Corporations are not voters but the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United makes large groups have huge influence on policy.

But out of that tainted soil grew heroes. Few of us locally knew Dr. King, but we saw other great men and women in our area answer his call.

Today, we gather in a new year, some 246 years later, just one day before January 6th, a day forever shared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America — lost it all.

Filing for all offices begins March 16 and ends April 1. All 124 of the South Carolina House seats and 46 South Carolina Senate seats are on the ballot this year, which is the subject of speculation in regard to a couple of local races.

Frustrated by record-breaking teacher shortages in South Carolina, Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Hopkins said he’s going to file a bill that will require state lawmakers to substitute teach or volunteer at K-12 schools five times a year.

When Westside High School lost its first football game back in August to BHP, little did they know it was the last loss the team would experience in route to the school, and the city’s first state championship since the Rams won it in 1969 (T.L. Hanna was runner up in 2020. 2018 and 1974).

For the second year in a row, Piedmont is proud to have earned the No. 1 spot in customer satisfaction for residential natural gas service in the South among large utilities, according to the J.D. Power 2023 Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.

In spite of continuing to add new lights, decorations and extending the height of the tree each year, has already posted a savings to the county of close than $100,000 compared to the costs of bringing in a live, cut tree each of those years.

With 39 days left in 2023, we take time to celebrate Thanksgiving, the uniquely American holiday set aside to evaluation those people and things which foster gratitude.

Today, let’s be grateful for those who have chosen public education as their mission in life. It’s a tough time to be in the classroom and administrative offices of public schools these days.

Today, let’s give thanks to the helpers in our charitable organizations, those who devote their lives to improve the lot of our neighbors, friends and family members who are in need. 

And for much of our history, we have sent soldiers to foreign lands to fight. From the 4 million soldiers the U.S. sent to Europe in World War I, to the more than 16 million men and women sent to World War II to answer the call of our allies in Europe to defeat Hitler.

Anderson School Dist. 4, home to six schools, is experiencing unprecedented growth, which is expected to increase the student population by almost 40 percent in the decade ahead. The district, which topped 3,000 students for the first time in 2022, currently has 3,107 students, and projects to top more than 4,300 students in the next 9 years.

October is National Fire Prevention Month, and I encourage everyone to know the signs of a natural gas leak. Remember, “if you smell natural gas, get out fast!”

This incident offers both a reminder of how dangerous the work of law enforcement is, and a shining example of one of their brightest and best keeping cool in a heated situation and responding with wisdom gained from 20 years in the field.

Local elections – city, county, town – often have a great deal more influence on the day-to-day lives of citizens that trickle down from Columbia or Washington. Local representatives are also more connected, only a visit or phone call away from any constituent with a question or need.

As we mark another Labor Day, working Americans, both union and non-union, have a long list of reasons to thank the labor movement--including these that give workers the right to paid and unpaid leave.

So on this weekend, I want to send out a heartfelt thanks to laborers across this country, without whom none of us would have a home to live in, a street or highway to get us to and from work, or the electric/gas power and basic utilities that keep America working.

Aren’t you tired of being embarrassed by radicals who bow down to their naked emperor regardless of what crime against democracy he asks them to commit? Aren’t you tired of looking like fools not only here in the United States but abroad as well? Party of Lincoln and law and order, aren’t you tired of being tired?

The overwhelming majority of men and women serving the cities, towns and county in Anderson are doing their part to move an exceedingly large wheel in an exceedingly fine fashion.