By staff reports

Published on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 7:50pm |

• News

The following is a synopsis of the front page stories that appeared each week in The People-Sentinel during 2009.
January 7
• Few documents in American history are celebrated like the Declaration of Independence is for the Fourth of July.
However, for African-Americans, the Fourth of July comes Jan. 1.
That is when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1864.
On Jan. 1 - 146 years later - a crowd gathered at St. Thomas Grove Baptist Church in Barnwell County for the Emancipation Day program to celebrate that freedom. The event was sponsored by the Barnwell-Blackville branch of the NAACP.

•Ellen Bush Jenkins played many roles for Barnwell County - librarian, historian, newspaper editor and community supporter.
For friends who remember her, the best roles Jenkins played were "friend" and being herself. Jenkins died Dec. 29, 2008 at age 76.
Jenkins served as the head librarian for Barnwell public library, first from 1976 to 1980, then again from 1992 to 2005. She retired shortly before the library moved to the Circle.

January 14
• Although Barnwell County has started feeling the effects of the slumping national economy with plant closings, layoffs and furloughs, it received some good news in economic development circles as Unitech expanded its Snelling operations. The expansion means 50 new jobs. The radiological laundry service has been in Barnwell since 2003.

• If South Carolina's ship of state were a true nautical vessel, then it is sailing into rough seas - economically rough conditions the state will likely weather for several years.
That's the budgetary forecast that Les Boles, the director of the S.C. Office of State Budget, and state legislators gave to state media during a legislative workshop in Columbia Jan. 8.
The workshop was sponsored by the S.C. Press Association and the S.C. Broadcasters Association.

• Mirroring the dire economic times occurring across the nation - Barnwell County employees had to take five days of unpaid furloughs. The Barnwell County Council passed an amendment Jan. 6 to change the 2008-09 budget which made the unpaid furloughs mandatory.
All county employees except elected officials and law enforcement personnel with the powers to arrest would have been excluded.
However, both law enforcement and some elected officials said they will voluntarily take the furloughs.

January 21
• Just 17 days into the new year Blackville had its first shooting victim in more than four years.
On Jan. 16, Christopher Dorch, 19, of Blackville was shot in the head in the Corner Stop Convenience Store parking lot on Solomon Blatt Avenue, said Blackville Police Chief John Holston.
Dorch died from his injury at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
The shot is believed to have originated from a vehicle which fled the scene, said Lloyd Ward, the Barnwell County coroner.

• The day before Barack Obama became president, people in Barnwell County, the state and nation celebrated the man who helped make the Illinois senator's path to the White House smoother and faster.
Jan. 19 was observed as Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday.
To celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Williston Community Services Club marched along the newly completed Williston walking track from Spring Branch Baptist Church to their club house on Joseph Street in Williston, Jan. 19.

• Barnwell County - already hit by several economic downturns - was struck again.
The Hanesbrands Inc. plant, located in the city of Barnwell, closed in late spring. Hanesbrands Inc. released a statement about the closing from its Winston-Salem, N.C. corporate office Jan. 14.
The closing meant a loss of 310 jobs for the area.
The plant knitted socks and contained a small retail outlet shop where it sold Hanes brand apparel.

January 28
• The freezing temperatures and massive crowds didn't stop some Barnwell County residents from attending a historic event in American history - President Barack Obama's inauguration.
"African-Americans were shut out for so long and now to see an African-American in the White House that slaves built; I'm proud to be an American who had the opportunity in my life to witness how much our nation has progressed," said Teresa Jenkins of Barnwell.
Jenkins, along with some of her relatives, attended the Jan. 20 inauguration of the nation's 44th president and were part of the crowd of about two million people packed into the Washington Mall.
Also attending the inauguration festivities were Tim Moore Jr., a Barnwell attorney and the former head of the Barnwell County Democratic Party, with his wife Scottie.

• Overhauls are repairs to engines to make them run better.
If the state public defender's system was an engine, it now runs more effectively and efficiently, which is the miles per gallon mearsure for state agencies.
In June 2007, the General Assembly passed legislation to create a unified, statewide public defender's system.
All 46 counties in the state were part of the overhaul. The new system creates a public defender's office in each judicial circuit. Previously, each judicial circuit contracted with local attorneys for indigent defense - legal counsel to those who cannot afford it.

• This time, the church decided to look inward instead of outward.
Each year for the past three years, Williston United Methodist Church sent members out of state on mission projects like house renovations for poor people or those affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The decision led a team of a dozen people crawling inside and out of a home in the Williston area during the week of Jan. 24.

February 4
• Due to a tight budget, construction projects on the Circle and a lack of volunteers, the city of Barnwell decided during a Feb. 2 Barnwell City Council meeting to cancel this year's spring Festival on the Round event.

• Damage assessment - on present and future effects that a faltering economy and plant closings are and will have on Barnwell County - was the purpose of a meeting between county officials, human services personnel and business and civic leaders Feb. 2. The meeting was coordinated by the Barnwell County United Way - whose member agencies and others that it interacts with - are starting to see the human effects of tough economic times in the county.
The catalyst for the meeting was recent announcements that the Milliken and Hanesbrands plants in the county would close by mid-year. These closings left about 435 people without jobs.

• To glean - to gather grain or other produce left after harvest.
One organization is hoping to harvest spare produce from Barnwell County fields to feed the county's hungry.
The Lions Club of Barnwell hosted a meeting to learn about the gleaning project conducted by the Society of St. Andrew, which founded the Gleaning Network in 1988 as a way to help end hunger in the United States. The network consists of farmers, volunteers and feeding programs.

February 11
• The latest victim for Barnwell County in the faltering national economy is Allied Air Enterprises in Blackville.
Lennox International, Allied's parent company, announced Feb. 4 that it would phase out the Blackville facility within a two-year time period. Employees were alerted to the plant's future the same day Lennox issued the press release about the impending closing.
The Blackville plant employs about 350 people and manufactures residential heat pumps and cooling units. Lennox is consolidating its operations, which caused the closing, a corporate spokesman said.

• On Feb. 7, soldiers moved through brush in a tactical formation with guns ready.
However, these soldiers were not in a war zone. On this day, a trip to Grahams Turnout, just over the Bamberg County line, gave a group of wounded warriors a chance to hunt quail and pheasant at a hunting lodge/
The organizers and hosts of the event, Holly and Randy Rimes of Kline and Jim Schaffer, owner of Grahams Turnout, brought in the wounded warriors from Fort Gordon, Ga. for a day of fun and relaxation. Most of these soldiers were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

• Most of the ladies were in dresses, some in formal full-length ones. The men likewise were pressed and polished.
Each lady received a stemmed flower and a wrist corsage. After photos were taken, the couples enjoyed dinner and dancing. This wasn't a prom. The men were all fathers and their "dates" were their daughters. The event was sponsored by the Barnwell city recreation department and held Feb. 7 as the first father-daughter dance.

Feb. 18
• One thing Blackville town leaders all agreed upon is the closing of the Allied Air plant in Blackville will affect the town.
How negatively that impact will be remains to be seen, said several Blackville leaders.
Lennox International, the corporation of which Allied Air is a subsidiary, announced Feb. 4 it would close its Blackville plant. The plant went through a gradual reduction of its workers. The plant employed 350 people and manufactured residential cooling units and heat pumps before the announcement was made.
"As you see, it's going to be a big impact on our tax base," said Harry Felder, a Blackville town councilman. "That's going to be a big setback on the town."
The plant closing did not come as a complete surprise, because Felder had heard rumors, he said.
"The thing about it is the ripple effect it will have with the restaurants and the other businesses," Felder said.
Likewise, town councilman Rupert "Russ" Reed said he would bring the topic up for discussion at the meeting too.
"It's not a good thing for us at all," said town cuncilman Rupert "Russ" Reed said. "That and (Augusta) Fiberglass are the only two industries in town. It impacts 300 people directly and everybody else - but really it will impact about 3,000 people."

• Test scores interested Lelon Belton Tobin more than field goals because in the end - they would carry his students' fortunes.
Tobin was the first African-American assistant principal of Blackville-Hilda High School and the subject of a Black History Month profile.
Tobin wore many other hats during his 15 years at the school - including test coordinator, transportation supervisor, science teacher, adult education director and Junior Beta Club sponsor.
Tobin left BHHS in 1989 to be the principal for A.L. Corbett Middle School in Wagener.

• A former James Brown trustee accused of misappropriating millions of the late singer's money was sentenced to at least six months in jail for not paying more than $400,000, as ordered by a court in 2007.
David Cannon of Barnwell was in the Aiken County jail after surrendering to police Feb. 11 for contempt of court.

• Construction crews peeled awayyears of wear on the old First Citizens building in downtown Barnwell as it was renovated to be the new city hall. Workers inched around the edifice's eaves, removing tarnish so the original copper shines again.

Feb. 25
• A Feb. 17 fatal crash claimed the lives of two Barnwell County residents - a mother and daughter - on S.C. 70 in Orangeburg County.
Diane Bosier, 48, of Blackville, a passenger and Sherell Donaldson, 27, also of Blackville, the driver, were both airlifted to Palmetto Richland Hospital in Columbia.
Bosier died Feb. 17 of blunt force trauma, Orangeburg County Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle said.
Donaldson died on Feb. 22 from injuries received in the crash.
According to the S.C. Highway Patrol, Jamari Thompson, 17, was traveling northbound on S.C. 70 and attempted to pass another vehicle when the wreck occurred.

• Milk is the official beverage of South Carolina, but the state would likely be happier with water - as in rainwater.
During its Feb. 19 meeting, the state drought response committee upgraded the water conditions of 16 counties along the coast and Pee Dee regions to "incipient" drought conditions which puts the entire state under some level of drought conditions.
Barnwell County was already in the incipient category before Feb. 19, said Barnwell County Administrator Pickens Williams Jr.

• Most museums communicate history through the eyes for its visitors.
For the guests to the Barnwell County Museum Feb. 22, the program was one for the ears.
The Barnwell County Museum held a musical tribute in observance of Black History Month with several local choirs and musicians performing to a crowd of about 55 people at the Effie Fuller Center, the home of the museum until the Fuller House next door is completed.

March 4
• The store has been restocked.
Since the Piggly-Wiggly grocery store closed in Barnwell in 2007, there had not been one on the north side of town for residents until IGA opened in the former Piggly-Wiggly on Marlboro Avenue. The 22,000-square-foot store held its grand opening March 2.

• The Blackville-Hilda school board passed a resolution to use up to $400,000 for infrastructure repair for two of its district schools during a Feb. 24 special called board meeting.
The money will go toward a brand new roof for the Macedonia Elementary School and new tile and carpet in areas of the elementary school and the high school, said Superintendent Teresa Pope.

• The Barnwell County Hospital has a new chief executive officer and it's someone the board knows well.
Mary Wisner - who had been the hospital's interim CEO and the former head of nursing - was named to the position permanently at a Feb. 26 hospital board meeting.
Wisner had been the interim CEO since former CEO Bob Waters retired in January. Since her promotion, Wisner married and is now Mary Wisner Valliant.

March 11
• It was a "double or nothing" roll of the economic dice and for Barnwell County, it came up on the winning side.
After months of local news about plant closings and budget cutbacks due to the economy, Barnwell County welcomed news that Crane Corp., the company that owns Dixie-Narco, is folding the operations of its St. Louis, Mo. manufacturing plant into its plant in Williston.
This means 400 to 500 new jobs will be created at the Williston plant within about 14 months with an additional 500 to 600 jobs added within four to five years as the production lines in St. Louis are transferred to Williston.

• Taking a pro-active response to Barnwell County's declining economic conditions, the Lower Savannah Council on Government's Workforce Development opened a transition center for dislocated workers.
On March 16, the transition center opened at Denmark Technical College's Barnwell campus to help the unemployed or soon-to-be-unemployed.
The center will keep the waiting lines down in the Barnwell County One-Stop.

• It seems that duty doesn't come hard to Abraham Sexton, especially after more than 26 years in the Army.
Sexton, 64, announced he is running for the Barnwell 45 school board.
One seat - occupied by Jeff Still - was open on the five-member board during the last election on April 14.
Still decided not to seek another term.

March 18
• About 100 high school, junior high and middle school students from across South Carolina saddled up in Barnwell County to stay on the bull for eight seconds.
The Barnwell County Career Center hosted the FFA rodeo at the Rosier Farm March 13 -15.

• March 11 was marked by a 16.9-mile chase for area police with speeds reaching up to 90 miles mph.
The chase stretched from Blackville to Longbranch and ended with the arrest of a man in downtown Barnwell.
Chet A. Wilcox, 26, of 1207 South Wall St. Carbondale, Ill. was arrested at about 3:45 p.m. on Dunbarton Boulevard in Barnwell in front of the CVS pharmacy.
Wilcox was charged with reckless driving, failure to stop for blue lights and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

March 25
• It was a week of controversy in the Barnwell 45 school district as parents, athletic teams and bus drivers wrestled with transporting students to athletic events.
During a March 12 meeting between Barnwell High and district leaders and Marcus Fields, the district transportation director, it was stated that any parents or coaches qualified to drive an activity bus could do so.
This statement was not welcomed by the bus drivers, who get paid to drive the extracurricular activity buses as well as the yellow buses that take students to school, Fields said.
Regular district bus drivers work 32 hours weekly driving yellow buses, so driving to athletic games helps them financially, Fields said.
The district and drivers eventually reached an agreement on the matter.

• Challenges, both long-term and immediate, fiscal and physical are facing South Carolina's public education system, said Jim Rex, the state superintendent of education. Rex gave an overview of conditions in public education as he spoke March 23 to the Rotary Club of Barnwell County. Despite the downturns, South Carolina has an obligation to its 700,000 schoolchildren, he said.

April 1
• The region is getting a shot in the arm from the federal economic stimulus package. The Savannah River Site will receive $1.615 billion in stimulus funds, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy.
DOE released statements March 30 about the allocations, which will create about 3,000 jobs. The jobs will hasten cleanup of contaminated areas in SRS, as part of $6 billion in environmental funding that will be distributed to sites in 12 states, according to DOE.

• Faculty, staff and parents who attended the March 26 regular board meeting got an inkling of the district's money woes as Shirley Kitchings, its financial officer, gave a report to the board.

• Faced with more than $1 million in shortfall in its revenues, the Barnwell 45 school district laid off some teachers.
The school board met March 31 during a special called meeting and was attended by mostly district employees.
The board voted not to renew the contracts of five first-year teachers. Nine other teachers were released as part of reduction in force. Another 19 retired full-time teachers and three retired part-time teachers were laid off.
Although 36 people were released, not that many teaching slots were eliminated. Some positions will be refilled, with teachers from a lower pay grade, said Roy Sapough, the district superintendent.

• Barnwell County experienced a mild earthquake, but the event caused no damage or injuries. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at 12:06 p.m., March 27, the area experienced a 2.6 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale.

April 8
Do something 10,000 times and one is bound to get good at it. That number - 10,000 - is how many rounds of golf that Guy Dobson figured he has played at Sweetwater Country Club.
Dobson, now 81, played his first round of golf at 34. For the next 47 years, it became a regular part of his life. Four days a week, Dobson is on Sweetwater's fairways, carving details and nuances into his game.

• Teacher layoffs in the Barnwell 45 school district has raised concerns as to how this will affect class sizes. Despite the layoffs, district officials say class sizes will not exceed the state limits. Statewide, the public education system underwent a $387 million reduction in funding.

• About 240 Barnwell County residents flocked to a job fair April 4 at Barnwell Elementary School. Several employers were on hand with job openings as were several job placement agencies hiring for the new jobs coming to Savannah River Site through the economic stimulus. Barnwell County Hospital was also at the fair seeking nurses, especially those with surgical and critical care training.

April 15
• Weather officials confirmed the fierce storm that swept through Allendale County was actually two tornadoes. Both tornadoes touched down in the county and occurred after midnight, April 11, said Gidget Stanley, the Allendale County emergency management director.
The first tornado touched down in the county near Martin at 12:26 a.m. and before finishing its landfall at 12:28 a.m., traveled 1.2 miles and left a path 300 yards wide.
The second tornado hit ground almost immediately after the first at 12:30 a.m. just north of Martin. It moved across the landscape in the Roberts Lane area for 5.6 miles creating a destructive path about 500 yards wide.

• Regions Bank on Jackson Street in Barnwell was robbed around 2:35 p.m., April 8 by a man armed with a single-barrel shotgun.
Officers discovered a shotgun in front of the bank. No one was injured in the robbery - the second this branch has had in five months. The previous robbery occured Nov. 25, 2008.

• Barnwell County residents had the chance to grab some chow, bag fresh produce and snag yard sale treasures this weekend as the Blackville Downtown Development Association held its third annual ‘Taste of Blackville' festival April 17 and 18 on Main Street in downtown Blackville.

• School board elections countywide April 15 seated Abraham Sexton on the Barnwell 45 board, Calvin Melton and Alan Mulligan on the Williston District 29 board and Steven McCormack and Inell Waring on the Blackville-Hilda District 19 board.
Sexton and Pete Zionkowski vied for the Barnwell 45 seat vacated by outgoing Jeff Still. Melton was a returing incumbent and Mulligan unseated incumbent Elizabeth Coleman in Williston. In Blackville, Waring and McCormack were both incumbents who held onto their seats against challenger Brenda Holman in the at-large elections.

April 22
• State and local politicians and Barnwell city and community leaders were on hand as the city held the grand opening April 17 of the newly renovated Lemon Park sports complex.
Ed Corley threw out the first ceremonial pitch, reminiscent of the one he tossed in 1961 when he opened the original and smaller Lemon Park then.

• Barnwell County's Relay For Life looped around the Circle this year in downtown Barnwell, April 24 to create a more intimate fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society.

•For a while it looked like the fate of the Hilda post office might be similar to mail at the dead letter office - in limbo. Hilda's $35,000 community-built post office sat vacant for two years before finally getting a contract with the U.S. Postal Service. The post office opened Jan. 2, but town folks celebrated its opening officially April 20.

April 29
• More than 60 volunteers swung hammers, pounded nails and swished paint brushes in eight projects around Barnwell County for "A Day of Caring" April 24 as part of the United Way's Project CARE. The project is a day for volunteers to donate their time and skills to home improvement projects that can be done in one day to benefit the area's poor or local agencies.

• Some people have problems with weight - weight gained during the holidays that gets lost by summer. Bernard Milligan had a weight crisis in that he was morbidly obese. On Nov. 16, 2008, Milligan weighed 421 pounds. On that day, Milligan, a 38-year-old Williston resident, joined "Augusta's Biggest Loser" program to shed pounds. Milligan won by losing 132 pounds to weigh in at 289 pounds.

• Tucked away in the shade and clustered trees off of Oak Street in Blackville sits the Blackville Community Colored Cemetery.
Although still in use, through the years the cemetery has become overgrown with weeds and pockmarked with litter. But about 50 people gathered April 25 to begin a labor of love and respect - the first steps in cleaning and revitalizing the cemetery.

May 6
• Two men died in Allendale County within as many days - both in catastrophic wrecks.
William Henry Robinson died April 30 in the Allendale town limits after being hit by a train as he tried to cross the tracks in front of it.
On April 29 in an unrelated incident, Glenn Nichols' sedan crossed the center line on S.C. 125 and into the path of a a 1988 Kenilworth tractor trailer truck about 10 miles north of Allendale. Nichols's car caught fire after the head-on collision.

• The April 22 "Business After Hours" event - a regular event for the Barnwell County Chamber of Commerce - highlighted the new training institute at the Barnwell satellite campus for Denmark Technical College.
The centerpiece of the DTC training institute was the educational modules which teach students through hands-on application about mechetronics, a combined study of mechanical, electrical and electronic systems.

• Most of the hysteria surrounding H1N1 - also known as swine flu - has lost its virulency since dominating the headlines last week.
The new influenza strain - which burst out of Mexico and spread across the world - is suspected in the death of about 150 people in Mexico, but so far only one U.S. fatality has been reported.
As of May 6, there were 16 confirmed cases in South Carolina; 15 in Newberry County and one in Laurens County, said Roger Riley, the Barnwell County emergency management director.
At the time, there were 12 probable cases across South Carolina in Anderson, Charleston, Fairfield, Laurens, Greenville and Newberry counties.

May 13
• Mark IV Automotive, the corporation that includes Dayco Products, a manufacturer of automotive belts and hoses, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Dayco has a production plant in Williston. It employs approximately 175 people.
On April 30, Mark IV made voluntary filings or petitions for bankruptcy for 18 of its business subsidiaries, one of which is Dayco. The filings were done to restructure Mark IV Automotive's debts and will not affect Dayco employees, a corporate spokesperson said.

• May 8 marked the official dedication of the Crystal Jenkins Memorial Track in Blackville behind Macedonia Elementary School. Crystal Jenkins was a seven-year-old Blackville girl who was born with liver problems.
After she died in 1986, funds raised for her operation were used later to establish a walking track, said Blackville-Hilda school board member Willie Felder.

• As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Barnwell County received about $963,000 more than expected in federal stimulus dollars to use for road repairs, the S.C. Department of Transportation reported.

• The faltering economy slowed commerce down for many businesses, but not for Bamberg-Barnwell Adult Education, which has seen a marked increase of students returning to acquire GEDs or learn marketable skills, said Joye Hallman, the adult education director.

• Area faithful gathered in Barnwell and Blackville May 7 for the 58th observance of the National Day of Prayer. Chief among the prayer concerns was the ailing national economy and the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

May 20
• Charles Epps resigned as Blackville's fire chief as was announced by Mayor Jackie Holman during the May 18 town council mmeeting. The new fire chief will be Hariel Corley, who has been the assistant fire chief for more than 20 years.

• Barnwell County Council is considering the merits of Barnwell County Hospital getting a special revenue bond of $4,000,000 to pay off its debt.
Barnwell County Council passed first reading of a resolution and ordinance for the hospital to secure a bond based on the hospital's revenue and financial status during a May 5 meeting.

• The Topper archaeological excavation site in Allendale County held its annual digging season in May and June which attracted professional and amateur archaeologists and archaeology students. Topper was a major site for prehistoric native American tool-making.
• Barnwell County bucked state trends by being one of 12 counties that saw a decrease in teen pregnancies.

May 27
• During the May 18 meeting, Blackville town councilman Dan Ligon resigned immediately, stating his business has been taking him out of town too much, making it hard for him to serve the council.

• Even before the first ball was pitched, Team Barnwell had already scored a home run.
"Team Barnwell" was the city as it hosted its first softball and baseball tournament for mostly out-of-county traveling teams in its newly expanded Lemon Park sports complex.

June 3
• The Barnwell 45 school district will be getting stimulus money - of a sort - after all.
The cash-strapped district will receive $384,391 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), but is being channelled through Title I of the U.S. Department of Education. Title I is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to help poor children with education needs.

• It's like summer school for the stomach. Children who receive free or reduced cost lunches during the school year will still get meals through the summer in the summer feeding program. This year's program ran in Barnwell County from June 8 through July 31. The program had 46 sites countywide for meal deliveries.

• There are 14 first grade students in Bertha Folk's class at Macedonia Elementary School and half of them are reading on a third grade level and others on a second grade level.
"It's a joy to see them have a love of books," she said.
"The vast majority of my students met or exceeded their MAP targeted goal," said Folk.

June 10
• The walls of the Barnwell County Courthouse rang with ideas and comments from county workers June 4 on how to weather the current fiscal crisis the county faces.
Barnwell County is facing an approximate $1.1 million dollar gap in its FY 2009-10 budget brought on by cost increases and revenue shortfalls.
Sloan - along with councilmen Travis Black, Lowell Jowers, Joe Smith and Thomas Williams - were looking for input from county workers on cost-saving measures.

• Like caterpillars emerging, hundreds of Barnwell County youth broke through the cocoon of high school with graduation.
The three public high schools held their commencement services at the end of the week. Blackville-Hilda High held its graduation June 4 while Williston-Elko and Barnwell High Schools had theirs June 5.

• Readiness - both in materiél and personnel needs - is why emergency management and response workers from five Lowcountry counties participated in a full scale exercise June 11.
Emergency management departments from Allendale, Jasper, Hampton, Barnwell and Beaufort, along with other agencies, were part of the drill.
The hypothetical situation was a category 4 or 5 hurricane "expected" to make "landfall" in the Beaufort area.

• Bradford Geter, 12, a seventh grader at Guinyard-Butler Middle School, participated in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. May 26-27. Geter was among 293 middle school students nationwide who gathered to see who could spell the most accurately.
Geter came in 42nd, just missing out of being one of the 41 students who advanced to the semifinals.

June 17
• The stories spilled forth in humor and heartache during "Barnwell County's Boil," the local version of Salkehatchie Stew.
Salkehatchie Stew is a project to culturally and economically develop Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Hampton and Colleton counties through music, drama and storytelling.
The two-day event began June 12 in Barnwell at the Circle Theatre with the Barnwell-oriented scenes from "Dig Deeper," the Stew's play about the events and people of the area. Many scenes in "Dig Deeper" dealt with the coming of the Savannah River Site.

• The stories, like the entertainers who told them, were homegrown.
Although the Salkehatchie Stew project brought in professional storyteller Sheila Kay Adams for her Appalachian tales from the mountains of western North Carolina, local people took the stage primarily during "Barnwell County Boil," the Barnwell County version of the Stew.
Many of the local storytellers spun their yarns June 13 at the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville during the second day of the two-day event.

• Barnwell and Allendale counties are getting ready for an economic boost from the federal stimulus dollars.
Savannah River Site will be holding meetings and two job fairs about the jobs being created through the American Recovery and Reivestment Act at SRS.
The site plans on recruiting about 1,000 new hires by summer's end.

June 24
• Several hundred people crowded Barnwell Primary School's cafeteria and more waited outside as they sought jobs through the more than $1.6 billion federal stimulus package for Savannah River Site and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The package created or retained about 3,000 temporary jobs at SRS.

• The filing deadline for the Barnwell and Williston city and town council elections approaches without any new contenders against the incumbents at the municipal tables.

• Two years ago, Deonta Spann began taking formal swim lessons through FINS, a local community swim program.
Now he has come full cycle as Spann was in the pool again last week - as an FINS instructor. Spann is the first FINS student to become a lifeguard.

• A new study is drawing a road map for high school and middle school students to set foot on what many believe is the coming nuclear renaissance to South Carolina.
The study finds a significant gap between new workers and aging retiring workers in the nuclear industry even as 10,000 new jobs may emerge in the next decade in the Central Savannah River Area.

July 1
• An armed robbery in rural Barnwell County resulted in the manhunt of one suspect along Patterson Mill and River Roads and S.C. 64.
A car matching the suspect's vehicle was stopped and one of the occupants jumped out and ran into the woods, starting the manhunt.
After two and a half hours of searching, the suspect was not apprehended before the chase was called off due to the heat. By this time, Barnwell County Sheriff Ed Carroll said that they had a probable identification on the suspect and could continue looking for him through other methods.

• A man who murdered his wife in Columbia fled to Barnwell County where he took his own life.
Omar Kenyatta Gordon, 32, of Columbia, was wanted by Columbia police on charges of murder and assault and battery with intent to kill stemming from an incident occurring in Columbia June 25.

• Hot enough for you? - That has been the question for the past few days. While there has not been extreme heat, the heat index has hovered near the century mark over the past few days.

• Southern charm, gracious hosts and seeds of information were found in a garden of discovery as "ambassadors" were treated to a unique tour of Barnwell County. On June 24 a busload of 55 "ambassadors" were shuttled around Barnwell County and introduced to its sights, sounds and smells that are meant to be savored and - later - shared. The tour was sponsored by the S.C. National Heritage Corridor, area towns and economic development groups.

July 8
• Families enjoyed family games at Veterans Memorial Park conducted by Emily Randell, the Barnwell recreation director, before watching a municipal fireworks display.

• Barnwell County did not get through July 4th weekend without a traffic fatality.
According to the S.C. Highway Patrol, around 2:50 p.m., July 5, a 1995 white Ford Explorer traveling on S.C. 3 went off the right side of the road, came back onto the road and then veered across the left side of the road before striking two trees.
The impact killed the driver, Mailon Hutson, 56, and injured the only passenger, Lola Hutson, said Barnwell County Deputy Coroner Charles Dooley.

• About 24 youth with WorldChangers were in Barnwell County July 6 to re-roof a Snelling resident's house.
World Changers consists of about 23,000 students operating in the United States and Canada through the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention. The organization makes home improvements for those in need.

July 15
• Therapy came to the Barnwell County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on four paws with Trooper, a therapy dog and his trainer, Jennifer Bowers. Trooper and Bowers are a registered therapy dog team with Therapy Dogs, Inc.

• The Barnwell Fire Department is looking at ways to recruit and retain firefighters in the future. The problem is one common to many fire departments in rural areas and smaller towns. Dicks said this is a project he has been working on since returning from a state workshop on the subject April 7.

• The ousting of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya may seem like a distant international incident, but its effect was felt in Barnwell County.
On June 28, Zelaya was deposed. Roberto Micheletti became the interim president. Because of the internal turmoil, Carolina Honduras Health Foundation, headquartered in Barnwell, cancelled a medical missions trip to the clinic they established in Limon, Honduras. The 17-member team would have left July 10 for the country and would have been led by Dr. Henry Gibson.

July 22
• A two-car wreck in Orangeburg County on S.C. 3 took the life of Thomas Reed, 57, of Blackville. The wreck occurred around 3:45 p.m., July 13, south of Springfield.

• Carl Anderson Sr., of Snelling, is the salt (and pepper) of the earth with his unique collection. Anderson owns about 8,000 salt and pepper shakers. Anderson has been collecting the condiment containers since 1947 when he and his late wife, Ruth, were presented a pair as a present.

• Quintin Baxter and Brenda Brown are case managers for Aiken-Barnwell Community Action Committee and head a new project through ABCAC to give area youth exposure to different careers and some work experience.
Baxter and Brown have been working this summer with 57 youth and young adults in Barnwell County by pairing them up with willing area businesses. The youth are interns for the businesses and learn what it is like to work in a real-life, real-time work environment.

• Democratic candidates and politicians began their summer campaigning in the county at the Barnwell County Democratic Party fish fry July 16. The event was attended by Rob Miller, the Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, the incumbent Republican.

July 29
• Moving day will be coming soon for the city of Barnwell. By the first week in August, work on the city's new city hall will be completed. The city hall was a $1.57 million project.

• A wreck July 26 took the life of a Springfield man.
Robert Jonathan "Johnny" Shugerts, 34, of 113 Texas St., Springfield, died after his 2003 Ford pickup truck ran off S.C. 37 and flipped. The wreck occurred northeast of Elko.

• Belize is a small Central American country that has become a tourism stop for most Americans, but for six Barnwell High students and five adults, all with First Baptist Church of Barnwell, the country was a missions destination as they left July 24 to share the Gospel.

Aug. 5
• Mark IV Industries, the parent corporation of Dayco, the automotive parts manufacturer, announced July 30 taht it would consolidate its Walterboro Dayco plant into the operations of its Williston plant. The move will mean about 65 new jobs in Williston.

• The 2009 summer feeding program ended July 31 with food, water sprays and Mexican cuisine in Kline.
The summer feeding program feeds children across Barnwell County and in Denmark at about 70 sites, said Jack Johnson, the food service director for Barnwell 45 and Blackville school districts.

• United Way of Barnwell County is launched its third annual "Stuff the Bus," school supplies drive this weekend. The campaign collected donated school items for needy children in Barnwell County. The event was held Aug. 7-8.

Aug. 12
• The first day of school is Aug. 17 for the three public districts and teachers were already in their classrooms preparing for the 2009-10 school year.

• The One-Stop job placement agency in Barnwell County borrowed from the dating scene the "speed-dating" concept. Area job seekers rotated among potential employers as they wooed them for interviews or second looks during the Aug. 5 event.

Aug. 19
• Dr. John Waddell was fired as the president of Denmark Technical College by the college's board Aug. 17.
Waddell was terminated because of "irregularities in finance and procurement, personnel and perhaps some other areas," said James D. Hayes, the chairman of the DTC Area Commission. Waddell had been suspended without pay July 13.

• Brown Chapel Missionary Church celebrated its fourth "Back To School Giveaway and Health Fair" Aug. 15 at the Barnwell Elementary School. Church members handed out school supplies to children for the new school year along with health information.

• Many voices from inside and outside Barnwell County gathered to learn an old method of hymn-singing - shape-note singing - at Holy Apostles Episcopal Church. Some came from as far as Aiken, Augusta and Columbia for the workshop.
Shape-note singing assigns a different shape to each of the four syllables (fa, so, la, me) in the musical scale so the musically illiterate could read music and sing the scale. The system was invented in the 19th century.

• The Dixie-Narco plant expansion will not only mean a boost to the Williston's economic base, but may provide solutions to the town's ongoing problems with its water system.
If the town can show how water systems improvement will help with job creation, it might get grants to fund town water repairs, according to Scott Neely, the town administrator. Williston has already ordered an engineering report on its water system.

Aug. 26
• A fight between two men ended with one dead, the other in custody and a third man wounded in Blackville.
Terrence Mayes, 21, of 961 Sunshine Road, Blackville, was killed by a single gunshot Aug. 20.
Mayes's brother, Zantrell Mayes, 24, was wounded from a gunshot during the incident.
Demetrius Donnell Smalls, 22, turned himself into the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office.

• On Aug. 24, Gov. Mark Sanford attended the annual GOP dinner to show his support for local and state Republican politicians and candidates that came to the gathering, which attracted about 200 people to the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville.

• Cynthia B. (Taylor) Williams was known for the many roles she played in Barnwell County: mother, wife, minister and most of all, a friend. Williams, the director of the Barnwell County office for the S.C. Department of Social Services, died Aug. 8. She had worked at the office for 25 years.

Sept. 2
• A longstanding issue between the Williston Rescue Squad and the Barnwell County Hospital was finally discussed in the open and those involved hope a better relationship will arise from it.
During Barnwell County Hospital board meetings in 2009, board members voiced discontent with the Williston Rescue Squad. A chief complaint from board members and hospital staff was that WRS had been transporting 911 patients to other hospitals for medical treatment when the county hospital could have handled them.

• Tim Moore Jr. of Snelling, a Barnwell attorney, was promoted to the chairmanship of the S.C. State Board of Education Aug. 31. Moore had been the vice chairman of the board but was promoted early after chairperson Kristin Maguire resigned the position Aug. 28.

• U. S. Rep. Gresham Barrett made several stops in Barnwell County Aug. 31 while on his campaign as a Republican candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Sept. 9
• The problem has been here for a while, but more symptoms of it are starting to show. The Barnwell County Sheriff's Office is gearing up for Gang Awareness Month in October with a series of education and gang awareness events aimed at parents and residents.
Local members of national gangs - such as Folk Nation and the Bloods - have been involved in drug, burglary and vandalism cases here, said Barnwell County Sheriff Ed Carroll.

• Swine flu appeared in April in South Carolina and now there is at least one confirmed case in each county. There have been 500 confirmed cases of swine flu in the state so far, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).
On Aug. 31, South Carolina had its first death associated with swine flu, a Midlands child whose health had already been compromised by "underlying health problems," DHEC stated.
In Barnwell County, there have been three confirmed swine flu cases, said Dr. Abe Moskow, a Barnwell pediatrician. Moskow is part of Rainbow Research, a Barnwell research company that conducts human clinical trials of developing drugs. The company recently participated in clinical trials for a two-dose vaccine for swine flu.

• With no challengers having merged, Williston Town Council incumbents Mayor Tommy Rivers, Jerry "Tuna" Holmes, Wanda Matthews and Milton Widener walked back into their elected seats, as did Barnwell councilmen Benjamin Duncan, J. T. Atkinson and Robert Pattillo during the Sept. 8 municipal elections.

• At halftime during the Sept. 4, 2009 football game, the Barnwell High School athletic department retired jersey number "79" of James Wooden, the football player who died Aug. 31, 2008 after suffering heatstroke during practice. Attending the ceremony was Wooden's mother, Henrietta Williams and other family members.

Sept. 16
• It's the next best thing to getting a house call from the doctor as Barnwell County Hospital is one of eight facilities in South Carolina to have a new telepsychiatry consultation service.
Because of state cutbacks to mental health, a $3 million grant is being shared with state hospitals for televised psychiatrist consultations for patients.

• Shortly after announcing his bid for a run as state governor, S.C. Secretary of Education Jim Rex stopped at the Blackville school district and toured its golf learning facility.
Rex spoke to Blackville teachers, students and school board members on public education and workforce development at the Blackville Country Club Sept. 15.

Sept. 23
• After months of speculation as to when it would be coming through the area, a giant oversized tractor trailer shipment will roll through Barnwell County within the next several days. The generator and the special heavy duty carrier it is being transported on is 23 feet tall; 28 feet wide and 300 feet long.
The shipment entered Barnwell County Sept. 22 and spent the night here before moving again Sept. 23.

• Barnwell Police Department has received three grants totaling $231,714. A Justice Assistance grant for $95,195 will buy three new, fully equipped cars for the department.

• School districts across Barnwell County are able to loosen their financial belts slightly with some unexpected Chem-Nuclear money. The news was welcome at county school districts that are under fiscal strains with a 4 percent state cut to its operating budgets.
The Blackville-Hilda and Williston-Elko school districts both received about $214,000 and Barnwell got about $428,000.

Sept. 30
• The "superload" generator that had been slowly making its way through the Low Country passed through Barnwell County Sept. 26 and 27, causing re-routed traffic, delays and temporary removals of utility lines, signs and traffic signals.

• The Barnwell County health department along with some pharmacies began holding flu vaccination clinics as flu season - both swine and regular - looms ahead.

• Robert O. Collins, a Barnwell County businessman, donated 4.5 acres for the Williston-Elko Community Resource Center to be built on the land.

• The Barnwell Police Department released a sketch of a suspect they are seeking in a Sept. 21 home invasion in the Corley Heights-Richardson Road area.

Oct. 7
• Cancer is the No. 2 killer of women in the United States. To raise awareness about breast cancer in particular and mark October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Morris Communications, the parent company of The People-Sentinel, printed one edition of all its newspapers, including the Barnwell newspaper, on pink paper. This is the second year the company has done this.

• As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, The People-Sentinel profiled Sandy and Mary Vojtech as the Barnwell couple related Mary's battle with breast cancer.

• St. Francis of Assisi was the patron saint of animals. He was noted as animals were blessed by the Rev. Jerry DuBose of Holy Apostles Episcopal Church Oct. 4 during the ceremony.

• Timothy Elbert Moore Sr., the longest serving mayor in the state, died Oct. 1. Moore, 83, was the Snelling mayor and known for his support of the town and Barnwell County.

Oct. 14
• The Barnwell County Council is helping keep the county health caretakers - the hospital - fit from a fiscal standpoint. County Council approved a recommendation Oct. 6 to advance up to $250,000 to the Barnwell County Hospital.

• Downtown Barnwell has seen quite a few changes over the past year - from converting the old bank building into city hall offices to the restructuring the Circle traffic.
One more change is already in the works. At the Barnwell City Council meeting Oct. 5, council gave approval for City Administrator John Zawacki to move forward with plans to limit parking to two hours in the downtown area.

• After the flood waters washed through Georgia, a second tide arrived. This wasn't a wave of water, but one of people displaced by the water, some temporarily, some permanently by the rains that flooded Cobb County the third week in September.
Then came the third wave - but this one welcomed - volunteer relief workers from the American Red Cross. Among them were Amy Scott and her mother, Audrey Scott of Barnwell.

Oct. 21
• Dr. A.V. Strong has seen the gang problem swell and expand from the dark alleys of the city to the dusty roads of the country.
To stop the problem, Strong said a unified effort among the community, schools, politicians, churches and law enforcement is needed. Strong, a former gang member, was invited by the Barnwell County Sheriff's Office to speak on the topic at Barnwell High School Oct. 13.

• Barnwell High School will have to forfeit its only two victories of the football season to date because of an eligibility violation as defined by the S.C. High School League. The violation was discovered Oct. 14 after an anonymous tip about a football player was ineligible to play.

• Continuing the contentious national debate on health care, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson voiced his concerns to Barnwell County residents at a town hall meeting Oct. 17.
Nearly 100 people gathered in the Barnwell High School gym to hear Wilson criticize the House health care bill (H.R. 3200) and field questions from the audience.

Oct. 28
• Daylight-saving time started Nov. 1, allowing people to regain the 60 minutes they lost in the spring.

• Around Barnwell County, stocks for the regular seasonal flu shots have occasionally run out, but vaccinations for the swine flu have yet to arrive.
Within a week or two, the county health department should be getting in a supply of swine (H1N1) flu vaccines, said Barbara Grice, the director of community services and a spokesperson for Region 5 for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control that includes Barnwell County.

• Macedonia Elementary School students took a short stroll around the globe and grabbed a bite to eat from each country during a Cultural Fair Oct. 22 in the school gym. Each grade - pre-kindergarten through sixth - studied a different country and learned its culture and history.

Nov. 4
• It's called the Moving Wall because it travels. However, the Wall moves emotions as well, just like the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. from which the Moving Wall is modeled. The Moving Wall made an appearance in Barnwell at the Veterans Memorial Park from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2. Its visit was marked by several ceremonies.

• Javiana Garrett welcomed her new family with a big smile and open arms.
The seven-year-old Blackville girl - who was struck down in her front yard last April in a hit- and-run accident - has been "adopted" by the Junior Beta Club of Macedonia Elementary School. The 14 members of the club came to Garrett's home Oct. 28 and presented her with a box full of food, toys and other treats.

• For the Nov. 2 Barnwell City Council meeting, business owners and other concerned residents came to comment on the two-hour parking limits for downtown that were approved in October.

Nov. 11
• A suspect wanted in connection with the armed robbery of an 86-year-old woman in Williston Nov. 3 has been captured. Larry Rainey, 43, of 3507 Seneca Ave., Aiken, was arrested by the Richmond County Sheriff's Department Nov. 3 in Georgia and charged with felony possession of a firearm and several traffic violations, said Rodney Pruitt with the Williston Police Department.

• The Rev. David Turner dealt with wings and prayers for 26 years, six months and 28 days as an Air Force chaplain. Turner, the pastor at Barnwell Presbyterian Church, retired from the Air Force Oct. 8.

• There is a long-term growth endeavor occurring in the region, one authorities updated. The MOX (mixed oxide) project hired about 1,600 people for construction of the facility, which is scheduled to go into production by 2016. The facility will refabricate old weapons-grade plutonium for reuse as nuclear fuel pellets within nuclear fuel rod assemblies. The facility will be hiring another 1,000 soon for further construction.

Nov. 18
• The Williston 29 school district is trying to get the other school districts on board a plan to have a countywide one cent local option sales tax to finance capital improvements for all the districts as a new revenue source for repairs and renovations to county schools.

• November was Native American Month and two events in Barnwell County helped educate residents on this land's original inhabitants.
The Barnwell County Museum held a native American day Nov. 14 with Chief Lewis Chavis and Lew "Grey Crow" Stamper as guest speakers.
The Discovery Center at the Edisto Research and Education Center also hosted a native American drum group and had vendors prersent selling native American crafts on the same day in Blackville.

• Four people were arrested in connection with a Barnwell home invasion.
The arrests stem from an investigation by the Barnwell Police Department since the invasion occurred on Corley-Heights Richardson Road Sept. 21. All the suspects were from Barnwell County.

• The Barnwell County Chamber of Commerce honored Rhonda McElveen with its community service award; Dixie-Narco was recognized as the industry of the year and the late Tim Moore Sr. was named as its "2009 Barnwell County Citizen Emeritus" during the chamber's annual meeting Nov. 12.

Nov. 25
• Five businesses in Low Country counties were recognized Nov. 19 for being the first industries in their counties to embrace Apprenticeship Carolina, a program under the S.C. Technical College System that helps willing industries create apprenticeships.

• Barnwell County could be the latest county to join South Carolina's statewide court case management system (CMS).
During a Nov. 3 County Council meeting, Joan Assey, the director of information technology for S.C. Judicial Department, told Council the benefits of joining the program, a standardized statewide system that includes general sessions court, common pleas court, and magistrates court.

Dec. 2
• After a sluggish start, the Williston-Elko High School Blue Debils rallied to capture the Class 1A division II state championship by a score of 34-26 over Scott's Branch High School.

• Two business announcements during November promise the creation of about 75 jobs in Allendale County, which in October and September led the state as the county with the highest unemployment rate at 22.2 percent.
Four Star Industries announced it would open a manufacturing facility in Allendale. Also Scotsman Ice announced Nov. 4 that it would expand at its Fairfax facility by 25 jobs.

• Arc Labs, a Greenville-based welding school, opened a welding school in Williston Nov. 30. The school uses a "boot camp" format to put its students through an intense 10-week course to turn them into commercial welders.

• Sixth grade students at Macedonia Elementary School were equipped with 68 laptops made possible by a $200,000 E2T2 (Enhancing Education Through Technology) federal grant and were allowed to take them home Nov. 24. The idea behind E2T2 is to make students more technologically proficient.

Dec. 9
•An evening fire burned out the interior of a Williston doublewide mobile home at 5214 Peacock Road but caused no injuries because the residents weren't home at the time.

• The Williston town clerk, Pat Fowler, was arrested for embezzling $35,000 in public funds. Fowler, 64, of Williston, was arrested by S.C. State Law Enforcement Division agents Dec. 1 and charged with embezzlement of public funds, according to SLED.

• In an event attended by Gov. Mark Sanford and corporate heads, Crane Corp., the parent company of Dixie-Narco, celebrated the expansion of the Williston plant. The expansion will add about 400 to 500 workers soon and within four or five years will hire another 500 to 600 workers. The expansion is due to Crane moving the operations from its St. Louis, Mo. plant to Williston. The consolidation will mean about 1,000 and a $20 million investment in the county.

Dec. 16
• Denise Michelle Jonican, 37, of Barnwell, was found dead inside the home. Her husband, Samuel Bruce Jonican, 44, has been charged with the murder.

• Rotarians, businesses and generous individuals stepped forward to provide Christmas presents to 448 underprivileged children through its Secret Santa project this Christmas season. Secret Santa is coordinated by the Rotary Club of Barnwell County.

Dec. 23
• Dr. Michael M. Townsend will become the 10th president of Denmark Technical College, which has about 2,000 students and a satellite campus in Barnwell.
The Denmark Technical College Area Commission - its board of directors - selected Townsend during a meeting Dec. 14. Townsend was previously the vice president of the 8,000-student Mequon campus of the Milwaukee Area Technical College system in Wisconsin.

• It's Christmas most days of the year in Betty Fletcher's Williston home. Fletcher is an avid Christmas crafter who has made thousands of ornaments over the years, as her Christmas tree and living room can attest.

• South Carolina's unemployment rate moved to 12.3 percent in November, up from its October rate of 12 percent. Barnwell County also moved up in its jobless status too as its November 2009 unemployment rate rose to 19.8 percent, making it the county with the sixth highest unemployment rate in the state. Allendale stands at No. 1 with 23 percent, an increase from its October standing of 22.1 percent, according to S.C. Employment Security Commission data.

Dec. 30
• "Christmas in the Country" provided 14 Fort Gordon solderis a home away from home for the holidays as they celebrated Christmas in the area. The soldiers were with a wounded warrior transition unit that manages soldiers injured during duty until they recuperated and return to active duty or move into civilian life. "Christmas in the Country" was organized by Holly and Randy Rimes of Kline.