Free Republic

Article published Jun 5, 2003Legislator wants to outlaw bans on smoking Associated Press CHARLESTON -- You might call it a ban on smoking bans. State Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-Charleston, has filed a bill that would prohibit municipalities from banning smoking in bars and many restaurants. The bill was filed as Charleston is considering a citywide ban on smoking in most indoor public places. Altman says it is fine if bars and restaurants want to ban smoking, but the government should not force them to do so. "This is an issue of government becoming more and more socialistic and...

Black lawmakers say their agenda is stifled LEE BANDY Knight Ridder Newspapers COLUMBIA -- Most black legislators say they can't get their proposals passed or even considered in the General Assembly because of an age-old problem -- racism. They say if they want to get a bill through the Legislature, they normally have to take it to a friendly white Republican lawmaker and ask him or her to introduce it. "Black legislators still are searching for equal footing in the General Assembly," said state Rep. Seth Whipper, a black lawmaker from Charleston. "There are problems with complete acceptance by white...

Parties lose Boys State invite over controversy Associated PressCHARLESTON -- Any talk of cold beer and hot girls at Boys State next week will be confined to the usual places -- the barracks of The Citadel. Two years ago, the heads of the state's Democratic and Republican parties were criticized for trying to one-up each other in front of 800 high-school boys, talking about beer and girls. This year, Joe Erwin, new chairman of the state Democratic Party who is also a longtime adviser to Boys State and a staff member, said organizers decided not to bring the two party...

Article published May 24, 2003 Shiites Reportedly Hunting Baathists By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press Writer The Shiite Muslim cleric sat cross-legged on the floor. With chilling calm, he explained the criteria - how to decide which of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party officials are permitted to live, and which of them will die. Only officials attempting to return to positions they held under Saddam should be killed - and only after a fair warning, said Sheik Ali al-Gharawi, one of several community leaders in a poverty-ridden Baghdad district known as al-Thawra, where an estimated 2 million Shiites live. "People come to...

Democrats await word from Hollings AMY GEIER EDGAR Associated PressCOLUMBIA -- The state Democratic Party, already suffering from recent losses in the Governor's Mansion and General Assembly, could face another major blow if U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings decides to step down, political observers say. Hollings, 81, has not announced whether he will seek re-election next year for a seventh full term. Political observers say Hollings likely is waiting to see whether the state party can find a viable candidate to replace him. "Senator Hollings has always been a party man," University of South Carolina political scientist Blease Graham said....

Posted on January 04, 2003Lottery winnings can pose dilemma for charities, churches By BENNY LEE SMITH Staff Writer What would you do if someone gave your charitable organization or church money won in a lottery? Spartanburg County agency and church leaders gave mixed reactions to the question that has been put in the limelight this week after a Florida Salvation Army leader returned a $100,000 check donated by a lottery winner. Naples Salvation Army leader Maj. Cleo Damon told the man he could not accept the money on behalf of the organization because they were working with people who are...

Posted on January 03, 2003Edwards hopes Southern roots help court S.C. voters The Associated PressNorth Carolina Sen. John Edwards knows South Carolina's first-in-the-South Democratic primary will swing his bid for president. "Is South Carolina pivotal? Yes," said Edwards, who announced Thursday he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Edwards has a certain advantage over other candidates as a South Carolina native. He was born of textile-working parents in Seneca. He and his family moved to Robbins, N.C., when Edwards was 12. Edwards told The (Columbia) State he knows most voters don't know who he is, but his Southern...

16 enter guilty pleas in marriage fraud case Emily Huigens Anderson Independent-Mail Sixteen women and four men pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Anderson to entering into fraudulent marriages that were part of a ring involving 107 separate unions between strangers in South Carolina. The women, almost all from Spartanburg County, married men who were hoping to gain permanent residency status after immigrating to the United States. Most of the men involved in the case are from Pakistan; one is from Tunisia. Another group of pleadings is set for Monday in Spartanburg and a third group is assigned to...

Doctors focus attention on a growing problem in health care It seems severe when surgeons in West Virginia take leaves of absence in order to protest rising medical malpractice insurance rates. These doctors are withholding health care and forcing their patients to travel to receive assistance. But these surgeons are drawing attention to a national problem that threatens access to quality health care for many Americans. Medical malpractice insurance has been rising across the nation. The problem is not as severe in South Carolina, but in other states, the cost has forced physicians to eliminate services or even quit their...

By GAVIN McCORMICK Associated Press Writer Four West Virginia hospitals cut staff hours and transferred more patients Thursday because of a surgeons' walkout to protest malpractice costs. State officials planned to announce an emergency program Thursday afternoon to ensure medical service to patients in the state's northern panhandle. More than two dozen orthopedic, general and heart surgeons in the area began 30-day leaves of absence Wednesday or planned to begin leaves in the next few days to protest medical malpractice costs. They want the state to make it harder to file malpractice lawsuits, which they say would eventually lower their...

By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer Dr. Martha Myers, a medical missionary shot to death this week by an Islamic militant at a hospital in Yemen, was eulogized Thursday as a "beacon of light" and a Christian martyr. "She really lived a selfless life," said Pat Dunn, a former missionary who worked with Myers in Yemen four years ago. Dunn was among several hundred people who celebrated the life of the 57-year-old surgeon and obstetrician at a Baptist memorial service. Myers and two other Americans were killed and a fourth was wounded Monday at the Jibla Baptist Hospital in southern...

By Joel D. Sawyer Staff Writer Though the list of contenders for the state's 2004 U.S. Senate race still is taking shape, one thing is certain -- the Upstate will have a competitor in the contest. U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, R-Greenville, said he will run for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, making DeMint the first candidate to publicly announce his candidacy. While a crowded field of Republicans is expected, DeMint said he thinks he has a good shot at becoming the party's nominee. "It's shaping up really well for us at this point, looking around the...

Posted on January 02, 2003 State Legislatures Set to Tackle Budgets By ROBERT TANNER AP National Writer More so than any other year in recent memory, the unenviable task facing state lawmakers returning to legislative sessions this month is all about money - and the lack of it. With the national economy still sputtering and eating into tax revenues, the struggle to cover current spending plans, let alone budget for the future, threatens to affect all areas of government: education, transportation, social services, criminal justice. "We're going to be competing for dollars," said Eddie Sissons, who lobbies for poor people's...

By The Associated PressJennifer Granholm, Michigan's first female governor, used her inauguration to call on constituents to serve their communities - and pointed to her groundbreaking election as evidence that they can make a difference. "I stand before you as living proof that the door is open to every single one of you in this room," she said in her inaugural address Wednesday. "Any one of us can run for office, and every one of us can elect to serve this Michigan family." Granholm was one of three governors sworn in on New Year's Day. Former Clinton administration Cabinet member...

By STEPHANIE NANO Associated Press Writer An experimental drug shows promise as an effective new approach for treating multiple sclerosis and the intestinal ailment Crohn's disease. In preliminary tests, the new drug Antegren dramatically reduced the number of new brain lesions in patients with MS and cut the number of relapses in half. In Crohn's patients, it increased the rate of remission and improved the patients' quality of life. Both were early studies, and researchers stressed that more definitive results will come from larger, longer studies that are now under way. "At this stage, these are very promising results," said...

By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer Hospitals in eastern Pennsylvania braced for a potential New Year's Day walkout by scores of surgeons who say they can no longer afford to buy malpractice insurance policies. But with Tuesday's midnight deadline looming, there were signs that Gov.-elect Ed Rendell might have averted a large-scale work stoppage with a proposed aid package that would reduce doctors' insurance payments by $220 million in 2003. Several large surgical practices in northeast Pennsylvania backed off Tuesday from a threat to stop performing operations Wednesday if something wasn't done about their insurance costs. Scranton's biggest hospital,...

The Associated Press The state Commission on Higher Education is increasing the maximum tuition assistance award funded by the South Carolina Education Lottery, according to officials at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. The tuition assistance will increase to $1,044, The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News reported. Charlie FitzSimmons, spokesman for the Commission on Higher Education, said the commission will make an announcement Jan. 7. The increase means Horry-Georgetown Technical College students who qualify for the full amount must pay only $24 per semester - $14 for tuition-related fees and $10 for parking. "It's a great incentive to at least pursue the option of...

this article Posted on December 31, 2002 Federal judge rules 'Choose Life' license plates unconstitutional By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press WriterA federal court judge has ruled South Carolina's anti-abortion license plates are unconstitutional. The plates, which include the slogan "Choose Life," violate the First Amendment because it give anti-abortion advocates a forum to express their beliefs, while abortion rights supports have no license plate of their own, Senior U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman ruled last week. A spokesman for the attorney general's office said the state plans to appeal the decision to 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "We will...

Workers find Civil War-era shell in Charleston Bomb squad destroys ordnance discovered near Adgers Wharf BY GLENN SMITH Of The Post and Courier Staff The Charleston police bomb squad rushed to Longitude Lane near Adgers Wharf after construction workers reported Monday morning finding a Civil War-era artillery shell that appeared to be live. Workers actually unearthed the round Friday while tearing up a cobblestone driveway along the narrow lane in downtown Charleston, but they didn't know what it was, said Sgt. Karl Smith, bomb squad commander. They called police Monday after a Civil War re-enactor recognized the corroded shell and...

By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer In a bid to keep disgruntled doctors from walking off the job Wednesday, Gov.-elect Ed Rendell unveiled a proposal to cut physician payments to a state malpractice insurance fund by two-thirds. The plan, released days before scores of doctors said they would stop work rather than continue to pay high insurance premiums, would cut physician contributions to the MCare fund by $220 million. Instead, the state's health insurers would be forced to pay a one-time "special assessment" to finance the fund, which helps pay court damages to patients who have been injured by...