From the daily archives:

Monday, February 1, 2010

As the recession continues, South Carolina House subcommittees are garnering information from various state agencies about the status of their budgets and areas they may be able to trim in anticipation of another round of budget cuts that could be as much as 15 percent. Department of Corrections Director Jon Ozmint says his agency’s budget has already been cut to the bone. The Department of Corrections reportedly operates on a budget of $12,170 per inmate, per year. That budget is reported to be the lowest per inmate cost in the nation. In comparison, the neighboring state of Georgia spends approximately $18,500 per inmate, North Carolina approximately $23,000 per inmate and the Federal Bureau of Prisons close to $30,000 per inmate. Ozmint adds that state corrections employees experienced massive furloughs in 2009. [click to continue…]

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Clyburn: President’s budget “puts forth big ideas”

by Susan Trautsch 02/1/10 3:43 PM

President Obama sent Congress his $3.8 trillion budget calling for billions of dollars in new spending to fight high unemployment.
South Carolina’s Congressman James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, has been on the media front lines for the Democrats lately and fielded budget questions Monday on Fox News:  ”I think the President is putting forth some big, [...]

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Santee Cooper dedicates solar array to SC college

by Michael Brown 02/1/10 2:38 PM

In a partnership between Santee Cooper, Palmetto Electric, and Technical College of the Lowcountry in Bluffton, a 20-kilowatt solar array was dedicated to the college’s campus. Santee Cooper spokeswoman Mollie Gore says the demonstration project is the largest solar installation in the Lowcountry.
“The project was financed or funded through our green-power sales. We have green-power [...]

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NRC dispatches inspection team to Midlands nuclear plant

by Ashley Byrd 02/1/10 2:37 PM

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that is has dispatched a “Special Inspection Team” to the Westinghouse commercial nuclear fuel plant near Columbia, S.C., to review the circumstances associated with a January 24, 2010 event involving a spill of about 200 gallons of wastewater containing ammonia and low levels of uranium. 
The NRC, in a statement says [...]

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Cervical cancer still ranks high in SC (Audio)

by Susan Trautsch 02/1/10 2:32 PM

Worldwide, cervical cancer is the second-most common type of cancer that strikes women -behind only breast cancer.
While the incidence of cases has improved in South Carolina, Dr. Lisa Spiryda, OB-GYN, says the state could do better. “Just a few years ago we were ninth in incidence in mortality and now we brought it down to fourteenth [...]

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