Editorials

Spring officially started on March 20.

Plants, trees and flowers are blooming at a rapid pace as record setting warmth has taken over much of the nation.

Stuttering, sometimes called “stammering,” is a speech disorder in which the normal flow of speech is broken by frequent repetitions (“st-st-stop that”) prolongations (“sssss-stop that”) stopping of sounds and syllables that are abnormal (no sound) or some words proceeded by “um” or “uh.” People who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty saying it. People who stutter may also have unusual facial and body movements associated with their effort to speak. In most cases, stuttering may have an impact on at least some daily activities by how the person or others react to the disorder.

Across the contiguous United States, this past winter season (December, January and February) ranks the fourth warmest in over 117 years of record keeping. Only the winters of 1991-1992, 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 have been warmer.

Below my weekly missive here is a very well prepared column, written by the S.C. Press Association’s chair of the Freedom of Information committee. It’s right down there. Over a little. There. Go read it now, please. It’s important. Please come back. I have something to say. Big surprise, huh?

Last week, intrepid public safety reporter and news editor Sharron Haley traveled to Sumter County where the man who is charged with the traffic accident that nearly killed LMA student Brittani Steen had his second encounter with the justice system in this incident.

By the time you read this, you will have experienced an actual “cold snap,” a phenomena that has been in short supply this winter here in Clarendon County.

For the third straight month, and 11 of the past 12 months, temperatures have been warmer than normal. In fact, it has been close to five degrees above normal for the past two months.