a a www.heaufortaazette.com FROM THE FRONT The Beaufort Gazette, Friday, December 24, 2004 7A Iraq Continued from 1A Marine officials say they expect a greater number of people to flock to the city in coming days after word of Fallujah's opening spreads during Friday prayers. A new sector is scheduled to be opened every three days, and government officials have said they hope to allow all Fallujah residents back into the city within three weeks. Many Fallujah residents who were not from the Andalus district showed up at the checkpoints staffed by Iraqi National Guard and police and pleaded to be allowed into the city. They were denied entry. Others complained to guards that they were from the district but had left their identification at their homes when they evacuated.
They were denied entry, too. Rasmiya Ibrahim, with her husband and two children in tow, told the guards they had been living in a drafty old school for months and the children were constantly sick and cold. She begged the guards to let her family back into the city so they could return to their apartments. The guards said they could not let her enter because she was not from Andalus. They gave her two quilts before telling her to leave the area.
"Fallujah was bad before the Americans came but it was still better than now," Ibrahim said. "The Americans made a very bad situation even worse." In the days leading up the Snowfall Continued from 1A Weary travelers were sprawled across chairs in the dining room, others curled up in corners or under stairs, using rolled towels as pillows. Paducah, received 14 inches of snow, topping the yearly average of 10 inches and doubling its previous one-day record. In some parts of south -central Kentucky, the ice was 2 to 4 inches thick. "This is a storm you might see two or three of these in your adult life," said David Humphrey, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Paducah.
The winter weather hampered efforts to wrap up holiday shopping. Kashiba Allen was one of the few shoppers who made it to Cincinnati's nearly deserted downtown, where many stores and restaurants were shut down early Thursday. The 14-year-old girl took a bus downtown to finish her Christmas shopping. "I wouldn't have come down if I didn't have to finish my shopping," she said. "There were cars stuck all over the roads.
For the first time I'm sort of glad I'm too young to drive." Ellen Tolley, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, said sales may have stalled in areas hit with heavy snow, but the wintry weather may put others in a holiday shopping mood. In Arkansas, last-minute shoppers continued their quests despite shuttered stores and restaurants and snarling traffic. They turned out by the thousands at McCain Apartments Continued from 1A others can no longer afford their homes and must weigh maintenance and mortgage costs against prescriptions and other needs common to the aging, said Jeanette Williams, director of Senior Services of Beaufort County. "Not everyone is retiring with large pensions or a retirement plan," she said. The county defines affordable housing as a home that a person or family earning 80 percent or less of the county's median family income, $62,000, can afford by spending no more than 35 percent of their gross income.
Rent in the 72-unit Laurel Hill Apartments on Ribaut Road will cost $462 a month for a onebedroom apartment and $528 for two bedrooms, said Bonnie Lester, executive director of The Humanities Foundation, the group managing the project. The foundation finances, builds and manages housing in Charleston and branched out Housing Continued from 1A initiative, which mostly has been stagnant since an infusion of $500,000 from taxpayers in 2001. "The work they've done has moved the ball down the field," he said. A work in progress After its creation in late 2003, the consortium signed the Hilton Head Island-based Lowcountry Community Development Corporation in January to a $54,719 one-year contract to serve as the group's lead agency. With the Hilton Head group in the lead, the consortium has established application guidelines for groups looking for county money to help bring affordable homes to the area.
With the guidelines in place, one of the first applicants for that money could be The Humanities Foundation, which is building an apartment complex in Port Royal. Laurel Hill Apartments, expected to provide affordable housing options for the county's seniors, has run up costs more than $100,000 over budget, said foun- OBITUARIES William Hertzel By JASON RYAN Gazette staff writer One of the founders of the Burton Fire Department and the first chairman of its operating board has died. William Hertzel died Wednesday Dec. 22, 2004, in Beaufort Memorial, Hospital. He was one of three founders of the Burton department.
Fellow founder George Alford said Thursday that Mr. Hertzel was "more or less the mouthpiece" of the fire department and led the charge for its creation following a fire in a feed store on Broad River Boulevard. Alford said Mr. Hertzel's "vision back then is responsible for (the Burton Fire District) we have now 30 years down the road." Longtime friend and Port Royal Town Councilwoman Yvonne Butler said his ideas were always "right on the spot" and that Mr. Hertzel had "the keenest we just went right along with his beliefs." Mr.
Hertzel served on the board of the Equal Opportunity Commission for Beaufort-Jasper County as a representative from the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, was president of the Beaufort County Fair from 1977-78 and opening of the worked feverishly With Iraqi day paid $6 a day, through much of standing water in residents arrived. As the city slowly dents, reconstruction more dangerous Marine Reserves as he supervised laborers clearing "The other side Iraqis will be able in getting this running," Weems tradeoff." Many who live that the decrepit will stoke a greater American forces Iraqi government Mall in North Little "We are packed," director of mall mall is open except stores, small shops." Electric companies 360,000 homes there were without ly around the Company officials tomers may not Friday or even In Whitehall, Dan McGrew fired heater, took out put in a call to an "Hopefully, he'll me," he said. Flights were at Ohio's Columbus, Cincinnati airports gled to clear planes. to Beaufort the need and Beaufort seniors, About two from Laurel Hill completed with 34 apartments. Cottages of tative Julie the apartment based on an income, averaging cent of that Work had cottages for as builders approach toward job to subsidize oversee the units has been officials over the "A new unit is a Councilman Dick "That's what they Constructing ing through first -hand efforts priority for the Mustard said.
"We need a "It's going to take ing it can be A final decision Council in January impact fees for ment is also builders to put housing. Impact fees are ers based on the and infrastructure by the new "They're ing about the they add on to said of area On a County Council those costs, about $1,000 for the subsidy was once named Jaycees "Young Man of dation Executive Director Bonnie Lester. She hopes to tap into the county's $430,000 pool of affordable housing money to help offset excess costs. "There's a program in place that can be utilized," Lester said. "That wasn't here a year ago." An application for county money would first be considered consortium and then forwarded to the County Council.
Any group applying for county money must provide a 300 percent match to the county money. For example, if the Humanities Foundation asks for $50,000 from the county to pay for a sewer an additional $150,000 for the project has to be raised through private sources or donations. "We don't think that's unreasonable," Mustard said. Bringing parties together that are interested in fostering affordable housing also has helped coordinate the efforts of nonprofits and private developers, she said. "Everybody has a better idea of who's doing what," Mustard said.
But whether it's the consortium's the Mr. Hertzel was born July 27, 1923, in New York City, a son of Ruth Elizabeth Schweers Hertzel and William Hertzel Sr. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rumel. Mr. Hertzel graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in New York City in 1942 and enlisted in the Army shortly after, serving in Okinawa and Korea until 1946.
He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for years in the 1950s, as well as the National Guard. He took college courses in the Army, at the University of Michigan and at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. He was a retired retail merchant from CarQuest Auto Parts. He was a member of Cornerstone Christian Church in Port Royal. Services will be announced by the family.
Anderson Funeral Home is in charge. Catherine Drafts LEXINGTON Catherine Bryan Drafts, 86, died Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St.
Stephen's Lutheran Church in Lexington. The family will receive friends afterwards in the fellow- city, Marines to clean up. laborers they Marines plowed the rubble and Andalus before opens to resiwill become for Marines, said Maj. Wade Weems a crew of Iraqi out a health clinic. of it is that more to get involved city back up and said.
"It is a in Fallujah fear sight of the city resistance to and the interim among the Rock. said Lisa Meyer, marketing. "The for a couple of in Ohio said and businesses power, mostColumbus area. said some cussee power until Saturday. Ohio, accountant up his propane a sleeping bag and outdoorsy friend.
have some tips for delayed or canceled Dayton, and as crews strugrunways and deice County after eyeing growing number of Lester said. miles up the road sits the nearly Cottages of Beaufort, Beaufort represenJumpeter said rent at complex will be individual's annual about 30 peryear-end total. stopped on the more than a year weighed the best drainage prob- a home or actually construction of new debated by county past six months. new unit," County Stewart has said. agreed to do." affordable housthe consortium's will be a main group in 2005, success," she said.
somebody showdone." by the County on subsidizing affordable developexpected to convince up new affordable charged to buildanticipated road needs created development. constantly complainimpact fees and how the costs," Mustard builders. case-by-case basis, the would subsidize typically running per home. Money would come from ship hall. returnees.
Along a major road the Marines refer to as "Doctors Row," most of the offices of the physicians have been gutted by airstrikes and mortars, and the pharmacies are all caved walls and broken glass. Even the front portion of the health clinic that Weems was working to salvage appeared beyond repair. A rotting corpse from last month's fighting laid in one of the back rooms until Wednesday, when someone from mortuary affairs finally came around to pick it up. The Marines have the city's two main hospitals up and running, but doctors at Fallujah General Hospital, the city's largest medical center, said that it is in short supply of many medicines and that they are almost out of rabies vaccines. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Lee Yeatman of King George, holds the arm of her son, Marine Lance Cpl.
Adam Assur, during a candle light vigil for National Gaurdsman Spc. Nicholas "Nick" Mason at King George High School in King George on Thursday. Mason was killed during a suicide attack this week in Mosul. Christians Continued from 1A Christians They claim to have worshiped here continuously since the time of Jesus, with ancestors back to ancient Mesopotamia. Through the 20th century, Christians have had influence in commerce and government.
Until recently, Christmas and New Year's was done up big in Iraq. Trees sell on the street and stuffed Santas peer from store windows. Baba Noel Santa Claus is a familiar figure to Iraqi children. Muslims often share in the festivities, buying their own trees and celebrating with Christians in a city that once had a thriving party culture supported by restaurants, hotels and social clubs. Christmas 2003 was tense.
Christians had been kidnapped for ransom, assassinated for cooperating with U.S. troops and firebombed in their liquor stores lems, said Ann Cone, executive director of the Housing Resource Center of Atlanta, the project's developer. Like housing, transportation is a hardship for some seniors. In Beaufort County, 7.6 percent of homeowners 65 and over don't have a car available to them, according to the 2000 Census. About a mile from one another, the cottages and Laurel Hill take advantage of grocery and drug stores within walking distance as well as short drives to medical facilities.
"It's close to those things that the $430,000 left over from the $500,000 the county set aside in 2001 for affordable housing. The county also has agreed to donate 20,000 gallons in excess sewer capacity that would defer additional costs of up to $4,500 per Needs assessment The elimination of impact fees was one of several recommendations made in a March affordable housing needs assessment completed by GVA Marquette Advisors of Minneapolis. Commissioned by the county, the study recommended the continued support of area housing initiatives, including Habitat for Humanity, and more accessible zoning regulations. Generales said the zoning questions will need to be addressed by the council in the coming year to make affordable housing more cost-effective in unincorporated Beaufort County. "It's fairly difficult in unincorporated Beaufort County with the density restrictions we have," he said.
Zoning requirements vary in the county, but the needs assess- Mrs. Drafts was born July 4, 1918, in Barton, a daughter of John Edwin Bryan and Myrtie S. Cox. She was a graduate of the Georgia State College for Women. Mrs.
Drafts retired from the S.C. Department of Social Services and was a member of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church. Survivors include two daughters, Mary Frances Siener of Waterman, and Helen Messina of Baker, three sons, David Oswald of Baton Rouge, Bryan Drafts of Columbia and John Drafts of Beaufort; two sisters, Annie Laurie Mack of Lexington and Iona Godfrey of Hilton Head Island; 19 grandchildren and 28 great -grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Lucius Griffith Drafts and two sisters, Dorothy Griffin of Savannah and Betty Hutto of Charleston.
Memorials may be made to St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, 119 North Church Street, Lexington, SC 29072. Denise Frazier Denise Frazier, 46, of Beaufort, died Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004, in Bay View Nursing Center. Allen Funeral Home is in charge.
Burton by fundamentalist Muslims. On New Year's Eve, several Christians were killed or wounded in a car bombing at an Italian restaurant packed with holiday diners. More recently, on Aug. 1, five Baghdad churches and one in the northern city of Mosul were bombed during an afternoon weekday Mass, killing about 12 people. On Oct.
17, five Baghdad churches were bombed before dawn, when most were empty. Christians, often with more money and Western contacts than their Muslim neighbors, had steadily emigrated from Iraq during the years of economic sanctions in the 1990s. Both Christians and Muslims have fled in large numbers from the crime and terrorism that has gripped the country in the past 20 months. people want to have a good quality of life," Lester said of Laurel Hill. Jumpeter said the cottages plan to partner with Senior Services and area churches to provide transportation for residents.
An affordable housing needs assessment commissioned by Beaufort County this year focused on the need for affordable housfor the county's workforce but noted the related benefit of senior housing. Greg Hambrick at 986-5548 or beaufortgazette.com. ment recommends allowing 15 to 20 units per acre to accommodate affordable housing needs or to require a percentage of new subdivision developments be put aside for affordable housing. The assessment also noted the need for an affordable housing fund, collecting contributions by governments and other groups. The county's $500,000 contribution of more than four years ago may prompt some affordable housing development, but isn't expected to last long, Mustard said.
"There's going to have to be a real effort to raise the money," she said. "The municipalities will look to the county to see how much they contribute." Recognizing the council's $430,000 won't go far, County Council Vice Chairman W.R. "Skeet" Von Harten said the county should hold out for results from the consortium before offering additional money. "The problem with more money is that there is only one place to get it and that's from the taxpayers," he said. Greg Hambrick at 986-5548 or beaufortgazette.com.
Christina Giunta Christina McIntyre Henderson Giunta, 65, died Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004, in Beaufort Memorial Hospital. The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday in Anderson Funeral Home. Services will be at 11 a.m.
Tuesday at the funeral home with burial in Beaufort National Cemetery. Mrs. Giunta was born Dec. 13, 1939, a daughter of George Henderson and Lillian Ferguson Henderson. She was a resident of Beaufort County for 25 years.
She was a nurse for 30 years and graduated first in her nursing class at Repatriation Hospital, Perth, W. Australia, and passed her S.C. LPN nursing exam with a perfect score. She was formerly employed by Bay View Nursing Center, local physicians and Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Survivors include her husband, Joseph F.
Giunta of Burton; a daughter, Fiona Matthews of W. Australia; a son, Glenn Matthews of Australia; three sisters, June McNamarra, Kathy Logie and Jean Davey, of Australia, and a brother, Gordon Henderson of Australia. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, PO. Box 6113, Hilton Head, SC 29938. Anderson Funeral Home is in charge.
Continued from 1A to his standard firefighting gear. "Every time I talk I'm getting a mouthful of hair," Lee said of his white beard tucked under his chin. As the trucks started their holiday route, Lee readied a box full of stockings that held a kazoo, a Frisbee and other youthful diversions. Sirens that normally signaled trouble now let the neighborhood kids know that Santa had arrived. Burton resident Mike McCaskey brought 6-year-old Lindsay and 3-year-old Jack out to the curb to meet Santa.
"This is the third or fourth time we've done this," he said as his kids stared at Santa. "We were up listening for the fire truck." A block away, Santa ambled up to three wide-eyed boys. "Have you been good this year?" Santa asked one of the kids. "I'ms starting to," the boy said with a smile. The Burton Fire District has gone out every night since right after Thanksgiving, said Chief Harry Rountree.
The event started 15 years ago. "It's something we've done every year that has grown very popular," he said. "People start calling around October wanting to know when we're coming." Rountree said the tradition was a way to let the fire department share in the reverie of Christmas. "There's nothing better than seeing a smile on a kid's face," he said. "And if anybody brings a smile to a kid's face, it's Santa Claus." Despite the extra Christmas duties of the Burton firefighters in December, the fire crews still have to respond to calls, even if they're in the middle of driving Santa around.
Or portraying him. "It's pretty cool when Santa goes out and does CPR," Lewis said. "It's awesome." Geoff Ziezulewicz at 986-5531 or beaufortgazette.com LOTTERIES SOUTH CAROLINA Winning numbers selected Thursday in the South Carolina Lottery: Pick 3 Midday: 3-5-9 Pick 4 Midday: 0-5-8-0 Pick 3 Evening: 9-3-6 Pick 4 Evening: 1-2-5-2 GEORGIA Winning numbers selected Thursday in the Georgia Lottery: Cash 3 Midday: 9-6-8 Cash 3 Evening: 7-4-1 Cash 4 Midday: 4-4-7-0 Cash 4 Evening: 9-9-6-3 Nona Gustke Nona Mary Gustke, 79, of Beaufort, died Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004, in Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Services will be at 11 a.m.
today at E.C. Copeland Memorial Chapel. Mrs. Gustke was born Sept. 30, 1925, in Sadler, Texas, a daughter of Novella Swann Barber and Frank Ross Barber.
She was a floor supervisor for Charleston Manufacturing Company and a housekeeper for Langley Inns of Langley Air Force Base. Survivors include a daughter, Nancy Gustke of Florida City, two sons, Robert Hardage of Yorktown, and Jimmy Hardage of Beaufort; four sisters, Margie Barrow and Jencie Barrow, of Lubbock, Texas, and Myrtle Gilmore and Bobbie Rowe, of Childress, Texas; a brother, Dudley Barber of Lubbock, Texas; 12 grandchildren, 16 greatgrandchildren and a great-great grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert J. Gustke; and a son, Frank Hardage. Memorials may be made to Friends of Caroline Hospice, 1110 13th Street, Port Royal, SC 029935.
Copeland Funeral Home is in charge..
