Main Menu
| Home |
| Blog |
| Links |
| Contact Us |
| Search |
Carolina Venues
House of Blues Myrtle Beach
BI-LO Center
Florence Civic Center
North Charleston Coliseum
HB Spokes Saloon
Asheville Civic Center
Bank of America Stadium
Carolina Coliseum
Carowinds Paladium
Charlotte Convention Center
Cricket Arena
Darlington Raceway
Family Circle Magazine Stadium
Finlay Park
News
Breaking News
Earl weakens to Category 1, heads for Northeast
3 Sep 2010 at 11:47am
Hurricane Earl sideswiped North Carolina's Outer Banks early Friday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and little damage, then chugged up the Eastern Seaboard toward Cape Cod, a weaker but still dangerous storm.Earl dropped to a Category 1 hurricane - down from a powerful Category 4 just a day earlier - as it wheeled over open water, with winds of 85 mph. It was expected to reach New England late Friday night, passing perilously close to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard at the start of the Labor Day weekend.The storm howled past the Outer Banks before daybreak, knocking out power to thousands and closing a road to a main bridge between the islands and the mainland. But Earl's winds had dropped by then to 105 mph from 145 mph a day before. And at its closest approach, the storm's center passed about 85 miles east of Cape Hatteras - up to 50 miles farther out than forecasters feared.Hurricane-force winds, which start at 74 mph, apparently did not reach the Outer Banks, the National Hurricane Center's chief forecaster James Franklin said."We still think it will be a hurricane when it passes by Cape Cod," Franklin said. Earl was also expected to kick up high surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the East Coast, even along stretches where the storm remained well offshore.
Companies add 67K workers, but jobless rate rises
3 Sep 2010 at 11:32am
Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, a glimmer of hope for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose because not enough jobs were created to absorb the growing number of people looking for work.Companies added a net total of 67,000 new jobs last month and both July and June's private-sector job figures were upwardly revised, the Labor Department said Friday.Stocks surged after the report's release but then fell back. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64 points in morning trading and broader indexes were all up.While the report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, it's a reassuring sign after weeks of troubling data and comes after some encouraging economic figures in the past week.Scott Brown, an economist at Raymond James, said he sees no sign of the country slipping back into recession.
Sheriff's Department seeks help on missing teen
3 Sep 2010 at 11:32am
The Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office is seeking assistance in locating 16-year-old Kayla Traxler.The teen was last seen Aug. 27, outside the Bi-Lo Grocery Store at 365 Stonewall Jackson Blvd., Orangeburg, said Orangeburg County Sheriff's staff assistant Keisa Peterson.She was last seen wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. She has blonde hair and green eyes. She is 5'8" and weighs 148 pounds.Anyone who may have information is asked to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, (803) 534-3550 or CrimeStoppers at (888) CRIMESC.
S.C. Pride parade street closings for Saturday
3 Sep 2010 at 11:12am
Laurel Street between Gadsden and Assembly will be closed Saturday (Sept. 4) from 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. for the S.C. Pride parade. Minimal delays are expected during the parade. The event will begin inside Finlay Park at 12:00 p.m. and end at 7:00 p.m. The parade participants will assemble on the Laurel St. side of Finlay Park at 10:00 a.m. The march will begin at 12:00 p.m. (See map for route).
SC cops searching for suspect in deaths of 2 women
3 Sep 2010 at 10:46am
South Carolina authorities are searching for a man they say killed two women and then set their bodies on fire.Aiken County Sheriff's Capt. Charles Barranco said Friday deputies are looking for 55-year-old Franklin Wright of Beech Island.Authorities have charged Wright with murder and arson in the deaths of two women whose burned bodies were found in the Aiken area last month. The body of 38-year-old Shalamar Byrd of Augusta, Ga., was found on fire in some woods Aug. 11. An hour earlier, authorities had found the body of 75-year-old Yana Schenker burned in her Aiken County home.Investigators say both women were suffocated.Records show Wright has a criminal record dating back nearly 40 years, including arrests for assault, rape, and armed robbery.
Haley criticizes Sanford, port situation
3 Sep 2010 at 9:24am
CHARLESTON -- State Rep. Nikki Haley began her career as a protege of Gov. Mark Sanford, but as she seeks to replace him, she's talking about a few things she would do differently.The Lexington Republican said Thursday that she would not submit her own budget like Sanford but instead would work with state lawmakers on their draft."You will see me do things a different way when we go into January," she told more than 100 people of the Commercial Investment Division of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors."I served in the legislature. I know what they think. We have got to start working with them from a predictable standpoint."Haley called Sanford reactionary by nature, adding. "They would pass a bill, he would react. They would pass a budget, he would react. In order to lead with the legislature, you have to be predictable. You have to let them know what you're going to do before you do it."
Panel recommends raising SC's gas tax for roads
3 Sep 2010 at 8:08am
A panel studying taxes in South Carolina is recommending an increase in the gasoline tax to fund road repairs.The State newspaper reported the Tax Realignment Commission voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the state's gas tax be raised a nickel a gallon.South Carolina's current gasoline tax is 16 cents a gallon and hasn't changed since 1987. Commission member Kenneth Cosgrove says he doesn't anyone would disagree that the state's roads are in pretty bad shape.The commission will send recommendations to state lawmakers, who return in January. Some lawmakers say they don't expect the General Assembly would approve any tax increases in the current economy.The panel also is recommending lowering the 6 percent state sales tax to 5 percent, but eliminating the tax exemptions on many industries.
SC officials kicking off voter registration drive
3 Sep 2010 at 4:08am
There are only two months left until South Carolina voters go to the polls, and the state's election officials want to make sure everyone who is eligible gets registered.In September, the South Carolina Election Commission is kicking off a monthlong effort to register new voters and make sure they have up-to-date information for those already registered.Officials say there are 800,000 South Carolinians who are eligible but not registered to vote.In order to cast a ballot in the Nov. 2 elections, people must be registered by Oct. 2.At the polls, voters need to bring a registration card, driver's license or an ID card from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
States being asked for 'right-to-hunt' amendments
2 Sep 2010 at 6:41pm
Lifelong hunter Bill Haycraft of Kentucky sees his treasured outdoors heritage under siege and in need of constitutional protection from animal rights advocates.He's one of many hunters backing a "right-to-hunt" amendment that's expected to be on his state's 2012 ballot.Kentucky is just the latest in a long line of states that have passed or are considering right-to-hunt measures to head off a feared hunting ban.Animal rights activists, however, say it's all unnecessary."It's a solution in search of a problem," said Michael Markarian, chief operating officer for The Humane Society of the United States. "These measures don't accomplish anything."
Earl weakens to Category 1, heads for Northeast
3 Sep 2010 at 11:47am
Hurricane Earl sideswiped North Carolina's Outer Banks early Friday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and little damage, then chugged up the Eastern Seaboard toward Cape Cod, a weaker but still dangerous storm.Earl dropped to a Category 1 hurricane - down from a powerful Category 4 just a day earlier - as it wheeled over open water, with winds of 85 mph. It was expected to reach New England late Friday night, passing perilously close to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard at the start of the Labor Day weekend.The storm howled past the Outer Banks before daybreak, knocking out power to thousands and closing a road to a main bridge between the islands and the mainland. But Earl's winds had dropped by then to 105 mph from 145 mph a day before. And at its closest approach, the storm's center passed about 85 miles east of Cape Hatteras - up to 50 miles farther out than forecasters feared.Hurricane-force winds, which start at 74 mph, apparently did not reach the Outer Banks, the National Hurricane Center's chief forecaster James Franklin said."We still think it will be a hurricane when it passes by Cape Cod," Franklin said. Earl was also expected to kick up high surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the East Coast, even along stretches where the storm remained well offshore.
Companies add 67K workers, but jobless rate rises
3 Sep 2010 at 11:32am
Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, a glimmer of hope for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose because not enough jobs were created to absorb the growing number of people looking for work.Companies added a net total of 67,000 new jobs last month and both July and June's private-sector job figures were upwardly revised, the Labor Department said Friday.Stocks surged after the report's release but then fell back. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64 points in morning trading and broader indexes were all up.While the report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, it's a reassuring sign after weeks of troubling data and comes after some encouraging economic figures in the past week.Scott Brown, an economist at Raymond James, said he sees no sign of the country slipping back into recession.
Sheriff's Department seeks help on missing teen
3 Sep 2010 at 11:32am
The Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office is seeking assistance in locating 16-year-old Kayla Traxler.The teen was last seen Aug. 27, outside the Bi-Lo Grocery Store at 365 Stonewall Jackson Blvd., Orangeburg, said Orangeburg County Sheriff's staff assistant Keisa Peterson.She was last seen wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. She has blonde hair and green eyes. She is 5'8" and weighs 148 pounds.Anyone who may have information is asked to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, (803) 534-3550 or CrimeStoppers at (888) CRIMESC.
S.C. Pride parade street closings for Saturday
3 Sep 2010 at 11:12am
Laurel Street between Gadsden and Assembly will be closed Saturday (Sept. 4) from 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. for the S.C. Pride parade. Minimal delays are expected during the parade. The event will begin inside Finlay Park at 12:00 p.m. and end at 7:00 p.m. The parade participants will assemble on the Laurel St. side of Finlay Park at 10:00 a.m. The march will begin at 12:00 p.m. (See map for route).
SC cops searching for suspect in deaths of 2 women
3 Sep 2010 at 10:46am
South Carolina authorities are searching for a man they say killed two women and then set their bodies on fire.Aiken County Sheriff's Capt. Charles Barranco said Friday deputies are looking for 55-year-old Franklin Wright of Beech Island.Authorities have charged Wright with murder and arson in the deaths of two women whose burned bodies were found in the Aiken area last month. The body of 38-year-old Shalamar Byrd of Augusta, Ga., was found on fire in some woods Aug. 11. An hour earlier, authorities had found the body of 75-year-old Yana Schenker burned in her Aiken County home.Investigators say both women were suffocated.Records show Wright has a criminal record dating back nearly 40 years, including arrests for assault, rape, and armed robbery.
Haley criticizes Sanford, port situation
3 Sep 2010 at 9:24am
CHARLESTON -- State Rep. Nikki Haley began her career as a protege of Gov. Mark Sanford, but as she seeks to replace him, she's talking about a few things she would do differently.The Lexington Republican said Thursday that she would not submit her own budget like Sanford but instead would work with state lawmakers on their draft."You will see me do things a different way when we go into January," she told more than 100 people of the Commercial Investment Division of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors."I served in the legislature. I know what they think. We have got to start working with them from a predictable standpoint."Haley called Sanford reactionary by nature, adding. "They would pass a bill, he would react. They would pass a budget, he would react. In order to lead with the legislature, you have to be predictable. You have to let them know what you're going to do before you do it."
Panel recommends raising SC's gas tax for roads
3 Sep 2010 at 8:08am
A panel studying taxes in South Carolina is recommending an increase in the gasoline tax to fund road repairs.The State newspaper reported the Tax Realignment Commission voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the state's gas tax be raised a nickel a gallon.South Carolina's current gasoline tax is 16 cents a gallon and hasn't changed since 1987. Commission member Kenneth Cosgrove says he doesn't anyone would disagree that the state's roads are in pretty bad shape.The commission will send recommendations to state lawmakers, who return in January. Some lawmakers say they don't expect the General Assembly would approve any tax increases in the current economy.The panel also is recommending lowering the 6 percent state sales tax to 5 percent, but eliminating the tax exemptions on many industries.
SC officials kicking off voter registration drive
3 Sep 2010 at 4:08am
There are only two months left until South Carolina voters go to the polls, and the state's election officials want to make sure everyone who is eligible gets registered.In September, the South Carolina Election Commission is kicking off a monthlong effort to register new voters and make sure they have up-to-date information for those already registered.Officials say there are 800,000 South Carolinians who are eligible but not registered to vote.In order to cast a ballot in the Nov. 2 elections, people must be registered by Oct. 2.At the polls, voters need to bring a registration card, driver's license or an ID card from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
States being asked for 'right-to-hunt' amendments
2 Sep 2010 at 6:41pm
Lifelong hunter Bill Haycraft of Kentucky sees his treasured outdoors heritage under siege and in need of constitutional protection from animal rights advocates.He's one of many hunters backing a "right-to-hunt" amendment that's expected to be on his state's 2012 ballot.Kentucky is just the latest in a long line of states that have passed or are considering right-to-hunt measures to head off a feared hunting ban.Animal rights activists, however, say it's all unnecessary."It's a solution in search of a problem," said Michael Markarian, chief operating officer for The Humane Society of the United States. "These measures don't accomplish anything."