Finlay gets $100,000 in 1st mayoral fundraiser

City Councilman Kirkman Finlay, who is running for mayor of Columbia, said he raised $100,000 during his first fundraiser Nov. 3.

The fundraiser, at the home of Katherine and Manning Frankstone, attracted about 350 people, according to Steve Fooshe, Finlay's campaign manager.

Steve Benjamin, an attorney who also is running for mayor, reported raising $102,475 in the year's third quarter. Candidates do not have to file their ethics reports for the final quarter until Jan. 10, 2010.

Confederate ship identified off N.C. coast

KURE BEACH, N.C. - North Carolina officials say they have identified a Civil War shipwreck that burned at sea more than 145 years ago.

The state Underwater Archaeology Branch said Monday that a silver-plated spoon inscribed with the name of a crew member from the CSS Appomattox confirmed the ship's identity.

A four-member diving team discovered the shipwreck in August 2007 in the Pasquotank River. They had been searching for the Appomattox for more than 10 years.

The Appomattox was part of a set of armed steamers that defended northeastern North Carolina waters. Its Confederate crew set the ship on fire in 1862 while fleeing Union forces.

Jenny Sanford launches Web site

First lady Jenny Sanford has launched a Web site, www.jennysanford.com, that includes family photos, press releases and news.

Sanford, who is estranged from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, is writing a memoir due out in May that will chronicle her handling of her husband's affair with an Argentine woman.

Mayor says he won't quit as police chief

ORANGEBURG - The Norway mayor-elect says he'll serve in his new role and keep his job as police chief in another town despite an opinion by the state attorney general's office advising against it.

The (Orangeburg) Times and Democrat reported Monday that Jim Preacher says dual office holding is not an ethics violation because the election was nonpartisan and not for the same town. He is mayor-elect of Norway and police chief in Ehrhardt.

The state constitution says no person may hold two offices of honor or profit. But it says any office holder may at the same time be an officer in the militia, member of a fire department, constable or notary public.

Attorney general's spokesman Mark Plowden says dual office could be challenged in court.

Williamsburg school bus drivers suspended

Twenty-seven bus drivers from the Williamsburg County School District were suspended Monday for planning to strike and delay transportation services for the next two days.

According to a district official, interim superintendent Linda Huell suspended the drivers for planning not to drive their assigned routes Monday afternoon through this afternoon.

It is unclear whether Huell has the authority to suspend district employees. Earlier this year, the board of trustees stripped then-superintendent Ralph Fennell of his powers over district personnel, stipulating any decisions of that nature should be run through the board first.

Upon Huell's selection as interim superintendent, board chairman Norman Gamble said actions that were applied to Fennell would apply to Huell as well, saying moves were made to the "position not the person."

The situation began Oct. 20 when 17 bus drivers didn't make their scheduled pickups at three district schools, leaving 185 students stranded for several hours. A district official said at the time the missed pickups could be the start of a bus drivers' strike in response to what drivers claimed was a cut in pay following the board's changes to the overtime policy.

Apparent abuses of the old policy cost the district $500,000 last year, according to a report given to board members in October.

The board subsequently put the district's transportation director, Willie McKnight, on administrative leave as a result of the report.

Drew Wellness plans free wellness weekend

The Charles R. Drew Wellness Center will open its doors for a Free Community Wellness Weekend just days before Thanksgiving.

Individuals and families are invited to use the facility's equipment. The free workout is available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 and 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22.

Special activities will include cooking classes and a health fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., sponsored by Health Coach with Think Taste Move.

The Charles R. Drew Wellness Center is at 2101 Walker Solomon Way off Harden Street. For more information, call (803) 545-3200.