TheState.com: News

UPDATED: Tiger Woods penalized 2 strokes for ball drop

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 10:39 EDT

Tiger Woods got a reprieve Saturday in the Masters when he was given a two-shot penalty for a bad drop but allowed to stay in the tournament.

Woods’ shot on the 15th hole of the second round hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. He took his penalty drop two yards behind where he hit the original shot, which was a violation of the rules.

Augusta National added the two-shot penalty to his score, meaning he had a 73 instead of a 71 and now is five shots out of the lead. Officials said he was allowed to stay in the tournament under a new rule that keeps players from being disqualified based on television evidence.

The four-time Masters champion could have been disqualified for signing an incorrect score. The penalty drops Woods to one under par, five strokes behind leader Jason Day with two rounds left.

Woods’ third shot from 87 yards hit the pin and caromed off the green, down the slope and into the water. Instead of going to the drop area on the other side of the water, Woods chose to take the one-shot penalty and play his fifth shot from the area of his original shot.

Remembering the ‘sit-ins’: ‘The winds had to shift’

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:16 EDT

If you were a black student protesting the segregation of Columbia’s downtown lunch counters in the 1960s, you could count on two things: the steely silence of whites and a hungry stomach.

No matter how many booths or lunch counter stools students occupied, no matter how many orders for hamburgers and Cokes they tried to place, the waitresses would just pass on by.

“My girlfriends and I would do that. We’d just go and sit and we’d be ignored,” Doris Glymph Greene recalled Wednesday. “They would just look at us and keep on. And the other (white) people there would just look at us.”

Greene entered Benedict College in 1959, the daughter of a prominent Columbia builder, and was swept up in a burgeoning movement to end segregation, particularly as it was practiced by merchants in downtown Columbia.

The sit-ins began in March 1960, a little over a month after four young men from North Carolina A&T sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., stirring college students to action throughout the South.

SNAPSHOTS: Girls Night Out

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:34 EDT

Art stolen from Devine Street store

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:38 EST

A carved skull of an Indonesian water buffalo was stolen Tuesday from a Shandon home decor store, police said.

The artwork, valued at $2,800, was taken about 2 p.m. by a man and woman from Bohemian Home in the 2700 block of Devine Street, police said. Store employees said the pair entered the store, grabbed the art and left.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

Tim Flach

Retirement system earned $3 billion in 2012

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 07:48 EST

The $26.6 billion fund that South Carolina uses to pay retirement benefits to state workers grew by 12.39 percent in 2012, adding about $3 billion in value.

But state Treasurer Curtis Loftis called the numbers “deceptive,” adding the Retirement System Investment Commission, which reported the numbers, “lacks a moral core.”

In June, the Investment Commission announced it ended the 2011-12 fiscal year with returns of less than 1 percent. That essentially flat growth, combined with payouts to retirees, meant the fund lost about $1 billion in value.

But earnings picked up during the second half of 2012, according to Hershel Harper, the commission’s chief investment officer. “We are very pleased with where we are at today.”

However, Loftis says the state’s retirement fund performed poorly, compared to its peers. The fund’s returns were in the bottom 35 percent of similar funds, according to a report by the Bank of New York Mellon.

About our changes

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 06:46 EST

New & improved

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 06:24 EST

Welcome to our new look and feel of thestate.com – more inviting, less confusing and easier to use. Click here.

Weekend violence rekindles Five Points safety concerns

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:24 EST

Just when Five Points seemed to have calmed down, an early Sunday morning mob fight and shooting has revived debate over how to curb violence in the popular entertainment district.

Eight to 10 shots were fired in the 800 block of Harden Street shortly after police broke up a brawl involving 15 to 20 men near two bars at the Harden and Greene streets intersection, according to a Columbia Police Department incident report.

No one was injured and no property was damaged. But the incident has peeled the scab off hard feelings that somewhat had been soothed after a violent weekend in September that included two mob fights. Those incidents caused a citywide controversy on police presence in Five Points and beyond.

After Sunday’s violence, people again began posting criticisms of Columbia police on the Fight Back for 5 Points Facebook page. Many accuse police of focusing on underage drinking instead of policing gang members who roam the popular entertainment district.

“We will not tolerate this,” Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott said of the violence. He said additional officers will be put in Five Points as a result of the fight and shooting, which the department is still investigating.

Our website gets a makeover Tuesday

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:12 EST

We’re giving a makeover to South Carolina’s Homepage at thestate.com.

Starting this morning, you will notice improvements that make information easier to find on a site that is easier to navigate and faster to load.

Thursday, we will extend those upgrades to our popular sports website, gogamecocks.com.

The improved user experience is a result of months of research and review on ways to best present our award-winning journalism, compelling photojournalism and useful advertising.

Gary Ward, our managing editor for online content, reminds me that change has been constant since The State began delivering online news 18 years ago with breaking news coverage of the Upstate trial of Susan Smith, a young mother accused (and subsequently convicted) of killing her two young sons.

Legislature begins 2013 budget debate: 5 things to watch

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:55 EST

South Carolina House budget writers meet today to begin crafting the state’s $23 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Lawmakers will spend most of their time discussing the $6.9 billion general fund, money that mostly comes from sales taxes, and corporate and individual income taxes. Next month, the full House of Representatives will debate the budget, which then goes to the Senate. After differences between the House and Senate plans are ironed out, the budget goes to Gov. Nikki Haley, who must sign off on the spending plan – or veto part or all of it – by June 30. Five key issues to watch:

Health care

Lawmakers must decide if the federal-state Medicaid health insurance program for the poor and disabled should be expanded, and whether the state health plan should comply with Obamacare, potentially saving money long term. Republicans, who control the Legislature, vow not to expand Medicaid, saying it would cost a total of $1 billion by 2020. Lawmakers have options with the state health plan, ranging from $53 million, for not complying, to $124 million, for full compliance. Likely? The low range.

Education

Last year, lawmakers budgeted $2,012 per student. This year, lawmakers will need an extra $20 million just to keep spending at the same level. Lawmakers would need to add about $600 million to fully fund the per-pupil amount according to state law. Most lawmakers say that added money is out of reach. Likely? A little more than $20 million.

Columbia police officers involved in shooting on Gervais Street

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:05 EST

A robbery suspect was hospitalized Monday afternoon after twopolice officers shot at him near the Greyhound bus station along Gervais Street, Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott said.

The suspect, identified as 46-year-old Gregory Johnston, was hit by an unknown number of gunshots after a short chase following a robbery at the Dollar General store along Taylor Street, Scott said. Before shooting him, the officers told Johnston to stop several times, but he refused. The 46-year-old was fired upon when officers saw him drawing what they thought was a gun from a pocket, Scott said.

“No officer wants to be involved in a shooting,” he said. “... Using deadly force is a last resort.”

Johnston, who is in good condition, will likely be charged with crimes related to the robbery once he is released from the hospital, Scott said. He had been released from prison just over two weeks ago on a pair of strong-arm robbery charges. He is accused of going into the Dollar General store Monday and threatening customers and a clerk with an unidentified item before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash. When officers were dispatched to the store, they were told the suspect had a weapon.

No one in the store was injured. Neither of the officers nor bystanders sustained injuries, Scott said.

SC House to consider proposal to make lawmakers’ records public

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:08 EST

The S.C. House will consider ending part of the exemption that lawmakers have from the state’s sunshine laws.

The state’s Freedom of Information Act, which outlines the information that public officials and government bodies must make available to the public, currently exempts members of the General Assembly and their staff from disclosing memos, correspondence and working papers.

State Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, wants to narrow that exemption to give the public access to that paperwork once related legislation or amendments have been introduced.

A similar proposal died last year in the state Senate.

Trying to find out why that bill failed, Newton said he heard concerns from lawmakers who wanted to keep private communications and working papers involving not-yet-introduced legislation.

Columbia Metropolitan Airport traffic rebounds after 2011 lows

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

After dipping to a 10-year low in 2011, passenger traffic at Columbia Metropolitan Airport rebounded in 2012, topping the 1 million mark and climbing to a three-year high.

Cargo shipped out of the airport also rose in 2012, airport officials said, increasing about 11 percent to 32,265 tons last year from 28,812 tons in 2011.

Both numbers are signs of economic recovery. Annual passenger and cargo counts are considered among the top barometers of a healthy airport’s operation.

“Really, in this business, any increase we get excited about it,” said Lynne Douglas, Columbia airport spokeswoman, “particularly with all the changes in recent years, with the economy, with people cutting back in air travel there for a while, and all the changes in air travel. We’re pleased with this increase.”

After serving an all-time high 1.5 million travelers in 2005, the airport’s passenger count had dipped below the status point 1 million mark in 2011 – the first time since 2002.

Scoppe: Sunlight — the other part of ethics

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:07 EST

IT’S A TESTAMENT to how little S.C. officials think of the concept of operating government in public that many media interests have been wary of a proposal to close the biggest loophole in the Freedom of Information Act.

It’s not that they want to retain the loophole that exempts an entire branch of the government. Rather, they worry that trying to close it would derail efforts to pass a bill that aims to make the people already covered by the law actually obey it.

The legislation that the S.C. Press Association is pushing is by any standard a modest bill, which addresses what can only be called willful actions to keep public information out of the public’s hands. It was written in response to years of public officials dragging their heels for weeks, months, years on providing public documents; charging hundreds or thousands of dollars to “research” (by which they often mean “find a way to hide”) records and copy documents; and simply refusing to comply with the law, forcing people who seek information to hire an attorney and take them to court.

The problem was underscored by the 2012 study that ranked South Carolina as the nation’s sixth-most corruptible state, helping to propel ethics reform to the front of this year’s legislative agenda. The Center for Public Integrity found that our government is at its worst when it comes to providing public information to the public, because while the public-access requirements in our law look pretty good on paper, there’s no enforcement provisions and far too little compliance.

Although we traditionally have thought of government ethics and open government as separate issues, they are in fact inextricably linked. Secrecy, whether about how elected officials make their money or how they spend our money, creates a fertile breeding ground for corruption. And letting the public know about governmental actions reduces the chance that public officials will act in their own interest instead of the public’s interest in the very same way as letting the public know about lawmakers’ potential conflicts of interest.

Anderson man tracks down history in the Upstate

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 23:07 EST

The Old Reformer Cannon which sits at the entrance of the Anderson County Museum arrived in Anderson before the county existed. Tradition states that it may have been brought to the Americas in 1764, by German immigrants settling in Charleston. In 1876, the cannon made an appearance during the South Carolina gubernatorial campaign.

To Brian Scott, those facts are like pieces to the puzzle of the Old Reformer Cannon.

This 46-year-old self-employed baker spent his childhood learning how to find those pieces – all the names, dates and stories that make up our history. And now he has researched and photographed more than 150 historical markers in Anderson County and more than a dozen other counties in South Carolina and Georgia.

He has recorded all of the information, including these facts about the Old Reformer Cannon, into an online database of historical markers in the United States.

“I see history as this huge puzzle that is meant to be investigated,” Scott said. “It is a puzzle that you never fully solve, and that’s the challenge.”

Columbia water customers, many outraged by fee increases, might get their increases cut in half

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

After several postponements, Columbia City Council today might vote to cut water system access fees for nearly 18,000 customers, many of whom have railed against high fees that took effect last summer.

But 90 percent of Columbia’s 142,000 customers – largely homeowners – will get little to no break if council adopts the fee-cut options that are to be discussed at an afternoon work session.

Access fees, called “base rates,” will require two votes by council before any reduction would take effect.

Council set a special work session to deal with a plan that would cut in half access fee increases imposed last July for customers who have water lines at least one-inch in diameter, according to an analysis by Columbia’s utilities staff.

About 90 percent of customers have lines narrower than one inch and, therefore, would be unaffected.

Giving help, getting help, Feb. 19

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:50 EST

GOOD NEIGHBORS

PAWMETTO LIFELINE’S Spay/Neuter Clinic will spay female cats for a special rate of $20 through Feb. 28. Their aim is to provide more than 300 cat sterilizations during the “Beat the Heat” program sponsored by PetSmart Charities. Spaying and neutering is safe for kittens as young as 8-10 weeks old, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. To schedule an appointment, go to http://www.pawmettolifeline.org or call (803) 465-9100; you must mention the “Beat the Heat” promotion for the discount. The clinic is at 1275 Bower Parkway. If you live in the Richland County ZIP codes of 29044 or 29052 or the Lexington County ZIP of 29123, free spay and neuter surgeries of cats and dogs are being offered (includes rabies vaccinations and microchipping). Proof of address required. Contact information is the same as for “Beat the Heat.”

HOW TO KEEP THE MIDLANDS BEAUTIFUL? By recycling those telephone books. Recycling has now become even easier, they’re accepted year round in Lexington and Richland Counties and the City of Columbia. Simply take them to any county drop-off facility and put them in the recycling bin for newspaper; residents of the City of Columbia, Forest Acres and Lexington County can also recycle the books in the recycle containers curbside; Richland County will accept phone books in the recycle roll carts curbside. (803) 733-1139; http://www.keepthemidlandsbeautiful.org

SOUTH CAROLINA YOUTH ADVOCATE PROGRAM, a licensed nonprofit child placing agency, is looking for dedicated adults to provide safe, nurturing homes for young people in foster care. For information on becoming a foster parent, call (800) 882-5513 or email tbradley@scyap.com.

FOOD FOR THE SOUL winter shelter, 110-A. E. DeKalb St., Camden, is available for overnight stays when the nightly temperature is forecast to be 36 degrees or colder. Cots, linens and blankets are provided, as are a light supper, snacks and a light breakfast; showers and laundry facilities are offered. Shelter guidelines include a 7:30 p.m. arrival, consent to bag search and intake interview and a signed contract regarding behavior and disciplinary procedures enforced by the Camden City Police Department. (803) 236-7626

MATTERS OF FAITH

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:46 EST

ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHURCH: Men’s Day service, 11 a.m. Sunday; 27th anniversary featuring the Reese Memorial Singers, 3 p.m. Feb. 24, 5715 Koon Road. (803) 786-0119

BETH SHALOM SYNAGOGUE: Purim Masquerade Ball, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23; Purim Extravaganza, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 24; the Columbia Center for Jewish Learning presents two courses, which are sponsored by the Synagogue, 5827 N. Trenholm Road. “Archeology and the Bible,” 6:30-7:30 p.m. and “Kabbalah and our Daily Lives,” 7:45-8:45 p.m. continues Thursday, March 7, 14 and 21 and April 4, 11 and 18. $100 for one course or $150 for both. (803) 782-2500

CHRISTIAN LIFE CHURCH: Men’s breakfast, 8-10 a.m. today. Suggested donation of $3-$5, 2700 Bush River Road. $20 per couple. (803) 798-4488; www.christianlifecolumbia.com

GATHERING OF FAITHS 2013: A celebration of South Carolina’s many faiths, 1-5:30 p.m. Sunday, the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Features food, music and more. www.gatheringoffaiths.com

GREENLAWN BAPTIST CHURCH: Performance by Phil Stacey, 11 a.m. Feb. 24, 6612 Garners Ferry Road. (803) 776-4074

Poor SC plaintiffs get payout

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

Editor’s note: The State misspelled the last name of Columbia attorney James Becker in a Sunday 1-A story about a class action lawsuit.

COLUMBIA, SC One of South Carolina’s longest-running civil lawsuits has drawn to a close with some $16 million in payouts to more than 3,000 mostly low-income people and $13.5 million in legal fees and expenses to their six lawyers for 16 years of work.

“I only wish my husband had lived long enough to see this,” said Lois King, 65, an Orangeburg resident who recently received a $5,000 check related to a loan she and her late husband, Ralph, took out more than 20 years ago. The money came in handy because she lives mostly on Social Security and some part-time cleaning work, King said.

In addition to the plaintiffs’ payouts and their lawyers’ fees, the settlement is also bringing $3.5 million to various S.C. charities and the law school at the University of South Carolina. The law school is getting the largest share: $2 million to help build its new campus on Gervais Street. That money comes from leftover funds in a $35 million pot of money set aside for potential plaintiffs, many of whom, it turned out, had died or couldn’t be located.

The class action case, titled Lois King and Deloris Sims vs. American General Finance, concerned the right of people who take out a mortgage for their homes to be able to choose their own lawyer – and not blindly accept the bank’s lawyer – according to legal filings in the case.

Ex-SC Gov. Sanford speaks of mistakes, ‘God of second chances’ in first TV ad

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:49 EST

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford does not shy away from the scandal that consumed the end of his second term in his first television ad for the 1st District congressional race.

Sanford opens the 30-second advertisement talking about how he fought to cut government spending and reduce debt.

He then switches to the scandal. In 2009 in the middle of his second term, Sanford headed to Argentina to see his mistress without telling his family or anyone in the administration or elsewhere in state government. Reporters and others were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. The trip and its aftermath led to his divorce.

“More recently, I’ve experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes,” Sanford said in the ad. “But in their wake, we can learn a lot about grace, a God of second chances and be the better for it. In that light, I humbly step forward and ask for your help in changing Washington.”

Sanford and the woman he went to see in Argentina and later called his “soul mate,” Maria Belen Chapur, became engaged last summer.

Monday morning among coldest of season in Columbia

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

Some of the coldest temperatures of the season were registered in the Midlands Monday morning.

The typically coolest spots among National Weather Service volunteer observers made it to the teens — 18 in Cedar Creek and Pelion, and 19 in Winnsboro.

The official temperature at Columbia Metropolitan Airport was 23, and it was 26 at Hamilton-Owens Airport in downtown Columbia. That’s the second coldest day in Columbia — it hit 22 on Feb. 2 — and only the second low below 25 this winter.

A warming trend will have high temperatures in the 50s and lows in the 30s.

One killed in three-vehicle wreck in Richland County

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

A 59-year-old man was killed Monday morning in a three-vehicle wreck in eastern Richland County.

A 1996 Dodge Caravan was traveling west on Screaming Eagle Road around 11:10 a.m. when it crossed the center line, the S.C. Highway Patrol reported. The Caravan hit the side of a 2008 Peterbilt truck and then crashed head-on into a 2013 Mack truck.

The Caravan’s driver, identified by the Richland County Coroner's Office as Paul M. York of Fort Motte, died at the scene, according to the Highway Patrol’s report. The two truck drivers, who were wearing seat belts, were not injured.

Phone-book recycling goes year round

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

Telephone book recycling is more convenient this year for residents of Columbia and Richland and Lexington counties.

Just as new phone books are being delivered, Keep the Midlands Beautiful announces that all county drop-off stations accept telephone books. Columbia residents may put them in their curbside bins, as can residents of Forest Acres and Lexington County.

Questions? Call Keep the Midlands Beautiful at (803) 733-1139 or visit www.keepthemidlandsbeautiful.org

Elderly Gaston woman dies in house fire

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC An 84-year-old Gaston woman early Monday morning died after being trapped in a burning house.

Helen G. Eaglin of Gaston died at her home after firefighters were unable to rescue her from the burning house, according to a report from the Lexington County Coroner’s office.

Eaglin’s home caught fire around 1:40 a.m. The cause remains under investigation by the Lexington County Fire Service and the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

Columbia man who refused treatment after car wreck dies

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:21 EST

Two Columbia residents died in separate traffic accidents Saturday night.

In the first, Ruth J. Hutchison, 77, of Windsor Lake Boulevard was in a single-car accident around 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Rabon and Rawlins Road in Northeast Richland, coroner Gary Watts said.

Hutchison died at the scene from trauma, Watts said. The S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating.

In the second, Peter Kremlick, 77, of Woodfern Court, died when he swerved to miss another vehicle and struck a utility pole on Columbiana Drive Saturday morning, Watts said.

Kremlick refused treatment at the scene, Watts said, saying he was OK. But later in the day he started having headaches and became confused. He was taken for medical treatment but died Monday morning at Lexington Medical Center around 11 a.m. from a head injury associated with the crash, Watts said.

Park may finally bloom on Lexington pond

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

The longtime dream of converting Old Mill Pond near the center of Lexington into a town park may blossom soon.

Town Hall is developing a plan for a walking path and other features around the privately owned pond of more than 20 acres, a feature could be ready for public use by 2015.

“We finally have a chance to make something we’ve long wanted to do happen,” Mayor Randy Halfacre said. “It would be a great addition to everything else we have going downtown.”

The park envisioned would take shape through a partnership with owners of the Old Mill, a 24-store retail center that was once a cotton mill powered by the adjacent pond the owners are acquiring.

That purchase opens the way for the partnership between mall owners and town leaders for the project.

Police, lawmakers looking to make SC roads safer for mopeds

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

Jonathan Crouch understands why other motorists might get frustrated when they travel behind his moped.

But the 29-year-old mechanic wishes they would be more patient for those who choose an affordable mode of transportation.

“People don’t really look out for mopeds,” Crouch said. “They disregard them altogether. They only go 25 miles per hour and that slows traffic, which leads to road rage.”

In the past five years, the number of moped riders in South Carolina has more than doubled as people look for cheaper ways to get around town. But that increase in popularity has come with some confusion and some costs.

Because mopeds are exempt from state driving-under-the-influence laws, police are confused about how traffic laws apply to them.

Colbert may give sister’s campaign a boost

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:21 EST

From the moment she announced her South Carolina special-election campaign, Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch has been viewed as something of a novelty candidate.

That’s the downside of being the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

The upside, of course, is that her brother is probably going to help her raise lots of money at consecutive fundraisers next weekend and by mentioning her campaign on his Comedy Central television show.

And despite many people dismissing her chances in a pretty conservative SC congressional district, nobody should count her out completely.

The 1st Congressional District seat, formerly held by Tim Scott, R-SC, who was recently appointed to fill Jim DeMint’s vacant Senate seat, went overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney last year, 58 percent to 40 percent. It also gave Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a big win in 2008, 56 percent to 42 percent.

Driver in Columbia crash dies after refusing treatment

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

A Columbia man who was in a traffic crash over the weekend died hours after refusing treatment at the scene, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Sunday.

Peter Kremlick, 77, of Woodfern Court, was the driver and only person in his vehicle when it struck a utility pole on Columbiana Drive on Saturday morning, Watts said. Kremlick had reportedly swerved to avoid another vehicle, Watts said.

"The victim refused treatment at the scene, saying he was okay," Watts said. "Later in the day, he started having headaches and became confused."

Kremlick was taken to Lexington Medical Center where he died around 11 a.m. Watts said his death was due to a head injury associated with the crash.

City of Columbia police are investigating.

Why SC’s mental health data doesn't make the federal gun database

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:46 EST

Alice Boland aimed a loaded .22-caliber Taurus at an administrator and teacher at a Lowcountry school last week, according to police reports, but it did not fire because none of the eight rounds was in the chamber.

SC lawmakers and others say they’re stunned that Boland was able to walk into a Walterboro gun store, pass a federally required background check and buy the gun just three days before the incident last Monday.

“This Ashley Hall incident could have been a horrific national tragedy,” state Attorney General Alan Wilson said.

The state’s top lawyer is joining a couple of state lawmakers who will roll out new legislation Tuesday requiring the state to share more mental-health information with the federal government. “We’re in a minority of states who haven’t addressed a huge problem. South Carolina has a moral obligation, a duty to fix this.”

South Carolina is one of 12 states that does not report mental health data to the federal government and is one of six states with no laws limiting those who are mentally ill from purchasing firearms in certain circumstances, Wilson said.

Rescued litter of puppies devastated by parvo

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:39 EST

The nine Labrador mix puppies pictured on this month’s cover of Lake Murray and Northeast Columbia magazines – delivered with some editions of The State today – were healthy rescues from a litter of 12.

But weeks later, seven of the dogs would be gone after a fatal bout with a pet virus called parvo.

The dogs, cared for by a foster family with SQ Rescue, were healthy when the photos were taken in mid-January. But a few days later, they began to show symptoms of parvo, a highly contagious virus that often leads to severe intestinal problems. The magazine went to press before editors learned of the puppies’ deaths.

The strongest two of the puppies survived, but the other seven died despite extensive and expensive efforts by the rescue group, according to president Patti O’Rourke.

The puppies were among a litter born to a stray Labrador retriever taken in by the rescue group. One puppy died shortly after birth and two others were quickly adopted. The other nine went to live with a foster family while awaiting adoption.

Holiday closings

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:46 EST

The following will be closed in observance of President’s Day.

GOVERNMENT

• Federal offices will be closed today.

• Fort Jackson offices will be closed today.

• State government offices will be closed today.

Grants offer a boost for the arts

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

Arts in the Midlands received a significant boost in recent weeks when Central Carolina Community Foundation awarded $39,000 in grants to four nonprofit groups that serve the arts community.

The grants included $10,000 to the South Carolina Philharmonic to purchase 6,500 soprano recorders for its Young People’s Concerts.

The Philharmonic is partnering with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Institute again this year to provide an interactive curriculum and concert experience for students across the state. Through the program, students will receive a soprano recorder and learn about the instruments and sections that make up an orchestra.

“When the children walk into the Koger Center for our Young People’s concerts, their excitement is palpable. Then, when they raise their recorders to join the orchestra, there is a huge sense of pride and accomplishment,” said SC Philharmonic executive director, Rhonda Hunsinger.

Central Carolina also awarded $9,000 to the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, $10,000 to Columbia City Ballet and $10,000 to The Columbia Museum of Art.

Lumbees say they’ll keep their eagle feathers, even if it’s against the law

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:26 EST

Angelica Chavis, a third-year law student in North Carolina, received her prized eagle feather from a tribal elder at age 7, when she was crowned Little Miss Lumbee.

And she’s planning to keep it, even if it’s against federal law.

“It’s something I’ve earned and it was given to me as an honor,” said Chavis, 23.

Chavis and other members of the Lumbee Tribe, the largest in North Carolina, say they’re feeling like second-class citizens these days, thanks to a new Obama administration policy.

The Justice Department said in October that it would allow Native Americans to possess or use eagle feathers for religious or cultural purposes. But there was a catch: The new rule applies only to members of federally recognized tribes, and the Lumbee Tribe is not among them.

Community Calendar for the Midlands, Feb. 18

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:30 EST

TODAY

SEED-STARTING WORKSHOP: 5:30 p.m. Monday at USC’s Green Quad Learning Center, 1216 Wheat St., Building D (across from California Dreaming on South Main). Sustainable Carolina’s Garden Team will show you how to successfully propagate seeds in a greenhouse to be planted to your garden in warmer months.

TAKE GREAT PICTURES: 6-9 p.m. Monday and Feb. 25 at Midlands Technical College Northeast Campus, 151 Powell Road. No matter which camera you have, you will learn the attributes of a good image and how to achieve them; $99. (803) 732-0432; http://www.mtctraining.com

TUESDAY

CAKE DECORATING I: 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays through March 12 at Midlands Technical College Harbison Campus, 7300 College St., Irmo. Develop skills in pressure control, figure piping, latticework, flowers and basket weave using butter cream frosting. Any supplies you may have, such as cake decorating tips, etc., may be brought to the first class, as well as paper and a pen; $89. (803) 732-0432; http://www.mtctraining.com

Midlands Most Wanted, Feb. 18: Lyndon Lamar Douglas Jr.

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:35 EST

Midlands Most Wanted, Feb. 18: Lyndon Lamar Douglas Jr.

Each Monday, The State will run information on a suspect wanted by authorities.

NAME: Lyndon Lamar Douglas Jr.

DATE OF BIRTH: Sept. 3, 1988

WANTED BY: Richland County Sheriff’s Department

People and achievements, Feb. 18

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:31 EST

SCHOOLS

ROUND TOP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has been selected as a 2013 S.C. School of Character by the Palmetto Character Council.

LEXINGTON HIGH SCHOOL’S WILDCSTS WALK FOR A CURE TEAM has raised nearly $7,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

THE PELION MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNING COMMONS TEAM has been awarded a Learning Commons Grant from the Lexington 1 Educational Foundation.

RED BANK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL has received a donation of $1,000 from Doctors Care Red Bank, part of UCI Medical Affiliates, for the school’s Special Olympics program.

Woodyard Fund helps Columbia mother trying to turn life around

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:04 EST

When Tameka Randal began falling behind on her monthly power bill, the mother of two with one on the way didn’t know what she was going to do.

Then one of her neighbors at Columbia Housing Authority’s Latimer Manor Apartments told her about the Woodyard Fund, which helps people in Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Newberry counties during the coldest months of the year.

“I was really about to go crazy because I didn’t know how to pay my bill this month,” she says.

Randal, who has been taking a career development class through the Housing Authority, has been working hard to improve her job prospects.

The goal of the month-long course is to help participants find work and determine, though a research project, what career path is right for them.

Local meetings this week, Feb. 18

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:00 EST

Richland County

Government

Columbia City Council: 2 p.m. Tuesday, a work session to try again to discuss water and sewer rates at the former Eau Claire town hall, 3905 Ensor Ave. near Monticello Road. At 6 p.m., council holds its regular meeting at the print building next door to town hall, 3907 Ensor Ave.

Lexington County

Government

Holiday closings

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:51 EST

The following will be closed in observance of President’s Day.

GOVERNMENT

• Federal offices will be closed Monday.

• Fort Jackson offices will be closed Monday.

• State government offices will be closed Monday.

Giant foreign lumber mill stokes SC dispute

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

Not much happens in this speck of society, except for the sporadic flow of log trucks rattling toward a little sawmill on U.S. 21 south of Orangeburg.

For years, the mill has operated in obscurity, steadily cutting trees into lumber for market.

Soon, however, a giant competitor from Europe could be on the mill’s doorstep – a prospect that is generating questions about the mega-mill’s effect on existing lumber operations and the forests that supply them.

Local mill owners say they are upset that the government is offering incentives so a large outside company can compete with smaller, family-owned mills.

Klausner Holding USA’s proposed mill would be one of the largest in the world – if not the largest – rivaling sawmills in the Pacific Northwest and Europe.

Scoppe: A roadmap to ethics reform

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:15 EST

GOV. MARK Sanford is fined for misusing state resources and campaign funds. Lt. Gov. Ken Ard is convicted for misreporting and misusing campaign funds. Sens. Jake Knotts and Kent Williams are reprimanded for accepting and concealing illegal campaign donations. Gov. Nikki Haley is cleared of illegally logrolling her position as a House member. House Speaker Bobby Harrell comes under SLED investigation for allegedly using his position to help his business and putting campaign funds to personal use.

Shadowy organizations pour money into campaigns against incumbents, without giving any clue as to who they are, where their money comes from or how much they’re spending.

A landmark national study says South Carolina is more susceptible to political corruption than all but five other states.

And simmering public discontent comes to a head when a poorly thought-out and badly interpreted law results in 250 challengers being kicked off of last year’s election ballots. This isn’t really an ethics matter, but because it involves a reporting requirement in the ethics law, it combines with three years of incessant political scandals to drive ethics reform to the top of legislators’ 2013 to-do list.

Special House and Senate panels have proposed significant changes, and last month Gov. Haley’s Ethics Reform Commission unveiled an impressive package of proposals that would address nearly all of the problems. Over the coming weeks, the Legislature will sort through those proposals, with a goal of restoring public trust in our government.

Orangeburg County bicyclist injured in hit-and-run

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

An Orangeburg County bicyclist was seriously injured by a pickup truck that fled the scene, the S.C. Highway Patrol reported Sunday.

The hit-and-run happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday on U.S. 178 near Weatherford Road.

The suspected vehicle is described as a 2001-2005 large Chevrolet pickup, either an Avalanche or Tahoe model. It may be damaged in the right front area around the headlight, the patrol said.

Persons with information on the incident should call Crimestoppers at 1-888-Crime-SC to pass along a tip.

Columbia woman ID'd in fatal Saturday morning car crash

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:38 EST

A 77-year-old Columbia woman was killed Saturday morning when the car she was driving was involved in a two-vehicle collision on Rabon Road at Rawlins Lane in Richland County, SC Highway Patrol trooper Brent Kelly said.

Richland County coroner Gary Watts identified the woman as Ruth J. Hutchison, Windsor Lake Boulevard.

Two people in the other vehicle, driver Tim Stearns, 21, and an unnamed female passenger, 40, were taken to Palmetto Health Richland hospital for treatment of injuries, Kelly said.

The accident occured at 9:20 a.m. The patrol is investigating.

Rachael Myers Lowe

Man injured by gunfire while driving on I-77 near Fort Jackson

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 16:13 EST

A man was critically injured by gunfire while driving on I-77 near the Forest Drive Fort Jackson exit early Sunday morning, the Richland County Sheriff's Department reported Sunday.

Deputies located the car near the next Interstate exit around 2:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of Decker Boulevard, a department spokesman said.

“The driver was shot multiple times” and taken to Palmetto Health Richland, a department spokesman said.

A female passenger inside the vehicle was not hurt and told deputies she was sleeping at the time of the shooting.

“Richland County Sheriff's deputies are trying to determine exactly who is responsible for this incident,” the spokesman said.

SC’s new nullifiers intent on blocking federal laws

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

When the U.S. Congress passes a law, can South Carolina refuse to follow it? To a growing number of Republican state lawmakers, who control the S.C. Legislature, the answer is yes.

In the legislative session that started in January – two months after Democratic President Barack Obama was re-elected – S.C. lawmakers have filed dozens of bills that would nullify federal laws.

And, this year, the bills are not disappearing into the labyrinths of legislative subcommittees where proposals once thought to be fringe ideas have gone to die in the past. Instead, they are rocketing to the top of agendas and some are passing powerful judiciary committees.

“In all the years I have been here, I have never seen this,” said state Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, South Carolina’s longest-serving senator and the leader of Senate Democrats.

The bills most frequent target is the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.

Two rural areas, two views of Richland County’s future

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

Residents of two of Richland County’s remaining rural areas are worried the county will allow the countryside they love to be devoured by uncontrolled growth.

Those attending planning meetings this month in Lower Richland and, at the other end of the county, Spring Hill, expressed some of the same concerns but focused on different solutions.

Residents in Lower Richland said they wanted close-by services, like a medical center, sidewalks and bike lanes, to make their communities more livable. Consultants talked about new ways to live off the land — preserving rich farmland by tapping into the “local food” movement and capitalizing on Congaree National Park and numerous historic sites to attract tourists.

In Spring Hill, county planners got a chilly reception from residents who said local officials had betrayed them, choosing their remote area for new schools and the subdivisions that will follow. They said they don’t want commercial development and have no interest in new services.

“The developers have a say-so, believe me. Everything they develop means more taxes for the county,” former real estate agent Ann Ashworth said. “So I want to know who listens to us.”

Why SC’s mental health data doesn’t make the federal gun database

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:06 EST

South Carolina is not passing critical information about residents with mental illness along to the federal government, leaving the door open for potentially violent people to buy firearms.

This lack of a sharing, paired with a flawed federal system, could one day yield deadly results, according to a growing chorus of state leaders, lawmakers and parents.

Their proof: the Feb. 4 incident outside a school in downtown Charleston, in which authorities say a Lady’s Island woman with a well-documented history of mental illness, outlined in court records, pulled a handgun from her purse and began pulling the trigger as she was approached by employees and as school children stood nearby.

Alice Boland aimed the loaded .22-caliber Taurus at an administrator and teacher, according to police reports, but it did not fire because none of the eight rounds were in the chamber.

S.C. lawmakers and others say they're stunned that Boland was able to walk into a Walterboro gun store, pass a federally required background check and buy the gun, just three days before the event.

Second suspect charged with murder and kidnapping in disappearance of West Columbia man

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:55 EST

A second suspect has been charged with the kidnapping and murder of a 22-year-old West Columbia man who hasn’t been seen since Christmas Eve 2011.

Jamey Charles Mallette, 36, of Gaston, was arrested Friday in connection to the disappearance of Michael Jody George, according to Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts.

According to arrest warrants, Mallette kidnapped and held George, last seen at Shooter’s Bar on Charleston Highway outside West Columbia, between 10 p.m. Dec. 23 and 5:30 a.m. Dec. 24, 2011.

Forensic evidence links Mallette to George’s disappearance and death, warrants allege, though officials with the sheriff’s department have not said what that evidence is.

In December, William Thomas “Tommy” Embree Jr., 34, a department of corrections inmate, was charged with kidnapping and murder in connection to George’s disappearance. Embree, who knew George, was at Shooter’s between those times. According to earlier arrest warrants, Embree put a visibly intoxicated and sick George into the 22-year-old’s car and drove off. George was not seen nor heard from again.

The Buzz: If a lawmaker gets a DUI and no one cares, did it happen?

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:16 EST

A funny thing happened after news broke of state Rep. Bakari Sellers’ October arrest for drunken driving.

Nothing.

No cries of outrage. No calls for Sellers to resign.

That’s despite the fact that Sellers, D-Bamberg, refused a breathalyzer test. That’s despite the fact that, in 2008, Sellers voted to approve a law that automatically suspended motorists’ driving licenses for six months if they refuse a breathalyzer test. And that’s despite the fact that Sellers’ license was somehow only suspended for three months.

Instead, after the news first broke – somewhat inartfully in a badly produced sweeps-week promo on WIS – Republicans and Democrats took to social media to defend Sellers.