The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 58

3D Loyal fans head to Phish concert new year Thursday, December 30, 1999 The Greenville News Edgewood Av. Bi6w look for th set to wfiwiwwwi i mr9'mmmrmfj Construction expected to last through the first half of 2000 The $1.2 million Edgewood Avenue relocation project will change the look of College Avenue and control through traffic in a residential neighborhood, said Mary Poore, Clemson's assistant city administrator. Work includes realignment of Edgewood Avenue through Jaycee Park, installation of a mast-arm style traffic signal where the newly realigned road will meet Strode Circle and continuation of the College Avenue streetscape. "We have always had a safety concern at the intersection of Edge-wood and College Avenue, which will now be resolved," Abernathy said. "Our downtown is a show-place, and this project just continues the sense of place farther down College Avenue." The steep grade of Edgewood Avenue coming from College Avenue will be closed.

That portion of Edgewood Avenue will be rebuilt on the south side of Jaycee Park to align with College Avenue and Strode Circle. Improvements along College Avenue from Keith Street north to the newly created Edgewood intersection include concrete pavers, decorative street lighting, street trees and furniture. The sidewalk will be widened, and the grass bank in front of the First Baptist and Fort Hill Presbyterian churches will be landscaped. Funding for the work comes from a 1 percent hospitality fee on prepared food and beverages sold at businesses in the city, the general fund and fund allocations to the city of Clemson, which come from a state gasoline tax. The Jaycee Park will be reconfigured along with the new intersection where Edgewood meets College Avenue, with a playground, pedestrian plaza and fountain.

A community fund-raiser will be planned to help pay for the pedestrian plaza. The fund-raiser will be announced in the next two or three weeks, Poore said. The project is the third phase of College Avenue improvements that started in early 1991, born from dreams and meetings of a group of residents, property owners, local business people and city officials. yu i '-if i i 4, I rf i i t- r' 1 3: J-1 By Anna Simon Clemson Bureau CLEMSON Christmas is over, New Year's Day and a new millennium are almost here and work is still in progress on Edgewood Avenue. The good news for Clemson residents is that work has progressed from the talking and planning stages.

The bad news comes in the form of temporary noise, dust and some traffic delays during construction, which will last through the first half of the new year. Mayor Larry Abernathy said the construction will be done in a way that should minimize the impact, work around activities at local churches in the construction area and allow traffic better access through the project. Retired fireman pulls three children from burning home part of Rock Hill. "I saw all that black, ugly smoke and fire coming out the front door," Settles said. "I was just glad I was able to help those people." Fifteen-year-old Keyoba Durham was inside with his 13-year-old brother and 1-year-old nephew when the fire started about 3 p.m.

Tech charter school to make ends meet CARL SEIBERT The Associated Press The Associated Press ROCK HILL A retired fireman was walking home from his barber shop for lunch when he spotted a familiar site smoke and people in trouble. Ernest Settles helped rescue a 1-year-old and two teen-agers from a burning house in the southern Greenville struggles School seeks financial help from private sector By Jamie Jones Education Writer They expected the private sector to give, give, give. So far, the projections haven't come true. Officials with the Greenville Technical Charter High School said they're struggling to make ends meet at the school, which opened this fall to 200 students. "We're scraping by," said Jim Cockman, chairman of the charter high school board.

The school, which receives funding from the public school system but operates independently from the local school board, was counting on receiving $300,000 from private donors this year. So far $100,000 in cash and equipment has come in, Cockman said. To pull in more money, the school this month founded a nonprofit organization that will attempt On the way: Concertgoers inch their way along Snake Road toward the site of a concert by the rock band Phish on the Seminole reservation in the Everglades between Fort Lauderdale, and Naples, Wednesday. Thousands of people arriving for the three-day New Year's concert by Phish jammed Alligator Alley for miles in both directions. Police expected about 80,000 people to attend the sold-out show.

Therapy dog helps reach beyond pain Keyoba said he took his nephew out the back door and went to help his brother. When he went back in, his nephew came back inside, Keyoba said. "I hadn't done that since 1995," Settles said. He served with the Rock Hill Fire Department for 27 years. "When you start factoring the cost of leasing or renovating buildings into their per pupil revenues, it's huge," said Catherine Samulski, the state's education associate for charter and magnet schools.

And trying to offer the most current technology quickly drains a wallet, Cockman said. To open, the school borrowed $100,000 from Greenville Technical College's foundation. Greenville Tech sponsored the school and gave it a building on its main campus on Pleasantburg Drive. That money was used for paint, hammers, nails and salaries for counselors and other staff members. The school will pay back the loan with interest.

Greenville Technical Charter High School already is a nonprofit organization, as required by state law. The new nonprofit group will focus solely on contributions to the school. Donations are tax-deductible. Jamie Jones covers education and can be reached at 298-4272. night, Shore said.

Friends and family members had been searching for him since Tuesday morning and filed a report with the Sheriff's Office Tuesday evening. The body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Authorities believe it had been in the lake for more than a day, Captain Dale McCard of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said. South Carolina was one of the most active states for the Fidelity Group health plans, with more than 35 percent of total claims.

But when customers learned medical bills were not being paid, they sued. Among the cases Duffy said could move ahead are those against the agents, against claims administrators HealthPlan Services Inc. and Third Party Claims Management and against American International Speciality Lines Insurance and Travelers Insurance, the liabil-, ily insurers for Fidelity Group or related companies. Claims against the Fidelity Group and Fidelity Claims Management, International Workers Guild and the guild's Ilealth Welfare Fund, the National Association of Business Owners Professionals and' nine others remain on hold. Woman's body found The Associated Press AIKEN A body that has been positively identified as a missing Jackson woman has been found in a wooded area of Graniteville, Aiken County authorities say.

Two hunters discovered the body of 18-year-old Tiffaney Shereese Wilson late Tuesday afternoon, sheriff's department Lt. Michael Frank said. Authorities were able to identify the body through fingerprints, county Coroner Sue Townsend said. Autopsy results to determine the cause of death were expected soon, Townsend said. Wilson has been missing since Dec.

4 when her 2-month-old daughter, Kaitlyn, was found abandoned at the Georgia Welcome Center on Interstate 20 just across the South Carolina border. Anderson man's body found in lake to garner funds from local corporations and individuals. So far, Miche-lin has donated equipment, and Greenville's Sargent Fund gave $30,000. Greenville Technical Charter High is operating on a $1 million budget 30 percent of which it had hoped to get from donors, Cockman said. The school needs more support from the private sector to upgrade computer equipment so it can fulfill its promise to give students a cutting-edge education in technology, he said.

Fund-raising efforts will heat up in January as the school looks to add an additional $500,000 to its coffers almost five times the amount some of the county's most affluent PTA's earn selling gift wrap and candy bars during a school year. Lack of funds is a familiar story among charters that are sprouting across the nation and competing with traditional public schools. They're given an equal amount of money per student as other public schools but aren't given funds for buildings or start-up costs. the shoreline on the south side of the Seneca River about 300 yards from the bridge. No signs of foul play were found, and the death is believed to be a suicide, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.

Family members said Gentry had been depressed since the break-up of a relationship, Shore said. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning. Gentry was last seen Monday suits involving people and companies other than Fidelity, its officers and related companies could proceed. Duffy, in his latest order allowing the Charleston cases to proceed, wrote that beneficiaries have out-. standing medical bills and further delays would add to their debt and credit problems.

Benefits plans were marketed under the Fidelity name in at least a dozen East Coast states. According to company literature, employees joined the International Workers Guild, which collectively bargained with the National Association of Business Owners Professionals to. offer health benefits through the guild Health Welfare Fund. Fidelity Group was the plan administrator. By Minnie Miller Orangeburg Times and Democrat BAMBERG Mary Lucas and Blackie, a black Labrador retriever-mix, step inside Bamberg County Nursing Center with a sense of purpose and anticipation.

Blackie is a therapy dog, and Lucas is his handler. Together they form a team that, according to the creed of Therapy Dogs brings "happiness and cheer to people who so desperately need something to hold and love." Lucas is branch manager of the Summerville office of the Palmetto Health Hospice, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide care to terminally ill patients and their families. PHH has offices in Columbia, Bamberg, Summerville and Bluffton. About two years ago, Lucas decided to have Blackie trained as a therapy dog. "There were no registered therapy dogs within the PHH system," she said.

"That's why I decided to go through the training with him." Hospice provides support to people of all ages in home settings, camps and institutions. A therapy dog fits right into all of these settings, Lucas said, helping patients reach beyond their pain and isolation. Therapy pets can be found in every kind of health care facility nursing homes, acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals and group homes. While dogs are the most common pet, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs also are used. Jill Clary, activities director at Bamberg County Nursing Center, said she is always glad to see Blackie come for a visit.

She said several other pets of employees or volunteers, including a horse, have visited the residents of the nursing center. According to studies at Mercy College in New York, "There is no doubt that the introduction of visiting animals into a nursing home environment can facilitate a dramatic improvement in residents' social and self-maintenance behavior." The touch of animals helps to lower blood pressure while reducing stress and anxiety, the studies found. It was also noted that confused patients become calmer and interaction with others is stimulated when a therapy pet visits. Blackie is the only registered therapy dog that visits the Bamberg County Nursing Center. Clary said certain animals, such as birds, are not allowed.

Visiting pets are always screened for good health and appropriate vaccination. No live-in pets are allowed at the center, she said. Blackie has visited with residents several times since completing his certification 13 months ago. Each time he visits, he wears a colorful bandanna and a special tag, which reads: "Canine Good Citizen." Blackie remains gentle, calm and friendly as he greets residents and employees alike. His training shows as he obeys Lucas and is equally receptive to others.

Resident Myrtle Luminello says Blackie reminds her of the pets she kept at home before moving to the nursing center. During one of Blackie's visits, Luminello reminisced about how her own pets would put up a big fuss, chasing each other around the yard. Blackie instinctively lays his muzzle on Luminello's knee, nuzzling her hand as it rests on the handmade lap robe. Luminello strokes Blackie's head and speaks to him. Making friends seems easy for Blackie.

Paul Beard, another resident at the center, met Blackie for the first time during the therapy dog's last visit to the center. As Lucas and Blackie were about to leave, Beard, who was sitting in the lobby, took an interest in the dog. "Would you like to meet Blackie?" Lucas asked Beard. "i used to keep 'coon dogs back at my place," he told her. "Used to hunt the woods out back of my house in the early morning." Judge allows health claims suits to proceed Fidelity Group accused of defrauding customers whose claims weren't paid By Cindy Landrum Anderson Bureau ANDERSON The body of an Anderson man authorities say may have jumped off a bridge on Interstate 85 into the Seneca River section of Lake Hartwell was found by a fisherman Wednesday afternoon.

The body of Johnny Lee Gentry 46, of State 187, was recovered from about three feet of water near Business Owners Professionals in San Antonio defrauded them by not paying claims. The U.S. Labor Department later froze the assets of the New York-based guild that bankrolled the coverage, and U.S. District Judge Jacob Mishler of New York appointed an overseer who reported the fund had $100,000 in assets and more than $8 million in claims. After Mishler suspended several lawsuits earlier this year to encourage a settlement, Duffy did the same with those filed in Charleston.

But Mishler later said that law The Associated Press CHARLESTON A federal judge has cleared the way for some lawsuits stemming from failed Fidelity Group Inc. and related health plans to proceed. A Dec. 23 order from U.S. District Judge P.

Michael Duffy partially lifted stays issued in March that halted the claims against more than 40 agents, two claims administrators and Fidelity's insurers. Lawsuits were filed last year by beneficiaries who contended that New York-based Fidelity Group, the International Workers Guild and the National Association of.