S.C. Considers Change in How Evolution is Taught

A South Carolina panel is considering a small change to how evolution is presented in the state’s public schools.

The proposal calls for evolution to be presented as something open to further testing and observation, and it was discussed Tuesday by members of the Board of Education and Education Oversight Committee, according to the State.

Sen. Mike Fair (R), who in 2005 proposed changes to how evolution was taught, characterized the new proposal as giving teachers, “more elbow room to stimulate critical thinking.”

If approved, the revised standard would include two additional provisions, including one that reads, “Scientific conclusions are tested by experiment and observation, and evolution, as with any aspect of science, is continually open to and subject to experimental and observational testing.”

The second provision reads, “Students should understand assumptions scientists make in situations where direct evidence is limited and understand that all theories may change as new scientific information is obtained.”

The language does not require teachers to change how they teach evolution, Fair said.

A 2005 science standard set guidelines for how evolution should be taught. According to these standards, evolution is a theory backed by anatomy, embryology, biochemistry and paleontology, and is a result of genetic variability environmental factors.

Dollar Tree/Family Dollar Merger Could Rival Walmart

An $8.5 billion merger creating North America's biggest dollar store chain could mean increased competition for mass discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. but less choice for shoppers.

In the Baltimore area and elsewhere, retail experts said, Dollar Tree Inc.'s planned purchase of Family Dollar Stores Inc., announced Monday, likely will lead to some store closings, though the companies have not identified any locations.

Dollar Tree, which runs mostly suburban stores and sells a mix of consumables as well as items such as gifts, party goods and greeting cards for $1 or less, has about 55 stores in the Baltimore area. Most are scattered throughout Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford and Howard counties, with only about a half-dozen in Baltimore City.

Family Dollar, which mostly sells lower-margin consumables such as food and household products priced between $1 to $5 and targets urban shoppers in lower-income neighborhoods, has 26 stores in Baltimore City and about 16 others in the region.

The deal would give Dollar Tree more than 13,000 stores in 48 states and Canada and more than $18 billion in sales, vaulting the chain ahead of larger rival Dollar General Corp., which has 11,338 U.S. stores and reported sales of $17.5 billion in its latest fiscal year.

It also would help the dollar variety stores be more competitive with big-box chains such as Wal-Mart, which have gone after cash-strapped consumers by offering more items priced at $1 or less.

If the proposed merger is completed, as planned, by early next year, it would be a win for both companies' shareholders but may be a loss for consumers, experts said. Shares of Family Dollar climbed nearly 25 percent to $75.74 Monday, higher than the $74.50 per share offer from Dollar Tree, perhaps in anticipation of a competing offer. Dollar Tree shares were up 1.2 percent at $54.87.

"Mergers by companies in the same consumer retail business are generally not good for the consumer," said Jerry Reisman, a partner in the law firm of Reisman Peirez Reisman & Capobianco in Garden City, N.Y., and a mergers and acquisitions financing expert. "It diminishes competition, and it's competition that drives prices down. If we have fewer retailers in the same price category, we're going to find that those dollar prices maintained by the Dollar Tree may no longer be just that — a dollar."

Anderson Area Farm & Food Group AIM Benefit Tonight

The Anderson Area Farm & Food Association (AAFFA) will host a fresh-food drive on Tuesday at the Community Farmers Market downtown.  The first ever “Market Share” event will benefit the Anderson Interfaith Ministries food bank and the local families they serve.  The Community Farmers Market is located at 402 North Murray Avenue at the county market facility.  Market hours are from 5-8 pm. 

Market patrons will have the opportunity to pick up special donation bags for the event, to be used to shop from local vendors for fresh-picked produce.  Fresh produce is often scarce in food banks, even during peak growing season when everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy tomato sandwiches, crisp green beans, juicy blueberries, and all the health benefits of fruits and veggies right off the farm.  AIM will be on hand at the Healthy Community booth to talk to guests about their work and programs. Filled Market Share bags will be donated to the AIM food bank, and all shoppers who contribute will receive a free ticket for a market gift basket door prize. 

AAFFA president, Brandon Grace, encourages the community to come out and support Market Share.  “The Anderson community has a tradition of giving generously to our neighbors in need,” stated Grace.  “Market Share is a part of AAFFA’s commitment to healthy food access for all our residents, and if successful, we hope to make the event a regular part of our Community Farmers Market programming.”

The AAFFA Community Farmers Market is hosted and managed by the Anderson Area Farm & Food Association, its mission to develop and sustain a local food system, serving the interest of all stakeholders, with respect to agricultural profitability, environmental stewardship, and the social well-being of Anderson and neighboring communities. 

Many Left in Medicaid Limbo in S.C.

Thousands of South Carolina residents who filed for Medicaid between October and mid-July are still waiting to find out if they qualify for the government's low-income health insurance program.

While most Medicaid applications are typically approved or denied within six days, the state agency responsible for processing the paperwork hasn't been able to keep pace with an influx from HealthCare.gov.

More than 43,000 South Carolina Medicaid applications were submitted through the new federal health insurance marketplace between Oct. 1 and July 13, but the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services has only managed to make its way through 25 percent of them.

Nevertheless, agency officials have promised the federal government that they will finish the rest within 20 working days.

The state recently assigned more employees to the task, implemented new productivity standards and offered volunteers additional hours to make sure that goal is met.

"I think what we know from most other states, they are in very similar positions," said S.C. Medicaid Director Tony Keck.

South Carolina is one of about half of all states that will not expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

Still, application volume is running high, in part because of an aggressive federal marketing strategy launched alongside the new insurance marketplace.

The agency continues to process additional applications filed through its own website, by phone or in person.

Full Story Here

House, Senate Reach Agreement on Repairing VA Problems

The leaders of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees unveiled a tentative deal on Monday on legislation meant to improve veterans' health care and tackle the litany of scandalous problems at the VA, in a bid to get the wheels turning on a solution ahead of the looming August recess.   

"This starts the conversation," said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who leads the House veterans committee. "The VA is not sacred -- veterans are." 

The proposal would authorize at least $17 billion in spending over the next three years to fix the veterans health program, with about $5 billion of that offset elsewhere in the budget. Congressional aides say the agreement includes funding to make it easier for veterans who can't get prompt appointments with Veterans Affairs doctors to obtain outside care and funding to hire doctors, nurses and other medical staff. 

The plan also grants the VA secretary authority to immediately fire senior executives, while providing employees with streamlined appeal rights.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate veterans panel, proposed a bill last week that would cost about $25 billion over three years. Miller, his House counterpart, responded with a plan to approve $10 billion in emergency spending, with a promise of more spending in future years. 

The two lawmakers' differences threatened to derail talks last week, but the lawmakers negotiated over the weekend and produced the plan announced on Monday. 

"The United States Congress is in my view a dysfunctional institution ... so I'm quite proud of what we've accomplished," Sanders said Monday. 

Full Story Here

85 Richest People Wealthier than Planet's 3.5 Billion Poorest

The 85 richest people globally have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest in the world, the United Nations said, citing Oxfam figures, in a report that highlights ways to help the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day.

The UN’s annual Human Development Report notes that overall poverty is declining throughout the world, but says worsening inequality risks reversing the trend to improvements in life span and income.

Nearly one-third of people are poor or vulnerable to poverty, meaning they are not resilient in the face of natural or human-induced disasters and can slip further behind, according to the report.

Eradicating poverty is not just about "getting to zero, but about staying there," said UN human development head Helen Clark.

"Most problems are due to inadequate policies and poor institutions," Malik said. "It's not innate that people have to suffer so much."

He points to the insecurity of employment in most of the developed world, amid a global "race to the bottom" by big corporations seeking the lowest wages in the poorest countries.

Nearly half of all workers worldwide are in insecure or informal employment, while 842 million, or about 12 per cent, of all people go hungry, he said.

Government budgets are shrinking, affecting their ability to provide social structures, as the rich evade taxes and the poor have little to give, he said.

The issue of inequality applies even to countries in the very high development index group, when their score is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education and income.

The U.S. falls from five to 28 on that list, South Korea drops from 15 to 35, and Japan falls from 17 to 23.

Top 10 on the UN Human Development Index

1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Netherlands
5. United States
6. Germany
7. New Zealand
8. ​Canada
9. Singapore
10. Denmark

Bottom 10 on the list

1. Mozambique
2. Guinea
3. Burundi
4. Burkina Faso
5. Eritrea
6. Sierra Leone
7. Chad
8. Central African Republic
9. Democratic Republic of Congo
10. Niger

Full Story Here

CBS: GOP Posed to Take Senate in November

A new CBS News/New York Times Battleground Tracker estimate finds the Republicans positioned to take the Senate this year, with a likely 51-49 seat edge if the November election were held right now. The margin of error on that current seat estimate, at plus or minus 2 seats, means Democrats still have a real possibility to keep the chamber and that we head into campaign season with control up for grabs -- with a closely-divided Senate surely coming in 2015 in either case.

The data is based on more than 100,000 interviews conducted online for CBS News and the New York Times by YouGov exclusively as part of this joint project, with samples for every individual Senate race and House race, oversamples in competitive races, and each matched to the demographics and voter characteristics in the states and districts.

The current Senate is 55-45 Democratic.

Full Story Here

Secrecy Increasing Among S.C. Public Bodies

South Carolina’s open meetings and records law, designed to make government transparent and keep citizens informed, increasingly is being eroded by some state and local public officials.

Whether it is the result of court decisions, acts by elected officials, or bureaucrats who make decisions such as charging the public high prices to copy public records, people acting in the name of government are taking actions that keep the public in the dark.

The problem seems to have accelerated in the past several months.

“Politicians and bureaucrats don’t want people to know what they are doing,” said John Crangle, executive director of S.C. Common Cause, a watchdog group. “They don’t want to be inconvenienced by the public, even though the public is their boss.”

Even the S.C. Supreme Court, which in the past could usually be relied upon to uphold the public’s right to know, has joined the march to more secrecy.

In three recent decisions in the last two months, justices have:

Full Story Here

S.C. Senate Incumbents Look Safe in November

South Carolina's Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott are safe bets to win in November, according to a new Palmetto Politics poll.

If the election were held this month, the poll found that 45 percent of likely South Carolina voters would vote for Graham, compared to 33 percent for Democratic challenger Brad Hutto.

Former state treasurer and reality show star Thomas Ravenel was the choice of 10 percent, with 4 percent supporting Libertarian Victor Kocher and 8 percent undecided, based on a survey of 650 people.

Jim Lee with Susquehanna Polling and Research said while many Republican voters aren't big fans of Graham - who prevailed over six GOP primary challengers last month - they find him more appealing than voting for a Democrat.

"As entertaining as it is to consider the prospects of a Ravenel upset given how colorful of a guy he is," Lee said, " this poll doesn't suggest that either he or Kocher are likely to be a factor in the eventual outcome."

Ravenel, who is running as a petition candidate, resigned his post as state treasurer in 2007, later pleading guilty to cocaine possession. He was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and three years of probation. More recently, he starred in Bravo TV's "Southern Charm" reality television show. 

In a three-way race among Graham, Hutto and Kocher, Graham gets 46 percent of the vote, with Hutto getting 33 and Kocher getting 9 percent, with 12 percent of 1,000 likely voters surveyed saying they haven't made up their minds.

Hutto faces a hurdle from President Barack Obama's falling approval rating here, he added. Only 39 percent of state voters said they approve of the job Obama is doing - less than the president's 42 percent rating nationally in a CNN/ORC International survey released last week and less than the 45 percent of state voters who voted for Obama in 2012.

"I think the elephant in the room in the Senate race is Obama's approval rating," Lee said. "That's really the reason why, in my opinion, Hutto is not competitive."

Graham's lead comes even as South Carolina voters give his job performance mixed marks: About 39 percent approve of his work, while 44 percent do not and 17 percent are undecided.

College of Charleston political science professor Gibbs Knotts said he expects Graham to win re-election because of his name recognition and sizable war chest, "but I'm a little surprised he wasn't hovering a little closer to the 50 percent mark (in job performance)."

The poll did not directly ask voters about the state's other Senate race, where Scott faces three challengers: Democrat Joyce Dickerson, American Party candidate Jill Bossi and petition candidate Brandon Armstrong.

Still, Scott's approval numbers - and his opponents' lack of name recognition and tepid fundraising - would indicate he has little to fear.

"It's hard to come up with a scenario where that race looks close," Lee said.

Forty-eight percent approved of the job Scott is doing in the Senate - the same percent that approve of Gov. Nikki Haley's performance - but only 27 percent disapprove of Scott's performance, compared to 41 percent who disapprove of Haley's. One of every four South Carolina voters said they are undecided on Scott's work.

Knotts said it makes sense that 25 percent of voters still are withholding judgment on Scott "because he's never been on a statewide general election ballot. I think folks are still getting to know him."

Scott, appointed by Haley after Jim DeMint's resignation, has more than $3.6 million on hand, while his opponents have less than $7,000 combined, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Scott is vying to become South Carolina's first African-American elected to the Senate, but it's unclear how many black votes he will draw. African-American voters are among the most reliably Democratic, often voting 90-95 percent for that party's candidates.

Lee noted Scott's approval rating among nonwhites is 23 percent. "Can Tim Scott over-perform with blacks this November? Absolutely. ... Maybe he ends up being the top vote getter in the state," he said. "The question would be, would it be transferable in a presidential year?"

Lee said Graham's job approval numbers show "he is not the darling of conservatives," adding that GOP voters give him only a 56-28 approval rating - about 15 points lower than Scott's.

"Still, this being said, you'd have to conclude that many GOP voters, while not fans of their veteran senator, still think 'half' a conservative is better than voting for a Democrat," he said.

The poll was conducted earlier this month and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Ervin Certified for Spot on November Ballot

The S.C. Election Commission has certified Tom Ervin’s spot on the November ballot as a petition candidate for governor.

Ervin’s campaign released a letter Thursday from the commission confirming his candidacy. The 62-year-old former legislator and judge dropped out of the Republican primary to pursue being on the general election ballot as a petition candidate. That requires gathering the signatures of at least 10,000 registered voters.

Ervin turned in more than 20,000 signatures last month. The commission’s letter dated Wednesday verifies that he collected more than enough valid signatures.

Ervin’s name will appear second on the ballot in the gubernatorial race, above the names of Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen and Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.

The ballot’s order for party and petition candidates rotates every election.

Libertarian Steve French and Citizens United candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves also are on the November ballot.

Expect Main Street Traffic Detour Friday, Sunday

Traffic will be detoured in the 200 block of N. Main Street Friday, beginning at 6 am. The 300 block of S. Main Street will also be affected.

Crosswalks in these two blocks will be cleaned and prepped for an artwork installation. Work should be complete by 9 am. Illustrations from the “Little Wren Lost” children’s book will be added to the crosswalks in these two blocks on Sunday – weather permitting.

During the installation, the 200 block of N. Main and 300 block of South Main will be closed to traffic on Sunday 8 am until noon and 4-8 pm.    

AAFA to Host "Market Share" Event for AIM

The Anderson Area Farm & Food Association (AAFFA) will host a fresh-food drive on Tuesday at the Community Farmers Market downtown.  The first ever “Market Share” event will benefit the Anderson Interfaith Ministries food bank and the local families they serve.  The Community Farmers Market is located at 402 North Murray Avenue at the county market facility.  Market hours are from 5-8 pm. 

Market patrons will have the opportunity to pick up special donation bags for the event, to be used to shop from local vendors for fresh-picked produce.  Fresh produce is often scarce in food banks, even during peak growing season when everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy tomato sandwiches, crisp green beans, juicy blueberries, and all the health benefits of fruits and veggies right off the farm.  AIM will be on hand at the Healthy Community booth to talk to guests about their work and programs. Filled Market Share bags will be donated to the AIM food bank, and all shoppers who contribute will receive a free ticket for a market gift basket door prize. 

AAFFA president, Brandon Grace, encourages the community to come out and support Market Share.  “The Anderson community has a tradition of giving generously to our neighbors in need,” stated Grace.  “Market Share is a part of AAFFA’s commitment to healthy food access for all our residents, and if successful, we hope to make the event a regular part of our Community Farmers Market programming.”

The AAFFA Community Farmers Market is hosted and managed by the Anderson Area Farm & Food Association, its mission to develop and sustain a local food system, serving the interest of all stakeholders, with respect to agricultural profitability, environmental stewardship, and the social well-being of Anderson and neighboring communities. 

DSS Asks for 202 New Positions to Handle Caseloads

The South Carolina Department of Social Services will ask lawmakers next year for the budget to hire 202 more people, 109 of which would be caseworkers to lessen the burden on those with heavy caseloads now. The rest would be supervisors.

Jessica Hanak-Coulter, Deputy Director for Human Services at DSS, told a state Senate DSS Oversight Subcommittee about the request at a hearing Wednesday at the Statehouse. "We would need the 202 new staff in order to meet that ideal caseload methodology. There was a lot of assessment, a lot of research of other states and other things to come to that," she says.

Senators who’ve been investigating problems at DSS were asking her about current caseloads. Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, said, while looking at a chart of caseworkers’ caseloads, "One in York County with 101, there was one in Lexington with 106, another in Lexington with 103, another in Lexington with 89, one with 95, one with 94, one with 98. And then at the same time there are caseworkers that have one or two. Why is that?"

Hanak-Coulter said the ones with one or two cases were either supervisors or new employees still being trained. She said some of the heavy caseloads were caused by workers resigning, leaving county offices short-handed but with children who still had to be seen.

She says it would cost about $10 million to hire the 202 additional people, about two-thirds of which could be paid for by the federal government.

She says the agency will shoot for an ideal caseload of one worker handling no more than 24 children.