Officials probing derailment of train in McCormick County

February 9, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

McCORMICK — When Eliza Jenkins heard about a train derailment in the Troy area Monday night, her first thought was immediately for her health.
Jenkins was worried, since she has asthma and is allergic to air-borne pollutants.
“If it were chemicals, I thought I’d be dead,” she said.
A CSX Transportation train leaving Augusta, Ga., heading to Spartanburg derailed along Troy Road shortly after 9 p.m.
“There were two locomotives, three rail cars, one empty car and two (cars) carrying lumber that derailed,” said CSX Spokeswoman Misty Skipper.
All together there were two locomotives, 11 loaded cars and 13 empty cars, she said.
As the McCormick Emergency Management Team was called to the derailment Monday night, its members proceeded with caution until they knew the nature of the incident, said Emergency Management Coordinator Chris Doolittle.
“We were able to check for chemicals and there is a small diesel leak,” Doolittle said Monday night. Two train operators were inside the train, but they were not seriously injured.
Doolittle said the two operators were responsive to emergency workers, and they were able to talk and walk.
They were sent to the hospital via CSX personnel, he said.
Also on the scene were the McCormick County Sheriff’s Office, the McCormick city and county fire departments, and the McCormick EMS.
Crews worked throughout Monday night and into Tuesday evening to clean the area and repair the damaged track.
“We hope to have it open Tuesday evening,” Skipper said.
There were trains waiting on the tracks a few miles farther south in Bradley. Skipper said some of the operators of those trains decided to wait for removal of the derailment debris.
“It depends on where (trains) are going. We can re-route them around the track,” she said.
Skipper said at this time there was no estimate of the cost of damages.
When Joan Huizenga heard about the derailment, her first reaction was shock.
“I thought, hopefully, this is not another Graniteville,” she said.
Nine people died, more than 250 were injured and about 5,400 were evacuated Jan. 6 when a toxic chlorine gas cloud was released following a train wreck at a textile mill in the Aiken County town.
Huizenga said she hoped there weren’t any injuries and no chemical leaks. She said she thought about the environment and the threat of harmful chemicals in the air.
“It’s kind of scary,” said Robbie White, who also was afraid there was a chemical leak.
“I’m glad nothing happened to the people in the surrounding neighborhoods,” she said.
Edward Jenkins, like his mother Eliza, heard about the incident on television.
“I was just wondering if anyone was hurt,” he said of his first thoughts of the derailment.
Ethel Williams of Plum Branch said when she heard there was no chemical leak, she was relieved.
“I thought about the chemical reactions and I thought we would probably have to leave our homes,” Williams said.
The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

Shavonne Potts covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3306, or: spotts@indexjournal.com.

Mary Butler

WARE SHOALS — Mary O’Shields Butler, 89, of 139 Cline Road, widow of Robert B. Butler Jr., died Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Laurens County, she was a daughter of the late Ernest Richard and Maggie Florence Terry O’Shields. She was of the Pentecostal faith and retired from Riegel Textiles.
Survivors include a son, Danny Ray Butler of Ware Shoals; three daughters, Robbie McAllister and Susie Boggs, both of Ware Shoals and Helen O’Dell of Hodges; two brothers, Fred O’Shields of Florida and Tommy O’Shields of Middletown, Del.; five sisters, Effie Pitts of Laurens, Essie O’Shields of Ware Shoals, Joan Chapman and Bobbie O’Shields, both of Myrtle Beach and Frances Chapman of Greenwood; eight grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Thursday at Parker-White Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. Ray Boggs. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home of a daughter Robbie McAllister, 8-B Green Acres Drive.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.

Kathleen Davis Collins

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Kathleen Davis Knight Collins, 95, formerly of Darlington and Greenwood, S.C., widow of Clifton H. Knight and Robert Stuart Collins, died Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.
Shinn Funeral Service is in charge.

Edna Darling

EASLEY — Edna Lucille Nickles Darling, 87, of Foothills Presbyterian Home, wife of Capt. Robert C. Darling, died Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Born in Hodges, she was a daughter of the late Olin and Nina Botts Nickles. She graduated from Lander College, Greenwood, with a degree in home economics. A Navy Waves veteran of World War II, she was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of American Legion Post 120 in Seneca.
Survivors include her husband of the home; a son, Robert C. Darling Jr. of Oakridge, Ore.; three daughters, Nancy Keefer of Charleston, Nina Darling of Olney, Maryland and Patricia Smith of Canton, Ohio; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson.
Memorial services are 10 a.m. Thursday at the Foothills Presbyterian Home.
Graveside services are 3 p.m. Thursday in Greenwood Memorial Gardens, Greenwood. Visitation is after graveside services in Hodges Presbyterian Church social hall.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Easley Presbyterian Church, 200 S. First St., Easley, SC 29640 or Foothills Presbyterian Home, Home Healthcare Center, Attn: New Wing Fund, 205 Bud Nalley Drive, Easley, SC 29642.
Robinson Funeral Home, downtown chapel, is in charge.

Daisy Dorn

Daisy Dorn, 84, of 328 Grove St., Apt. 4-H, died Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 at her home.
Born in McCormick County, she was a daughter of the late William and Anna Thomas Dorn. She was a homemaker and a member of Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Greenwood.
Survivors include a son, Raymond Kelly of Greenwood; three daughters, Annell Chamberlain, Pearl Drennon and Jannie Dorn, all of Greenwood; a nephew reared in the home, Woodrow Pete Gilchrist of Greenwood; 11 grandchildren; and 27 great-grandchildren.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Betty Strother

SEVERNA PARK, Md. — Elizabeth Anne “Betty” Kennedy Strother, 79, of 203 Oak Ave., widow of John C. Strother, died Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005 at Sunrise Assisted Living in Severna Park.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home, Greenwood, S.C.

Panijah Armani Tolbert

Panijah Armani Tolbert, 6 months, of 528 Halls St., died Monday, Feb. 7, 2005 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Born in Greenwood, she was the infant daughter of Tashika Tolbert and Thomas Williams.
Survivors include her mother of the home; her father of Laurens; a sister, Quintashia Owens of Laurens; a brother, Quintavios Owens of Laurens; maternal grandfather, Johnnie Conner of Hodges; maternal great-grandmother, Lizzie Tolbert of Greenwood; and paternal grandparents, Betty and Nathaniel Williams of Laurens.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Florence H. Weigel

OREGON, Ohio — Florence H. Weigel, 91, widow of Frank C. Weigel, died Sunday, Feb. 6, 2005 at Heartland of Oregon Nursing Home.
Born in Martin, she was a daughter of the late Herman and Clara Behm. She was a member of Elliston Zion United Methodist Church.
Survivors include three children, Clyde Weigel of Ninety Six, S.C., Gerald Weigel and Don Weigel; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Mrs. Howard (Elsie) Lohr and Mrs. Glenn (Ruth) Shinn.
Services are 11 a.m. Thursday at Elliston Zion United Methodist Church, 2212 Elliston Trowbridge Road, Elliston. Burial is in Elliston Cemetery.
Freck Funeral Home is in charge.

4 lead Vikings to win

February 9, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Special to The Index-Journal

SALUDA — Four players scored in double figures for the Emerald High School boys basketball team, as the Vikings raced past the Tigers, 79-64, in front of a capacity crowd at Saluda High School Tuesday night.
D.L. Griffin poured in a game- high 24 points for Emerald, while Aaron Evans chipped in 15 points. Fred Johnson and Demarko Anderson added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The two teams burst out of the gate with a nip-and-tuck, up-tempo first quarter.
Evans came up big in the opening frame, dumping in seven points on an array of inside post moves.
Saluda’s Rodrecus Tolen closed the quarter with a running left-handed jumper, bringing the score to 16-13 in favor of Emerald heading into the second period.
Tolen led Saluda with 20 points.
Emerald opened up a lead in the second quarter. Midway through the frame the Vikings went on a 7-0 run, spearheaded by consecutive three pointers from Griffin. Saluda’s Markese Holloway was able to give the Tigers a lift as halftime approched, throwing down a two-handed slam-dunk as time in the half expired. The Vikings carried a 34-25 lead into the locker room.
Holloway, who fouled out, would finish the contest with 14 points.
Aaron Evans would set the tone for the Vikings immediately in the third period. Evans snatched a Griffin three-point attempt off of the rim and sent home a vicious power slam. The Vikings would continue to push the tempo of the game. Using an aggressive 3-2 zone defense, Emerald was able to get several key turnovers. Fred Johnson subsequently set about capitalizing on the turnovers, scoring seven of his 11 points in the third period. At the end of the frame, Emerald found themselves on top 59-43.
Saluda would attempt a comeback in the fourth period. Holloway opened the period with a three-pointer, followed closely by a slashing hoop from Trevor Deloach. Saluda went on a 10-3 scoring run. The run was punctuated by Montez Mathis, who performed a ankle breaker on D.L. Griffin, sending Griffin sprawling to the floor as he blew past him for the finger roll.
However the run was not enough. Emerald got key free throws from Chris White down the stretch and closed out the 79-64 victory.
The Vikings (15-7 overall, 7-2 region) will play host to Ninety Six on Thursday.

EHS girls edge past Saluda

February 9, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Special to The Index-Journal

SALUDA — When it comes to free throws, like other things in life, quality wins out over quantity every time.
Such was the case Tuesday night, as the Emerald High Lady Vikings sank key free throws down the stretch to edge the Saluda High Lady Tigers 51-49 in Region III-AA hoops action.
“We practice those every day,” said Emerald coach Anarie Duckett. “We missed too many, but we hit them when we need them most.”
The game opened as a grinding, low-scoring affair. Emerald’s Domnick Mitchell scored five points in the first frame, accounting for all of Lady Vikings’ scoring in the period.
The Lady Vikings led 5-4 at the end of the frame.
“We were sluggish early,” said Duckett, adding, “Luckily we picked it up as we went along.”
The two teams found mor of a rhythm in the second period. Saluda’s Kayla Downing and Brooke Wiliams each had steals and transition lay-ups late in the half. The Lady Tigers led 17-15 heading into the locker room.
Emerald opened up a lead in the third quarter, due in large part to an oppressive full court trap. Getting steals and forcing bad shots, Emerald pushed the lead out to 38-31 at the end of the third period. Mitchell scored 10 of her game high 27 points in the period.
“We put the trap in at halftime, because we were so sluggish in the first half,” said Duckett, adding, “We have been sluggish in the first half of every road game. I felt we needed to be more aggressive in the second.”
Saluda mounted a charge in the fourth period. The Lady Tigers pulled ahead 44-43 late in the period. However it was the last lead they would enjoy.
Brittany Connor and Elizabeth Nicholson each hit key free throws in the final minutes, closing out the 51-49 win for the Lady Vikings.
Emerald (14-7 overall, 7-2 region) will play host to Ninety Six on Thursday.

What’s tort reform about? As usual, it’s just money

February 9, 2005

Tort reform. That’s a big topic of discussion now among the governor of South Carolina and members of the state Legislature. It is, in fact, now before the state Senate.
President Bush is also pushing for federal action on the same thing.
It’s safe to say that a good many South Carolinians have no idea what tort reform is all about. The dictionary describes a tort as “a wrongful act, not including a contract or breach of trust, that results in injury to another’s person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation.”
For the sake of simplicity, the debate in this state involves extremely large monetary awards in civil court cases and what should or shouldn’t be done about them.

LEGIMATE JURY AWARDS WITH reasonable amounts are not seen as the problem. What is, reformists argue, are the very high awards that appear to be out of proportion to what many people would consider reasonable.
In South Carolina, this debate has lawyers on one side and physicians and business interests on the other. Physicians argue that extremely high liability awards in jury cases have made insurance premiums so high they are being driven from practicing medicine in S. C. Business interests say the threat of high liability hinders recruitment of new industry. Lawyers counter that it would be unfair to consumers to put a cap on any monetary awards that are decided by juries.
Obviously, it’s a serious situation and should be debated publicly.

IT MAY BE DIFFICULT FOR THE average South Carolinian to follow the debate, though, and be able to separate the fact from fiction. Exaggerations just might clutter the proceedings to such an extent that reality will be hard to find.
Nevertheless, the liability situation should have been a priority long before now. While lawmakers argue, let them be straight forward with their constituents. Keep the debate in layman’s language so all can understand who’s trying to solve the problem and who’s trying to continue the confusion.
One thing consumers can count on, though. Money’s involved. That being the case, look for all kinds of claims and counterclaims. Weigh it all and then decide for yourself which side has tried to confuse the issue. Then, next election, vote accordingly.