The State
Columbia plans new lanterns, bistro lights on Main Street
At night, the 1600 block of Columbia’s Main Street is bathed in a warm LED glow, thanks to 28,000 lights strung overhead: a “ceiling of lights” that transforms the block after dark. Since it went up in late 2022, the canopy has become a go-to photo...
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Study: SC cities face housing surprises for newcomers
Southern living and the elbow room that comes with it might become more complicated after move-in, a new nationwide study suggests. Five South Carolina cities made the top 150 biggest housing reality checks in the country, according to research...
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‘There will never be another Lindsey Graham’
Family, friends, former staffers and supporters gathered in Columbia to honor the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in his final trip back to South Carolina. A nearly two-hour long public service, attended by high-ranking lawmakers and officials, was held...
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Columbia seeks event-planning firm for Finlay Park after $25M redo
Columbia plans to hire help to organize more events and festivals at Finlay Park, the once-troubled greenspace downtown that reopened late last year after a $25 million facelift. City leaders want a return for their investment, and have set up the...
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Top Murdaugh financial crimes prosecutor to become judge
She nailed the big ones. And now, Emily Limehouse, the lead federal prosecutor in the Alex Murdaugh financial crimes investigation, will be leaving the U.S. Attorney’s office. But she won’t go far — she is to become a U.S. magistrate judge in...
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USC foundation acquires key Main Street property
The University of South Carolina’s private real estate arm has added another property to its South Main Street portfolio. USC’s Development Foundation, which operates at an arm’s length from the university, recently purchased a property at the corner...
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Solar farms ruin pastoral Richland landscape, critics say
Some Richland County landowners, the mayor of Eastover and a former top county official are upset about the expansion of solar farms in their rural community as developers seek places for the sun-soaking energy projects. Lower Richland residents...
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Longtime US senator Lindsey Graham dies at 71
Congress lost one of its most influential members Saturday evening when Lindsey Graham suddenly died after nearly a quarter of a century in the U.S. Senate. He died July 11 from “a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement sent at 1:54...
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The fight to protect SC’s Revolutionary War battlegrounds
As a boy, Rick Wise was hooked on military history from the beginning. But he was never told he lived mere miles from the pivotal spot where the backcountry’s “Swamp Fox,” Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, first rallied his own brigade. “South...
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Qatar blames Iran for strike on tankers in Strait of Hormuz
Two tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including an LNG carrier at risk of explosion, as huge crowds mourning Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei thronged the holy city of Qom. Qatar blamed Iran for the attack on a...
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Murdaugh judge sets trial date, delays DNA, jail garb rulings
“This guy’s no serial killer. He’s not Ted Bundy,” an animated defense attorney Dick Harpootlian told Judge Debra McCaslin during an hourlong pretrial hearing Monday morning at the Lexington County courthouse for accused double murderer Alex...
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Wilson wins runoff for GOP governor nomination over Evette
One year ago today, while standing on a stage at Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington, South Carolina, Attorney General Alan Wilson kicked off his campaign for governor expecting the race to go to a runoff. Wilson was joined by his wife, two children and...
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SC Marine finally receives Medal of Honor at White House ceremony
Almost 60 years after nearly losing his life in a Vietnam firefight, James Capers has finally been recognized with his country’s highest honor. Capers, a Marine Corps major who was born in Bishopville, S.C., 88 years ago, was presented with the Medal...
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Columbia riverwalk to stay closed due to major canal repairs
Columbia’s beloved riverfront park and riverwalk spanning the length of the city’s canal will stay largely closed for at least a year, as the city inches forward major repair work to fortify one of Columbia’s main water sources. The Columbia Canal...
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SC race for GOP governor nomination heads to runoff
South Carolina Republican voters will have two more weeks of listening to candidates for governor with no candidate earning a simple majority of ballots cast in Tuesday’s primary. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson are set to...
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Big Tuna’s wins The State’s Lake Murray restaurant poll
The Tuna swam to the top. Big Tuna’s Kitchen & Kraft, located at 1345 Old Chapin Road in Lexington, recently was crowned the winner of The State’s 2026 Lake Murray Restaurant Poll. The unscientific poll ran on the paper’s website from May 21-27, and...
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Jury finds Rick Chow not guilty of murder of 14-year-old
In a tense moment inside the Richland County Courthouse — resembling a television crime drama — a jury of 12 people announced the fate of a former convenience store owner who shot and killed a 14-year-old boy, wrongfully suspected of stealing bottles...
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School district sued over Black fashion show comments
A Midlands school district is now facing a lawsuit over a school board member’s comments about a Black History Month event at a local high school. The lawsuit was filed against the Lexington 1 school district on May 15, after school board member Katie...
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Stench that woke neighbors is the subject of legal settlement in SC
A few years after Travis Hughey moved his family into the country outside a small South Carolina town, he began to notice a stench drifting across his property. The smell would sometimes seep inside his home, and wake the family up at night, he says....
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SC House passes new congressional map amid lawsuit, elections
COLUMBIA, S.C. Despite objections over the expedited process to redraw congressional districts, the South Carolina House passed a new map aimed at electing seven Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms. After just three...
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Murdaugh attorney criticizes AG Wilson on death penalty
Alex Murdaugh’s attorney Dick Harpootlian said Monday that S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson’s recent widely reported statements that he could seek the death penalty against Murdaugh were not only wrong and uninformed, they were made to help Wilson in...
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Murdaugh murder conviction overturned by SC Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court has unanimously ruled to overturn the 2023 double murder conviction of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh. In its 27-page, 5-0 ruling Wednesday, the S.C. Supreme Court said the jury tampering actions of former Colleton...
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Here’s how to spend a day on Lexington’s Main Street
Lexington’s Main Street stands on its own. With new additions constantly coming to a quickly growing corridor, it’s having a moment. The downtown is always bustling as it is, and as more businesses pour into the area, it’s certain to see even more...
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Bassmaster event at Lake Murray could boost Midlands economy
As anglers descend on Lake Murray this week for the Bassmaster series, they will leave behind an impact on more than the lake’s bass population. Local officials expect the tournament to have a major economic impact on the lakeside communities that are...
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Anti-abortion protester sang hymns and quoted scripture. He still lost
Steven Lefemine has quoted the Bible and sung hymns. In his yearslong quest to overturn a criminal conviction in federal court for blocking a Columbia abortion clinic’s door, he has fought the good fight. But now man’s law has won — again. Late last...
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SC bill allows toll lanes to ease highway congestion
South Carolina’s busiest highways could see new lanes with less congestion — though they’ll come at a price to drivers. Choice lanes allowing drivers to pay to cruise without congestion would be authorized in a large bill passed Wednesday. Lawmakers...
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SC lawmakers debate data center tax break impact
While debating whether to allow data centers to keep their tax breaks next year, South Carolina lawmakers believed the large server warehouses’ exemptions cost the state more than $800 million last year. But the cost of data center sales tax...
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Time capsule from State building moves to USC
On Monday outside Columbia, as dump trucks noisily prowled the old 23-acre State newspaper grounds amid piles of rubble, developers met there with officials from the University of South Carolina school of journalism. With the remaining three-story...
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USC classes develop, launch new Spur City Brewery beer brand
There’s a new beer on-tap in the Midlands, and it’s one that was born in the classroom. Spur City Brewery officially debuted on April 15 with an event at Steel Hands Brewing in Cayce. The new beer brand was developed by students in the University of...
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SC Senate advances near-total abortion ban
A near-total abortion ban moved forward in the state Senate, clearing a hurdle a similar proposal with stricter penalties could not last year. The bill given initial approval Wednesday would ban all abortions, except when the life of the pregnant...
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Columbia plans new trail to Canal and Riverfront Park
A new greenway trail in downtown Columbia could connect a busy entertainment district to one of the city’s top parks. The city of Columbia is looking for designers to help extend the Vista Greenway to the Columbia Canal and Riverfront Park, creating a...
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Sen. Goldfinch criticizes budget item linked to House member
State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, who is running for the GOP nomination for South Carolina attorney general, called out a specific item in the annual state budget that sends money to a nonprofit run by a House member while taking a jab at another candidate...
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Developer sues Columbia over failed stadium deal
Columbia’s Capital City Stadium was finally on the cusp of a transformation. At the start of 2022, developer Andrew Weddle said plans to reimagine the long-standing, long-vacant ballpark on Assembly Street in the historic Olympia neighborhood were...
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$32M settlement for Captain Sam’s Spit could hinge on budget
A pending $32 million legal settlement would forever protect one of South Carolina’s most visible stretches of barrier island after more than two decades of legal disputes over plans to develop high-end homes there. But the state Legislature still has...
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Shelter builds accessible senior apartments amid shortage
Missing ceiling tiles expose aging ductwork, a dingy carpet collects dust and debris. Once, this was a busy call center. It has sat empty for years, since remote work took off. Across the complex, an identical building tells a different story. It has...
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USC to transform visitors center into student hub
A major renovation of the University of South Carolina’s McKissick Building, located at the east corner of the historic Horseshoe, is expected to transform the aging structure into a hive of student activity. The 86-year-old neoclassical building,...
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Forest Acres eyes ‘goatscaping’ after success in Columbia
Pumpkin is about to be a grandmother. The working goat, owned by military veteran Jacob Porter, is one of more than 100 Porter rents out across the Midlands to clear overgrown yards, jungle-like vacant lots and even large commercial property. Pumpkin...
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Phones can show what stores are needed in Lexington County
Thousands of people leave Lexington County every day to spend their money somewhere else. That’s according to data collected by the town of Lexington to track what economic development circles call “leakage” — the loss of local residents’ dollars when...
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Neighbors worry development in Lexington could destroy woodlands
A new development planned for downtown Lexington could create 50 new houses and potentially cut into a wooded area surrounding an existing neighborhood. Connelly Development wants to rezone 9.6 acres at 201 Old Chapin Road, the current location of...
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Police chief: First stabbing reports not the full story
Initial reporting on social media and elsewhere about a stranger stabbing on a sidewalk in Columbia’s upscale Shandon neighborhood lacked context and inflamed an already volatile situation, Columbia police Chief Skip Holbrook said. “I wouldn’t...
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Could Irmo customers feel impact from utility company fee?
Irmo could soon require a new fee from utility operators in the town limits, and the impact could ultimately be felt by customers. A new fee could be charged on companies that provide electricity, natural gas, water and even cable and internet...
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Iran crisis spills beyond Mideast; Europe ramps up response
Two Iranian drones fell into Azerbaijan on Thursday, and more Iranian strikes were reported in Israel and Iraq, the latest signs of a broadening regional conflict as a sustained campaign of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran entered its sixth...
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South Carolina honors the Rev. Jesse Jackson
Hundreds of people honored the late Rev. Jesse Jackson in South Carolina on Monday with a public visitation at the State House and later a memorial at Brookland Baptist Church. Many never met or knew Jackson personally. But his legacy of advocating...
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Here’s what’s spiking your SC power bill
You might want to take a seat when you open your power bill this month. The numbers Columbia residents have seen on their bills have popped some eyes, with many people on social media complaining about steep increases in what they would normally see...
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Will Richland County have to work with ICE for immigration enforcement?
Richland County could be made to contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a proposal detractors say will raise tensions between community members and federal immigration efforts. The bill, in early stages of the legislative...
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From 8 measles cases in 34 years to a historic outbreak in SC
South Carolina is at the epicenter of the nation’s largest measles outbreak in more than a quarter-century. As of Friday, 950 people across six counties — most of them unvaccinated children — had been infected with the highly contagious virus since...
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Jesse Jackson, civil rights titan and SC native, has died at 84
South Carolina native and long time civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson died. He was 84. Jackson’s daughter, Santita Jackson, confirmed that her father died Tuesday at home in Chicago, surrounded by family, the Associated Press reported. Jackson...
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SC justices question prosecution on jury tampering, evidence
Questions about whether jury tampering and improper prosecution evidence spoiled convicted killer Alex Murdaugh’s right to a fair trial dominated an unusually long appeals hearing before a packed courtroom Wednesday at the S.C. Supreme Court. All five...
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Panel approves North Main gas station opposed by residents
For decades, neighbors along North Main Street have looked at the busy Sunset Drive intersection and imagined something more than another place for cars to pull in and out of. Talk of a redevelopment that would help shift the corridor toward something...
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Blowfish playing field undergoing renovations
When the Blowfish take the field later this spring, they will be doing it on a new field. The local ball club will still be playing at Lexington County Baseball Stadium. But the natural grass surface is being replaced with AstroTurf for the 2026...
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Pollution, politics threaten Congaree National Park
Fifty years after the federal government saved the Congaree swamp from industrial scale logging, the 27,000 acre nature preserve faces a rash of other threats that have the attention of scientists and conservationists. The swamp, protected in 1976 and...
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In final State of the State, Gov. McMaster looks to future
With less than a year left in his term, Gov. Henry McMaster sought to look at what the state would be like after he leaves office. McMaster, South Carolina’s longest serving governor, delivered his ninth and final State of the State address Wednesday....
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Three SC chefs named culinary ambassadors by Gov. McMaster
A trio of culinary experts has been tapped to represent South Carolina and help promote key pieces of the state’s economy. Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday named South Carolina’s 2026 Chef Ambassadors, marking the 12th year the state has doled out...
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Which downtown Columbia bridge has the most car crashes?
Each day, three downtown bridges funnel more than 83,000 drivers between downtown Columbia and Lexington County — college students heading home to student apartment complexes across the Congaree River, state government workers coming into town from...
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Hints of the ’28 campaign come to ’26 SC King Day
Even though nearly 290 days remain until the 2026 midterm elections, the specter of the 2028 presidential campaign was evident at the annual King Day at the Dome event. Potential 2028 presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Ro...
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State GOP lawmakers push for stricter abortion restrictions
Rescheduling mifepristone, pulling Medicaid funds for some family planning providers and penalizing abortion like homicide are all proposals in front of South Carolina lawmakers this year to further restrict abortion access. However, not all bills...
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Huge Columbia crowds greet Buddhist monks on Walk for Peace
Thousands turned out on the streets of Columbia on Saturday to watch as the cross-country Walk for Peace passed through South Carolina’s capital city. Two dozen Buddhist monks and Aloka the Peace Dog have been walking from their home temple in Texas...
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Wave of new student housing coming to Rosewood neighborhood
A wave of new student housing projects is descending on one of Columbia’s oldest neighborhoods. At least four new projects aimed at students are either now leasing, under construction or proposed for lots in the area of Rosewood nearest WilliamsBrice...
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Lexington gives final approval for annexation of subdivision
Officials for the town of Lexington signed off on a nearly 300-home subdivision that sits just outside the town limits at its Monday night meeting. The plan, to bring 299 single-family homes to a 191-acre plot of land along Barr Road and just off West...
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Spring Valley man in hate crime case to remain in jail
A 34-year-old white Richland County man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a federal hate crime charge violating the housing rights of a Black neighbor and a separate charge of using a firearm in a crime of violence. No bond was set for Jonathan Felkel of...
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Bitty & Beau’s owners close shop for renovations, rebrand
Bitty & Beau’s, the coffee shop chain in the Vista that focuses on employing workers with intellectual disabilities, has closed its doors. The husband and wife duo that operate the shop have a new concept in mind. A little more than a year after...
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Murder brings Staley, Harpootlian and serial killer together
Two of South Carolina’s best-known people from different worlds — famed University of South Carolina women’s basketball Coach Dawn Staley and legal lion Dick Harpootlian of the notorious “Murdaugh Murders” case — teamed up last week to do a kind of...
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SC food stamp program could cost $38M more to run annually
South Carolina’s federal food benefits program may be nearly $38 million more expensive to run annually and require 31 new employees, according to a budget request from the state Department of Social Services. Administering the Supplemental Nutrition...
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Homeowner blames development for trees falling on house
Linda Shanabrook’s husband was asleep in their bedroom when a tree fell through their roof. He was unharmed, but he was quite a sight when he emerged from the bedroom. “He came out covered in insulation and plaster,” Shanabrook said. The damage was...
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Steve Taneyhill, ‘a pillar of Gamecock history,’ dies at 52
Former South Carolina quarterback Steve Taneyhill died Monday. Taneyhill was 52 years old and had been battling cancer. “Gamecock Nation mourns the loss of Steve Taneyhill, a pillar of Gamecock history. Our thoughts are with his loved ones. Rest in...
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Church advertised financial help; dozens were turned away
Residents in unincorporated Richland County were promised an opportunity to get help paying for rent, utilities, childcare and other expenses during a special outreach event Dec. 10 and 11 at Brookland Baptist Northeast church. But just days before it...
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Bizarre tale of Murdaugh clerk ends with guilty pleas, no time
Rebecca “Becky” Hill, whose career as Colleton County clerk of court began in obscurity, rose to stardom and finished in disgrace, capped a bizarre subplot in the Alex Murdaugh murder saga Monday by pleading guilty to state charges of misconduct,...
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Can funding for prevention groups lower teen gun violence?
While working as a probation officer in South Carolina, Zakiya Mickle noticed a lack of opportunities for young offenders to complete their courtordered service. She began Sowing Seeds into the Midlands in 2013 to give children from Richland and...
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White House backs Hegseth, confirms 2nd boat strike
The White House defended the Pentagon’s handling of a September attack on an alleged drug-running boat and denied that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given an order to kill everyone on the vessel, rebutting a report that had led to allegations of...
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SC judge-picking process begins; some seek reforms
Standing in front of a 12-person commission, a court reporter and judiciary committee staff, candidates for judgeships answer questions about their temperament and their experiences on legal issues, and respond to comments left in anonymous...
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Audit of charter school district advises state law changes
South Carolina’s largest charter school district has accepted donations from businesses that provide it services and provide services to its schools, and “likely” used public funds to financially support a nonprofit that offers teacher training and...
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Lawsuit: School district site flooded homes
Stormwater from a now-terminated construction project in Lower Richland has routinely flooded a nearby neighborhood, severely damaging several homes and infrastructure, according to a new lawsuit. And the homeowners claim there is no end in...
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Finlay Park won’t allow most backpacks, purses
Columbia will re-open downtown’s Finlay Park for the first time in years Nov. 15, but you won’t be allowed to bring your backpack, purse, picnic basket or other opaque bag. The city says there will be a standing clear-bag policy at the park. The...
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Gas station owner denied immunity in 2023 shooting
A Circuit Court judge denied immunity for a former gas station owner who reportedly gunned down a 14-year-old on Memorial Day weekend in 2023. Rick Chow will stand trial for the killing of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, following the conclusion of an immunity...
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Water finally flowing in Finlay Park’s iconic fountain
The grand reopening of Columbia’s Finlay Park — once considered the “crown jewel” of the city’s parks system — may still be a couple of weeks away, but on Monday an iconic piece of the park could be seen gushing once more. The spiral fountain on the...
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New USC-affiliated apartment floods, some students relocated
A luxury student apartment complex affiliated with the University of South Carolina just opened. It’s already having problems. Gateway 737, a 650,000-square-foot facility on Gadsden Street across from neighboring Colonial Life Arena, bills itself as a...
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