Columbia native remembered in Academy Awards tribute
Sarah Jones, a West Columbia native, was part of a tribute during Sunday night’s Academy Awards after a performance by Bette Midler for the members of the film industry who passed away over the past year, WIS reported.
Jones, a 27-year-old camera assistant, was killed when she was hit by a freight train while working on the set of “Midnight Rider,” a movie based on Gregg Allman’s life. The Feb. 20 incident, which took place in Wayne County, Ga., also injured seven other crew members and suspended the movie’s filming.
Members of the film industry spent last week petitioning to have Jones’ name listed in the “In Memoriam” portion of the ceremony, reaching a total of over 60,000 signatures.
More than 100 people in Savannah, Ga.’s film community joined the Ladies of Savannah Women in Film and Television Organization in honoring Jones and raising awareness about safety issues on film sets Sunday night.
—Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor
Allegations against interim police chief investigated
The City of Columbia has released two secretly recorded conversations between Interim Police Chief Ruben Santiago and his former captain, Dave Navarro, WIS reported.
The first recording is a recorded phone call from Jan. 11, 2013 between Santiago and Navarro. The second is an undated meeting between Navarro, Santiago and former Columbia Police Department crime analyst, Bridget Caffery.
The State Law Enforcement Division and the FBI investigated the allegations and announced last week there was not evidence to charge Santiago.
Glenn Walters, the civil rights attorney representing Navarro, claimed there “is no other explanation” for what Santiago discusses on the recordings other than the end game for the black ops plan Navarro disclosed in July 2013.
According to Navarro’s black ops allegations, the plan was to get Assistant City Manager Allison Baker fired and have former Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott move into Baker’s job. Navarro said this would move Santiago into the chief’s job and Navarro was promised the second-in-command position.
—Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor
Alligator farming discussed as potential new industry
Legislation has been introduced in the South Carolina Senate that would allow for and regulate the potential new industry of alligator farming, The Post and Courier reported. An environmental group has raised concerns about the bill.
Ben Gregg, executive director of the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, said the organization isn’t opposed to alligator farming or the bill, but it requests that farms abide by stricter environmental regulations.
“You can kind of say ‘Oh well, not many people are going to do this.’ But who knows. You need to lay down some strong standards starting out,” Gregg said.
The South Carolina Wildlife Federation is specifically concerned about regulations for how alligator waste is dealt with and the water systems where the alligator farms are will be located. Gregg and other members of the organization also hope that the state establishes penalties for mixing native alligators with farmed alligators, a process that can cause genetic and health problems for the alligators.
—Natalie Pita, Assistant News Editor