Tag Archives: South Carolina

Columbia’s The State reports: A 15-year-old student at River Bluff High School says she was physically assaulted by a teacher for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Now her parents are suing Lexington School District One, Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait, River Bluff Principal Jacob Smith, River Bluff teacher Nicole Livingston and the S.C. Department of Education on her behalf. On …

Charleston’s CBS affiliate reports: North Charleston Police have charged a man with more than a dozen counts after investigating claims he had touched underage girls without their consent. Vernon Willis, 26, faces 13 counts of second-degree assault and battery, according to jail records. Police say detectives were able to identify 10 victims ranging in age from 13 to 16 years …

Myrtle Beach’s ABC affiliate reports: A new bill introduced in the South Carolina Statehouse could put the death penalty on the table for women who get an abortion. House Bill 3549 is an amendment to the South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act of 2023 and would define “person” to include an unborn child at any stage of development. This would …

The Columbia State reports: A Greenville woman was arrested earlier this week and charged with performing or soliciting an abortion. In October 2021, the then-33-year-old woman sought medical help at St. Francis Hospital after having labor pains, according to a Greenville Police Department incident report. A warrant for her arrest was signed in 2022, Greenville Police Sgt. Johnathan Brown said. …

Fox Business reports: South Carolina state Senator Stephen Goldfinch proposed a bill, dubbed the “Yankee tax,” that would require new residents to pay up to $500 to move to the Palmetto State. If passed by state referendum, new residents moving from out-of-state would be required to pay two one-time fees, $250 for new driver’s licenses and $250 for vehicle registrations. …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is a distant second in a South Carolina poll, far behind front runner Donald Trump when it comes to the preference of Palmetto State Republicans. The survey includes a pair of home state hopefuls. One was former Gov. Nikki Haley, who officially entered the 2024 presidential race this week. The other is U.S. Sen. …

The Hill reports: Nikki Haley, the newly minted Republican presidential candidate, called on Wednesday for mandatory “mental competency tests” for politicians over the age of 75, an implied dig at President Biden and her one-time boss, former President Donald Trump. Speaking at a rally in Charleston, S.C., kicking off her 2024 White House bid, Haley ran through a litany of …

The Hill reports: Former Vice President Pence is traveling to South Carolina on Monday amid increasing speculation that he’s eyeing a 2024 White House bid and following former President Trump’s visit to the state last month. Pence will visit with local law enforcement officials, including Chief Reggie Burgess, while in North Charleston and participate in a law enforcement roundtable, according …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: Cementing what has been in the works for months, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party’s 2024 ticket, The Post and Courier has learned. According to an invitation soon going out to her backers, Haley’s advertised “special announcement” …

Charlotte’s Fox affiliate reports: School lessons on slavery are taught nationwide in classrooms, but a South Carolina Representative proposed bill could change that. Dr. Jermaine Johnson wants to ban educators from teaching about slave owners in schools across the Palmetto state. He says he’s just trying to make a point. “Anybody that’s a slave owner, that includes George Washington, was …

Politico reports: Former President Donald Trump is planning to hold his first public campaign event of the year in South Carolina, in what aides are portraying as a first step into a more public phase of his 2024 White House run. Trump is slated to make an appearance in late January in Columbia, S.C. It will not be a rally, …

Charleston’s CBS affiliate reports: A South Carolina priest who served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston has been charged with federal sex crimes stemming from allegations that he abused an 11-year-old child. Jaime Adolfo Gonzalez-Farias, known in the church as “Father Gonzalez,” was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Miami. A recently unsealed indictment shows Gonzalez-Farias, 68, was …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: The state Supreme Court has thrown out South Carolina’s law that bans abortions at roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, calling it unconstitutional. In a 3-2 split decision, justices ruled that privacy rights inserted in the state constitution do extend to a woman’s right to an abortion. The Legislature has the authority to set …

Myrtle Beach’s CBS affiliate reports: Myrtle Beach Police are working to determine who emailed a bomb threat on Sunday that led to the evacuation of a drag show brunch at a popular Myrtle Beach restaurant. News13 received the email, which threatened to blow up the Mr. Fish Seafood Restaurant, at 11:50 a.m. Sunday and immediately notified Myrtle Beach police. In …

The Associated Press reports: Democrats voted Friday to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar and replace it with South Carolina starting in 2024, a dramatic shakeup championed by President Joe Biden to better reflect the party’s deeply diverse electorate. The Democratic National Committee’s rule-making arm made the move to strip Iowa from the position it …

South Carolina’s Post & Courier reports: Gov. Henry McMaster said he’d support South Carolina’s voided bans on same-sex marriage if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturned its 2015 ruling that guaranteed that right to gay couples nationwide. The statement came during the only debate between McMaster and his challenger, Democrat Joe Cunningham, as the governor made clear he still disagrees …

The Lexington County Chronicle reports: A former West Columbia youth pastor is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy for more than two years. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced Oct. 21 the arrest of Michael Paul Keech, 41, “charged with three second-degree counts and one third-degree count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16.” John Yorio, pastor …

The Greenville News reports: Hurricane Ian made its second U.S. landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, 2:05 p.m. Friday as a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Hurricane-force winds could be felt 70 miles from the center of the storm and tropical-storm-force winds could be felt as far as 275 miles from the center. Reports of damage …

USA Today reports: Ian strengthened back into a Category 1 hurricane late Thursday and was set to make landfall Friday afternoon on the coast of South Carolina before moving inland across the state and into North Carolina by Saturday. Heavy rains and tropical storm conditions had already reached the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas by Friday morning, where life-threatening …

Atlanta’s NBC affiliate reports: Ian regained hurricane strength late Thursday afternoon and became a minimal Category 1 hurricane. The storm, which left a trail of destruction after crossing the Florida peninsula, is now taking aim at South Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center. In its 5 p.m. EDT advisory, the hurricane center said that Ian had maximum sustained winds …