COLUMBIA — Legislation banning or nearly banning hemp products infused with THC, providing an alternative high in a state where marijuana remains illegal, advanced Wednesday to the House floor. House Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton, the chief sponsor of both bills, said he proposed two options in recognition that a total ban may fail, leaving the […]

COLUMBIA — U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace continues to blast South Carolina’s top prosecutor, a chief rival in her bid for governor, by claiming he lets pedophiles go free — an accusation he emphatically denies. A spokesman for Attorney General Alan Wilson says Mace is totally misrepresenting the data she received from his office through a […]

COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster in his final State of the State address Wednesday urged legislators to build on past efforts with more money for roads, deeper cuts to income taxes and universal full-day kindergarten for 4-year-olds, saying an excellent education for all children is essential to keep South Carolina thriving. South Carolina’s longest-serving governor […]

Some bad ideas are perennial. Take, for instance, the misguided notion of closing South Carolina’s free and open primary elections. Closed-primary proposals show up at the Statehouse as regularly as Palmetto bugs tumbling from the trees every spring. It’s not a pleasant sight. Closed primaries generally require voters to register with a specific party to […]

COLUMBIA — The number of smokers in South Carolina has dropped in recent years, but the state could do more to discourage people from puffing away, according to a report from the American Lung Association released Wednesday. With federal cuts to nationwide smoking deterrent programs, the lung health association warned that hard-won decreases in the […]

COLUMBIA — South Carolina has racked up $150 million in cost overruns as it works to fulfill pledges it made to lure electric vehicle maker Scout Motors to the state. The state’s economic development agency wants taxpayers to make up the difference. South Carolina lawmakers, in March 2023, already agreed to spend $1.3 billion to […]

COLUMBIA — A fourth-generation farmer from Clarendon County has joined the race to be South Carolina’s next agriculture commissioner. Jeremy Cannon of Turbeville becomes the second Republican looking to replace Commissioner Hugh Weathers, who’s retiring after nearly 22 years leading the state Department of Agriculture. Last year, he endorsed a director in the agency, Fred […]

NORTH CHARLESTON — Boeing Co. is stabilizing production at its 787 Dreamliner plant here, both in numbers and quality, even as it embarks on a $1 billion plan to expand the site’s manufacturing capacity. Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s president and CEO, said Tuesday the aerospace giant is building eight 787 wide-body jets per month — up […]

I am 76 years old, and I still remember the feeling of going to school hungry. Hunger is not just an empty stomach. It is a constant distraction, a quiet anxiety, and a barrier to learning that follows a child into the classroom. I support Gov. Henry McMaster’s proposal that all children eat breakfast at […]

COLUMBIA — Attorney General Alan Wilson “opposes woke gender ideology on government passports” or “fights against burdensome gun restrictions” or “leads fight for religious liberty,” the announcements read. Such headlines in statements from the state’s top prosecutor are commonplace — sometimes multiple times a week. In the past year alone, Wilson’s office announced joining other […]

COLUMBIA — A winter storm that blasted the country with freezing temperatures and snow brought power outages, travel delays and some snow to South Carolina over the weekend. One person died in South Carolina from Winter Storm Fern’s freezing temperatures and snow. A 96-year-old woman in Greenwood County died of hypothermia, according to the state […]

Chad Gibbs, College of Charleston Joe Engel was and remains an icon in Charleston, South Carolina. Born in Zakroczym, Poland, he survived Auschwitz and several other concentration camps and fought with the resistance before landing on American shores as a refugee in 1949. After retirement from his dry-cleaning business, Engel focused his later years on […]

COLUMBIA — A Richland County legislator running for governor will give the Democratic response to Gov. Henry McMaster’s final State of the State address. Rep. Jermaine Johnson was chosen by the state House Democratic Caucus to deliver the message for his party, his campaign announced in a release Monday morning. McMaster is scheduled to give […]

COLUMBIA — Every classroom in public K-12 schools and colleges would have to display a copy of the Ten Commandments under a bill that advanced in the House this week. The House Judiciary Committee voted 18-to-3 to advance the bill, which also creates the option of displaying numerous other historical documents in classrooms and allows […]

After a year of ongoing measles outbreaks that have sickened more than 2,400 people, the United States is poised to lose its status as a measles-free country. However, the newly appointed principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ralph Abraham, said he was unbothered by the prospect at a briefing for […]

COLUMBIA — Anyone planning to fly needs a REAL ID or other accepted form of identification to avoid paying fees at airports starting next month, the Department of Motor Vehicles warned this week. Starting Feb. 1, adults who do not present a REAL ID, passport or military ID will have to pay a $45 fee […]

COLUMBIA — South Carolina legislators are again considering changes to how the state vets its judges, this time giving the governor total control of the panel that screens them. Under the proposal backed by House GOP leadership, the governor would appoint all 12 members of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission — eight lawyers and four […]

COLUMBIA — Facing rising inflation and population growth, legislators and transportation officials are considering adding toll lanes to highways as a way of increasing revenue and reducing congestion. Federal law prohibits states from putting toll booths on existing highway lanes that receive any federal money. Any proposal that did so likely wouldn’t be very popular […]

COLUMBIA — Two dueling GOP proposals designed to stop Democrats from voting in Republican primaries are likely going nowhere after causing a “civil war” within South Carolina’s dominating party. Rep. Brandon Newton of Lancaster, author of the bill repeatedly endorsed by the state Republican Party, opened Wednesday’s two-hour hearing by saying neither bill should advance […]

South Carolina’s General Assembly should consider pausing any more new data centers in our state until protections are passed to protect ratepayers. Here’s why. There are currently no protections in state law that would prevent our state’s residential, industrial and commercial ratepayers from having to foot the bill for the additional electricity that will be […]