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“When we did this year’s setlist and we ran through it, we only have really one ballad, maybe two,” Chesney told us before we saw what he will perform.

“Everything else is, well, I guess what people have come to expect from us.”

The pace might be fast and heavy, but the mood will be smooth and light.

“If you’ve ever been to one of our shows, I always say, ‘Whatever it is that’s bothering you, leave it out there. And when you come in here, let’s forget about it and have a good time’,” Chesney said.

But the longer-than-expected race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination will thrust the state into the national spotlight when it has its say May 6. Indiana also votes that day.

The primary, offering 115 national convention delegates, comes two weeks after Pennsylvania gave the former first lady the win she needed to stay in the race. But Obama is favored to win North Carolina, the largest prize among the contests remaining.

"My crystal ball wasn't working well last year, and I certainly would not have anticipated this," said state Democratic Party chairman Jerry Meek. "But, in retrospect, having a May primary was a tremendously astute decision."

Voters, especially new ones, have taken note.

Investigators uncovered cases in which a program employee's pit bull was trained to bite students in the groin and where teens had bags placed over their heads and nooses slipped around their necks, testified Greg Kutz, who has led an investigation into youth residential programs for the federal Government Accountability Office.

"It's hard to believe that people would do this to somebody else's child," said a visibly angry Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

Miller, chairman of the House education committee, introduced legislation this week to prevent such abuses and boost oversight of boot camps. Such programs also are commonly referred to as residential treatment facilities, behavior modification programs or therapeutic boarding schools.

The programs are typically loosely regulated by states. There are no federal laws that define and regulate them.

The facility was mostly completed but still needed significant testing before it could be declared operational, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

However, no uranium - needed to fuel a reactor - was evident at the site, a remote area of eastern Syria along the Euphrates River.

The Syrian reactor was similar in design to a North Korean reactor at Yongbyon that has in the past produced small amounts of plutonium, U.S. officials said. Plutonium is highly radioactive and can be used to make powerful nuclear weapons or radiological bombs.

Top members of the House intelligence committee said Thursday after being briefed on the facility by intelligence and administration officials that the reactor posed a serious threat of spreading dangerous nuclear materials.

The No. 2 U.S.-based automaker also said its latest round of early retirement and buyout offers netted 4,200 hourly workers, fewer than Ford had targeted.

It was the company's first profitable quarter since the second quarter of 2007, when it earned $750 million. Ford reported a full-year loss of $2.7 billion last year, and cautioned that the rest of this year will be tough.

"The remainder of 2008 will be a challenge but we are cautiously optimistic despite the external challenges," CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement. "Our plan is working."

Ford also lowered its industrywide U.S. vehicle sales forecast for the full year to a range of 15.3 million to 15.6 million. In January it had expected full-year sales of 16 million.

Then Harry went to war, and William started tooling around England in his Royal Air Force helicopter, bending military rules by dropping in - literally - at his girlfriend's house and buzzing some of his illustrious family's many properties.

Now it's bad prince, good prince - at least for a while.

William, 25, is seen as pampered and overindulged, and Harry, 23, as a gallant soldier who put his life on the line for queen (in this case, grandma) and country. At least that is the prevailing public view as embarrassed military officials admit they goofed by letting William treat his pricey Chinook like a private toy.

"It shows William in a bad light," said public relations guru Max Clifford. "It's the whole spoiled brat syndrome. If any other young officer in the RAF were to do this, they would probably be kicked out of the forces in two minutes. It basically says all the wrong things. It says because of who I am I can do what I want. That's the sort of message that upsets the British public."

The London-based production company for "Quantum of Solace" said that an experienced stunt driver of an Alfa Romeo car remained hospitalized in serious condition following the accident Wednesday. A second stunt driver in the same car also was injured, but less seriously.

"Filming with the second unit on 'Quantum of Solace' will be suspended while the accident is investigated," the statement said. It noted that neither director Marc Forster, Daniel Craig nor any other cast members were at the location when the accident occurred.

The identities of the stunt drivers weren't released.

A spokesman for the town of Limone sul Garda, where crew have been filming for the past two weeks, said the Alfa Romeo crashed into a wall during a chase sequence involving a truck and Bond's Aston Martin along the Gardesana, a curvy, two-lane lakeside road with gorgeous panoramas and many tunnels.

Per capita income grew 5.2 percent from 2005 to 2006 in the area covering Richland, Lexington, Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw and Saluda counties.

The growth exceeded 2006’s 3.2 percent inflation rate and was the third-highest among metro areas in or crossing into South Carolina. Yet, Columbia lagged the nation’s 5.6 percent growth rate.

The Florence County metro area led the state with per capita income growing 6.1 percent to $29,328. The Sumter County metro area followed, with income growing 5.7 percent to $26,242 per person.

The bureau has already released per capita income estimates for 2007 for the nation and states, but the local area data takes longer to collect.

Al Parish, a former Charleston Southern University professor with a penchant for bright sports coats and expensive cars, pleaded guilty last year to several federal fraud charges and lying to investigators.

His attorney, Andy Savage, said Parish faces between 30 years and life on those charges and is expected to be sentenced in June.

Parish, under house arrest since November, will be in court Monday to plead guilty to the state charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, Savage said.

Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend any prison time be served at the same time as a federal sentence.

Miller would succeed Thomas E. Barton, who became the college’s president in 1962 and has served continuously for 46 years. Barton who has chaired the state council of technical college presidents and is a legend in job-training and promoting access to a college education in South Carolina, is the longest serving technical college president in the nation, Greenville Tech states on its website.

During his tenure, Barton guided Greenville Tech from its origins to today’s job-training giant, with four campuses across Greenville County, more than 14,000 degree-seeking or transfer college students, and almost 55,000 students in continuing education or retraining for new jobs or careers.

Barton recently signed a bridge agreement with University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen to ease the transfer of Greenville Tech students to USC.

Sam Clayton, who chairs the Greenville Tech commission, said the offer to Miller to become Barton’s successor was unanimous on Wednesday. “Both the Area Commission and Dr. Miller feel really good that things will work out,” Clayton said in a statement issued by the college.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency informed city officials on April 8 that a 30-day comment period had begun.

City Council on Wednesday set a May 6 deadline for written opinions that will be submitted to FEMA.

The comments are due by 5 p.m. on that date and should be addressed to city manager Johnny Sharpe at 1800 12th St. extension, Cayce, S.C. 29171.

Sharpe said he will summarize the comments, present them to council at its May 6 meeting and mail his summary to FEMA.

Prosecutors argue in court documents filed Thursday that Norfolk Southern should be fined for discharging chlorine and diesel fuel into waterways near Graniteville after the 2005 crash.

A Norfolk Southern spokesman did not immediately have a comment.

The crash occurred when a Norfolk Southern train veered off the main track onto a spur, rear-ending a parked train whose crew had failed to switch the tracks back to the main rail. The crash ruptured a train car carrying chlorine, releasing a poisonous cloud over the mill town.

Nine people died and thousands were evacuated.

The film incentive package was changed last summer by the state Commerce Department to encourage filmmakers to hire South Carolina residents and purchase goods from businesses in the state.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell says that is keeping some filmmakers away. He says the bill approved on Thursday would make the state competitive again.

The measure would restore many of the incentives passed by lawmakers in 2005.

The bill requires another routine vote in the House before heading to the Senate.

The department said the victims reported being distracted by one man pretending to perform utility services while the other stole money and other items from their homes. The incidents took place between 2:30 p.m. Monday and 4 p.m. Tuesday, the department said.

The victims, ranging in age from 69 to 88, lived on Corley Mill Road near Lexington, North Lake Drive near Lexington, Pond Branch Road near Batesburg-Leesville and Spring Street near Lexington. The suspects' ruses included stating they needed to show victims where new power lines were to be installed near their homes.

A detailed description of the suspects was not available, but the victims said they drove a red, extended-cab pickup truck.

Anyone with information about the scam or the scam artists to call the sheriff’s department at (803) 785-8230 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 559-TIPS (8477).

Ricardo Labruce Joseph, 25, is charged with two counts of pointing and presenting, two counts of kidnapping, two counts unlawful possession of a pistol and resisting arrest, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

The United States Marshals Service, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department worked to find the suspect.

Lott said that on April 15, Joseph went to his girlfriend’s job and forced her and her 18-month-old son into a car at gunpoint.

Deputies found Joseph at his home in Gadsden and a fight ensued. He then escaped into the woods.

One bill eliminates sales taxes beginning in 2009 during October, a month when groups encourage energy conservation.

A second proposal increases a tax rebate to people buying energy-efficient manufactured houses to $750 if the structures meet federal Energy Star requirements. A current energy-efficiency incentive limits the break to $300.

A third bill requires replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lights by July 2011 in government buildings. That proposal also says agencies have to set a goal for cutting energy demands by 20 percent by 2020.

Effective April 18, city of Camden water customers can irrigate their lawns two days a week. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays and Saturdays while even-numbered addresses can water on Thursdays and Sundays.

Residents can wash cars on those days as well.

All other restrictions, including not washing sidewalks, driveways and parking lots, remain in place.

— Marjorie Riddle, mriddle@thestate.com

Barbara Ramsbottom of Lakewood Elementary School in Myrtle Beach is the 2008 registered nurse of the year.

Susan Plyler, employed at Kershaw Elementary School in Lancaster, was named the licensed practical nurse of the year for 2008.

The two state agencies present the award in recognition of nurses “working in a school setting who provide outstanding school health services.”

Ramsbottom, a nationally certified school nurse since 2001, began her career as a school nurse 10 years ago. She is known for coordinating the collection of used eyeglasses and raising money for leukemia and lymphoma research. She also has helped establish a partnership with a local dental clinic and organizes a free annual health fair open to the public.

"I want to come and have some fun!" the 22-year-old Marine mechanic said. "It's been a long road, but I'm coming toward the end."

Lyon, of Crisfield, Md., will be among 30 wounded, but recovering veterans from around the country attending the BMW driving school near Spartanburg on Monday. Costs for the outing are being shared by BMW and the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, a privately funded support group that works to get Marines out of hospitals and back into communities.

"I've been a fan of BMW's since I was 8 years old," Lyon said in a telephone interview. "When I heard about this, I was thrilled."

The luxury automaker has retrofitted five 650i two-door coupes with special hand grips and other controls so vets who have lost the use of their legs can hone their driving skills on a specially configured two-mile course. Those who don't need the special controls will drive sporty 335i sedans or the high-performance M3, M4 and M5 coupes and sedans.

Officers will be watching Interstate 26, Interstate 77 and S.C. 277 throughout the day for speeding, aggressive driving, and other violations such as driving without a license, driving with a suspended license or driving without insurance.

Residents with specific concerns about traffic violations in particular areas of the city can go to the Department's Web site to fill out a request form, or call the department at (803) 545-3500.

-- From staff reports

That paper was tangible evidence of the strict segregation that once pervaded South Carolina and, for him, represented a memory of a counter-movement that helped change South Carolina’s history.

Sulton, who died last week at 84, was at the epicenter of the state’s civil rights struggle. A tall, lanky man, he was a commanding presence in his hometown, leading marches through downtown Orangeburg, getting jailed too many times to remember, and always, always pressing for change.

Sulton refused to store up righteous indignation for a rainy day, returning after Army service in World War II and a year at Morehouse College determined to demolish the entrenched segregation that dominated the South.

“He was generously endowed with many gifts,” said the Rev. Michael C. Okere, who officiated at his memorial service Wednesday. Okere recalled that Sulton returned from overseas believing “if I fight for my country ... my country should love and respect me.”

Men, wearing turbans, tunics and vests, stood quietly along one side of the compound. Women in ink-blue burqas, holding babies, pressed against a stone wall.

All were waiting to see a doctor at the makeshift medical clinic, one of a half-dozen civil affairs programs supported by the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team.

In Afghanistan, civil affairs units have been key players in battling insurgent fighters. To beat the Taliban-led insurgency, the United States and its NATO partners need to win the people’s hearts and minds, commanders said.

And that’s the job of civil affairs.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama roared out of South Carolina in January on the strength of a smashing win in a Southern state. He was the uber-smooth, history-making candidate who had just shown, in his blowout win over Hillary Rodham Clinton, that he could win over voters in a part of the country where black candidates in statewide races have not fared well.

But three months have passed, and Obama, who was thumped by Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday, has not been able to close the show. And questions persist that blue collar, white Democrats won’t back him if he is the nominee.

Supporters now turn to contests in neighboring North Carolina and in Indiana on May 6 as Obama’s next opportunities to lock up the nomination.

“I’m going to North Carolina for Senator Obama next week,” said former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges. “There are a lot of factors that make North Carolina very appealing. There are a lot of younger, college-educated voters. African-American voters. Its demographics are much more favorable for Senator Obama.”

“We’re already challenged to find enough road space to operate the number of cars that we have, and now we’re trying to accommodate bicyclists, but it’s one of those challenges we’re going to have to face,” said Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens. “This is a good start.”

Verdin is a Senate Transportation Committee member. The committee unanimously passed the bill, which now goes to the Senate floor. It has cleared the House.

If passed, the bill — for the first time — would require motorists to keep a “safe operating distance” from bicyclists. That distance was left undefined in the bill.

The new requirement would mean that if a motorist strikes a bicyclist, that would strongly indicate the motorist was not keeping a safe distance and therefore was breaking the law.

The housing slowdown is coming home to roost, with collections of building-permit fees in Richland County coming up short by nearly $1 million this year.

Builders bought permits for 734 fewer homes in 2007 than in the previous year. And it’s a trend that has carried over into the first three months of 2008.

The immediate impact of the lost revenue isn’t clear.

But as County Council prepares to work on a budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, policymakers warn the money that pays for schools and government services could be especially tight this year.

Daonte Mario Turner of Gaston was arrested Wednesday afternoon on warrants charging him with four counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, one count of assault with intent to commit first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of committing or attempting to commit a lewd act on a child younger than 16 and one count of indecent exposure, Metts said.

Turner is in the Lexington County jail awaiting a bail hearing today.

The attempted assaults involved female students ages 15 to 17 and occurred between Feb. 1 and Friday, Metts said.

The investigation began Friday after one of the alleged victims reported an incident to a Swansea High administrator, who contacted the sheriff’s deputy assigned as the school’s resource officer, authorities said.

But don’t think he’s changing his views on the flag. Bessinger insists it’s purely a business decision.

“It’s too expensive,” Bessinger said Wednesday, noting not all of his locations have outdoor flags on display. “It costs too much to install a flag and pole, keep up with it and replace it every time it tears. I have no plans to have a flag of any kind — Confederate, American or state flag — outside at this time.”

Bessinger said Confederate memorabilia is sold or displayed inside his other stores, but he isn’t sure how much merchandise will be carried in Rock Hill because the store is one of his smallest.

“I haven’t decided all that. But I do reserve the right to do whatever I want, within the law.”

Cayce City Council voted for an agreement with the Lexington County Recreation Commission to build a $4.7 million complex of 24 lighted courts off 12th Street extension at I-77.

The commission has pledged half the money from what remains of a $17 million 2006 tax-supported bond to upgrade recreational facilities.

Cayce residents will face a tax increase to come up with the city’s $2.3 million portion, city manager Johnny Sharpe said. The amount of the increase will not be clear until the city’s general obligation bonds are sold later this year.

The tennis complex is to be constructed on 13 acres leased to the recreation commission by SCANA Corp., a utility giant that owns hundreds of acres in and around Cayce. SCANA is moving its corporate headquarters from downtown Columbia to Cayce in 2009.

“If you buy a yacht, you should be able to pay the (gas) bill... . I have a rowboat.”

— Rep. Ken Kennedy, D-Williamsburg, during debate on a tax bill that aims to lengthen the time period a boat owner can keep his or her boat in South Carolina without being required to pay state taxes. Marinas in the state have complained that business is down because of rising gas prices.

S.C. PRIMARY

Days left until the June 10 primary: 47

Work on Columbia’s proposed $104,609,451 general fund budget began Wednesday with some big questions about the vacancies.

A majority of council members — faced with the pressures of giving more money to the police department while accounting for rising insurance and fuel costs citywide — were frustrated that they do not know which city departments have vacancies.

“Which positions do we need or not need, and can we put them somewhere else?” Councilwoman Anne Sinclair said. “That’s the perfect place to look for potential money.”

Addressing manpower shortages at the police department, City Manager Charles Austin presented City Council with a rough draft of the 2008-09 budget Wednesday that includes $621,257 for 14 new officers.

And you thought playing skeetball was innocent, family-friendly entertainment.

Wednesday, House lawmakers conceded that “games of chance,” like skeetball, roulette-style games and the crane game (where players attempt to scoop up prizes by maneuvering a crane hook) are illegal under state gambling laws.

Such games are common at amusement centers aimed at children, such as Chuck E. Cheese and Frankie’s Fun Park.

But lawmakers killed a bill that would have legalized such games because authorities said the bill would have opened a door for video poker, too.

The hospital paid $1.09 million for the properties — at 37 E. DeKalb St. and 1315 Roberts St., adjacent to the hospital — and closed on the land April 1.

There are no immediate plans for the land, Weeks said, adding the hospital will honor all leases in place with current businesses.

EnergySolutions Inc. has an application pending before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to import 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste through either Charleston or New Orleans for processing in Tennessee.

Company officials have said they have no plans to dump any of the material at their nuclear waste dump in South Carolina. But they plan to send about 8 percent, or some 1,600 tons, to the company’s dump in the west Utah desert.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier reports a private investigator read the paper’s story Monday and used census data to find the family of the boy, memorialized with the inscription: “Infant son of R.W. & E.J. Hypes.”

Family descendants told the paper they think the boy was first buried in a plot in Littlesburg, W.Va., after he died in 1894, then moved to a nearby cemetery with their parents in 1953. The family plans to drive to South Carolina to retrieve the tombstone.

Police say they have no idea how the tombstone ended up in the houseboat cabinet.

Contributing: Staff writers Bill Robinson, Joy L. Woodson and Marjorie Riddle; The Associated Press

It includes $8.6 million for pay increases, $3 million for new teachers, and $1.4 million for administrators and staff at the new Bridge Creek Elementary.

The plan is 11 percent higher than the budget for the current year. Of the $192 million, the school district is expected to ask for $106 million from Richland County. If approved by County Council, the budget will mean an estimated $61 increase in taxes on nonowner-occupied property valued at $100,000.

The school board takes its spending plan to Richland County on May 9.

Augusta Road, 2000 block: Deputies were called to a department store at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday after a store manager discovered almost $200 missing from a cashier’s bank drawer. The manager told deputies he had spoken to the cashier and she admitted that she had taken $50 from the drawer, but didn’t know what happened to the rest of the money.

RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF

Swandale Drive, 200 block: A man called deputies at 2 a.m. Sunday after he said someone fired a shot into his home. The 69-year-old told deputies he was asleep when he heard a loud noise and then glass breaking. Police determined that a .45-caliber gun had been used. They found bullets lodged in the dresser, a report said.

Brookfield Road, 7000 block: Deputies were called to a school parking lot at noon Monday after a student discovered her car had been vandalized. Someone had keyed the driver’s door and used an unknown object to write vulgar language on the windshield. Damage was estimated at $300.

A Heathwood Hall alumna who has worked at the school for seven years, Sasnett teaches sixth-grade earth and environmental science. She holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from Clemson University.

Sasnett’s award is the seventh for a member of Heathwood Hall’s faculty in the past eight years, a Heathwood spokeswoman said.

The proposed spending plan includes $9 million for raises and an estimated $900,000 to fill 14 new teaching positions.

Taxpayers get a chance to comment on the proposed budget May 13 at Hopkins Elementary School. A second vote by trustees will follow that same evening.

The budget presented to the board Tuesday is 7.9 percent higher than the current year’s. Of the $253.9 million, Richland 1 expects to ask County Council for $177 million.

If council approves the spending plan, taxes on nonowner-occupied property valued at $100,000 could increase to $75 from $50.

“This is a bonus,” she said of the concert in Gilbert Community Park, held Saturday by festival leaders to thank the event’s workers. “It’s great being here.”

The gathering kicked off the 50th anniversary of the annual July 4 festival that’s become one of the best-known in the Southeast.

“It put the town on the map, and it keeps it on the map,” former postmaster Ken McAbee said.

Gilbert and the festival are intertwined, community leaders say.

His presence can be felt in the school additions he championed as chairman of the Facilities Task Force in 2002.

It can be felt through the Brookland-Cayce High School Education Foundation he helped create.

Now the walking trail at Claude A. Taylor Elementary, built earlier this school year, will bear his name.

“We have so many things here that when we walk outside I can look and see how many things he did,” said Don Simmons, Taylor’s physical education teacher.

Now 45, the Blythewood resident rides his bike up to 100 miles on weekends.

But considering that all of Richland County has only three miles of bike lanes, Davis said it’s simply unsafe to ride to work, when so many drivers are on the road.

He should know.

In the spring of 2006, he was hit by a car as he cycled to his job at Clemson Extension Service.

So she and her husband, Charles, can get where they need to go — to work and school, stores, restaurants and doctors.

But the Blacks, both of whom are blind, face one-hour waits between buses and a system where routes don’t always connect conveniently.

Vicki Black, 55, is especially interested in improvements to bus stops. Sidewalks would add an element of safety as she walks to her bus stop along Beltline Boulevard.

“I’ve got two choices,” she said. “I can stay in my house ... or I can go out and have some freedom.”

That’s a drop in the bucket in a county with hundreds of miles of dirt roads, said Anderson, who lives on a dead-end road in Lower Richland that he would eventually like to see paved.

“They gave us some gravel about five years ago, six years ago, and that’s all going away,” said Anderson, who drives a 2008 Mazda SUV.

“In the wintertime, especially when it rains, you’ve got clay dirt on your car and you’re slipping. In the summertime, dust gets in your house.”

Anderson said a preliminary transportation plan aired last week didn’t offer much to him and his neighbors.

But Denise Laboe’s third-grade class has discovered a whole new world there.

For the second time this school year, the students walked to Crooked Creek Park recently to spend time with senior citizens who gather at the park for lunch.

But before the kids sat down and had lunch, they played a bit of bingo, which allowed them to visit with their new friends.

“I like it because it helps out the community and we make new friends,” said Oliver McClelland, a student.

All will get raises of at least 4.5 percent — and some more than double that — starting July 1 under a plan approved by Town Council last week.

“Everybody will get something,” said Police Chief Brian Buck, whose $61,266 yearly salary is set separately by council members. “This helps a lot.”

The raises come after veteran officers left the force for higher pay, promotions and other perquisites.

Starting police pay will remain at $28,000. But the changes mean it can be increased up $7,000 for candidates with college training, military experience, fluency in languages and other skills.

Town workers will tend to landscaping and handle other upkeep in what will be a caretaker role, town attorney Brad Cunningham told Town Council on Monday.

The quarter-acre cemetery off Augusta Highway (U.S. 1) contains graves of ancestors of some town residents.

Council members agreed last summer to assume care of the site at the request of family members.

Historic preservationists also backed the step, calling it necessary to protect what were rural graves from steady development.

Saturday is the third annual Cayce Plant Exchange, sponsored by the city’s beautification board.

The event will be at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 1800 12th St. Extension.

Participants are encouraged to come early to place plants. When officials blow the whistle, each person will choose one plant. This will continue until all plants are exchanged. You do not have to bring a plant to participate. And bringing extra plants, bulbs, or seeds is encouraged.

There also will be a master gardener on site to answer questions.

CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS, a cell phone recycling program and Smith Turf & Irrigation have teamed up to distribute prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas. About half of the phones are reconditioned and resold, the rest are dismantled and recycled to reclaim gold, silver, platinum, copper wiring from chargers, nickel, iron, cadmium and lead from battery packs and plastic from cases and accessories. You may drop off your old cell phone at STI, 550 Corley Mill Road, Lexington. Cash donations are also accepted. (803) 957-6662; www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

ROSEWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH is accepting items for its Children’s Miracle Network yard and bake sale Saturday, June 7, at 2901 Rosewood Drive. Pickup available, call (803) 796-0015.

HOME WORKS is seeking donations of multivitamins for children and adults to be delivered to Zorritos, Peru, Aug. 5-17. (803) 206-6974 or e-mail homewrksc@aol.com

PALMETTO’S THRIFT STORE is accepting donations of clothing, housewares, furniture, toys, books, linens, jewelry, purses, shoes and accessories at 7539 St. Andrews Road, Irmo (behind Lizard’s Thicket). Items may be dropped off 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays or call (803) 781-1335 to arrange for pickup service. The store donates 50 percent of all profits to Children’s Chance, a nonprofit organization assisting families and children affected by pediatric cancer.

RICHLAND SHERIFF

Friendly Woods Road, 1400 block, between 1:30 a.m. and noon April 8. Someone stole a pit bull terrier valued at $500 from the front yard of a home.

PROPERTY TRANSFERS

435 Apple Branch Court, Blythewood, from Willow Creek Construction Co. Inc. to Jeffrey D. McAbee, $170,750

A friend had offered to bring her overseas as part of an outreach mission, but Lucas had never been out of the South, let alone traveled to a foreign country. Today, she’s convinced it was a trip God intended for her to take.

“God would not let me forget her invitation,” Lucas said. “I could constantly hear her words.”

It was that same journey that would plant the seeds of compassion in Lucas’ heart and eventually those of others at the church.

The 150-member congregation is nearing the end of a $20,000 fundraising effort to build a church in the Romanian village of Hasdate.