Heating can be hazard during holiday season

December 17, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

When you think of Christmastime at home, visions of families gathered around twinkling Christmas trees and Yule logs on the fire might dance through your head.
But one moment of carelessness could send all those visions up in smoke.
The risk for house fires increases during the winter season, as people look for different methods to keep their houses warm while the weather turns frosty outside.
“This time of the year has been a concern for us, and especially this year with the price of fuels going up,” said Robby Stevenson, battalion chief and fire marshal with Greenwood City Fire Department. “We’re afraid we’re going to see a lot more fires in homes.”
When properly used, alternative heating devices, such as portable space heaters, kerosene heaters, wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, can help residents lower their winter heating bills. But when used carelessly, they can become a fire hazard, Stevenson said.
“We are creatures of habit, and we just don’t think,” he said. “It’s usually not the appliance that starts the fire, it’s just that (the user) wasn’t thinking at the time.”
While space heaters can be used to heat small areas, such as a bedroom or a living room, they aren’t designed to heat entire houses, Stevenson said. A minimum of three feet of space should be cleared completely around the heater — some manufacturer’s manuals might recommend even more — to prevent items from coming too close to the heat and catching on fire.
Because blankets or other combustible items could fall onto the heaters, the devices should not be used overnight or while a person is sleeping, Stevenson added.
Though it might be tempting to use the same fuel can to fill your lawnmower with gasoline in the summer and your space heater with kerosene in the winter, separate cans are needed to ensure that the wrong fuel doesn’t end up in the wrong device.
“Don’t fuel (the heater) up inside the house. Take it outside, let it cool down and then fill it up,” Stevenson said.
It is also important to let ashes from a fireplace cool down before disposing of them, he said. Never put the ashes in a paper bag, and never place the ashes, which might take days to cool completely, on a wooden deck or patio.
The holiday season also creates a certain degree of fire risk for homes, as thousands of people deck their homes with garland and Christmas trees, which, in a fire, can quickly transform from decorations to kindling. Whether a child knocks over a lit candle near a Christmas tree or a wire shorts out on a strand of lights, an overly dry tree can go up in flames in “just a matter of seconds,” Stevenson said. “You don’t have a slow burn, you have a raging fire.”
Because dry trees pose the most risk, keeping trees fresh and watered is an important step in preventing fires. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends that people cut off about two inches of the tree’s trunk to expose fresh wood and help the tree absorb water kept in a sturdy stand. The commission also advises that the trees should never be placed next to heating sources or open flames, such as fireplaces or candles. “Those trees soak up a lot of water. When you notice the needles start to fall off, the tree has gotten too dry,” Stevenson said. “That is just an accident waiting to happen.”
If a fire breaks out in a home, the fire department should always be called to inspect the house, even if the homeowners are able to extinguish the blaze themselves.
Stevenson said firefighters have equipment that can help them locate hot spots still remaining in the home, which can flare back up into fires.
In the push to keep families safe from fires, however, the best defense comes in the form of a smoke detector. Stevenson said there should be a working smoke detector on each level of a house, in each sleeping room and in every hallway.
“The number one thing is to have a smoke detector,” Stevenson said. “Those things will help save your life.”

Megan Varner covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3308, or: mvarner@indexjournal.com

No additional arrests made
in Greenwood meth ring bust

December 17, 2005

By VIC MacDONALD
Index-Journal regional editor

Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office investigators made no additional arrests Friday in connection with a six-month investigation into the link between Mexican-manufactured methamphetamine and Greenwood County.
On Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office served 24 arrest warrants for meth trafficking and conspiracy charges, along with crack cocaine and marijuana charges. Sheriff Dan Wideman said there would be at least 30 suspects rounded up as a result of a six-month undercover investigation.
The meth ring imported more than 150 pounds of the drug into Greenwood County this year, investigators allege. Investigators are continuing to look into the Mexican drug connection, that involves two other states, and other “businesses” that some of the people arrested were involved in. A utility trailer theft ring, a chop shop for stolen cars and a counterfeiting operation also were uncovered.
“These guys were trading stolen cars for $200 worth of meth,” Wideman said.
Computers were recovered from the homes of some suspects, and forensic computer experts have extracted meth sales documents and other evidence from the computers. Counterfeit money has been found, and a suspect identified by Frederick as a potential ringleader, Daniel Stanley, of Greenwood, had $22,000 on him.
The investigation was spearheaded by VIDOC, the sheriff’s office’s Vice, Illegal Drugs & Organized Crime Unit. A sheriff’s office statement said VIDOC agents “have invested hundreds of hours of survelliance, telephone call monitoring, tailing suspects and performing undercover methamphetamine purchases.”
“Although the investigation also nabbed cocaine and marijuana dealers, VIDOC agents targeted methamphetamine dealers who were part of the import organization,” the statement said. “Like other drug investigations, this one discovered numerous related crimes, and clearly demonstrated the impact methamphetamine is having on communities.” Chief Deputy Mike Frederick said some of the suspects arrested Thursday on meth trafficking charges had bond hearings on Friday and are being held on $100,000 bond. Suspect Melissa Stonestreet was given a $150,000 bond, while suspects Michael Spencer, of Pacolet, and George George, of Spartanburg, were given $50,000 bonds.
Frederick said the only suspect released on Friday was Lisa Yancey, charged with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, a lesser charge than trafficking methamphetamine. She was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Yancey is the school nurse at Mathews Elementary, Frederick said.
Other law enforcement agencies in the Upstate contacted Greenwood County Friday to discuss the meth ring bust, Wideman said. These law enforcement officers are interested in the logistics of the undercover investigation and what it found about the method by which meth came into Greenwood County.
Investigators were suspicious during the past year when meth use was prevalent in the county, but few meth “cooking” labs were found.
Investigators also were not seeing a spike in the sales of Suphedrine, an over-the-counter medicine that contains the active ingredient of meth. “Home cookers” break down the ingredients of these over-the-counter medications and remix them into the drug meth. For this reason, states and some pharmacy companies limit the amount of these cold medicines a person can purchase at one time.
Meth “cooking” can occur in homes with easily accessible utensils. But the homes are contaminated with toxic chemicals left over by the “cooking” process.
In the absence of this source of meth, investigators developed a scenario by which they found the drug was being brought here from Mexico, via two other Southern states. Because of the ongoing nature of the investigation — local information has been turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration — the sheriff’s office asks that the states not be identified.
Investigators think Mexican drug organizations possess the ability to manufacture large quantities of meth outside the controls on raw materials enacted in the U.S., and the groups have existing distribution networks. “Because of the dangers inherent to manufacturing methamphetamine on a small scale and the risk of detection, many dealers are choosing to purchase their meth rather than make it,” a sheriff’s office statement said.
In addition to Mexico and the two states, four counties in Upstate South Carolina were the focus of the investigation. These are Greenwood, Greenville, Spartanburg and Laurens. In addition to the school nurse, suspects include a local restaurant manager and a promotions writer, although not all the suspects rounded up Thursday were charged in the meth ring.
For Wideman, the meth ring bust is part of the process of fulfilling a vow.
“I made a promise to the people of this county that we would fight this stuff as hard as we could,” he said. “I think this case will show our citizens what it is that we’re fighting for.”

Pensacola S. Baldwin

McCORMICK — Services for Pensacola Sullivan Baldwin are 2 p.m. Sunday at Holy Spring Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Robert Knox Jr., pastor. Burial is in the church cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 1.
Pallbearers are Tom Wideman, Curtis Sibert, Paul Leverette, Robert Creswell, Calvin Chiles and Kenneth Puckett.
Flower bearers are members of Women’s Home Aide Society No. 86.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at Walker Funeral Home.
The family is at the home, 508 Bryan St.
Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

Dorothy Carlon

ABBEVILLE, SC — Dorothy Carlon, 80, resident of 99 Deer Hollow Rd., widow of Hersel Paul Carlon, died Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005 at Abbeville County Memorial Hospital.
Born in Monroe, NC she was a daughter of the late David Ervin and Hazel Archer Overby.
She was a retired seamstress and bookkeeper with the J.C. Penney Co. Mrs. Carlon was a member of the Church of Christ. She was a loving mother and grandmother and will be greatly missed.
Survivors are: 3 daughters Paula Gibbs of Florence, SC, Vicky Quarles and her husband Richard of Houston, TX and Sherry Kolb and her husband Allen M.D. of Abbeville, SC; 2 sons Michael Carlon and his wife Denise of Fuquay-Varena, NC and Rod Carlon of Florence, SC; 10 grandchildren Jonathan Car-lon, Brandon Carlon, Jason Carlon, Chris Carlon, Brad Gibbs, Clay Gibbs, Alison Kolb, Stephen Kolb, Kaitlin Quarles and Patrick Quarles.
Graveside services will be conducted Monday, Dec. 19, 2005 at 11:00 AM in Florence National Cemetery with Dr. Allen Kolb officiating.
The body is at The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, Abbeville, SC.
The family will receive friends Sunday evening at the Cain Funeral Home in Florence, SC from 6:00 until 7:00 PM. The family is at the home of her daughter, Dr. & Mrs. Allen Kolb, 121 Colony East, Abbeville, SC.
Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, PO Box 658, Greenwood, SC 29648 or to the American Heart Association, PO Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216.
Online condolences may be sent to the Carlon family by visiting www.chandlerjacksonfh.com
THE CHANDLER-JACKSON FUNERAL HOME, ABBEVILLE, SC IS IN CHARGE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
PAID OBITUARY

Alberta Constant

Alberta Constant, 88, of New Port Richey, FL died Wednesday, December 14 at Legacy Hospice House in Ocala, FL. She was born in Meridian, MS.
Mrs. Constant, a retired secretary, worked at the Pentagon during WWII. Later she obtained her Insurance Agent’s license and owned her own agency for a number of years in Rosendale, New York. After selling the agency she worked as a secretary until retirement. She moved to New Port Richey, FL with her husband LeRoy in 1977, where they became members of St Mark’s Presbyterian Church. As an active member of the congregation she enjoyed the choir, Presbyterian Woman’s organization and working in the Memorial Rose Garden as well as putting her sewing and organizational skills to work for the benefit of others. She moved to Hampton Manor in Ocala, FL in 2003.
She is predeceased by her husband, LeRoy, and a daughter Dorcas Mohacsi (Steve).
Surviving are 6 sons: Carl (Maria Lecho), Ann Arbor, MI; Richard (Donna Rittenhouse) Middleburgh, PA; Eric (Kathy Darrow) Greenwood, SC; Douglas (Frieda Hopp) Hurley, NY and Andrew (Sandra Bauer) Seattle; WA and 3 daughters: Martha Butcher (John) Liver-pool, NY; Charlotte Gazlay, Herndon, VA and Alice, Ocala, as well as 28 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren.
Memorial gifts can be made in her name to the charity of your choice.
A memorial service will be held on December 28, 2005 at 2pm at St Mark’s Presbyterian Church, New Port Richey, FL. Her ashes will be interned with her husband in the spring in Woodstock, New York.
PAID OBITUARY

Sara W. Davis

DUE WEST, SC — Sara W. Davis, 90, of 22 Depot St. Due West, wife of the late Jack J. Davis, died Thursday, December 15, 2005 at her residence. She was born in Greenwood County to the late Scott A. and Mattie Wren White. Mrs. Davis was a member of the Due West Baptist Church.
Her daughter, Betty Brock preceded her in death.
She is survived by her daughter, Rachel Davis of Due West, two sons, Carroll Davis of Hodges, and Johnny Davis of Due West, a sister, Lucille Davis of Saluda, eleven grandchildren, fifteen great-grand, seven great-great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 6:00PM to 8:00PM Saturday, December 17, 2005 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be 2:00PM Sunday, December 18, 2005 in the Harris Funeral Home Chapel conducted by the Rev. Bob Philyaw. Burial will follow in Due West Baptist Cemetery.
Memorial Contributions in memory of Mrs. Davis may be sent to a charity of one’s choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the Davis family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com
HARRIS FUNERAL HOME, of Abbeville is assisting the Davis family.
PAID OBITUARY

Ruth Marie Hall Turner

WHITMIRE — Ruth Marie Hall Turner, 74, died Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005.
A native of Edgefield County, she was a daughter of the late Ramey and Effie Mae Scott Hall. She was a homemaker and of the Pentecostal Holiness faith.
Survivors include her husband, Wedeman Turner; three sons, Otis W. Turner, Eddie Turner and Coy W. Turner; three daughters, Annie Ruth Rowe, Rosa Mae Nelson and Doris Marie Hermandez; five brothers, Lester Hall, Leonard Hall, Harold Hall, William Hall and Bartley Hall; 11 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Bland Funeral Home, Johnston. Burial is in Eastview Cemetery, Edgefield.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home of Bartley Hall, 1000 Youngblood Road, Trenton.
Bland Funeral Home is in charge.

Henry M. (Buddy) Young, Jr.

CLINTON, SC — Henry M. (Buddy) Young, Jr. age 85 of 606 Cedar St., died Friday, December 16, 2005 in the Laurens County Hospital.
He was born in Clinton and was a son of the late Henry Meadors Young Sr. and Grace Furqueron Young.
He was a former employee of Lynn Cooper, Inc. and retired from Whitten Center; was a member, deacon, elder emeritus and Sunday school teacher at the First Presbyterian Church. He was a former member of Lions Club; the American Legion Post #56 and an Air Force Veteran of World War II.
Surviving are his wife, Carolyn Harman Young of the home, one son and daughter-in-law, Bob & Marcia Young of Greenwood; one daughter and son-in-law, Carol Young and Harmon Newton of Charlotte, NC; one brother, Rev. Dr. C. Davis Young of Kansas City, MO; one sister & brother-in-law, Grace Young and Roe Hamilton of Clinton and five grandchildren, Chip Newton of Charlotte, Michael Young, Jennifer Young, Amanda Young and Ryan Young all of Greenwood.
He was predeceased by one sister, Nancy Young Williams and two brothers, George Christopher Young, Jr. and James Edmunds Young, Sr.
A memorial service will be conducted Sunday at 3:30 p.m. in the First Presbyterian Church. The family will receive friends immediately following the service in the Fellowship Hall. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of E. Carolina Ave., Clinton, SC 29325 or Presbyterian Home of SC, Musgrove St., Clinton, SC 29325 or the American Heart Association, Laurens County Division, PO Box 49, Laurens, SC 29360.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.grayfuneralhome.com Gray Funeral Home of Clinton is serving the family.
PAID OBITUARY

Zone defense doesn’t slow Emerald boys

December 17, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

ABBEVILLE — When it comes to high school basketball, teams often expect the unexpected. The Emerald High School boys team certainly adjusted to unexpected tactics Friday night.
The Vikings (7-0) raced out to a big lead against Abbeville and its 2-3 zone, a defense Vikings coach Robin Scott said he didn’t expect to see, and never looked back on their way to a 74-41 win over the Panthers in front of a sellout crowd Friday at Abbeville.
“We though they’d be in man to man. They were in it the last time we played and that was a much closer game,” said Scott, referring to the Vikings’ 60-52 win over Abbeville Dec. 6. “Abbeville always plays us tough in man to man. They came out in zone instead and our guys shot really well against it.”
Emerald small forward Demarco Anderson led the way for the Vikings with 16 points. Anderson scored on a variety of mid-range jump shots and drives to the basket. He said he was pleased with his team’s execution.
“Our passing was good, especially against that zone in the first half,” Anderson said. “We were able to get steals and get on the fastbreak in the second half.”
Abbeville forward Ty Suit paced the Panthers with 14 points.
The second half was strong for the Vikings, as they turned a 41-23 lead into a 58-29 blowout by the end of the third quarter. The expansion of the lead came in large part because of an increase in defensive pressure by Emerald.
“Coach Scott told us to go for it at halftime,” Anderson said. “So we did. We came out ready to play tough D in the second half.”
Scott also thought one of the keys to his team’s lopsided win was an increase in shooting percentage.
According to Scott, Emerald had not shot more than 40 percent from the field in any game this season. On Friday, however, the coach estimated his team shot between 50 and 60 percent from the floor.
“We finally shot the ball well, especially from down inside,” Scott said. “We still have a bunch of fundamental things we’re working out. But tonight I thought we executed a little better.”
The Vikings got rolling early in the first quarter.
Finding spacing and holes in the compact Abbeville zone, Anderson and shooting guard Nick Lanier canned early hoops that were key in giving Emerald the 9-4 lead midway through the quarter. Abbeville’s Michael Butler hit a slashing, leaning jumper as time expired in the first quarter, cutting Emerald’s lead at that point to 15-10.
The Vikings began to push the lead out in the second quarter, due in part to Matt Herring’s hot shooting.
Herring scored all eight of his points at a critical point halfway through the second quarter, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and then a running floater to cap a 12-0 Emerald run. Abbeville attempted to stave off the onslaught, but Vikings Kadarron Anderson’s layup just before the horn sounded sent the Panthers to the locker room facing the 41-23 deficit.

Lady Vikes outlast AHS girls

December 17, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

ABBEVILLE — Apparently, the Emerald High School girls basketball team can play an adaptive style.
The Lady Vikings maintained a deliberate pace in the first half, then effectively ran with fast-paced Abbeville in the second on their way to a 62-55 win over the Lady Panthers Friday at Abbeville.
Emerald was paced by shooting guard Brittany Connor. The crafty ball-handler scored 16 points for the Lady Vikings and was key in keeping the team under control in the frantic second half.
The Lady Vikings also got 15 points from center Elizabeth Nicholson, and Shenna Clark came off the bench to added a crucial 10 points.
“This win means a lot,” Connor said.
“We have been working really hard on defense in practice. I think that helped our offense, because it led to more easy baskets.”
Abbeville was bolstered by torrid shooting from guards Tecoya London and Quantella Morton.
Morton led all scorers with 22 points, while London added 17. Seventeen of Morton’s points came in the second half, as did 11 of London’s.
Center Lakia Bailey added 12 for the Lady Panthers, six in each half.
The game was a grind-it-out, halfcourt affair in the opening half, with the two teams being tied 9-9 after the first quarter.
Both teams were cold from the field and seemed to be grasping to establish a tone.
Emerald grabbed a foothold of the lead in the second quarter.
Shots began to fall for Nicholson, who began taking advantage of offensive rebounds and loose balls to score points when the offense bogged down. The Lady Vikings lead, 20-17 at halftime.
Perhaps Abbeville sensed a change in momentum was needed, because the Lady Panthers ratcheted up the pace quite a bit in the second half.
The Lady Vikings were ready to run along with them.
Morton and London got hot, leading to a sudden influx of points. Morton hit two of her four 3-pointers and London all three hers in third quarter. Meanwhile, Connor and Clark keyed and finished alternating fastbreaks for Emerald, keeping their team in the lead, 37-34, late in the quarter. However, Abbeville ended the third on a 5-0 run and grabbing a 39-37 lead.
The Lady Vikings responded wit a blistering 25-point fourth quarter.
One of the reasons the Vikings were able to surge into the lead and seal the win was a suffocating 1-2-2 zone defense that generated a preponderance of steals. The steals turned into layups for players such as Connor, Tricie Riley and Rachel Baggett. A 9-0 run midway through the fourth vaulted the Lady Vikings into the 54-48 lead.
Abbeville attempted to mount one last rally, with Morton nailing another 3-pointer and Bailey pounding home two hard-fought layups to bring Abbeville to within four at 57-53 with just over a minute left.
However, Emerald got key hoops from Clark and Riley in the last minute to seal the win.

It’s called many things,
but Americans involved

December 17, 2005

Both of those terms are used these days and not only in South Carolina or other Southern states. They’re used all over the country and, OK, now. Do we call it the Civil War? Or, do we call it the War Between the States? probably, around the world. There’s a good chance that not too many of us ever consider if either is correct. One is, though. The other is not.
So, for all those who want the “official” word, here it is ….. at least according to an editorial by Mrs. Alton R. Keith in the June/July 1997 edition of “UDC Magazine,” a publication of the United Daughters of the Confederacy: “Minutes from 41st General Convention, page 155: A war was waged from 1861 to 1865 between the Northern States of America and the Confederate States of America.

“THESE WERE THE OFFICIAL titles of the contending parties. It was the ‘War Between the States’ because 22 non-seceding states made war upon 11 seceding states to force them back into the Union of states. It was a War between two organized governments, the Southern states fighting to repel invasion, to protect their rights as granted by the Constitution of the United States of America to each state which ratified the Constitution. It was not a Civil War, as it was not fought between two parties within the same government, as is the case of the Civil War in England.
“It was not a ‘War of Secession,’ for the Southern states seceded without a thought of war. The right of a state to secede had never been questioned. In 1833, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts spoke on secession, which had been threatened by some Northern states, as well as other states in the following words: ‘Whenever the time has come for seceding, it were better for the people of the DisUnited States to separate in peace and without question. They entered the Union freely and should be allowed to leave freely.’
“THIS SHOULD BE READ often at Chapter meetings. Many members (and non-members) do not understand that the term ‘War Between the States’ is very different from the term ‘Civil War,’”
There are, no doubt, some who still will argue everything about that war among Americans ….. including what to call it. We are, after all, Americans. Either way, it’s our history ….. all of us. Fortunately, the shared ups and downs through the years since that war have shown us that Benjamin Franklin was right when he told our Founding Fathers at the signing of the Declaration of Independence that “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.’
The world these days doesn’t offer any options.