EDITOR LOOKS EVERYWHERE, CAN’T LOCATE DISTRICT THAT RECEIVED MILLIONS IN STIMULUS CASH

The South Carolina Republican Party asked folks across South Carolina to help them find Congressional District 45. And The Palmetto Scoop answered.

I looked high and low, all over the state, but couldn’t locate it. I even took this picture of me looking in a fake tree:

But it wasn’t there.

So where is it? Well, according to the Recovery.gov website created by President Barack Obama, the federal government has spent more than $40 million in stimulus cash to create 155 jobs in South Carolina’s 12th, 16th, 32nd, 43rd, and 45th Congressional districts.

But no one can seem to figure out where those district are located. It could be because they don’t exist.

Either way, the SCGOP wants you to keep looking and maybe you’ll find them… and all the jobs created there. Take a look at who else is trying to find District 45 and submit photos from your search by clicking here.

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UPDATE: TPS also couldn’t find District 45 on the Moon:

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURER BREAKS GROUND IN PALMETTO STATE

The world’s largest aircraft manufacturer has officially landed in the Palmetto State.

Boeing broke ground on it’s much-anticipated 787 Dreamliner facility in North Charleston on Friday, a venture that will bring thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in investments to South Carolina.

Gov. Mark Sanford praised the event as a major financial boost to a struggling state.

“This groundbreaking sets into motion what we believe will be revolutionary and indeed generational changes to our state’s economy,” said Sanford. “Yet it’s also a challenge: a challenge to not rest on our laurels and instead redouble efforts to improve our state’s business climate; a challenge to use this momentum to push through tough economic headwinds; and a challenge to capitalize on this renewed cooperation between political leadership in Columbia and hard-working citizens across the state to make South Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family.

Attorney General Henry McMaster said the event was made possible through team work and that it offers a great deal of hope for the state.

“Today’s Boeing groundbreaking is cause for celebration and a critical step toward putting South Carolina back on the Path to Prosperity,” McMaster said. “It’s a wonderful example of what we can accomplish when state leaders work together to recruit, nurture and support businesses both large and small. I’m certain that this is just the beginning of many great things to come for our blessed state.”

The Boeing groundbreaking came on the same day as news that the state’s unemployment rate had shot up to 12.1 percent.

Last month, lawmakers were able to woo Boeing away from its Washington State headquarters with economic incentives like low-interest construction bonds and a sales tax exemption on fuel used in test flights. The North Charleston location also offered the prospect of a nonunion work force, which came as a relief to the company after years of battling with labor unions at its other Dreamliner facility.

Photo: AP

FATAL WRECK COMES 1 WEEK BEFORE POP STAR’S ‘GAME CHANGING’ SC SHOW

A tour bus for music star Miley Cyrus overturned in Virginia Friday, killing one person, a week before the 16-year-old pop singer is slated to perform in Columbia.

The bus was en route to a show in Greensboro, N.C., scheduled for Sunday. According to Virginia State Police, Cyrus was not aboard the bus.

The black-and-maroon luxury tour bus overturned around 8:15 a.m. about 40 miles south of Richmond.

Authorities did not release the name of the person killed or how the accident happened, although marks appear to show it skidded for several hundred feet before going into a ditch. Only one of the other nine passengers was injured in the wreck.

Cyrus is scheduled to play a concert at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia next Saturday. That show has been the subject of mild controversy after The Palmetto Scoop reported that it may have forced an unwelcome noon kickoff time for the rivalry football game between Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.

JOBLESS NUMBER TIES STATE’S ALL-TIME RECORD

South Carolina’s state unemployment rate rose sharply in October, tying the all-time high of 12.1 percent set in May and June of this year.

The State Employment Security Commission (ESC) reported Friday that 262,956 workers in South Carolina were without a job in October.

“[T]he news that the state’s unemployment rate has eclipsed 12 percent is further proof that the stimulus isn’t working as advertised, and that the White House’s recently announced jobs numbers were worth the skepticism,” said State Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom. “Simply put, the economic downturn was used as an excuse to spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need.

“Nine months after we saddled future generations with mountains of debt, there are millions fewer jobs, and real people continue to hurt.”

South Carolina’s record-high unemployment rate was the fifth worst in the country, behind only Michigan, at 15.1 percent, Nevada, at 13 percent, Rhode Island, at 12.9 percent, and California, at 12.5 percent.

The state had experienced two months of declining numbers since the record high, before the jobless number rose to 11.6 percent in September.

On the bright side, people are looking for work again. The ESC said the number of South Carolinians working or looking for work rose by 1,880 in October after four straight months of decline.

Unfortunately, most analysts believe the number of people in South Carolina without a job will continue to rise in the coming months.

ALABAMA TV STATION LEARNS TWITTER, BILLBOARDS DON’T MIX

A trio of of television anchors in Mobile, Ala. have learned the hard way that Twitter and electronic billboards don’t mix very well.

A reader e-mailed me the unintentionally humorous photo above of a billboard for WPMI-TV.

Next to the image of three WPMI anchors is a “right now on Twitter” screen. Giving drivers updates on Twitter in real time as they pass by the billboard is pretty cool, right? Well, it is, unless the update says “3 Accused of Gang Rape in Monroeville.”

That Tweet was posted on Wednesday afternoon and a thrifty driver grabbed a photo of the unfortunate side-by-side.

And, of course, there’s a South Carolina connection.

Greg Peterson (the guy on the far left) is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and was even a reporter in Charleston.

Naturally, I thought this picture was absolutely perfect for the FAIL Blog. So I submitted it. Y’all enjoy!

USPS TO SHUT DOWN ‘DEAR SANTA’ LETTER DELIVERY

Over the 52 years that he’s been trying to steal Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ “Grinch” has been played by everyone from Boris Karloff to Jim Carrey. But it appears that this year, it may be the U.S. Post Office (USPS) starring in that villainous role.

On Thursday, the USPS said they would no longer deliver “Dear Santa” letters to North Pole, Alaska — where a team of volunteers has answered thousands of letters from children every year since 1954.

According to the Associated Press:

Postal Service officials said they are tightening rules in such programs nationwide after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency’s Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to make changes to the program. [...]

The letter program is a revered holiday tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane. Volunteers in the letter program even sign the response letters as Santa’s elves and helpers.

North Pole Mayor Doug Isaacson agreed that caution is necessary to protect children. But he’s outraged North Pole program should be affected by a sex offender’s actions on the East Coast — and he thinks it’s wrong that locals just found out about the change in recent days.

The volunteer “elves” aren’t going quietly, though. The group has met with the USPS to come up with an alternative.

Chief elf Gabby Gaborik says he is working with local government officials to gain possession of 101 Santa Claus Lane, which allow children to write to a physical address and bypass the new USPS regulations.

So will the Grinch win? We’ll find out…

Photo: AP

LAUREN CAITLIN UPTON CONTINUES TO PLAY OFF PAGEANT MELTDOWN

Just when you thought the 15 minutes of infamy were up for the South Carolina beauty queen who became an international celebrity by melting down during the Miss USA pageant, think again.

Former Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton was recently on Jimmy Kimmel Live demonstrating the same skills — or lack thereof — that earned her an indelible place in the stupid screw-up Hall of Fame.

Kimmel tasked Upton with a project that would help her learn about new things, which she has struggled with in the past… like where babies come from. So off she went around Los Angeles to find the answer.

You can view part one of the video above and part two by clicking here.

I personally believe, that, like, umm, the best part of videos of her, is like the time, umm, when, umm, she totally went and got a ultrasound and, umm, then she like totally said her uterus looks like a potato head.

Also, there’s a special guest in video two. I won’t ruin the surprise by saying who, but she gives Upton a run for her money in the “brilliant” category.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS $40 MILLION IN STIMULUS CASH HAS CREATED 155 JOBS… IN FAKE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

What began Wednesday as a radio gimmick on Keven Cohen’s WVOC-AM radio show has turned into a full-fledged campaign by the South Carolina Republican Party to expose the federal government’s lies about the number of jobs created by federal stimulus funds.

Cohen began his show by informing listeners that he had made an important decision: He was running for Congress from South Carolina’s 45th District. Throughout the show, officials like Sen. Jim DeMint, Congressman Joe Wilson, and SCGOP Chairman Karen Floyd called in to congratulate Cohen.

But then he revealed a secret — something the SCGOP wrote about on their website Thursday.

“According to the Obama Administration’s new website at www.recovery.gov, the jobs were created in South Carolina’s 16th, 43rd, 45th, 32nd and 12th Congressional districts,” reads the SCGOP website. “There’s just one problem. The Congressional districts are fake. South Carolina only has six Congressional districts.”

The website, which was created to track stimulus spending, claims the government has spent more than $40 million to create 155 jobs in the fake Congressional districts.

Whoops.

“Upon visiting the site, you see that $6 million was used to create six jobs in South Carolina’s fake 16th Congressional District,” said Wilson. “It also shows that $3 million couldn’t even produce a single job in South Carolina’s fake 43rd district. Somehow, $1.8 million was spent for 1.4 jobs in the fake 00 district. This would be funny, but the money belongs to taxpayers, not the government.”

But it’s not too late to help out. The SCGOP is asking you to help them find District 45. You can find more information on how to do that by clicking here.

PANEL MOSTLY MUM AFTER MARATHON CLOSED-DOOR MEETING

Less than a day after lawmakers introduced a bill to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford, the South Carolina State Ethics Commission says there is “probably cause” for several charges against the disgraced governor.

The announcement came Wednesday after a nearly six hour long closed-door meeting by the panel.

“The commission met today and I received the investigative report,” said executive director Herb Hayden. “They found probable cause exists on several allegations. They wanted me to point out that a finding of probable cause is not a finding of guilt, it is only one phase in the process.”

Hayden did not release a copy of the report and did not say what, exactly, Sanford may have done wrong. The commission plans to hold a hearing detailing the charges early next year, including whether or not Sanford may have violated ethics or criminal laws.

The commission has been looking into allegations that Sanford used state aircraft for personal travel, violated state requirements by using high-priced airfare, and did not report the use of private aircraft; all stemming from the governor’s five day disappearance in June and his admission of an affair with a woman in Argentina.

State Rep. Greg Delleney (R-Chester) introduced a resolution to remove the governor from office on Tuesday, the first day of pre-filing for the upcoming legislative session. Legislators will take up the measure in January and are waiting on the results of the report to do so.

SENATOR: ATTORNEY GENERAL ‘MAKING BAD HISTORY… FUNDAMENTAL MISTAKE’

South Carolina’s top member of Congress Wednesday confronted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about his decision to send accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators to New York to be tried in civilian court.

Holder testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, where Sen. Lindsey Graham said he and President Barack Obama were wrong.

“We’re making bad history here,” Graham said. “The big problem I have is that you’re criminalizing the war. I think you’ve made a fundamental mistake here.”

But Holder defended the plan, saying he considered “every alternative” and chose New York because the city was “most likely to obtain justice for the American people.”

The Obama Administration has ordered that the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention camp, where Mohammed and the others are currently being held, be closed next year.

Critics of the decision said trying the suspected terrorists in the U.S. would make it difficult to use classified information and evidence obtained without a warrant. It might also give Mohammed the platform and publicity he wants.

Photo: Getty Images