New industry coming

Pipe facility will bring 75 jobs to Greenwood

April 25, 2007

By KENNY MAPLE
Index-Journal staff writer



Greenwood Rotary Club members are accustomed to meeting new people, especially through the club’s regular lunch programs.
But Tuesday’s meeting was different with the introduction of Dorothe Krah, CEO of Krah North America.
The reason for her introduction was to announce a new industry in Greenwood that will bring 75 jobs to the area within five years. Krah, a company originating in Germany, expects to invest $20 million here in its production of plastic pipe, punching and bending tools. The company already has facilities in Germany, Argentina, Kuwait, Croatia and China. The facility here will be the headquarters for North America.
Krah will renovate a building on Bucklevel Road, near the airport. The renovations will cost between $1 million and $2 million.
“We put a lot of money into it,” Krah said. “It’s not in the best shape and still full of material.”
Krah said the building has not been used in about two years.
The facility is expected to open in July; it will take about four weeks to ship the materials and machines. Once Krah is up and running, it will add skilled and unskilled jobs to the county with an average pay of about $12 an hour.
The company will hire people from surrounding areas, as well as in Greenwood.
“We would love to have lots of jobs in Greenwood,” she said.
John Lowery, interim CEO and director of marketing and special programs for the Partnership Alliance of Greenwood, said Krah is making its North American home in Greenwood partly because of incentives.
“We go beyond services most communities will offer,” he said.
Krah explained further in a written statement.
“They simply offered us the best combination of incentives, business environment and service from the beginning of the project to the end.”
Krah will begin with one production line, but might have a second line by the end of the year.
The company’s product, because of its size, will be shipped mostly to locations within a 300-mile radius, though specialty products can go longer distances.
Willem Boltong, consultant for Krah and president of A.I.M. International, also said there is possibility for further growth.
“If we see markets beyond our radius we can set up other facilities,” Boltong said.
Krah’s announcement has sparked excitement, not only within Greenwood but within the state.
“As businesses work to develop operations in strategic locations, South Carolina continues to be an ideal choice,” Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor said. “Once again, our state’s business friendly climate, access to markets, quality workforce and excellent infrastructure are opening doors and working to grow our economy.”
“Krah Pipe Systems is another key in our growing building products cluster, and the third European company to choose Greenwood in the last three years,” Greenwood County Council Chairman Robbie Templeton said. “We are pleased to welcome Krah to Greenwood.”

Ware Shoals school board announces decision

Blackwell’s suspension off

April 25, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

WARE SHOALS — After being suspended with pay for three months, Jane Blackwell has regained employment with Ware Shoals School District 51.
The District 51 school board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to adopt a decision to allow Blackwell to go back to work. However, Blackwell, who was suspended in January following her arrest on a charge of obstruction of justice, will not immediately go back to her duties as principal and will instead have a job somewhere else within the district, at least pending the results of her upcoming criminal trial.
School board attorney Bruce Davis said District 51 superintendent Fay Sprouse will assign Blackwell, who is Sprouse’s first cousin, to her new position. Attempts to reach Sprouse Tuesday were unsuccessful, as officials from District 51 said she was working outside the district.
Davis added the board’s decision would be revisited if Blackwell is found guilty at a criminal trial.
One of Blackwell’s attorneys, Lance Sheek, said Blackwell simply has reservations about returning to the school at this point.
“(Blackwell) will not be acting as principal at Ware Shoals (High), at least not until the criminal proceedings have concluded,” Sheek said. “I think she misses Ware Shoals (High School) a great deal. I think she misses the faculty and misses the students.
“I think she would like to return. But given the media coverage and what law enforcement has said about her in the media, I think returning (as principal) would probably be difficult.”
Sheek said he and Garrett have asked for a May trial for Blackwell. However, Solicitor Jerry Peace said that is not likely, as there are 1,500 cases ahead of Blackwell’s.

Long meeting

The decision to retain Blackwell came early Tuesday morning after being announced at the end of a special called meeting of the District 51 school board that began Monday evening at the Ware Shoals High auditorium. The meeting began about 5:30 p.m. Monday and lasted until 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
After the meeting began, the board voted to reopen Blackwell’s private hearing that began April 6 to hear further information that was released by the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office last Thursday. After hearing that information, the board reportedly began its deliberations on what it had heard, also in a closed meeting.
The board and Davis emerged from the closed meeting at 9:19 p.m. and voted on the decision discussed in the closed meeting. The vote was unanimous to adopt the decision.
Davis spent the next four hours reading from transcripts from Blackwell’s hearing, to give the crowd an idea as to why the board made the decision it did. In some instances, witnesses who gave statements during the hearing actually took the stage and read from their portion of the transcript.
Included among the participants were Blackwell, Ware Shoals teacher Betty House, administrator Arlene O’Dell, teacher Genie McDill and Janice Walpole.
Shortly before 1:30 a.m., Davis officially announced the board’s decision to withdraw Blackwell’s suspension and said she would retain a job somewhere within District 51.
Sheek commented just before midnight Monday that the decision to spend hour after hour reading testimony before announcing the board’s decision was one of “the most bizarre things” he had ever encountered.
Davis touched on why he chose to render the decision the way he did.
“I think people that were here tonight have, for the first time, heard what could reasonably be called facts in this matter,” Davis said. “It had to be ordered and presented in this way in order for the people in this community to have a sense that they were at the hearing.
“I put together the decision in a way that would lift from the transcript the essence of what the witnesses said so that when I read this, it would be virtually the equivalent of what was said at the hearing.”

Public/private meeting

Blackwell’s April 6 hearing was originally announced as a public affair. However, Blackwell said she wanted cameras — of the media and otherwise — shut off during witness statements. She said it was her desire not to further expose the identities of students and cheerleaders who testified via video deposition.
However, WSPA and reporter Carmen Coursey refused to shut their camera off, citing the state open meeting laws that say cameras cannot be barred from a public meeting. Blackwell and her attorneys then ordered the hearing to go private.
On Monday, Davis said WSPA’s refusal to cut their camera was a decision that will “live in infamy” in Greenwood County.
Ironically, after all of the talk about not exposing students and cheerleaders, the names and ages of numerous students — including cheerleaders — were discussed openly for all to hear at Monday night’s meeting.
“I understood that the reason it went into a private meeting was so that names and ages of students would not be revealed publicly,” said Ware Shoals Police Chief Mickey Boland. “Then (Monday night) all of the testimony revealed all of those names to anyone there and to all the media present.
“I just wonder why there wasn’t a public hearing to begin with.”

Different stories

Blackwell’s obstruction of justice charge stems from the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office assertion that she hindered, deceived and misled sheriff’s office investigators during their investigations into the actions of former Ware Shoals cheerleading coach Jill Moore.
Moore is facing her own set of charges, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing alcohol to minors. She was arrested Jan. 18 after authorities said she provided alcohol and cigarettes to a pair of then-16-year-old cheerleaders. She is also accused of placing the pair in an inappropriate situation regarding a sexual relationship Moore was having with a National Guardsman.
In another aspect of the case, the sheriff’s office also contends Blackwell had knowledge of Moore traveling to a South Carolina-Clemson football game last November with two students and getting intoxicated while she was there with them. Chief Deputy Mike Frederick said the sheriff’s office has Moore on videotape confirming the incident.
Moore reportedly told authorities she went to Blackwell’s home on Nov. 29 and told her about the activities at the Clemson game, and that House was present while the meeting was going on. However, on Monday Blackwell and House read testimony from the hearing that offered a different take on the conversation.
House said she was at Blackwell’s home when Blackwell met with Moore. However, she said she remembered the meeting as having taken place in early December. The reason she said she remembers it being December is because she had gone over to Blackwell’s to help trim the Christmas tree.
She said that while she was at Blackwell’s, Moore called and said she wanted to come over and talk to Blackwell. House said Blackwell commented to her that Moore sounded upset on the phone. When Moore arrived, House said she asked Moore and Blackwell if they wanted her to leave, and they both said it was OK if she stayed. House said she went into the other room and decorated the tree, but could hear what was being said.
House said she overheard Moore reportedly tell Blackwell that she had gone to the Clemson game with two students— one female and one 19-year-old male — and said she allegedly split from them at the game and did not come home with either. House added that Moore reportedly told Blackwell that Ware Shoals athletic director Vic Lollis had put an improper fraternization document in her box at school the following week and that she allegedly thought Lollis was trying to get her fired.
Blackwell confirmed House’s account of the meeting, adding Moore reportedly said she had done nothing wrong. Blackwell said she told Moore that if she had done nothing wrong, she had nothing to worry about.
The 19-year-old male student, a member of the Ware Shoals High School football team, has admitted to having a sexual relationship with Moore and to driving an intoxicated Moore home from the Clemson game. Moore told authorities she went home from the game with the player, but she said she did not tell Blackwell about it.
Moore was subpoenaed to speak at the hearing, but Davis said she exercised her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination on each of the five questions she was asked by Blackwell’s other attorney, Billy Garrett.
The five questions Moore was asked were:
1. Did you tell Mrs. Blackwell that you went to the Clemson game with students and got drunk?
2. Did you tell Mrs. Blackwell that you provided alcohol and/or cigarettes to students?
3. Did you tell Mrs. Blackwell you rode home with a Ware Shoals student after the Clemson-Carolina football game?
4. Did you tell Mrs. Blackwell you had a sexual relationship with a Ware Shoals High School student?
5. Did you ask or did Jane offer to cover up any of your activities?
Lockdown?
Another section of the Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant affidavit against Blackwell said students told authorities Blackwell ordered “at least some” of the bathroom doors in the school locked during class transition periods so students could not text-message people outside of school about the scandal.
It was pointed out at Monday’s meeting that the majority of bathroom doors in the school do not have locks on them. There are a pair of bathrooms that do have locks on the lower floor of the school, but they are reportedly the type that are latched from the inside.
Davis read testimony from one cheerleader who said she went to a bathroom on the lower floor of the high school on Jan. 19, the day after Moore was arrested, but found it locked. She said she told authorities she had heard rumors Blackwell had ordered doors locked and assumed that was why the door was locked. She reportedly acknowledged to Blackwell’s attorneys that the door is the type that locks only from the inside.

Intimidation?

Statements were read Monday night that Davis and Blackwell’s attorneys say contradict claims in the Sheriff’s Office investigation that Blackwell told cheerleaders not to talk to “anyone” about Moore’s actions in a Jan. 19 meeting with cheerleaders.
Davis read deposition and statements from several cheerleaders, stating the name, grade and age of each cheerleader as he did so. With the exception of one cheerleader, the statements that were read detailed cheerleaders saying Blackwell ordered cheerleaders not to talk about the Moore situation during class. However, the cheerleaders did say Blackwell reportedly told them that if they had any factual information, they should talk to authorities.
She also reportedly told them they could speak with Stephanie Covan, a guidance counselor, if they had any distress about the situation they wanted to discuss.
Testimony was not read Monday from every member of the cheerleading squad. Davis said some were not interviewed by him or Blackwell’s attorneys because they were so young they could not articulate facts about the case.
Others were not interviewed because of their involvement in a potential lawsuit against District 51 by Charleston attorney Lionel Lofton.
At the end of the special called meeting, which stretched into early Tuesday morning, Davis went on a diatribe against the Sheriff’s Office, calling its investigation, among other things, “inept.”
On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Mike Frederick responded.
“They’ve been rallying around a few arcane points, like the thing with the bathroom doors, for months,” Frederick said. “They have continually insulted the sheriff (Dan Wideman), myself and our investigators.
“But I want to be clear: This hearing has no impact on our investigation whatsoever. Our case will be tried in a court, with prosecution presenting the other side of things and with 12 of (Blackwell’s) peers in a box. No attorneys or school boards will decide her fate at that point. Twelve of her peers will make that decision.”
Peace said it is yet to be determined how the hearing will affect the state’s case.
“What we’ll do is get a copy of the transcript to see what was said and determine what impact, if any, it will have on our case,” Peace said. “This hearing was pretty unusual. It will be something we haven’t dealt with very often.”

Abbeville man pleads guilty, gets 25 years

Man admits sexual misconduct with 10-year-old

April 25, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

ABBEVILLE — An Abbeville man charged with first-degree criminal sexual misconduct received a near-maximum prison sentence of 25 years following a guilty plea Tuesday morning at the Abbeville County Courthouse.
William “Billy” Edward Ronca, 27, stood before 13th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Gary Hill and admitted his guilt in the disturbing pregnancy of his then 10-year-old stepdaughter, who delivered a baby boy April 11, 2006, by way of a Cesarean section.
Stating the facts in the case, Eighth Judicial Circuit Deputy Solicitor John Anthony told the judge that the victim was in the third grade when school officials began to notice a unsubstantiated gain in weight.
The victim’s mother told The Index-Journal upon Ronca’s arrest in January 2006 that “we thought she was just growing funny.”
It was then discovered the victim was in fact between seven and eight months pregnant. Anthony added that the misconduct had occurred once per week and been endured for about a two-year time period.
A visibly shaken Brian Jones — the father of the young girl — stepped forward to address the court about the events that had befallen his daughter.
“There are no words to describe the devastation that has been brought upon my daughter and our family,” Jones said, often stopping for brief moments to gather his emotions. “I know that what (Ronca) did to her will forever haunt her for the rest of her life.
“Every time she changes her clothes or gets into the shower, she will see the stretch marks and see the scar. She’ll probably never recover from what happened.”
During Jones’ statement, Ronca kept his head bowed solemnly.
The baby has since been adopted.
In his own statement, given just before the sentence was handed down by Hill, Ronca asked for eventual forgiveness from the victim.
“Your honor, I would like to apologize for my actions,” he said. “I do wish that I could take that all away. I wish nothing but the best for (the victim). One day I hope that she might find it in her heart to forgive me. I stand before the court and ask that my God and the court have mercy on me.”
Both of the victim’s grandmothers — each saying they themselves had suffered as a victim of sexual misconduct or abuse — gave voice to the pain experienced by the family, while pleading with Hill that justice be done.
“This is a scar that will never go away,” said Barbara Jones, the victim’s paternal grandmother. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. What would you want done if she were your little girl? You would want justice.” “Please remember the victim,” said Bonnie Moody, the victim’s maternal grandmother. “She has been stripped of her childhood and stripped of her innocence. Please remember that you are her voice.”
Tara Schultz, Ronca’s public defender, asked Hill for a sentence less than the maximum (30 years in prison under state law at the time Ronca was arrested), telling the court her client had admitted to his guilt up front and shown remorse from the earliest days of her contact with him.
“A case like this is never easy,” Schultz told the court. “Your honor has a tough job. From day one he has faced up to his actions. He is here to be humbly accepting of whatever sentence he is given in this court.”
Court details of Ronca’s troubled past revealed Tuesday showed the South Boston, Mass., native — he moved to Abbeville in 2000 — began stealing items and smoking marijuana at 8 years old, was a father for the first time at 16, has attempted suicide twice, experimented with numerous drugs and has seen three different psychiatrists over the years.
Several members of Ronca’s family also addressed the court in asking for mercy in the sentence, including Ronca’s mother, Jeanne Lezotte.
“I don’t condone what he did,” she said, before beginning to weep. “My heart goes out to (the victim) because she is a very beautiful little girl. I love my son very much, and I just ask that you will show him mercy.”
Under state law, Ronca will serve at least 85 percent of his 25-year sentence. The penalty for Ronca’s crime — first-degree criminal sexual misconduct — has stiffened since his arrest, from a maximum of 30 years in prison to a new maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The three daughters (including the victim) belonging to the victim’s mother — all half-sisters with differing fathers — have been removed from the home and separated since the incident occurred.
The victim is now living with her father, while her two siblings continue to be cared for by other family members.
The victim’s mother, Barbara Jones, said the emotional trauma placed on the family will remain long after the shocking case has faded from the public memory.
“Those girls have been split up now because of this,” she said. “That baby is still my grandchild and I will never even be able to see him.”

GHS starts playoffs with win

April 25, 2007

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

The Greenwood Eagles varsity tennis team faced a hard-nosed Dorman team in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs Tuesday, but were able to come away with a 4-2 victory.
The Eagles won two third-set tie breaks, which were the difference in the final score.
The Eagles’ Wataru Yoshimura and Matt Moore had their hands full in their marathon matches, but without their wins, the Eagles’ season might have ended prematurely.
The Eagles Jordan Poznick and Edward Snead made light work of their opponents, as the entire team now prepares for its next obstacle.
“I thought our kids showed a lot of character today,” Eagles coach Jim Still said. “We’ve got some vets and we’ve been through it before. I was very pleased with them today. We showed how resilient we are and the experience showed.”
Based on the outcome of the Fort Mill-Aiken game, the Eagles might have an opportunity to play at home Thursday in the second round.
A victory by Fort Mill would force the Eagles to travel. However, if Aiken wins, the Eagles will play at Gatewood.
Still said that the opponent has no bearing on his team’s mind-set.
“We’r e just trying to get a win in the next round,” Still said. “All we can do is take it one round at a time.”

Obituaries

Mike Cockrell

NINETY SIX — Lewis Michael Cockrell, 52, of 229 Beach Drive, Ninety Six, died Sunday, April 22, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Saluda, he was a son of Fannie Mae Still Young and the late Frank Cockrell. He was a retired painter and attended Greenwood House of Prayer.
Surviving are his mother of Ninety Six; three daughters, Angela Weeks and Jessica Lawton, both of Greenwood and Cynthia Rene of Columbia; a son, Chris Cockrell of Hodges; four sisters, Cindy Price, Sylvia Parris and Rosemary Cockrell, all of Greenwood and Cathy Burdette of Waterloo; four brothers, Joe Cockrell of Newberry, Jay Cockrell of Waterloo, Kevin Cockrell and Robert Cockrell, both of Saluda; and 12 grandchildren.
Services will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Harley Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Bobby Davis officiating. Burial will be in Red Bank Baptist Church Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Eric Walker, Michael Cockrell, Jeremy Allen, Johnny Parris, Russell Cline, Waymond Cockrell, Mathew Thomas and Scott Cockrell.
The family is at the home of his mother, Mae Young, 118 Pettit Drive, Ninety Six.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Carl L. Herman

WATERLOO — Carl Luther Herman, 80, of 2930 Whitten Road, widower of Glenna Maulden Herman, died Saturday, April 21, 2007, at his home.
Born in Kannapolis, NC, he was a son of the late Claude David and Josie Robinette Herman. Mr. Herman was a US Navy Veteran of World War II and Korea, a retired Oil Company Consultant, a Mason and a member of New Hope Baptist Church.
Surviving are seven children, Carla J. Putnam and Jenny Leigh Jennings, both of Laurens, David Glenn Herman and Mark Gregory Herman, both of Ledbetter, TX, Rebecca Cheryl Herman, Joel Timothy Herman, and Amy Ruth Herman, all of Greenwood; two sisters, Julie Blythe of Texas and Joanna Coultier of Aiken; eleven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday, April 27, 2007, at Kennedy Mortuary Chapel, Laurens, conducted by Rev. Brian Wyatt, with burial in Westview Memorial Park.
The family will be at the residence and will receive friends at Kennedy Mortuary from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to New Hope Baptist Church, 4615 Hwy. 72 W., Clinton, SC 29325.
Kennedy Mortuary, Laurens.

Marie Kay Jackson

Services for Marie Kay Jackson, of 222 Little Mountain Road, are 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, 2007, at Zion Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church, conducted by Pastor Patrick Carter. The body will be placed in the church at noon. Burial will be in Ninety Six Community Cemetery. The family is at the home. Online condolences may be sent to robson@nctv.com. Robinson & Son Mortuary, Inc is in charge of arrangements.

Betty Jean Jones

Betty Jean Jones, 52, of 104 Moss Creek Lane, died Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center. Born in Greenwood County, she was the daughter of the late Willie Kennedy and the late Ruby Sheppard. She was a former member of Macedonia Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband, Leroy Jones of Greenwood; one daughter, Vera Ann (Amos) Wright of Greenwood; five brothers, William Henry Carter of Ninety Six, Willie Lee Miller, Bruce Stewart and Macarthur Cannon, all of Greenwood and Ronald Miller of Long Island, New York; four sisters, Georgia Ophelia Ginyard of Queens, New York, Odessia Miller, Cressie Mae Green and Dorothy Roundtree, all of Greenwood; and three grandchildren. Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary, Inc. Online condolences may be sent to robson@nctv.com.

Mykal Jones

SALUDA — Mykal Jevonnie Jones, 7, died Sunday, April 22, 2007.
Born in Greenwood County and a son of Melanie Ann Rodgers Jones, he was a student of Woodfields Elementary in Greenwood.
Surviving is his mother, Melanie Ann Rodgers Jones, two sisters, Tara Nicole Jones and Frances Diane Rinehart, maternal grandparents, Luther “Buddy” and Mary Helen Goodman Rodgers, maternal great-grandmother, Alberta Goodman, all of Saluda.
The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Wednesday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2007, at Dean’s Chapel, with Rev. Kyle Knight and Rev. Richard Williams officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Mykal Jones Memorial Fund, c/o NBSC, 1363 Lake Murray Blvd., Irmo, SC 29063.

Evelyn Morgan

Evelyn Diane Morgan, 41, daughter of Mr. Gilford (Argatha) Morgan of 661 Gilliam Street and the late Mattie Jones Morgan, died Friday, April 20, at Self Regional Medical Center.
She was born on July 4, 1965 in Greenwood County. She was a member of Pine Grove AME Church and was employed at Self Regional Medical Center as a Nurse Technician in the Emergency Room.
Surviving are her parents of the home; a daughter, Adrionna Nakiya Morgan of the home; and a son, Stephon Alexander Morgan of the home; a special friend, Anthony (Tony) Wheeler of Greenwood; a goddaughter, Nakisha Durant of Plum Branch, SC; five sisters, Henrietta Austin, Lorraine and Loreen Morgan of Greenwood, Brenda W. (Mark) Ragland of Columbus, Ohio, and Sandra (Curtis) Houston of Plum Branch, SC; two brothers, Henry Morgan Jr. of Washington, DC, and Alfonso Morgan of the home; eight aunts; three uncles; and a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 26, at 1 from Pine Grove AME Church, with Rev. W.O. Vance officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Kendrick Allen, Dennis Morton, Michael Gladney, Michael Terry, Tony Jones and Travis Benjamin.
Flower bearers will be Evelyn Denise Morgan, Nancy Cole, Lisa Allen, Nannette Garlington, Elaine Benjamin and Wanda Gladney.
Honorary escort will be Self Regional Healthcare Employees and GHS Class of 1983. The body will be placed in the church at noon.
The family is at the home of a sister Lorraine Morgan, 1709 Florida Avenue.
Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home is assisting the Morgan family.
Online: pertompfh1@earthlink.net.

Mildred Ricks

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Mildred Wideman-Harmon Ricks, widow of Master Sgt. Percy D. Ricks, Jr., died April 21, 2007 at Heartland Hospice.
Born in McCormick County, South Carolina, on Aug. 12, 1914, she was the daughter of the late Elijah and Amanda Josephine Harrison Wideman. She was reared in the home of her aunt, the late Melvinia Harmon.
She was a member of Greater Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church and former member of Shiloh AME Church in McCormick.
She was educated in the public schools of South Carolina and New York and graduated from Wilford Academy of Hair and Beauty Culture of New York. She was a licensed cosmetologist and former owner and operator of “Hair Fashions by Millie.” She was also a professional dressmaker.
Surviving are: three sons, Charles R. Mayo of Denver, CO, Antonio G. Ricks of Augusta and Carl Jenkins; five daughters, Mildred M. Kyle of Stone Mountain, GA, Diane E. Mayo of Tinton Falls, NJ, Linda H. Phillips of Washington, DC, Deborah D. Adams of Capitol Heights, MD, and Charlene V. Ricks of Richmond, VA; two sisters, Rev. Amanda E. Drennon of Greenwood and Maude P.
Singletary of Detroit, MI; one brother, James T. Wideman, Sr. of McCormick; a devoted nephew, Sammy L. Drennon, Jr. of Greenwood; 8 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; and 6 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 28, 2007, at the Chapel of Williams Funeral Home, with the Rev. Victor R. Thomas officiating. Burial will be in Bellevue Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be John C. Dale, Bergrek Phillips, DeJohn Drennon, Jonas Whitley, Sylvester B. Hopewell and Charles Moore. Flower bearers will be Khalilah Phillips, Beverly Leverett, Pamela Cummings, Stephanie Elzy, Melanie Rucker and Daveda Malone.
Williams Funeral Home Inc., 1765 Martin Luther King Blvd., is assisting the Wideman-Ricks family. Announcement courtesy of Parks Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Cephas ‘Smitty’ Smith

Cephas Alford “Smitty” Smith, age 91, former resident of 102 Sherwood Lane, widower of Dorothy Benjamin Smith, died Feb. 25, 2007 at Wesley Commons Healthcare Center.
He was a member of the First Baptist Church, where he was a member of the Baracca Sunday School Class and NGO Club.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Blannie Ross Rogers and his father, William Virgil Smith.
Survivors include his sister, Mary Bryant of Cumming, GA, two half brothers, Joseph V. Smith of Arlington, VA, and Arthur Smith of Doerun, GA, one half sister, Thelma Rhodes of Doerun, GA, along with several nieces and nephews.
Cryptside services were held on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007, at 2 p.m. at the Greenwood Memorial Gardens Chapel Mausoleum, with Dr. Tony Hopkins officiating.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services was in charge of arrangements.

Jessie Madden Wright

LAURENS — Jessie Pearl Madden Wright, of 100 Price St., died Monday, April 23, 2007, at her home.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Opinion

Observations ...
... and other reflections

April 25, 2007

When senseless tragedies occur like the one at Virginia Tech, we get a glimpse of the best and the worst of human nature.
The worst there, of course, was the fact that so many people were summarily killed in such a shocking and brutal way. The best was demonstrated by Professor Livin Librescu, a survivor of arguably the most horrendous crime ever committed against humanity: the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler’s campaign to kill all Jews.
Mr. Librescu, who has been buried in Israel, gave his life at Virginia Tech to help his students escape as Cho Seung-Hui, guns firing, was trying to get into Mr. Librescu’s room.
South Carolinians who study their Bible know it is written, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This man who lived the horror of the Holocaust didn’t deserve such a fate. Fate, though, is indeed fickle and no one knows what it has in store.

* * * * *

There’s a lot of speculation about Fred Thompson running for the Republican nomination for president. Thompson, of course, is an actor (TV and movies), and is a former U. S. Senator from Tennessee, He is a lawyer by training.
The “buzz” about Thompson possibly being a candidate shouldn’t surprise anyone. Thompson has that same recognition that Ronald Reagan had. Furthermore, he has the “looks” of a Reaganesque president ..... like a grandfather that children trust.
If his name sounds familiar but you can’t put a face with it, he plays the district attorney boss on the TV series, “Law and Order.”
In a country where looks mean a lot, that’s obviously a plus for Fred Thompson.

* * * * *

Many “big time” members of the national media seem to enjoy making mountains out of mole hills.
For example, they take innocent statements or statements made in jest and turn them into something they are not. That, naturally, is called slanting the news. At least, that’s how it comes across, whether in print or on the tube.
At the same time, though, how many times do political candidates have to put their feet in their mouths before they learn there’s a price to pay? Some presidential candidates, particularly, never learn, it seems.