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Columns

  • Column: Mass killings show need for transparency in government

    Less than a week after the massacre at Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., 16 news outlets and organizations filed a motion with the court overseeing the prosecution of the shooter, arguing that hearings and records in the case should be open to the public.

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  • Column: Foolish stupidity! Do NOT transmit your nude photos!

    I would like to make two points in regard to the news article in the March 16 paper entitled “Rep. Norrell: Make ‘revenge porn’ illegal.”
    Point one: Foolishness. As Mark Manicone reported in his article: “According to the Data and Society Research Institute, one in every 25 Americans have been affected by revenge porn and one in 10 young women have been threatened with the public posting of explicit images.”

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  • Column: Where were all the ‘no’ voices during ILAC fights with county?

    The group of “no” voters surprises me. They say incorporation will destroy Indian Land. They don’t want to pay more taxes. They want to save the farmland.
    I have never seen any of this group in front of county council with the Indian Land Action Council speaking against the county raising our taxes. I have never seen any of the group at the Planning Commission meetings with ILAC, asking developers for 50-foot undisturbed buffers or connectivity through developments for better traffic flow.

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  • Column: IL town folks like the Borg on ‘Star Trek’

    Van Wyck and Indian Land have lived together as Panhandle communities for more than 100 years, sharing a great life and history. My family is rooted in Van Wyck, and that history has provided a great many stories, love and pride for our family. 

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  • Column: New, affordable way to create a right-sized town

    There have been many suggestions that a town of Indian Land can’t be run on a budget of under $8 million per year. I understand how people with a long history around bloated government bureaucracies would believe that’s impossible. However, they are either unaware (or don’t want to admit) that there is a new way to create towns that breaks the traditional mold.

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  • Column: Leave our farm out of your city

    My name is Kevin Hall, and my wife and I are in our 11th year of farming at Hall Family Farm, the u-pick strawberry and pumpkin farm on U.S.  521 two miles north of the state line, on land that has been owned by the family for nearly a century. Recent events within the family led to the impending sale of the property.

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  • Column: Let’s envision our library of the future

    What is the library of the future?
    Does it have shelves with new releases and up-to-date periodicals tempting you as soon as you walk in the door? Is it an “on ramp” to the information highway with broadband internet access for all and book borrowing directly to your Kindle?
    Can it be a place where local data is stored and shared widely so that everyone has access to important information about the future of our community? Or is it a gathering place with a coffee shop and a place for community meetings?

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  • Column: Why I am voting no on IL town

    After careful research, these are my reasons for voting no/opposed to incorporating the Panhandle of Lancaster County to be a 58-square-mile town of Indian Land.
    ◆ The proposed area to be incorporated is way too large, encompassing 40 square miles of farmland. Incorporation of that large of an area of rural farmland puts it in jeopardy, as agricultural protections under S.C. Chapter 46 do not apply in incorporated areas.

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  • Column: Last chance for IL to control its future – say yes March 27

    My name is Melvin Threatt. A few years ago, I was chairman of the Planning Commission for Lancaster County, so I understand how decisions are made about growth in Lancaster County.
    The citizens of Indian Land have a great opportunity to decide its destiny March 27 at the voting polls.
    The county has done a disservice to Indian Land over the past number of years, by way of uncontrolled growth with no plan. A yes vote on March 27 will put this community in charge of the future.

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  • Column: Lancaster County tax deadline March 16

    An important deadline is approaching for Lancaster County taxpayers – the closing of the county’s 2017 tax books, which takes place March 16.
    This is an important step in the annual fiscal budgeting process for Lancaster County government, as it allows those who serve on county council, the school board, and town and city councils to determine how much tax revenue they will have to work with as they finish their 2018-19 budgets.

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