K-9 cops get body armor

November 7, 2006

By BOBBY HARRELL
Index-Journal staff writer

Deputy Bobby Gordon, of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, plays tug of war with Vito, his 3-year-old German Shepherd from Hungary in front of the sheriff’s office Monday. Vito and Gordon have trained together for about two years.

Law enforcement and the public often have been shielded from entering dangerous situations by specially trained dogs that take down suspects.
But what protects the dogs from violent perpetrators?
A Hodges couple have answered that by buying three full sets of canine body armor for the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, according to a GCSO press release. Denny and Carole Cole bought the armor to honor the memory of their beloved black Labrador “Whopper,” who died in April 2005 after 13 years with the family.
They also wanted to support the GCSO’s new Working Dogs program. The Coles donated the money for the armor in April, but training and delays in receiving the armor kept all the handlers from being equipped until now.
Canine armor costs slightly more than human bullet-resistant vests for the level of protection, Carole Cole said.
She said “Whopper” was found at 5 months old.
“He came home in a (Burger King) Whopper box, but he grew to become a 96-pound black lab,” she said, according to the press release. “He was our baby.”
The Coles got the idea to give the body armor after reading the GCSO dogs didn’t have bullet protection. Budget cuts prevented the sheriff’s office from purchasing their own canine armor, Carole Cole said.
The doggie body armor is the same type of Kevlar found in deputies’ bullet-resistant vests, but cut to fit the four-legged cops, said Mike Frederick, chief deputy of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies with canines are appreciative of the armor, considering dogs can get in just as much trouble as their human partners. When a dog is sent in to help bring a suspect into custody, the animal often goes one-on-one with people armed with guns, knives and other weapons, Frederick said.
“They’re basically in the same peril that the deputies are in,” he said.
Law enforcement loses dogs each year in the line of duty, so protection is very important. Most of the canine units that got the armor go on drug searches, patrol and do some limited tracking, Frederick said.
The dogs in the Working Dog program don’t have as an advanced sense of smell as the GCSO’s bloodhound team.
“These dogs are amazing,” said Sheriff Dan Wideman in the press release. “Watching them in action is something to behold.”
Frederick said the program was started at the beginning of this year, but is getting up to speed with deputies finishing their training. Three canine handlers are working now in Greenwood County, with another trainer to be hired in January.
Carole Cole said it was exciting to see the dogs with their armor, especially since she is an animal lover.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to know that both human life and the life of a dog will be protected,” she said.

Mom, sensei charged in spanking

Instructor says spanking was part of discipline for problem behavior

November 6, 2006

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

An 8-year-old Greenwood boy was reportedly whipped with a stick at a local karate school, and the school’s chief instructor and the boy’s mother are facing charges stemming from the incident.
The Greenwood Police Department has charged Cho’s Karate School Chief Instructor Darnell Leak, 54, of 201 Sample Ave., Greenwood, and the victim’s mother, Star Lynn Clark, 29, of 105 Juniper Court, Greenwood, with cruelty to children, after the boy’s father reportedly found bruising on the child’s bottom resulting from an Oct. 26 spanking.
According to an incident report, the father said he recently learned his son had been getting into some trouble at school. He said his ex-wife, the boy’s mother, had given the karate instructor permission to punish the child, and he said the boy claimed the instructor had whipped him with a long stick.
The boy said the instructor struck him on his backside about 10 times with the stick, the father reported to police, and the father found bruises across the child’s backside upon inspection.
The report said police spoke with the boy’s mother about the incident, and she told police she gave the instructor paperwork from the child’s elementary school showing the boy had been getting into trouble.
The boy’s mother said she did ask the instructor for help in fixing the problem but never told the instructor it was allowable to spank the boy. When officers spoke with the child, the boy said the instructor took him into a back bathroom at the karate school where he struck him with a stick similar to those used in karate class.
The officer did see some redness and bruising on the victim’s backside.
According to the report, the instructor, when questioned by police, said he did spank the child about two or three times on his outer hips with a small stick about the diameter of a pencil. He said he had the mother’s permission to punish the child if he received any problem reports from the boy’s school.
Clark, a mother of three young children, said she was “shocked” by the charges against her, adding the allegations of cruelty to children are “ridiculous.” She said she was arrested based only on her ex-husband’s word and “without any proof of what they arrested me for.”
“I do not feel this was abuse,” she said, “though I do feel it crossed the line.”
She said she never gave anyone permission to spank her child, though she added she did not want to speak badly about Leak or his school. She said her children have been in the karate school since March and have never had a problem with the classes or their instructor.
“I do not agree with somebody else spanking my child,” she said. “I did not give permission to spank my son, but as a parent, I understand karate is about discipline. When I signed (my son) in the class, I agreed to certain means of discipline. They just weren’t explained.”
Leak said he did not spank the child hard enough to leave any marks, only giving light “pops” as part of a method of teaching discipline and respect. He said the method, when used along with other martial arts-related exercises and techniques, can help children and adults control problematic behavior at home and at school.
“We constantly counsel and talk to the kids ... I discipline them because I love them,” Leak said. “My thing is, we have lost so many children in this generation that are angry, going to jail and losing it because nobody is really doing anything to bring them back.
“My school gives discipline and helps recapture our kids.”Leak said he has never had concerns raised by parents in his 30-plus years of teaching, but has instead been praised for his methods and the positive results they bring about. For many of his students, he added, he is more of a father figure than instructor.
“Most parents come to me and say they love it,” Leak said. “They say they like the change in the kids and the changes in the kids’ attitudes.”

Carolyn Brooks

NINETY SIX — Nancy Carolyn E. Brooks, 90, of 411 Sirrine Street, Ninety Six, widow of Josh Brooks, died Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 at the Saluda Nursing Center.
Born in Chester, she was a daughter of the late Charles and Ester Estes. She was retired from Greenwood Mills, Ninety Six Plant, where she was a member of the Quarter Century Club. She was a member of Temple Baptist Church and the T.E.L. Sunday School Class.
She was twice married, first to the late Judson Burden.
Surviving are two daughters, Mildred Carithers of Taylors and June Evans of Greenwood; two sons, Harold Burden and Jimmy Burden, both of Ninety Six; a sister, Jessie Satterfield of Clinton; eight grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren. Services will be at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Harley Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. J.B. Abercrombie and the Rev. G. Thomas Cartledge officiating. Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be grandsons.
Honorary escort will be members of the T.E.L. Sunday School Class of Temple Baptist Church.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 2 to 3 p.m.
The family is at the home of her son, Jimmy Burden, 215 West Main Street, Ninety Six.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Preston Eugene ‘Gene’ Burton

CALHOUN FALLS — Mr. Preston Eugene “Gene” Burton, 88, of 400 Burton Drive, Calhoun Falls, died Nov. 5, 2006 in Greenwood.
Born in Anderson County, Mr. Burton was the son of the late Effie E. Burton and Betty Davis Burton. He served in the U.S. Army Corps during WWII and was retired from the U.S. Postal Service. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Calhoun Falls, where he served as Deacon and Sunday School Teacher. Mr. Burton was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Lion’s Club, and had served on the Abbeville County Council and School Board.
Survivors include his wife, Frances Martin Burton of the home; son, Wayne E. Burton of Greenwood; daughter, Pat Meredith and her husband, Nathan, of Anderson; 8 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; and brothers, Johnny Burton of Greenwood and Grady B. Burton and his wife, Oleta, of Abbeville.
Graveside funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Anderson. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, PO Box 658, Greenwood, SC 29648 or to a charity of your choice. The family may be contacted at the residence.
Calhoun Falls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Tim Childs

HICKORY TAVERN — Timothy “Tim” Martin Childs, 50, of 14337 Hwy. 76, died Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006. He was born in Belton, S.C., a son of Martin H. and Bertha Davis Childs. He was self-employed.
Surviving besides his parents of Waterloo are one daughter, April Childs Hughes, Simpsonville; one brother, Randy Childs, Waterloo; one sister, Wanda C. Cooper, Spartanburg; and two grandchildren, Kellett Hughes and Addison Hughes, Simpsonville; and his girlfriend, Gina Traynham, Hickory Tavern.
Graveside services will be conducted Thursday at 1 p.m. at Greenwood Memorial Gardens, conducted by Mr. Jessie Lee Weathers.
Active pallbearers will be James “Scatter” Satterwhite, Lee Malloy, Wade Barrett, Steve Christie, Leonard “Shakey” Stewart and Don Traynham.
The family will be at the home of his parents, Martin and Bertha Childs, 2771 River Fork Rd., Waterloo and will receive friends Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. at Parker-White Funeral Home.

Leo ‘Skeet’ Hancock

HODGES — Leo Harvey “Skeet” Hancock, 91, of 5833 Hwy. 25 N., died Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 at his home. He was a son of the late James W. and Maggie Lollis Hancock and was retired owner and operator of Skeet’s Hy Rocket Station.
Mr. Hancock was a member of Ware Shoals First Baptist Church, Ware Shoals Masonic Lodge #306 and Shriners of Greenville.
He was twice married, first to the late Mary Lucille Barnes Hancock and to Betty L. Brown Hancock, who survives him.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Lisa H. Cain, Hodges, SC; a brother, Jimmy Hancock, Florida; two grandchildren, Brooke Cain and Tony Hancock.
Funeral service will be conducted Wednesday, 2 p.m. at Hodges Church of God with Rev. Charles Caldwell officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Active pallbearers will be Cleve Crawford, Joe Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Dennis Inabinet, Ken Manley and Richard Hotchkiss.
Memorials may be made to Hospice of S.C., 231 Hampton St., Greenwood, S.C. 29646.
The family is at the home and will receive friends Tuesday, 6-8 p.m. at Parker-White Funeral Home. The body will be placed in the church Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Richard LaRoche

WATERLOO — Richard Knight LaRoche, Sr., 50, husband of Karen Cooper LaRoche, of 1070 Enchanted Oaks Drive, died at his home, Monday, Nov. 6, 2006. He was born in Ware Shoals, a son of Edward B. LaRoche, Sr. of Waterloo and the late Janie Knight LaRoche. He was a member of Union Baptist and the National Rifle Association. He was an employee of Laurens Electric Co-op.
Surviving besides his father of the home are two sons, Richard “Rick” LaRoche and fiancee, Ashley Hughes, Greenville and Austin LaRoche of the home; one daughter, Christie L. Thompson and husband, David of Irmo; three brothers, Edward B. LaRoche, Jr. and wife, Sheila of Cross Hill, Julius M. LaRoche and wife, Patti of Hickory Tavern and Pierre R. LaRoche and wife, Shirley of Hamilton Square, N.J.; and two grandchildren, Regan Tweed and Zachary Thompson.
Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday, 3 p.m. at Mt. Olive Baptist Church with Rev. Dr. Marcus Bishop, Rev. Chris Garrison and Rev. Rubin Wallace officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Active pallbearers will be Steve Caruso, Michael and Eric LaRoche, Frank Moore Cooper, Darrell Smith, Brian and Michael Pelfrey and Tony Pressley.
Employees of Laurens Electric Co-op will sit as the honorary escort. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Laurens, P.O. Box 178, Clinton, S.C. 29325.
The family will receive friends at the home. The body is at Parker-White Funeral Home and will be placed in the church at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

William David Morton, Sr.

ABBEVILLE — Mr. William D. Morton, Sr., age 73, of 115 Rockhouse Circle, died Nov. 4, 2006 at Hospice Care of the Piedmont. He was born in Abbeville County and was the son of the late Clarence and Ellen Gray Morton. He was a member of Long Cane A.M.E. Church.
Surviving are his wife, Mary Frances Morton of Pendleton, SC; sisters, Leola Spearman, Emma Goodwin and Betty Lewis, all of Abbeville; brothers, Clarence Morton, Jr., Emory Morton, James Morton, George Morton and Albert Morton, all of Abbeville; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Services will be Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006 at 11 a.m. at Long Cane A.M.E. Church with Rev. Julius M. Johnson officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The family is at the home of a sister Leola Spearman, 1587 Secession Ave. Brown and Walker Funeral Home is in charge of services.

Thelma Clark Mullis

Mrs. Mullis, 85, formerly of Charlotte, NC, died Nov. 5, 2006 at Ashley House in Greenwood, South Carolina. A native of Abbeville County, SC, Mrs. Mullis was born April 22, 1921, daughter of the late Edward Pearl Clark and Edna Turner Clark. She was a member of First Baptist Church and the Mae Garris Sunday School Class. She was a former member, Sunday school teacher and choir member at Whiting Avenue Baptist Church. Mrs. Mullis was married for sixty-six years to the late Lewis Cole Mullis. She was a gifted artist and loved to visit people in nursing homes.
Mrs. Mullis is survived by two daughters, Jerrie Mullis Butler and her husband, Don, of Greenwood, SC, and Carol Lynn Mullis Hicks of Greenville, SC; four grandchildren, Debbie Owens of Winterhaven, FL, Donald Owens and his wife, Luann, also of Winterhaven, Florida, Janis Hicks Blumer and her husband, Brad of Monroe, NC, and Douglas Hicks and his wife, Jennifer, of Richmond Hill, GA; and a brother, Charles Edward Clark of Black Mountain, NC. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006 at First Baptist Church with the Reverend Michael Cummings officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends Wednesday evening from 5:30 until 7:30 at Hankins & Whittington Dilworth Chapel. Honorary pallbearers will be the members of the Mae Garris Sunday School Class.
Memorials may be made to the Congregational Health Ministry, First Baptist Church, PO Box 31046, Charlotte, NC, 28231.
Arrangements are in the care of Hankins & Whittington, Dilworth Chapel, 1111 East Blvd. Online at www.hankinsandwhittington.com.

Mable Evelyn Clinkscales Smith

Fredericksburg, Va. — Mable Evelyn Clinkscales Smith was born on Oct. 1, 1936 to the late Arnold and Pearl Clinkscales, in Abbeville, S.C. She departed this life on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006 at the home of her daughter Harolyn, in Fredericksburg, Va.
At an early age, Mable accepted Christ as her Savior and joined the Salem Baptist Church in Abbeville.
She was educated in the Greenwood County School District and graduated from Brewer High School.
In 1954, Mable met and married her late husband, Harold Smith. They moved to Detroit, Mich., and later to Jamaica, N.Y., where they settled. Harold predeceased her on Aug. 29, 1996 in Jamaica, N.Y.
She leaves to rejoice in her memory her four daughters, Harolyn Dinella of Fredericksburg, Va., Derotha Lynn Tucker of Abbeville, Cynthia Renae and Jacqueline of Fredericksburg; a stepson, Samuel Lipford; two grandchildren, Justin of Washington, D.C., and Egypt of Abbeville; her only sister, Mariah Riley of Greenwood; two Aunts, Aggie Chiles of Greenwood and Pearl Simpson of Greenville, S.C.; one son-in-law, Dennis Tucker of Abbeville; five nieces and nephews, Sharon, Nikki and Roderick Smith of New York, Darryl and Adrienne Riley of Columbia, S.C.; a long time special friend, Alta Mae Lee of Jamaica, N.Y.; and her devoted dog, Morrocco.
Funeral services were held on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006 in Jamaica, N.Y.

Marion Thompson

Marion Duff Thompson, 95, of 1414 Woodlawn Road, widow of William Clayton Thompson, died Monday, Nov. 6, 2006, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Diverse Deloach

Saluda receiver getting set to switch
from the gridiron to the hardwood

November 7, 2006

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

SALUDA — Although he’s better known for lighting up the scoreboard inside a basketball gym, the Saluda Tigers’ Trevor Deloach had a solid season on the football field as well.
With a combination of height, speed and leaping ability, Deloach finished the season with 64 receptions for 755 yards and 11 touchdowns, while averaging 11.8 yards per catch. Saluda football coach Wayne Bell said he was pleased with the wide receiver’s performance this season.
“He’s been an outstanding leader for us both vocally and with his play,” Bell said. “He knows he’s a good basketball player, and I think he has realized how good of a football player he can be also.”
Following a first-round loss to Pelion last Friday, Deloach will now shift his focus to basketball and try to show why the Gamecocks offered him a basketball scholarship.
The time he spent on the football field should work in his favor as he trades in his shoulder pads and cleats for shorts and sneakers.
“I think football is more physical and banging is a big part in the paint,” Deloach said. “Football got me ready and more physical. I’ll need that in the SEC next year.”
Deloach added that playing football this season kept him from becoming lazy while also allowing him to maintain a certain level of conditioning and stay in shape.
“We used to run on Mondays, Tuesdays and sometimes on Wednesdays,” Deloach said. “I used to just go hard the whole practice and that helped.”
With so much running and the changing weather conditions throughout the season, Deloach said that he thinks football practice is tougher than basketball practice.
“With football, you’re out there whether it’s hot or cold and you’re out there running around and working hard,” Deloach said. “In basketball, you’re inside and the temperature is good.”
No matter how he’s felt following a long week of practice, Deloach has still found time to shoot a few jumpers when not on the football field.
“I usually go to the gym and spend about an hour there,” Deloach said. “I try to sneak off and shoot on the weekends and at night.”
Although some might see it as a drawback, Deloach says the Gamecock basketball coaches actually embraced the idea of his continuing to play football during the basketball off-season. The same can be said for Saluda basketball coach Jimmy Kinard, who also coached linebackers for the Tigers.
“The biggest upside is that he is competing and he’s maintaining that competitiveness by going against other athletes,” Kinard said. “From a physical standpoint, I think it has made him a little tougher.”

Despite nasty trash talk get out today and vote!

November 7, 2006

Voting, Part II.
Chances are a lot of people around Greenwood and the Lakelands area have become so disillusioned over the cutthroat politics that has filled the airways in this election season that many of them have decided they just won’t vote. It’s probably true all over the state. That, no doubt, could be just what some candidates are counting on. The fewer votes cast, they reason, the best chance they have of carrying the day.
So forget the obviously unsubstantiated charges thrown around about “plans to destroy public schools” and the like. Records, too, have been distorted to the extreme in efforts to make candidates appear to be some kind of ogre that will pounce on and eat the little children of the Palmetto State and burn their parents at the stake ..... or worse.

IT’S DOWNRIGHT AMAZING - and frightening sometimes - what some candidates can get away with in their rhetoric, whether spoken, recorded or written. As misrepresentative and deceptive as some of the candidates have been, both on the state and national level, some of their surrogates have been even worse. Some of them have let nothing stand in the way of the falsification of records, intentions or anything else.
They’ve simply put out all kinds of propaganda that has had no basis in fact. Yet it has been distributed as if it were the gospel truth.
Whether they’ve believed it was true hasn’s always been clear, but that apparently didn’t make any difference. Likewise, it hasn’t always been clear if some of the surrogates have been the author of their own propaganda or if they have been supported by ghost writers, all with the same step-by-step message.

WHATEVER THE SITUATION, don’t let the negativity, no matter how overwhelming or offensive it might have been, anger you enough to keep you from voting.
Turn it around the other way. Use it as the catalyst to make you angry enough to make you determined to vote.
Voting is one of our most precious rights, if not the most precious. If we don’t exercise it properly, all the other rights could slip away without us ever realizing what was happening.
Many distortions have been spread around. Voters, though, usually have an instinct about who tells the truth and who doesn’t. But, they have to vote to make that count.