TheState.com: Breaking News

Will Ida bring rain to the Midlands?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:20 EST

The remnants of Hurricane Ida might dump a couple of inches or rain on the Midlands Tuesday ... or it might not.

The uncertainty revolves around a high pressure system hanging over the east coast on Monday. If the high sticks around long enough, it’ll steer the remains of Ida south of the Midlands. If the high moves out early, we’ll be drenched.

At midday Monday, two major computer models the National Weather Service uses offered very different forecasts, said Mike Cammarata, science operations officer at the Columbia office. One called for less than a quarter of an inch of rain. The other called for up to 2.5 inches.

The official National Weather Service forecast leans toward the wetter projection, expecting rain to begin early Tuesday and to remain heavy throughout the day, with accumulations of an inch or more.

Ida, which hovered off the Gulf Coast on Monday, serves as a reminder hurricane season continues through the end of November.

Coaches resign at Dreher, Spring Valley

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:07 EST

Dreher's Bill Bacon became the second Midlands high school football coach to resign on Monday.

Bacon led the Blue Devils to a 3-8 record this season, qualifying for the Class 3A playoffs. Top-ranked Marlboro County ended Dreher's season 41-0 in a first-round playoff game Friday.

The Blue Devils were 2-8 in 2008 and did not make the playoffs.

Earlier in the day, Spring Valley's Quay Farr resigned after he was unable to get the Viking football program on a winning track again.

Farr, a former South Carolina player, was 3-30 in three seasons at Spring Valley. He said leaving isn’t easy. But losses like Friday’s 7-6 season-ending setback to Lancaster told him the job is best left for someone else to tackle.

Jenny Sanford launches a website

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:19 EST

First lady Jenny Sanford has launched a website, www.jennysanford.com, that includes family photos, press releases and news. Sanford, who is estranged from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, is writing an inspirational memoir due out in May that will chronicle Jenny Sanford's handling of her husband's affair with an Argentine woman.

Black caucus seeks info on Boeing's hiring practices

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:35 EST

South Carolina's Legislative Black Caucus wants to make sure that minorities have a fair and equal shot at the new jobs Boeing Co. is bringing to the Lowcountry, according to letter obtained by The Post and Courier Monday.

Sen. Robert Ford, a Charleston Democrat and chairman of the caucus' Civil Rights and Affirmative Action Committee, wrote Boeing's president Jim McNerney Oct. 30 to ask for information about the company's hiring practices.

Ford, who is running for governor, represents Senate District 42, where Boeing's newly announced Dreamliner production line will be located. He included in the letter the racial makeup of his district and the greater Charleston area, which is 55 percent and 40 percent African-American, respectively, according to Ford. The overall black population statewide is 31 percent, Ford said.

"The African-American community has borne the brunt of the job displacement and as a result has been disproportionately affected," Ford wrote to McNerney about the recession's toll in South Carolina.

The caucus is requesting information about Boeing's job creation plans for the North Charleston facility, employment statistics company-wide for minorities and the breakdown of men and women employed at all Boeing facilities. The caucus also asked for Boeing's minorities contractor politics and procedures and requested meetings with Boeing leadership.

Boil water advisory still in effect near Forest Drive water main break

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:10 EST

Residents and businesses affected by the water main break on the 2500 block of Forest Drive over the weekend will have to boil their water until at least tomorrow morning, Columbia Utilities Director John Dooley said.

City officials drew a water sample this morning to test, but the test takes 24 hours, Dooley said.

The boil water advisory affects customers on Forest Drive between McDuffie Avenue and Harrison Road; and Glenwood Road from Forest Drive to Trenholm Road. But the boil water advisory applies to anyone who either lost their water service or water pressure.

City officials advise customers to boil their water for one minute before drinking or cooking with it.

Currently, the 2500 block of Forest Drive is still closed to traffic. City officials are meeting with state Department of Transportation officials this morning to discuss how to handle the weekday traffic. On Sunday, officials used Pinehurst and Manning streets to divert traffic.

16 S.C. employers cited under immigration law

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:44 EST

Just 16 out of 600 businesses checked since July have been cited so far under South Carolina's new immigration law, touted by state lawmakers as one of the toughest in the nation.

The citations totaled more than $60,000 in penalties, but almost all were waived under the law's provision that first-time offenders be allowed to escape fines if they correct their verification system, according to Jim Knight, spokesman for the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

“We have about a 97 percent compliance rate, which is excellent, we think,” he said.

Knight said the violations range from a company not having any verification system at all, to not verifying all of the new hires in the required time period, to using non-approved methods for verification, such as a permanent resident card or an unapproved driver's license.

The new immigration law calls for enforcement of new worker verification beginning this July for businesses of more than 100 employees and next July for smaller businesses.

Alleged shooter tied to mosque of 9/11 hijackers

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:08 EST

The family of the alleged Fort Hood shooter held his mother's funeral at the same Virginia mosque that two Sept. 11 hijackers attended in 2001, at a time when a radical imam preached there.

Whether the Fort Hood shooter associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The family of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding 29 at the Texas military base, held his mother's funeral at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., on May 31, 2001, according to her obituary in the Roanoke Times newspaper.

In 2001, Anwar Aulaqi was an imam, or spiritual leader, at the Washington-area mosque. Aulaqi told the FBI in 2001 that, before he moved to Virginia in early 2001, he met with 9/11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi several times in San Diego. Al-Hazmi was at the time living with Khalid al-Mihdhar, another hijacker. Al-Hazmi and another hijacker, Hani Hanjour, attended the Dar al Hijrah mosque in Virginia in early April 2001.

In his FBI interview, Aulaqi denied ever meeting with al-Hazmi and Hanjour while in Virginia.

Porn PC virus can kill a good name

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:23 EST

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.

Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses - the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen.

Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs to remotely store and view their stash without fear they'll get caught. Pranksters or someone trying to frame you can tap viruses to make it appear that you surf illegal Web sites.

Whatever the motivation, you get child porn on your computer - and might not realize it until police knock at your door.

An Associated Press investigation found cases in which innocent people have been branded as pedophiles after their co-workers or loved ones stumbled upon child porn placed on a PC through a virus. It can cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove their innocence.

Lancaster woman dies in head-on crash

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:14 EST

A Lancaster woman died and two others were injured Sunday after the car she was driving collided head-on with another on S.C. 903, according to the Highway Patrol.

The 31-year-old woman died after the Suzuki she was driving west on S.C. 903 near Community Lane crossed the center line and collided with a Cadillac driven eastbound by a 71-year-old Lancaster woman around 5:40 p.m. Sunday, said Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskin of the patrol.

The name of the woman who died is not available at this time. She was not wearing a seat belt, Gaskin said.

The driver of the Cadillac and her passenger were taken to Springs Memorial Hospital, Gaskin said. Both were wearing seat belts.

While their conditions are not available this morning, Gaskin said their injuries appeared to be non-life threatening.

Hospital: Ft. Hood shooting suspect awake, talking

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:48 EST

The man accused of killing 13 people and wounding 29 at Fort Hood is able to talk, a hospital spokesman said Monday, but it's unknown when investigators might take advantage of his improving health to press forward with their probe into the shooting spree.

Authorities say Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan fired off more than 100 rounds Thursday at a soldier processing center before civilian police shot him in the torso. He was taken into custody and eventually moved to an Army hospital in San Antonio, where he was in stable condition and able to talk, said Dewey Mitchell, a Brooke Army Medical Center spokesman.

Authorities continue to refer to Hasan, 39, as the only suspect in the shootings, but they won't say when charges would be filed and have said they have not determined a motive. A spokesman for Army investigators did not immediately respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment Monday.

Sixteen victims remained hospitalized with gunshot wounds, and seven were in intensive care.

The personal Web site for a radical American imam living in Yemen who had contact with two 9/11 hijackers praised Hasan as a hero.

High court to look at life in prison for juveniles

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:03 EST

The Supreme Court is considering whether sentencing a juvenile to life in prison with no chance of parole is cruel and unusual punishment, particularly if the crime is less serious than homicide.

The cases being heard Monday involve two Florida convicts. Joe Sullivan was sent away for life for raping an elderly woman when he was 13. Terrance Graham was implicated in armed robberies when he was 16 and 17.

Graham, now 22, and Sullivan, now 33, are in Florida prisons, which hold more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for crimes other than homicide.

Lawyers for Graham and Sullivan argue that it is a bad idea to render a final judgment about people so young.

Late-season hurricane takes aim at US Gulf Coast

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:08 EST

Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded early Monday toward the Gulf Coast with 105 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges.

A hurricane warning extended more than 200 miles of coastline from Pascagoula, Miss., east to Indian Pass, Fla. Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches are in effect across other areas of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, including New Orleans. Louisiana's governor declared a state of emergency.

Authorities said Ida could make landfall as early as Tuesday morning, although it was forecast to weaken by then. Officials and residents kept a close eye on the Category 2 hurricane as it approached, though there were no immediate plans for evacuations.

Sunday night, Ida was located 340 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-northwest near 15 mph. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Ida brushing near Louisiana and Mississippi, then making landfall near Alabama before continuing across north Florida.

Yet many residents took the forecast in stride.

Lowe's offers Veterans Day discounts to military

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:09 EST

Lowe's home improvement stores are offering a special 10 percent discount to military personnel and retirees over the Veterans Day holiday.

A statement from the Mooresville, N.C., firm says the company is offering the discount on in-store and special order purchases up to a maximum of $5,000. The offer starts Sunday and lasts the week. Veterans Day is Wednesday.

The company says only people from the active duty ranks, reservists, honorably discharged and retired military men and women with valid identification or proof of service are eligible.

The company says it has 1,675 stores in the United States and Canada and employs more than 12,000 military veterans.

SC missing out on unemployment benefits money

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:47 EST

South Carolina is missing out on nearly $100 million in federal stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits, and it will be months before jobless residents see the money, if at all.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Sunday that the money is intended to cover more women and part-time and low-wage workers who currently don't qualify for unemployment checks.

In South Carolina, the changes could provide another nearly 17,000 jobless residents with benefits.

House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, a Republican, said it hardly makes sense to add people to the dole that already is running a projected $1 billion deficit, money that state businesses will have to pay back at some point.

On the other side, legislators such as Democratic Rep. Joe Neal argue for civility and fairness. Employers make contributions for every worker on the payroll to the fund that pays out unemployment benefits, he noted.

Court order reveals details on how SC couple died

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:42 EST

A court order declaring a South Carolina couple dead provides more details pointing to a suspect as their likely killer and dispels notions that they disappeared on their own, a newspaper reports.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported Sunday that the order issued Oct. 22 by a DeKalb County, Ga. probate judge came in response to a request from the heirs of John and Elizabeth Calvert: David White, Elizabeth's brother, and Nancy Calvert, John's aunt.

The case was handled in Georgia because, while the Calverts lived on a house boat moored in Harbour Town, they were permanent residents of Atlanta.

The Calverts were last seen on Hilton Head Island on March 3, 2008, heading to a late-afternoon meeting with Dennis Gerwing.

Investigators believe the three met to discuss funds that were missing from the Calverts' island businesses, collectively known as Harbour Town Holdings. Gerwing had embezzled not only from the Calverts, but also from other clients of The Club Group, where he was chief financial officer, investigators learned later. The Club Group, a property management company, handled many of the Calverts' business affairs, including employee leasing and accounting services.

SC death row inmate's 2nd trial begins

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:08 EST

A man already on South Carolina's death row for killing his girlfriend is going on trial again in another death penalty case.

Opening statements are expected Monday in Stephen Stanko's second trial. A judge ruled he was competent to stand trial last week.

Authorities have charged Stanko with shooting Henry Lee Turner in the 74-year-old's Conway home on April 8, 2005.

Stanko has been sentenced to die for killing his live-in girlfriend, Laura Ling, and assaulting a teen on the same day. Stanko is being held on death row in Ridgeville, with no date set for his execution.

A gag order prevents attorneys from discussing Stanko's case.

Autopsy: Shot to heart killed SC serial killer

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:42 EST

A bullet to the heart fired by a North Carolina police officer killed the man authorities think was a serial killer responsible for five deaths in South Carolina this summer.

An autopsy report obtained Friday by The Gaston Gazette found 41-year-old Patrick Burris was shot three times when he was confronted by officers July 6 in a Gastonia home.

The report finds the fatal bullet broke two ribs and punctured Burris' heart before lodging in a kidney. One bullet went through his scalp without hitting his brain and another grazed his thigh.

Prosecutors cleared the officers last month, saying they feared for their lives after Burris shot at them.

Authorities say Burris killed five people about 30 miles away in Gaffney, S.C., over six days.

Mother, daughter killed after car flips on SC road

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:32 EST

Authorities say a South Carolina mother and daughter have been killed after their car flipped several times after running off the road into an embankment.

Troopers told multiple media outlets the wreck happened around 3:30 p.m. Friday on a road near Pickens.

Authorities say 78-year-old Lillian Tate lost control of her 1995 Chevrolet Lumina, which hit an embankment and flipped over several times, ejecting her daughter 57-year-old Deborah Whitmire.

Neither woman was wearing a seatbelt.

Authorities say the mother and daughter were both from Greenville.