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Mother of murdered inmate settles lawsuit

November 27, 2009 By

The mother of a murdered prison inmate has settled a lawsuit after her son was stabbed to death in a South Carolina prison. Sandra Carter reached an out of court settlement in the amount of $47,500 with the State Corrections Department, although the department did not admit any wrongdoing in the 2005 death of Carter’s son 22 year old Justin Bregenzer. Carter was dismayed that her son was housed near an inmate already convicted of killing two people.

Bregenzer was stabbed to death at the Lieber Correctional Institution near Ridgeville in 2005. 42 year old Kenneth Justis has been sentenced to death. He was already serving two life sentences. A Corrections Department attorney said the men had been friendly and there was no way to have predicted Justus’ attack on Bregenzer, in which the 22 year old was stabbed numerous times with a shank.

Bregenzer was categorized as a petty thief who broke into cars. He was ordered to fill out his sentence as a youthful offender in the Corrections Department after he failed a shock incarceration program. Bregenzer had time added to his sentence after a failed attempt to escape.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

Energy Secretary in SC for new addition to energy arsenal

November 27, 2009 By

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be in South Carolina Monday, along with host of state and national dignitaries. Chu will visit the Savannah River site for the groundbreaking of yet another large scale energy project. A biomass project groundbreaking that will add to the state’s developing arsenal of energy production.

The plant will become one the largest biomass facilities in the country–using clean energy resources to produce steam for industrial process and heating for buildings.

Last week, South Carolina landed 98 million dollars in federal and matching funds to become a major developer of wind energy for the East Coast.

Biomass will join wind turbine production to help SC capitalize on new energy opportunities. Berkeley Senator Paul Campbell has been an active advocate for developing new energy sources in South Carolina.

Campbell told SCRN, “We still need biomass, we still need wind, we still need solar, we still need nuclear, we still need gas, we still need coal. All of the above. The answer is not one thing, it’s all of the things working in conjunction with each other so that we do meet our current need for energy and are prepared for our energy needs for the future.”

State and national officials will join Energy Secretary Chu in Greenville to tour the GE energy site and to a meeting at Clemson’s ICAR facilities.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News, Politics & Government

Next impeachment meeting debates Sanford air travel

November 27, 2009 By

Gov. Sanford in Buenos Aires 6/26/08

Tuesday, a South Carolina House of Representatives ad hoc impeachment committee will debate on what they found in a 1300 page State Ethics Commission report. That report led to 37 ethics charges against Gov. Mark Sanford in a separate investigation of his travel spending.  For more, read article: McMaster reviewing ethics report on governor. 

Impeachment panel members were told to review the exhaustive report over the Thanksgiving weekend. Rep. James Smith (D-Richland) said he planned to do so, “from cover to cover.”

The Sanford legal team issued this statement after topic was set for Tuesday:

 ”Specifically, in next week’s Committee hearings on air travel, it’s important to note that nearly half the Ethics Commissions’ findings dealt with upgrades to business class on overseas economic development flights. Yet this has been the long-standing and Legislative Audit Council approved behavior of past governors, Commerce Department staff and even legislators for the last 30 years.”

Filed Under: Legislature, News, Politics & Government

North Charleston no longer in nation’s top 10 for violence

November 27, 2009 By

The City of North Charleston was ranked the tenth most dangerous city in America in 2007 according to CQ Press. The new numbers for 2008 were released and although they are still high on the list North Charleston’s ranking went down to 22. North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt, like other law enforcement officials, says the report is faulty methodology and he’s sticking to his own statistics.

“I don’t need some knucklehead out of Kansas City to tell me whether crime is coming up or crime is coming down in North Charleston. But, here on the ground we are actually living it, we’re seeing a dramatic change in the amount of violence and the amount of crime in our city,” says Zumalt. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest, News

Economists watching “Black Friday” carefully, Rainey not optimistic

November 27, 2009 By

There is more riding on this so-called “Black Friday,” the big shopping day after Thanksgiving, than ever before. It’s the center of a pre-Christmas depression shopping period that economists say will make or break many retailers.

South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors Chairman John Rainey says the American economy is 70 percent consumer driven and economists are watching the next 30 days very carefully, including after Christmas sales.

“Until the consumer comes back, it’s hard to see how this economy is going to get good traction,” says Rainey, “until you see big retailers and little retailers as well being able to sell anything.”  

Rainey says while the figures for corporate earnings are edging back up, that’s mostly through cost cutting measures. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, News