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Today's Opinions

  • Column: S.C. officials quietly buy Ted Turner’s island retreat

    South Carolina’s tourism department for months kept secret from the public its plans to buy an island owned by billionaire Ted Turner for what the agency director touts will be a “premium experience” for tourists.
    Beaufort County and school district officials joined in the secrecy surrounding the taxpayer-funded, approximately $5 million purchase of the 4,680-acre St. Phillips Island – owned for decades by media mogul Turner and located along the county’s Atlantic coast, about a 15-minute boat ride from Hunting Island State Park.

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  • Column: Fun and games, plus advice on making good decisions

    We live in a world that seems to have lost manners, respect and optimism. Everywhere we turn, it’s as if someone is complaining, and the proverbial glass is always half empty.
    Young people today are especially denounced. Yet how often do we get to actually spend time with our youth?
    On March 24, a broad range of young people of all races, ages and schools attended a Youth Block Party at Lancaster High School. If you are age 15 to 25 and did not attend, ask around and you will most certainly want to be present for the next one.

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  • Letter: Let’s all support federal Alzheimer’s legislation

    It is time we change our thinking on Alzheimer’s disease.
    Alzheimer’s is often treated as an aging issue, but we must acknowledge the public health consequences of a disease that impacts someone in the United States every 65 seconds.

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  • Commentary: Scott, Gowdy examine their friendship, the need for unity

    Editor’s note: Rep. Trey Gowdy, who grew up in an affluent white family, and Sen. Tim Scott, who is black and grew up in a poor, single-parent home, view their friendship as an unlikely one. The S.C. Republican members of Congress appeared Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” to talk about their new book, “Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope for a Divided Country.” Here are excerpts of their interview with host Margaret Brennan.

     

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  • Column: Legislators not being transparent on potential conflicts of interest

    Since July 2013, the S.C. Department of Transportation has paid a total of more than $7 million to a concrete company with ties to powerful state Sen. Hugh Leatherman.
    Leatherman, R-Florence and the longtime chairman of the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, was president of Florence Concrete Products Inc. when he joined the Senate in 1981 and served in that position until 1993.

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  • Column: Organ donation creates life-saving heroes

    Organ donation saves lives and families. Last month, 115,000 men, women and children were on the national transplant waiting list.
    More than 33,600 transplants were performed in 2016 (2,853 so far in 2018). And every 10 minutes, another person is added to the waiting list.
    Although 95 percent of U.S. adults support organ donation, only 54 percent have signed up as donors. The reality is that 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant, according to organdonor.gov.

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  • Candidate Column: I have the education, experience to be county’s next probate judge

    My name is Dee Studebaker. I have been Lancaster County’s associate probate judge for almost two years. I immediately filed to run for probate judge when filing opened at noon March 16 because I am serious about gaining your trust.
    I have the skills, education and experience necessary to serve you as probate judge, and I feel called to public service.  I’ve had the privilege over the past two years to assist and observe the court’s operations while earning the trust and confidence of other personnel and citizens.    

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  • Column: Here's how House voted to distribute tax revenues

    The S.C. House last week passed its $8.2 billion version of the state’s general fund budget, sending it to the Senate.
    Our state’s economy is booming, with low unemployment, continued business growth and a thriving tourism industry, so South Carolina brought in $326 million more than it did the year before in recurring dollars that can be used on yearly expenses.
    Here’s a look at what the House did:

    Required expenditures

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