Characters from “Doo Wop Wed Widing Hood” include the Big Bad Wolf (John Russell), King (Rob O’Connor), Queen (Corrine Reed) and the Fairy Godmother (Grace Wilder).
Pine Tree puts Doo-Wop twist on classic tale
Start with the 1950’s doo wop group Sha Na Na. Now tell them to put on a performance of Little Red Riding Hood and you have some idea of what to expect from the upcoming Pine Tree Playhouse production of the children’s musical, “Doo Wop Wed Widing Hood.”
Director Matt Swanson explains that “Doo Wop” is the story of Red Riding Hood with a twist – it takes place in the 1950s, in a 1950’s style household and with 1950’s style costumes and technology references.
It also has 1950’s style music, hence the ‘Doo Wop’ in the title. “There’s doo wop, rock and roll and even some Calypso music – like Harry Belafonte might sing,” said Swanson.
But this isn’t your grandmother’s Red Riding Hood story. For one thing, the Big Bad Wolf is a vegetarian. And he’s also an Elvis impersonator, complete with spangled Vegas-style jumpsuit.
Swanson has assembled a talented cast of kids from ages 4 to 18 to tell this crazy, Daddy-O fairy tale.
“Putting on a show with kid actors during the summer months when they’re out of school brought some special challenges,” Swanson said.
The largest challenge has been the absence of large parts of the cast during the rehearsals due to summer activities like church camps, Vacation Bible Schools and family vacations.
“I’ll be working with half the cast on any given rehearsal day, while the other half is not in town,” Swanson said. “That’s a real challenge. Some kids can get their blocking (movement on stage according to the script and the director) and their lines at one rehearsal, and then the next week other kids will pick up their blocking and lines while we fill in for the ones who are gone.
“Fortunately,” Swanson quipped, “the kids learn the material very quickly.”
Swanson said he has a very talented cast with several strong singers. While there are no solo songs in the show, there are solo parts to some of the songs.
“That’s made it easier, and it should make the quality of the show pretty darn good, too,” he added.
The kids have really enjoyed the off-beat, upbeat nature of the show, Swanson said.
“A lot of kids’ shows are based on classical literature or the classical model, which are usually rather serious plays,” Swanson explained. “This is not a serious retelling of the Red Riding Hood story at all. The material is fun, the music is snappy and the story is sassy.”
Sounds cool, Daddy-O.
Doo Wop Wed Widing Hood opens on Friday, Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. and continues with 8 p.m. performances on Aug. 3, 9 and 10. Sunday matinees are at 3 p.m. on Aug. 4 and 11. Call the Pine Tree Playhouse at 803-635-6847 or email pinetreeplayhouse@gmail.com for reservations. Tickets are $8 ($6 for students).
Some say Folly Beach is South Carolina’s best beach and a growing number of people agree. Just 8 miles south of the Holy City, the “Edge of America,” as Folly Beach bills itself, is indeed a special place. I grew up in eastern Georgia far from the coast and one of the great places in my Hall of Fame is Folly Beach. I spent summer vacations there as a boy and “Folly” (one-word status like Elvis!) has reigned special ever since. Nothing’s worse than growing up landlocked once you’ve had a taste of the sea.
Well you can get a taste of the sea and more by making a 153-mile drive to Folly Beach. Yes, not quite three hours of travel will take you to a 7-mile-long barrier reef that offers much to people of varied interests: super waves for surfing, an old lighthouse, a great restaurant for the health conscious and a place popular with pet lovers. I know because a highly reliable but secret source emailed me: “One place I’ve newly discovered and just love because it is extremely dog friendly is Folly Beach. It totally embraces dogs (in the hotel, on the beach, etc.). There are dogs everywhere and wonderfully behaved.”
There’s even a Lost Dog Café in this place referred to as one of the last real American beach towns. That and more. My source continued, “There’s this little beach shop area close to the hotel that reminds me of Five Points in Columbia. Plus I am a vegetarian and there is a wonderful vegetarian place there, Black Magic, with about 50 kinds of fresh fruit smoothie combinations. They mix the fruit as you wait.”
My journalist from the field points out that you’ll find “many good eateries in the little five points place.” Those who prefer more formal eateries will find those, too; plus Charleston is close. My source loves Folly because it “has everything a big beach resort has” so don’t be surprised if you don’t make it to Charleston.
Now about that name, “Folly.” We all know about Seward’s Folly, that foolish purchase that gave us Alaska and its wonderful resources. Like Alaska, neither is Folly Beach bedeviled by a “foolish” perception. When early settlers in their creaking ships first saw the pristine, tree-lined coast here, it was their first sight of trees in a long, long time. Rejoicing, they christened their newfound Eden “Folly.” Why? Because “Folly” is an old English word meaning cluster of trees or thicket. So there.
No, there’s nothing foolish about Folly Beach. In fact it’s just the opposite. It is the new cool place to go. You can relax and take in nature. You can spend a dog day afternoon on the beach, surf, catch a glimpse of loggerhead turtles, bicycle, kayak or drop a line from the fishing pier. Just be sure you go earlier than later. It’s good to beat the crowd when you’re headed to the Edge of America.
If You Go …
• Official Website of Folly Beach:
www.southcarolinaparks.com
Learn more about Tom Poland, a Southern writer, and his work at www.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas to him at tompol@earthlink.net.
The old saying is, ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ but don’t tell that to the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce, Fairfield Chamber of Commerce or the towns of Winnsboro, Blythewood and Ridgeway, because they’re cooking up an awesome 43-mile-long yard sale dubbed The Big Grab.
“This is an aggressive effort by our Chambers and towns to increase last year’s 25-mile yard sale to 43 miles,” said Fairfield Chamber President Terry Vickers.
The Big Grab will be a two-day event, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 6 and 7. Basically, it’s the ultimate yard sale – table after table of yard sale items along a 43-mile route that stretches from exit 24 on I-77, through Blythewood, into Ridgeway, on into Winnsboro and back to Blythewood.
The Grab is in the planning stages right now and the organizers are looking for sponsors – individual or business – willing to kick in $50 per sponsorship. The money will be used for advertising and signage at the various locations of the Big Grab.
Plans are to not only supply locations in the downtown areas of Blythewood, Winnsboro and Ridgeway where yard sale tables can be set up, but to find locations along the rural part of the route as well, Vickers said.
There will be no set up fee for yard sale participants, but they will need to supply their own tents and tables, Vickers said.
The Big Grab group also plans to invite food vendors to set up along the route. There may be a small fee involved, but any food truck or vendor is sure to make back that fee from all the hungry bargain hunters during those two days.
“We’re hoping our restaurants and convenience stores will also see an increase in business,” Vickers said.
There will be volunteer booths set up along the route to direct bargain hunters to the next locations.
The Chamber is currently taking the names and phone numbers of people interested in being a part of the Big Grab.
Denise Jones with the Ridgeway Merchants is one of the founders of the first Big Grab last year,
“The Grab was a big hit last year, especially in Blythewood and Ridgeway; it was good for Winnsboro too, but I don’t think they saw as much traffic last year,” she said.
“They will this year,” she added.
The route will be a big loop around the three towns and into the rural areas between.
The Big Grab route begins at exit 24 off of I-77. Take S.C. Highway 21 all the way through Ridgeway, then follow S.C. Highway 34 to Winnsboro. Pick up Highway 321 Business, take the right fork at the Bi-Lo to Congress Street, then turn left onto S.C. Highway 200 then to Highway 321 Bypass south through Winnsboro, to Blythewood Road and into Blythewood, Jones explained.
“We want to emphasize that when setting up their yard sale tables in the rural areas, bunch four or five groups get together. The bigger venue will mean more people will stop,” she said.
Jones, the new president of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce board, believes that the Big Grab will be good for local businesses all along the route.
“I think, economically, for this area — Blythewood, Ridgeway and Winnsboro — this has had the biggest overall impact of anything we’ve done.”
Jones’ vision for the Big Grab is for bargain hunters to see a “nearly continuous yard sale. This is a great opportunity for us to show off our three towns,” said Jones.
“We want to bring people to Winnsboro, Ridgeway and Blythewood and show them how charming these towns are. We want to give them a reason to come back again.”
For information about selling, buying or sponsorships, call one of the following:
Gerald and Carolyn Meyers of Blythewood, center, and other members of the Bookert family carefully walk down the hill behind Sandy Level Baptist Church, their ancestral church, to view the historic outdoor baptismal pool. Their ancestors, who were slaves, were among the first African-American members of the congregation, dating back to 1854.
Family Traces Roots to Slavery
BLYTHEWOOD – About 40 members of the Bookert family visited Sandy Level Baptist Church July 12 as part of their annual family reunion weekend in Columbia. The Bookerts can trace their roots back to several early black members of the church, dating back to 1854-1859, who held all rights and privileges of church membership. Those members were among the 60 slaves owned by Dr. Samuel W. Bookhart who famed more than 2,000 acres in the area now known as Blythewood.
Current church members Bobby Loner and Hud McLean gave the Bookert family a short oral history of the church, then led them on a tour through parts of Sandy Level’s church cemetery where many headstones bear variations of the Bookhart and Bookert surnames, and then down a wooded path to the church’s historic outdoor baptismal pool. The visitors also toured the balcony seating that surrounds three sides of the sanctuary, which, according to published church history, was traditionally where the black members sat during worship services. Some of the visiting Bookerts climbed the steep stairs to the balcony and sat in the pews, retracing the same steps their ancestors made almost 160 years earlier.
According to Wendy Washington, one of the reunion organizers, about 170 family members of all ages gathered in Columbia last weekend for activities that included tours of family history sites, a banquet and church services. Washington helped coordinate the visit with members of Sandy Level Baptist Church and the Blythewood Historical Society.
State Sen. Creighton Coleman (right) delivers the news to Council Chairman David Ferguson as Shryll Brown, Clerk, reads along.
FAIRFIELD – As County Council continues to take body blows from the public over their handling of former County Administrator Phil Hinely, another bombshell fell on their doorstep Monday as the State Attorney General issued a damaging opinion regarding the County’s policy of tuition assistance for Council members and their long-standing practice of health insurance reimbursements.
The opinion, dated July 8 and written by Robert D. Cook, Solicitor General, and Harrison D. Bryant, Assistant Attorney General, concludes: “It is our opinion that State law prohibits a county from using public funds to make cash payments directly to individual members of county council who elect not to participate in the group health insurance plan offered by the county in lieu of making payments toward the premiums for such plans on their behalf or as reimbursements for expenses incurred by such non-electing members in obtaining separate insurance. While only a court may so conclude with finality, we believe that such payments are unauthorized and that it is a departure from the law for the country to pay them. We are also of the opinion that State law prohibits county funds from being used to pay for the college tuition of individual council members. The use of public funds for such purposes grants such members extra compensation in violation of Article III, Section 30 of the South Carolina Constitution. Furthermore, the use of county funds for such purposes violates Section 4-9-100 as such expenditures cannot reasonably be construed as reimbursements for ‘actual expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.’ Both forms of payment, in our opinion, also constitute the use of public funds for private purposes. Should a court determine that these forms of payments are prohibited by law as we believe they are, there may be personal liability for the wrongful receipt or payment of such funds.”
Until a month ago, the County was paying for Councilman Mikel Trapp (District 3) to take business courses at Columbia College, a practice that was in line with the County’s education policies, according to former Administrator Phil Hinely. Trapp has since declined tuition assistance, but not before the County paid $26,806 toward his degree.
“We have a fairly liberal education policy,” Hinely said last month while he was still serving as County Administrator. “If the training benefits the County, the County will pay for it. A Councilman having a degree in business benefits the County. The policy is being used by a small number of County employees.”
In fact, only one employee, Marvin Allen in the County’s IT Department, is currently taking advantage of the tuition assistance program, but that falls outside the scope of the current Attorney General’s opinion.
The practice of paying certain Council members for coverage of their hospitalization insurance is a long and complicated one and dates back to 2009, according to county administrators. Council members are eligible for the County’s insurance policy, unless they are already, through their current or former employer, covered by a state plan, as is the case with Trapp, Chairman David Ferguson (District 5), and, until her retirement from Fairfield Memorial Hospital a few weeks ago, Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6). Because they were covered by a state plan, the County’s hospitalization supplement was not available to them.
Prior to 2009, these Council members, along with all part-time employees, were covered for hospitalization by the Carolina Cares plan, Hinely explained last month. For each of the Council members in question, it was costing the County approximately $877 a month – or $31,560 a year total – to include them on the Carolina Cares plan. As the County worked through attrition to wean part-time employees from the plan, Hinely said they also asked the three Council members to drop the plan and take a direct payout of $475 a month each – or $17,100 a year total – to get their own hospitalization insurance. That practice, also, is under attrition, Hinely said. Once any of the three Council members leave Council, the same payout will not be offered to their replacements.
The Attorney General’s opinion was written in response to a question from State Rep. MaryGail Douglas (D-41), who had the support and assistance from State Sen. Creighton Coleman (D-17) in drafting the letter and getting the response. Douglas said the question about the propriety of the hospitalization insurance payouts had been a concern for years. Finally, as a State representative, she was able to get those questions answered.
“From the first time I saw that in the (County) budget, I thought that was so wrong,” Douglas said. “This is going to inflame County Council, but if we are going to do things the right way, we’ve got to take a stand to do things the right way. This should have been cleared up a long time ago. We never should have had to go to the Attorney General to get clarification on an issue like this. It was brought to their attention many times. I brought that hammer down to them and it fell on deaf ears.”
Coleman presented the opinion to Council during their meeting Monday night.
“There’s one County Council member being sent to school, from what I understand, by county taxpayer money,” Coleman said. “Also there are various members of county council who are receiving insurance reimbursement, and that’s totally improper. If this is a barometer of how we’re spending our county funds in this county, we’re in bad shape.”
Coleman said the opinion suggest Council members may have to pay back years of premiums to the County. Ferguson said he would have to consult with his attorney before cutting any checks.
“This is really a way to stick it to somebody, and it seems like that’s the way it was intended,” Ferguson said. “I don’t know where it’s going to stop. I’m wondering where the Attorney General says anything about the money spent on some Council members and not on others is fair. If they’re spending $680 a month for their insurance and $475 a month for mine, there’s a little about this that doesn’t seem right.”
District 4 Councilman Kamau Marcharia put up a good fight, but was defeated in efforts to erect a recreation facility in Dawkins.
FAIRFIELD – Western Fairfield and the Dawkins community will have to wait, indefinitely, for their long-promised recreation facility after County Council defeated – in not one, but two separate votes – a motion to erect the facility on the 8.12 acres off Ladds Road. The vote came after much debate and after Council had received, for the first time, a cost analysis of site construction.
Lori Schaeffer, the County’s Recreation Department Director, delivered some stunning numbers to Council prior to the votes, presenting Council with two building options – a $895,000 facility that would include landscaping and would outfit the building with a basketball gymnasium, but without office furniture, telephones or computers, and a $483,000 option that would just cover the construction of the building. A third option for an outdoor facility that would include ball fields, tennis courts, walking trails, a parking lot and a multi-purpose field came in at $720,000.
“I’m sure that some of that could be mitigated to be more reasonable,” said Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4), who placed the motion to erect the building on the floor. “The community has requested a building that’s already been paid for and laid on the ground for (five) years (see the June 28 edition of The Voice). Whatever it would take to build that building, if all the amenities are not there, we have next year in allocations.”
Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said Marcharia’s plan to put up the building consumes nearly the entirety of his $500,000 recreation budget, as allocated in the County’s March $24 million bond issue.
“With those figures, there’s no way to put that building up,” Robinson said. “We just started the new budget. There’s not one dime to staff that building, pay for power, anything that’s in there. So we’re going to build it and just let it sit out there?”
Robinson said that churches in the community, as well as the School District, should step in and fill the recreation gap.
“Where are the churches in this county? I think it’s time the churches stand up and be a part of the community and provide for these children,” Robinson said. “The schools have been asked to open their gymnasiums. Those are the same tax dollars that we’re receiving in this county to meet the requests that you want. Why can’t we work with the school system and be able to provide the other facilities that are out there so that children, adults, etc., can take advantage of those not just the months when the schools are open?”
Marcharia, however, was undeterred. He said that, over the last 10 years, the County has received nearly $90 million in tax revenues from the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, a plant that sits in the heart of District 4. Yet District 4, he said, continues to go without adequate recreational facilities.
“We have a community that’s living in imminent danger, and we have absolutely nothing but chasing balls, if you want to call that a recreation sport,” Marcharia said. “Somebody should have something decent that we could be proud of in our district for this money.”
Councilman David Brown (District 7), while he said he supported Marcharia’s request for recreational facilities, said Council should take at least one more meeting to analyze the numbers.
“I don’t think we’re looking at this thing systematically from a money standpoint,” Brown said. “District 4 will be shortchanged from the many fine looking plans we had promised. I know we’re tired of studies. We’ve studied everything in this county five times. But I think it would be wise at this point . . . not to shortchange District 4 . . . if we could have one more meeting to seriously look at the finances of taking a building that’s been in storage, that sounds easy, that sounds cheap, but ends up costing you twice as much for half as much.”
Chairman David Ferguson (District 5) agreed that further meetings on the proposal might be necessary and said the numbers did not add up.
“To say we can just put that building up, I don’t know how we would pay for it,” Ferguson said. “I’m not sure how we can take $500,000 and build a $900,000 program with it.”
Marcharia said he felt the project could be done in increments and asked his colleagues what had become of the remainder of the original $500,000 Council had allocated to the now defunct Recreation Commission to purchase the building in question and erect it on the 8.12 acres (on Feb. 28, 2005).
“I’ve been asking for four or five years,” Marcharia said. “How many times have we had things in Western Fairfield when people get sick and the ambulance service can’t even get out there, and it’s still like that. It’s raggedy. And we’re living under horrendous conditions in terms of imminent danger, and that’s where a lot of your taxes come from. The County has spent millions on the industrial park. Where’s the jobs? So all that money can go for these industrial parks . . . and the first job from that is five years down the road. . . . If we want to argue about money later on, we can argue about it; I asked that the Council approve putting it on that property.”
Robinson said that, to the best of her knowledge, the balance of the original $500,000 had been placed back into the general fund. In May of 2006, the Recreation Commission paid MAR Construction of Lexington, S.C. $15,000 to clear the site, install a septic tank and put in sidewalks. A deal to purchase a building from an Alabama company for $453,710 never materialized, but two years later Council voted to settle a lawsuit with that company for $79,500, which included delivery of the building. The building has sat in crates ever since.
Marcharia’s questions on the remaining money from the 2005 vote went unanswered, however, and his motion died on a 5-2 vote, with only himself and Mikel Trapp (District 3) voting yea.
In a second motion, Marcharia asked that the $500,000 earmarked for his district in the County’s March bond be used to begin construction of the same building on the same site. Trapp offered the second. The move raised questions about how each district representative may choose to spend their funds in the future.
“Are we voting for Mr. Marcharia’s money, which, if it is his discretion to do with what he wants, why are we voting on it?” Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) asked. “This is your $500,000 to do what you like, why do we have to vote on it?”
Ferguson said that, since the money was Council funds, such a vote would have to take place for each district.
That motion, too, failed, 3-2. Trapp and Marcharia voted in favor. Brown, Robinson and Dwayne Perry (District 1) voted against. Kinley abstained.
“We are not a poor county,” Marcharia said near the close of Monday’s session. “Other people here have gotten what they want, but Western Fairfield has been kicked to the ground. But as Sam Cooke said, ‘A Change is Gonna Come’.”
Phil Hinely, at a recent County Council meeting, resigned from his post as County Administrator Monday night.
FAIRFIELD – County Administrator Phil Hinely has resigned from his post at Fairfield County, effective June 28. Council announced the resignation at the end of Monday night’s work session.
“Monday’s meeting (June 24) was just all he could take,” Chairman David Ferguson (District 5) said after the work session. “He’s been beaten up over this pretty bad.”
Hinely’s departure from Fairfield County comes amid a firestorm of accusations and speculations about whether or not he used his County email account to forward emails containing pornographic images three years ago. The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was made aware of the allegations in February, but closed their file on the matter after consulting with Sixth Circuit Solicitor Doug Barfield, who determined that none of the alleged images in SLED’s possession violated South Carolina’s obscenity laws. Hinely denied that the contents of the SLED file had come from his computer, and, as SLED closed the case without conducting an investigation, the origins of the alleged emails could not be verified. Hinely did admit to forwarding emails that contained “tasteless jokes,” but said none of them were pornographic or anything resembling the material in the February SLED file.
When a Columbia television station attempted to access Hinely’s emails through the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, the County offered to grant that access, but only for a fee of nearly $30,000. The Voice was allowed to review Hinely’s emails, although without the aid of Information Technology (IT) expertise, and found nothing resembling the contents of the February SLED file.
In a special called meeting June 5, County Council voted unanimously to sanction Hinely. Hinely was placed on probation by Council, to be reviewed by the Chairman, Vice Chairman and County IT Director at the end of a six-month period. Hinely’s salary of $130,292 was reduced 5 percent by Council for the duration of the probationary period, and he was required to submit an official letter of apology to Fairfield’s local newspapers. Council also voted to include contract employees under the same policy manual as regular, at-will employees, except where the manual conflicts with the contract.
But that failed to satisfy a number of Fairfield residents who, for the last two Council meetings, have choked Council chambers, scolding Council for their perceived leniency and calling for Hinely’s head.
A second set of emails, also alleged to have been sent from Hinely’s Fairfield County address, surfaced during Council’s June 24 meeting, presented to Vice Chairman Dwayne Perry (District 1) by Kevin Thomas, Chairman of the Fairfield County GOP, during the public comments portion of the meeting. Thomas’s comments sparked a disagreement with Hinely that threatened, briefly, to derail the proceedings.
“I’ve heard that some Council members have not seen the pornographic emails that Mr. Hinely sent,” Thomas said.
“Allegedly sent, please sir,” Hinely interrupted.
“My time is running quick,” Thomas said. “Please don’t interrupt me.”
“I am going to interrupt you, because you lie about me,” Hinely said.
When Thomas was finally allowed to continue, he said he had recently received a second set of alleged emails, dated as late as May 28, 2011, which he then presented to Perry. Thomas later told The Voice that the February SLED file had been verified as coming from Hinely’s computer by Barfield and that the second packet of alleged emails contained similar dates, subject lines and content. Thomas and Fairfield County Democratic Party Chairwoman Tangee Brice Jacobs issued a joint statement late last week calling for Hinely to resign.
Barfield, meanwhile, was unhappy to learn how his name had been attached to the scandal.
“I did not verify anything about where this stuff came from,” Barfield said Monday morning. “I was told who it was attributed to, but I didn’t do anything to verify that information.”
“I have no file. No file was left with me,” Barfield continued. “I met with a SLED agent and he asked me to take a look at it and to determine if there was any illegality. I determined that there was not.”
Perry said the Thomas packet contained images more graphic than those in the SLED packet, but that he was still unsatisfied with their authenticity.
“The whole thing has become a wildfire,” Perry said last week. “People are taking these emails as gospel, as factual. I feel like I have an obligation to make a good decision and not be influenced by people in the room telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. I do want to know if he (Hinely) did it.
“This thing is so much deeper than people realize,” Perry said. “Why is this coming out now, if the emails were allegedly sent three years ago?”
Ferguson said he and Perry had met with Barfield on June 26 for about 45 minutes to discuss the matter. After that meeting, Ferguson said, the decision was made, per Barfield’s suggestion, to instruct County attorney John Moylan to remove Hinely’s hard drive from his computer and ship it to a California company, recommended by Moylan, to be analyzed.
“My only regret is that I didn’t do that two months ago,” Ferguson said. “I should have had our IT department take Mr. Hinely’s computer apart and send that hard drive off right then.”
Ferguson said Hinely was aware of the County’s intent to remove his hard drive and supported the decision.
“I told him I wished I had done this from the start,” Ferguson said. “Mr. Hinely said, ‘I wish you had, too’.”
As Council began its own internal investigation, SLED, at the request of State Sen. Creighton Coleman (D-17), became involved again and arrived Thursday (June 27) to seize Hinely’s hard drive.
“We don’t need a whole lot of help getting to the bottom of this,” Ferguson said last week after learning of SLED’s involvement. “If there was not a criminal act that took place, what’s the purpose of an investigation? The first emails have not been substantiated, yet.
“I don’t know what got him (Coleman) in that favor (to call in SLED),” Ferguson said. “For two and a half months he hasn’t said anything. But he brings SLED back into it, and you know, that kind of scares me, to be honest with you.”
Coleman told The Voice on June 27 that, because of the uproar in the community surrounding the allegations, he asked SLED to launch the investigation.
“There have been questions in the community about it and we need to get to the bottom of it,” Coleman said. “If (Hinely) didn’t do it, his name needs to be cleared. If he did do it, then County Council needs to take action.”
A SLED spokesperson confirmed on June 28 that SLED was indeed conducting an official investigation this time and therefore would not answer questions from The Voice about why, if no criminal activity was determined in the first SLED case file on the matter, a formal investigation was launched now, or why the results of the first SLED case file were turned over to Ferguson instead of, or in addition to, the original complainant.
Ferguson said SLED took the hard drive on Friday (June 28) and provided the Council with a copy Monday afternoon. Ferguson said the Council would continue to pursue its own internal investigation independently of SLED’s efforts and in spite of Hinely’s resignation.
“There’s going to be a lot more names in this before it’s all over with,” Ferguson said last week. “I think when this thing all comes out, there will be mud on a lot of people’s faces. But Phil Hinely is gone, and that was the chore at hand.”
Ferguson said he attempted to talk Hinely out of stepping down and admitted that the decision did not look good in light of the investigations.
“This thing has been eating on him and his wife so bad,” Ferguson said. “He called me Monday night he said he was going to resign. The man gave us 12 good years of service. He’s a good guy.”
Ferguson also said he was not concerned with the potential political fallout from the scandal.
“Not one voter from District 5 has been in one meeting we’ve had since this stuff started,” Ferguson said. “My voters told me, ‘When we think you’re doing something wrong, we’ll let you know’.”
Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) said Council would release their report on the contents of the hard drive at the conclusion of Council’s investigation. Council was to hold a special meeting Wednesday (July 3) at 6 p.m. to discuss Hinely’s resignation further.
Numerous attempts to reach Hinely for comment were unsuccessful at press time.
BLYTHEWOOD – Town Councilman Jeff Branham has announced his resignation from Town Council, effective July 31. Mayor J. Michael Ross read Branham’s resignation letter at the beginning of Monday night’s Council meeting. Ross explained that Branham has accepted a position with a chemical company in Jackson, Miss., and is already at that location working.
Branham told The Voice that he will be moving his family to Jackson later this summer.
“I’ve enjoyed the time I spent on Council,” Branham said, “and I didn’t want to leave Blythewood. I grew up here. But it is a great opportunity for me, professionally, so we made the decision to go. However, we don’t plan to stay there forever.
“Our families are here and we hope to be back in this area in a few years. Maybe I’ll be back before the 2016 election,” he quipped.
Ross announced that a special election will not be held to fill Branham’s seat, but that the Town will wait for the next regular election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2013. The Town elections were previously set for January; however, last year Council voted to align the Town’s elections with the dates of national November elections.
WINNSBORO – A Blackstock man was arrested last week after leading Fairfield County narcotics officers on a high-speed chase down the Highway 321 Bypass.
Henry Neville Brice, 57, of 12091 Highway 321 N., Blackstock, was arrested June 12 and charged with disregarding a stop sign, failure to stop for a blue light, driving under suspension, reckless driving, possession of marijuana, possession of cocaine base (crack cocaine), manufacturing marijuana and possession of a controlled substance.
The Sheriff’s Office said they were conducting a narcotics operation in the South Winnsboro area and officers observed the suspect, later identified as Brice, make what appeared to be a drug sale from the front seat of his 2000 Buick Park Avenue off Columbia Road. The officers pulled their car parallel to Brice’s car just long enough to look him in the eye, the Sheriff’s Office said, before Brice hit the accelerator and sped away through an intersection. Brice took a quick left on 9th Street, heading west, and right on the Bypass, heading north. Officers followed as Brice weaved in and out of traffic. As speeds reached in excess of 100 miles an hour, the officers broke off the chase near Fairfield memorial Hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said, fearing that Brice may injure a bystander. But by that time, the agents had Brice’s license plate number and had dispatched deputies to his Blackstock home.
Deputies arriving at Brice’s home located Brice’s car, used in the chase, behind the home. On the front seat could be seen a small amount of what deputies believed to be crack cocaine. When knocks to Brice’s front door went unanswered, deputies obtained a search warrant for the home, entered and found Brice hiding in an upstairs bedroom. A search of the bedroom uncovered more crack cocaine, marijuana and prescription medication for which Brice had no prescription. A search of the grounds turned up 26 marijuana plants, between 1-foot and 4-feet tall, growing outside the home. While these plants had not reached full maturity, the Sheriff’s Office said, a single mature plant can fetch as much as $2,000 in marijuana sales. Brice was taken into custody without further incident and transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center.
RIDGEWAY – A routine stop to fill up the gas tank at a business just outside the Ridgeway town limits turned ugly last week when a Ridgeway woman was carjacked at gunpoint and kidnapped.
According to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, the victim, a 23-year-old woman from Park Road, was in her car at the AM/PM on Highway 34 at approximately 8:30 a.m. June 12 when she was approached by a white male, later identified as Adam Eugene Stafford, 26, of Cook Road, Ridgeway. Stafford reportedly asked the victim if he could use her cell phone. When the victim told him she did not have a cell phone, Stafford allegedly produced a handgun, pointed it at the victim and forced his way into the car.
Stafford drove the car down a nearby dirt road and pulled over to tie the victim’s hands and take $60 from her wallet. After binding the victim, Stafford drove to a vacant house next door to Bryan’s Tire on Highway 34, approximately 100 yards from the AM/PM. When Stafford exited the car, the victim was able to untie her hands and get out of the car, just as Stafford was making his way back to the car from the house. Stafford then tried to grab the victim, the Sheriff’s Office said, and a struggle ensued. After fighting with her kidnapper for a few moments, the victim managed to extricate herself and run to Bryan’s Tire where the owner, Bryan Murphy, called for help. The victim was taken by ambulance to Fairfield Memorial Hospital where she was treated for minor injuries and released. Stafford, meanwhile, was on the run and Sheriff’s deputies set up a perimeter around Ridgeway.
Within minutes, the victim’s car, a Chevrolet Malibu, was found less than a mile away behind a vacant business on Highway 34. Investigators located Stafford a short time later, around 10 a.m., hiding underneath a vacant mobile home just off Highway 34. The handgun was recovered and found to be a pellet gun, the Sheriff’s Office said. Stafford was transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center.
In addition to charges of kidnapping, carjacking and armed robbery, Stafford has been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of forgery in unrelated cases dating back to May 31.
Stafford has been charged with the May 31 theft of copper worth $100 from the air conditioning unit of a home at 71712 Highway 34 in Ridgeway, as well as the June 10 break-in of a home at 254 Salutation Lane, also in Ridgeway, where a television worth $250 was stolen. The television was located 24 hours later at a pawn shop in Columbia. Stafford was also charged with forging an $800 check on May 31 at Boone’s Barn Liquor store in Winnsboro.
