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Westinghouse Savannah River Company has been named one of the 12 safest companies in America by Occupational Hazards Magazine. The designation was announced in the October issue of the magazine, according to a press release. "We are very pleased about that," WSRC President Bob Pedde said of the designation. "We pride ourselves on our safety program. It is a focus for us." Occupational Hazards Magazine says the companies named to this year's list are bound together by some common threads, such as lost-time accident or injury rates well below their respective industries' averages; safety programs that have earned the recognition and admiration of their industry trade associations and federal and state regulators; and safety programs build on solid fundamentals of occupational health and safety. Joining WSRC on the list of top companies are Amphenol AssembleTech Florida, Lake Wales, Fla.; Calpine Corp., San Jose, Calif.; Delta Airlines Inc., Atlanta; Fort Dearborn Co., Niles, Ill.; Frito-Lay Inc., Plano, Texas; ISP Columbus, Columbus, Ohio; Keystone Wood Specialties Inc., Lancaster, Pa.; Kinetic Systems Inc., Union City, Calif.; Marathon Petroleum Co., Robinson, Ill.; Springs Window Fashions, Montgomery, Pa.; and Union Pacific Corp., Omaha. The Construction Department at WSRC continues its world-class performance, Pedde said. Through Oct. 1, the division has worked more than 2,655 days and nearly 16.7 million hours since the last lost-time injury, said WSRC spokesman Dean Campbell. "Some companies still believe that on-the-job injuries are a cost of doing business. Our honorees see things quite differently," said Stephen G. Minter, editor and associate publisher of Occupational Hazards Magazine. "They understand that work-related injuries and fatalities are a cost – in human and financial terms – that no company should expect to incur. That's why they apply their management skills, ingenuity and resources to ensuring that their employees are safe on and off the job." Sen. Tommy Moore has decided to energize his gubernatorial campaign. The Clearwater Democrat has hired Tim Shock, a Kentucky campaign manager, to handle his run for the state's highest office. Moore said Shock isn't from South Carolina, but he has a knowledge of the state. Another plus in his column is that Dale Moore, Tommy's wife, likes him. Moore said he interviewed a variety of candidates for the job – some from the Palmetto State – but ultimately he hired Shock due to the comfort level they established. "... I talked to several different people," he said. Moore, who has served in Columbia since 1979, said he has raised approximately $500,000 in the past two quarters and felt confident about his chances to unseat incumbent Gov. Mark Sanford, who has already raised millions for his campaign. Moore said he has spent much time in other parts of the state and feels good about the grassroots support he is generating. To this point, Moore has used the theme "Let's make Tommy Moore our next governor," but he was not sure what Shock would do to change the campaign. Moore said Shock started working for him Monday and has taken control of every aspect of the campaign. An Edgefield museum dedicated to the American wild turkey now has a few more feathers in its cap – almost a half-million, to be precise. The National Wild Turkey Federation is poised to receive $497,050 in federal money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to expand its Winchester Museum. The HUD funds, included in the 2004 appropriations budget by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and only now emerging from the federal paperwork maze, are earmarked for construction of the museum building, which is "well under way," according to Leggett. The museum, billed as "the world's only turkey museum," is part of a $2.8 million expansion at the NWTF national headquarters in Edgefield. In announcing the federal assistance, Sen. Graham said, "The National Wild Turkey Federation is one of the premier conservation organizations in the country. I'm proud to have their headquarters in Edgefield. The Winchester Museum is a one-of-a-kind experience dedicated to educating the public about conservation and wildlife management." The NWTF is adding a number of new exhibits at the museum, including a giant, walk-in turkey call. Visitors will be able to use various turkey calls and have their bird-calling technique judged by advanced audio technology while standing inside an oversized model of a wooden box call. Another exhibit will illustrate how NWTF biologists relocate turkeys from areas with large bird populations to areas with excellent habitats but no birds. The museum will house an elaborate controlled burn exhibit, demonstrating the conservation benefits of prescribed burning and featuring a real helicopter. Visitors will sit inside the aircraft and watch a film on prescribed burning. The U.S. Forest Service has committed to $100,000 to help with the burn exhibit, Leggett said. Other highlights will be a wall display of "turkey oddities," including birds with multiple beards and multiple spurs, and an indoor streetscape with hardware store and barbershop storefronts that will display collectibles – plates, figurines and salt-and-pepper shakers – featuring wild turkey motifs. The 32-year-old man who waved a hatchet and a 12-gauge shotgun at police after breaking into a Deerwood subdivision home and threatening a family while wearing nothing but a towel pleaded guilty last week in general sessions court. Leo Nick Laborde III was sentenced to five years, suspended to six months, for resisting arrest with a deadly weapon, followed by three months' probation, and three years, suspended to time served, for indecent exposure. According to reports, police received an emergency phone call from a woman baby-sitting at 65 Deerwood Court who said a man had broken into the home where she and a 2-year-old boy were alone. She said the man was demanding to see his children. Police said Laborde was staying with a family two houses away and was no relation to the baby-sitter or the toddler. The baby-sitter said the man broke the glass on the door and then continued to yell that he wanted his children. When officers tried to make contact with Laborde, he ran back across the street to the house where he was staying, then opened the door and began brandishing a hatchet, Aiken Public Safety spokesperson Sgt. David Turno said at the time. "The subject then exited from the rear of the home armed with a shotgun, waving it in the air," Turno said. "He was confronted and then ran back inside again." Just minutes later, Laborde emerged, unarmed and naked. He was taken to the hospital with injuries he sustained when he attempted to enter the neighboring home. This is cache, read story here
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