Staff reports | South Carolina Educational Television (SCETV)’s public broadcasting is known for helping young children learn from “Sesame Street” and “Super Why,” but its role shifted to aiding teachers with remote-learning in the early days of the coronavirus in the state.
Staff reports | The Conservation Voters of South Carolina released its 2019-2020 Conservation Scorecard this week. Some lawmakers receive lower scores because they didn’t vote on either one or more of five bills in the House or vote on the one conservation bill in the Senate.
Staff reports | Officials are closely watching the churning in the Atlantic Ocean as Tropical Storm Isaias moves north towards the Carolinas coast. Heavy, spotty rain has been reported Monday morning.
The storm, near the Georgia-Florida line early this morning, is expected to be off the coast of Charleston by Monday night, bringing with it heavy rains. At 5 a.m., maximum sustained winds were 70 mph. It may gain enough power to be a hurricane, forecasters say, with the highest winds occurring off the coast. The probable landfall is Wilmington, N.C.
As of 8 a.m., Charleston was under a tropical storm warning, but a hurricane warning stretched from the South Santee River to Surf City, N.C. A storm surge warning is in effect from Edisto Island to the North Carolina line.
Staff reports | The legislature is abuzz over Gov. Henry McMaster’s move a week ago to allocate $32 million in pandemic relief funds for tuition grants to private schools.
By Wednesday, state Circuit Court Judge Edgar W. Dickson in Orangeburg County issued a temporary block on the plan in response to a lawsuit that said McMaster’s move violated the state’s constitution, which prevents public dollars from directly benefiting private educational institutions.
Staff reports | An annual federal flooding report found Charleston’s high tide flooding is increasing at an alarming rate.
“The report is very clear: Charleston is in trouble,” Coastal Conservation League’s Betsy La Force told sister publication Statehouse Report. “If we look at the data and continue to ignore it the issue will only get worse. It’s scientific. It’s not political. It proves to the public and political leaders that climate change impacts are happening now … We have to be realistic and plan accordingly.”
Staff reports | Trident Literacy Association will use a $150,000 grant to provide intensive case management to help adult students through a program to help them get a high-school degree and build job skills competencies. The grant is from Power:Ed, a philanthropic arm of the S.C. Student Loan Corporation.
Staff reports | Close to one-third of state lawmakers say they are for repealing the Heritage Act, according to an organization pushing its repeal. Repeal the Heritage Act said 49 lawmakers have expressed public support for the law’s repeal. It requires two-thirds of the General Assembly’s two chambers to agree to any changes or removals of war and heritage monuments on public property, including those commemorating the Confederacy and African American heritage.
4/5ths of current lawmakers haven’t voted on Heritage Act. Only 30 of the state’s current 170 legislators cast votes 20 years ago on whether the state should protect monuments from removal.
Staff reports | Folly Beach County Park now features big improvements that will help you enjoy a popular park even more. In addition to new boardwalk access paths from the parking lot to the beach, there are outdoor showers, changing stations and improvements to the Pelican Watch Pavilion.
Staff reports | Two state lawmakers said last week that it’s time to move forward promptly with bills to make hate crimes illegal and promote gun safety in South Carolina. S.C. Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, told sister publication Statehouse Report that a hate crimes bill would go a long way toward race relations in the state. Earlier this year, the bill got important bipartisan support from then-House Judiciary Chair Peter McCoy, “but of course, then COVID-19 hit.”
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