Thumbs up
Champ Chants. Hats off to the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, the nation’s top college baseball team. As many on Facebook are pointing out, South Carolina offers the best college baseball in the country, with top teams at Coastal, USC and Clemson.
Gas prices. With the holiday weekend ahead, consumers should rejoice that the state’s average price for gas has dipped to $1.99 per gallon.
New legislator. South Carolina will have its first openly gay legislator next year when Greenville attorney Jason Elliott takes his seat in the S.C. House of Representatives. He beat incumbent Wendy Nanney earlier this month in a Republican primary in a district that includes conservative Bob Jones University. More.
In the middle
Haley. It’s good to see Gov. Nikki Haley is touting a $40 million state flood recovery program. But it passed this year over her veto, which makes a press conference touting the program to seem a little hypocritical. Farmers can apply starting today. The deadline is Aug. 15. More.
S.C. State. Today also marks the beginning of a four-year term for a new president at beleaguered S.C. State University, whose trustees this week voted to place one of its own, vice-chairman James E. Clark of Columbia, in the top job. While Clark has a distinguished business career, it might look a little odd to some that a former trustee is the new president. More.
Thumbs down
Loftis. State Treasurer Curtis Loftis got the bad news this week that the state Ethics Commission isn’t dismissing a claim that he used his position to have a friend land a job representing his office. More.
Rate increase. How can anyone be happy about another rate increase request — the ninth since 2009 — by SCE&G to pay for two new nuclear reactors? To date, the project’s costs have ballooned from $10 billion to $14 billion. More.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!