Serious Boxwood Blight Discovered in S.C.

Just as homeowners prepare for spring, boxwood blight, a fungal disease that can devastate the familiar shrub, has been found for the first time in South Carolina, according to officials with the Department of Plant Industry (DPI) at Clemson University.

The fungus, Cylindrocladium buxicola, was discovered by landscapers near Florence where it had likely been present for several years, said Steven Long, DPI assistant department head.

Boxwood blight attacks the above-ground portions of boxwoods, not the roots. It starts with light or dark brown spots or lesions on infected leaves, but can spread to all foliage and cause the leaves to drop.

It is not a “pest of concern” in South Carolina and therefore is not regulated outside of commercial nurseries. However, it is extremely detrimental to many types of boxwoods and almost always requires plant removal and extensive environmental cleanup, Long said.

“Boxwood blight has not been found in any production nurseries in South Carolina,” he said. “Tracebacks have revealed that the disease most likely hitchhiked here on infested nursery stock from out-of-state nurseries.”

Clemson Extension agents have been advised to be on the lookout for the new disease and to teach landowners and landscapers ways to reduce its spread. DPI has posted a website with updated information about it.

Kasich: I Could Gain Nomination Without Delegate Count

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has staked his Republican presidential campaign on the upcoming contests in the Midwest, said on Monday he would not need a lead in the delegate count before his party's convention to win the nomination, according to media reports.

"In order to be the nominee, you have to have a certain number of votes," Kasich said after a town hall in Monroe, Michigan, which holds its presidential primary on Tuesday.

"You’ve got to win. You don’t just say, 'Well, I have more than anybody else, therefore I’m in,'" Kasich said, according to the Washington Post.

Kasich, who is rising in some opinion polls to compete with Ted Cruz for second place in Michigan's Republican primary, has embraced the idea of a brokered convention to choose the nominee if no one gets a majority of delegates in the nominating contests for the Nov. 8 election.

Beatty Would Be Second Black Justice Since Reconstrution

The state Supreme Court's senior associate justice is the only person running for the court's top job.

A statement Monday from the Judicial Merit Selection Commission shows Don Beatty of Spartanburg is the only person running for chief justice. Republicans had sought another candidate.

Beatty would become South Carolina's second black chief justice since Reconstruction. However, President Barack Obama nominated Beatty last month to be a federal judge.

State lawmakers will elect a new chief justice in May to replace Costa Pleicones (Pluh-KOH-nus). He must retire Dec. 31 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72.

Beatty has been on the state's high court since 2007.

Legislators first elected Beatty a circuit court judge in 1995, after he served five years in the state House as a Democrat.

Cancer Association Birthday Event Set for Thursday

The Cancer Association of Anderson will celebrate the organization's 13th birthday with a party & verandah sale Thursday from 10 a.m.-noon.

The office is located at 215 East Calhoun Street.

The group is asking the community to donate the following to help patients in our area who are fighting cancer: 

Postage stamps (letter and postcard); white and color copy paper, gift cards for Office Depot or Staples; gas cards for patient transportation; bottled water and canned diet sodas; Boost and Ensure; toilet paper, paper towels; liquid soap and dishwashing liquid. 

Financial donations can be mailed or made at the website: www.cancerassociationanderson.org

Names will be placed on the Wall of Hope and Remembrance Ceremony during the event. For more information, call 864-222-3500. 

New S.C. Body Camera Rules Today

The deadline for South Carolina police agencies to submit rules for body cameras to the state's Law Enforcement Training Council is here.

The State newspaper in Columbia reports (http://bit.ly/1ROgEgb) that Monday is the deadline for the new rules.

Each agency's policy must address issues such as who is required to wear a camera, when the camera should be activated and how long footage is stored. Policies should comply with minimum standards set by the training council.

A spokeswoman for the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy says the council has approved polices for between 150 and 175 agencies out of about 320 in the state. Maj. Florence McCants says the academy will help agencies that don't meet the deadline.

Agencies are not required to purchase cameras until they have funding.

GOP Looks for Ways to Stop Trump

Republicans desperate to stop Donald Trump from capturing the party's presidential nomination are wrestling with whether to unite behind Ted Cruz, a polarizing figure popular with the conservative Tea Party movement.

Cruz, 45, a U.S. senator from Texas, won nominating contests in Kansas and Maine on Saturday, bolstering his argument that he is the leading alternative to Trump, 69, the blunt-spoken billionaire businessman.

Mainstream Republicans are unhappy with Trump's calls to build a wall on the border with Mexico, deport 11 million illegal immigrants and temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the United States.

Many establishment Republicans are reluctant, however, to rally behind Cruz, whom they see as too conservative for the general electorate in the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.

Cruz has run as an outsider bent on shaking up the Republican establishment in Washington. A favorite of evangelicals, he has called for the United States to "carpet bomb" the Islamic State militant group and has pledged to eliminate the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service and four Cabinet agencies.

But he angered many Republican colleagues when he led the call in 2013 for a standoff in the U.S. Congress that led to a 16-day shutdown of the federal government. 

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said Cruz had not yet shown an ability to appeal beyond the most conservative voters.

"The way things are going, I think it's extraordinarily unlikely that Senator Cruz becomes the focal point for Republicans who want to stop Trump," said Newhouse, who was lead pollster for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Full Story Here

Clinton, Sanders Get Tough in Debate

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held a fierce and substantive debate in Flint, Michigan, on Sunday night, disagreeing over trade, guns and the auto industry bailout while joining forces to call for the resignation of state governor Rick Snyder over the city’s water contamination crisis.

Shortly after they took the stage, the Associated Press announced that Sanders had won the Democratic caucuses in Maine, his eighth victory in the 2016 presidential primary race. In a statement, the leftwing Vermont senator thanked Maine’s voters and claimed “momentum” heading into Tuesday’s primaries in Michigan and Mississippi.

Onstage he and the former secretary of state had one of their sharpest exchanges yet when they were asked by a member of the audience about trade and job creation, an issue Sanders had been attacking Clinton over in the lead-up to the debate.

“Secretary Clinton supported virtually every one of the disastrous trade agreements written by corporate America,” Sanders said.

“He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry,” Clinton replied. “I think that is a pretty big difference.”

“If you are talking about the Wall Street bailout, where some of your friends destroyed this economy … ” Sanders began.

“You know…” Clinton interjected, before Sanders cut her off: “Excuse me, I’m talking,” he said, dismissing her with his hand.

Sanders repeatedly attacked Clinton’s past support for international trade agreements, an issue he is attempting to use against her in Michigan in order to win blue-collar votes in the rust-belt industrial state.

“I am very glad … Secretary Clinton has discovered religion on this issue,” Sanders said, referring to her position on trade. “We’ve lost 60,000 factories since 2001, they’re going to start having to — if I’m president — invest in this country, not in China, not in Mexico.”

The candidates began the debate by addressing the city’s toxic water crisis. Sanders recalled his meetings with residents: “I have to tell you what I heard, and what I saw literally shattered me. And it was beyond belief that children in Flint, Michigan, in the United States of America in the year 2016 are being poisoned.”

Clinton, who spotlighted the issue in an earlier debate, reminded the CNN audience that she had pushed the Democratic National Committee to host a debate in Flint.

“It is raining lead in Flint, and the state is derelict in not coming forward with the money that is required,” Clinton said, joining Sanders for the first time in calling for the governor to “resign or be recalled."

full Story Here

Duke Nuclear Plant Reports Transformer Fire

A transformer at a nuclear power plant in South Carolina caught fire on Sunday, burning for about 30 minutes, but no nuclear material was in danger of being released, a local television station reported.

Citing Oconee County fire officials, Greenville, South Carolina-based WYFF-TV reported that Unit 1 at the Oconee Nuclear Station was shut down as a precaution. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The fire did not lead to any evacuations, the station reported, citing Scott Krein, director of the Oconee County Emergency Management agency. Krein added there was no threat to the public from the fire.

The plant is owned by Duke Energy, which will report the fire as an "unusual event," the lowest classification of emergency at a nuclear station, the station reported.

Daylight Savings Time Begins Next Weekend

It’s that time of year again. Next weekend, you’ll sacrifice an hour of sleep in exchange for a few months of extra daylight. You will set your clocks ahead one hour forward because Daylight Saving Time officially starts at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

It ends the first Sunday in November.

Daylight Saving Time is also a great time to check the things that keep us safe and ready for emergencies. The date is also a good time to to check these items:

Smoke Detectors: Nearly 2,700 people die and more than 15,000 are injured each year because of fires that started in their homes. Now is the time to check and replace batteries if needed and make sure the devices around your house are working properly. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates that about 16 million homes in the country have smoke alarms that do not work. In most cases, the batteries are dead or missing. This is a great time to put fresh batteries in your smoke detector. You should also replace the entire smoke alarm unit every 8 to 10 years.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Just last month, 30 people were checked and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning when the gas filled a Park Falls movie theater. In December, several people became ill in a Wisconsin Dells ice arena due to a malfunctioning ice resurface machine. According to the Centers for Disease Control, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States with more than 200 killed each year from overexposure to the gas. Never use gas or charcoal grills inside your home or an unventilated garage. Make sure you have CO Detectors and they are working. Now is also a good time to check and replace batteries in those units.

Emergency Kits: Daylight Savings Time is a perfect time to get a kit and if you already have a kit, check to make sure food and other items are not near or past their expiration dates. You should have supplies to last you and your family for at least three days. Other items like a battery powered or crank radio, flashlights, first aid kit should also be included.

Emergency NOAA Weather Radio: Spring brings the threat of tornadoes and severe weather. Make sure you have an emergency weather radio. It’s like having a tornado siren in your home. When it goes off, go to a safe place. Listen, Act and Live!

For more tips on how to prepare you and your family, please go to our website:readywisconsin.wi.gov. You’ll find great information on how to get a kit and make a plan when disaster strikes.

Other tidbits about daylight saving time:

• Benjamin Franklin first thought up the idea of daylight saving in 1784. It wasn’t instituted until World War I, when it went into effect to save energy used for lights.
• The Standard Time Act established time zones and daylight saving in 1918, but it was short-lived. Daylight saving was repealed the following year.
• The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States and gave states the option to exempt themselves. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow Daylight Saving Time. Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa also skip out on the clock-changing fun.
• In 1974 and 1975, Congress extended daylight saving to save energy during the energy crisis.
• In 2007, Daylight Saving got a few weeks longer, running from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
• About 70 countries around the world observe daylight saving, but many countries near the equator do not.
• It’s not universally popular, though. Farmers note that their livestock don’t live by a clock, and complain that they have to adjust their working hours to deal with the animals. Also, any parent will tell you — babies don’t quite get it either.

Christian Fiction Writers to Meet March 26

The South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers will meet March 26 from 2-5 p.m. at North Anderson Baptist Church. The meeting is free and the public is invited.

The meeting will feature author and blogger Edie Melson who will lead a free class  who leads a free class on "Tips & Tricks to Get More From Attending a Writing Conference." A manuscript critique session for members and visitors who have attended at least one critique session wil follow. Submissions must follow the critique and format guidelines listed on the chapter blog at http://www.scwritersacfw.com. Up to 1,500 words can be critiqued of fiction or nonfiction, but not poetry. All visitors are welcome to sit in the critique sessions and offer feedback. 

Melson is a prolific writer with years of experience in the publishing industry. Her daily blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands of writers each month. She’s the director of the  annual Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference held at Ridgecrest, N.C. in May; the social media director for Southern Writers Magazine; and the Senior Editor at Novel Rocket. You can connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.    

Visitors are encouraged to come early, especially if they bring a critique piece to be registered, and to park on the side of the church with the long handicap ramp behind the small white house which is the church office.

For more information about the premier national organization for Christian writers,visit www.acfw.com. For more information about the meeting contact Elva Cobb Martin, SC Chapter President, at elvacmartin@gmail.com or 864/226-7024.

Utilities Improper Water Testing Puts Millions at Risk

Water utilities in some of the largest cities in the US that collectively serve some 12 million people have used tests that downplay the amount of lead contamination found in drinking water for more than a decade, a Guardian analysis of testing protocols reveals.

In the tests, utilities ask customers who sample their home’s water for lead to remove the faucet’s aerator screen and to flush lines hours before tests, potentially flushing out detectable lead contamination. The distorted tests, condemned by the Environmental Protection Agency, have taken place in cities including Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio. The improper screening could decrease the chance of detecting potentially dangerous levels of lead in water, the EPA has said.

The analysis comes on the heels of an EPA letter, which repeated earlier warnings to utilities not to use such methods, and Guardian reporting that revealed water customers in “every major US city east of the Mississippi” could be drinking water tested using questionable methods.

“It’s a staggering number, and it’s alarming and upsetting to hear,” said Yanna Lambrinidou, a Virginia Tech professor in the civil engineering department, about the number of Americans potentially affected by the tests. Lambrinidou is also an activist who has worked with the scientist Marc Edwards, who helped uncover Flint, Michigan’s lead-tainted water crisis. 

“At the same time, it’s why we’ve been working as long and as hard we’ve been working on this issue – because we have suspected as much.” 

An estimated 96 million Americans live with lead service lines – pipes that carry water from mains to meters. Lead lines are one of the most serious risk factors affecting the amount of lead in water that pours from the tap. 

The requirement to test for lead in water dates to 1991, when the Safe Drinking Water Act issued a new mandate called the Lead and Copper Rule.

Full Story Here

Clemson Study to Measure S.C. River Basins Water

South Carolina officials want a better idea of how much water is in the state's river basins at any one time.

And state agencies are working with Clemson University and a private contractor to do just that.

The Post and Courier reports (http://bit.ly/1Ti0hMk) the idea is to come up with a computer model showing how much water is in a river basin and what would happen if various amounts of water are taken out.

Such information could help regulators in everything from managing water during a drought to deciding whether to issue water-use permits.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control reports that almost 970 billion gallons of water was removed from the state's rivers in 2014. But much was for cooling power plants and the water was quickly returned.

S.C. to Tighten Guidelines for Some Food Stamp Recipeints

Some food stamp recipients in South Carolina could lose their assistance, when new guidelines go into effect April 1.

Beginning that day, the department of social services will institute new work requirements for people getting the government assistance for anyone between the ages of 18-49, with no children or other dependents.

Those recipients must work, volunteer or attend education or job-training courses at least 80 hours a month to receive food assistance, or their benefits will be cut off after three months.

Those who lose benefits due to failing to meet the new requirements will be allowed to in 2019.