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BISHOPVILLE - Lee County School District announces the opening of the new Lee Central Elementary School for the 2025-26 academic year.

Join the Sumter Museum for a talk and book signing reception with author Karen White at noon Wednesday, Aug. 6, at the Museum, 122 N. Washington St.

Downtown Sumter recently was presented with the Main Street Inspiration Outstanding Partnership Award at the 2025 Municipal Association of South Carolina, after the recent renovation of Rotary Centennial Plaza.

Smiles and supplies were plentiful on the morning of Wednesday, July 23, as Sumter Police Department was joined by public safety agencies and various community organizations for its annual back-to-school bash.

When you walk into the Sumter County Gallery of Art's 2025 Artists' Guild Show, you are in for an extra treat.

#ITEMIMPACT: A chance encounter at a local school's Christmas party led Robert Easley from briefing pilots and commanders in the U.S. Air Force on weather forecasting to changing students' lives through science.

#PastisPresent: Sumter and sports. It's hard to talk about one without the other. At J. O'Gradys, the walls, adorned with decades of greatness, are an ode to the names we didn't always know and the ones we could never forget.

As a single mom of three, Starla Singleton always taught her children to value work ethic in all areas of their life. Her infectious smile only spread as she said it was her 14-year-old son, Trayshawn Hannibal, who had the idea to apply for the program.

A 65-year-old man is being held without bond after allegedly assaulting a woman with a baseball bat and shooting her, according to Mark Bordeaux, public information officer with Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

#ITEMIMPACT: Habitat for Humanity believes in offering such an experience, or rather a dream, to everyone. And on Thursday, July 10, at the dedication of its 130th home build, that dream came true for another Sumter family.

#ITEMIMPACT: Dan Brothers sees Interstate 95 as a river. All kinds of people travel up and down it all the time. He wants them to see the name Jesus as they go and be saved from the metaphorical waterfall at the end of the river--hell.

At his 96th birthday party, Bob Sigler, one of Sumter's oldest living military veterans, was surrounded by laughter, birthday cake and all his good friends, including a special one, his caregiver, Essie Gause.

Sumter City Council had a busy schedule on Tuesday, July 15. Including a deferred zoning request, the purchase of an automated garbage truck and the approval of a stormwater improvement project in the Crosswell neighborhood, the meeting was lengthy.

U.S. Army Spc. Christian Sutton's journey on making the Army the largest source of bone marrow donors may have started at a punk rock concert, but his connection to its importance dates back two decades when his mom passed away from Hodgkin lymphoma at 25.

#ITEMIMPACT: There's this saying: A tree is known by its fruit, a man by his deeds. And for Ass. Fire Chief Ernie Dollard, his actions are the precedent generations of firefighters have used to define what it means to serve, perform and act.

Water bottles in hand, backpacks ready and hiking boots laced, 62 hikers walked a lengthy 3.5 miles through the wooded trails of Poinsett as part of the annual SC7 expedition, an initiative to further the exploration of South Carolina's natural spaces.

There are more than 2,000 historical markers across South Carolina, and another will be unveiled next Wednesday. Sumter County Historical Commission invites the public to the unveiling of the Community Hospital historical marker on Wednesday, July 30.

The state agency that investigates allegations of fraud, waste and wrongdoing among public bodies has begun its financial review of whether Sumter School District followed required protocols with two projects.