Government

A Fort Mill man was charged April 17 after he was accused of stealing campaign signs along Doby’s Bridge Road and Fort Mill Parkway.
Scott Kodell, 51, is charged with one count of petit larceny for the Easter afternoon crime.
According to the York County Sheriff’s Office incident report, Kodell was observed stealing signs by Indian Land resident Joe St. John, campaign manager for Republican 5th District congressional candidate Tommy Pope.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed a controversial bipartisan pension-reform bill Tuesday that will pump money into the state pension system to ensure that state and local government retirees will get what they’ve been promised.
The S.C. House approved the bill in late February, and the state Senate approved it April 5. McMaster had until midnight Tuesday to sign the bill into law.
While the legislation does prop up the state’s in-the-hole pension plan, McMaster called it only the first step, noting that more must be done.

With nine days left before the party primaries, Republican Ralph Norman and Democrat Archie Parnell have raised the most money in the race for the state’s 5th Congressional District seat.
The two are among the 15 candidates vying to replace Mick Mulvaney, who resigned in February to become White House budget chief.

Two of the three Democrats in the hunt for the 5th District U.S. House seat visited Lancaster on Thursday night trying to convince members of the local Democratic Party why they are the best choice in the upcoming special election.
Les Murphy told the crowd of about 30 partisans he is the statesman that District 5 needs. A statesman, he said, differs from a politician in that a statesman takes care of those who elect him.