Local briefs

Mt. P. blessing of fleet festival today

The 22nd Annual Mount Pleasant Blessing of the Fleet & Seafood Festival takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Alhambra Hall and Park.

The blessing takes place at 1 p.m., with live music to follow from 2 to 5 p.m. The shrimp-eating contest is at 3:15 p.m. and a shag dance contest at 3:30 p.m. Free shuttle service leaves from and returns to Moultrie Plaza during the festival. www.townofmount pleasant.com

Tuition tax credit meeting planned

The Charleston Branch NAACP and Citizens United for Public Education will announce on Monday plans for a town hall meeting for parents, students, elected officials, educators and concerned citizens to share their thoughts on the private school tuition tax credit and scholarship legislation sponsored by Sen. Robert Ford.

They will hold a news conference at noon in front of the Charleston County School District main office, 75 Calhoun St., to discuss their plans.

Gas mixed with diesel before blast

NORWAY — Orangeburg County deputies say gasoline was mixed with diesel fuel in a tank that exploded earlier this month, killing two men.

Sheriff Larry Williams told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg that investigators are trying to figure out how the much more volatile gasoline got into the diesel tank.

The explosion happened Monday as three people tried to fill a logging truck with fuel at a Norway home.

Authorities say the men were using a homemade fuel pump system powered by jumper cables connected to the truck's batteries when one of them opened the tank's cap. The survivor told investigators he saw a blue flame shoot up and the tank exploded.

Williams says deputies might never know how much gasoline was mixed with the diesel fuel.

Missing boys went to house next door

ANDERSON — As 100 people frantically looked for them, missing South Carolina brothers, ages 2 and 3, were rummaging through their neighbor's kitchen, eating cookies and marshmallows.

WYFF-TV reports the boys' mother reported her children missing Friday morning.

About 100 emergency workers and volunteers began combing the Anderson neighborhood. But the boys already had found their neighbor's door unlocked and let themselves in.

Angie Lovorn said she was asleep after working the graveyard shift and didn't hear the children, who ransacked her cupboards and played with stuffed animals in her son's room.

Emergency workers saw the boys leaving the house after their adventure. One of them was wearing a Clemson cap that belonged to Lovorn's son.

Boy won't be tried as adult in killing

COLUMBIA — A 13-year-old boy charged with murder in the shooting death of his brother in their Kershaw County home won't be tried as an adult.

Prosecutor John Meadors told The State of Columbia that his boss, 5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese, made the decision to keep the case in Family Court after talking to investigators.

Meadors refused to discuss the reasons behind the decision.

If convicted of murder as a juvenile, the teen could be jailed until he is 21. He could have faced a life sentence if convicted as an adult.

Authorities say the teen shot his 10-year-old brother Gayloyd Roberts after they argued over where to sit to watch a movie while out of school for a snow day in March.