Mayor Takes Over

NORWAY, S.C. (AP) _ The new mayor of Norway says someone else climbed through a Town Hall window on New Year’s Day to get inside, not him. The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports Thursday that Mayor Jim Preacher says the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office report was wrong. It says Preacher told deputies he entered the building through a back window because he didn’t have a key. But he says it was someone smaller than him whom he declined to identify. He was sworn in Monday. The former mayor called deputies, asking that Preacher be charged with burglary. Preacher was elected in November, beating incumbent Cindy Williams. She had planned to turn the office over on Jan. 9. But Preacher says town rules allow a new mayor to take over Jan. 1.