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Opinion

  • Witherspoon’s leaving,...

    Veteran police officer Tim Witherspoon is leaving the Lancaster Police Department, but not some of the duties he’s performed in 25 years of an outstanding career in law enforcement.

    Witherspoon, 45, retired from the Lancaster Police Department earlier this month, but he’s likely to be spotted in his police uniform. Chances are you will find him working at Lancaster High School.

    He is now a resource officer at LHS, the county’s largest high school.

    Having Witherspoon around, no matter what duties he performs, can only be viewed as a plus.

  • Ending parole makes system...

    We should abolish parole for all crimes. This will save lives, save money and add certainty and accountability to our system. We should allow the prison director to award up to 15 percent off as an incentive for good behavior and to provide hope. But everyone must serve at least 85 percent. No more parole hearings, no loopholes, no exceptions.

  • We must learn from past mistakes

    Most people in Lancaster County probably have never seen a live Carolina heelsplitter before. Most people probably never even heard of them until the rare mussel became a threat to development in the booming Indian Land area.

    But in the last year, these creatures have flexed their muscles, thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which have given them a voice. We've been told that since these mussels are protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, we must take precautionary measures to ensure they are protected in Lancaster County.

  • We should all practice common...

    We should all practice common courtesy everywhere

    I truly appreciate Karen Smith's letter "Use common courtesy in parking lots, on highway" in the Sept. 16 edition of The Lancaster News. We all could learn from this. Courtesy is something that is necessary in our world today. I would like to add to her list a few of my pet peeves:

  • Saving water doesn't mean...

    I am writing to voice my disbelief at the attitude of the Lancaster County Water and Sewer District.

    My husband and I received our bill in December for $48, having used 2,000 gallons. We decided that with the ongoing drought, we could reduce our water usage by recycling the water from the shower by using it to flush our toilets and water our plants.

  • Where Lancaster County residents...

    Some polling places consolidated

    You may be one of the Lancaster County residents who won't vote in your usual polling place for the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries. The county combined several precincts because it did not get enough money from the state to open all precincts.

    The polling places that have been combined and where you'll vote are:

    - Antioch and Hyde Park - Hyde Park Baptist Church, 1898 Flat Creek Road

    - Belair and Belair II - Indian Land Recreation Center, 8286 Charlotte Highway, Indian Land

  • Newspaper will continue to inform

    Barbara Rutledge's column, "Community journalism remains focus," in the Jan. 11 edition of The Lancaster News just about said it all about the heart and soul of our community newspaper.

    Having been fortunate to work with the news staff on a part-time basis for a few years, I want to add my few cents to the dialogue.

    The Lancaster News began informing the citizens of Lancaster nine years before the War Between the States or the Civil War, according to one's perspective.

  • Help Patrol make highways safer

    The statistics are in and the S.C. Highway Patrol is taking notice. In 2007, traffic fatalities were up in the county and across the state.

    County numbers had 17 people die in fatalities as opposed to 10 in 2006. Statewide, the figures showed that 1,071 drivers lost their lives in 2007, up 43 from the previous year. South Carolina ranks among the highest in the nation in terms of number of traffic deaths and serious accidents per number of vehicles on the road.

    Several factors led to the increase here.

  • Springs story bittersweet

    He was 53 and had worked there for 27 years.

    "What am I going to do?" he said.

    He said it as if he were thinking out loud more than asking a question.

    The Lancaster News and the S.C. Employment Security Commission were sponsoring a job fair. The irony is the day before the job fair, Springs Global announced its closing of the Grace Complex, where he worked.

  • Community wanting to help Saylors...

    After a week under heavy sedation, the first thing Amy Saylors said was, "I've got to pay my bills."

    Saylors had been hospitalized with a case of pneumonia so severe that doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina did not have a name for it. They said she was lucky to be alive.

    It was New Year's day when Saylors became so sick she had to be transported by ambulance from Springs Memorial Hospital in Lancaster more than three hours south to Charleston to MUSC.

  • Use common courtesy in parking lots...

    Do you have pet peeves? I know I do. My two biggest pet peeves are based on the inconsideration of people who leave shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot and people who don't use turn signals.

  • 'One of the best, worst jobs...

    With counsel from my family, close confidants and top staff, I have decided not to seek re-election and will retire at the expiration of my current term in January, 2009.

    This was an extremely difficult decision for me because I love law enforcement, the good people of Lancaster County and most of all the men and women I have had the privilege and honor of working with throughout my 30-plus year career.

  • S.C. in primary spotlight

    It's our turn. Every four years since 1980, South Carolina has had its time in the national spotlight during the presidential primary season.

    For most of those 28 years, South Carolina's Republican presidential primary has enjoyed that glaring light. And it's become the barometer state for GOP candidates hoping to get to the White House.

  • Resolve to help abused child in 2008

    It’s the time of year that many of us make resolutions about changes we will make in the upcoming year.

    Some popular resolutions are losing weight, exercising more and paying off debt, just to name a few. These are all worthwhile, but maybe this year we could consider a goal that empowers us to help children in need – becoming a volunteer Guardian ad Litem for an abused or neglected child.

  • Community journalism remains focus

    Several years ago, I participated in a job fair for graduating journalists at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Representatives from media outlets across the nation – newspapers, broadcast, television and public relation firms – also were there.

    We were there interviewing and touting our businesses to the future graduates. I was there representing The Lancaster News and our parent company, Landmark Community Newspapers Inc. (LCNI.) As the day wore on, folks from the different businesses began to wander around the concourse talking to reps at their booths.

  • A lot of ‘good-hearted...

    I would to thank all the wonderful people who live in Lancaster County. We are always hearing about the bad things people do. Well, I want to tell about some good things people do.

    Again this year, the Lancaster County Council on Aging (COA) sponsored the “shoe boxes for seniors,” a project that was started about six years ago.

  • Home no more safe haven because of...

    My heart was truly warmed this Christmas season as I witnessed a tremendous outpouring of love in and around Lancaster County. Donations of food, toys, money and clothing were overwhelming and renewed my faith in humankind.

  • Help support Family Promise of...

    Family Promise of Lancaster County started in September 2007. The essential backbone of any organized group is to have committees to collect needed information or recruit volunteer help.

    Family Promise is no different. The committees and their chairmen are: Host Recruitment Committee, the Rev. Dan Batson of First United Methodist Church, chairman: Fundraising Committee, Calvin Miller of Covenant Baptist Church, chairman: Public Relations, Mary Atkinson of St. Catherine Catholic Church, chairwoman and the Day Center with Chad Catledge of First Baptist Church as chairman.

  • Gregory represents county admirably

    It was all in the wording. The original S.C. Constitution outlawed gambling in the Palmetto State. But that changed in 1980s when a legislative loophole allowed payouts – in paper receipts not cash – for video poker. The receipts were then exchanged for cash.

    That act helped spur one of the most profitable businesses in South Carolina – video poker gambling. Video poker had been around since 1975, but it boomed in the 1980s and became a multi-billion dollar industry.

  • Memories of a dear friend still...

    Mary Jane Bailes Watson, who died in December, was a longtime friend. Our families shared good times together. We were Lancaster High School classmates.

    She left us for a faraway Pavilion gleaming amid the glow of a full moon, the incoming tide foaming over a sandy shoreline and those ever present salty breezes blowing through your hair.

    The sounds of 1950s beach music resounds as she moves across the dance floor with effortless ease as in days of old.

    Save a dance for us.

    Mary Alice Rankin Evans and W.B. Evans Jr., LHS Class of ’51

    Lancaster