From the daily archives:

Thursday, June 18, 2009

South Carolina military bases are not only having to ready themselves against the threat of base closure that occurs every ten years, but they must also deal with a lesser known issue–encroachment by local development. It’s also true that encroachment and base closure are connected. Bases aren’t worried about new housing and businesses coming onto their property, but just coming near it creates a problem.

Retired General George Patrick co-chairs the Military Bask Task Force, formerly known as the Base Realignment and Closure(or BRAC) Task Force, which was established as an advisory committee to the governor on military matters.Patrick says for the last three and a half years, encroachment has been his group’s primary focus, and the state of South Carolina, the governor’s office and local communities are crucial in mitigating property development issues.   “For example, having high-density housing developments below flight paths of high-performance aircraft creates a safety and noise issue and can even hamper the ability of an installation to effectively carry out its mission.” [click to continue…]

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Inglis: Closing GITMO would be “nuts”

by William Christopher 06/18/09 8:18 PM

The US House on Thursday used the first spending bill for next year to reject President Obama’s plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. The House voted 259-157 for the $64 billion package, but they refused to fund the closing of the facility next year. The House also set forth restrictions for the [...]

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Youth camp teaches business savvy

by Tom Hayes 06/18/09 5:44 PM

Turning “street smart” youth into “business smart” young entrepreneurs is the goal of the summer program known as Biz camp. The program that offers training to middle school students, has been conducted in several areas of the state for seven years. Here in the Palmetto State the program is a collaboration of The organization YESCarolina, [...]

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Use of Recyled rubber, plastics in playgrounds a safety issue

by Tom Hayes 06/18/09 3:31 PM

A recent alarm about the use of recycled tire materials in playgrounds and on soccer and other athletic fields has raised concerns for children who play on those surfaces everyday. Clemson University Civil Engineering professor Serji Amirkhanian says the results of a number of laboratory and field tests conducted in several states and in Europe [...]

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New bill requires school swimming lessons

by Michael Brown 06/18/09 2:52 PM

Recent Lowcountry drownings have spawned a bill that would require South Carolina schools to offer free swimming lessons. South Carolina Representative Wendell Gilliard is author of the bill.

Wendell Gilliard
“It’s a statewide problem when you look at the whole situation here, especially by the recent incidents we’ve had unfortunately. Just by virtue of our geographical make-up [...]

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