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Drexel’s mom wants daughter or closure

April 16, 2010 By

Dawn Drexel, the mother of missing New York teen, Brittanee Drexel, says she wants her daughter back, or else get some kind of closure. Brittanee Drexel was last seen in Myrtle Beach one year ago. Her mother, Dawn Drexel, was on NBC’s “Today” show and explained that she thinks police are still trying to find her daughter, but she has been told only little bits of information. Dawn Drexel believes Brittanee is either being held against her will or dead. She told the “Today” show that she either wants to find her daughter or get some closure.

Police told WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach they do have several people of interest identified. Dawn Drexel says that’s about all the information she has received from police. A vigil for Brittanee Drexel is set for next week, the one-year anniversary of her disappearance.

Filed Under: Accidents & Disasters, News

Senate passes second reading of bill to triple court fees (Audio)

April 16, 2010 By

The South Carolina Senate has passed the second of three readings of a bill that would increase court fees.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal has asked lawmakers to come up with more cash for the judiciary branch of government, saying that layoffs and a reduction in services will happen without it, due to budget cuts.

The Senate proposal would raise more than $16 million for the court system. The plan includes bumping up some court fees from $150 to $300, and increasing other fees from $25 to $75.

The 26-11 vote showed notable opposition, including Edgefield Republican Shane Massey, who insisted that $300 is too much to charge citizens drawn into family court. He proposed lowering that to $200 for family court cases.

Massey and Sumter Democrat Phil Leventis agreed that the court system should be funded according to a percentage of the state revenues.

(Massey and Leventis on court fees  MP3  2:11)
Massey-Leventis on court fees

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Legislature, News

Statewide student performance has declined (Audio)

April 16, 2010 By

The annual report card for South Carolina schools statewide was issued Friday and if it were a card for an individal student sent home to mom and dad, they might not be pleased. Reports were released as well for individual schools and school districts.

Average student performance declined from 2008 to 2009 among elementary, middle, high schools, and school districts, even though 32 percent of schools earned a rating of Excellent or Good in 2009.

One in four of the state’s schools has a poverty level of 90 percent or above, meaning that the vast majority of students at a quarter of the schools are considered poor. Anderson says only five percent of the state’s more than 1100 schools have a poverty level of 30 percent or less.

Education Oversight Committee(EOC) Director Jo Anne Anderson says it’s clear that the economy may have been a factor in student performance.

Six-hundred-eighty-four of our schools have poverty levels above 70 percent.  That’s 58 percent of the schools.  And that’s a lot to deal with, for their teachers, because it calls on additional resources from the young people, struggling without stability in their home.  The district poverty level increased as well.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, News

Tea Party rallies conservative citizen activists (Audio)

April 16, 2010 By

At Thursday’s outdoor Tea Party rally at the Statehouse, it took about an hour for organizers to get the sound system to work.  The crowd didn’t seem to mind, as the event had more of a tailgating atmosphere. Occasionally someone would grab a bullhorn and take to the steps to make announcements or coach the crowd on how to defend the Constitution.

And of course there were the signs that have become signature to the Tea Party, colorfully demonstrating the free speech, one of many constitutional rights clutched firmly by the movement.

Allen Olsen, organizer with the Columbia Tea Party says he was hoping for more people than the 800 plus who were there, based on last year’s count of almost 3,000 attendees.

This year about a third of the placards and participants were for local and state candidates running in this year’s elections. The attention of the Tea Party has shifted away from Washington, says Olsen, and more to local candidates and bills.

(Olsen on today’s purpose MP3)
Olsen on purpose of rally

That bill Olsen is referring to is Representative Nikki Haley’s proposal for open roll call voting in the state legislature.

A group from Aiken was almost giddy with taking pictures and meeting new people. Part of that, says Debbie Nix, an organizer with We The People in Aiken, is that they formed only a month ago.
Nix on Aiken’s  We The People

Sumter resident Ralph Baker attended the rally, though he says he is not a card-carrying member of the Tea Party Movement…yet. He says he is frustrated at the image sometimes given to this movement.
Baker on misconceptions about Tea Party

Tea Party gatherings took place Thursday in all regions of the state.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government, Taxes
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