FAIRFIELD COUNTY – Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford has released the name of the Columbia driver, Jessica Rea, 35, who died after being involved in a motor vehicle collision, on Winnsboro Road (Hwy 321) near Wilson Circle, on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.
The head-on crash occurred at 11:57 a.m., when a 2021
Chevrolet SUV, driven by Rea, was traveling north on Winnsboro Road, drove left
of center line and struck a 2017 tow truck that was traveling south on
Winnsboro Road, according to S.C. Patrol Officer Tyler Tidwell.
Rae was transported to Prisma Health Richland where she succumbed to her injuries, according to Officer Tidwell’s report.
The tow truck driver, a resident of Massachusetts, was not injured, and no other injuries were reported by Highway Patrol. There was no word if any of the occupants in the collision wore seat belts.
The crash is being investigated by the S. C. Highway Patrol
and the Richland County Coroner’s office.
Bender: Meeting In Which MPA Contract Was Terminated May Have Been Illegal
BLYTHEWOOD – After Blythewood Mayor Bryan Franklin failed to timely turn over documents including texts and emails to MPA Strategies’ attorney Joseph Dickey that Dickey had asked for through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request, MPA’s owner and CEO Ashley Hunter filed a lawsuit against the Town to shake those documents loose.
Since April, 2021, when the Town hired outside legal counsel David Black with Nexsen Pruet law firm to handle legal matters with MPA, the Town’s ‘other legal and professional’ expenses listed on its monthly online financial report have mushroomed beyond the budgeted amount of $60,000 to $93,929.13. That amount has climbed every month since Black was hired.
The Voice has submitted an FOIA request to the Town for a
breakdown of the $93,929.13, since one is not provided on the online report and
could possibly include expenses for two other lawsuits the Town was previously
involved in.
A Contentious Hiring
After council discussed in the fall of 2020 the possibility
of hiring a firm to provide marketing and grant writing services to the Town,
the S.C. Municipal Association and the Town’s then Administrator Brian Cook,
both of whom were familiar with MPA’s work with other S.C. towns, suggested
Hunter’s name.
Ashley Hunter, owner and CEO of MPA Strategies
After council asked Hunter to submit a proposal in December,
2020, the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce also expressed interest in
vying for the marketing/grant writing contract. The Town broadened its search
for marketing/grant writing services by issuing an RFP (Request for Proposal).
MPA, the chamber and NP Strategies, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Nexsen Pruet law firm, responded to the RFP. From then forward,
the council and mayor have been consumed by contentious wrangling.
The mayor and Councilman Eddie Baughman wanted to hire the
Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce. Councilman Sloan Griffin and Donald
Brock wanted to hire MPA. Councilman Larry Griffin was initially on the fence
until he heard the two applicants’ presentations, then went with MPA, saying
that he didn’t think the Chamber had the resources and experience that MPA has.
“I’m looking for the best for the town,” Councilman Larry
Griffin said at the January council meeting, questioning the Chamber’s ability
to manage a number of separate services.
On Feb. 22, 2021, council voted 3-2 to hire MPA for approximately $48,000 a year to provide marketing and grant writing services, with Franklin and Baughman voting against. That vote was followed by a turbulent contract negotiation that lasted almost two months and involved myriad rumors and accusations concerning Hunter and Brock.
Dickey filed an FOIA request with the Town on April 15,
2021, asking for copies of Franklin’s texts, emails and other documents
concerning MPA and Hunter.
The next day, April 16, Franklin signed the contract.
On April 21, Franklin, without council’s consent – as
publicly confirmed by former Town Attorney Shannon Burnett at the May 27, 2021,
council meeting – approved for Town Administrator Carroll Williamson and
Burnett to hire outside counsel David Black to represent the Town pertaining to
MPA.
Hunter went to work at town hall on May 1, 2021.
During her first month working with the town, Hunter brought
in a $10,000 grant from International Paper Company with another $10,000 to
follow a couple of months later, which amounted to almost half the Town’s
first-year payout to MPA.
But the FOIA documents requested from Franklin were still
outstanding.
Franklin’s FOIA response to MPA was due May 24, 2021. While
Franklin announced in the May 24 town council meeting that he turned his
devices over to a third party vendor that day for the responsive documents to
be scanned and copied, he did not turn those responsive documents over to
Dickey on May 24 – the due date – as required by law.
It is a violation of S.C. FOIA to not respond to an FOIA
request within the statutorily-required time, according to media attorney
Taylor Smith, with Harrison Radeker & Smith law firm in Columbia.
On June 28, 2021, after Franklin’s FOIA response was almost
25 days overdue – not counting weekends and holidays – MPA filed a complaint in
the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Common Pleas seeking declaratory relief
from the Town’s FOIA violation.
“When information is
turned over after a lawsuit is served, that usually means prevailing party
status is given to the requester which almost assures they will win and their
attorney’s fees and costs will be paid by taxpayer money,” Smith said.
Franklin subsequently turned his documents over to Dickey on
July 9, 2021, 11 days after MPA filed the FOIA lawsuit.
More missteps
There may have been other missteps in how Town officials
handled the termination of the Town’s contract with MPA Strategies in a special
called town council meeting on July 20, 2021, according to Jay Bender, media
attorney with the S.C. Press Association.
The only business on the agenda at that meeting was an
executive session for the stated purpose to “receive legal advice relating to
claims and potential claims by and against the Town and other matters covered
by attorney-client privilege.”
Following that executive session, council voted to terminate
MPA’s contract, an action not listed on the agenda as a reason for going into
executive session. Councilman Sloan Griffin made the following motion: “With
the advice of our legal counsel and with the health and harmony amongst this
council and your office, I am making a motion to execute in accordance with the
advice of our attorney, our 60-day opt-out clause in the MPA contract.”
Councilman Eddie Baughman seconded the motion.
Bender said the reason for the executive session was
insufficiently specific.
“Since there was nothing on the agenda to indicate a
decision would be made to terminate a contract, no vote could be taken on that
matter unless notice was given or a vote taken to amend the agenda to act without
notice to the public because of exigent circumstances,” Bender said.
No notice had been given nor vote taken to amend the agenda.
In addition, it was disclosed at the special called meeting
that Franklin, Town Administrator Carroll Williamson and Town Attorney Shannon
Burnett had signed and filed a countersuit against MPA earlier that evening.
Three of the five council members – Brock and the two Griffins, the three who
had voted to hire MPA – later told The Voice they were not informed that a
countersuit was going to be filed against MPA, had not approved it, and had not
been asked to vote on it.
“I would think a vote of council would have been necessary,”
Bender said, “unless council had previously given authority to the mayor to
make the decision.”
It had not.
One other action Bender found possibly illegal about the
special called meeting was that the presiding officer, Franklin, was not
present at the meeting. He presided virtually via Zoom.
Town ordinance 30.12 (Remote Meeting Attendance and Participation)
passed by council a year earlier states, “The council member acting as the
presiding officer must be physically present at the meeting.”
“I would think a violation of the ordinance would provide a
basis to challenge the action taken,” Bender said.
The only action taken that evening was to terminate MPA’s
contract with the Town.
“Bottom line,” Bender concluded, “the executive session was
likely illegal, the vote to terminate the contract was likely illegal, and the
entire meeting may have been illegal given the ordinance requirement that the
presiding officer be present.”
COLUMBIA – Two men have been arrested in the shooting death of a Florida woman outside a bar at 7708 Fairfield Road, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
Malcolm Clinton, 26, and James Alterique White, 23, were
charged with the murder of Joyell Snell, 45, of Fort Myers, FL. The incident
occurred on Dec. 12, 2021.
The woman, who was shot in the upper body as she was leaving
the bar, was, according to the sheriff’s department, an innocent bystander.
Snell was transported to an area hospital where she died,
according to officials.
After more than a month following the shooting, Clinton and
White were arrested – Clinton on Jan. 15, 2021 and White on Jan. 24. White was
also charged with removing his electronic monitoring device, officials said.
Both men were booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention
Center. No bond has been set for either of them, records show.
On the night of the shooting, White and Clinton were seen
entering the bar, returning to the parking lot and entering a vehicle,
according to the release. As the vehicle left, shots were fired, hitting the
woman.
According to the public index, White was arrested for a previous
club shooting last June and was free on bond for several previous charges when
Snell was killed, the sheriff’s department said.
White was granted a $175,000 surety bond after being charged
with the attempted murder of a security guard at Hookah Lounge, 2700 Broad
River Road, on May 2, 2021, according to the release. The security guard was
shot in the upper body but survived.
White was also free on bond for several weapons charges
stemming from incidents about a month before the Hookah Lounge shooting,
according the sheriff’s news release. On March 12, White was arrested after
deputies attempted a traffic stop and he led them on a short chase, the
sheriff’s department said. He was charged with failure to stop for blue lights,
simple possession of marijuana, driving under suspension, and use of a vehicle
without the owner’s consent. He was released on a bond for this incident,
according to the release.
Less than two weeks later, on March 24, White was again
arrested after deputies responded to a shots fired call. He was charged with
simple possession of marijuana, unlawfully carrying a pistol, and possession of
a stolen pistol, according to the release. White then posted a $15,000 surety
bond, the sheriff’s department said.
“We have violent people being arrested, released and they
continue to commit crimes. The only way to protect our communities is to keep
them locked up,” Sheriff Lott said in the release. “White shot a security guard
doing his job, was arrested and bonded out. Six months later he shoots and
kills an innocent person. Our community needs help. The concept of catch and
release is not working. We are doing our part in solving crime and making
arrests. We need help in keeping them off the streets.”
BLYTHEWOOD – A Blythewood woman will spend the next two
years behind bars after pleading guilty to bilking the U.S. Government out of
over $1.2 million in federal stimulus money.
Bridgett Dorsey, 39, of Blythewood, was sentenced earlier
this month to defrauding the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
(C.A.R.E.S.) Act, as well as tax fraud.
Dorsey’s last known address was on Artisan Drive. She
previously lived in The LongCreek Plantation subdivision, records show. She
remained free on a $25,000 bond while the case was pending and is expected to
begin serving her sentence sometime after March 1, according to court records.
In addition, Dorsey must make nearly $1.08 million in
restitution to the Small Business Administration, and serve three years of
supervised release after her prison sentence expires.
Dorsey had faced up to 23 years in prison, four years of
supervised release, and $350,000 in fines, according to court records.
It’s the first conviction and/or guilty plea of a South
Carolinian relating to coronavirus aid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s
Office.
Dorsey “not only stole from the federal government and
engaged in tax fraud, but she prevented funds from reaching the hands of those
who needed it the most,” U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis said in prepared remarks.
“That this occurred during a pandemic makes her crimes particularly egregious.”
South Carolina and the rest of the nation have been coping
with the economic fallout stemming from the pandemic, which saw unemployment
skyrocket, and many businesses suspend operations or close altogether.
The CARES Act included numerous provisions designed to
offset those economic impacts, including low interest loans to qualifying
businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Since at least 2011, Dorsey has faced multiple debt
collection lawsuits and judgments, according to Richland County court records.
Most recently, in August 2020 she was hit with a $40,699
judgment after defaulting on a private loan, county court records state.
Also in 2020, Dorsey made several fraudulent and false
representations on a federal stimulus loan application for her business,
Virtual Financial Services, Inc., federal court records state.
A news release stated she created false documentation or
created businesses solely for the purpose of obtaining loans.
One such application filed in June 2020 resulted in a
$150,000 payment she wasn’t entitled to receive. Another loan request filed a
month earlier resulted in a payment of $86,250.
In all, Dorsey obtained loans and stimulus aid totaling
$1,253,460.35, documents state.
The tax fraud indictment states Dorsey claimed nearly $25,000
in tax deductions for the 2019 tax year, deductions the indictment states she
was not entitled to receive.
The indictments were issued in September 2021.
IRS investigators seized more than $530,000 from three
accounts Dorsey had created. Those funds were applied toward the restitution
she owes, the news release said.
“It is always a shame to see the rampant abuse of programs
designed to help ordinary people struggling through the pandemic,” IRS
investigator Brian Thomas said in a statement. “The IRS will continue to
thoroughly investigate and vigorously target those who exploit the pandemic to
commit tax fraud, and this case speaks to those efforts.”
In September 2021, Dorsey agreed to plead guilty to one
count of wire fraud and one count of aiding in a false return.
A lineman working to restore power in Blythewood. | Contributed
Blythewood
BLYTHEWOOD – After Sunday’s icy winter storm knocked out
power to about 12,000 Fairfield Electric Coop customers, linemen had restored
power to all but a few off them by 11 p.m., Monday night.
“The outages were widespread over our entire territory,”
Vice President of Member Services Doug Payne told The Voice Wednesday morning.
“Altogether, we probably had about 12,000 of our members without power at some
point. Some of those were on major circuits where we could restore power pretty
quickly.”
All but a very few had power restored by Monday night. Those few needed repairs on their individual services Payne said, and were pretty well taken care of by Tuesday.
Tree damage to horse fencing on a farm in Blythewood. | Contributed
“With wires down everywhere and broken poles, it took time
to work through the territory,” he said.
“The key to getting service restored so quickly was not only
the hard work and dedication of our linemen, but also the assistance we
received from partner cooperatives,” Payne said. “Several crews from the Akin
and York cooperatives as well as contractors and right-of-way contractors came
in to help us.”
With more icy weather forecast for this weekend, Payne said
these partners are on standby if Fairfield needs them again.
Payne said he posted updates on Facebook in an effort to
keep members informed of where the cooperative was in getting repairs made.
Many members also turned to Facebook to thank the linemen
for their work.
Our members were out of power and cold, but they were
patient with us, and that helped a lot,” Payne said. “Our linemen were working
as quickly and as safely as they possibly could to get power restored, and we
appreciated our members’ patience.”
Payne said he’s monitoring the upcoming weekend forecast.
“We’re hoping it’s not as bad as last weekend, but we’re going to be ready for whatever comes our way,” he said.
Picking up one of the broken power poles and getting the lines that had fallen into the reservoir out of the water late Monday afternoon. | Contributed
Fairfield County
WINNSBORO – During Tuesday night’s regular town council
meeting, William Medlin, Director of Electrical Utilities for the Town of
Winnsboro, gave an update on the effects of the severe weather conditions the
Town experienced on Sunday and Monday.
“At some point we lost all 3,400 customers,” Medlin said.
A tree down on Mobley Road in White Oak. | Addie Walker
He said that after his linemen spent two 20-hour days
repairing lines and power poles, only about 30-35 customers were still without
power.
Medlin posted on his Facebook page in the early morning
hours on Monday: “Our linemen worked late last night, some until 2 a.m. this
morning to get power back on for the town’s residents. They were up early again this morning and
will be out there late again tonight. We expect everyone to have power very
soon,”
Mayor John McMeekin praised the town’s crews.
“I can’t say enough about the dedication of our crews. I
can’t tell you how much we appreciate their hard work,” he said. “They deserve
all the accolades possible.”
Medlin and Town Manager Jason Taylor said there were delays
in getting the power turned back on due to damage to the generators at the
reservoir caused by the storm.
McMeekin told The Voice earlier Tuesday that trees downed by
the ice storm fell into the reservoir and knocked out the generator.
“When the reservoir went down, we had to concentrate heavily
on that, getting that caught back up so it wouldn’t cascade and then all of the
water go down,” Taylor said. “That delayed us getting power back on because we
had to drop everything to concentrate on the water to keep it from going down.
“
During that time, water pressure dropped in some areas and
others lost water altogether for a short time. A contractor was brought in from
North Carolina.
Taylor said town officials tried to regularly get
information out to the public on the status of power and water.
“We had public safety answering the phone,” Taylor said. “We
had people phone banking, trying to take all the calls we could. We posted on
Facebook, trying to get information out that way. We wanted residents to at
least know what areas we were working on, what our priorities were and that we
were doing everything we could to address the outages.”
Taylor said most of the Town’s Facebook posts were reaching
1,500 – 2,000 people.
Residents also took to Facebook to praise the town’s crews
who were working into the night Monday and Tuesday to restore power and water.
On Tuesday Jamie Brown commented: “Let’s keep all the
linemen and tree crews in our thoughts and give them a big thanks for all the
work they have done today in this weather. I know from experience how rough it
is doing that work on a normal day. Days like this are tougher.”
Donnie Richard Blackmon Laird commented, “We have no water.
Do you know when it will be back on?”
Taylor answered, “We don’t either, but it should be back up
in about 2 hours. We are having to pump several millions gallons [of water]
back into the system where it drained down when we were without power.”
Taylor said the storm exposed some weaknesses in the town’s
water system, specifically the lack of a backup generator for the reservoir.
“We do need backup generators. We need redundancy so when a
generator goes out, we can get going again,” he said.
BLAIR – After power had been out at their home for several hours on Sunday due to the storm, a Blair family of five tried to stay warm by building a fire in the home’s fireplace.
Shortly after, they noticed fire in the wall around the chimney.
They reportedly tried unsuccessfully to douse the fire, and called 911. The
blaze quickly spread, according to officials.
The first Fairfield County Fire Service units arrived at the
home, located on 99 Road in Blair, about 3 p.m. and reported heavy fire. Units
from Newberry County also responded for mutual aid.
According to the incident report, it took firefighters
several hours to control the fire which occurred during the weekend winter
storm that brought freezing temperatures and ice-forming rain to Fairfield
County.
No injuries were reported. The Red Cross assisted the family with food, housing and other necessities.
In addition to this house fire, Fairfield County fire units
responded to over 100 calls that same day for downed trees and power lines,
according to Fairfield County Fire Service Director Jason Pope.
“We can’t say enough about the men and women of the Fairfield County Fire
Service,” Pope said. “They have been running all day; over 100 downed trees and
power lines and a house fire. This just shows their dedication and commitment
to our citizens.”
WINNSBORO – After Sunday’s winter storm knocked out power to
the Winnsboro water reservoir, crews rallied to restore power to the reservoir
and refilled the town’s water tanks. On Monday, the Town issued a boil water
advisory to all its water customers except Blythewood which was not affected by
the power outage at the reservoir.
Later in the day, Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin told The
Voice that he expected the advisory could end as early as Tuesday. But DHEC has
continued to uphold the advisory until further notice.
“DHEC’s responsibility, of course, is to protect everybody. I
think everything is fine now, the tanks are full and there are no remaining
problems with the water, but DHEC has continued the advisory out of an
abundance of caution,” Winnsboro Town Manager Jason Taylor said Wednesday
morning.
The advisory is specific to Winnsboro water, Mid-County
Water, and the Town of Ridgeway water located in Fairfield County. These
customers are being advised to vigorously boil their water for at least one full
minute prior to drinking or cooking.
Also any residents near the affected areas who have lost
water and or water pressure are advised to vigorously boil their water for at
least one full minute prior to drinking or cooking. Any ice made from water that
has not been boiled should not be used for drinking purposes.
According to Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin, during the ice storm on Sunday, trees were downed at the reservoir, knocking out the generator.
“This is basically what led to the problems that caused
advisory to be issued,” McMeekin said.
“They had to repair the generator, and it’s working now and pumping, but we had to refill the water tanks around town after the repairs,” McMeekin said. “They’re full now, and I think everything is just about cleared up,” he told The Voice on Wednesday. “We’ll make an announcement as soon as DHEC cancels the advisory.”
Bob Innes, Director of the Fairfield Co. Animal Shelter & Adoption Center, checks on dog crates stacked two-high in a back room of the shelter, which is housing 22 more dogs than it has capacity for. | Photos: Barbara Ball
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Animal Shelter announced on Jan. 6 that it would be closing its doors for all non-emergency intakes until further notice.
“We are so overcrowded right now that we can’t take any more
dogs from people dropping them off for surrender,” said Fairfield County Animal
Shelter Director Bob Innes. “We have to save what space we have for emergencies
– dogs hit by cars, strays that have to be picked up, etc.
“We have 65 dogs in here now and we only have capacity for
43,” he said. “At this point they have to go right into a crate when they come
in, and we have to keep many of them outside during the day in their pens. We
don’t have the space inside. But it’s so cold at night that we start bringing
the dogs in about 4 o’clock in the afternoon.”
“We’re bursting at the seams,” Innes said of the situation. “At night, they’re all over the place in here. We just don’t have enough space.”
Space for these dogs was found in the shelter’s restroom between the toilet and the wall.
By the time staff leaves for the day, Innes says dogs in
crates occupy every open space inside the shelter – sometimes two crates high –
in hallways, restrooms, the laundry room, the entry, the back room, everywhere.
Innes’s passion for the animals he oversees has inspired a
cadre of volunteers who not only help with the animals, but donate and
fundraise for the shelter.
Much of the funds the shelter operates on, especially for
emergencies, are raised and donated by the Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society, the
Friends of Fairfield County SC Animal Shelter, and from others in the
community. Innes says much of the donations come from outside Fairfield County.
In December, the Blythewood Artists’ Guild raised thousands of dollars in cash
and products for the shelter during the Guild’s annual holiday market.
The intake, across the street and next to the public works building, consists of a long narrow hallway with kennels along each side with no space for other offices. Only a few have outside runs.
Besides not having adequate space to properly house the dogs as they wait for adoption or transfer, the inside of the intake facility across the street from the shelter is stark and cramped – a single, narrow hallway with kennels on either side.
Volunteers have been campaigning for and raising funds
toward building a new, more adequate, up-to-date shelter. At the same time, the
county has made cuts in funding to the shelter last year as well as cutbacks in
temporary help, a blow to the shelter’s day-to-day operations.
Almost all of the dogs the shelter takes in are Pit Bulls or
a mix of the breed. Innes says they’re good dogs, they just need good homes.
Under Innes’ guidance, the Fairfield shelter has been
designated a no-kill shelter. He says euthanasia is not an option to
overcrowding – that is only used for severe sickness or injury.
“We’ve been able to transfer some of the dogs to rescue
organizations,” Innes said, “but we need to move more.”
The shelter depends on volunteers to transport these dogs to
other areas of the state and even across the country where their chance of
adoption is better. But for the last month or so, transfers and adoptions have
been slow.
According to a post on the shelter’s website, adoptions from the shelter are not limited to residents of Fairfield County. Residents from surrounding counties are welcome to adopt, he says.
To volunteer or donate to the shelter, call 803-815-0805.
The shelter is located at 1678 U.S. Highway 321 Business
North in Winnsboro. Hours are Monday – Friday, 12 noon to 4:30 p.m. and by
appointment on Saturdays.
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill has identified the man who was killed in a motor vehicle crash on Tuesday Jan 4.
Stefon Gaither, 59, of Winnsboro, was traveling west on Hwy 34 (Newberry Rd) when he lost control of the Ford pickup truck he was driving and crashed into a guardrail, possibly flipping during the accident.
Mr. Gaither was removed from the vehicle by Fairfield County volunteer firefighters and was taken by Fairfield County EMS to MUSC Fairfield Emergency Department where he was pronounced deceased.
The accident remains under investigation by Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and South Carolina Highway Patrol.
COLUMBIA – Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford has
confirmed that the body that was recovered at Lake Carolina around 4:35 p.m.,
Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 is that of Theron Wallace, 20, of Columbia.
Wallace
Wallace had been missing since Christmas morning while he was kayaking on Lake Carolina.
“This has been a difficult week for the Wallace family.
While we didn’t get the results we hoped for, we are grateful that this family
can begin the process for healing. We will continue working with the South
Carolina Department of Natural Resources to fully investigate this accident”,
Coroner Rutherford states.
According to Rutherford, The Richland County Coroner’s
Office Forensic K-9 unit assisted the South Carolina Department of Natural
Resources with the recovery of the of Wallace’s body.
