The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 17

COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA METRO SUNDAY JUNE 2 2002 SECTIONS Charity pulls in $20000 with plane fun Talk About Town New York fire truck blessed South Carolinians travel to New York fire station for ceremony Thirty-one teams from Midlands businesses huffed and puffed groaned and sweat Saturday seeing which could pull a Boeing 727 weighing 88500 pounds 25 feet the fastest The real winner was the United Way The fifth annual UPS United Way Tug-a-Plane raised about $20000 for the charitable group competing were employees of Lexington County SMI Steel SCANA Providence Hospital and VoruUan Each team was made up of 20 including at least five women Winning for the second year in a row was a team from Richtex Brick which moved the plane 25 feet In 934 seconds Team No 3 from TIC The Industrial Company came in second at 973 seconds (The company had three teams competing) Blue CronBlue Shield came in third at 999 seconds event and four previous Tug-a-Planes have raised about $100000 for United Way CAIMMBERRV7 SPECIAL TO THE STATE NEIL WHITE an honor that will truly lift you AS MANY OF YOU know Talk still is waiting to receive the key to the city from Mayor Bob Coble and the Order of the Palmetto from Gov Jim Hodges Despite all of our yean cl public service (and our nonstop lobbying) both men steadfastly have refused to recognize our unique contributions Coble insists still judging us on a coiumn-by-coiumn basis And die only way well get Hodges to notice us is if we're driving a runaway plutonium truck But you know what? Talk no longer cares because this week we were given the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a South Carolinian: The Golden Spatula Award right WLTX-TVs Joel Connable Mr Restaurant Report Card himself made the presentation in a touching ceremony at Lunch Box on Landmark Drive The certificate which gave us an grade of 100 percent stated: for your witty and humorous writing and definitely not your cooking Wait maybe Joel realize we make a pretty mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich Or that we can toast Eggo waffles to a perfect golden brawn shade Or maybe he's simply saying our columns have yet to make anybody sick to their stomachs that gagging? editor?) Thus Talk becomes the first nonrestaurateur recipient of die award And just why did Joel do it? We think if because today's his last day on-air after a three-year stint at News 19 and now they canltfirehimfbrit Connable a Long Island native Southern Cal grad and former New York City police officer and paramedic leaves for a new job at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles He officially the spatula Thursday to new restaurant reporter Adam Murphy who already is hearing die whispers that no Joel Connable began poring over 400-some DHEC health inspections each week two years ago from the smallest hot dog stands to the fanciest restaurants to put the spotlight on those folks who are and keeping their eateries clean He came up with the Golden Spatula as a lighthearted way of honoring the cleanest restaurant each week a he said The Spatula is definitely a little hokey but become a valued competitive thing to have not the material item If the reputation that goes with it honored people appreciate it so And while we are appreciative to get it not going to keep us from doing a little hard-hitting investigative reporting of our own Guess what we learned? The Golden Spatula isn't made of real gold In fact ifs a regular old Target kitchen utensil thafs been spray-painted Connable grudgingly admits weVe exposed him and his so-called spatula take it to Moseley's and have it appraised he said sweat it Joel it beats winning a Pulitzer to us Besides Connable believes the spatulas will continue to accrue real value as time passes a few years they'll be auctioned on eBay" he said And we bet go for a lot more than a key to the city or an Order of the Palmetto Call Talk at (8 03) 771-8643 or e-mail ntwhitelfijthestatecom By CHUCK CRUMBO Staff Writer Moments after everyone sat down Saturday to a traditional Brooklyn firehouse meal of baked ziti and chicken parmesan the alarm went off Out the door of the Red Hook fire station rushed a shiqy red ladder truck that South Carolinians had bought to replace a truck lost in the nightmare of Sept 11 Fears of the worst shuck White Knoll Middle School principal Nancy Turner who was with a contingent of South Carolinians in New York for blessing of the new truck I could think of was God let them be OK and get back all Turner said Her Lexington County school spearheaded a fund drive that raised $520000 to buy the truck Minutes later Ladder Truck 101 and its crew returned It was a false alarm The celebration continued First the Rev Neil Tiedennann pastor of die nearby Visitation of die Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church offered a prayer Then he sprinkled holy water on Ladder Truck 101 Next children of Red Hook firefighters and spectators got a chance to climb on the truck and sit behind the steering wheel i cool being up said White Knoll student Nicole Bailey 13 who went with her principal on the trip Saturday's event also helped cement the ties between the Red Hook community and South Carolina "What file people in South Carolina and the children at the middle school did was just said Capt Thomas Calkins of the Fire Department of New York just know how ever repay Actually Ladder Truck 101 represents a payback for South Carolinians Two years after the Civil War New York firefighters sent a fire wagon to Columbia after a fire that most folks blame on the Union Army destroyed much of file city Grateful Columbia firefighters pledged then they would someday SEE TRUCK PAGE B7 Claudia Smith Brinson cbrinfoniir lhatatccom (803)771-9683 PO Box 1333 Columbia 29202 mittee the Legislative Black Caucus and the Progressive Network are looking at ways to support the plaintiffs in their quest 1 The SC Supreme Court ruled April 1999 in a decision written by Chief Justice Ernest Finney that the state constitution guarantees all our children a public education the tenor of times can change Strategies can shift Coalitions can form All that has happened Says Finney now retired no hiding place left" Lawsuits like this are tried two places the courts and the court of public opinion In circuit court the poor school districts must prove children in their districts receive an adequate education and the reason is inequitable funding Then they must propose a way to fix it SEE SCHOOLS PAGE B4 Camden blase about GOP race time poor schools get their fair share Voters have passion for any of the gubernatorial candidates By LEE BANDY Staff Writer CAMDEN the primaiy election drawing nigh many voters in this swing county are showing no enthusiasm for any of the Republican candidates for governor Many are undecided Others are unhappy with their choices and indicate they may stay home on June 11 not vote And then there are those who are pleased with Democratic Gov Jim Hodges They have no reason to participate in the GOP contest Also contributing to voter apathy is the absence of any real controversy no burning issue that excites the voters The divisive knock-down drag-out contest that was forecast never materialized like a good no-holds-barred type of race This one is dull" said Chad Curry a 35-year-old local salesman one of 23 voters interviewed for this story The GOP expects 350000 will turn out on primary day including 6500 in Kershaw County In 1994 the last time more than two Republicans were on the Peter Rowland owns Mulberry Market Bake Shop in Camden He said Mark Sanford is the only GOP candidate he has considered voting for SINCE 1993 South poor rural school districts have wanted more money from the state to provide a better education for their students Next year this time have their say Then after waiting 10 years for their day in court they may decide time was on their side The 36 school districts suing say the way SC schools are funded results in and inferior educational It took the case six years to make its way to the SC Supreme Court Now back to circuit court but no longer languishing That's over Why after so long? The case is now on a circuit court docket for May 2003 One of the state's biggest law firms Nelson Mullins will put staff on the case without charge When one of the state's most prestigious firms throws its muscle behind a case things happen Thanks to the Education Accountability Act and ensuing school report cards the numbers linking poverty and educational failure are there embarrassing and public The Education Oversight Com- JASON OAWVTHE STATE from their minds Times are good here The abandoned stores that line Broad Street are being replaced with new stores and trendy restaurants Target is building a huge distribution center between Camden and Lugoff and textile manufacturer BBA NonWoven in Bethune is planning a major expansion Tourism also is up Kershaw County's unemployment rate is 63 percent 21st among the state's 46 counties The SEE KERSHAW PAGE B4 gubernatorial primary ballot 253700 voted in the Republican primaiy About 5300 voted in Kershaw Voters could tune in to the race as fire candidates step up their TV ad campaigns in the final days Reports filed with the State Ethics Commission showed the candidates had nearly $2 million in the bank for the home stretch Mark Sanford led the field with cash on hand of $11 million For now however voters are focused on family and vacation Politics is the furthermost thing LIVING HERE B2 STATE BRIEFS BS OBITUARIES B6 METRO BRIEFS B8 WWWTHESTATECOM -L I 1.