NEWS BRIEFS: McCain, Hall perform 8 p.m. Tuesday in $10 virtual concert

Staff reports  |  Is there anyone who doesn’t think 2020 has just sucked?

At 8 p.m. Nov. 17, the Charleston City Paper will offer a virtual mini-concert called 2020 SUCKS, a City Paper Concert for Charleston with Charleston favorite Edwin McCain as well as Country artist, Lauren Hall. 

At the end of the concert, the City Paper will announce the winners of the 2020 City Paper Music Awards.  The weekly newspaper also will share some funny short videos and messages recognizing its 2020 Best Of Charleston sponsors and winners. The Nov. 18 print issue of the newspaper will showcase winners, too.

• Buy your tickets for just $10 through CityPaperTickets.com.  A portion of ticket proceeds will benefit the Charleston Animal Society

In other recent news:

State has big pot of money for 2021-22 budget.  The state of South Carolina has $775 million in reserves to spend thanks to COVID-19.  The pot would have been even bigger, but revenue collections dropped millions because of the pandemic.

Without an approved 2020-21 budget, state spending remained at 2019 levels.  With no new budget, there were no approvals for new one-time spending projects.  Recurring expenses approved last year continued to be funded, but proposed recurring increases, such as a boost to per student educational costs or use of new “non-recurring” dollars for things like $100 million in security improvements for the state Department of Corrections, were put on hold.  So that inaction also meant contingency reserves from two previous budget years — monies generally spent in new budgets — were parked in state accounts.

The pot is now worth $775 million, an amount that can buy a whole lot of widgets for state government.  And it’s part of an even bigger pot that lawmakers will have to spend starting in July.  According to a Nov. 10 preliminary forecast for the state’s 2021-22 fiscal year, lawmakers should have about $1.2 billion in new revenue to spend over and above what regularly comes in. Read more in Statehouse Report.

More virus is on the way.  By Thanksgiving, South Carolina should top 200,000 total cases of COVID-19, based on projections.  As of this week, almost 190,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease — and about 1,000 new residents are getting it daily.  The percent of people who test positive with the disease remains in the double digits.  So far, the state has experienced more than 4,000 deaths, according to state health officials.  As a new surge in infections is expected to drop south from midwestern and northern states, more South Carolinians are expected to get the disease and die from it.

McClellanville acreage preserved.  About 22 acres in McClellanville will be permanently protected after the owners opted to grant a conservation easement to the Lowcountry Land Trust. Known as Taylor’s Farm, the Pinckney Street property is in the Santee River Focus Area, one of 12 focus areas in the state identified for wildlife protection and land conservation. “We are happy to have put our property in McClellanville into a conservation easement,” said property owners Charles and Frances Geer in a statement. “We are grateful to the Lowcountry Land Trust for enabling us to protect this natural area for the benefit of future generations.”

Smith honored with big award.  Big claps to Palmetto Goodwill President and CEO Robert Smith, who was honored Nov. 11 with the 2020 Kenneth K. King Outstanding Management Award for Executive Excellence, the most prestigious leadership award presented by Goodwill Industries International. Smith has worked at Goodwill for the past 38 years. He started his career as a truck driver picking up donations. He has since worked in numerous positions within Goodwill, gaining a holistic perspective of operations, before becoming CEO in 1998.

S.C. ballots tossed.  State election officials said more than 3,000 of 4,000 ballots that were not counted were invalidated because of the lack of a witness signature.  State lawmakers changed voting rules this year to allow everyone to vote by mail, but a witness signature requirement initially was not required.  Court battles led the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the requirement.

Golf club renovated.  The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek recently completed a two-year, $6.5 million renovation to the club’s golf course and facilities including a complete course transformation, the opening of the Robert C. McNair Golf Performance Center and the addition of three on-site cottages, according to a press release. Additions and renovations to the private club, which is majority owned by McNair Interests, a private investment and management company, were announced in 2019.  McNair Interests was founded by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert C. “Bob” McNair. 

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