Defense Contractor Attorney Near Sumter, SC

The IGA store on Pinewood Road in Sumter is now closed, prompting discussions about a replacement.

SUMTER, S.C. — A longtime grocery store on Sumter’s Pinewood Road has shut its doors earlier than expected, leaving local leaders and residents discussing what should come next.

The IGA grocery store had previously announced it would close on Friday, July 12, but management made the decision to end operations earlier due to inventory levels.

A spokesperson for Alex Lee Inc., the store’s parent company, confirmed the closure and said the company considers several factors when deciding to shut down a location. These include shifting their focus to new store development, remodeling projects, and expanding their portfolio. Alex Lee Inc. also owns KJ’s Market and Lowes Foods, and has recently closed IGA locations in Holly Hill and Sumter, with another closure planned for Lancaster.

The news came as a disappointment to many in the area, including Sumter County Councilman Carlton B. Washington, who said that while the closure is unfortunate, the city understands that it was a business decision.

“We're very sorry to see them closing the store that they're closing,” Washington said. “However, we understand that business decisions are made for business reasons, and apparently, the decision was made to close the store, so we get it.”

Washington added that city officials are already beginning the process of identifying a new grocery partner to serve the area.

“We'd love to see a Publix come into the area or another chain that could provide services to that particular community,” Washington said.

For Sumter resident Catherine Pack, the closure hits on a more personal level. She said the Pinewood Road IGA stood out for its service and connection to the neighborhood.

“This is one of the most customer service-oriented stores on this side,” Pack said. “But at the same time, you never know what could fill in the gap here.”

Employees at the store told WLTX they were offered opportunities to transfer to other stores within the Alex Lee Inc. network.

While the Pinewood Road location is now closed, a second IGA in Sumter on Wesmark Boulevard remains open. As of this report, company representatives state that there are no current plans to close the store.

City council members are expected to continue discussions about how best to fill the void left by the closure during upcoming meetings.

CORRECTION: Carlton B. Washington is a member of the Sumter County Council.

Home sales rose 300% in Sumter County, while Habitat for Humanity continues building homes for low-income families as June marks Homeownership Month.

SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — A recent report from Rocket.com shows a notable increase in home sales in Sumter County. Four homes sold or were pending in May 2025, a 300% increase month over month.

Of those four homes, 50% were sold under asking price, 25% sold at asking, and 25% over asking.

As June marks National Homeownership Month, Habitat for Humanity in Sumter is continuing its mission to help local families achieve the dream of homeownership.

Michelle Davis and Gerald Jennings are two of those homeowners who were able to unlock the doors to their forever homes through Habitat for Humanity.

“In 2011 is when I moved with Sumter Habitat for Humanity and I’ve been there 14 years,” said Davis.

“I became a homeowner in June of 2013,” Jennings said.

The road to homeownership wasn’t easy for either of them.

“So, I was interning and working at the Red Cross, and, in the meantime, I was going through my divorce, so I was going through my phase of what am I going to do now," Jennings said. "I am a single mother with three children, so I moved into a low-income apartment."

Encouragement from friends and a bit of faith made the process possible.

“He was like maybe you should apply for a home with Habitat for I was like well my credit isn’t that great, and I was trying to work and get things together I was at a loss, and I was apprehensive,” Jennings added.

Davis had a similar experience navigating the process.

“I worked at Santee Wateree at that time and I first when I applied, I didn’t get in because I was making too much money – but I got on the waiting list and they selected me the second time I was so happy – we put the nails in and all that stuff it was a good opportunity to finish up your house,” Davis said.

Over the past 37 years, Habitat for Humanity of Sumter has built more than 120 homes for low-income families. Three homes were completed in the past year alone, and another three are currently under construction.

Theresa White, executive director of Sumter Habitat for Humanity, said the organization looks for committed and responsible applicants.

“With this comes great responsibility; you might be paying $600 a month for rent does not mean you can afford homeownership, so we pull a credit report. How you’ve paid your debts in the past,” White said.

According to White, preparation is key.

“You're not going to be able to make $100,000 and probably and qualify for our program, so qualifications for income is based on the number of people ... who are going to be living in the home," she said. "It's 50 to 80% of our area immediate income; that’s the first thing we look at: if their income is too high or too low, they are not going to qualify. So, they meet that requirement. The next thing is, can they afford homeownership?” she said.

Both Davis and Jennings say they are forever grateful for the opportunity Habitat gave them.

“For everyone that is out there, [it is] a second chance to start over and start new, make some solid foundations, and grow and be able to be vital and give back to an opportunity given to you,” Davis said.

“I think it sinked in for me when I went to the lawyer’s office and I got things that I finally had my own place; we are home, and we are going to make it, and no one is going to take that from me,” Jennings said.

White says the goal is to speed up their home-building process with more volunteers.

Harriette "Sister" Heath Wimberly was presented with South Carolina's highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto, during her retirement ceremony from Friends of Swan Lake on Thursday night, May 22, at Swan Lake Iris Gardens, the site for which she has donated countless hours of her time through the years.

The playground at the gardens was also named Sister Wimberly Playground in her honor during the ceremony Thursday.

Wimberly was the founder of the Friends of Swan Lake group in 2000, a local volunteer organization dedicated to the maintenance, beautification and improvement of the gardens. The group has overseen many projects and fundraising efforts during the past quarter century, including the restoration of a Sumter fire truck that has been the centerpiece of the playground on the site and bringing a Grainger McKoy sculpture, "Recovery," to the gardens.

Wimberly's grandfather, A.T. Heath, donated the south side of what became Swan Lake Iris Gardens in 1938. According to previous Item reporting, Heath stipulated "that it be developed only under H.C. Bland’s supervision. Technically, the Bland, or north side, is Swan Lake, as he named it, and the Heath, or south side, is called Iris Gardens. With the joining of the two, we get the official name, Swan Lake-Iris Gardens."

In 2029, then-Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen declared May 25 that year as "Sister" Heath Wimberly Day to recognize her and awarded her the Gamecock City Society Award earlier that May, the highest honor a citizen can receive from the city.

"I've seen the most beautiful changes in this treasure that Sumter has," Wimberly said. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Mr. Heath's five children at one point were going to build houses here, but he decided it would mean much more to us forever if it was given to the city as a garden," she said at the time.

Wimberly said the Friends of Swan Lake meets each month to discuss work that needs to be done there, and she often walks among the gardens to enjoy the space. She estimated in 2004 that there were 1,000 members involved in Friends of Swan Lake.

The state superintendent has requested the state agency that investigates allegations of fraud, waste and wrongdoing among public bodies begin a "thorough review or investigation" of Sumter School District regarding issues in its operations department.

The state Office of the Inspector General initiated communication with South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver through an April 28 letter raising concerns about the district not following required financial protocols for the Crestwood High School athletic field construction/renovation project and another issue involving the disposal of old furniture at schools. On May 20, Weaver followed up with her formal request that the state office initiate the probe.

At least a former school board member and former district operations staff member John Daly, who acting as a whistleblower initially took concerns involving payroll fraud, fraud and waste and diversion of funds to the district's board of trustees, according to documentation obtained by The Item, have been interviewed by the state inspector's office.

After Daly addressed his concerns to the trustees last year, the board then told Superintendent William Wright Jr. to investigate the matters.

Daly was later fired over a separate issue in October, he said, but he added he thinks that measure was a retaliation tactic.

He asserts the operations department, which is led by Executive Director of Operations Samuel Myers, has had numerous violations related to a concessions stand/bathrooms project at Mayewood Middle School and Crestwood's new football stadium/athletic complex.

Specifically, Daly said he thinks the district did not follow the state Department of Education's Office of Facilities protocols for new construction and major renovations in the two projects.

The state Office of the Inspector General, or SIG, and Weaver are also concerned about the cost overruns for the Crestwood project, according to the state superintendent's letter.

About one year ago at the project's groundbreaking, the total cost was estimated at $3.5 million. In the last month, district administration has projected the total cost will be about $9.5 million to complete it.

Regarding the disposal of old furniture in numerous schools, Daly said schools throughout the district received new furniture last year and custodians placed the used furniture in dumpsters before those items were sent to a local landfill.

He asserts the old furniture was still in good condition and should have been auctioned off, according to state surplus property process requirements.

Daly said that he filed his allegations with SIG at the beginning of this year as a last recourse because the school board would not hear his termination appeal.

The state agency was established by the General Assembly in 2012 with the sole purpose of "investigating and addressing allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement and misconduct in agencies, specifically the executive branch of state government."

A media contact with SIG could not be reached on Friday by The Item.

Wright was not immediately available for comment Friday afternoon.

SUMTER, S.C. (WIS) - A Sumter County substitute teacher was recently jailed after deputies say she made inappropriate comments to a minor.

41-year-old Nicole Crumb was arrested on May 28 and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

She was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center and has since been released on a $22,500 bond.

Crumb was a substitute teacher through a third-party agency known as Kelly Education, which employs substitutes to work in the place of regular employees for teachers, paraprofessionals, clerical employees, custodians and food service workers.

She started assignments in the Sumter School District in February of 2023, with her last known assignment in March of this year.

The school district said she is no longer an active substitute teacher, and they have requested to remove her from all assignments.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said Crumb was her daughter’s teacher at Hillcrest Middle School.

“As a mom, it’s disgusting,” she said. “As a mom, it’s scary. As a person, something has to be wrong with her.”

The woman said she had to have some difficult conversations with her daughter after she saw her teacher’s mugshot.

“Talk to your kids, make your kids aware that conversations like that between children and adults is not inappropriate,” she said. “Speak to them every day. Let them know that it’s OK to come and talk to you. Make sure there’s a line of communication between you and your child for your child to come and talk to you because it seems to be getting to be more of a common occurrence nowadays.”

She added that in today’s world, those conversations are necessary.

WIS asked the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office if investigators have any reason to believe that Crumb was doing anything inappropriate while in her role as a substitute.

The Sheriff’s Office said they cannot rule anything out, as the investigation is ongoing.

The incident report includes some disturbing details.

It alleges that Crumb has sent inappropriate messages to a teenaged boy and asked him some explicit questions.

“They’re being preyed on, it’s scary,” the Hillcrest parent said.

The teen told his parents, according to the report, that Crumb “texts all the kids,” implying that she communicates regularly with several of his classmates.

The victim also stated that Crumb’s home is known to be a “party place.”

“Don’t give anyone leeway to get to your kids because it happens and it’s happening more,” the anonymous parent said.

The Sheriff’s Office would not say whether there are more victims, citing the ongoing investigation.

Kelly Education said in a statement, “The safety and well-being of the students we serve is our top priority. The substitute teacher has been removed from all assignments. We intend to fully cooperate with the authorities in their investigation.”

This is a developing story. Stay with WIS News 10 for more details.

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