Two months before her hand-off to a new administration, Spearman sat down with The Post and Courier to reflect on her tenure, as well as her hopes and concerns for the future.
At the request of the General Assembly, the Legislative Audit Council is surveying how elections work across the state as part of a national trend.
Two sisters who attend Meadowfield Elementary School in Columbia have sold their lemonade online and at Soda City Farmer's Market for more than two years, and Richland County School District One is including the twins' specialty beverage with the Thanksgiving meals they're providing to families.
Since 2018, incumbent Lexington-Richland School District Five board members faced an uphill battle in bids for re-election, with seven of nine who sought re-election being defeated, including three in the 2022 election.
Crowdfunding has given All Good Books a head start on its bookstore in Columbia's Five Points neighborhood.Â
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott recently came to County Council members asking for more money to raise salaries for deputies, echoing a wider request from around the state.
Cayce city officials have been awarded a grant from the National Park Service to locate, clear and preserve Black cemeteries that might be hidden among overgrown shrubs and modern infrastructure.Â
In a Columbia-area school district that's been fighting allegations of dysfunctional leadership from parents and teachers, incumbent school board Vice Chairman Ken Loveless was narrowly defeated in a race for two open seats on the district's Lexington County side, a recount confirms.
The University of South Carolina is working with the state Department of Corrections to bring the Carnegie Hall program, Lullaby Project, to incarcerated new and expecting parents.
Allen University, a private, historically Black college, would join the ranks of other schools in town with its own stadium if it can strike a deal with Richland County for the land on Two Notch Road and Cushman Drive.
Publix will take over about 10,000 feet of space to expand in Columbia area's Trenholm Plaza shopping center.Â
The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center's solitary confinement unit is being shut down following accusations in a federal lawsuit of poor conditions for mentally ill detainees at the Richland County facility.
Only about $3 million of Irmo's $9 million in revenue was spent, because the rest of the town's spending was covered by grants and ARPA money. Now town leaders are thinking about what to do with their surplus.
Columbia's home market saw fewer deals in October as rising interest rates have put real estate off some shoppers' lists.
A judge ruled in favor of Edisto Recycling in a fight for ownership of a piece of land in southeast Columbia that is also the subject of an appeal by the city of Columbia and environmental groups.
A faction of state House Republicans is suing Lexington County's largest school district, claiming education officials in the GOP stronghold are illegally training teachers on how to incorporate race-centric lessons in their classrooms
A former inmate's lawsuit says the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department placed her on suicide watch in a cell with a man who raped her. She then faced charges for filing a false report until video confirmed the assault.Â
Dial-A-Ride Transit drivers concerned about their pay rate did not show up for routes in the Columbia area on Nov. 16
The proposed project employing 1,800 workers in the Columbia area would be nearly double the economic investment in Richland County by a plant that makes White Claw beverages.
Facing complaints about noise and safety around short-term rentals in neighborhoods, Richland County Council members are considering banning them except in commercially zoned areas.Â
A school employee near Columbia, S.C., was arrested on assault charges on her second day on the job.
State Circuit Judge DeAndrea Benjamin appears poised to join a powerful federal appeals court bench following a U.S. Senate hearing in which Republicans repeatedly questioned her handling of two cases out of thousands she'd handled in South Carolina over two decades.
A senior-focused doctors' practice is opening two locations in Columbia soon, with a temporary office already open.Â
Lexington County elections officials began recounting votes on Nov. 14 for close school board races in three school districts, and said the recount of over 100,000 votes could take the rest of the week. Richland Two's recount confirms results in Columbia.
Richland deputies are still searching for a suspect who fired a gun at the Columbia Place Mall.
The I-77 bridges have dozens of potholes and surface cracks, creating a bumpy ride on a major roadway leading to Charlotte and connecting I-26 leading to Charleston and Spartanburg.Â
When all the votes were tallied, McMaster's victory margin of more than 17 points marked the second-widest for any Republican governor in South Carolina since Reconstruction.Â
Terry Graham, interim director for Richland County's elections office, previously said he planned to resign in January, but now plans to stay on as deputy director for a few more years after the Nov. 8 election had few issues.
Tropical Storm Nicole crosses South Carolina with no reports of damage.
Edisto Recycling and American Scrap Iron & Metal each contend they have a right to a scrap yard in southeastern Columbia, which is also the subject of an appeal from the city and two environmental groups over a zoning exception.Â
Road improvements in Columbia-area's fast-growing Lexington County may wait years after voters rejected a 1 percent tax referendum.Â
A recount for one of the four seats on the Columbia-area school board could change one seat, but won't change the clear outcome — the faction that has been leading the board is out of power.Â
Legislation outlawing near all abortions in South Carolina is officially dead after a stalemate between the House and Senate ended with GOP leaders in both chambers blaming each other.
Candidate Kevin Key defeated Joseph Hightower by just six votes in the race for the Lexington Two school board, but Lexington election officials are recounting the ballots.
In a $100 million redevelopment, much of the mall will be demolished while the Belk department store would move into a revamped location at the site.
Bauer's campaign focused on reproductive rights, saying Finlay's support of a total ban on abortion was extreme.
In tight Richland and Lexington school board elections, incumbents faced defeat in districts that have been under fire for issues ranging from scathing state reports to ethics issues.
A referendum on a proposed 1 percent bump in Lexington County's sales tax to improve roads and traffic flow failed on Nov. 8.
Republican Don Weaver faced Democrat Bryan Boroughs in one contested race for Richland County Council.Â
Gov. Henry McMaster won his second full term, defeating Democrat Joe Cunningham with a message that South Carolina's economy is booming with him at the helm and he'll ensure it keeps improving
The longtime Columbia congressman joins four other S.C. Republicans in winning re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Five Points will get an independent bookstore in 2023, but Main Street will lose Odd Bird Books as its owner joins the new project.
A new sign on the northern end of the dam that reads "Welcome to LAKE MURRAY" in 4-foot-tall block letters, is intended to serve as a greeting to tourists and locals.Â
A home at 149 Cottage Lake Way in Columbia was purchased with one click and via spending cryptocurrency, a first for the state and the national company selling it.
The Nexx Level Sports Center, planned to be built in Irmo, would host major sports tournaments weekly, and is projected to bring $51 million in spending to the area in the first five years, if developers can line up the financial support needed to build it.
Fairfield County is grading 1 million square feet of construction-ready pad in hopes of luring a major manufacturer to its I-77 International Megasite just north of Columbia.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to West Columbia-based Nephron Pharmaceuticals saying has not gone far enough in its response to concerns raised during an annual inspection, threatening possible “seizure and injunction" if violations were not quickly corrected.
State agencies nearly tripled their spending on employee travel in the year following COVID reductions, and South Carolina's top accountant is asking directors to cut those taxpayer-funded expenses.
Expansion of the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center is unlikely within the next five years, according to Experience Columbia SC President Bill Ellen, as Mayor Daniel Rickenmann's administration champions other priorities.
Columbia police said they spent around 17 hours trying to get a armed man barricaded inside a house in Woodcreek Farms, near Elgin, to surrender.
The S.C. Inspector General released an investigative report, the first of its kind in the state in reviewing a school district, looked into alleged dysfunction and mismanagement in Richland County School District Two.
