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Columns

  • Column: Leaders must pursue peace as fervently as they fought

    The presidential election is over, and the world has not come to an end. But still there are those who are going through the weeping and gashing of teeth phase, so let’s try to see things in a larger perspective.
    We are a nation of different people. Some are open minded and calm, others are narrow minded and emotional. Some see the truth even when they don’t want to and others see only what they wish to see. Some accept reality with joy or sadness while others plant their feet, hold their breath and deny anything that is not the way they want it to be.

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  • Column: How politicians spend donations

    The elections are over, and campaign accounts are empty.

    Well, not quite empty.

    The question arises: What can – and can’t – politicians do with all that money? While not state or federal funds, these campaign accounts are considered public money, and state laws govern what they can be used for. Perhaps not surprisingly, these laws aren’t as cut and dried as you would hope.

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  • Column: There's upside to Yankee influx when they come to lend a hand

    In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of new folks moving to the Palmetto State. In fact, we rank second in the nation per capita after Washington state in the number of people moving here.

    A lot of these folks are from up North – aka Yankees.

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  • Column: A fun glimpse at a venerable S.C. subculture

    You can hear it before you get there. The dull roar grows louder as you get closer. Like a siren call to the initiated, it means there’s racin’ up ahead – and it’s already started.

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  • Column: A beautiful young life lost, a way to help her daughter

    As a manager I have looked at a lot of job applications. I picked up Candace Dry’s on Sept. 26, 2013.
    Under reason for leaving her last job, she wrote “rude and had no responsibility.” I have to meet this girl, I thought.  Sometimes it is hard to interview young people. They are often shy and a little intimidated, without much work or life experience to talk about. Candace, at 19, was none of those things.

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  • Column: We can agree on goals, but policy approaches differ

    I am a conservative because I believe in the limited role of government, so I would like to comment on Keith Grey’s Nov. 2 article defending “progressive left” principles. 

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  • Column: Guardian ad Litem Program needs you

    You may not know it, but right now there are many abused and neglected children living in our community. According to Kids Count data, more than 250,000 children nationwide are placed in foster care each year.

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  • Column: Patriotism runs deep in this local family

    The picture of six men in military uniforms titled “Griffin Brothers Return from War” posted on social media caught my attention. Three of the faces were familiar.
    Two of them, Carl and Raymond, lived nearby and I had known them for most of my life. Everette was quite often a visitor to a local grill, where, at times, he played his guitar and sang. He was extraordinarily talented in other ways as well. I was curious about the others and also wanted to know as much detail as was possible about each one.

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  • Column: Voting is over – 3 things to do now

    I am writing this column before the election results are known.
    The pundits are predicting that Trump will carry South Carolina by a large margin and Clinton will win nationally by a narrow margin. For me as a Democrat in South Carolina, this is the definition of mixed emotions.
    But as an American, I’m mostly just glad that the whole disgusting spectacle is finally over.

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  • Candidate Column: Mitchell’s issues: Roads, schools, jobs

    If there is one thing that I heard near universally while knocking on over 1,000 doors this year, it’s that people are tired of politics and this campaign. When we go to the polls on Tuesday, it will have been 596 days since the first candidate announced that he was running for president.

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