Tape leak prompts gag order

Video shows Moore at sheriff’s office

May 2, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

From here on in, if you want to talk about the obstruction of justice charge against former Ware Shoals High School principal Jane Blackwell, don’t call the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office has voluntarily agreed to a gag order in regard to the Blackwell case. The gag order stems from a video of former Ware Shoals cheerleading coach Jill Moore’s April 1 interview with Chief Deputy Mike Frederick at the sheriff’s office that was leaked Monday to WHNS Fox 21 by a “source close to the investigation” who wished to remain anonymous.
Blackwell was suspended in late January after being arrested and charged with obstruction of justice by the sheriff’s office. Investigators accuse Blackwell of hindering and impeding their investigation of former Ware Shoals cheerleading coach Jill Moore, who was arrested Jan. 18 and charged with providing alcohol to minors and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
On Tuesday, Sheriff Dan Wideman said he met with Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace to discuss the matter.
“We determined that justice cannot be served if we are forced to repeatedly respond to attacks on the investigation,” Wideman said. “So we are voluntarily agreeing to forward all future requests for information to the solicitor.”
Wideman added that his office would continue to respond to Freedom of Information Act and Rule 5 requests, but that such requests also would be coordinated with the solicitor’s office.
Though it is not known who leaked the video to WHNS, it was previously released to a Web site by Blackwell’s attorneys, Billy Garrett and Lance Sheek. The Web site printed a partial transcript of the video as transcribed by the Garrett Law Firm.
Peace said Tuesday evening that he plans to file a motion to have a gag order issued for all involved with the case.
“The case simply does not need to be tried in the press,” Peace said. “We simply do not know if these pieces of leaked information will positively or negatively affect the defense or state’s case. It is not proper form.”
Peace said if the gag order he plans to file a motion for is approved by a judge, all sides will be required to “shut up and handle the case like it is supposed to be handled.”
Peace said if material continued to be released, a change of venue could be required for Blackwell’s trial or a jury could have to be selected from another county.
“That is just an added expense to the taxpayers,” Peace said. “Simply put, you don’t try your case in the press.
“A jury decides if someone is guilty or not guilty. I mean, this isn’t ‘American Idol,’ where the defense presents its case in the media, then the state presents its case and everybody calls in and votes on it when it’s all over. There is a way things are supposed to be done.”

Woman dies after car rolls onto her

May 2, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

A Greenwood woman died Tuesday morning from injuries sustained after her own car rolled onto her Monday night.
Greenwood County coroner Jim Coursey said Tonie Martin Lewis, 28, of 212 Karlie Court, Greenwood, died about 8:30 Tuesday morning at Greenville Memorial Medical Center. Coursey said the cause of death was trauma received in Monday’s accident.
Lewis was a native of Abbeville County and graduated from Dixie High School in 1996. She attended Erskine College and Lander University and graduated from Piedmont Tech’s College of Nursing. She was employed in the critical care center at Self Regional Healthcare.
Her family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Harris Funeral Home in Abbeville.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Friday in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
Coursey said Lewis pulled into her driveway Monday night and went to the mailbox to check her mail. He said the car was in neutral and rolled back and struck Martin, pinning her underneath. According to Greenwood Police Department incident reports, a neighbor heard Martin yelling for help about 8:30 Monday evening. The neighbor said she went up Karlie Court and found Lewis trapped under the car. The neighbor reportedly said Lewis asked her to call Lewis’ husband, Trey. The neighbor said she called him after she called the police.
Police officer Jeff Crisp responded to the incident and found Lewis pinned behind the front driver’s side tire of a black 2006 Nissan 350Z. He said Lewis was conscious and asked him to call her husband and let him know what happened.
Crisp noted the vehicle’s gear shift was in neutral. He also saw mail, newspapers and a purse strewn about the ground.
EMS and Greenwood Fire Department responded to the scene. Upon the request of EMS, police officers and firefighters physically lifted the car off Lewis so emergency workers could extract her.
Firefighters present were Lt. Steve Belk, Cmdr. Steve Holmes, Rodney Jones, Al Tumblin and Tanner Hall. Police officers on the scene were Capt. Michael Martin, Lt. David Gurley and Crisp.
EMS took Lewis to the old Lowe’s building parking lot on the Highway. 72 Bypass, where she was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Medical Center by helicopter.

Vikings throwing down

Five Emerald thinclads qualify for state in discus, shot put

May 2, 2007

By SCOTT J. BRYAN
Index-Journal sports editor

After working out with the sprinters as a seventh-grader, Brittany Connor remembers being dispatched from the runners and wondering what exactly the Emerald coaches had in mind for her. When she reached the other side of Emerald’s athletic complex, she saw numerous athletes throwing large objects and after trying her hand at the shot put and discus, she realized she was where she belonged.
“Coach (Zeke) Goode sent me up the hill to the throwers and I said, ‘Yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be,’” Connor said.
It’s only fitting athletes throwing the shot and discus are stationed at the top of the steep hill, sandwiched between a soccer practice field and a softball diamond. It’s at the top where Emerald’s throwers hope to be Saturday afternoon at the Class AA state track meet.
The Vikings have five athletes qualified for the state meet; three of those athletes will compete in both the shot put and discus.
“I knew we’d have at least four that would qualify,” Emerald throwing coach Danny Tommie said. “The fifth one came as a surprise.”
But the first one — defending Class AA discus champion Louis Jackson — was no shocker. Jackson won the discus a year ago with a throw of 149 feet, 6 inches, knocking off the next-closest competitor by almost 5 feet.
“I’m nervous, but I want to go out there and do my best to be a two-time state champion,” said Jackson, who also played football and wrestled at Emerald.
Jackson joined the track and field team as an eighth-grader after prodding from his wrestling coach.
“He asked me to do a sport in the spring, so I wouldn’t be lying around,” Jackson said. “At first, it was frustrating, because I saw other guys doing well. I wanted to jump up with them. But I knew it would take time.”
Jackson, who is receiving recruiting interest from Charleston Southern, Winthrop and Gardner-Webb, said he enjoys having two other team members on the boys’ side qualified in the event.
“I’ve got other guys behind me that are pushing me, so I can stay on top,” said Jackson, who finished first in the Upper State meet with a throw of 155 feet, 10 inches in the discus. “I don’t ever look down on anybody. I always think somebody can beat me. And these guys help me remember that.”
Taylor Johnson, a sophomore, likes having a competitive teammate in the same event, as well. “I look at him as a leader,” Johnson said. “I want to get better than him one day, because I look up to him. He’s like an older brother.”
Johnson admits it was difficult at first to fall in love with the sport, but after a couple weeks, he said he was hooked.
“It’s not hard or anything,” said Johnson, who finished second at the Upper State meet behind Jackson in the discus with a throw of 136 feet, 7 inches. “Once I got a little more into it and learned a little bit more, I got better. ... It takes determination. It’s just something that you have to work hard at.”
Learning the sport is something Lucas Mathis, an enormous freshman, didn’t take seriously until a few weeks ago. After an injury sidelined Mathis at the beginning of the year, his throws still left much to be desired.
But Mathis started listening and learning, and his throwing distances started to grow immediately.
“All the techniques coach Tommie taught us, I started doing,” Mathis said. “I tried to focus. When I’d get bored at the house, I’d practice it. I wanted to get better. Being eager to do it helped.”
Mathis said he started listen to Tommie and Jackson, since both offered experience in the sport.
“You listen to them about their old years and how they used to work at it,” Mathis said. “You try to listen to them to see how to do a certain step or how to get a certain height on your throws. It becomes easier when you learn from somebody who has actually done it before.”
But nothing is more educational than experience.
Mathis said he knows he’s an underdog in the shot put, since many of the athletes he’ll be competing against Saturday have more experience.
“You hear a lot coaches say it’s best to be nervous, because that’s how you know you’re ready,” Mathis said. “I’m going to be nervous since I’ve never been there before, but I think it’s going to be a good experience.”
Emerald’s two female throwers, Connor and D’atra Williams, both boast experience. Williams competed in the shot put a year ago and finished fifth overall, while Connors has been a state qualifier since her freshman year and finished second four times overall in the shot put and discus.
“We help each other out,” Williams said. “It’s a competition for us, but it’s not. We’re from the same team. Even if we get first and second, we’re still both champions.”
Connor, who hopes to throw at USC Upstate, said she joined the team because of the people who surround her at every practice and meet.
“The atmosphere and the coaches are why I joined the team,” Connor said. “That’s what motivates me to come back every day.”
And it keeps them all climbing up the hill.

Obituaries

Annie F. Calhoun

CALHOUN FALLS — Annie Florence Calhoun, 76, of 933 Anderson St., widow of Ollie Calhoun, died Sunday, April 29, 2007, at Emory Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Ga. Richie Funeral Home, Abbeville, is in charge.

Essie Cook

Essie Burriss Cook, 86, resident of 201 Callison Highway, wife of Jacob P. “J.P.” Cook, died April 30, 2007 at Hospice House.
Born in Spartanburg County May 9, 1920, she was a daughter of the late Willie and Effie Della Clayton Burriss. She formerly owned and operated Ellenberg’s Store in Saluda County.
Mrs. Cook was a member of Bold Spring Baptist Church and the W.M.U. of the church. She was also a member of the Emerald City Region of Antique Automobile Club of America.
Surviving in addition to her husband of the home are a daughter, Donna and husband, Mike Edmunds of Saluda; two sons, Dennis and wife, Marcelle Cook of Greenwood and Andrew and wife, Lisa Cook of Ninety Six; a sister, Marcelle and husband, David Edge of Spartanburg; six grandchildren, Casey Edmunds, Jacob Cook, Samantha Cook, Sabrina Cook, Kaci Hicks, and Kristin Hicks.
Mrs. Cook was twice married, first to the late Horace Ellenberg and is predeceased by two sisters, Mattie Hammette and Lillian Pruitte and three brothers, Broadus Burriss, James Ruby Burriss, and Earl Burriss.
Funeral services will be conducted 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Blyth Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Chuck Keller officiating.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be active deacons of Bold Springs Baptist Church along with Clifton Eakin. Honorary escort will be nephews along with the Men’s Bible Class of the church and Marshall Royston, Rev. Bennie Ridlehoover, James Adams and Adrian Ouzts.
The family is at the home and will receive friends at the funeral home from 6 to 8:30 Wednesday evening.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bold Spring Baptist Church Building Fund, 2806 Callison Road, Troy, SC 29819 or to the Hospice House, 408 West Alexander Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29646.
For additional information and online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Cook family.

Tonie Martin Lewis

Tonie Martin Lewis, 28, of Greenwood, wife of Trey Lewis, passed away Tuesday, May 1, 2007, at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She was the beloved daughter of Stan and Sherry B. Martin of Abbeville. Tonie was a full-time registered charge nurse in the ICU at Self Regional Medical Center. She was a member of Rocky River Presbyterian Church and a graduate of Dixie High School. She also attended Erskine College and was a graduate of the Piedmont Technical College of Nursing.
Tonie was a loved family member and friend to everyone who knew her. She will be greatly missed.
In addition to her husband and parents she is survived by her sister, Julie Martin Nelson and her husband, Nick of Abbeville; her beloved nephews, Matthew and Alex Nelson; paternal grandparents, James Ralph and Ethelene Martin of Abbeville; maternal grandparents, Guynlle Brooks and the late Lee Grant Brooks, Sr. of Abbeville; her mother and step-father-in-law, Sue Roberts and her husband, Bill of Cross Hill, SC; her dad and step-mother-in-law, Don and Susan Lewis of Greenville, SC; and many other family and friends.
The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 3, 2007, at Harris Funeral Home in Abbeville. Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Friday, May 4, 2007, in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
Memorial contributions in memory of Tonie may be made to the Susan G. Komen Foundation 1930 Charlie Hall Blvd., Charleston, SC 29414.
The family is at the home of Nick and Julie Nelson, 3621 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620.
Online condolences may be sent to the Lewis family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com.
Harris Funeral Home of Abbeville is assisting the Lewis family.

Hilda V. Maffett

Hilda Vines Maffett, 77, of 423 Lebanon Church Road, widow of Frank Maffett, died Monday, April 30, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood, she was a daughter of the late George Y. and Varina Whitaker Vines. She was retired from Greenwood Shirt Company and was a seamstress. She was a member of Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church.
She was preceded in death by a brother, Robert H. “Bobby” Vines.
Surviving is a sister, Julia Vines Cason of Greenwood; nieces and nephews.
Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, with the Rev. Danny Wiley officiating.
The family will receive friends at Harley Funeral Home on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m.
The family is at the home, 423 Lebanon Church Road.
Memorials may be made to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children, 950 W. Faris Road, Greenville, SC 29605.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

John Archie Singletary Jr.

DETROIT — Mr. John Archie Singletary, Jr. was born in McCormick, SC, Feb. 14, 1950, a son of Mr. John Archie Singletary, Sr. and the late Mrs. Virginia Murray Singletary. He departed this life April 25, 2007 at the Receiving Hospital, Detroit, MI.
He graduated from McCormick High School Class of 1971. Upon graduation, he moved to Detroit, MI, and was employed by Chrysler Motor Corporation. He was of the Methodist faith.
Survivors include his father of McCormick, SC; two brothers, George Wise of McCormick, SC, and Larry Singletary of Greenwood, SC; six sisters, Ms. Dorothy Price, Ms. Robbie Singletary, Ms. Geraldine Singletary, Ms. Jo Ann Singletary and Ms. Thelma Singletary, all of Washington, DC, and Ms. Brenda Singletary of Capitol Heights, MD; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Services are Thursday at 2 p.m. at Shiloh AME Church in McCormick, SC, with the pastor, Rev. James Louden, III, officiating. Interment is in the church cemetery. Pallbearers and flower bearers are members of the Class of 1971. The body is at Walker Funeral Home. The family is at the home on New Hope Road in McCormick. Walker Funeral Home, Directors.

Dick Swartzentruber

Richard “Dick” Lowell Swartzentruber, 66, resident of North Pond Court, husband of Kathleen “Kathy” Swartzentruber, died May 1, 2007 at his home.
Born in Gortner, MD, he was a son of the late Willard A. and Evelyn Friend Swartzentruber. A native of Oakland, MD, he had made his home in Greenwood since 1992 having moved here from Statesboro, GA. He was a 1959 graduate of Southern High School in Oakland, MD. Mr. Swartzentruber served in the US Army from 1959-1962 and retired as a customer service representative with Grede Foundry. He was of the Methodist faith.
Surviving in addition to his wife of the home are three sons, Scott Swartzentruber of Sylva, NC, Jeff Swartzentruber and Jason Swartzentruber, both of Greenwood; a brother, Nelson Swartzentruber of Greenwood; two sisters, Marjorie Barnes of Virginia Beach, VA, and Starla Lee of Greenwood; four grandchildren.
He was predeceased by a brother, Dennis Swartzentruber.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Thursday from the Blyth Funeral Home Chapel, with Rev. Barrett Alewine officiating.
The family is at the home and will receive friends at the funeral home from 6 to 8 Wednesday evening.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials be made to Hospice Care of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.
For online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Swartzentruber family.

Opinion

Sometimes children can be cruel without knowing it

May 2, 2007

Tita James, mother of a student at Ninety Six High School, was understandably upset when she heard that a student had made “Virginia Tech like” threats at the school. Everyone, no doubt, has thoughts about such things, but one thing James said should be endorsed by all ..... parents, school officials and indeed all South Carolinians.
After reports that teasing by students may have been involved in the Ninety Six and Virginia Tech situations, James said, “If he (student charged) was being teased, he needed to report those students. I don’t want anyone to be teased like that. That’s unacceptable, too.”

IT IS UNACCEPTABLE. Still, young people sometimes don’t grasp the potential consequences of words. Maybe that’s something we all could learn as we work to prepare our childen to deal with the consequences of a changing world they will have to face.
As in most things, it seems, we all have a responsibility to teach civility and humane values ..... and they include being kind to children ..... and animals, not to mention those who are different from us in race, color, age, gender, and even politically.
Somehow, what we teach now doesn’t quite seem to stack up to the need to solve problems instead of creating them.