2016 primary news resource now online
Just in time for all of the politicking and national candidates running for president is Statehouse’s daily news roundup of stories related to the Palmetto State’s first-in-the-nation primary.
Check our Web site every business morning (say, around 10 a.m.) for stories of interested that are related to the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, which are slated for February 2016.
There’s going to be lots of chatter and news … and you can keep up with it through Statehouse Report. For even more news every day, you should check out our sister site, SCClips.com.
South Carolinian nominated to head federal agency
President Obama has nominated Charleston native and resident Kathryn “Kit” Matthew to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that supports the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums to advance lifelong learning and promote cultural and civic engagement. The agency, which has about five dozen employees, administers a budget that was $225 million in 2013.
Matthew, a former director of philanthropy of the Historic Charleston Foundation, is currently undergoing the process of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Matthew has a distinguished resume with varied, professional experiences in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. She currently is chief science educator at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, a role she has held since 2014. She served as a principal consultant and a product manager at Blackbaud, Inc., from 2008 to 2013, worked at the Historic Charleston Foundation from 2006 to 2008, and was an exhibits consultant at Chemical Heritage Foundation from 2005 to 2006.
Skies not always friendly over South Carolina
Word that Clemson was asking for permission to spend as much as $6 million to buy a new jet for coaches and recruiters to better visit high school football players turned a few heads.
No tax dollars will be spent, as all the money will come from alumni donations or from football revenues, but the expenditure had to be approved by the legislature’s Joint Bond Review Committee and the state Budget and Control Board.
While some balked at the expense and the priorities it engenders, a new jet, while very expensive, could cut down on travel times for coaches and eliminate some charter flights for recruiting junkets.
Let’s remember, though, that South Carolina has had a very interesting past with planes:
- Just last year, former House Speaker Bobby Harrell (R-Charleston) stepped down, in part, after pleading guilty to charges he improperly used campaign funds for personal use related to his personal plane.
- Some think Gov. Nikki Haley and state Attorney General Alan Wilson may have violated state ethics laws a few years ago when they buzzed around South Carolina in the state plane to announce an ethics reform package.
- Jet-setting former Gov. Mark Sanford – well, ‘nuff said.
- Former state Sen. Jack Lindsay (D-Marlboro) took a state plane to Tampa in 1984 to attend the Super Bowl. Lindsay was later snared in Operation Lost Trust.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!