South Carolina News

With little discussion, the House voted this morning 58-51 to send back to committee a bill that gives legislators and other state retirees an automatic 2 percent cost-of-living increase. via The Post and Courier

The University of South Carolina's popular course "Caught in the Creative Act: Writers Talk About Their Writing," concludes its seventh year of free community readings and lectures Wednesday with an appearance ... via The Post and Courier

“This is an emergency situation for our state's highways in the affected areas. Our employees have been working 10-hour days to remove the piled up debris from the roadsides which have created great hazards”

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has been working since mid-March in more than 30 counties to remove fallen trees and other debris from the state's highways that resulted from a series of ... via Construction Equipment Guide

Greasy pepperoni pizza, Moon Pies and french fries would no longer be lunch line options under a bill up for debate in a House panel. via WBT-AM Charlotte

The first members of a South Carolina National Guard unit deployed in Afghanistan are beginning to return home.

Members of the 218th Brigade Combat Team began arriving early Monday morning at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

About 1,600 South Carolina guardsmen have been deployed with the 218th, which shipped out last April for a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan.

It was the largest single unit deployment from the South Carolina National Guard since World War II.

The team was part of a force training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police Read more

Country singer and songwriter Lee Brice walks a path between traditional honky tonk sounds and contemporary rock & roll; as Brice puts it, his music sounds like what would happen if Hank Williams, Jr. via KWNR-FM Las Vegas

“You don't pick him because you want to win Ohio, you pick him because he brings to the table a breadth of experience few others can match”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain is considering former Rep. via The Post Chronicle

“We have been going down there for the past seven years”

Havana's harbor is not especially busy but provides a lifeline for the island as much of the food its residents eat is shipped from other countries. via The Post and Courier

“It breeds disrespect and distrust.”

Nonviolent offenders could avoid prison through an alternate court system being pushed by Attorney General Henry McMaster as both a better way to rehabilitate people and save the state money.

Too often, McMaster said, people put in prison for offenses ranging from gambling to drug possession are turned into hardened criminals by their time behind bars. But a combination of counseling, drug treatment, school, work and restitution _ with requirements varying for each offender's problems _ could change their lives, he said. Read more

“They started flying a major number of flights in the wintertime, which is a tough time for any airline to start up a route, but they had the airplanes scheduled in, and they had to do something with them”

Published: Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. While Skybus Airlines has shut down operations at Piedmont Triad International Airport, officials at PTI see a ... via StarNewsOnline.com

The federal Small Business Administration says some South Carolina residents who had damage from last month's tornadoes can get low-interest loans to help them recover. via The State

“The money from the state is the difference between a healthy, vital organization and our being very severely damaged and potentially going out of business”

In the latest version of the state's upcoming budget, several local projects survived the ax while public colleges and universities continue to walk a tightrope during hard economic times. via Post and Courier

“Whether the human ate the dog or the dog ate the human, it doesn't matter”

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DNA from ancient human feces found in a cave in Oregon provides biological verification that people were in North America 14,000 years ago, researchers said on Thursday.

The findings, published in the journal Science, add to growing evidence that people were living in the Americas earlier than the once widely accepted date of 13,000 years ago, based on bones from the so-called Clovis culture in the southwestern United States. Read more

South Carolina's request for Federal Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Loan Programs has been granted. via Morning News

Two former South Carolina women's basketball players are facing additional theft charges.

Authorities told The (Columbia) State they have linked 18-year-old Jasmine Payne and 19-year-old Ashlie Billingslea to two more thefts at a university gym.

Arrest warrants accuse the women of taking money and credit and debit cards from people at the Blatt P.E. Center.

Authorities say they freshmen guards used the stolen cards to buy merchandise.

The women also face charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Read more

State officials said a request to have nine counties, including Berkeley, declared federal disaster areas after the March 15 storms and tornadoes has been denied. via Post and Courier

A state Senate investigation into the Highway Patrol gets underway today. The investigation was prompted by evidence of troopers mistreating motorists. via Post and Courier

Saturday's Powerball jackpot will be worth an estimated $57 million, since no one matched all 6 of the numbers in last night's drawing. via KRDO

What is up with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency congressionally charged with converting driver's licenses into de facto national identity cards and foisting the cost onto the states? On Monday, the Homeland Security deadline for states to indicate willingness to knuckle under to the so-called Real ID mandate, Gov. Mark Sanford offered the agency a lengthy explanation why South Carolina could not - and would not - comply.

Yet six hours after receiving Sanford's letter, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff responded as though Sanford had caved in to the federal will. The agency, he said, would regard Sanford's letter as intent to comply with its Real ID regime by the May 11, 2011, deadline. Read more

Daily Entertainment Photos - "Get all the fashion, glamour and scandal here in pictures!" D4L rapper Fabo has been exonerated of gun and drug charges relating to his 2006 arrest. via 95.7 The Beat