Energy Expo Set for July 26

Anderson County, in partnership with Pickens County, Oconee County, Tri-County Technical College, Blue Ridge Electric Co-op, Fort Mill Natural Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Anderson Chamber of Commerce and Duke Energy, has scheduled the 2nd Annual Upstate Energy Summit and Expo for July 26, 2012 at the Civic Center of Anderson, 3027 MLK, Jr. Blvd, Anderson, SC. The Opening Session will begin at 8:30 a.m.
 
Recognizing that the future of the Upstate will be shaped by those who understand the advantages and take action to become energy efficient, our partners have taken the first step to bring together industry and policy experts for an interactive day of engaging discussions and presentations that will help educate and equip tomorrow’s energy leaders. During the Upstate Energy Summit & Expo, various sessions will address and explore ways to reduce energy costs and provide tools and resources to help transform Upstate industry into energy efficient, role models for South Carolina. Topics will include:
 
·       The importance of an Energy Management Assessment/Audit, which will show companies critical areas of inefficiency and mitigation measures that will lead to energy and cost savings
·       Technical insight into savings through efficiencies in lighting, compressed air, motor efficiency and HVAC systems
·       Introduction of local case studies - companies and local governments that are using best practices and are saving money through their energy efficiency programs
 
Additionally, afternoon sessions will be tailored to the homeowner, providing money-saving tips and information to keep more green in your pocket! Residential topics will include:
·       Weatherization techniques for the Homeowner
·       Energy Star Appliances – Quality Install to save you money
·       Grant Opportunities & Tax credits Available
·       Recycling
 
Email astringer@andersoncountysc.org to reserve your seats or for more information.
Online sign up will be available soon.  

Council to Review Administrator's Budget at Called Meeting

Anderson County Council will hold a called budget work session tonight at 6 p.m. in the historic courthouse downtown.

Council will review the 2013 fiscal budget at the meeting.

Reuters: Most Americans Oppose Health Care Law

Most Americans oppose President Barack Obama's healthcare reform even though they strongly support most of its provisions, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Sunday, with the Supreme Court set to rule within days on whether the law should stand.

Fifty-six percent of people are against the healthcare overhaul and 44 percent favor it, according to the online poll conducted from Tuesday through Saturday.

The survey results suggest that Republicans are convincing voters to reject Obama's reform even when they like much of what is in it, such as allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26.

Strong majorities favor most of what is in the law.

A glaring exception to the popular provisions is the "individual mandate," which forces all U.S. residents to own health insurance.

Sixty-one percent of Americans are against the mandate, the issue at the center of the Republicans' contention that the law is unconstitutional, while 39 percent favor it.

Full Story Here

Tropical Storm Could Effect Upstate

Tropic Storm Debby could effect our weather over the next few days depending on the track the slow-moving storm follows, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Current tracking

Computer Models

WP: High Court Health Care Ruling Imminent

The Supreme Court this week will conclude its term by handing down much-anticipated rulings on health care and immigration, President Obama’s remaining priorities before the justices. It is a finale that cannot come quickly enough for the administration, which has had a long year at the high court.

In a string of cases — as obscure as the federal government’s relationships with Indian tribes and as significant as enforcement of the Clean Water Act — the court rejected the administration’s legal arguments with lopsided votes and sometimes biting commentary.

The administration’s win-loss record will sting a lot less, of course, if the court upholds the constitutionality of Obama’s signature domestic achievement, the Affordable Care Act. That decision on health care, which will define the term, could come as early as Monday and almost certainly will be announced by Thursday.

The court also will decide the fate of Arizona’s tough law on illegal immigrants, which the Obama administration challenged in court before it could take effect. The government’s argument that the law conflicts with the federal authority to decide immigration policy got a sour reception from the justices, but the government hopes for at least a split decision on other aspects of the measure.

The administration’s ungainly portfolio at the Supreme Court this term has drawn attention from all points on the ideological spectrum.

Full Story Here

International: New Egypt President Calls for Sharia Law

Egypt’s Constitution should be based on the Koran and Sharia law, said Egypt's newly elected president and Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement leader Mohamed Morsi.

“The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal,” Morsi said in his election speech last month.

Today Egypt is close as never before to the triumph of Islam at all the state levels, he said.

“Today we can establish Sharia law because our nation will acquire well-being only with Islam and Sharia. The Muslim Brothers and the Freedom and Justice Party will be the conductors of these goals,” he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood Islamist group has been banned in Egypt for decades before being legalized following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in last year’s popular uprising, and has since emerged as a powerful political force.

24/7 Wall Street: S.C. 7th Poorest State

The U.S. Census Bureau released two pieces of widely followed data yesterday — one on poverty and the other on median income for 2010. The most interesting findings in this release were the state-by-state figures, especially when compared to national averages.

South Carolina ranks as the seventh poorest state.

Median income: $42,059
Poverty rate: 14.9% (16th highest)
Without health insurance: 17.6% (12th highest)
Unemployment rate: 10.9% (4th highest)

South Carolina has the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the country, contributing to the state's high level of poverty and seventh-lowest median income. According to the Greenville News, Governor Nikki Haley stated: "The No. 1 key to dealing with these is training people quickly and getting them back to work." As a result, Haley is in the midst of developing a jobs training program designed to improve the readiness of the state workforce and, hopefully, drive new employers to South Carolina.

Read more at 24/7 Wall St.

S.C. House Overrides Veto on Wildfire Equipment Tax

The South Carolina House this week overrode Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of a bill that would provide an agency with new, safer equipment to fight wildfires. Meanwhile, the House upheld her veto of a measure meant to help former convicts secure jobs.

The House voted 108-2 to override her opposition to providing the Forestry Commission with an estimated $15 million over four years by designating 2.25 percent of insurance premium taxes for equipment. The vote in the Senate will decide whether the bill becomes law.

Forestry officials showed off the state’s first closed-cab bulldozers at the Statehouse two weeks ago, saying they’ll keep firefighters safer while allowing them to get closer to the flames. Haley touted the bulldozers then as an example of how government should spend money.

The agency bought 10 units with $3 million in the current budget. The budget proposal for 2012-13 provides an additional $3.5 million for 12 units, which includes the bulldozer, transport truck and plow.

“I am reluctant to go above and beyond this,” Haley wrote in her veto message. “I am additionally wary of dedicating general fund revenues to specific uses, since this practice commits us to spending patterns that limit our ability to respond to revenue shortfalls.”

But Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, told lawmakers that the forestry commission’s needs are greater than the combined $6.5 million can remedy. He said the limited designation will protect property and lives.

The state’s existing 140 units range from 4 to 23 years old, with nearly 40 percent of them dating to 1996, and 10 units bought before 1995. Officials say that means they have an overabundance of equipment older than the 15-year industry standard.

The bulldozers are used to create fire breaks meant to rob a wildfire of fuel and contain the flames.

The closed-cab tractors filter out smoke and have air conditioning to ward off heat. A thick layer of glass also provides a safe place if fire overruns the equipment.

Also on Tuesday, the House killed a bill designed to help former convicts who have turned their lives around secure jobs. The 49-62 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override.

The bill would allow nonviolent felonies to be erased from the records of pardoned residents. The bill allows only one such do-over. The request would be denied if a victim or officer objects. The state already allows people convicted of a misdemeanor to have the charge expunged.

Haley opposed the measure as overly broad, saying it would allow the expunging of too many offenses.

“The result would be businesses and communities being unfairly deprived of the ability to be informed about the criminal history of those caring for our children, minding our cash registers and installing our alarm systems,” the Republican wrote in her veto message.

She said she’ll work with sponsoring Rep. Todd Rutherford next year on a more limited bill.

United Way Volunteer Center Now HandsOn Anderson

The Volunteer Center of United Way of Anderson County is now HandsOn Anderson part of the HandsOn Network, an enterprise of Points of Light which is the largest network of 250 volunteer action centers that extend to 16 countries around the world. Part of the HandsOn program is HandsOn Connect. HandsOn Connect is designed to help non-profits improve how they manage their operations from volunteer recruitment, operations and project activities, to event planning, website, donor and contact management.

HandsOn Connect website is available at HandsOn Anderson.org and is available to all non-profit organizations, schools and churches in Anderson County. This will be the premier website for all volunteer opportunities in our community. HandsOn Connect is welcome news for nonprofits that need better recruitment and management of volunteers and projects, as well as reliable volunteer statistics to secure funding, fulfill grant requirements and manage budgets. This solution will also make it extremely easy for volunteers to find relevant opportunities, maintain records of engagement, and improve their relationships with nonprofits and the community.

HandsOn Connect will allow quick completion of tasks such as the creation and management of volunteer opportunities, registration, tracking and verification of volunteer activities, as well as customizable reporting of vital statistics and programmatic impact. Organizations can create content, post blog feeds; interact with social networking tools and place logos and photos on a customizable website template with the need for a Web design expert.

Currently 15 organizations have been trained on the new website. Anyone wishing more information can contact Carol Loyd at carol.loyd@uwandersoncty.com or by phone at 864-226-3438.

CP: Religious Divide Between GOP, Dems, Growing

A new report by Pew Research Center shows more evidence of a growing religious divide between Republicans and Democrats.

For the last couple of decades, election exit polls have shown a partisan divide based upon religious participation. Those who attend religious services frequently have been more likely to vote Republican while those who attend religious services less frequently, or are nonreligious, have been more likely to vote for Democrats. This split is sometimes called the "God gap."

Pew Research Center finds further evidence for this growing partisan split in its values survey, conducted every five years.

Respondents were asked whether or not they doubt the existence of God. Republican answers have remained high and stable since the first values survey in 1987. Ninety-two percent of Republicans in 2012 said they never doubt the existence of God, which is about the same as it was in 1987 – 91 percent.

Whereas Republicans and Democrats used to be nearly identical in their belief in the existence of God, Democrats have seen a steady decline over the past decade. The proportion of Democrats saying they never doubt the existence of God has dropped 11 percentage points to 77 percent in 2012.

Among white Democrats, the change is even more dramatic. (Blacks, who comprise 25 percent of the Democratic Party, have higher levels of religiosity than whites.) White Democrats dropped 17 percentage points – from 85 percent in 2002 to 68 percent in 2012. Independents have seen a similar decline and match Democrats in their belief in the existence of God.

Full Story Here

AP: Anderson Included in DMV Driver Training Program

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles is trying out a new system that allows first-time drivers to take both written and road skill driving tests at 30 commercial driver training schools across the state.

The program began this week in 13 counties including Anderson. It will be evaluated after several months to see whether it is working properly and whether it can be expanded, DMV officials said Wednesday.

“It creates competition for businesses, one-stop shopping for driver license applicants and shorter wait times at DMV offices,” Executive Director Kevin Shwedo said in a news release. The schools must use DMV-trained instructors and their road test routes must be approved in advance by the DMV.

“We expect this program will appeal to parents of first-time drivers,” said DMV spokeswoman Beth Parks, because it allows the teens to take their tests in the same place where they attend driver training school.

Applicants are told they might be tested again when they go to the local DMV to get their license, Parks said.

She said all first-time drivers who apply for a license to drive a passenger car must have a beginner’s permit for six months.

If they pass the written test and road skills test after attending a commercial driving school, they will be given a certificate to take to their local DMV to obtain their driver’s license, she said.

Because the new system is considered a pilot program until about September, Parks said, the DMV will conduct random tests and audits at the schools to ensure DMV standards are being met.

If a school does not meet the requirements, the DMV can cancel or suspend their agreement with the school and revoke an instructor’s certification, she said.

The counties participating are: Aiken, Anderson, Berkeley, Charleston, Florence, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, Pickens, Richland, Spartanburg, Sumter and York. The schools offering the tests are listed on the DMV Web site, Parks said.

Mortgage Rates Lowest in History

The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell this week to a record low for the seventh time in eight weeks. Cheap mortgages have helped drive a modest recovery in the weak housing market this year.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.66 percent. That's down from 3.71 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

The average rate on the 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, declined to 2.95 percent. That's down from 2.98 percent last week and just above the record 2.94 percent reached two weeks ago.

The rate on the 30-year loan has been below 4 percent since December.

Low rates could provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When people refinance at lower rates, they pay less interest on their loans and have more money to spend.

Still, the pace of home sales remains well below healthy levels. Sales of previously occupied homes dipped in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.55 million, although they are up from the same month last year.

Many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks. Some would-be home buyers are holding off because they fear that home prices could keep falling.

Study Says Believe in Heaven, Hell Related to Crime

A University of Oregon psychologist has found that a country's belief in heaven and hell is related to its crime rates, and that a belief in a punitive God equals less crime while a belief in a forgiving savior means more crime.

"It seems like there is a case to be made for the causal direction that religious punishment does actually lower unethical behavior, where as forgiveness does seem to license people," Azim F. Shariff, professor of psychology and director of the Culture and Morality Lab at the University of Oregon, told KEZI 9 News.

The study, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, took a sample survey from 143,197 people in 67 countries over a span of 26 years.

The results of the study concluded that in countries where people believe in hell and a punitive God, crime rates are lower. In countries where people believe in heaven and a forgiving savior, crime rates are higher.

"The key finding is that, controlling for each other, a nation's rate of belief in hell predicts lower crime rates, but the nation's rate of belief in heaven predicts higher crime rates, and these are strong effects," Shariff told news channel KVAL-TV.

"I think it's an important clue about the differential effects of supernatural punishment and supernatural benevolence. The finding is consistent with controlled research we've done in the lab, but here shows a powerful 'real world' effect on something that really affects people – crime," he added.

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Shariff told the news station that the key to understanding the report's results was to pull a part the different constructs of organized religion, rather than viewing it as a whole.

"Once you split religion into different constructs, you begin to see different relationships. In this study, we found two differences that go in opposite directions. If you look at overall religious belief, these separate directions are washed out and you don't see anything. There's no hint of a relationship," he said.

In a companion study published last year in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Shariff wrote that undergraduate students at the University of Oregon were more likely to cheat on a test if they believed in a forgiving God.

"This fits into a bigger cultural issue about how religions initially evolved and what purposes they served," Shariff said in a video interview in April 2011.

The findings of the study, according to Shariff, show that positive supernatural belief systems are a reliable means by which to evoke ethical behavior from people.

Shariff went on the tell KVAL that caution must be used in interpreting these findings, as further research would need to be done to solidify his hypothesis.

The psychologist's study was obtained from World Values and European Values surveys, dispersed in multiple countries at various periods between 1981 and 2007.

The study also took into account countries' predominant religions, and studied the correlative effects between these two factors next to rates of crime obtained from United Nations records, including rates for kidnapping, homicide, auto theft, robbery, rape, assault, theft, drug-related crimes, burglary and human trafficking.