For persons around the state still harboring the dream of becoming a teacher but don’t have a teaching degree, the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) is ready to lend a helping hand through a scholarship program provided through a Transition to Teaching Grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The ‘Teach and Inspire’ scholarship program is currently recruiting and preparing persons who have toiled for years in a number of professions and are now ready to tackle the commitment of becoming a teacher. The full scholarship toward ABCTE certification is $975. Candidates for the program are eligible for a $1,000 stipend for completing classroom observations. Information sessions on the program are currently being held around the state until November 7. ABCTE Public Relations Director Michael Holden says the response so far has been stronger in larger towns and cities than in the smaller rural areas. Holden says the programs allows the candidate to work at their own pace. [Read more...]
Union leaders criticize SC incentives, Boeing decision
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers say that the Boeing decision to move to South Carolina had nothing to do with any “concerns over future strikes by their unionized workforce.”
IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger issued a statement following the announcement saying, “Corporate decisions like this are years in the making, and this one is no different. Until the last minute, executives feign indecision in an effort to dodge responsibility and to squeeze the last drops of goodwill out of a community that is losing a part of its legacy and, more important, its employment base.”
Association officials in the statement also criticized South Carolina as a site for a $750 million new 787 Dreamliner assembly line. “Boeing’s goal was not an agreement that would keep the work in Washington state,” said IAM Vice President Rich Michalski. “Their goal was to run out the clock on a charade that included blaming their own workers for a decision to establish operations in yet another distant and high risk environment.”
“South Carolina’s incentives demand that Boeing spend another three-quarters of a billion dollars and guarantee that state more than three times as many jobs as they predicted would be needed for a second line here in Puget Sound,” said District 751 President Tom Wroblewski. “Yet this company has not guaranteed any jobs for Washington state, within the Machinists ranks or in any other Boeing payroll.”
According to the IAM, the union represents more than 35,000 Boeing employees among nearly 700,000 active and retired members across North America.
Before Boeing Co. decided this week that it would locate a new assembly line in South Carolina, the company had narrowed the choice to either North Charleston, or its existing location near Seattle. North Charleston already has two plants where 2,500 employers make and assemble pieces of the 787. The 787’s are already assembled in the Seattle suburb of Everett. The Seattle Times reported that a second line is needed because production is a few years behind schedule.
The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that discussions between Boeing and the Machinists union over the second 787 production line in the Seattle had effectively died. The newspaper reported that talks broke down over a proposed potential 10-year no-strike agreement. Workers in North Charleston voted against the Machinists union last month. The Seattle Times reported that deliveries of the high-tech 787 were postponed repeatedly due to manufacturing glitches and an eight-week labor strike.
The South Carolina Senate on Tuesday passed an incentive package providing sales tax exemptions for companies creating at least 3,800 jobs, that would allow the issuance of $170 million of economic development bonds.
29-year-old arrested in beating deaths of elderly couple in Anderson
The Anderson county sheriffs office has arrested 29 year old Matthew Fulbright of Belton in connection with the beating deaths of 72-year-old Homer and 68-year-old JoAnn Staton of Taylors. The body of JoAnn Staton was found Wednesday night near Iva. Officials say that Fullbright had a meeting with the couple Friday night in Anderson county.
Sheriff John Skipper says investigators know that the couple dealt in jewelry, and that they planned to meet with someone. Skipper says Fulbright got the couple in an isolated area.
The body of Homer Staton was found Sunday. Skipper says the investigation continues.
University economist: Boeing elevates state’s profile
A transformative move for South Carolina. That is how many state leaders are describing Boeing’s announcement Wednesday that the corporation will establish an assembly line for its 787 jets in North Charleston. The facility will be built in stages. Boeing will hire 4,000 direct positions and another 8,000 related spin-off positions are expected. State lawmakers indicate that within five years that investment could total 3,800 jobs and $750 million, according to incentives approved this week by the General Assembly. University of South Carolina research economist Dr. Doug Woodward worked on a feasibility study for Boeing on the state of South Carolina. Woodward says the move will impact positively the economy of the state well into the future.
“i think this is going to have a tremendous impact on the state of South Carolina. it comes at a time when we have been in this deep recession, no job creation, no major announcements. This is the biggest thing that has happened across the country in the last year in a positive way and we’ re lucky to land it right here in South Carolina.” [Read more...]
Shaw, McEntire considered for F-35 fighter jet base
South Carolina got more good news on the aeronautics front today as Senator Lindsay Graham and Congressman John Spratt announced that Shaw Air Force Base and McEntire Joint National Guard Base have made the cut as candidates for the basing of F-35 fighter jets.
The Senator’s office reports that 205 U.S. Air Force bases were reviewed as potential candidates for the F-35 and that Shaw and McEntire are now among the eleven potential sites for receiving the first group of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).”
Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says “The F-35 will be the world’s premier strike fighter,” said Graham. “It’s designed to be more effective than existing fighters in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat, and reconnaissance and suppression of air defenses. The F-35 will replace the military’s F-16, A-10, AV-8B, and some F/A-18 fighter aircraft. It’s the future aircraft of the Air Force and the bases that house the F-35 will be among the most valuable in our arsenal.”
The Air Force will now conduct an environmental impact analysis and site assessment before making a final basing decision.
Fifth District Congressman John Spratt says “In the spring of 2010, the Air Force will announce its preferred locations for the F-35. Before then, Shaw will be subject to an environmental impact analysis and site assessment. I will do all that I can to help Shaw and Sumter make the best case possible before the Air Force, so that the F-35 can be delivered to Shaw beginning in 2013.”
