PCB clean up is a drawn-out process. Officials say it will be likely next year before the visible work begins on Twelve Mile Creek in Pickens County. Two century-old dams will be removed as part of the plan to allow fresh sediment to flow into Lake Hartwell and cover the PCB contaminated lake bottom. There are eight federal “Superfund” PCB cleanup sites: Twelve mile creek and the original Sangamo Weston capacitor plant site in Pickens, as well as half a dozen disposal sites. Self says the federal cleanup efforts will continue for several more years. The French company Schlumberger now owns the plant once owned by Sangamo. [Read more...]
Payday lending slips under wire this year
May 28, 2009 By
To the surprise of some statehouse observers, a payday lending bill was passed this year, darting under the wire on the last day of the regular legislative year. That marks the first additional restrictions put on the industry since state lawmakers first allowed its existence in 1998. It’s now a $155 million industry.The House passed legislation four months earlier but it took that long for the House and Senate to agree on a plan. [Read more...]
Stimulus cash spurs SRS employment rush
May 28, 2009 By
Sixth District Congressman James Clyburn says hiring is underway for hundreds of jobs in a variety of fields being made available at Savannah River Site. Clyburn has secured $1.6 billion in stimulus funds to pay for clean-up projects at the site. Clyburn, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President Chuck Munns and representatives of SRS will hold a briefing with stakeholders at the Midlands Technical College’s Northeast campus Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. Monday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m., persons are invited to the campus for a job fair to apply for positions at SRS. Clyburn says he would prefer that the jobs go to South Carolinians. [Read more...]
MUSC research shows healthy lifestyles declining
May 28, 2009 By
America is in great need to shape up, says Medical University of South Carolina’s Dr. Dana King, author of a behavioral risk factor survey released in the June 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
King says, “Over the last 18 years, our adherence to healthy lifestyles in the U.S. has gotten worse in most areas. We’re not eating fruits and vegetables as regularly, we’re not exercising as much and our rate of obesity and overweight has declined [sic] since 1988,” says King. [Read more...]
Clyburn supports Sotomayor
May 28, 2009 By
Sonia Sotomayor has now become a household name, as she was announced earlier this week as President Obama’s nomination for U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to serve as Justice. Congressman James Clyburn of Charleston is in full support of Obama’s decision.
“I think she has exactly what it takes to be an outstanding jurist, I love the stuff that’s found in her background. She has a life story that’s what this country is all about. Being born in public housing, educating oneself, finishing number one in your class at Princeton University, finishing a law review,” says Clyburn.
Clyburn says so many Americans can relate to Sotomayor’s past of growing up in the Bronx, New York, as a poor child.
“One man’s bread is another man’s stone, we learn that in vacation bible school. What may be a problem in the background for some, seems like a great thing to me,” says Clyburn.
Reports say Sotomayor would make decisions based on race and gender, Clyburn says that’s how it should be.
“Supreme Court has held more than once, that in order to get beyond race, you must first take race into account. If you ignore something, you pretend it ain’t there and that is called benign and neglect. You got to look and say, ‘alright, this is something that’s happening on a racial business and we’ve got to figure out a way to get around this,” says Clyburn.
One way, according to Clyburn, would be Sotomayor stepping in and sometimes going beyond the law, like the Supreme Court did in Brown vs. Board of Education, where segregation in schools was outlawed.
