Tag: slider

JENKINSVILLE – Members of the Jenkinsville community gathered at McCrorey-Liston Elementary School Tuesday night to hear an update from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on how the agency oversees safety standards at the reactor construction at the nearby V.C. Summer Nuclear Station. From the outset, Tom Kozak, Senior Operation Engineer, and Jim Luehman, Director of Inspection Headquarters, told the audience that the meeting was only a review of the fledgling Construction Reactor Oversight Process (cROP), and that specifics of reactor construction would not be address. Nevertheless, both found themselves addressing just that; particularly the most recent delay at the site.

Last month, The Shaw Group, which is constructing the two new reactors at V.C. Summer for S.C. Electric & Gas (SCE&G), laid off 140 workers after the NRC found that rebar construction preliminary to the pouring of concrete for the basemat structure (the concrete platform on which the reactors, the steam generators, pumps and other nuclear materials will rest), deviated from the original NRC-approved design. Tom Clements, a Columbia-based environmental activist who works with Nuclear Watch South, a member group of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, questioned Kozak about the rebar, as did The Voice.

Kozak said the original issue with the rebar was spotted by NRC inspectors at Shaw’s sister project, a similar construction job at the Alvin W. Vogtle Plant near Waynesboro, Ga., and the detection and correction of the matter was an example of how the new oversight process works.

“We conducted an inspection at Vogtle, and they identified rebar that was put together that did not meet the way it was described in the design,” Kozak said. “They had made a change to the design that they thought was in accordance with the design change process that they’re allowed to do. We determined that it was not.”

The same design deviation was later detected at V.C. Summer, Kozak said, and while the deviation represented a “very low” safety concern, the matter still had to be corrected.

“So they either make a change in their design in accordance with our design control process, or they need to take apart and reassemble the rebar so it meets the approved the design,” Kozak said. “The licensee here (Shaw) became aware of that issue at Vogtle and entered it into their corrective action program before we came in and inspected it here, and that’s what we encourage licensees to do.”

Rhonda O’Banion, Public Relations Director for SCANA (of which SCE&G is a subsidiary), said after the meeting that replacement of the rebar had not yet been completed. Kozak said that by reconfiguring the rebar to adhere to the original design, SCE&G will not require a license amendment request, something that may have been a time-consuming option had they chosen to press forward with the present construction.

“They decided to bring the rebar into conformance with the design,” Kozak said.

Detailed information and updates on construction of the new reactors at V.C. Summer can be found at the NRC’s Web site, www.nrc.gov.

Winnsboro’s new Postmaster, Mickey Gibson, rolled into town two weeks ago ready to work and fairly bounding with energy. Whether orienting himself to his new work with one of his 12 or so employees or working individually with customers to help solve a postal problem, Gibson is a man of action with an old fashioned ready-to-get-the-job-done attitude.

“Being a postmaster is an enormous amount of work and a lot of problems come up,” Gibson said, “but I like dealing with problems, figuring them out and fixing them. I like making things better.”

Gibson, who grew up in Manning and has served almost 30 years in the military, mostly in the Army Reserve, said he is grateful for his job. “I love coming to work every day, and I’m glad to be here in Winnsboro. This is a fine post office, but I’m here to make it better.” Gibson said.

Gibson said that while he doesn’t anticipate any major changes at the post office, he plans to improve customer service.

“Customer service can always be improved in any business,” Gibson said. “The same is true here. And we’re going to work every day on improving that service for our customers. I’m going to be looking first at what we’ve got here. The negative national publicity is a challenge for the post office these days. To save money, we’re now closed an hour for lunch and the window hours have been cut back. This is seen as an inconvenience for our customers. We’ll be working hard to overcome some of those negatives with better service. That’s our goal.”

While Winnsboro has not been considered a growth area in recent years, Gibson said there are some signs of growth that are showing up in the local mail service. “Already we’re seeing new addresses pop up as some folks affiliated with the proposed (addition to the) nuclear facility move in,” he said. “I expect we’re going to see more of that.”

Gibson began his career with the postal service in 1994 as a clerk in the Orangeburg Post Office and later worked as a customer service supervisor in Columbia. He became a station manager in Camden in 2000 and Postmaster in Bishopville in July 2011. He is married with two sons, ages 18 and 20.

An obvious ball of energy, Gibson said one of his goals in any work place is to be efficient, and he plans to incorporate more efficiency into the Winnsboro Post Office operations.

“It’s important that we don’t spend time doing those things that we should not be doing,” Gibson said. “We want to serve the customers of Winnsboro in ways that will enhance the service we provide them.”

Gibson said he is looking forward to getting to know his Winnsboro customers in the coming months.

“I really like it here,” Gibson said. “This is a fine post office and my pledge is to make it better.”

Gibson can be reached at 803-6435-4741. Post Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m.

Nehemiah Dandy is only 6 years old, but he’s already endured a world of problems. And he will for the rest of his life, due to severe developmental delays and extensive medical problems.

There is one thing, though, that would help make this Winnsboro boy’s Christmas much brighter and his family’s daily lives better – a dog. Not just any dog, but a special type of therapy dog known as a ‘tether dog,’ trained specifically to help children like Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome when he was just 2. It’s a rare genetic disease that causes a myriad of development problems, intellectual disability, speech impairment, poor muscle coordination and behavioral issues. While his life expectancy is normal, he will always be a child mentally, probably not progressing beyond the age of 8 or so.

While children with Angelman’s Syndrome sometimes have behavioral issues, Nehemiah does not. He is as sweet as sweet can be. Recently, when introduced to one of his great grandmother’s friends, he took her hand, turned it over and kissed the back of it, then smiled sweetly at the woman.

While Nehemiah’s prognosis is grim, his days are made happy by two women who are devoted to him and love him dearly. They are his grandmother, Betsy Shields – his primary care giver – and his great grandmother, Mary Tindal.

They all lived in Winnsboro until last summer when Nehemiah’s geneticist, Dr. Steven Skinner of Greenwood, suggested Nehemiah might benefit from a special school program in the upstate. With that, Shields packed up her grandson and off they moved to Abbeville where Nehemiah attends day school. Shields is happy with Nehemiah’s adjustment there, but is alone with no one to help her care for him. She said she and Nehemiah miss Tindal and Shield’s brother, David, who lives across the street from Tindal. Shields and Nehemiah make the more than two-hour trip back to Winnsboro to visit as often as they can.

Shields and Tindal are remarkable women and everything they do, they do for Nehemiah. He is the center of their universe. But he is not spoiled. He is well-mannered and thoughtful in his own way. Perhaps that’s a reflection of his grandmothers’ devotion to his care and keeping. They are the epitome of the Bible’s description of love. Their patience is unending and they appear to enjoy their every waking moment with Nehemiah.

For Shields, however, faced with the challenges of being Nehemiah’s lone caregiver, those waking moments are far too many. Children with Angelman Syndrome function on very little sleep, often needing medications to sleep just four hours each night. That means Shields also gets little sleep. On disability herself after undergoing multiple back surgeries, Shields admits she has trouble keeping up with her grandson whose malady causes him not only to be awake all hours of the night and day, but to wander aimlessly and dangerously about the house. Shields says she can rarely sit down and rest, much less spend time concentrating on anything.

“And away from the house, it’s even scarier,” Shields said. “He darts off this way and that and is gone in an instant. I live in fear of him wandering off and not finding him.”

A tether dog could change all that for Shields and would afford a new dimension in Nehemiah’s life as well. Tethered to Nehemiah’s waist, the dog is trained to keep the boy near Shields in crowded places such as a grocery store and will be trained to his scent so that, should Nehemiah ever become lost, the dog could help locate him.

At home, the dog would be trained to look after his tethered charge, giving Nehemiah some freedom from being held constantly and his grandmother some time to relax while watching after him.

Shields believes the dog would bring comfort and a measure of calm to Nehemiah. She also thinks Nehemiah’s sweet, loving nature would benefit the dog.

Tethering dogs are expensive, however, costing as much as $30,000. The family can’t afford that. After much research, however, Shields did find a tether dog through Service Dogs for Independence, located in Tucson, Ariz., that provides these dogs for much less in cases of financial need.

A trained tether Labradoodle named Zeus is available for $8,000 and is waiting for the call. The price includes delivery and three days training for Nehemiah and his family on how to communicate with Zeus.

Shields has saved $500 but needs the balance. She and Tindal have made a number of contacts, but so far have not had any success raising the money.

“Zeus is out there in Arizona and he would mean a lot to Nehemiah,” said his grandmother. “We aren’t giving up, though. It’s important for Nehemiah that we get that dog for him,” she said.

Her hope is alive and well. “They told us last week that the dog could still be delivered by Christmas.”

To help with the cost of Nehemiah’s dog, donations can be made directly to Service Dogs for Independence, 15900 North Chapulin Way, Tucson, Ariz., 85739. To donate by credit card, call 520-991-0682 and ask for Elizabeth Morris. Be sure to tell her that your donation is for Nehemiah Dandy. PayPal is also accepted.