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SLED:Drug deal turned deadly typical in violent crime increase

January 12, 2010 By

Two arrests were made for a double murder in a drug deal that turned deadly  in Newberry last week. Over the weekend, the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office arrested two men, each being charged with two counts of Murder and Armed Robbery. Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster says that these two men were acting in concert with Zachery Travorous Bookman who was arrested Friday morning.

Foster said that their investigation revealed that the three arrestees planned to rob the two victims during a drug deal but something went wrong and the men were shot to death in the parking lot. The three suspects fled the scene. Foster says that regardless of who actually fired the shots, all three men are responsible for the deaths because of their participation prior to, during, and after the killings.

State Law Enforcement Division chief Reggie Lloyd says drug activity like this is the main reason that SC tops the nation in violent crime rates. Lloyd says the drug activity is coming out of Atlanta. “They’re pushing those folks out of that area where increased law enforcement attention has been, and they’re telling them to go to South Carolina, go to North Carolina and go to Tennessee. And if we don’t get in front of that problem, you’re going to quickly have local law enforcement and state law enforcement for that matter, that’s going to be overwhelmed with these types of operations.”

Lloyd met with more than 160 agents and victims advocates in a special training Monday –part of a new comprehensive plan to reduce violent crime in the state.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

250 airmen at Shaw AFB prepare for deployment

January 12, 2010 By

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- Staff Sgt. Shavonne Williams, 20th Force Support Squadron, inspects a mobility folder for Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, 77th Fighter Squadron, at the Chandler Deployment Processing Center during Shaw's operational readiness exercise Dec. 1. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Louis Rivers)

About 250 airmen at Shaw Air Force base in Sumter are preparing for deployment later this month. 2nd Lt. Emily Chilson with 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs at Shaw AFB said, ” All of the airmen who will be deployed are processing through our Chandler Deployment Processing Center here on base. They’ll be getting all their affairs in order getting ready to deploy.” Chilson said they are making sure all their legal affairs are in order and all their medical records are up to date. “And of course they’re making sure their equipment is ready to go.”

The 2nd Lieutenant says that all the airmen and all the leadership are “dedicated to making sure that these guys have everything they need to deploy –that they’re ready to get the mission done over there and do it safely.” Chilson added that the leadership is also working to be sure that their families are taken care of back here at home.

This will be the fourth time one of Shaw’s three F-16 squadrons has deployed to Iraq since 2003. They will be in Iraq for four months. The unit is scheduled to deploy again in the spring.

Shaw’s 79th Fighter Squadron is in Afghanistan and is scheduled to return later this month.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military, News

Clemson and pledge puts youth wellness program on fast track

January 12, 2010 By

An interactive wellness and nutrition education program to inspire children to lead healthier lives is now poised to grow as it moves under the umbrella of Clemson University’s Youth Learning Institute. The program, known as “Zest Quest,” was launched in 2004 to encourage children and their families to adopt healthy lifestyle choices. The Cliffs Communities and its foundations, led by founder and CEO Jim Anthony, have made a $3 million pledge and given all rights to the Zest Quest program and name to Clemson University. The Youth Learning Institute, a unit of Clemson Public Service Activities based in Pickens, will manage the program. The pilot program has been offered at 11 elementary schools in the upstate and one in Asheville, North Carolina. Zest Quest Program Director Patsy Smith says the program outlines seven daily goals for youngsters from kindergarten through 5th grade. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Health & Medicine, News

Cold weather spikes demand for electricity

January 12, 2010 By

State-owned utility Santee Cooper had a rise in demand Monday morning as the cold weather set a new record. “Between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m. we set a new all-time peak demand record of 5,668 megawatts. It tops the previous record, which has really stood for about two years, and we think it’s a reflection of the very cold temperatures and also the fact that it was a Monday morning and you had people getting ready for school and for work, and it just all sort of conspired to set a new record of peak demand for us,” says Santee Cooper spokesperson Mollie Gore.

Gore says they were prepared for the increased demand.

“For Santee Cooper it means we need to make sure our generating stations are up to speed, operating at their full potential. It also means that we are hoping people who are using our electricity have also been paying attention to our messages and promotions on conservation and energy efficiency. We recognize that as the state grows and as the temperatures get cold, and we have all of these events coming together, we are going to set new demand records, but that’s not our goal,” says Gore. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Environment & Conservation, News

SLED builds teamwork, training to fight violent crime

January 12, 2010 By

With continued state budget cuts, the State Law Enforcement Division must get creative to overcome what has become the nation’s highest per capita rate of violent crime. SLED Director Reggie Lloyd says one of the things he does not want is to say all solutions are a money issue. “Some of these issues of cooperation and new approaches, we can do in the current system,” Lloyd says.

SLED Director Reggie Lloyd

The SLED Director’s plan is to implement a more aggressive approach toward violent offenders in several areas including criminal domestic violence, child abuse, narcotics and gangs.

“We’re going to be joined at the hip with DEA and the FBI this year, we’re going to take what limited resources all of us have and target those groups that are most dangerous, ” he says. Lloyd emphasizes the protection of women, children and elderly from violent offenders will be a priority in this effort.

“We’ve got parents and grandparents trying to raise their kids in some areas that none of us would tolerate for our own kids, none of us would,” he says. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Economy, News, Politics & Government
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