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811 Day: Calling Before Digging Can Save Lives
A simple call can save your life: A Piedmont Natural Gas worker urges everyone to dig safe on 811 Day
Opinion: Home Rule the Best Answer for Homeland Park's Future
Homeland Park stands as a testament to the beauty of diversity. Within its borders, an array of ethnicities come together, creating a tapestry of cultures that enriches our community. Here, inclusivity and acceptance are cherished principles, fostering a harmonious environment for all. Homeland Park is a place where neighbors become friends and support one another, united by a shared commitment to building a vibrant community.
Letter: Resolve to Protect Reproductive Rights Unshakable
As we mark one year since the fall of Roe v. Wade this week, South Carolina remains the only state in the Southeast with accessible abortion care... thanks to a court challenge to our own recently passed extreme abortion ban.
Letter: Time to Support Officials Who Support Women's Rights
Today we need to support people in government who do respect women and their right over their bodies. Nothing is more personal, and the government has no right to intrude or make laws regarding a person’s body especially the right to have a child or not. This is solely the woman’s decision to make.
Time to Make Voter Registration a Priority
Sadly, that still means more than a third of all eligible Americans who were eligible to vote did not. And this does not include the 21.7 percent of American citizens of age who are not registered to vote.
Banning Books Wrongheaded and Dangerous
“Censorship of anything, at any time, in any place, on whatever pretense, has always been and always will be the last resort of the boob and the bigot.” ―Eugene O’Neill
Letter to Editor: McMaster Owes Apology for Racially-Tinged Attack on Democrats
According to The State reporter Joseph Bustos, McMaster said: "I look forward to the day that democrats are so rare, we have to hunt them with dogs."
Legislation Would Revitalize S.C. Equine Industry
The South Carolina House of Representatives passed the bill on April 6, 2023, and the Senate is expected to debate it this year. South Carolina’s equine industry has a $1.9 billion economic impact and provides 30,000 jobs across the state, primarily in rural areas. With passage of this transformational piece of legislation, those figures are expected to increase.
South Carolina has Reason to Protect Conservation, Celebrate Earth Day
South Carolina is home to 3.1 million worth of wetland forests, including the natural gem that is Congaree National Park. The economic value of these forests equates to $39.6 billion, which is broken down by $11.9 billion through protection from extreme events, $9.8 billion in aesthetics, tourism, and recreation, $9 billion from water supply and waste treatment, $5.7 billion via food and pollination, $3.4 billion per regulating services, and $180 million with raw materials.
S.C. Senate Bill Could Limit Growth in Anderson County
The bill bill would bar citizens of “foreign adversary” nations from buying property in the state. That current list includes China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and Cuba, and was approved by a vote of 31-5 (nine excused absences).
Safe Digging Month: Start your spring yard project safely by calling 811
Every year, Piedmont Natural Gas responds to thousands of natural gas emergencies caused by excavating projects damaging underground pipelines. In 2022, Piedmont reported over 2,700 cuts to natural gas lines in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The majority of these could have been avoided with a call to 811.
Proposed Legislation Could Protect the State as Biodiversity Hotspot
New legislation has been proposed that is aimed at improving conservation efforts. The South Carolina Conservation Enhancement Act (S.280/H.3786) could dedicate more than $20 million a year for land and water protection, as well as create public green spaces and historic sites for rural communities.
Letter to Editor: County Need to Control Growth Before It's Too Late
We do not owe it to Greenville to become their bedroom community at the cost of the very way of life that many of us hold dear in this county. Our farmlands and woodlands are being bulldozed by dozens and hundreds of acres. We must take control before it is too late.
Direct Primary Care Law in South Carolina a Win for Patients and Physicians
Communities with a higher number of primary care physicians (family medicine, pediatrics, general internal medicine) are healthier and people in those communities live longer. Having a primary care physician really makes a difference in your health.
Editorial: Freedom Caucus Actions Could Threaten Local Government
But another, more radical group of Republicans has emerged in recent years with agendas that are at odds with their party’s historic understanding of the role of government.
Community Owes Debt of Gratitude to Local Public Servants
Every election cycle, the question of "who would want to run for office?" is followed by jokes or worse about “politicians.”
Opinion: S.C. Private School Vouchers Plan Fails Facts Test
Clearly, the research case for vouchers doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, while the research case against them has been flashing warning lights for almost a decade.
Protecting Teaching of Black History Critical for Public Schools
That goal remains mostly unrealized in public schools, many of which, have become political equity chips for those who would not only oppose teaching the history of black citizens in America, but are passing laws to limit what can be taught in regards to racial history in this general.
MLK Left Legacy of Courage, Challenge
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” - MLK, Jr.