certificate of Appropriateness from the BAR. The building, owned by former longtime resident Dorothy Blume is a designated historical site located in the commercial district, the Town’s Planning Consultant Michael Criss said.

    Jay Keefer presented the plans for the property, noting that the potential buyers want to make few changes to the structure other than adding an ADA ramp to the side of the front porch and other necessary maintenance and repairs.

    “We want to preserve as much of the current building as possible,” Keefer said. “We will repaint and clean but won’t change any colors. The roof is the original tin roof and it’s in good shape. It had been painted and we plan to go back over it with a silverfish color.”

    BAR Chairman Pam Dukes said the town architectural consultant, Ralph Walden, would work with the purchasers, “from the perspective of the building being something we can approve.”

    Keefer said the maximum occupancy of the bakery/café would be about 15-30 people.

    “We plan to be open from 6 a.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, or maybe all week. We’ll have to see,” Keefer said. He told the BAR members that he expects the bakery-café to be open by late June or earlier if possible, and gave them a sneak peak at a possible name for the business – You Bake Me Happy.

    The Keefers and Whites say they expect to work out the details with Walden and be back before the BAR soon to request a Certificate of Appearance.

  • Voice publisher receives Jay Bender Award

    SPARTANBURG – The sixth annual Jay Bender Award for Assertive Journalism was presented to Barbara Ball, publisher of The Voice, at the South Carolina Press Association’s annual meeting in Spartanburg on March 17.

    Jay Bender, left, retired attorney for the South Carolina Press Association, and Bill Rogers, Executive Director of the SCPA, presented the Jay Bender Award for Assertive Journalism to Barbara Ball, publisher of The Voice. | Sarah Hinckley

    The award recognizes one daily and one non-daily newspaper journalist in the state who stands up to authority in the public’s interest. As one of the top honors presented by the SCPA each year, it includes a prize of $250 and is named for the SCPA’s attorney of 30 years, Jay Bender, whose career has been dedicated to preserving open government and First Amendment freedoms.

    “Barbara exemplifies exactly what I had in mind when I established the award: a journalist reporting on public affairs, who will push back against the arrogance, cupidity and stupidity of  people in public office,” Bender said. “She is exactly the kind of person that reflects favorably upon journalism and its history. The person who goes out, sees something wrong and reports on it is vital to our democracy.”

    The judges’ comments, which were read during the presentation, made note of Ball’s persistence and dedication.

    “Barbara Ball blew us away with her relentless and aggressive reporting,” the judges wrote, in comments that went on to summarize the range of her work over the previous year.

    “With limited newsroom resources, [she] pushed to get and publish the video of an assault against a detainee at the county detention center. She was persistent in reporting on animal abusers. She followed the story of a town council abusing executive session to prevent the town clerk from bringing her service dog to work. Ball also worked to let the community know what was really going on with the Jenkinsville Water Company, undeterred by intimidation, threats and the circus-like atmosphere of their Board meetings,” the judges wrote. “Ball stands up for the public and refuses to give up when faced with opposition. Her reporting leads to change.”

    “This award recognizes assertiveness in journalism, particularly by journalists who are covering public officials, public figures and public life in general,” Bender said. “To be a reporter, you have to be assertive in the first place, but to go above and beyond like Barbara has done is special.”

  • Timmers named interim director of Chamber

    Chris Timmers, center, new interim director of the Fairfield Chamber, is welcomed during last week’s monthly Chamber breakfast by board members Brian Bonds, Susan Douglas Taylor, Lou Ann Coleman and Lisa Kelly. | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce board has named Chris Timmers of Columbia as interim director of the Chamber. He replaces former Chamber Director Terry Vickers who retired from her post in October 2017.

    Timmers, 70, previously spent four years with the Columbia Chamber of Commerce in membership sales where he set a number of sales records. Prior to that, Timmers was a consultant in the plastics industry.

    Timmers said his goal is to increase the Chamber’s visibility within the greater Fairfield community, including securing membership renewals at the rate of 80 percent and increasing new memberships the first year by 10 percent. Timmers said he hopes to do this short term by bringing in new member businesses from the three contiguous counties surrounding Fairfield, but his long term goal is to sell memberships to businesses in the surrounding 11 counties. He said those merchants and businesses would then be promoted in Fairfield County by the Chamber just as the Fairfield merchants and businesses are now.

    “Fairfield has a great deal to offer potential and existing members,” Timmers said.  “It’s location in north central South Carolina make it an attractive site for manufacturing and distribution. Its proximity to highways, rail lines and municipal airports is a key draw to executives pondering where in our state to locate new or expanded facilities.”

    Timmers will commute from Columbia where he and his wife Cindy make their home.

  • Council proposes restrictions on POR $

    RIDGEWAY – At its March meeting, Town Council continued chipping away at the Pig on the Ridge (POR) festival steering committee’s longstanding level of involvement with the festival by introducing an ordinance that Interim administrator David Hudspeth said would establish financial procedures for the administration of POR funds.

    While the steering committee – Tom Connor, Councilman Don Prioleau, Rufus Jones and Henry Dixon – has provided general oversight and management of the festival since its inception in 1999, Connor said the Town government has always collected, accounted for, deposited and written the checks for all POR moneys, and that POR expenditures always required Council approval, which was rarely if ever withheld. Council, not POR, had authority to sign POR checks and purchase and cash POR CDs, Connor said.

    In turn, Connor said the steering committee enjoyed autonomy in making decisions regarding how the festival’s money was spent, how charitable donations were distributed, etc.

    “It operated on a gentleman’s agreement between the committee and Town Hall,” Jones said. “There were no problems. Everything ran smoothly. There were no complaints that we mishandled money and no problems from yearly audits. Everything was reported properly and it added up,” Jones said. “We never touched POR cash. It went directly to town hall.”

    Hudspeth’s proposed ordinance would impose strict procedures for all POR expenses and revenues, some of which, Prioleau said, will not work for POR.

    Among those are the requirement that the committee seek Council approval before purchasing a big ticket item such as a town clock which the committee has contemplated purchasing. The committee must also procure goods and services for the operation of the festival in accordance with the Town’s purchasing policies. Prioleau said that won’t work.

    “U.S. Foods works with us. The meat market is up and down, and we don’t lock in on a price ‘till two weeks out,” Prioleau said. “They deliver meat and donate $1,000 to POR. They provide us with quality meat. We can’t just take the lowest bid.”

    “POR has been a community effort and brought the community together. We’ve brought love and commitment and we’ve been doing it for 19 years, so we must have been doing something right,” Prioleau said. “I beg you to review this. We need a better ordinance.”

    After Prioleau’s emotional plea, Councilman Heath Cookendorfer made a motion to table the ordinance until the administrator and POR committee could agree.

    Unlike recent rancorous meetings, there were no interruptions, and Council voted unanimously, 5-0 in favor of Cookendorf’s motion.

    “We’re glad you all are coming to the table,” Mayor Charlene Herring said to Prioleau. “We just want to make sure that we’re all clear and clean. I wouldn’t want anything to stop any of our festivals.”

  • Pope: We need 120 volunteer firefighters

    WINNSBORO – There was good news and bad news about the 20 grass fires that burned 100 acres along Highway 315 S. in Jenkinsville last week.

    Pope pointed out the need for more firefighters at County Council meeting on Monday.

    The good news: “Thanks to the quick actions of our volunteer firefighters, there were no injuries and no structures damaged. Our emergency units did amazing work,” Fairfield County Fire Director Jason Pope reported to County Council on Monday evening. He also reported that the fires, first thought to have been arson, were determined by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department to most likely have been set accidentally, possibly by sparks from a chain being dragged behind a vehicle.

    The bad news: “If the fire had happened during the week, instead of 2:15 on Saturday afternoon, we might have had a different outcome,” Pope said.

    “We have 120 volunteer firefighters in Fairfield County,” Pope said, “but we need twice that many.”

    Pope recently drew attention to the need for more volunteer firefighters in the County. He agreed to donate a check for $300 (contributed by the County’s fire chiefs) to the County’s recreation department if the department’s new director, Russell Price, would agree to be lifted in a ladder truck bucket to the top of the clock tower. Price agreed, and Greenbrier Fire Chief Sammy Castles, standing on a ledge above the clock’s face, greeted Price with the check, a handshake and a firefighter’s helmet that Price wore on the ride down.

    “I’m trying whatever I can to get the word out that we desperately need volunteer firefighters,” Pope said.

    According to the County’s incentive pay rates, volunteer firefighters receive $25 per call. Non-firefighters receive $10 per call. Other incentives include $5 for attending approved firefighter meetings, $15 for attending approved training classes and $15 for responding to wrecks with injuries. Maximum compensation for the month is $250 .

    For information about becoming a volunteer firefighter, call 803-712-1070.

  • Man arrested for attempted murder

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man has been charged with attempted murder and malicious injury for gunning down an acquaintance at the MP Mart across from Fairfield Central High School. The incident occurred on Feb. 20 at about 1:30 a.m. and involved several individuals at the scene.

    Walker

    Reginald Walker, 24, was arrested after he and his brother became involved in an altercation with a teenager at the convenience store. The teenager said he and Walker exchanged words regarding Walker’s sister, and that when Walker showed his gun, the teenager got nervous and hit Walker’s brother.

    A witness inside the convenience store stated that when the teen hit Walker’s brother, Walker came from around the front of his car and began shooting, hitting the individual in the left side.  Walker and his brother and others immediately left in their vehicles according to the report, and two other individuals who were on the scene drove the victim to the hospital.

    The report states that Walker’s brother stated he dropped Walker at his mother’s apartment complex before he (Walker) went to the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety where he gave a statement and was arrested.

    Walker was denied bond on the attempted murder charge and remains in the Fairfield County Detention Center.

  • Element gives $30K for chorus trip

    Before being presented with Element’s check, Fairfield District Honors Chorus presented the songs that they will perform at Carnegie Hall. | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County School District’s Honors Chorus learned last September that they are one of five high school bands and choruses chosen to perform next week at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Then, last week, they got more good news when Element TV in Winnsboro donated $30,000 to help finance the $50,000 trip.

    As of last week, the students had only raised $20,000. That’s when Carl Kennedy, Vice President of Human Resources at Element TV in Winnsboro, stepped in. He invited the chorus to perform for the company’s four-year anniversary in Winnsboro on March 9. Following the performance, Kennedy surprised them by presenting them with the check from Element.

    The students will leave by chartered bus on Sunday at 3 a.m., perform Tuesday evening, at 6 p.m., then return to Fairfield County the next day.

    “One of the students told me this morning that they are getting ready to make an impression on the world on the world’s most renowned stage,” Kennedy told the audience. “They are going to make us proud.”

  • Blythewood traffic circle causing angst

    BLYTHEWOOD – After several public meetings were held last year about the Penny Tax traffic circle proposed at the entrance of Cobblestone Park, project engineers scooted the circle slightly south to minimize the impact on property owners whose property would be effected by the encroachment of the circle. During Council’s annual retreat on Saturday, Bethany Parler, a resident of Cobblestone Park, addressed the problem again.

    “The traffic circle will not solve the traffic problem and may contribute to a bigger problem,” Parler said. “If you look at the plans, you will have to turn left out of Cobblestone, then shoot across two lanes of moving traffic, then merge to the right to get on to the interstate while cars are merging onto the circle from Community Road,” she said.

    Councilman Malcolm Gordge, who moderated the discussion at the retreat, agreed that the traffic circle is the most contentious part of the proposed Blythewood Road widening project, pointing out that the circle would encroach on several entrances, including Cobblestone Park, Food Lion, Palmetto Citizens Bank, the former community center property and Community Road.

    “Some people are still not very happy with it. The Penny folks are still open to comment,” Gordge said. “But they may not be able to accommodate those comments.”

    “When residents asked the Richland County representatives last week why they were even installing a traffic circle at Cobblestone, we were told it was part of the referendum. It was not. It was submitted because it was part of the town plan,” Parler said. “I’m not sure [the County] will be able to afford the money it will take for the right of way you’ll have to buy for the traffic circle at Creech Road. I can’t see the wisdom of including these traffic circles [at Creech Road and Cobblestone.] I can’t see McDonalds giving up very important real estate for the Creech Road circle.”

    Cobblestone resident Mike Switzer spoke in favor of the circle at Cobblestone and Community Road.

    “A lot of the fear of a traffic circle is not knowing how to use it,” Switzer said. Councilman Brian Franklin said he lived in Europe for several years while he was in the Army and that traffic circles are common there and do improve traffic flow.

    “You never have to stop,” Franklin said. “But I understand the complications involved. We really don’t know if it will ease traffic here.”

    Beginning at 5 p.m., those attending the public meeting can review displays of the proposed project. At 6 p.m., the Richland Penny Program representatives will make a brief presentation. Citizens will then have the opportunity to make comments.

    The school is located at 1031 Muller Road in Blythewood. For more information, call 844-727-3669 or go to www.richlandpenny.com