Clemson Research Could Predict Future Illnesses in Newborns

Imagine if a DNA sample was taken from every newborn baby to determine what illnesses they were most at risk for.

A Clemson University professor said that will become a reality sooner rather than later.  Scientists there are leading the way in personalized medicine research. Dr. Emil Alexov recently got back from leading a national conference on this research topic last week.

He said if DNA testing for all newborns becomes a reality, it could save lives every day.

"If I know what the defect is and there is a medicine that can reduce the effect of the disease then of course it will be prescribed,” said Alexov.

Alexov said the DNA testing will help parents plan accordingly for their child with medication or a specialized diet.  That's only if they want to know the results.

“The person would be given a choice:  Do you want to know your DNA?  Do you want to know your risks of getting sick or not?” said Alexov.

Once you know what sorts of DNA defects threaten your life, Alexov said people can make all sorts of changes.

“This is a balance of many factors.  Our DNA, what is our lifestyle, do we exercise, do we drink water enough, and what is our environment?" said Alexov.

Clemson students said a better understanding of DNA defects will lead to better preventative practices.

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Moses Holland, Manley McClure to Join Anderson HOF in October

The Anderson County Museum (ACM) Advisory Committee announced today that Moses Holland and Manley McClure will be inducted as the 2014 Hall of Fame Class. There will be a ceremony and reception held in their honor at the Museum on October 14 at 6 p.m. The reception and ceremony are free and open to the public.
 
"Since 2003 the Museum has inducted 28 deserving individuals into the ACM Hall of Fame in recognition of Rev. Moses Hollandtheir accomplishments and contributions to Anderson County and South Carolina," said Executive Director Beverly Childs. "Later in evening the Museum will also honor a special contemporary individual who continues to be instrumental in many aspects of the Museum."
 
Reverend Moses Holland (1758-1829) was a leading citizen of Anderson County in its earliest days. Born on November 17, 1758 in Culpepper County, Virginia, Holland served in the Revolutionary War and was present at Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in 1781.
Around 1787 Holland relocated to South Carolina with his wife Mary E. Barton and two young children. They settled by the Saluda River in what became the upper part of Anderson County.
 
A devout Christian, Holland became involved in the local Baptist ministry. In 1788 he founded Big Creek Baptist Church and was ordained as its first pastor. In 1803 Holland was one of the founders of the Saluda Baptist Association, an organization which still exists today. At his death on September 8, 1829 he was still the pastor of Big Creek Baptist Church and is buried in the church cemetery near the town of Williamston.
Moses Holland was greatly assisted in his work by having married two devout Christian women. His first wife Mary, with whom he had six children, died about 1812. He next married Miss Grace King, sister of another local Baptist minister. This union also produced six children. Anderson County is still home to many Holland descendants.
An innovative and forward-thinking agriculturist, Manley "Doc" McClure (1900-1977) contributed much to Anderson County and South Carolina. He began his farming career in 1921 as a tenant farmer in the Williford School Community. By 1953 his work had earned him the title of Master Farmer from Progressive Farmer magazine. He was honored for his ability to utilize his land to the best advantage, blending the scientific approach with good judgment.
 
McClure introduced many improvements in farming to our area that led to the transformation of the region's agriculture. He practiced soil conservation and recognized the importance of diversification well before it became common practice. Although his farm had concentrated on row crops, he brought in purebred Hereford beef cattle and developed a year-round grazing program for them. This resulted in top-quality beef cattle and led to Anderson County becoming the leading producer of beef cattle in the state. McClure was co-founder of the Anderson County Cattlemen's Association and a leader in promoting the development of commercial feed lots as well as a state-of-the art livestock marketing facility.
 
Agricultural education was important to Manley McClure as well. He served as chairman of Anderson County School District Five's Agricultural Education Advisory Council and worked with the Anderson Young Farmers Association to begin the Tri-State Horse Show, which drew over 300 entries in its first year. Profits went to scholarships for area students studying agriculture. The FFA (Future Farmers Association) received his support on the local, state and national levels.
 
McClure was active in other community organizations and served as Elder at Central Presbyterian Church. A particular project he led was the restoration of the historic Providence United Methodist Church and cemetery in the Roberts Community. Manley McClure married Sally Williford, a farmer's daughter herself, and had one daughter. Mr. McClure passed away on July 18, 1977. The McClures' grandson, Mac McGee, was an FFA scholar and earned a degree in animal science. He and his family continue to operate the family farm, now called the Double M Farm. They still specialize in grass-fed beef production.
 
Applications are now available for the 2015 Hall of Fame at the ACM or on the ACM Website www.andersoncountymuseum.org. The Anderson County Museum is at 202 East Greenville Street, in downtown Anderson. The Fred Whitten Gallery and ACM Gallery Emporium store hours are Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Research Room is open 1 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays and by appointment with the Curator. ACM is handicap accessible and admission is free. Donations are always welcome. For more information, contact the Museum at (864) 260-4737.

Dist. 5 to Discuss One-Percent Tax at Monday Meeting

Anderson School District Five will look at the one-perent sales tax for schools as part of the agenda for their meeting Monday at 6:30 in the board room of the distric office.

Assessment updates and personnel matters are also on the agenda.

Lowcountry VA to Split $7 Million to Aid Homeless Vets

The Veterans Affairs Administration is awarding $2 million to seven counties in the South Carolina Lowcountry to assist homeless veterans.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald announced Friday the money will go to Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Beaufort counties. The money will also help veterans in Hampton, Jasper and Colleton counties.

The money will serve veteran families who are working with One-Eighty Place, formerly known as Crisis Ministries, which is one of more than 300 community agencies nationwide that works with a VA program called Supportive Services for Veteran Families.

President Barack Obama has set a goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015.

State: S.C. Now has Stiffer Penalties for Animal Cruelty

The State newspaper is reporting that stricter legislation means those who hurt or neglect animals now face general sessions court plus heftier fines and penalties. But local court officials say so far, the changes haven’t had much of an effect on their caseload.

Earlier this year, state legislators tweaked the cruelty to animals statute to provide stiffer penalties. A first offense used to carry 60 days in jail and/or a fine and was handled in magistrate or municipal court. Under the changes, a first-offense conviction for cruelty to animals carries 90 days in jail and/or a fine and is tried in general sessions court.

The changes in legislation also increase the penalties for second and third offenses and make the most serious animal abuse, neglect and torture violations a felony offense. A conviction on the worst violations could bring a repeat offender up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

“Thankfully, we haven’t seen any of these cases yet,” 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements III said. “I see the pros and cons of the changes, but I’ll have to have a little more experience with it before I can say too much about the changes. I don’t know what it’s going to mean in the long run, but we’ll do our job and enforce the law as always.”

Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, pushed for the changes after a lenient punishment was handed down in a puppy mill raid near Johnston in 2013. In that case, the operator of the puppy mill pleaded guilty to seven counts of ill treatment of animals. As part of her plea agreement, she paid $350 in court costs and donated 30 bales of hay for the nine horses she held.

“South Carolina is ranked 48th in state animal protection laws in the annual survey by the Humane Society of the United States,” Taylor said. “Surely we can do better in protecting animals from abuse by stiffening the criminal penalties.”

Florence Area Humane Society President Jayne Boswell said the stiffening of penalties is a step in the right direction, but she’d like to see more aggressive enforcement in the Pee Dee.

“I think we’ve got to do something to stop the number of animal neglect and cruelty cases,” Boswell said. “I think we’re seeing more and more of it in our society today — a lack of compassion and we’ve got to make a statement and enforce the law so people know there will be repercussions when they disobey them. I think every step we take to stop cruelty to animals of course helps animals, but likely helps people, too. It’s not something we can just ignore and hope will stop. We’ve got to make sure our local agencies are enforcing the law and people are being held accountable.”

AnMed is First MUSC Branch Campus

AnMed Health finalized an agreement with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston last Friday to become its first branch campus. Through the partnership, selected third- and fourth-year MUSC students will complete their final two years of education at AnMed Health. Six third-year students will arrive on campus next fall. By 2017, a total of 24 medical students will train in Anderson each year – 12 in each class.
 
“Expanding medical education opportunities is an important part of our strategy to address the growing shortage of primary care physicians and specialists in our area and to improve future access to care,” said AnMed Health CEO John A. Miller, Jr. “MUSC’s long and esteemed record of preparing physicians for careers in all branches of medicine is very much aligned with this strategy, making the partnership a natural fit and a great thing for the Anderson community. We’re honored that MUSC chose AnMed Health as a partner.”
 
Students may apply for the Anderson program upon admission to MUSC. After completing two years of basic medical training in Charleston, those who are selected will spend their final two years of medical school at AnMed Health. Working under the direct supervision of an attending physician, students will rotate through each major discipline of medicine and will see patients once a week at the Anderson Free Clinic.
 
According to AnMed Health Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mike Tillirson, AnMed Health’s medical education program emphasizes primary care and seeks to recruit and retain students from the Upstate to continue their practice in the local community.
 
The majority of costs will be covered by tuition fees. However, AnMed Health will add two new faculty members in order to accommodate the program. In addition, $1 million was included in the state budget to help support the physical infrastructure for medical education at the Anderson-based MUSC branch campus in the future.
 
In addition to its traditional family medicine residency program, AnMed Health offers a rural track family medicine residency in Seneca as well as a one-year sports medicine fellowship program for physicians. The health system is also home to the only hospital-based training program for radiologic technologists in South Carolina, and offers an accredited clinical pastoral education program for chaplains.

Anderson IDs 12 Dirtiest Roads in the County

Officials in Anderson County’s solid waste department have released a list of the 12 dirtiest roads in Anderson County.

Here they are:

Courtney Street EXT

Hwy 29 North and South

High Shoals Road

Middleton Road

Amity Road

Highway 187 South

Boyd Street

Due West Highway

Hopewell Road

Belhaven Road

Lewis Street

Monitor Drive

Anderson County Solid Waste director Greg Smith said the county is adding one more officer to the department to help handle litter law enforcement. Anyone caught littering can be fined up to $1,092.50, Smith said. Those interested in volunteering to clean up litter can call the Anderson County Solid Waste Department at 864-260-1001.

S.C. 6th in the Nation in Foreclosures

New data from the real estate website ReatlyTrac shows that South Carolina's real estate troubles are getting better, compared to a year ago, but still remain among the worst in the country for foreclosures.

The analysis of the data, conducted by the Columbia Business Report, says the national foreclosure rate dropped 16.4% comparing July of 2014 to July of 2013, and for South Carolina, the number of foreclosures has fallen 11.4% year-to-year.

In the Midlands, counties with the highest number of foreclosed properties are Orangeburg, Richland, and Lexington counties.

State-wide, the highest foreclosure rates were Orangeburg and Charleston counties, followed closely by Anderson and Greenville counties, and the counties with some of the state's lowest foreclosure rates are Laurens and Cherokee.

South Carolina has had an average of one foreclosure for every 904 housing units sold, while nationally, foreclosures are filed once every 1,203 housing units sold.

Missouri Gov. Dismisses Ferguson Police Force

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, D, will relieve the St. Louis County police force from duty Thursday following media outrage over the detention and tear gassing of reporters.

The reporters were in Ferguson, Missouri, to cover protests over the police shooting of Michael Brown.

News agencies across the country ran reports Thursday morning of the jailing of Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery and Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly. Later Thursday, additional reports surfaced of other reporters covering the protests who were targeted by the police. Amateur video showed the police shooting an Al Jazeera film crew with tear gas and then taking their film equipment apart.

#Ferguson was one of the top trending hashtags on Twitter. Some of the journalists reported the incidents using the hashtag #mediablackout.

Lowery described the encounter in first person for The Washington Post's lead story. According to Lowery, he and Ryan were at a McDonald's to use the Wi-Fi, charge their phones, and respond to some people on Twitter. Ferguson police entered, asked for identification and told them they had to leave. Lowery recorded some of the encounter on his cell phone, which was posted with his Washington Post article.

The video shows the officer telling the reporter to "stop recording," to which Lowery replied, "officer, do I not have the right to record you?" As Lowery was trying to leave, the officers arrested him for, they said, "trespassing in a McDonald's."

Lowery put his hands behind his back and twice said, "I'm not resisting," to which an officer responded, "you're resisting, stop resisting."

Lowery and Ryan both asked the officers for their names and badge numbers, but their requests were denied. When they asked for a police report, they were supplied a case number and told that a report would be available in one or two weeks.

Bloomberg reporter Jonathan Allen broke the news Thursday morning that Nixon will, later on Thursday, announce that the St. Louis County police will be "taken out of the situation." He heard the news from U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Missouri. USA Today reporter Yamiche Alcindor later confirmed that report with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.

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4,800 in S.C. Must Verify Status for Obamacare Subsidies

Nearly 5,000 people in South Carolina could lose their government-subsidized health care unless they verify their legal status.

The Obama administration says 4,800 applicants in South Carolina are among 310,000 nationwide whose citizenship or immigration details don’t match what the government has on file. Final notices were mailed Tuesday.

If they don’t send in their documentation by Sept. 5, their coverage will end Sept. 30.

People living in the country illegally are not allowed to get coverage. Health and Human Services Department officials say many consumers have already been contacted five to seven times.

The policy affects the 36 states that did not create their own online marketplace.

Florida tops the list of unresolved cases, with nearly 94,000. Georgia has nearly 30,000, while North Carolina has about 12,000.

24-Hour Krispy Kreme to Launch Aug. 21 with Sweet Prizes

Krispy Kreme of Anderson will open Aug. 21 at 6 a.m and reward those who are first in line with a dozen doughnuts a month for one year, and the first person in line will receive a dozne glazed per week for one year.

The first 100 customers at our Grand Opening will receive a punch card entitling them to one free dozen Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnuts each month for one year. Download Grand Opening Rules at www.krispykreme.com/About/Grand-Openings for rules.

The store, which will operate 24-hours a day, will represent a return of the hot doughnuts now sign to Anderson after a absence of more than 40 years.

“We are extremely excited to bring this newly constructed and updated shop to the Anderson area doughnut and coffee fans,” says Glenn Reese, Owner and Operator for Krispy Kreme in the Anderson and Spartanburg, SC markets.

The approximately 4050 square foot location with a drive-thru will feature more than a dozen varieties of Krispy Kreme’s one-of-a-kind doughnuts, including the signature hot Original Glazed® , as well as a complete menu of Krispy Kreme Chillers®,  iced beverages and Krispy Kreme Coffee Blends.

Hours of operation in the lobby will be Sunday through Thursday 6:00am-11pm and Fri & Sat 5:00am-Midnight with the Drive-Thru open 24 hours.

Education Officials Call for New Benchmarks for Math, Science

The state Board of Education has approved a timeline that calls for final approval next March of new math and reading benchmarks for South Carolina students.

The tight turnaround for replacing Common Core standards relies on panels writing the standards to turn in drafts by mid-October.

Wednesday's vote followed hours of debate over whether directions the panels received from state Department of Education officials abide by state law.

That law calls for new math and reading standards next school year following a review of current standards, which are Common Core.

Board Chairman Barry Bolen contends that means the process must begin with Common Core. Superintendent Mick Zais says there will be no simple tweaking of Common Core standards, but they will be among those considered.

S.C. Students No Longer Must Meet Exit Exam Requirement

Starting this year, students in South Carolina are no longer required to meet exit exam requirements to graduate. It's all thanks to a new law that allows students to petition the school board. Eyewitness News learned this applies to hundreds of people.
 
Channel 9 spoke to one mom who says it's improving her life.
 
Stephanie Blouser said her two children are her world. She tries her best to provide for them but has always felt limited without a high school diploma.  Before she had kids she worked in the service industry.
 
"It was a good paying job, but not like more than minimum wage and I couldn't get any of that. You needed your diploma or GED," she said.
 
Blouser was denied her diploma at Fort Mill High seven years ago because she couldn't pass the exit exam.
  
"I took the test like three or four times and each time I'd get closer and closer to passing. And the last time I took it I failed it by one point," said Blouser.
 
Wanting to do more, Blouser recently called her old guidance counselor and asked to retake the test.  That's when she learned about a new law allowing South Carolina students who failed the exit exam to petition the school board for a diploma.  It was signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley in April.
 
"I said, 'Oh my God. I'm going to cry,' because I struggled so hard in school," she said.
 
"The law applies to anyone who couldn't pass the exit exam but met all the other graduation requirements. It's now retroactive to the graduating class of 1990.
 
The new law eliminates the exit exam altogether, but some people we spoke to aren't happy about it.
 
"We've got too many children coming out that don't have the necessary skills they need to make it in the world," said resident Eve Chapman.
 
When we checked online to see how legislators voted for the measure, 100 lawmakers approved it, and only 10 were against it.
Blouser says while some may think it's a free pass, for her it's a second chance to provide for the ones she loves the most.
 
"It's like a weight off my shoulders, because I really wanted something to prove my life, for the kids to look up to me.

SC lawmakers eliminated the exit exam starting this school year.

The law is retroactive to the graduating class of 1990.

If you'd like to see if you qualify call your local school district.

Petitions must be submitted to the local school board by Dec. 31, 2015.