http://www.aikenstandard.com/state/ State News from The Aiken Standard en-us StateNewsTheAikenStandardhttp://feedburner.google.com http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/o0404-BC-US-MissingNYCBoy-Leg-2ndLd-Writethru-05-27-1564--4029631
NEW YORK -- For prosecutors, the work is just beginning after the astonishing arrest last week of a man who police said confessed to strangling a 6-year-old New York City boy 33 years ago in one of the nation's most bewildering missing children's cases.

Pedro Hernandez, 51, was charged with second-degree murder in the 1979 death of Etan Patz, based largely on a signed confession he gave after he spoke voluntarily to detectives for hours, according to police.

But to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, prosecutors need more than the confession, even though corroboration isn't necessarily required by law, legal experts said. Piecing together that supporting evidence may be difficult: There's no body and no physical evidence, plus a history of famous false confessions in other high-profile cases.

"We live in a day of CSI, fingerprinting, DNA, hand samples and foot prints and treads on bottoms of shoes and boots. There's going to be none of that here, and that's tough," said Arthur Aidala, a former prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney. "You're essentially relying on this guy's own words and whether he's credible."

False confessions are common and happen for many reasons, said James Cohen, a law professor at Fordham University, "whether it's that someone is coerced, scared or is just a wacko looking for 15 minutes of fame."

Among the most well-known was John Mark Karr, who in 2006 said he killed JonBenet Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty queen found dead in her parents' Boulder, Colo., home a decade earlier. Karr was whisked from Thailand, where he was teaching, to Colorado and was arrested, but he was released after prosecutors concluded he couldn't have killed her. The case remains unsolved.

In the 1930s, more than 200 people came forward to confess to kidnapping the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator. And in the 1980s case of the Central Park jogger, teenagers who initially confessed to the 1989 rape and beating of a woman were later exonerated after DNA evidence and another confession implicated someone else.

The likelihood of DNA evidence emerging in Etan's case is slim. According to police, Hernandez said he lured the boy from his school bus stop on May 25, 1979, with the promise of a soda, then strangled him in the basement of the neighborhood convenience store where he worked, put the body in a plastic bag, walked it around the block and dumped it. The shop has long been renovated into an eyeglasses store, and the body was never found.

But, legal experts say, supporting evidence could be as simple as the fact that Hernandez worked as a stock clerk at the corner store when the boy went missing, and that he told his family and others as early as 1981 that he had "done a bad thing" and killed a child in New York. Investigators are interviewing Hernandez's family and friends, as well as others who knew him back then.

"This is the beginning of the legal process, not the end," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said. "There is much investigative and other work ahead, and it will be conducted in a measured and careful manner."

Etan's disappearance helped foster an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised. The investigation at the time was tireless. Thousands of fliers were handed out, publicity was nationwide and dozens of people were interviewed.

Hernandez, then 18, was listed in police paperwork as having been an employee in the neighborhood, but he was never questioned, police said. He slipped away days after the boy vanished, eventually moving to Maple Shade, N.J., where he lived with his wife and daughter before his arrest Thursday. His name did not surface when authorities were excavating a basement down the street from the old shop just weeks ago.

Hernandez was being held Sunday at Bellevue Hospital Center's psychiatric ward. At his arraignment Friday, his court-appointed attorney, Harvey Fishbein, said his client was schizophrenic, bipolar and had been on medication for some time.

A psychiatric evaluation was ordered. No plea was entered, and Fishbein has given no indication that he may try to argue his client is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Defense attorneys not involved in the case say Fishbein must carefully evaluate the confession to ensure it wasn't coerced.

"Someone who isn't sane, that's exactly the type of person who would latch onto the 15 minutes of fame," attorney Joseph Tacopina said. "You have to be very careful that you have the right individual, despite the quest to have resolution that has really tormented the family and city for three decades."

The case is another high-stakes prosecution for Vance, who met with Etan's parents, Stan and Julie Patz, while running for office in 2009 and pledged a fresh look at the investigation.

He presided over attempted rape charges against French diplomat Dominique Strauss-Kahn last year that later crumbled when prosecutors lost faith in the credibility of the hotel maid who claimed he'd attacked her when she came to clean his room.

Linda Fairstein, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's office, said Vance acted properly in the Strauss-Kahn case, and is confident he'll do the same now.

"I know how well and thoroughly this investigation was handled in the office when it happened in 1979," she said. "I know that throughout all these decades, every time there has been a suspect, a lead that turned out to be false, each lead was treated as though it could be real."

But no one was ever arrested before.

Etan was declared legally dead by his father more than a decade ago so he could sue convicted child molester Jose Ramos in the boy's death. Ramos had loose ties to the family when he vanished. He was found civilly liable in 2004, largely because he declined to participate in the litigation.

The judgment wouldn't automatically be voided, even if someone else was convicted, but it could provide an opening for Ramos to ask a court to review the finding or for the Patz family to do the same in the interest of suing a new suspect, experts said.

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Associated Press Writers Jennifer Peltz in New York City and Michael Virtanen in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

]]> Sun, 27 May 2012 23:55:56 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/o0404-BC-US-MissingNYCBoy-Leg-2ndLd-Writethru-05-27-1564--4029631 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1040-BC-SC-Guard-Logo-2ndLd-Writethru-05-27-0837--4029450
COLUMBIA -- About 160 South Carolina Army National Guard engineers are heading to Afghanistan sporting a new, panther-adorned logo designed by a young illustrator in Rock Hill.

The new logo shows a growling, muscled black panther perched atop a red castle, its tail wound around one of its two towers. The engineering unit is dubbed "Task Force Panther" for the nine-month Afghan mission.

The logo carries the unit name as well as the phrase "Sapper Strong." Sapper is a nickname for engineers, according to the battalion's Command Sgt. Maj. Joe Medlin.

"They wanted a very fierce animal, the panther, and I used powerful colors to show strength, black and red," said Matt Andrews, a recent graduate of Winthrop University. "I've never been in the military, so it's nice to be able to help them out."

The 22-year-old Andrews, who was originally from Waxhaw, N.C., but now lives in Rock Hill, donated his services to work on the emblem. It will be used by the 178th Engineer Battalion that is now in training for a July deployment overseas.

Medlin, the unit's 41-year-old senior enlisted officer, said he thinks the logo will help boost soldiers' patriotism while reminding them of home. Many of the soldiers are fans of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolina Panthers football team, and the emblem also embodies strength and resilience, Medlin said.

The Rock Hill-based unit is slated to help build roads, fix infrastructure and oversee other engineering squads in Afghanistan. They will use the logo on banners, training books and vehicles, Medlin said.

Medlin said he sought assistance for an informal logo after members of his own unit tried to draw one. Medlin said such military logos are used to help bolster "unit cohesion."

But the soldiers' submissions ended up looking like "drawings on a high school wrestling T-shirt," Medlin joked. So he sought the assistance of a professor at Winthrop, who suggested he contact Andrews, then a senior illustration major.

"We talked a bit, and he came up with three different ideas," Medlin said of Andrews. "It was pretty easy because what he came up with is what we needed."

A Rock Hill native, Medlin is a full-time Guardsman who has 24 years in the service. The engineer unit is commanded by Lt. Col. Corol Dobson, and the engineers will train in Texas, Georgia and at Fort Jackson, S.C., before their departure, Medlin said.

The logo "adds a little bit of motivation," Medlin said. Many in the unit have deployed three or four times to either Iraq or Afghanistan, so it helps to give this mission a different touch, he said.

According to an Army website, the Army Corps of Engineers first put a castle on its epaulets and belt plates in 1840 to show pride in building and defeating fortifications. A stolid, two-towered castle was formally adopted by the Army as the Corps' official insignia in 1902, the website said.

]]> Sun, 27 May 2012 23:55:51 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1040-BC-SC-Guard-Logo-2ndLd-Writethru-05-27-0837--4029450 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1050-BC-SC-XGR-WeeklyStatus-05-25-0815
COLUMBIA -- The 20th week of the legislative session:

S.C. budget: The South Carolina Senate approved a $6.6 billion spending plan Thursday that gives public workers a noticeable pay raise, distributes more money to public schools and hires more than 100 law enforcement officers. The Senate gave the budget final approval on a 27-10 vote, sending its plan back to the House with two weeks left in the regular session. The Senate then by a 27-9 vote approved a separate measure distributing $105 million from this year's rainy-day fund. The Senate version provides for 2 percent raises to teachers, 5 percent for state law enforcement, and 3 percent to other state employees, while also fully covering increases in employees' health insurance premiums.

Historic site: Money for America's first community of freed slaves was part of the South Carolina budget debate, 150 years after the community's founding. The 2012-13 proposal includes $200,000 to buy land for the Mitchelville Preservation Project on Hilton Head Island. Sen. Tom Davis asked for the money, calling the project's importance on par with preserving the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg, Pa., a national park. The former community at the northern end of Hilton Head Island came together after invading Union Army and Navy troops established headquarters on the sea island in fall 1861. The $200,000 for Mitchelville was among a list of $4 million worth of projects for private nonprofits and local governments proposed for removal by some Republicans. But their efforts failed.

S.C. governor-ethics: Gov. Nikki Haley on Friday personally accused the leader of the South Carolina House of meddling in an ethics investigation of her, a day after her staff made the same charges. The first-term governor blasted Speaker Bobby Harrell in a news conference, saying he's giving orders to the Ethics Committee. Harrell said that's simply not true. He said he asked only that the committee thoroughly investigate the complaint against Haley. He accused Haley of trying to mislead the media and distract the public from serious allegations. The two days of back-and-forth between the two Republican heavyweights came after Haley's office turned over documents the committee requested last week. The committee dismissed the charges earlier this month, immediately after finding probable cause to investigate them.

Voter ID: Democratic state senators failed Wednesday in their efforts to remove funding from the proposed 2012-13 budget for the voter ID lawsuit. The Senate defeated 24-17 an amendment stripping $1 million from the attorney general's office for its fight with the federal government on a state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Subsequent attempts also failed. Republicans have argued the law is about preventing voter fraud. The federal government blocked the law in December, saying it could keep minorities from casting ballots. Attorney General Alan Wilson then sued in February. Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, called it a bogus lawsuit that spends $1 million to prevent people from voting. Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin called the floor debate a political statement. With the lawsuit under way, removing a budget line item may have had no effect anyway, he said. ]]> Sun, 27 May 2012 00:31:10 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1050-BC-SC-XGR-WeeklyStatus-05-25-0815 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1051-BC-SC-SCGovernor-Ethics-3rdLd-Writethru-05-25-1119
COLUMBIA -- Gov. Nikki Haley personally accused the leader of the South Carolina House of meddling in an ethics investigation of her, a day after her staff made the same charges. He fired back by calling it an untruthful distraction, stopping just short of calling her a liar.

The first-term governor blasted Speaker Bobby Harrell in a news conference Friday, saying he's giving orders to the Ethics Committee staff and made the case political.

Harrell said it's simply not true. Repeating his spokesman's earlier comments, he said he asked only that the committee thoroughly investigate the complaint against Haley. He said the request came after the case became public.

"The governor is misleading the press and trying to distract the public from what is a very serious matter," he said in a statement. "Given the governor's claim that there is no validity to these charges, combined with the extreme measures and false accusations now being employed by Gov. Haley - One can only wonder why?"

Round two of the back-and-forth between the two Republican heavyweights came after Haley's office turned over documents the committee requested last week.

The complaint brought by Republican activist John Rainey accuses Haley of violating ethics law by illegally lobbying for a hospital and engineering firm while she was a House member representing Lexington County. She has denied the charges since her successful gubernatorial campaign in 2010.

The committee dismissed them earlier this month, immediately after finding probable cause to investigate them. That first vote opened the case to the public.

The back-to-back votes brought an appeal by Rainey, former chairman of the state Board of Economic Advisors, that the case go to the full House, as well as a resolution from Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, asking the committee to reconsider its decision. He noted the committee looked at only three documents before voting to dismiss. Those three documents were the complaint, Haley's response, and a letter from the hospital's attorney, supplied by Haley. Smith told the committee it should use its subpoena powers.

The committee took up Smith's resolution last Friday. While it denied assertions the votes made the process appear a sham, it voted unanimously to seek employment documents from Haley and Lexington Medical Center to back up her defense. They specifically said they were not seeking more information from her other previous employer, Wilbur Smith Associates.

On Monday, committee staff called Haley's office to request employment documentation from the engineering firm, too. Committee members didn't know about it until asked by an Associated Press reporter Wednesday. Committee Chairman Roland Smith said later a staff attorney decided on his own to make the follow-up request.

Haley said Friday the dismissal should have been the end of it. A dismissed case has never been reopened and legally probably can't be, she said.

"The ethics committee did their job. They did a thorough investigation. They looked at everything," she said. "What should have been a legal process has suddenly turned into a political one."

Haley's office turned over the documents Thursday.

Her packet includes three affidavits from officials with her previous employers saying she did not lobby.

Haley earned more than $42,000 in consulting fees from Wilbur Smith, a firm with state contracts, between 2007 and 2009. She worked as a hospital fundraiser between August 2008 - when the hospital CEO created the $110,000-a-year job for her - and April 2010, when she negotiated a severance agreement of $27,200, plus $8,000 for more than three weeks of unused vacation pay.

One allegation is that she lobbied on the hospital's behalf for its application for an open heart center. Haley contends her work on that was on behalf of constituents, not an employer. On the charge she solicited donations from lobbyists with matters before her subcommittee, she's repeatedly said there's nothing wrong with asking a lobbyist to donate to a charity.

Robert Ferrell, vice president of Wilbur Smith's successor firm CDM Smith, said Haley was hired to bring in private-sector and county business, not state work. Fred Johnston, chairman of the hospital foundation, said the foundation is separate from the hospital, no foundation employee did lobbying work, and that Haley received no bonuses for donations.

Dan Jones, a long-time lobbyist who became chairman of the Lexington Medical Center board last year, said he's unaware that any employee of the foundation had work duties outside of the charity, and that Haley "was not engaged to perform lobbying work on behalf of the district."

"These are well-respected people. I've given everything possible. It was dismissed based on fact. It was brought back up based on politics," Haley said. "I'm governor now whether people like it or not. Let me do my job."

Meanwhile, Rainey also provided the committee a packet of documents in which he reasserts his allegations.

]]> Sat, 26 May 2012 00:31:09 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1051-BC-SC-SCGovernor-Ethics-3rdLd-Writethru-05-25-1119 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1049-BC-SC-SCGovernor-Taxes-2ndLd-Writethru-05-25-0723--4026383
COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and her husband earned $367,000 in her first year as the state's CEO, with $200,000 of that coming from a partial advance on her memoir, according to 2011 tax returns she allowed reporters to view Friday afternoon.

The first couple owed more than $84,000 in taxes - $73,128 in federal taxes and $11,195 to the state. They have paid that from her advance, said her spokesman Rob Godfrey. For tax year 2010, during her run for governor, the couple owed the IRS $2,813 and received a $692 refund from the state.

"This is why the governor fights for tax relief for our businesses and families - because they know how better to spend the money they've worked hard for," Godfrey said.

The tax forms show that she and husband Michael earned a combined $167,000 from her job as governor and his with the South Carolina National Guard. That's $10,400 more than they jointly made in 2010. The leap in their earnings comes from the partial advance on her book, "Can't is Not an Option," released last month.

By law, the governor makes just over $106,000.

The Haleys' Lexington home remained their biggest tax deduction in 2011, with $16,326 in mortgage interest deduction. The couple showed $2,460 in charitable deductions, all but $10 in cash. That's nearly $1,100 more than they donated in 2010.

Next year's charitable deduction should be much higher.

The governor transferred $100,000 of the partial advance in January to her community aid foundation, the Original Six, Godfrey said. The foundation is named for her family. Her parents and siblings referred to themselves as the "original six" as the only Indian-American family in tiny Bamberg, where she grew up.

Haley announced in December 2011 that she would use the full $550,000 advance on the book, plus profits, to set up the nonprofit to help the state's poorest counties.

Since the launch, the nonprofit held its first community event in Allendale County on March 17. It plans to hold a second event in Marion County next Saturday. Those two counties historically post the worst unemployment rates in the state.

"The governor knows the way to improve this state is to take time to look at the needs of rural, challenged counties in South Carolina and lift them up," Godfrey said. "She grew up in one of these areas and felt strongly about starting a private organization that would continue this long after she's gone."

The Haleys filed their returns on time. The date on the forms is April 5.

Their 2010 returns were the first in years that the Haleys filed on time and without late penalties. From 2005 through 2009, they paid $4,500 in penalties on late federal taxes owed. ]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:34 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1049-BC-SC-SCGovernor-Taxes-2ndLd-Writethru-05-25-0723--4026383 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1042-BC-SC-StateRep-DUICharg-1stLd-Writethru-05-25-0702--4025841
COLUMBIA -- State Rep. Ted Vick dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination in South Carolina's new 7th District congressional seat on Friday, one day after he was arrested on a drunken driving and a weapons charge.

Vick, of Chesterfield, said he had consulted with his family, pastor and friends before deciding end his campaign in the congressional district in the northeast corner of the state.

"While I have full confidence that the legal system will clear much of this up, it will not change the fact that I made some serious mistakes that I alone am responsible for," Vick said in a statement. "I realize that I have caused pain to those who love and support me and it's my responsibility to make this right."

Vick, who is also running for re-election to a fifth term in the state House of Representatives, said he will continue seeking that seat. He faces one opponent for in the primary for that seat. In South Carolina, candidates may seek two offices at the same time.

"Now is the time to allow the legal system to work, time for me to concentrate on my family and time for me to focus on the needs of my State House constituents," Vick's statement said. "I will humbly seek re-election to the State House in November. If re-elected, I will continue to work across party aisles to seek consensus and progress."

A police report said that Vick was stopped around 1 a.m. Thursday for speeding, his car smelled of alcohol and his eyes were glazed over. Also in the car was a 21-year-old University of South Carolina student, who told police she had met Vick at a nearby bar and was getting a ride home from him, according to the report.

Vick refused a field sobriety test and was arrested. He had a .380 pistol in his pocket, his concealed weapon permit had expired and he was charged with the gun offense, police said.

Vick, a married father of two, a businessman and lieutenant colonel in the South Carolina Army National Guard, is the second candidate in the crowded 7th District race to be arrested during the campaign.

Myrtle Beach state Rep. Thad Viers abandoned his bid for the GOP nomination after his January arrest on charges he harassed an ex-girlfriend. The five-term Republican subsequently resigned from his Statehouse seat.

The new 7th District was created because of population growth in the state reflected in the last census.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:30 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1042-BC-SC-StateRep-DUICharg-1stLd-Writethru-05-25-0702--4025841 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1026-BC-SC-FormerMinisterDea-05-25-0405--4025299
ROCK HILL (AP) -- A judge in Rock Hill has sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for his part in the death of a former minister two years ago.

The Herald of Rock Hill reported that Circuit Court Judge John Hayes sentenced 51-year-old Christopher Varnadore on Thursday. Varnadore had pleaded guilty last year to voluntary manslaughter, criminal conspiracy and accessory after the fact.

The charges stemmed from the death of 44-year-old Richard Leach.

Varnadore cooperated with authorities in the trial of co-conspirator Steven Spagnoli who was found guilty in April and sentenced to life in prison.

In September of 2010, deputies responded to a home after a gunshot victim called for help. They found Leach dying of a gunshot wound.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:26 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1026-BC-SC-FormerMinisterDea-05-25-0405--4025299 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1023-BC-SC-Dispatcher-ChildI-05-25-0374--4025261
ANDERSON (AP) -- A former 911 dispatcher in Anderson County has been sentenced to house arrest and probation for illegal conduct toward a child.

Branden Newton pleaded guilty in Anderson on Thursday. The case involved a 5-month-old girl who suffered two skull fractures in 2010.

Circuit Judge Alex Macaulay sentenced Newton to six months house arrest and five years' probation during the hearing attended by about 40 of Newton's relatives and friends.

Prosecutors had sought up to five years in prison, arguing that Newton lied about the circumstances under which the child was injured. Prosecutors said Newton originally said the child fell from a couch but later said the girl fell from a kitchen counter.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:23 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1023-BC-SC-Dispatcher-ChildI-05-25-0374--4025261 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1022-BC-SC-HurricaneEvacuati-05-25-0402--4025226
COLUMBIA (AP) -- When hurricanes threaten South Carolina, there no longer will be any voluntary evacuations.

The State newspaper reported that voluntary evacuations are no longer part of the state hurricane plan.

Gubernatorial orders to evacuate as a hurricane approaches will not be considered mandatory. Officials said that will cause less confusion

Derrec Becker of the Emergency Management Division said South Carolina was one of the last states to use voluntary evacuation orders given well in advance of a storm. They told people who didn't feel comfortable staying that they should leave the coast.

Becker said a mandatory evacuation will be ordered by the governor in the future.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins next week.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:20 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1022-BC-SC-HurricaneEvacuati-05-25-0402--4025226 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1018-BC-SC-CarolinaShield-05-25-0372--4025112
CONWAY (AP) -- A two-week law enforcement operation shows that Horry County is doing a good job of keeping tabs on sex offenders in the area.

The county worked with U.S. Marshals as part of Operation Carolina Shield to verify that sex offenders were living and working where they said they were. On Thursday officials announced the effort a success.

The sheriff's department had records of 833 offenders in the county. Police learned that some had moved, been deported or were in jail. They visited 432 people.

Sheriff Phillip Thompson said there are about 170 more offenders in the county than a year ago. He says that is mainly the result of people moving into the area and better tracking by law enforcement.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:16 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1018-BC-SC-CarolinaShield-05-25-0372--4025112 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1012-BC-SC-PatriotsEco-Park-05-25-0418--4025052
MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) -- A proposed adventure park at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum could include a zip line from the deck of the aircraft carrier Yorktown and a boardwalk through the tree canopy.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that those are among the suggestions being made for a 10-acre park near the museum on Charleston Harbor. Patriots Point would lease land to the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission to operate the park.

Patriots Point Chairman Wayne Adams said the land cannot be used for anything else.

The parks commission has $1.5 million for the eco-park. Officials said it would not cost Patriots Point anything but would attract new visitors.

Any lease arrangement would have to be approved by the state Budget and Control Board.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:54:12 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1012-BC-SC-PatriotsEco-Park-05-25-0418--4025052 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1021-BC-SC-DoubleFatal-05-25-0351--4025193
LEXINGTON (AP) -- A car crash in Lexington County has claimed the lives of both the South Carolina driver and a North Carolina pedestrian walking along the highway.

Authorities said it happened early Friday along U.S. 378.

The Highway Patrol reports a 28-year-old man from Batesburg-Leesville was driving a car that left the highway, hit a guardrail and then hit a woman from North Carolina walking along the road.

The names of the victims have not been released. Both died at the scene.

The driver of the car was not wearing a seatbelt.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:53:09 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1021-BC-SC-DoubleFatal-05-25-0351--4025193 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1044-BC-SC-SpoletoFestivalUS-3rdLd-Writethru-05-25-0935--4025998
CHARLESTON -- Another edition of the Spoleto Festival USA opened Friday amid a brass fanfare, a shower of confetti and reminders of how important the arts are to cities.

"Spoleto, as far as I know, is the only American arts festival to be hosted by an entire city," Rocco Landesman, the chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts told a crowd of several hundred people gathered in front of Charleston City Hall.

"City and towns change when you bring the arts into the center of them and I can think of few better examples than Charleston," he added.

The 17-day festival that opened Friday is the 36th season of the arts festival established here in 1977 by the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti as a companion to his Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.

The internationally known Charleston festival features more than 140 performances on stages throughout the city. When the companion city-run festival, Piccolo Spoleto, is included, it will mean almost 800 performances.

Landesman said University of Pennsylvania researchers have determined that a commitment to the arts leads to increased civic engagement by residents, increased child welfare and stronger economies.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., who was instrumental in establishing Spoleto in Charleston, said Spoleto has meant that Charleston cannot accept anything but the best "whether it's the way we design housing for the poor, build parks or remake highways, build a performance hall, care for the hungry or the homeless or build the world's best and newest airliner."

The first 787 built at Boeing's new $750 million plant South Carolina plant that opened last year in North Charleston took to the sky on Wednesday.

Also on the porch of Charleston City Hall on Friday was Mayor Daniele Benedetti of Spoleto, Italy. He brought greetings from Charleston's sister city and invited Riley to visit when his schedule permits.

Riley opened the festival after repeating his annual wish that the festival will remain forever. After confetti showered the crowd, Kanji Segawa of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performed a dance.

In addition to the Ailey company, this year's Spoleto features the opera "Kepler" by American composer Philip Glass. It's the American premiere of the opera and commemorates Glass' 75th birthday as well as his long-standing relationship to the festival.

A second Spoleto opera is the American premiere of "The Phoenix Pavilion" by Guo Wenjing, a contemporary Chinese composer. It features an orchestra of four traditional Chinese instruments blended with Western instruments.

Other offerings include a concert by vocalist k.d. lang, the return of Dublin's Gate Theatre and the always popular chamber music program.

The finale is June 10 at Middleton Place Plantation outside Charleston, with fireworks planned after a concert by creole musician Cedric Watson.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 20:53:04 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1044-BC-SC-SpoletoFestivalUS-3rdLd-Writethru-05-25-0935--4025998 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-Event-marks-anniversary-of-French-colony-in-SC--4024848
Charlesfort was established in 1562 on Parris Island, which is now the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Ceremonies on Friday include officials from both the United States and France.

Charlesfort lasted less than two years and suffered a grisly end.

Jean Ribaut landed with 159 settlers, but within a few months returned to Europe to get more men and supplies.

He was detained in Europe and those left behind thought they had been abandoned. So they built a ship to return home. They made it, but on the way ran out of food and ate one of their own party to survive.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 10:55:42 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-Event-marks-anniversary-of-French-colony-in-SC--4024848 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-New-Spoleto-season-opening-in-Charleston--4024851
CHARLESTON -- Another season of the Spoleto Festival USA is ready to open in Charleston.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at noon Friday. Festivities for the first day include speeches, ringing church bells, brass fanfare and confetti.

During the 17-day performing arts festival, there will be more than 140 performances on stages throughout Charleston.

This year, the internationally known festival stages the opera "Kepler" by American composer Philip Glass. It's the American premiere of the opera and commemorates both Glass' 75th birthday and his long relationship with Spoleto.

Spoleto was brought to Charleston back in 1977 by the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti. It was established as a companion to his Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. ]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 10:42:24 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-New-Spoleto-season-opening-in-Charleston--4024851 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-Man-who-takes-SC-camera-caught-on-camera--4025066
The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported (http://bit.ly/KPdvNps) the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office has released a recording of a man taking a camera from a restroom area at a community park. The man was caught in the act by a second camera.

The recording shows a man removing the camera and leaving in a Chevy Avalanche with what appears to be a Georgia license plate.

Deputies are looking for the suspect.

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Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com

]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 10:42:20 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052512-ap-Man-who-takes-SC-camera-caught-on-camera--4025066 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1097-BC-SC-XGR-SCGovernor-Et-2ndLd-Writethru-05-25-1145
COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused House Speaker Bobby Harrell on Thursday of inappropriately inserting himself into a House panel's probe into an ethics complaint against her. Harrell says he's doing no such thing.

Harrell spokesman Greg Foster said the speaker only asked the House Ethics Committee to fully and thoroughly investigate the complaint brought by Republican activist John Rainey.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said any involvement is totally inappropriate.

The back-and-forth reinforces the strained relationship between the governor and House leader - both Republicans. The renewed contention comes as the Ethics Committee considers whether to reopen a complaint alleging Haley violated ethics law by illegally lobbying for a hospital and engineering firm while she was a House member representing Lexington County.

She vehemently denies those allegations. A packet her office provided Thursday to back up her case included affidavits from officials for her previous employers saying she didn't lobby for them.

"Under no reading of the law has Governor Haley done anything improper," Haley's attorney, Butch Bowers wrote in the packet's cover letter.

Meanwhile, Rainey also provided the committee a packet of documents in which he reasserts his allegations.

The committee this month, on a party-line 5-1 vote, dismissed all charges, moments after voting unanimously there was probable cause to investigate. That brought an appeal by Rainey, former chairman of the state Board of Economic Advisors, that the case go to the full House, as well as a resolution from Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, asking the committee to reconsider its decision.

Last Friday, committee member Rep. Phillip Lowe said the reason the committee voted as it did with the back-to-back votes was to open up the case and let the public know about it. Under a new House rule adopted a day before the dismissal, a probable cause finding makes a complaint public.

The committee took up Smith's resolution last Friday. While it denied assertions the votes made the process appear a sham, it voted unanimously to seek employment documents from Haley and Lexington Medical Center to back up her defense. Members insisted the vote did not reopen the case, but would rather help them decide their next move. They specifically said they were not seeking more information from her other previous employer, Wilbur Smith Associates.

But on Monday, committee staff called Haley's office to request employment documentation from the engineering firm too. Committee members didn't know about it until asked by an Associated Press reporter Wednesday afternoon. Committee Chairman Roland Smith said later a staff attorney decided on his own to make the follow-up request.

Harrell, R-Charleston, agreed with the request, as helping resolve to resolve the issues in the complaint, but did not ask for it, Foster said.

Haley's office was skeptical. Godfrey said no one outside of the six-member panel should "force himself into this process and order the committee to do anything. This is supposed to be a process where law and rules - not politics - determine the outcome."

Foster shot back that Harrell didn't order or direct anything.

"It is disappointing to hear that the governor's office has taken a position that an investigation into whether the governor violated the law should neither be full nor thorough," he said.

When the committee will next meet is unknown. Chairman Roland Smith pledged to give a 24-hour notice.

The packet Haley's office provided included pay stubs and tax information. She contends she worked for the hospital's charitable foundation, not the hospital itself. Hospital officials have always said that while she worked for the foundation, she was paid by the hospital.

Bowers wrote that even if she did work for the hospital, it would have been "impossible as a matter of law" for Haley to lobby for the hospital as it sought permission for an open heart center. In her defense, Haley has said that her work for the heart center was done on behalf of her constituents, not an employer. In the added defense Thursday, Bowers writes state law defines that lobbying state agencies such as the Department of Health and Environmental Control is limited to promulgation of regulations.

"Therefore, it was legally impossible for anyone to have 'lobbied' DHEC with respect to the hospital's" application, he wrote.

While Wilbur Smith had state contracts, Haley's consulting work for the firm was limited to bringing in private-sector and county business. "She was not retained to do state work," wrote Robert Ferrell, a vice-president with CDM Smith, the successor firm to Wilbur Smith.

As for Rainey's appeal, Harrell has asked staff attorneys to look into it. No decision has been made on the unprecedented move.

Haley's attorney contends Rainey lacks standing to appeal, noting the new House rule specifically says only a respondent can appeal a committee ruling, meaning only Haley could do so. The new rule differs from state law, which says any individual can appeal an ethics ruling. House rules generally trump state law. ]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:59 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1097-BC-SC-XGR-SCGovernor-Et-2ndLd-Writethru-05-25-1145 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1094-BC-SC-XGR-SCBudget-5thLd-Writethru-05-25-0839
COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Senate approved a $6.6 billion spending plan Thursday that gives public workers a noticeable pay raise, distributes more money to public schools and hires more than 100 law enforcement officers.

The Senate gave the budget final approval on a 27-10 vote, sending its plan back to the House. The Senate then by a 27-9 vote approved a separate measure distributing $105 million from this year's rainy-day fund.

The Senate version provides for 2 percent raises to teachers, 5 percent for state law enforcement, and 3 percent to other state employees, while also fully covering increases in employees' health insurance premiums. State workers haven't gotten a raise in four years.

The proposal would add more than 80 new employees at the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division. It also would add 20 conservation officers at the Department of Natural Resources, 10 for the State Transport Police - the division enforcing trucking laws that's dwindled to less than two per county - nine officers to man security outposts at the Capital complex garage, and four agents to guard the lieutenant governor.

The SLED employees include 45 agents, 23 people to operate the statewide crime center and eight people in its severely backlogged DNA crime lab.

The proposal also gives $10 million to the Commerce Department for a closing fund for economic development deals. The fund is among pots of money Commerce uses to pay infrastructure costs to try to attract companies looking to locate or expand in the state.

The account is down to just $125,000. The state's economic development council has approved roughly $45 million so far this fiscal year for infrastructure grants, said Commerce spokeswoman Amy Love.

Approval of the budget came after senators defeated attempts by some Republicans to remove roughly $4 million for private nonprofits and local public projects. Items included $450,000 for infrastructure in Holly Hill; $300,000 for a North Myrtle Beach museum; $100,000 for a fire station in tiny Andrews: $200,000 to preserve African-American historic sites in Charleston: and $200,000 to buy land for preserving Mitchelville, America's first community of freed slaves on Hilton Head Island.

Democratic senators trumped the amendment by adding dozens of items, including money for public schools and colleges, tax relief for businesses, law enforcement equipment and homeowners' foreclosure assistance. The Senate then killed the whole thing. Senators made a similar move Wednesday, on an amendment removing roughly $2 million worth of items.

Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, argued senators shouldn't lump together, for example, money for recruiting jobs and a park pavilion.

"There is a big difference between Boeing and a historical museum, between BMW and a community center," he said.

But Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman said what represents a special project is defined differently depending on the lawmaker.

"The viewpoint is in the eyes of the beholder," said Leatherman, R-Florence, who put items in the budget at senators' requests. "I really view that as an investment in parts of our state."

Amendments approved Thursday included a $2.5 million addition for Aiken Technical College, mostly toward a new job training center, with some money for equipment. ]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 00:31:55 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/m1094-BC-SC-XGR-SCBudget-5thLd-Writethru-05-25-0839 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-GNuclearPlant-
BLAIR — Federal regulators are holding a meeting to discuss safety at a South Carolina nuclear plant where two new reactors will soon be constructed.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to gather in Blair on Thursday night to talk about the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.

Officials are scheduled to talk about safety performance at the plant last year and explain inspections and oversight for the two new units.

Earlier this year, the NRC approved licenses for two new nuclear reactors at the Jenkinsville plant. The $10 billion reactors will be jointly operated by South Carolina Electric & Gas and the state-owned utility Santee Cooper.

The first reactor is scheduled to start generating power in 2017, with the second one coming online in 2018.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 13:10:13 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-GNuclearPlant- http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Priest-barred-from-performing-mass-at-SC-jail--4022595
Monsignor Ed Lofton told The Post and Courier of Charleston (http://bit.ly/KsRn9Br ) that his right to religious freedom is being violated.

Alcohol is considered contraband and jail administrator Mitch Lucas told Lofton to replace the wine with grape juice.

Lofton says that denies inmates their right to freedom of religion and strikes at a rite that is at the heart of the Catholic Church.

Lucas says Lofton had been threatening a lawsuit and says he didn't want him visiting the jail to continue gathering evidence for a court claim.

During the jail mass, only the priest drinks wine. The inmates consume wafers.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:54:40 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Priest-barred-from-performing-mass-at-SC-jail--4022595 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Ga-fishermen-get-chance-to-comment-SC-rules--4022425
The meeting Thursday will give the public a chance to comment on the upcoming expiration of an agreement between Georgia and South Carolina. It allows anglers to fish on border waters and shorelines with a fishing license from either state.

New fishing laws in South Carolina end that agreement July 1. Wildlife officials said the new rules include changes on size limits for trout, crappie and striped bass.

Officials in both states have said they are interested in a negotiating a new agreement, though it will have to be different.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Currahee campus of North Georgia Technical College.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:54:36 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Ga-fishermen-get-chance-to-comment-SC-rules--4022425 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-4-sentenced-in-2009-deaths-of-Greer-couple--4022602
Jose Reyes Arevalos, Edgar Pineda, Juan Carlos Vazquez and Rudis Arnoldo Ventura had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the deaths of Hugo Del-Carmen Lugo Hernandez and Teresa DeJesus Avilla Martinez.

Family members found the couple shot to death at their Greer home in January 2009. Prosecutors say the deaths were part of an apparent shake down attempt for stolen drugs and money.

Vazquez and Ventura were sentenced to life in prison on charges including accessory after the fact of murder. Arevalos was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Pineda will serve 15 years.

An Atlanta woman was sentenced to 50 years for arranging the deaths. Authorities are still seeking two men.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:54:33 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-4-sentenced-in-2009-deaths-of-Greer-couple--4022602 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Debate-over-home-sprinklers-heating-up-in-SC--4022606
The South Carolina Building Code Council is considering whether to adopt the International Residential Code requiring sprinklers in all new homes.

The National Fire Protection Association has launched a statewide ad campaign featuring commercials and billboards in favor of the requirement. Relatives of fallen firefighters and burn victims speak in favor of sprinklers.

The Home Builders Association of South Carolina agrees that sprinklers make people safer. But the group says that putting in sprinklers in a new home is a decision that should be up to homeowners.

Whether the code is adopted will ultimately be decided by the General Assembly.

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:53:29 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Debate-over-home-sprinklers-heating-up-in-SC--4022606 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Utility-worker-struck-by-line-dies-near-Santee--4022637
The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/KBofsI ) that Orangeburg County chief deputy coroner Sean Fogle identified the man as Timothy Ulmer of North.

Fogle says Ulmer died at the scene Wednesday afternoon. Fogle says an autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death. Fogle says Ulmer was a lineman with Sumter Utilities.

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Information from: The Times & Democrat, http://www.timesanddemocrat.com

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:50:25 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Utility-worker-struck-by-line-dies-near-Santee--4022637 http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Orangeburg-County-suing-dead-sheriff-estate--4022643
The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports (http://bit.ly/KWBiau) the county is suing the estate of Larry Williams.

Williams was sheriff for nearly a decade before his September 2010 death from multiple illnesses.

County officials say Williams took reimbursements from state and federal task forces and spread it among 11 bank accounts, using more than $60,000 to pay off a loan on a recreational vehicle.

The county is also suing Williams' fiancie. Officials say Ivadella Walters helped Williams take the money. Her attorney, Carl B. Grant, denies she did anything wrong.

Orangeburg's current sheriff audited the office and found more than $200,000 that was not included in financial statements. State police are investigating.

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Information from: The Times & Democrat, http://www.timesanddemocrat.com

]]> Thu, 24 May 2012 10:44:21 GMT State News http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/052412-ap-Orangeburg-County-suing-dead-sheriff-estate--4022643