founded a radio station and brought the first talking picture (movie theater) to Orangeburg, in the late 1920s. He was a volunteer firefighter and often drove the city's first fire truck. He died in 1957. J.L. Sims' twin boys, Hugo and Henry Sims, shared the editorship of the newspaper until Henry was elected to the South Carolina State Senate in the 1930s and later became president of Winthrop College. Hugo Sims continued as editor until his death in 1951. The youngest son, Gelzer Sims, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and achieved the rank of admiral during World War II. Mellichamp and Sheridan became full-time educators. Today, Orangeburg elementary schools bear each of their names. A weekly publication since its founding, The Times and Democrat began publishing twice a week in 1908, three times a week in 1909 and five times a week in September 1919. It returned to tri-weekly publication in May 1921 but later resumed daily publication. A Monday edition was added in the 1940s and the Sunday edition in 1953. J.L. Sims succeeded his father as publisher in 1943. In 1951 Hugo Sims Sr. died and his son, Edward, succeeded him as editor. In the 1960s, Hugo Sims' other two sons, Hugo Jr. and Henry, served as co-editors. After J.L. Sims died in 1962 at age 47, surviving family members named Dean Livingston, 29, as publisher, a position he held until his retirement in 1999. A century ago, The Times and Democrat was the first newspaper in town to buy a cylinder press. In 1965 The Times and Democrat became South Carolina's first daily newspaper to convert to offset printing. In 1989 The Times and Democrat became South Carolina's first daily newspaper to design its pages entirely with computers. The Times and Democrat has continued to publish daily despite hurricanes, snowstorms and a 1972 fire that destroyed The Times and Democrat's entire physical plant. Within five days of that fire, new typesetting machines and other production equipment were flown in. Within 10 days, a new press had arrived, and within 30 days, the pressroom building had been rebuilt around it. Howard Publications acquired total ownership of The Times and Democrat in 1981. Lee Enterprises acquired Howard Publications and subsequently The Times and Democrat in 2002. Cathy Hughes became The Times and Democrat's fifth publisher in 1999. The current editor is Lee Harter. Like many of today's newspapers,