No place to rest in peace

Sunday, March 14, 12 00 a.m.

Around Lowcountry watercoolers, hardly a conversation ends without some reference to traffic or parking. The remarks are not usually happy.     Read More

Recognizing greenbelt success

Sunday, March 14, 12 00 a.m.

Charleston County's greenbelt funds have been used to great effect since voters endorsed a half-cent sales tax to aid that effort in 2004. As the Greenbelt Advisory Board develops plans to spend the final allocation, it will be able to build on that success.     Read More

More audits to save money

Sunday, March 14, 12 00 a.m.

Over the last five years, the state Legislative Audit Council has made recommendations that have saved the state, and its taxpayers, an estimated $10 million annually. And the agency has been instrumental in the pending reform of the state Employment Security Commission.     Read More

Spare parole agency from cuts

Saturday, March 13, 12 00 a.m.

The misguided notion of slashing the Department of Probation and Parole's budget is far more about citizens than prisoners. Prisoners will continue to be released to community supervision. Indeed, their numbers are expected to increase because of prison overcrowding.     Read More

Fight nuclear waste decision

Saturday, March 13, 12 00 a.m.

Opponents of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site celebrated its supposed demise in a mock funeral in Nevada on Tuesday. But a former governor cautioned that the ceremony might be premature.     Read More

Signs of renewal at Florence Crittenton Home

Sunday, March 14, 12 00 a.m.

While it's too early to celebrate, there's a palpable air of excitement at Charleston's 19 St. Margaret Street.     Read More

Incentives for retail a bad idea

Thursday, March 11, 12 00 a.m.

I step into the debate on the proposed incentives special legislation for a large new shopping center in Jasper County very slowly. I have known its developer Mel Sembler and his wife Betty for over 15 years, and they are first-rate people. Yet this is not about any one person. It is about our administration's continuing commitment to look out for the taxpayer. That is why it's vital you make your voices heard and support the decided stand taken by a number of leaders in the Senate, like Tom Davis and Greg Ryberg, who are trying to stop this unwise use of more than $100 million of taxpayer money.     Read More

Let's talk of history, heritage

Thursday, March 11, 12 00 a.m.

The Post and Courier of March 8 included Sen. Glenn McConnell's expression of disappointment that I oppose a monument honoring South Carolina's signers of the 1860 Ordinance of Secession being placed at the Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum. He suggested that my real agenda was more about modern politics than history, alleging that I 'bitterly criticized' Sen. Robert Ford and Rep. Tim Scott for endorsing the proposed monument and that my true motive was to label Sen. Ford and Rep. Scott as 'traitors who somehow deserted a cause they should be serving.'     Read More

Civil War sesquicentennial provides opportunity for dialogue

Tuesday, March 9, 12 00 a.m.

We live in an age that is largely unconcerned with history. This is too bad because the past is a valuable source of wisdom and guidance. When history is twisted or glossed over, it undermines our ability to learn from the past and inform a positive vision for the future.     Read More

What's at stake in judgeship case

Monday, March 8, 12 00 a.m.

Within the next few weeks, the S.C. Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion on a lawsuit that has riveted the state's legal community and put the Legislature on alert. There's far more than the future of one Charleston-based judge at stake.     Read More