HIGH: 78 LOW: 56 Half off personalized holiday address stamp OSCAR DE LA RENTA DIES Fashion designer from Dominican Republic, famous for his extravagant red-carpet gowns, was 82 9A Weather, 4B �� TUESDAY, October 21, 2014 beaufortgazette.com Established in 1897 75 cents S.C. GOVERNOR’S RACE Sheheen: End ‘pay-to-play’ contributions Haley has received $130,000 from companies awarded state tax breaks, according to analysis By ANDREW SHAIN The (Columbia) State COLUMBIA — Vincent Sheheen, the Democratic candidate for governor, called Monday for a ban on campaign contributions to the governor from companies that get state tax breaks and the executives of those firms. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley has received $130,000 in contributions from companies awarded tax breaks, ac- cording to an analysis by the campaign of Tom Ervin, petition Sheheen Haley candidate for governor. Haley’s camp has said businesses contribute to her campaign because they like her pro-business policies. Nigeria declared Ebola-free by agency MORE INSIDE In debate, state superintendent of education candidates Molly Spearman and Tom Thompson are split on Common Core initiative. 4A During a news conference, Sheheen said his proposed prohibition, which would require a change in state law, mimics the state ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists. “Our role should be to make sure that pay-to-play culture ... is stamped out,” he said. Sheheen said he was upset particularly about a chief executive, Arnold Kamler of Kent International, who appeared in a Haley campaign ad that debuted hours after the governor visited the grand opening of Kent’s Manning plant last week. The plant received state job-development tax credits. The company also contributed $2,500 to Haley’s campaign. “There is no level of pay to play that’s worse than that,” Sheheen said. “You can’t sink any lower.” Sheheen, a state senator from Camden, said he is unaware of his campaign acceptinganycontributionsfromcompaniesthat Please see SHEHEEN on 9A BEAUFORT CITY COUNCIL ELECTION Topics to tackle Candidates talk taxes, voting rules, new business during forum The West African country has recorded no new cases in 42 days, twice the incubation period for the deadly virus. By MICHELLE FAUL and ANDREW NJUGUNA The Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria — Water laced with salt and sugar, and gallons of the nastytasting stuff. Doctors who surMORE INSIDE vived Ebola in Nigeria credited heavy • Forty-three people declared doses of fluids with “Ebola-free” in saving their lives as Texas. 9A the World Health • Proposed Organization detravel ban diclared the country vides relief Ebola-free Monday, groups. 9A a rare victory in the battle against the disease that is ravaging West Africa. In the end, Nigeria — the most populous country in Africa, with 160 million people — had just 20 cases, including eight deaths, a lower death rate than the 70 percent seen elsewhere across the stricken region. Officials are crediting strong tracking and isolation of people exposed to the virus, and aggressive rehydration of infected patients to counter the effects of vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms. Nigeria’s containment of Ebola is a “spectacular success story,” said Rui Gama Vaz, WHO director for Nigeria. Please see NIGERIA on 9A IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS • About 120 people in the U.S. are being monitored for symptoms because they may have had contact with one of Dallas’ three Ebola victims. More than 40 others have been given the all-clear after the 21-day maximum incubation period for the virus ended. • The European Union stepped up efforts to raise nearly $1.3 billion to combat the outbreak. • WHO director Margaret Chan said that an internal WHO report said the U.N. agency bungled efforts to control the outbreak was “a work in progress,” and “the facts have not been fully checked.” DEATHS, 4A u|xhGIGGDy50001ozX Glenn Love, 75 Elsie Smith, 91 Leola Payne, 88 JAY KARR • Staff photo From left, Beaufort City Council candidates Stephen Murray, Donnie Beer, Bill Rauch and Phil Cromer are introduced by moderator Fred Washington, not shown, on Monday during a forum at the Technical College of the Lowcountry. By ERIN MOODY • emoody@beaufortgazette.com • 843-706-8184 B eaufort’s four candidates for two City Council seats ran through topics at a brisk pace during a forum Monday, ranging from state and county politics to the nitty-gritty of how to run the city. The candidates in the Nov. 4 election are incumbent Donnie Beer, Phil Cromer, Stephen Murray and former Mayor Bill Rauch. While the audience was smaller — about 40 people, compared with 100 at a Civic Green forum earlier this month — it skewed younger and more diverse. Debate panelists Charlotte Pazant Brown and George Singleton took slightly different approaches, with Singleton asking for opinions on county, state and national issues, and Pazant Brown narrowing subjects to local and neighborhood concerns. Former Beaufort City Councilman and Beaufort County School Board chairman Fred Washington moderated. Please see FORUM on 9A Rabid raccoon bites person on St. Helena Island Staff reports newsroom@beaufortgazette.com A person was bitten by a rabid raccoon Thursday on St. Helena Island, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said in Nancy Feil, 75 Dominick Mauro, 80 Raymond Jones Sr., 79 Marina Kring, 69 a news release. The victim received post-exposure treatment consisting of a series of shots that will prevent the rabies virus from manifesting, DHEC spokesman Jim Beasley said. Ralph Kaney Thomas Jefferson, 67 Sarah Moultrie, 89 Bertie Parker, 74 The raccoon tested positive for rabies Saturday, the release said. The victim spotted the raccoon on the side of the road and thought it was dead. The victim was bitten on the finger while attempting to move the raccoon off the road, the release said. No further information about the victim or the location was released Monday afternoon. Please see RABID on 9A INSIDE TODAY’S BEAUFORT GAZETTE TODAY’S QUOTE The San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals face off tonight in Game 1 of the World Series. 1B “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” Charlotte Bronte