Hanna, Westside Get New Football Coaches

Anderson School District Five approved the hiring of new football coaches for T.L. Hanna High School and Westside High School during a meeting Tuesday night at the district office.

Bruce Ollis, who served as head coach for the past 12 years spent at Polk County High School, will take over at T.L. Hanna. Ollis will then begin his new job on Thursday, looking to breathe new life into a T.L. Hanna program that hasn’t had a winning season or 4A playoff berth since 2010. He will be there with James Kennedy, known to many across the nation as Radio, subject of the 2003 movie of the same name, and with superintendent Dr. Thomas Wilson, whom he has known since their days as Presbyterian College. Another familiar face or two may also eventually wind up in Anderson County with Ollis.

“The thing I’ve told people all along is that Bruce Ollis wasn’t looking for a job. I was the happiest guy in Polk County,” Ollis said. “I’ve told people that for a dozen years. It’s an incredible job, and I’ve had some opportunities to leave before.

“This thing just kind of opened up for me. When I got involved in it and found out the things they were doing it certainly was intriguing and appealing at the same time.”

Anderson Five plans to install a turf field at T.L. Hanna, a new field house and weight room will soon be built and Ollis has also been given the chance to hire several assistant coaches. All of that, plus the higher teacher pay in South Carolina, made the Hanna position too attractive to pass up.

Similar plans are being made for Westside, which named former Myrtle Beach and Lexington (S.C.) head coach Scott Earley as its new head coach on Tuesday.

After one week and one official practice on the job at Seminole High in Florida, former Lexington and Chapin coach Earley resigned and moved his family back to South Carolina in August 2013.

Earley accepted the Florida job in late July. After discovering contractual issues — mainly involving insurance for his family — he and his family decided to step down and return to South Carolina. Both Earley and his wife, Meg, have 17 years of teaching experience in South Carolina schools.

Earley takes over a Westside program that has seen little success in the past decade.

County Council Moves Ahead on Puppy Mill Ordinance

Anderson County Council on Tuesday night approved on second reading of an ordinance amending the Anderson County animal ordinance geared toward large operations who breed more dogs than they are capable of taking care of, such as the recent puppy mill event in Anderson County. Between first and second reading, language was added to exempting livestock and poultry, to clarify that the ordinance is in reference to dogs. The amendment also clarified that only animal control officers can enforce the ordinance. 

The vote came after numerous comments from citizens with various opinions on the ordinance. Some praised council for the move, while others said the language did not go far enough to protect animals in the county.

Council also approved a resolution to keep the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles office open in Belton. The SCDMV is considering closing the Belton office. The Belton office currently processes an average of 47,000 citizens annually.

Earlier, County Council approved on third reading a fee-in-lieu of taxes agreement with Chomarat, which will create a new payroll of $1 million. The move will have a $4.4 million impact in the first year.

County Sees Major Job Creation, Capital Investment in 2013

Announced expansions of ten existing industries along with recruitment of three industries new to the area accounted for the direct creation of almost 900 jobs in Anderson County during 2013, according to figures released Tuesday by the Anderson County Office of Economic Development.

“Recruitment and expansion efforts yielded an announced total of 887 jobs with a total annual payroll of $27.8 million,” said Anderson County Economic Development Director Burriss Nelson.  “The total capital investment by these new and expanding firms is in excess of $86.7 million.”

McLaughlin, SMF, and Industrial Coaters joined the Anderson County team of industries in 2013.  The McLaughlin announcement was the biggest of the year, totaling 250 jobs and capital investment of $22.5 million.  Existing industries expanding operations this year were Sargent Metals, General Machine, Sekido, Frankische, Mergon, Glen Raven, Plastic Omnium, ABB Baldor, Orian Rug, and packIQ.

“I want to thank all of these companies for the confidence they have shown in our community. These announcements are a credit to our local workforce and speak to the wonderful quality of life we have in Anderson County,” said County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn.  “Recruiting and keeping industries is among the most important tasks we have, and we can’t do this without the support of the citizens we serve.”

Wages in Anderson County increased by nine percent last year, according to the S.C. Department of Revenue.  The average wage in 2013 was measured at $16.32 compared to $14.98 in 2012.  Per capita income in Anderson County in 2013 was reported at $32,640.

S.C. Senator Wants to Raise Teacher Salaries

A new bill aims to put South Carolina teachers on the same level as those in other states when payday rolls around. Richland County Senator Darrell Jackson has proposed the legislation with Republican Senator Raymond Cleary of Georgetown.

The bill would raise teacher salaries until South Carolina reaches the national average.

"Everything starts with teachers, everything starts with our students," said Craig King with the Palmetto State Teacher's Association.

He says teachers should be recognized for what they do inside and outside the classroom.

"All that they do throughout the school day, as well as what they do off the scene as well for the betterment of their kids," said King.

That is why he is always interested in anything that could better compensate educators in South Carolina.

According to the South Carolina Department of Education at the end of the 2012-2013 school year the average teacher in South Carolina made $48,375 a year. The department says the national average came in at $56,383 according to info from the state Budget and Control Board.

Jackson says to focus on education, we need to begin with teachers.

"Right now we're almost $10,000 below the national average. This would get us to the national average so that we won't continue to lose teachers to Georgia, North Carolina and other states," said Jackson.

The newly introduced bill would adjust the salaries of public school teachers over a five year period until the pay is above or equal to the national average.

The bill would require the change to take effect in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Amazon to Consider Live Streaming Service

Amazon has approached several major media conglomerates to discuss adding live cable TV channels to its Prime Instant Video service, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The idea is still at a very early stage, and it might not go ahead, the newspaper said, without disclosing its source.

Amazon is one of several companies that already offers on-demand movies and TV shows, but live TV would put it squarely in competition with existing cable and satellite TV providers.

Some of those providers already offer live TV over the Internet, but only as an extension of an existing pay TV subscription.

After news, music and video rentals, live TV is seen by many as the next big area that will be disrupted by the Internet. Amazon's moves could be part of industrywide posturing in preparation for that.

The report came on the same day Verizon Communications, a major broadband Internet provider, said it is buying OnCue, a cloud TV service developed by Intel.

Sony recently said it would begin offering live television through a video service to be delivered through Sony PlayStation and connected TVs later this year, although offered no other details.

Over-the-air broadcasters are also moving toward the Internet. But in a twist on services offered in other countries, some local TV stations require a cable or satellite TV subscription in order to access live streaming programming over the Internet, despite it being broadcast free of charge over local airwaves.

The State: Bill Gives Governor New Powers

 A bill to give South Carolina’s governor new powers starting next year won House and Senate approval Tuesday but not without a bit of last-minute drama.

Both candidates for governor this year, Republican incumbent Nikki Haley of Lexington and Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden, claimed victory. Haley made government-restructuring one of her legislative priorities, while Sheheen was the main sponsor of the bill.

The House passed the bill unanimously after 10 minutes of discussion Tuesday. But state Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, brought debate in the Senate to a standstill.

Martin said he had concerns the bill did not reform government enough. The proposal eliminates the state Budget and Control Board and transfers most of its administrative functions to the Department of Administration. But purchasing would go to a new state agency run by the same state leaders who now oversee the budget board.

Martin held the floor for much of the afternoon, saying he wanted to know what the governor thought about the bill. He didn’t want to leave the podium because lawmakers could hold a vote in his absence.

Martin tried to adjourn the Senate for the day before a vote. But senators chose to remain in session by a 21-20 margin.

Finally, Martin visited Haley, while the Senate agreed not to vote on the bill.

He said they discussed the restructuring bill as well as his other legislative priorities, including proposals to nullify portions of the federal Affordable Care Act and end the state education standard called Common Core.

Martin said Haley understood the Senate would not give procurement powers solely to the governor, adding the face-to-face meeting with the governor satisfied his questions. “I could tell that she was passionate about wanting to get something done,” he said.

After 20 minutes with the governor, Martin returned to the Senate, thanked Haley and relinquished the floor.

The Senate approved the bill by a 39-4 vote. Martin voted against it.

Any delay in voting would have denied Haley a key legislative victory to tout in her State of the State address Wednesday.

“Carroll Campbell is smiling today as the House and Senate passed the biggest piece of government reform since he was governor,” Haley posted on Facebook. “South Carolina is showing the world that we are no longer in the dark ages!”

Sheheen tweeted, “We’ve built a bipartisan coalition around my bill to overhaul state govt & increase accountability. Today it finally passed the legislature.”

Graham Weighs in on Obamacare, Federal Budget, Election

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he believes South Carolina would opt out of Obamacare if the decision was left up to the states. In addition to speaking about SRS, Graham covered several other topics during his visit with the Aiken Standard including his disapproval of Obamacare, his thoughts on the federal budget and the upcoming election.

Graham said when he was given the option to take health care under the Washington, D.C., insurance exchange and receive subsidies for the government, or sign up for health care in the state as an individual, he chose the latter. 

“I decided to sign up in S.C. to live the life that people in my state are going to live. My premiums almost tripled and my deductibles went up to over $6,000 from less than $1,000,” he said. “I'm not whining; but I'm paying a lot more and getting a lot less.” 

He said an alternative solution could be opening up the competition and allowing families to seek out their own health care packages, including shopping outside of their state's borders.

“If you can find a better deal for your business or your family in California, you should be able to buy a policy in California and not just restrict it to the companies in South Carolina,” Graham said.

Graham voted against the federal budget last month when the budget made its rounds in the Senate.

“Voted against ending debate on budget bill which cuts retirement benefits for current and future military retirees,” he posted on Twitter after the voting process. 

Although Graham did not vote to approve the budget, he said he feels the current budget is overall responsible and fiscal.

The discretionary budget – which includes funding for SRS, Veteran Affairs, the Department of Education and the Department of Defense – accounts for about one-third of the money used to run the government. The budget was “squeezed” this year, which saves $20 billion every year for two years, he said.

“The sequestration cuts to SRS and the defense department were devastating, so we got some relief from that,” Graham said. “Congress is running more like a business for the next two years and the $20 billion a year makes it a lot easier on the defense department as they transition after Iraq and Afghanistan.”

In other areas, Graham said he'd like to see programs such as Medicare and Social Security regain their competence because they're going bankrupt. 

“You're having 10,000 baby boomers a day retire, and, in the next 30 years, 80 million will retire,” he said. “Now is the time to save these programs.” 

When asked why he has so many opponents in the upcoming election, Graham attributed it to his longevity.

“I've been out here in the middle of things for a while, whether it's national security, fiscal issues or trying to govern the country,” he said. “Washington is broken, but you're not going to fix it by yelling at each other.”

Currently, Graham's opponents include Sen. Lee Bright, R-Spartanburg; Richard Cash, a former Congressional candidate; and Nancy Mace, who is also rising through the political ranks.

He added that if he wins, his future goals include moderating defense cuts so the nation's military won't have the smallest Army since 1940, the smallest Air Force in modern history and only a 240-ship Navy.

“I want to strengthen our defense programs so that those who we ask to fight the wars have the equipment to win the wars,” he said. “I want to make sure that defense spending is the No. 1 priority of the government; that's the Ronald Reagan view.”

Thursday's Annual Grace Soup Luncheon to Benefit AIM

The forecast cold weather this week offers the perfect day for Grace Episcopal Church's annual Soup Luncheon Thursday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The lunch includes soup, cornbread and dessert, and the food is avaiable for eat in or to go. The cost of the lunch is $7, and tickets can be purchased at the event or orders made in advance to the church office by calling 225-8011.

This year's luncheon will benefit Anderson Interfaith Ministries.

St. George's Oyster Roast Set for Saturday

St. George’s Annual Oyster Roast, which has raised more than $166,000 for charitable causes in our community, will be help Saturday from 3-5 p.m. at the Anderson County Farmer's Market. The event begins an hour earlier for Society Patrons at 2 p.m.   

Tickets to the roast cost $35 and are limited. To order Oyster Roast or Pre-Oyster Party tickets, please contact St. George’s Church Office as soon as possible at 224-1104 or email stgeorgee@bellsouth.net. 

Bill in S.C. House Would End Mobile Veterinary Clinics

In January 2014, Bill H 3492 ( also as S0194) http://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php was introduced. This legislation would essentially wipe out services for  Mobile Veterinary Clinics, including the widely used PetVac. 

The restrictions were added to a  bill was introduced by REP. David R. Hiott in the House Agriculture Natural Resources Committee.

Graham Opponent Supports Machine Guns for Teachers

South Carolina state Sen. Lee Bright (R), who is challenging Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the GOP primary, said on Friday that school teachers should be able to carry machine guns to protect students from gun violence.

Appearing on Fox News Radio’s The Alan Colmes Show, Bright expanded on his proposed bill to create high school courses on how to use a fire arm by agreeing with Colmes that the government cannot legally restrict gun ownership on school grounds:

COLMES: So [teachers] shouldn’t have machine guns?

BRIGHT: I would think a teacher protecting a school grounds should be able to carry whatever she can carry legally.

COLMES: So should machine guns be legal to carry?

BRIGHT: The Second Amendment is pretty clear. It says the right to carry arms should not be infringed. [...]

COLMES: So you should be able to have any gun you want?

BRIGHT: Well, I don’t see how the government can regulate it.

In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government can limit ownership of “dangerous and unusual” weapons that are not in “common use.” As conservative Justice Antonin Scalia concluded in the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller — which held that the Second Amendment provides an individual right to carry a firearm under certain circumstances — “nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms…in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

Congress significantly limited the sale of machine guns in the 1986 Firearms Owners’ Protection Act, which prevents the sale to civilians “of all machine guns made after the law took effect.”

Study: Happiness Key to Health in Old Age

Enjoying life is the key to healthy aging, claim scientists, after finding that happy people are fitter and healthier.

Those who enjoy life walk at a faster pace and are more physically active on a daily basis when they get older compared to unhappy people, scientists found.

Happy pensioners had less trouble getting out of bed, getting dressed or showering.

In contrast unhappy people were twice as likely to have health problems like heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, arthritis.

But researchers said it wasn’t simply because ill health or mobility problems made people miserable.

"The study shows that older people who are happier and enjoy life more show slower declines in physical function as they age," states Dr. Andrew Steptoe of University College London.

"They are less likely to develop impairments in activities of daily living such as dressing or getting in or out of bed, and their walking speed declines at a slower rate than those who enjoy life less.

"This is not because the happier people are in better health, or younger, or richer, or have more healthy lifestyles at the outset, since even when we take these factors into account, the relationship persists.”

Researchers from University College London assessed 3,199 men and women aged 60 years or over living in England and examined the link between positive well-being and physical well-being over the space of eight years.

They were divided into three age categories: 60-69, 70-79 and 80 years or over and were asked about their enjoyment of life with a four-point scale.

They rated questions "I enjoy the things that I do," "I enjoy being in the company of others," "On balance, I look back on my life with a sense of happiness" and "I feel full of energy these days."

Researchers then used personal interviews to determine whether participants had impairments in daily activities such as getting out of bed, getting dressed, bathing or showering. They gauged walking speed with a gait test.

Participants in the 60-69-year bracket had higher levels of well-being as did those with higher socioeconomic status and education and those who were married and working.

People with low well-being were more than three times as likely as their positive counterparts to develop problems in their daily physical activities.

"Our previous work has shown that older people with greater enjoyment of life are more likely to survive over the next 8 years; what this study shows is that they also keep up better physical function."

"Our results provide further evidence that enjoyment of life is relevant to the future disability and mobility of older people," said Dr Steptoe.

Shortage of Math, Science Teachers Continues

Like the rest of the nation, South Carolina continues to face a shortage of math and science teachers in its public schools.

That’s bad news for school districts struggling to fill middle and high school vacancies in key areas of algebra, geometry and calculus, and for employers seeking to fill jobs in math- and science-related fields.

But for soon-to-be-math education graduates such as Martin Sims and Emmaline Harris? Let’s just say they won’t be bunking in their families’ basements as they try to find jobs in a still-shaky economy.

“The more and more conferences I go to, I really get an outlook on how much we are needed,” said Sims, 24, who will graduate in August, complete S.C. National Guard training in the fall and be ready to teach in January 2015. “I didn’t realize how much of a hot commodity we were.”

“Having a master’s (degree) coming out of South Carolina, I feel like I’m pretty highly qualified,” said Horton, 22.

Like Sims, Horton holds an undergraduate degree in math from the University of South Carolina and is spending a fifth year earning her master’s in teaching. “I feel like I have pretty good job security because education is everywhere.”

Horton, from Charlottesville, Va., and Sims, who is from Columbia, are among 12 master’s candidates graduating from the University of South Carolina this year with a teaching degree that concentrates on math. They will be doing a second rotation of student teaching this spring — Horton at A.C. Flora High School and Sims at Keenan High School — and hope to have signed contracts by the time they walk across the stage to receive their diplomas.

That confidence could be contagious, if USC education professor Ed Dickey has anything to do with it.

With a new financial gift in hand from Duke Energy Foundation, Dickey hopes to quadruple the number of graduates in math and science education in coming years so USC reliably can send out 50 math teachers and 50 science teachers annually.

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