The apparent booming hot dog business along the Grand Strand leads one businessman into legal hot water. A North Myrtle Beach hot dog vendor pled guilty in federal court in Florence Wednesday of bankruptcy fraud. 44 year old Anthony Randall Simmons filed for bankruptcy in April 2007. He listed his hot dog stand that he operated in North Myrtle Beach as an asset valued at $1500. However while his bankruptcy was still pending, he sold the business for $95,000. Simmons faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Rep. Gilliard says cigarette tax helps hurting economy
May 13, 2010 By
House members voted to overrride the governor’s veto on the 50-cents a pack cigarette tax increase. Charleston Representative Chip Limehouse and Charleston Democrat Wendell Gilliard voted in favor of the override. Gilliard says the revenue will help the state’s hurting economy. “Here we are strapped for money in this great state we call South Carolina. We see our teachers are being laid off, we see our law enforcement being laid off. We are looking for revenues by any means necessary. When this first came up in the budget, I presented on the floor an amendment that would really bring us up to par with Rhode Island. As you well know Rhode Island has the highest cigarette tax in this great country,” says Gilliard.
Gilliard says he would be in favor of even a higher increase. [Read more...]
SCDOT: Repairs needed on I-77 bridges
May 13, 2010 By
Plans to replace steel plated girders on I-77 bridges in Chester County are moving forward, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
South Carolina Department of Transportation bridge inspectors found cracks in the girders of bridge decks on the Interstate. The cracks were in four beams on the northbound bridge and one beam on the southbound bridge that crosses over Highway 901 in York County. Cracks were also found in steel girders of two I-77 bridges in Chester County. These discoveries have led SCDOT to inspect 70 more bridges designed and built about the same time -in 1977.
In a SCDOT news release, Transportation Secretary H.B. Limehouse Jr. says the agency is trying to balance all needs related to the repair project. He adds,”Our first priority is maintaining the integrity of these two bridges so that the public can use them safely at all times.”
Limehouse also said that the decision has been made to replace all 12 girders in these bridges to avoid excessive costs in the future.
Inspectors have determined that there is no immediate danger to the public and the bridges on I-77 will remain open until the work begins. SCDOT engineers are designing detours to keep traffic moving with little inconvenience, once the repairs begin.
Thomas: Without change, legislation would allow illegal immigrants to get auto insurance (AUDIO)
May 13, 2010 By
The Banking and Insurance Committee of the state Senate has passed legislation that attempts to correct what committee chairman David Thomas of Greenville calls a problem for international industries. Without correction, a code from the South Carolina Department of Insurance will soon stop citizens from other countries or states, such as those employed with industries like BMW, Michelin or Boeing, from driving. It also will affect university students and professors, and out-of-state “snowbird” residents. But Thomas says new legislation to correct that issue was about to create another problem, and may have allowed illegal immigrants to buy auto insurance.
Thomas says he and committee member Glenn McConnell oppose the amendment and hope to correct it on the floor of the Senate. Thomas says the legislation is important, but it must be further amended.
Thomas says currently four states–Hawaii, New Mexico, Utah and Washington–allow undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses.
SC has fewest women in office, few running
May 13, 2010 By
As the state prepares for party primaries, voters may notice there are few women to vote for. That reflects the fact that there are no women serving in the Senate and 17 in the House.
This puts South Carolina at the bottom of all states for women participating in political office.
That’s why Barbara Rackes continues her efforts with the non-partisan project, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, holding workshops for potential candidates and recognizing women in leadership.
We are highly regarded by the existing elected officials in the state and recognized by the political parties. Now, I have to say that the political parties, because we’re nonpartisan, are not exceptionally active. The partisans are active–we have Republican and Democratic women who are very active in the things that we do. But the parties themselves decline to be really strong participants in it.
There is a handful of women running for statewide office, including Nikki Haley for Governor and Eleanor Kitzman for Lt. Governor. Elizabeth Moffly and Kelly Payne are running for Superintendent of Education.
But there are more women interested in running, says Rackes, and they are getting serious about learning the tools of campaigning.
We now have more than 250 people who have gone through our training. I would say that 95 percent of those are women. We are now moving on to advanced training and we’re doing everything from traditional fieldwork training– getting out the votes, going door-to-door, that kind of thing—all the way through Internet, social networking and how to manage blogs.
Rackes says right now the real target of the Southeastern Institute of Women in Politics is the 2012 election ,where women will have had another year to “gain some visibility and some grounding.”
We’ll have both the Senate and all the House seats in South Carolina that are open, so our goal is to triple the number of women that are running for office in 2012.
To help in their efforts, the institute has applied for a grant to have an outreach worker in each congressional district.
Barbara Rackes says that often, women hold themselves back.
We are victims of our own criticism and we’re not smart enough, we’re not rich enough, we’re not good-looking enough, we’re not young enough, not old enough, not something enough. What we have to do is to take women who are actually proven leaders already at the grassroots level and encourage them to take the next step.
She adds that women in leadership also need to reach out to other women more.
