Editorials from across South Carolina: lieutenant governor, police & hunting

Settle Lt. Gov. rules

The Legislature needs to stop holding the will of the people hostage and establish rules for how governor and lieutenant governor candidates will run on the same ticket.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2012 that puts the candidates on a joint ticket starting in 2018. But lawmakers got bogged down on details last spring, and now, with the filing period for candidates only two months away, the issue remains stuck in a conference committee where the two sides are bickering over the next steps.

The blame primarily rests with the House. The Senate approved a bill with the changes last year, including a raise and new duties for the lieutenant governor, but some House lawmakers seized the opportunity to throw in pay raises for other statewide elected officials and judges. Those salary hikes weren’t on the referendum ballot and can easily be addressed separately, rather than jammed into this bill, when it doesn’t create problems with an election.…

It’s hard to understand why the Legislature is at this place more than five years after voters approved the constitutional amendment. More than 1 million South Carolinians cast ballots for it. Lawmakers must stop impeding the will of the voters and approve the new rules as soon as possible.

Hunting at risk

In December 2017, Bamberg County Environmental Officer Farrell Pulaski found four illegally dumped deer carcasses on the dirt portion of Church Street in Denmark.

After an investigation, Pulaski charged two individuals with four counts of illegal dumping. The case also led to additional charges from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources for the same individuals. The case is pending a court hearing.

Perhaps the legal case against the two and accompanying publicity will be enough to dissuade others from such “littering.” History says that’s doubtful, and for the sake of hunting and the conservationists out front in promoting the sport, that’s tragic.

The misdeeds of some are magnified by a public that by and large does not understand and relate to hunting.…

Improper disposal of deer remains is not only a littering crime, it threatens the sport of hunting through creating a negative public image.

For those who love the sport, that may be the bigger crime.

Thank a cop

Officers (in York County) were responding to a domestic violence case — statistically one of the most dangerous situations that officers find themselves in — when the man who apparently beat his wife shot four officers. The suspect was also shot, but not before he left one officer barely hanging onto life (as of this writing).

The officers did what they were trained to do. They responded to a crime and then pursued the suspect who had run into nearby woods. One officer who was chasing the suspect with a police dog was shot during a three-hour search of the woods that intensified and, about two hours later, resulted in the suspect ambushing three SWAT members.

These officers put their lives on the line carrying out their sworn duty to serve and protect. They knew that not pursuing the suspect could well lead to his hurting or even killing someone else as he tried to avoid arrest.…

How many of us go to and from our jobs each day with little thought about our safety? How many of us bemoan what we see as drudgery as we perform the tasks and duties we are paid to do? The most danger most of us face in performing our jobs is on the way to and from the job site.

That’s not the case with law officers. While most days are, generally speaking, fairly normal and even somewhat routine, they really never know what the next minute will bring as they respond to the next call from dispatch.

If you get a chance sometime this week, you might want to acknowledge what they do with a word of thanks. And if you’re so inclined, you might also include them in your prayers. We bet they’d appreciate it.