Red Cross Launches Preparedness Campaign in S.C.

The Red Cross is conducting a text-a-thon to launch a campaign called Prepare SC.

The goals of the campaign are to prepare South Carolinians for disasters and strengthen the capacity of the Red Cross to respond to those incidents.

The Red Cross hopes to double the number of people trained in preparedness to 38,000 and train 100,000 people in lifesaving skills.

The organization also hopes to increase volunteers and double capacity to distribute and serve meals.

The Red Cross asks everyone to join them in the effort to support the campaign by texting REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 or donate online.

The campaign comes on the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which destroyed 3,300 homes and heavily damaged 18,000 other during the Category 4 storm. South Carolina sustained the worst damage in the mainland U.S.

Gubernatorial Candidates Trade Accusations

As Election Day draws near and political rhetoric heats up, voters face a challenge determining what's true and what's distorted. Within just the past few days, the state GOP selectively pointed to passages in Sen. Vincent Sheheen's book to claim the Democratic nominee for governor is hiding a liberal tax-increase agenda, while Sheheen debuted an ad claiming Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed 4-year-old kindergarten.

On Thursday, state Republican Party Chairman Matt Moore said Sheheen's 2013 self-published book, titled "The Right Way," shows that "voters are in the dark on his vision for the state."

Moore pointed to a line in the book that says removing some sales tax exemptions, as a legislatively-created commission recommended in 2010, would raise an additional $600 million. But Moore left out the next line, which advocates using that broadened tax base to lower the state's overall sales tax, which Sheheen wrote is too high at 6 percent.

A day later, Sheheen released a TV ad criticizing Haley's pre-election-year budget vetoes to public education and accusing her of vetoing 4-year-old kindergarten, though she actually signed legislation expanding the program.

Over the last two years, Sheheen has successfully sought to expand the state's full-day kindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds to more school districts. Haley did not veto those budget items, despite the inference viewers might draw from his ad. And in June, she signed a bill that, among other things, eventually expands full-day 4K statewide.

The veto Sheheen is referring to targeted a bill reauthorizing and reforming First Steps, the agency tasked with boosting children's chances for success. Its duties include overseeing private providers in the 4K program. Haley's veto message said the agency needed further review. Legislators overwhelmingly overrode the veto.

The ad says Haley cut education while giving her own staff 25 percent raises. When Haley took office in 2011, she gave substantial raises to some staff, notably paying her chief of staff $27,000 more than Gov. Mark Sanford's, or $125,000. However, a reshuffling of duties reduced her staff and total payroll, The Associated Press determined at the time.

Haley did propose cutting education in previous years, including vetoing $10 million for teacher pay raises that Sheheen mentions in his ad. That veto also was overridden. Her 2012 budget plan would have decreased state funding to education, and her veto pen hit education programs hardest during her first three years.

But Sheheen's ad omits this year, when Haley announced a budget plan with more than $160 million in new spending on K-12 education. Legislators adopted the proposal and added to it in the 2014-15 budget.

Meanwhile, as Moore kicked off what he described as a campaign to inform the public, he took aim at multiple passages in Sheheen's book. Among them:

—Moore pointed to support for creating a "low, statewide property tax," without mentioning Sheheen first says in the book he wants to "abolish local property taxes for school operating expenses." That education funding idea has been introduced by Republicans in both the House and Senate since 2012, though those bills went nowhere.

—He accused Sheheen of wanting to "hike income taxes." What the book recommends is adjusting tax brackets so that middle-class taxpayers pay less and more residents pay something. His book notes that more than 40 percent of tax filers pay no state income tax. Moore doesn't mention that the book calls for lowering the industrial property tax rate for manufacturing and warehouses. Reducing that 10.5 percent rate could be done by eliminating income tax loopholes, Sheheen wrote.

—Moore criticized Sheheen's road and bridge work funding ideas, including an alternative fuel tax and increased license and registration fees. However, those are on a list the book says "deserve further study." Like Haley, Sheheen says he doesn't want to raise the state's 16-cents-per-gallon gas tax, which has remained unchanged since 1987. Independent candidate Tom Ervin faults both Sheheen and Haley for that, saying neither has a real plan for funding infrastructure. Haley has released no plan. She has said she'll do that in January.

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Clemson "Virtual Farm" Could Help Farmers in Calif. Drought

The “virtual farm” models that a Clemson University associate professor helped develop are taking on heightened importance this summer as California’s strawberry and raspberry growers cope with an unprecedented drought.

Lea Jenkins was part of a team sponsored by the American Institute of Mathematics that created models to help farmers in California’s Pajaro Valley make best use of their land and water. The research helped confirm for farmers that they needed to grow more raspberries to remain profitable, she said.

Lea Jenkins, associate math professor, works at her computer in Martin Hall.

Berry farming in California could have ripple effects across the nation. More than 2.3 billion pounds of strawberries were harvested from the state last year, amounting to 88 percent of the nation’s fresh and frozen strawberries, according to the California Strawberry Commission.

Jenkins said the models she helped develop could apply broadly beyond California and that she is looking for opportunities to use them in South Carolina. They could be used for farms of any size, she said.

Models included a number of factors, including costs, growing cycles and groundwater levels. Researchers worked with a farming cooperative of berry farmers in the Watsonville, California, area.

“I think we’ve hit upon the problem at just the right time while they’re undergoing drought,” Jenkins said. “They’ve been very interested in incorporating our suggestions.”

The research began at a sustainability workshop in 2011 when growers asked for help maintaining their livelihood while operating under irrigation limits. Water-use restrictions had been put in place to help the valley’s aquifer recover after decades of increased use and extended periods of drought.

Researchers simulated a 100-acre farm where a “virtual farmer” planted and moved crops under the constraints of various planting rules. The model computed profits and irrigation needs.

The results were used to evaluate strategies and suggest ways of maximizing profit, minimizing water use and minimizing the distance water has to be carried from its source to where it’s needed for irrigation.

Even after the drought subsides, the models could remain useful to the valley’s growers, Jenkins said.

“We’re trying to give them a long-range plan under varying precipitation scenarios and pricing strategies to help them figure out what to do for the next 10 to 15 years,” she said. “Even if the drought conditions ease, how can they manage their farm portfolios?”

The next step in the research is to fine-tune the models by trying out different farming scenarios and then asking farmers how the results are matching up with what they see in the fields.

Researchers are also hoping to help develop a network of basins that catch floodwater so that it can be channeled into the aquifer. Jenkins said the team can recommend ways of minimizing construction costs while still meeting the target rate of water that infiltrates the subsurface.

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Anderson Touchdown Club Announces Week 3 Winners

Anderson Touchdown Club Winners for Week #3

Coach: Doug Shaw, Jr., Palmetto

Co-Offensive: Uriah Oliver, BHP

Defensive: Brandon Burger, Powdersville

Co-Offensive: Gunnar Teachman, Palmetto

Lineman: Austin Anderson, Wren

S.C. Gets $5 from Obamacare for Primary Care Centers

South Carolina is receiving almost $5 million under the federal Affordable Care Act to expand primary care health care centers in 17 communities.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn announced the grants Friday.

Clyburn says the grants will help the centers hire staff, expand operating hours and add such things as dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision services.

The Democratic lawmaker says he's pleased the state received the grants despite South Carolina's decision not to accept almost $12 billion in new revenue by expanding Medicaid.

The centers receiving the funds include health clinics in Greenwood, Hartsville, Lancaster, Okatie and Rock Hill.

Other centers receiving the money are in Clemson, Columbia, Conway, Florence, Little River and Orangeburg. In addition, centers in Clearwater, Fairfax, Greenville, Jefferson, McClellanville and Sumter are receiving funds.

Anderson Jobless Rate Jumps to 6.3 Percent; Statewide Rate 6.4

Anderson County's unemployment rate jumped to 6.3 percent in August, up from 5.7 in July. While the number has steadily risen since April for the county, only four counties have lower jobless rates than Anderson.

State officials say South Carolina's unemployment rate rose again in August to 6.4 percent, putting South Carolina back above the national jobless rate.

The Department of Employment and Workforce said Friday the rate rose by six-tenths of a percentage point. It marked the second consecutive increase after three months without change.

The national jobless rate declined slightly to 6.1 percent.

South Carolina's adjusted rate was 5.8 percent in July, after being down to 5.3 percent since April. Federal officials say South Carolina's August jump was the country's largest month-to-month increase. But South Carolina's rate is still better than 19 other states and the District of Columbia.

Bill Would Require Civics Courses in S.C. Schools

Can you name your representative to Congress? Give the title of our national anthem? Name who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Those are among the 100 questions on a civics test given to those seeking citizenship that a group led by three former South Carolina governors wants to ask S.C. high school students to take.

The group announced Wednesday – on the 227th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution - they are seeking legislation to offer the test to state high school students and those studying general education development (GED).

Taking the test would not be mandatory under the legislation. And passage of the test would not be required. But those scoring 60 or more on the test would get credit to their final grade point average, organizers said.

According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, only about one-third of Americans can name the three branches of the United States government, organizers of the S.C. effort say. In Oklahoma and Arizona, studies of high school students showed less than a 4 percent passage rate on the Unites States Citizenship Civics test – the test all immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship must pass.

"It is absolutely critical that all South Carolina students have a sound knowledge of civics," said Dick Riley, a former governor and U.S. Secretary of Education from 1993-2001. "This is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue."

The civics test initiative also was announced in six other states: Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Dakota and Utah.

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Autism Services to Cost S.C. Medicaid Millions

Gov. Nikki Haley's top health care adviser agrees that South Carolina should comply with a new federal rule that requires Medicaid to cover autism services for children. How many millions of dollars this will cost the state and exactly when children may start receiving the therapy are still unclear.

An estimated 9,000 children enrolled in the South Carolina Medicaid program fall on the autism spectrum and may qualify for services under the new federal rule.

To date, most of them have received little or no treatment for their symptoms, which may include difficulty communicating, trouble making eye contact, obsessive tendencies and emotional outbursts. Experts know that the autism spectrum disorders affect the way a child's brain works before birth, but they don't completely understand the disorders' origins, which may be genetic and environmental. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate one in 68 children are autistic - more than double the rate in 2000. The disorders are nearly five times more common in boys.

When South Carolina starts covering autism therapy for children enrolled in its low-income Medicaid program - probably within 12 months - the agency projects it may cost "well over $100 million" every year. That's money Medicaid Director Tony Keck says is worth spending, even though he's concerned that there are too few providers to meet this new need and he contests the way the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services changed its existing policy in July.

"We believe that our first dollars spent need to be on services to support individuals living with disabilities," said Keck, a member of Haley's Cabinet. "We don't agree with getting letters from CMS changing interpretations and unilaterally telling us to spend ... millions of dollars."

The new rule requires Medicaid to cover behavioral therapy for children with an autism disorder. That includes an effective, but expensive treatment called "applied behavioral analysis," which research has shown improves symptoms, especially when it's offered to young children. The intense therapy teaches them simple but useful lifelong skills - habits like talking to other children, sharing, using the toilet and setting a table.

"It is really the only therapy that has been proven to dramatically improve symptoms of autism," said Laura Carpenter, a Medical University of South Carolina psychologist. Applied behavioral analysis costs more than $10,000 per child per year and requires up to 40 hours of therapy each week.

Many states, including South Carolina, are not yet complying with the new rule, but most are discussing how they should proceed, said Andrea Maresca, the director of federal policy and strategy for the National Association of Medicaid Directors. "They are raising very significant concerns about cost."

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S.C. Club for Growth Endorses First Democrat

The conservative South Carolina Club for Growth has made its first endorsement of a Democrat seeking statewide office, backing Ginny Deerin over Republican incumbent Mark Hammond for Secretary of State.

S.C. Club for Growth Chairman Dave Ellison said Deerin, of Charleston, has pledged to cut the office's budget, fees and regulations, which "compellingly aligns with our commitment to fiscal conservatism."

He also charged that Hammond has let the office "become a bloated bureaucracy that wastes taxpayers' money and makes doing business in our state more cumbersome for South Carolina companies and charities."

Club for Growth operates nationwide and supports limited growth and the spread of efficiency in government.

Deerin said she was honored by the endorsement. "It is a big deal and feels great," said Deerin, who said she previously met with several members of the group's board. "I think I got their attention early on."

In the past, Club for Growth has gotten involved in political races through mail pieces, television ads and other public candidate support messages.

Hammond responded to the endorsement by saying it "lacked authenticity." He disputed their claim that the office is as difficult to deal with as the political rhetoric alleges.

"It's those taxpayers, who make South Carolina one of the top five charitable states in America, and for whom I find it so surprising that Club for Growth has endorsed its first liberal Democrat for an office of accountability - a candidate who would prefer abdicating the oversight and accountability of charities in this state to the Lois Lerners of the world at the IRS," his statement read in part.

Chicago Trib: S.C. Pathetic Soap Operas Continues

As a South Carolinian, it befalls me to examine the peculiarities afflicting our former governor and now-congressman, Mark Sanford, who, contrary to decorum and taste, continues to demand attention.

Yes, that Mark Sanford — the erstwhile Appalachian Trail wanderer who in 2009 found himself not out hiking, as his gubernatorial staff had reported, but befuddled and besotted in Argentina with his longtime soul mate, Maria Belen Chapur.

A combo more frat house than state house, they are the new fine-feathered fellows in the aviary of flighty men.- Kathleen Parker

 

Fast forward through a tearful news conference, during which Sanford all but plummeted to a fainting couch confessing his infidelity; through his high-profile separation from his wife, Jenny; then next to his mysterious re-election to the congressional seat he held prior to becoming governor and . . . wait, fire the writer!

Not even a credulous soap opera viewer would buy a tale so tawdry and ridiculous. Not only is it not credible, it's pathetic. Moreover, leading men do not long hold an audience after they cry over themselves.

These events also remind us of two tropes in no danger of dismissal: Love is a form of temporary insanity; and anti-secessionist James Petigru's 1860 assessment of his state as "too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum."

Fast forward again to a few days ago. Sanford, apparently finding unbearable his irrelevance and growing obscurity, decided to drop his manly charade and write a torturously long Facebook entry in which, among other true confessions, he announced the end of his engagement to Chapur.

"Dice que?" asked Chapur from Paris, where she had just spent a honeymoon-ish few days with Sanford.

Chapur knew they were no longer engaged, but she didn't know that Sanford had announced it on Facebook until, like President Barack Obama's occasional receipt of awful news, she heard it from the media. In Paris, Chapur had hoped for a wedding date but was offered instead another two-year engagement — in light of which, one wonders what ever attracted at least two women to Sanford, whose charms remain elusive.

In his global missive, Sanford explained that he simply couldn't drag Chapur through any more of this nasty business with his wife (oh, he noticed?), which recently included a request that Sanford submit to a psychological examination before he is allowed to spend time with their youngest son, now 16.

This request is doubtless difficult for Sanford but under the circumstances is hardly misplaced. Come to think of it, a state Department of Psychological Welfare might not be wasted.

"What is it about South Carolina?" is a question I'm frequently asked. From the former governor's mindless meanderings to the recent assault of the reality show "Southern Charm," starring former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, this baffling state seems determined to magnify the man-child.

With such public exemplars as Sanford and Ravenel, something, indeed, seems aloft: a shift away from the Southern stereotypes the national media love to exploit to a proud narcissism that knows no shame.

Traditionally, South Carolina has been stubbornly defiant, bellicosely belligerent and heartbreakingly wounded by the humiliation imposed by its invasion and conquest. Now that everyone suddenly loves South Carolina — at least its beaches, its plantations and its crown jewel, Charleston — the natives are busting to pirouette on a pedestal. Add to these sudden tendencies the pestilential narcissism that breeds in social media like "skeeters" in the Lowcountry marshes and you've got the Sanford & Ravenel Show.

A combo more frat house than state house, they are the new fine-feathered fellows in the aviary of flighty men.

Ravenel, who comes from an old, well-regarded Charleston family and made a fortune on his own, is inexplicably trying to unseat the soon-to-be venerable Sen. Lindsey Graham. (He isn't quite old enough yet.) Ravenel doesn't stand a chance of winning because, among other things, he's not a serious person. Just watch the show, if you can stand it.

And then there's that thing about Ravenel serving 10 months in prison after a drug conviction.

Thus one wonders, why run? The answer can only be to try to fill that bottomless trough of narcissistic need.

I have a better idea for these two that rids the public of a nuisance and also might satisfy them. Put the two of them in a house together, get the cameras rolling and document their bro-ish exploits. Call this one "Southern Smarm." Or, better yet, "Gamecocks."

Scotland Votes to Stay in UK

Scotland spurned independence in a historic referendum that threatened to rip the United Kingdom apart, sow financial turmoil and diminish Britain’s remaining global clout.

A vote for the 307-year union is a relief for millions of Britons including Prime Minister David Cameron, whose job was on the line, as well as allies across the world who were horrified at the prospect of the United Kingdom's separation.

Opponents of independence won 55 percent of the vote while separatists won 45 percent with all 3.6 million votes - a record 85 percent turnout - counted. But leaders from across the United Kingdom said the union must change if it is to endure.

Unionists cheered, kissed and drank wine and beer in Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city where secessionists won, while nationalist leader Alex Salmond conceded defeat in Edinburgh, which supported the United Kingdom.

Cameron said the question of Scottish independence had been settled for a generation.

"There can be no disputes, no re-runs, we have heard the settled will of the Scottish people," he said outside his official London residence in Downing Street.

Queen Elizabeth II, who is at her Scottish castle in Balmoral, is expected to make a rare comment on Friday.

The campaign for independence had electrified this country of 5.3 million but also divided the passions of friends and families from the remote Scottish islands of the Atlantic to the tough city estates of Glasgow.

Sterling strengthened sharply against the dollar and the euro on the result. British bonds and shares rose while major British companies with Scottish exposure welcomed the decision.

Royal Bank of Scotland said it had scrapped plans to move its registered office to England.

Speaking in front of an image of a giant white on blue Scottish flag, Salmond laced his admission of defeat with a warning to British politicians in London that they must respect their last minute promise of more powers for Scotland.

"Scotland has by a majority decided not, at this stage, to become an independent country. I accept that verdict of the people and I call on all of Scotland to follow suit in accepting the democratic verdict of the people of Scotland," Salmond said.

"Scotland will expect these to be honored in rapid course," said Scotland's first minister before walking off the stage, his head bowed.

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WYFF: AU Student Hit in Crosswalk, Injuries Minor

A female student was crossing the street on an Upstate university campus when she was struck by a carAnderson University Boulevard Crosswalk is Confusing. Photo WYFFWednesday night, according to the Anderson Police Department.

The student was walking back from Anderson University toward the dorms when she was struck by a car while crossing Boulevard, officers said.

According to officers, the student was crossing the street in a crosswalk that has signs and lights on it. A car traveling north stopped to allow students to cross. While they were crossing, a car traveling south did not stop and struck the student.

The student was transported to AnMed Health with non-life-threatening injuries, officers said.

According to officers, the driver of the car stopped and charges are pending while the accident is investigated.

Scotland Votes on Independence Today

Voters from across Scotland streamed into polling places Thursday to have their say in a historic referendum that could create the world’s newest independent nation, while breaking up one of the West’s oldest and most consequential political unions.

With polls showing an exceptionally tight contest, the pro-breakaway nationalists and the status quo unionist made frenzied appeals that extended right up to the moment voters cast ballots.

"Today you hold Scotland's future in your hands,” read a leaflet that 50-year-old “yes” campaigner Ivan Mckee was passing out to fellow Scots as they stepped into a community center in the heart of Glasgow.

“We think we are going to win,” Mckee said, noting momentum toward “yes” that has been reflected in the polls.“We have been working at this for two years, and it’s all paying off now.”

But the first vote at the center was a “no.”

“I think England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be united,” said Manoj Narra, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who only made up his mind last week. But he was so excited for the vote that he was up at 4 a.m. — three hours before polls opened — and was at the front of the line.

By the time voting ends at 10 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT), analysts say nearly the whole of Scotland will have voted — or at least nearly all those who meet the referendum’s criteria of being 16 or older with Scottish residency.

Officials expect returns to trickle in throughout the night, with some of the estimated four million ballots arriving from remote isles by ship or helicopter. A final result is due by around dawn on Friday, or after midnight in the Eastern United States.

The vote is being closely watched around the world, not least in Washington, where President Obama late Wednesday tweeted his support for the United Kingdom, which has long been Washington’s closest and most important ally.

“I hope it remains strong, robust and united,” read the tweet, which was signed “bo.”

Nationalists, meanwhile, received a last-minute boost from tennis star Andy Murray, who is originally from Scotland and had been on the fence for months. He tweeted Wednesday night that he had been swayed to “yes” by “no campaign negativity.”

The referendum presents Scots with a simple yet profound choice between retaining their dual identity as both Scottish and British, or dropping the British part after three centuries of political union.

The implications of independence are vast — both for Scotland and for the remnants of the United Kingdom that would be left behind.

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