Indian Land High School Warriors

win Upperstate
soccer crown, will
play for state Class AA
championship Saturday
SPORTS, 5A

The

ew
LLancaster
ancaster NNews
Lancaster Countys triweekly newspaper

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015

www.thelancasternews.com

75 CENTS

City of lancaster receives elizabeth oneill verner award from s.c. arts commission council

State arts honors Red Rose City

Cathyleen Rice

crice@thelancasternews.com

COLUMBIA From the top of

York, as far west as Pickens, as
far east as Horry and as far
south as Beaufort, county leaders from across the Palmetto
State gathered at the statehouse Wednesday, May 13, to

be honored by the S.C. Arts

Commission Council.
Standing tall among them
was John Howard, city of Lancaster mayor pro tempore,
there to accept the Elizabeth
ONeill Verner Award on behalf
of the municipality.
The Verner Award is the
highest honor in the state that

recognizes
outstanding
achievement and contributions made by supporters and
members of the arts in South
Carolina.
As hundreds of people gathered in the statehouse halls, adjacent to the Governor's office,
to applaud 10 other recipients
of the Verner Award, Lancaster

citizens smiled widely as Howard spoke briefly and thanked

each of them for coming.
Nominated by the Lancaster
County Council of the Arts
(LCCA), the city won the Verner
Award in the governors category for its contribution and
support of the local arts.
The city members have pas-

sionately given their time and

support to the community,
said Debbie Jaillette, LCCA executive director.
With the citys new investment in the Native American
Studies Center located at 119 S.
Main Street, the city has exhibited its love for culture and its
See CITY I Page 3A

Taking iso to the top rung

PHOTO SUPPLIED

About 10 p.m. Wednesday, May

13, an unknown male armed
with a black handgun with
brown grips approached someone using the ATM at Founders
Federal Credit Union on S.C. 9
Bypass West, pointed a gun at
them and demanded money.

Attempted
robbery
suspect
City council honors its firefighters for 1 rating
sought

DENYSE CLARK/dclark@thelancasternews.com

Lancaster Fire Department Chief Chuck Small, right, gets a round of applause from the citys leadership before accepting a council
resolution on behalf of the department during a reception at City Hall on Tuesday, May 12. Out of 47,000 fire districts in the United
States, only 97 of them, including the fire district have acheived an ISO rating of 1.

Lancaster Police Department

The Lancaster Police Department is investigating an attempted armed robbery late

Wednesday, May 13, at an ATM.
The incident happened at
Founders Federal Credit Union,
1405 S.C. 9 Bypass West.
About 10 p.m., an unknown
male armed with a black
handgun with brown grips approached someone using the
ATM, pointed the firearm at
them and demanded money.
The victim immediately accelerated and fled from the
scene without meeting the
suspects demands. The victim
was not hurt.
See SUSPECT I Page 3A

Sheriff s office
seeks info on
kittens deserter
Reece Murphy

rmurphy@thelancasternews.com

The Lancaster County Sheriffs Office is asking for the publics help in identifying persons
of interest in the abandonment
of six kittens in a trash can at
the Walmart in Indian Land
earlier this month.
Sheriffs investigators said
the kittens were found by a
concerned customer walking
through the Walmart Supercenter parking lot, 10048 Charlotte Highway, about 1:45 p.m.
Saturday, May 2.
The customer reported hearing a noise coming from a trash
See SUSPECT I Page 2A

Denyse Clark

dclark@thelancasternews.com

Members of Lancaster Fire Department were celebrated with a reception in

their honor in city hall Tuesday, May 12 just prior to
the Lancaster City
Council meeting.
Firefighters, volunteers and dispatchers all milled
about being congratulated by members of council, fellow
city employees and community visitors for the departments recently obtained highest-ranking ISO (Insurance Service Office) Class 1 rating.
Lancaster Fire Department Chief
Chuck Small said in 2015, out of 47,000
fire districts in the United States, only
97 of them have a Class 1 ISO. He smiled

broadly as he thanked his extended

family of firefighters.
This is a community rating, Small
said. It takes every department working together and from the bottom of my
heart, I thank you.
As city administrator Helen Sowell
came to the podium with councilwoman Jackie Harris to present a proclamation to Small and his department, Sowell took a moment to reflect on the citys
fire services.
When I first came to this job eight
years ago, I didnt know what you did,
she told Small. Its important to know
youll be there if I have a heart attack or
something else happens.
Sowell said the muncipalitys fire service is the reason she moved into the
corporate city limits.
I moved into the city because I have
a handicapped son, she said. Im inSee TEAMWORK I Page 2A

For emily minor, lifes a stage

American Idol alum performing Saturday at Red Rose Festival

Travis Jenkins
Landmark News Services

Emily Minor's first performances took place as a child

on her familys brick fireplace
hearth. Shes working slightly
bigger stages now.
Minor, an American Idol
alum who has toured the country, will be here for the Red
Rose Festival this weekend.
Minor didnt necessarily
grow up in a musical family,
other than her dads ability to
pick a little on the guitar.
While they didnt make much
music, the family did listen to
a lot of music.

We listened to everything
from Fleetwood Mac, to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Michael
Jackson, Merle Haggard and
Trisha Yearwood. Im so
thankful I got exposed to so
many great artists, she said.
She says all of it has influenced her one way or another, but she really found herself gravitating at a young age
to female country singers.
She not only listened to
Yearwood, Reba McEntire and
Martina McBride, she sang
along with them, staging mini
concerts in her Wilmington,
See MINOR I Page 3A

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Emily Minor was a top

50 contestant during
the seventh season
of American Idol.

163rd year, No. 58 / Two sections, 14 pages

Inside todays issue

Church News ...............................2B

Classified .......................................4B
Coming Events ..............................8A
Dear Abby .................................2B
MAY 15-16

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Lancaster Fire Department firefighters Avery

Dailey and Thomas Hagwood install a smoke
detector. The department provides free
smoke detectors to anyone who requests
one. For details, call (803) 283-4385.

Opinion ......................................7A
Out & About .............................1B
Sports ..........................................5A

Deaths, 4A

Christine Blanton
James Brasington
Jessica Cudd
Annie Grantham
Gail Hunt
Terri Ledbetter

Todays weather: Partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain 63/79

Boyd Reynolds
Edith Simmons
Ronnie Smith
William Stevens
Eleanor Threatt
David Williams
Richard Winn

The Lancaster News www.thelancasternews.com Friday, May 15, 2015 | Page 3A

Roads a hot topic at city council meeting

Denyse Clark

dclark@thelancasternews.com

Lancaster City Council discussed the crucial issue of

roads, which was not even on
its agenda at the Tuesday, May
12, meeting, but is a current
hot topic in media and homes
across the state.
Before the meeting ended,
Mayor Joe Shaw told council of
a personal phone call hed received about a residents concerns that Woodland Drive was
paved when there are other
streets in the city that need
more immediate attention.
We had a road to get paved
we knew nothing about...the

Minor
>>FROM 1A
N.C. home. She apparently sang along with
them pretty well, because
in high school, she landed her first paying gig.
I sang about 10 songs
at a watermelon festival. I
made $300. I couldnt believe it. I thought Im a real
singer now, Minor said.
Even with that experience and others, she was
a festival circuit regular
as a teenager, Minor said
it never occurred to her
that music was a viable
career choice. After graduating high school, she
headed to East Carolina
University and majored
in education.
I didnt grow up thinking music could be a job.
I didnt realize there was
an in-between. I thought
you were either a normal
person or mega-famous
like Madonna. I didnt realize there were people
who drove around in

mayor told council. Who decides this?

City administrator Helen
Sowell immediately responded
that city leaders have no control
over these decisions because
state officials make them.
Well, it makes us look like
we dont know whats going
on, the mayor said.
Councilman Kenny Hood interjected with his own concerns.
Nothing has been done on
the Eastside on Hampton
Road, he said.
Sowell told Hood that Rock
Street in the Eastside District
had some paving work done,
but not Hampton Road as he
had said.

vans, unloading their

own gear who make a living playing music, Minor said.
At some point, Minor
decided to take a stab at
going the mega-famous
route.
After having considered it for a couple of
years, she decided to try
out for American Idol,
season seven, auditioning in Charleston. She got
the coveted golden ticket
to Hollywood and made
it through several rounds.
She was eliminated after
making the top 50.
All the people who
worked there were very
friendly, Minor said. It
was a great experience.
Friendly isnt a word
most people would probably use to describe that
era of Idol, when the notoriously sarcastic Simon
Cowell was still a judge.
Contrary to what viewers
might think, Minor said
Cowell was really positive
actually.
I probably valued his

Councilwoman
Tamara
Green Garris said she was upset because none of the roads
on an existing list have been
paved since she took her seat
on council in 2009.
Everyone will tell you theres
no money for roads, Sowell
said. Every community has
the same heartache you have.
Sowell shared a conversation
she had with Lancaster County
Administrator Steve Willis who
told her, its not a political
thing, state officials just designate the roads they choose.
They say its not political
but it looks political, Garris
said.
However, S.C. Sen. Greg

opinion the most. Now,

there were definitely times
when he was giving good
advice, but if people didnt
want to hear it, it might
have seemed nasty. He
was nice to me, though,
and was really funny.
Her success in the
competition convinced
Minor she not only needed to pursue music fulltime, but could be successful in doing so.
Two weeks after graduating from East Carolina,
Minor and her then-fiance, now husband, packed
their bags and headed to
Nashville. They would
perform anywhere they
could at first, reasoning
that making $30 or $40
out of a tip jar doing what
they loved and chasing
their dreams beat the 40hour work week grind.
Minor said the advantage of being in Nashville
was there was never a
lack of places to play.
Anytime she could sing
in front of people, she did
so, honing her skills and

CATHYLEEN RICE/crice@thelancasternews.com

Lancaster City Councilman John Howard holds the Elizabeth ONeill Verner Award
the municipality received from the S.C. Arts Commission Council on Wednesday,
May 13. The city was recognized for its support and commitment to the local arts.

City
>>FROM 1A
allegiance to passing it
on, Jaillette said.
This esteemed accomplishment displayed by
the city allowed many
community members to
accompany Howard to
Columbia for a day of
honor and bliss.
After a short walk to
Sumter Street, recipients

and supporters enjoyed

a pleasant award ceremony, followed by a sociable luncheon at the
Spigner House on the
University of South Carolina campus, with photos taken alongside Gov.
Nikki Haley and ending
the day with a concert.
I believe the members
from the panel of the
S.C. Arts Commission
saw a lot of merit, significance, investment and
accomplishment to have

chosen Lancaster County out of 45 other counties, Jaillette said.

The citizens of Lancaster should be proud
of the preservation of
culture and art that is
used to generate wealth
and strengthen our
economy. I am thankful
for their supportive role
and I am very proud of
us.
Contact reporter Cathyleen
Rice at (803) 283-1155

Suspect
>>FROM 1A
The suspect is described
as a male, wearing blue
jeans, a camouflage jacket, gloves, sunglasses and
a covering over his face.
Anyone with information is urged to call the
Lancaster Police Department at (803) 283-3313 or
(803) 283-1174. You may
also call the departments
anonymous tip line at
(803) 289-6040.

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Gregory (R-16) announced the

2015 road improvements in a
Feb. 4 email to Lancaster
County officials and The Lancaster News.
That email referenced the S.C.
Department of Transportation
had allocated $14,079,500 for
road and bridge projects in Lancaster County in the next two
years.
It also included a list of roads,
of which Sumter Street, from
Hampton to Hart Street and
Woodland Drive, were named
for resurfacing projects.
Were making our lists,
sending them in but thats all
we can do, Sowell told council. Our roads have potholes,

learning to fill up a big

stage, even at her diminutive size, shes just under 5-foot-tall.
Minor has expanded
her base since then, playing across the Carolinas,
Georgia,
Tennessee,
Pennsylvania and Virginia. She and her band,
with her husband on guitar, played 40 dates in
2014 and have 50 on the
calendar this year.
Shes also becoming a
prolific writer, having
penned or co-written
nearly all of the songs on
her new EP.
She considers herself a
country artist and explores
both the upbeat and forlorn aspects of that genre.
Her latest single, Funky
Feel Good, is starting to
get radio airplay.
Its a turn it up loud
and dance and sing
along kind of song. It
sets a good tone for summer, Minor said.
As for Saturdays performance here, Minor said it
will feature something for

water issues and roads are

crumbling. We cannot do more
for the city than what were doing right now.
Shaw asked Sowell to get information and get back with
council.
You can only make recommendations, she reminded
council. I dont know any other way we can change the
state's mind.
The mayor responded, It
makes us sort of look bad like
we dont know whats going
on.

everybody. She prides

herself on doing a familystyle show that will include plenty of original
songs, but also cover versions of hits by the Dixie
Chicks, AC/DC, ZZ Top,
Johnny Cash and Fleetwood Mac. She said there
is nothing like looking out
at a crowd and seeing
people enjoy themselves.
Just like when she was a
child, she loves that view
from the stage.
When you step on
that stage and you get
that hour or two to per-

Contact reporter Denyse Clark

at (803) 283-1152 or follow
on Twitter @DenyseTLN

form, you forget about

the van breaking down,
you forget about everything. And when people
are singing your song
with you, thats always
the highest praise.
Minor is slated to perform between noon and
2 p.m. Saturday at the
Red Rose Festival. For
more information on Minor and her music, check
out her website at EmilyMinor.net, look her up on
Facebook or follow her
on Twitter, @EmilyMinorMusic.