Tax free-for-all

Event to give area residents chance to shop for deals

August 3, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Studies show some people get a greater thrill out of certain endeavors if they think they are getting away with something.
Many across the Lakelands and the state might get that quasi-euphoric feeling this weekend as they avoid paying sales tax on back-to-school-related items.
This weekend marks the eighth annual tax-free weekend in South Carolina.
The official sales tax break began at 12:01 this morning and will run until midnight Sunday.
During the three-day event, the state’s sales and use taxes and any local sales and use taxes are lifted on traditional back-to-school purchases such as school supplies, clothing, bed and bath items, computers and printers.
The “tax holiday” has grown in popularity since its inception in 2000.
The state Department of Revenue reports South Carolina shoppers save about $3 million each year by exempting the sales and use tax on many back-to-school purchases. According to the SCDOR, many retailers say the August tax-free weekend has become the third busiest shopping weekend of the year, behind Thanksgiving weekend and the weekend before Christmas.
Retailers in the Lakelands have found similar results.
“People just go nuts,” said Amanda Haulbrook, a manager at Office Max on the Hwy. 72 Bypass. “It can almost be like another Black Friday.”
Haulbrook was referring to the day after Thanksgiving, which became known as Black Friday because it’s a day store owners profits can go “in the black.”
Haulbrook said Office Max, which has lists of what students will need at different local schools, is expected to move a large amount of school supplies, as well as computers and printers.
It’s an onslaught store manager Tom Franklin and his crew at Kmart are preparing for.
“Oh, I expect it will be a terrific weekend,” Franklin said, with his trademark easy chuckle.
“We’ve scheduled extra staff, cashiers and what not, for the weekend.”
Franklin said he expects this year’s tax holiday will produce bigger sales this year than in 2006, particularly for school supplies. He attributes the expected rise to come because school starts Aug. 22 this year, after the tax-free weekend.
School began before the tax free weekend a year ago. “I expect people will be in here stocking up,” Franklin said. “With school starting later, I imagine many haven’t gotten any of their school stuff yet.”
Clothing sales are a big part of any back-to-school shopping session, with students wanting to impress in the latest fashions.
John Sitton, manager at Goody’s, said the clothier will offer families some fun and frivolity to go along with their shopping this weekend.
“We’re having Kids Fest Saturday,” Sitton said. “We’ll have the fire department out, games, pizza, contests. We want everybody to have a good time.”
Sitton said he expects jeans, button down shirts and all types of clothes to be flying off the shelves this weekend and thinks sales should stay steady right up until school begins.

Shelter won’t let woman get dogs

August 3, 2007

By KENNY MAPLE
Index-Journal staff writer

It’s a dilemma the Humane Society of Greenwood has to face frequently — deciding whether a person is capable of caring for an animal before adoption can occur.
Danielle Dorn, of McCormick, told her story to The Index-Journal on Thursday.
A girl found four puppies on a dirt road — two brown labs and two that looked like they had some Rottweiler in them — and brought them to Dorn. She kept them in two 10-by-10 kennels outside.
One of the dogs turned aggressive. Dorn needed to build a barrier between the kennels to separate the larger dogs from the 3-week-old puppies she already had.
All four dogs had severe mange problems.
She decided to take them to the Greenwood Humane Society. The shelter usually doesn’t accept animals from outside counties, but in this case, officials did her a favor.
Dorn was under the impression she could get the dogs back after dropping them off. The animal lover needed time to build the barrier for her kennels. She said she signed a form and was told she would be given a call before the animals were put down so she could pick them up.
“He said, ‘You should expect a phone call,’” Dorn said about Chris Wilson, the shelter’s office and receiving manager.
Dorn ended up making a call of her own.
On Monday she called the Humane Society, but no one answered the phone. The two parties played telephone tag until Wednesday.
But the Humane Society told Dorn this time she couldn’t have the dogs back.
“He said I did not have enough money to take all four to the vet,” Dorn said. “My finances are none of his business.”
Are the finances the business of the shelter?
“We do responsible adoptions,” executive director Karen Pettay said. “She’s not being realistic at all. She does not need to have four animals. She does not have the means to care for them.”
But how did the shelter arrive at the conclusion that Dorn could not take care of the animals?
Aside from the cost of treatment for conditions such as mange or ringworm, Pettay was told by Wilson he noticed she did not have a vehicle or means for getting around. He took that to be a hardship for her.
Pettay said Dorn was made well aware of the fact that once she signed the papers, the dogs become the responsibility of the shelter and she would have to go through the adoption process to get them back.
Pettay said Dorn was signed a paper that reads as follows:
“In order to protect your feelings, the legal rights and privacy of future owners, as well as the well being of our staff, please be sure that your decision to transfer animal(s) to the Humane Society of Greenwood is final and definite before you leave the facility.”
“After you sign the animal(s) over to us, they belong to the Humane Society of Greenwood.”
“We adopt out as many animals as possible, but we still must euthanize (put to sleep) many of them.”
“After you leave this animal shelter, we will not give out any information about the animal(s). No exceptions will be made.”
“To your knowledge, has this animal bitten or scratched anyone in the past 14 days?”
(Respondent must answer yes or no.)
After the policy follows a signature line, which Pettay said Dorn signed.
Pettay said Wilson told the woman, “You need to make a decision before you leave here.”
According to Pettay, it was quite clear Dorn couldn’t care for the animals. Dorn struggled with the decision to leave them, but in the end she did sign the papers.
Now she wants the dogs back before they are put to sleep, so she can find good homes for them.
“I’m willing to pay anything for them,” she said. “I don’t understand why they would be willing to put down animals who have a home to go to. I haven’t done anything wrong here.”
When Pettay was asked whether the dogs could be adopted if the person showed the necessary means for caring for them, she said the prospective owner would still have to fill out an application.
But there’s more to the story.
Pettay said the shelter cannot release the dogs for adoption if they have not been fixed.
Opening up the animals that have a pre-existing medical condition, including a possibly contagious condition such as ringworm or mange, could be extremely harmful to the shelter’s animals and employees.
Sarcoptic mange is contagious to humans.
“They have to be fixed. Our vet won’t allow it,” Pettay said. “It could wipe out a whole kennel.”

Obituaries

Lloyd Murphy Babb

WARE SHOALS — Lloyd Murphy Babb, 58 of 375 McCullough School Road, Honea Path, husband of Denise Gunnells Babb, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007 at AnMed Health Center in Anderson, SC. He was born in Ware Shoals, a son of Vivian Free Babb Wells of Ware Shoals and the late Liston Murphy Babb. He was a truck driver for Smith & Waters of Ware Shoals and attended Donald’s Church of God.
Surviving in addition to his wife, mother and stepfather, John T. Wells are: two sons, Brian Murphy Babb of Ware Shoals, Tandy Craig Babb of Fairfax, SC; three stepsons, Jody Daniel and Michael P. Daniel of Belton and Danny J. Daniel of Greenwood; one daughter, Tyonia Jean Wilson of Ware Shoals; two brothers, Ricky Babb of Ware Shoals and Rodney Babb of Shoals Junction; a sister, Joyce Barker of Ware Shoals; and ten grandchildren.
He was predeceased by a sister Connie B. Whitt.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at 3 p.m. at Donald’s Church of God, with the Rev. James Ray Lollis and Rev. Mac Jones officiating. Burial will follow at the Ware Shoals Cemetery.
The family will receive friends Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Parker-White Funeral Home. The family will be at his mother’s home at 22 North Greenwood Ave. in Ware Shoals.
The body will be placed in the church at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Gaynelle Roach Fleming

WARE SHOALS — Gaynelle Roach Fleming, 75, widow of the late Fred Dale Fleming, Jr., died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007 at her home, 535 Harmony Road, Ware Shoals. She was born in Franklin County, Ga., a daughter of the late Moody Dennis and Ruth Ware Roach.
Mrs. Fleming was retired from the State of South Carolina DHEC. She was a member of Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church. She served on the SC Home Health Advisory Board and the Ladies Breakfast Club of Harmony Methodist Church.
Surviving are one daughter, Linda Culbertson and husband, Danny of Ware Shoals; one brother, Edwin Roach of Ware Shoals; two sisters, Rosa Wells of Meridian, Mississippi, and Alma Johnson of Anderson; one granddaughter, Courtney Culbertson Skinner and husband, Jason of Ware Shoals; and one great-granddaughter, Emma Skinner of Ware Shoals.
Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 11 a.m. at Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church, with the Rev. Dr. Marcus Bishop, Rev. Thomas Cartledge of Hospice and the Rev. Chris Hudson officiating. Burial will be at Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Active Pallbearers will be Ryan Culbertson, Johnny Chamblee, Charles Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Scott Jones, and Eddie Roach. Honorary Escorts will be Jim and Alice Hughes, Paul and Harriett Koon, Bobby and Minnie Davis, Helen Crocker, Willie Mae Stewart, Anniese Williams and Margaret Giles.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646 and Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church Family Life Center.
The family will be at the home of daughter, Linda Culbertson at 511 Harmony Road, Ware Shoals. The body will be placed in the church at 10 a.m. Friday.

Virginia Haskell Gray

ABBEVILLE — Virginia Haskell Gray, 73, of 306 Meadow Drive, Abbeville, SC, the widow of Andrew Gray Sr., died July 31, 2007. She was the daughter of the late Joel and Sallie Brown Haskell.
She was a member of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church and Women’s Home Aid Society No. 81.
Survivors are five sons and two daughters, Andrew Sr., Terry, Calvin, Otis, Gregory Gray, all of Abbeville, SC, Carolene and Janice Gray, both of Abbeville, SC; thirteen grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren; two brothers, William Haskell and Melvin Haskell Sr. of Abbeville; two sisters, Carrie Smith of Greenwood, SC, and Christine Salter of Buffalo, NY. Viewing is 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, 2007 at Richie Funeral Home.
Services are 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007 at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, 503 Washington St., Abbeville, SC, with Rev. A.L. Green officiating, assisted by Rev. Carroll Wells Sr. The body will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. Interment is at Shady Grove AME Church, with her husband.
Richie Funeral Home is in charge.

Theodore Parker Sr.

HONEA PATH — Theodore Carroll “T.C.” Parker Sr., 80, of 107 Rouse St., husband of Mary A. Parker, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007, at Hospice of the Upstate, Anderson.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Robinson-Walker Funeral Service, Ware Shoals.

CORRECTION

For the obituary of Emma Lee Harp Coleman in Thursday’s paper, there was an omission in the information given to The Index-Journal. Also surviving is another son, Alfonzo Praylow of Saluda.

Opinion

Electing new Treasurer
is guide to state power

August 3, 2007

South Carolina’s lawmakers will be back in Columbia today to (s)elect a new state Treasurer to replace Thomas Ravenel. Ravenel, remember, was elected to the post by the state’s voters but resigned in disgrace after he was indicted on drug charges.
In addition to all the financial duties, the Treasurer sits on the powerful Budget and Control Board, which arguably is the most powerful group in state government. With Ravenel as Treasurer, Governor Mark Sanford had a Republican majority of the board primarily on his side.
Legislators could influence some of the work of the board by naming a Democrat.

SANFORD HAS RECOMMENDED two for the post. One, Charleston County Council Chairman Tim Scott, would be the first black South Carolinian to serve as a constitutional officer. The other is state Senator Greg Ryberg of Aiken, the man who lost to Ravenel in last year’s Republican primary.
Both of these men appear to be qualified for the job. And either, more than likely, would be a Sanford ally on the B&C Board.
However, there’s another factor affecting the situation. Sanford has been a Governor who has ruffled a lot of lawmaker feathers, both Republican and Democrat. He has been a Governor who has been a strong advocate for challenging the way state government has always worked.
Much of his reform efforts tend to diminish the power of the Legislature, vis-a-vis the Governor, and Legislators don’t cotton to that very much.

IN FACT, MANY OF THEM, in reality, resent Sanford and what he has tried to do, never mind that most of his efforts have been aimed at what he considers improving state government and giving taxpayers a break.
Considering the overall situation, it will be enlightening to voters to see what lawmakers do today. Will they adhere to the will of the people? After all, they elected a Sanford ally in the first place. Or, will lawmakers elect someone they know will uphold the present prerogatives of the Legislature?
Stay tuned! It would not only be surprising, it would be shocking if anyone is elected who might vote with Sanford on issues before the B&C Board. If bookies were taking bets, no doubt they’d give odds on business as usual in the Statehouse and a reaffirmation of legislative influence.