Reported by Claire Beverly, Adventure Radio Hilton Head

The future of the Hilton Head Island Airport remains in flux, after consultants on the Master Plan for Airport revealed to officials last night that the runway needs to be lengthened by 1100 feet or it will lose commercial airline service within 20 years. Island Packet reports that consultants say that due to changing FAA regulations and aircraft design, many commercial and private jets will not be able to use the runway. The airport does not make money off of small, general aviation planes. Many Town Officials, including Mayor Tom Peeples, oppose the idea because it cuts off Beach City Road and requires the removal of St. James Church. There will be two public comment meetings next coming up next week.

The Ways and Means Committee of the South Carolina House held a briefing Tuesday to give House members a look at the many cuts to the state’s budget they’ll debate next week. And it’s not pretty. The proposed cuts may eliminate close to 2,300 jobs, including temporary positions. Many remaining workers will be subject to furloughs.

Health and Human Services Subcommittee Chairman Tracy Edge of Horry County said that the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation will lose $600,000 in state funding, and since all of its funding is matched by federal funds, the impact will be even more severe.

Edge says the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs is losing $42.3 million in base funding, but will receive $12.5 million in reserve funds and retain $22 million more, for a net loss of more than $7 million.  Edge says those cuts alone may affect 1000 jobs.

Edge says the Department of Mental Health will cut some beds out of its remaining hospitals, and cut out 350 jobs. 

(Edge on state cuts  MP3  8:34)
Edge on state cuts

The Department of Juvenile Justice plans to close six of its wilderness camps.

The Department of Public Safety will not train a new class of state troopers.

Forty-three public defenders will be cut from the judicial system.

Ways and Means Committee member Jay Lucus of Darlington County says the Forestry Commission will be cut 18 percent.  “That’s a major concern since a major portion of their budget is devoted to their fire fighting effort,” he said.  “Given what happened last year in Myrtle Beach, they presented us with a schedule for equipment purchases, to replace outdated equipment, which we were not able to do this year.  They fear they will have to implement workforce reductions.” 

Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper says he’s not in favor of any tax increase, considering the state’s high unemployment level.

Lawmakers hope that the U.S. House and Senate will agree on emergency funding for state governments.

The city of Florence has approved a kind of curfew for youngsters–not a typical nighttime curfew but one during the day, to catch those who should be in school.

Florence City Council voted 4-3 for a new law affecting anyone aged 6 through 16. Between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on school days, they will be picked up by police and taken to school or home. If youngsters refuse the ride, authorities will issue their parents or guardian a citation. The second citation will carry a fine of $100.

Florence Mayor Stephen Wukela says it’s a way of keeping kids out of the court system.

Wukela says it’s a truancy issue, and there was a time when there were truant officers paid for by the school system who dealt with the problem, but not anymore. Wukela says the absence of truant officers funded through the education department is another example of state government shifting financial responsibilities to local governments.

(Wukela on curfew  MP3  1:04)
Wukela on curfew

The ordinance won’t go into affect until the summer.

The Highway 31 Fire was the most destructive wildfire in the history of South Carolina with losses totaling more than $50 million. It is the second largest in size in the state’s recorded history, burning nearly 20,000 acres. The South Carolina Forestry Commission has prepared a report evaluating their response to the 2009 wildfire that ravaged a major portion of Horry County.

Spokesman for the South Carolina Forestry Commission, Scott Hawkins says a 35-page report has been posted on their website and will serve as an educational tool for years to come. “We’re very grateful that the fire ended the way it did,” said Hawkins. “We got it contained in record time and it was a success in that we had no injuries and no loss of life, although several homes were lost. But the important thing to remember is that even when a fire fight goes well, there’s always something you can learn from it for many years to come, and that’s what this document is.”The report indicates there’s a need for improved communications with other emergency response agencies during wildfires, annual exercises. Hawkins says that the South Carolina Forestry Commission began implementing recommendations to improve communications before the After Action Report (AAR) was final. “We’ve taken a long, hard look at communications technology, and we’re trying to get up to speed on the 800 megahertz radio systems that fire fighters use. Our agencies could communicate a lot more effectively if we were all using similar technology.”

The South Carolina Forestry Commission has posted on its website the 35-page After Action Report (AAR) on the Highway 31 Fire in Horry County. The AAR serves as a review of only the Forestry Commission’s performance on this fire. Spokesman, Scott Hawkins says that the After Action Report is available on the website, “and we invite the public to take a look at this 35-page document. Because it was a very educational and rewarding experience to put together and document those strengths and weaknesses so that when the next major wildfire comes, we’ll be even better prepared.”

As stated in the report, another area of deep concern is that over several years of declining budgets, the South Carolina Forestry Commission has been unable to replace aging emergency response equipment and to find and retain qualified firefighters. Hawkins said, “If we had the money we needed, we would go back to a fifteen-year replacement cycle on our firefighting equipment -those big tractors you see that used to plow fire breaks, they get old. In some cases we’ve got operators that are younger than the tractors they use to fight fires. Now that’s a safety concern, because as that equipment ages, it becomes less dependable.”

Greenville police have arrested 51-year-old Judy Mae Greer of Greenville following the death of a 2-year-old family member. Greer is charged with Homicide by Child Abuse.

Sgt. Jason Rampey says, “We were contacted by the hospital after a little girl was brought in suffering from shaken baby syndrome.”  “Investigators contacted Ms. Greer and she told them that, while rocking the child to sleep that she did shake the child,” he says.     

Greer is being held in the Greenville county detention center.

Calling it a great win for South Carolina consumers, South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs Administrator Brandolyn Pinkston announced that a California-based company has voluntarily agreed to give full refunds to 363 South Carolina customers because it failed to conduct business under the provisions of the South Carolina Consumer Credit Act. In total, Freedom Financial Management, Incorporated of California agreed to refund $839,000 to the South Carolina customers it overcharged for credit counseling services.

The settlement reached on February 18 marks the single largest recovery from an out-of-state agency since the Credit Counseling Law went into effect on December 1, 2005. SCDCA staff attorney Carri Lybarker says the company also failed to obtain a license to operate in the state of South Carolina. Lybarker says the investigation of the company started with a phone call to Consumer Affairs from a customer who complained that the company did not provide the services she had contracted for.

“We contacted the business to ask for their side of the story, as well as to see how long they’ve been doing business and with how many consumers. We responded back and forth and the department put forth that because they did not have a license (to operate in South Carolina) we believed that refunds were in order in lieu of us bringing an action or seeking fines and the company agreed to such a resolution.”

Since the Credit Counseling Law went into effect in 2005, SCDCA has recovered more than $2,500,000 in credit counseling refunds for consumers in the state.

Lybarker says the law explicitly spells out what is expected of consumer counseling services that choose to operate in South Carolina. “This law applies to people that provide credit counseling which includes debt consolidation, debt management, credit repair, debt negotiation, debt settlement for closure assistance, basically credit relief. Also the law caps the fees that these organizations can charge consumers, permits consumers to cancel the contract, requires the organization to prove a one-on-one education session with the consumer to go over managing household finances.”

Lybarker says the South Carolina Consumer Affairs regularly corresponds with consumer affairs agencies in other states to help police the marketplace to protect consumers from companies seeking to take advantage of their customers.

Lybarker says in these tough economic times more and more people are seeking credit counseling and that has lead to more activity from companies seeking to take advantage of consumers. “Most certainly since we’ve hit this recession, the amounts of persons in default on their credit cards is at a 20 year high. That means you have a  bunch of people seeking assistance with getting rid of that debt, paying that debt, so most certainly we are seeing more consumers seeking assistance with this financial hardship which also comes into play, business attempting to scam consumers that are in this vulnerable state.”

Lybarker says before contracting with a debt consolidation or credit counseling firm, consumers in the state should contact the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs first.

It’s three months from the governor’s race primaries and South Carolinians who are likely to take interest in the primary are not taking keen interest yet.

That’s according to national non-partisan pollster Scott Rasmussen, who Monday and Tuesday released new numbers on both Democrats and Republicans running for South Carolina governor.

Rasmussen says polling for both the Republican and Democratic primary show that both races are “very unformed. He says, “No clear front-runners and in fact, the leader of the pack on both sides is not sure. That means a long way to go until June 8, before we get a sense of who is likely to be the nominees.”

Rasmussen says 29 percent of likely Republican primary voters remain undecided. To avoid a runoff, a candidate needs to win 50% of the primary vote.

For the GOP,  he says, “Attorney General Henry McMaster has a slight lead–and I want to emphasize slight lead. Congressman Barrett, state Representative Nikki Haley and Lt. Gov. Bauer are all within 10 points of the lead. So it’s really a little bit of a toss-up when you have a multi-candidate field and all the candidates are within 10 points, it is very difficult to identify where the race might be headed.”

For the Democrats, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and State Senator Vincent Sheheen are tied at 16 percent apiece.  Rasmussen analyzes that by saying, “I tend to be cautious when I look at these numbers. Mainly because when the front-runners are at 16 percent and “not sure” is twice that at 37 percent, it’s hard to really say that somebody’s on top.”

Rasmussen says the numbers — for both parties– are abnormally low.

(Listen to Rasmussen’s analysis MP3 1:12)
Listen to Rasmussen’s analysis MP3 1:12

New Jersey-based Rasmussen Reports is an independent national public opinion company.

Superintendent of Education candidate Tom Thompson

A former Dean of South Carolina State University launched his bid for South Carolina Superintendent of Education Tuesday. Tom Thompson says he has a message he wants to get across: “If we in the public education system do the job that we are suppose to do with young people, then there will be no need for facilities like the Department of Juvenile Justice because if we are successful in educating them to their fullest potential, then they leave us with a greater sense of self-confidence, of accomplishment,” says Thompson.

Thompson annonced his bid right across from the Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Columbia.

Thompson is a career educator, beginning his career as a high school math teacher, then becoming a high school principal. He was an administrator at the Department of Education, and has led teams of educators at the University of South Carolina and South Carolina State University. He explains why he wants to run: “I know the educational system in South Carolina inside and out. I know the people: the teachers, the administrators. I connect with parents and I know how to connect to business and industry with parents and business and industry being a key part to moving the educational system in the state forward. I can, I think better than any of the other candidates, forge the kind of collaborations that are needed,” says Thompson.

If elected as superintendent, Thompson says what one of the first things he would do would be: “With the economic conditions, take a look at what we have for public education and determine what’s giving us the most return on our investments because we are in a climate where we can’t continue to try to do everything. We are making drastic cuts and it’s time to take a look at what are we doing that’s working, what are we doing that’s not working, what kind of changes do we need to make?” says Thompson.

Thompson says his campaign will also focus on how quality education can reduce crime and the need for incarceration.

In Senate subcommittee this week, legislators are holding hearings to fine-tune their ideas about prison sentencing reform. Chairman of the bi-partisan Sentencing Reform Commission Gerald Malloy says one topic up for discussion is how the state is incarcerating inmates without much thought of how much it cost to house them.

“We cannot build ourselves out of this problem. So, if we do nothing, then our prison population is going to increase another 3,000 some odd in the next five years. I think that the release is a crazy balancing scale. So, you have to make certain if you go down that road through governor, Department of Corrections, Legislature, or whatever, it’s a very slippery slope and you have to be very, very careful,” says Malloy.

Malloy says they aren’t taking away the severity of the more punishable crimes, they’re actually adding to it.

“There’s been a lot of changes. We’ve added 24 crimes to the violent crimes list. Addressing the issue, if you think, over time what happens is that if you have an issue of overcrowding, then someone files a lawsuit, then some court just comes in and says we have to release prisoners. What we’ve been a victim of over time is we have a hodge podge system, which is no system in itself,” says Malloy.

Malloy says there needs to be a balance and the system needs to weigh the crimes to cut back on the overcrowding.

“I think that 49 percent of the individuals that are incarcerated are in there for non-violent purposes. So, basically the drivers in the system are drug offenses, burglary two, then you have fraud and forgery and those kinds of things. But, the fourth driver is driving under suspension. Obviously, those people have to be punished but the problem is do you rather have someone arrested for driving under suspension or a child molester?” says Malloy.

Nearly $400 million of the state budget goes toward the Corrections Department, making it the fourth-largest system in the state budget.

It’s been almost a year since the state’s first outbreak of the H1N1 virus and in late winter the numbers are down in South Carolina.

But this novel strain of the flu has not gone away. State epidemiologist Jerry Gibson says because it is new, it is less predictable. But he is certain that it will resurge, but he is uncertain as to when.

(Ashley Byrd interview the Dr. Gibson MP3 2:53)
Dr. Gibson discusses Spring swine flu outlook MP3

Gibson says that the state, like the nation, has seen a drop on the regular seasonal flu as well. That happens – historically- when pandemic viruses occur.

It was last year at this time that students brought the swine flu back from Spring Break. There may be better news this year, says DHEC’s Gibson, because he says colleges have done what he calls a “pretty good job of protecting students.”

Vic Rawl in Columbia Monday

Vic Rawl, former state legislator, judge, prosecutor and current member of Charleston County Council opened his U.S. Senate campaign with a day-long tour Monday. Rawl began in North Charleston and then preceded to Columbia, where he held a press conference at the Democratic Party headquarters.  Rawl concluded his announcement with appearances at the Spartanburg and Greenville County Democratic Party Conventions Monday evening.

(Rawl in Columbia  MP3  3:14)
Rawl in Columbia

Rawl is contending for Republican Senator Jim Demint’s seat, vying for the Democratic nomination against Mike Ruckes of Summerville.

The 64-year-old Rawl grew up on John’s Island, graduated from the College of Charleston, and was an officer in the National Guard for 26 years, serving as a Judge Advocate. He retired as a Lt. Colonel. Rawl was in private law practice between 1973 and 1986. Rawl served eight years in the South Carolina House, and served as a Circuit Court Judge between 1991 and 2003. He served as Special Master to oversee cases resulting from the Graniteville train wreck. Rawl came out of retirement to serve on Charleston County Council in 2008.

Rawl said that the state and nation are facing almost insurmountable problems.  Rawl says he’s a strong capitalist but he disagrees with Senator Jim Demint’s position on free trade.

If you follow the theory out on free trade, you end up with one person owning it all.  That’s not the way I believe small business wants to function and I don’t believe that corporations believe it’s the way they should function.  If his definition of freedom is large, multi-national corporations to basically take it all, then I have a problem with his definition. 

Rawl said that the $3.7 million in Demint’s campaign coffers is more than he(Rawl) will have access to, but that the real issue is that he(Rawl) is not be beholden to Demint’s contributers.

Rawl says his campaign is about problem-solving, and that it’s time for political leaders to remember the golden rule and to work together.

Rawl says he believes in the health care bill.  He said that it’s a tremendous effort which can be amended as necessary, but that it’s important to get one in place. 

And Rawl says he believes in bipartisan support, which he says got him elected to the Statehouse four times.

State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex held an on-line meeting with South Carolina educators Monday to discuss current and pending budget cuts.

Rex says it’s the worst funding situation he has heard of. After this year’s cuts, the revenue will returned to the level where it was in 1995.

Rex says the positions of around 1400 teachers have already been cut out, as of this year, so that may ease the impact.  He says 113 positions have already been eliminated from the Department of Education’s administration.

If the budget goes through we could be talking about doubling that or even more.  At the Department of Education we’re taking a much larger percentage of cuts than the districts themselves.  Cuts have been about 45 percent over the last two years.  And historically, half of our staff on the state level are in the bus shops, to keep the state’s 6000 school buses moving.  It’s the oldest fleet in America, and it’s hard to reduce the number of bus mechanics.

The South Carolina House will begin budget debate next week, and discuss cutting $104 million dollars from state government, including education.

Monday’s meeting the fourth virtual faculty meeting which Rex has held since he has been in office.