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Dillon County’s J.V. Martin school to be rebuilt

January 29, 2010 By

Superintendent Jim Rex

A letter from a little girl has changed the fate of a school in Dillon. J.V. Martin Jr. High School was spotlighted by President Barack Obama, after he got a letter from student Ty’Sheoma Bethea.

It is now getting rebuilt, says Education Superintendent Jim Rex, thanks to a federal loan and a grant totaling 24 million dollars.

“The loan, which is about 20 million, is going to be paid off by the citizens of Dillon County.  They passed a referendum sometime back about a year and a half ago, but because of the difficult financial markets, it was difficult to get a financial institution to step up, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture finally did,” Rex said.

The school’s furniture has been outfitted by private donation. Construction on the new school will begin in the Spring.

Rex says that solves the problem for one school, while others still need help.

“There have been a whole bunch of providential events that have been happening in South Carolina that have contributed to trying to address this symbol and then hopefully using it as some impotence for addressing the larger problem, the larger dilemma, which is the unjust and unfair way we’ve been funding schools in South Carolina,” he said.

Filed Under: Economy, Education, News

SCDOT & SCDPS ban texting in state vehicles

January 29, 2010 By

Compiled by Jake Levy, SCRN

Employees of both the South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) and the state Department of Transportation (SCDOT) are no longer allowed to text message while using state vehicles effective January 28, 2010.

Transportation Secretary H.B. Limehouse says the main goal of SCDOT is safety and that, “our employees must contribute to their own safety and the protection of other drivers by giving full attention to their driving while on the job.”

A South Carolina House subcommittee is considering legislation to ban cell phones in all cars. They will meet again February 3 to vote on the issue. 

With an increasing number of crashes, Public Safety Director Mark Keel says this policy is important, “Our Highway Patrol troopers have seen the tragic results of what can happen when a driver is texting,” Keel said, “I support this ban for our employees because SCDPS and SCDOT have an obligation to take the lead in cutting down on driver distractions and making our highways safer in all aspects.”

Both agencies have offices and employees in all 46 counties of South Carolina.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Legislature, News, Transportation

Wilson “disappointed” in president’s address

January 29, 2010 By

Besides President Obama, many eyes were on Congressman Joe Wilson Wednesday night for the president’s first State of the Union Address. Last year, Wilson received national attention for his “you lie” outburst during Obama’s health care speech. This time without an outburst, after the State of the Union Address Wilson gave his thoughts.

“I was disappointed. I was looking forward to him talking about a budget freeze and I was hoping it would be significant and substantive. But, by delaying it another year, that makes it even less meaningful,” says Wilson. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Military, Politics & Government

Grooms: Voter ID bill “secures the ballot box”

January 29, 2010 By

After two days of partisan debate in the Senate, a compromise was reached on the Voter ID bill. Currently, South Carolina, along with 18 other states, does not require a photo ID to be shown at the voting polls. This week in a 36-2 vote, the Voter ID bill was supported by a bipartisan majority. The bill sets up a new early voting process and requires photo ID to vote.

Berkeley Senator Larry Grooms, Republican, says South Carolina cannot turn blind to voter fraud.

“We just need to secure the ballot box. There’s instances of voter fraud in this state, we have the chance to fix it, but our buddies, or friends of ACORN are saying ‘no, we are going to filibuster the bill,’ cheat and happen and let the chips fall where they may, it’s just not right,” says Grooms. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legislature, News, Politics & Government

GOP hopefuls square off over Bauer’s comments, Sanford, TARP (Audio)

January 29, 2010 By

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski provided a challenging and entertaining debate for South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial candidates Thursday night in Charleston. The debate was heard over WCBD and certain other NBC stations, sponsored by the South Carolina Republican party. 

Scarborough referred to Governor Mark Sanford as his good friend, who he said he knew from Sanford’s days in Congress. Scarborough introduced Sanford who was in the audience, looking back at the candidates and smiling politely as they were asked to weigh in on the Sanford controversy.

(Candidates on Sanford MP3  9:54)

Candidates on Sanford

On the subject of whether they sided more with Senator Lindsey Graham or with Senator Jim Demint, Henry McMaster said he “refused to take the bait.  “I believe in Ronald Reagan’s admonition, and that is to speak ill of no fellow Republican,” said McMaster.  “I was party chairman for nine years and spent a lot of time trying to build this party.  The last thing I will do is drive a wedge in it, ’cause that’s precisely what the democrats want us to do.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government, Uncategorized
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