Council member facing charges

June 20, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

WARE SHOALS — Town Councilman George “Sonny” Frederick has been arrested and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.
According to Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office incident reports, deputies were called to assist the Ware Shoals Police Department shortly before midnight Monday. They were told the incident was a fight between Frederick, 60, and a 59-year-old female victim.
“(Ware Shoals Police Department) initially got a call regarding the incident sometime before midnight,” said Ware Shoals Police Chief Mickey Boland.
Deputies met the victim at a Smith Street residence in Ware Shoals. She told them Frederick — who was once the mayor of Ware Shoals — assaulted her by grabbing her around the neck, pushing her down on the bed and telling her he would kill her.
Ware Shoals police officers reportedly stopped Frederick as he was driving about 150 yards from the incident location.
“We received the call as an assault call,” Boland said. “We did not realize it was a councilman. When we discovered it was (Frederick), we asked (GCSO) to assist and turned it over to them.”
Officers from Ware Shoals Police Department and GCSO deputies photographed red marks on the woman’s neck area.
After being arrested, Frederick reportedly told deputies he wasn’t going to talk any further because he was “going to jail anyway.”
Frederick was elected to Ware Shoals Town Council in a March write-in election. That election was contested by some residents, but was eventually upheld by the Greenwood County Election Board.

Fatal fire in Charleston -- the aftermath

Local station sharing in grief

June 20, 2007

By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer

Shortly after nine firefighters died Monday night when a roof collapsed during a Charleston fire, the flags in front of the Greenwood Fire Department station on South Main Street were lowered to half-staff.
Immediately after he learned of the tragedy, Greenwood Fire Chief Terry Strange was on the phone to Charleston.
“We wanted to know if there was anything they needed,” Strange said. “We let them know that we were here to help them.”
The last word Strange received back from Charleston was that the department was not yet ready to receive assistance from other departments.
“What they’re probably trying to do is assess everything, determine what their needs are and deal with the families,” Strange said. “To get a whole lot of people coming in right now would probably be a lot more chaos than they can handle.”
Strange said his department also was waiting for word about the timing of a memorial for the fallen firemen.
“I know the State Fire Chief’s Association and the State Firefighter’s Association has made contact with them, and we’re just waiting to see what comes out of that,” Strange said. “When plans for a memorial are announced, I’m sure we will have good representation from this department.”
The first thing Strange said he thought about when he heard the news was the relatives the firefighters left behind.
“My heart went out to the families of the firefighters who were lost,” Strange said. “I also feel for the men and women who work for the fire department and the chief himself. I can only imagine what he’s having to go through at this point.”
The event also affected other Greenwood firefighters.
“It was a big shock to me when I turned on the TV this morning,” said Steven Belk, a firefighter for more than 15 years. “You’re thinking it can’t happen in a small town like here in Greenwood, but it can. It can happen anywhere.”
Eric Wilson felt the loss of the people closest to his fallen comrades.
“The first thing I thought about was the loss to their families,” said Wilson, who has been in fire service 11 years. “I know there’s a lot of kids that have been left behind, and it’s going to take a lot of time to heal.”
Strange said, as is typically the case with fire chiefs, his first concern is for the safety of his men.
“Being the chief of a department, I know how I feel about my personnel and about their safety and their families,” Strange said. “To have to deal with one tragedy is bad enough, but to have nine to deal with is hard to fathom.”
The biggest problem with constructing a firefighting plan and a life-saving strategy on the fly, Strange said, is that every fire is different and presents its own set of challenges.
“There were two victims inside, and the firemen went in to rescue them,” Strange said about the Charleston incident. “One of the victims rescued himself and the firemen were able to rescue the other person inside the building.
“The problem is, a collapse can happen so quickly. Sometimes there may be signs that you’re going to have a collapse and sometimes there’s not, and it still just happens. It’s a tough job. Every time you go in a fire, there are so many things that can go wrong that you really have no control over.”
Even though he has safety officers and shift commanders controlling the fighting of any structure fire, Strange said he, his deputy chief and others are always on the scene looking for anything that will protect his people.
“If we feel there is any potential for a building collapse, we pull everybody out and re-evaluate,” Strange said. “There have been times when we’ve pulled out and went to a defensive mode and operated on the outside.
“There have been other times when we’ve looked at (the fire), said it’s still safe, and then went back in and did what we had to do.
Despite the stress of dealing with the deaths, Strange said, the Charleston Fire Department cannot suspend operations to grieve.
“I cannot imagine with having to deal with what they are dealing with and still go on with day-to-day operations,” he said. “You know, everything that’s going on has got to be in the back of their minds.
“But when the alarm goes off, no matter what you’re doing at the time, not matter how you’re feeling at the time, everybody changes. It’s almost as though they put on a different face. They know the job has to be done. They do their job and then they deal with the loss of their brothers afterward.”
The brotherhood of firefighters, he said, extends far beyond firefighters serving in the same department.
“I could go into any fire station in South Carolina or in the United States, and if I tell them I’m a firefighter, I’d be treated like I was a member of their department,” Strange said. “And the same would go for any firefighter from somewhere else who might walk into our department.
“We’re not just firefighters, we’re all part of a brotherhood. We’re all a part of one family.”
Despite the dangers that go with the job, Strange said the men who have been in his department for years wouldn’t, and probably couldn’t, go into another line of work.
“It takes a special breed of individual who goes into law enforcement or goes into the fire service,” he said. “I found, over the years, when you come into this line of work, there is no middle of the road. You either love it, or you get out of it.”

Post 20 blows out Greenville

95-minute rain delay doesn't dampen Greenwood's bats

June 20, 2007

By SCOTT J. BRYAN
Index-Journal sports editor

On Monday night, Greenwood American Legion manager Billy Dean Minor called for more intensity from his club. On Tuesday, Post 20 didn’t really need it.
Playing an undermanned Greenville Post 3 team, Greenwood broke out for 14 hits, took advantage of six errors and easily cruised to an 18-2 League VII baseball game at Legion Field. The contest was halted in the seventh inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.
The only hiccup in Post 20’s game was the 95-minute delay to the start after a summer shower soaked the infield 90 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. start.
But at 9:15, Post 20 was on the field, and it only took an inning for Greenwood to shower the scoreboard with runs. “I thought we were much improved,” said Minor, whose team improved to 7-2 in league play. “We had to play with an hour-and-15-minute delay. I was just happy to see the fans came and hung around for the game.”
What the fans saw was a one-sided, high-scoring affair. Greenwood put five runs on the board in the second inning and scored six runs in the third.
Post 20 added three in the fourth, two in the fifth and two in the sixth inning.
At the plate, Mack Hite, Christian Powell, Drew Willingham, Tyler McGraw and Justin Collier had two hits apiece. Josh Lovvorn was 3-for-4 for Post 20.
There were plenty of statistical anomalies in the contest. Brandon Miller, a USC signee, scored thrice despite not getting a hit. Miller was hit twice by pitches, and after a strikeout, he reached first on a throwing error on the catcher. Matt White scored twice, but reached four times — twice on walks and twice after being hit by pitches.
On the mound, Brad Dorn pitched the complete game in just 72 pitches. Dorn struck out six and induced 11 groundball outs, while allowing five hits.
“We were able to make plays and Dorn pitched a good game,” Minor said. “He kept the ball around the plate.”
Greenwood hits the road the rest of the week. Post 20 travels to Greenville to face an AAU team Thursday and ventures to Belton for a league game Friday. Post 20’s next home game is June 18 against Walhalla.

Obituaries

Dr. Norman Banghart

A memorial service for Dr. Norman Lee Banghart will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 30, 2007 at Asbury Hall in Wesley Commons (1110 Marshall Road, Greenwood, SC, 864-227-7250). The Rev. Carol Peppers-Wray will be officiating. Dr. Banghart, 85, husband of Margaret May Banghart, died Sunday, June 17, 2007 at Self Regional Medical Center, Greenwood, SC. Interment will occur later this summer on Beaver Island, Michigan.
Born in Battle Creek, Michigan, he was one of four children of the late Lee Edward and Laura Coe Banghart. He attended Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, and obtained an M.D. degree in 1944 from the University of Michigan Medical School. Following service as a Army Doctor in World War II, he served his medical residency and began his 40-plus year Obstetrics/Gynecology private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Before retiring in 1987, Dr. Banghart served as Head of the Obstetrics Department and Chief of Staff at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Banghart also took great pride in the following personal achievements: Eagle Scout status as a Boy Scout, membership in the Kiwanis Club, membership in Phi Rho Sigma medical fraternity, and membership in the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was an avid lifelong swimmer and golfer, beginning swimming at the age of eight and membership on swim teams from eighth grade through his college experience.
In additional to his wife, he is survived by four sons (Donald Banghart and his wife, Laura, of Evergreen, CO; David Banghart and his wife, Susan, of Myrtle Beach, SC; Steven Banghart of Chicago, IL; and James Banghart and his wife, Barbara, of Atlanta, GA); a sister (Barbara Norman of La Jolla, CA); a brother (Larry Banghart of San Diego, CA); nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his older brother, Robert Banghart.
Memorials may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation Inc. (Office of Development, 1501 NW 9th Avenue, Miami, Florida, 33136-1494; or www.parkinson.org).
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Gaynell R. Bonds

CALHOUN FALLS — Gaynell Rucker Bonds, age 78, of 3766 Highway 72 W., died Monday, June 18, 2007 at her home.
A native of Calhoun Falls, she was the daughter of the late William Chester and Myrtle Wilson Rucker. She was the widow of Clinton Junior Bonds. She was also preceded in death by a sister, Mary Helen Parnell and grandson Andrew Cade.
Survivors include three daughters, Gloria Ellis, Angela Cade and Noel Martin and son, Marcus Bonds, all of Calhoun Falls; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and sister Clarice Reynolds.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 5 p.m. at Calhoun Falls Pentecostal Holiness Church. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Abbeville. The family will receive friends Wednesday evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Calhoun Falls Funeral Home and may be contacted at the residence.
Calhoun Falls Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

Maerzia Schoening

Maerzia Morgenthal Schoening, 84, former resident of Dogwood Drive, widow of Kurt Schoening, died June 18, 2007 at National Health Care of Mauldin.
Born in Berlin, Germany, March 26, 1923, she was a daughter of the late Karl and Elizabeth Morgenthal. Mrs. Schoening retired from Greenwood Mills, Durst Plant, and was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Surviving are a son, Klaus D. Schoening, Sr. and wife, Carol of Simpsonville; a grandson, Klaus D. Schoening, Jr. and wife, Susan of Greenville; five great-grandchildren, Ashton, Lauren, Hannah, Dieter and Karson; a nephew, Guenter Morgenthal and wife, Barbel of Berlin, Germany; a great-nephew, Benjamin Morgenthal; and a great niece, Silke Morgenthal.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Thursday from the Immanuel Lutheran Church, with Dr. John L. Setzler officiating.
Pallbearers will be Klaus Schoening, Jr., Bill Purkerson, Edward Purkerson, Rette Miller, John Lamb, Johnny Coates and Kyle Neal.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends in the Loggia of Immanuel Lutheran Church from 2 to 3 Thursday afternoon.
Memorials may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church Building Fund, 501 East Creswell Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29646.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Schoening family.

Opinion

Does all the politicking, elections reduce voting?

June 20, 2007

Part I.
Voters in these parts have long complained about a crush of political campaigns. One election doesn’t end before candidates are at it again. There are, in fact, so many different elections held regularly in Greenwood alone that some argue there simply is too much politics.
Whether the volume of politicking has anything to do with poor voter turnout on many election days is arguable, of course. Still, if voters weren’t deluged continuously with partisan campaigning, sniping and worse you have to wonder if more people would exercise one of their most important prerogatives.
Take the present presidential maneuvering by the herd of candidates in both major political parties. Many of them have been at it for months and the races are getting hotter by the day ..... and yet the election is still a year and a half away.

THAT’S A LONG TIME FOR voters to be under such a barrage of partisan bickering and games of oneupsmanship. Nevertheless, there is one political factor after another so far ahead of even primary elections that it’s going to take a Herculean effort for candidates to keep voters interested. Meanwhile, any candidate could falter at any time through missteps or misstatements. That almost always happens in campaigns. Maybe the powers that be figure that by starting so soon a candidate that makes a mistake will have time to rebound.
Still, states are competing with each other over which will have the earliest primary election, hoping, it appears, that the national publicity spotlight will shine benevolently on them.

IF SOME INDICATIONS ARE true, and there’s no reason to doubt them, voters are already getting more politics than they want. With eight, nine or ten candidates representing Democrats and a like number in the Republican face-off, for many voters, that’s assured.
Every candidate and his or her campaign manager ought to be worrying that voters could become bored with the entire process long before decisions are made and whether they can rekindle the interest that could peak too early and reach the point of diminishing returns.
Whatever the case, it seems that money and interest could both dwindle before decision time. Those biding their time now, like former U. S. Senator Fred Thompson, could find the time will be ripe for them when the other candidates’ campaigns leave voters over politicized.
Tomorrow: Part II.