Staff reports | Both chambers of the S.C. General Assembly will return in early December to consider redistricting plans. New maps are required every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution to equalize representation across the state.
The House plan, approved 21-2 with two members abstaining, has drawn fire for protecting incumbents and heavily favoring Republicans. The House returns 2 p.m. Dec. 1 to start deliberations, which are expected to continue at 10 a.m. Thursday and Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, S.C. senators will meet in a special session at 1 p.m. Dec. 6 to consider a redistricting plan that has been generally praised.
In other recent news:
Alexander, Gardner to be honored. S.C. Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, and Lowcountry health leader Roland Gardner will receive leadership awards in January from Furman University’s Riley Institute, according to a Thursday press release. The awards will be presented Jan. 18 at the OneSouthCarolina Legislative and Civic Leadership Awards Dinner in Columbia. Alexander, recipient of the legislative leadership award, has served at the Statehouse since 1987. He currently chairs the Labor, Commerce and Industry committee and is widely viewed as a top candidate to be the Senate’s next president. Gardner, who is CEO of the Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Community Health Center, will receive the civic leadership award. The awards dinner begins with a reception for all registered attendees at 6 p.m. The dinner and awards presentation follow at 7 p.m. Tickets are $150 each and may be purchased by visiting furman.edu/onesouthcarolina or calling 864.235.8330.
Hundreds expected at today’s Leatherman funeral. Today’s funeral in Florence for the late state Sen. Hugh Leatherman is expected to draw hundreds. The powerful Senate Republican, who chaired the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, represented Florence in the state Senate for 40 years. The funeral will begin at 3 p.m. Some Florence streets are expected to close for the funeral.
U.S. overdose deaths reach record high. More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the year ending in April fueled, in large part, by the booming availability of fentanyl and street drugs and the lack of access to treatment and rising mental health problems, according to reports. The CDC estimated that overdose deaths also rose dramatically in South Carolina during the pandemic.
Right whale calf spotted off S.C. coast. The first North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pair of the season has been spotted off the state’s coast.
$88 million Emanuel settlement approved. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret B. Seymour has approved an $88 million settlement to resolve claims brought against the federal government by victims’ families and survivors of the 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting. The five survivors and the estates for the nine people killed in the attack alleged errors in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System allowed the gunman to buy the firearms he used in the mass shooting. More: The Post and Courier, WCIV
Columbia voters choose Rickenmann as new mayor. Republican-backed Daniel Rickenmann won Tuesday’s runoff election over Tameika Isaac Devine to become Columbia’s next mayor. Rickenmann has long served on city council.
Biden signs $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure signed into law Monday will pour billions of dollars into better roads, ports, power lines, broadband and other major projects across the country as states prioritize how to use the money.
Mace proposes measure to decriminalize marijuana. A draft bill unveiled Monday by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace would eliminate federal prohibitions on cannabis, but stops short of fully legalizing marijuana, instead letting state leaders set rules on their own.
Charleston history commissioners stall on statue request. Charleston’s Commission on History voted Wednesday to wait for more information before it makes a decision on a request from Los Angeles museum curators to borrow the John C. Calhoun statue for an exhibit featuring similar figures that stood as monuments until recent years. Commissioners expressed concerns during the nearly two-hour virtual meeting that the Calhoun monument could be used to put Charleston in a bad light or as part of a politically charged collection.
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