STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 21.51 | DEC. 23, 2022
NEWS BRIEFS: S.C. receives $1M to help 988 call center staffing
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: “Marshall law”
COMMENTARY, Brack: Remember freedom fighters in Ukraine
SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Farm Bureau
FEEDBACK: Everybody else missed it; Graham more than naughty
MYSTERY PHOTO: Groovy building
S.C. receives $1M to help 988 call center staffing
Staff reports | The S.C. Department of Mental Health (DMH) said the state has received a one-time $1 million grant to help prevent suicides through the state’s 988 phone number. The money comes from a $130 million national program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to “enhance 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline services.”
“Almost two-thirds of the money will go towards staffing for the call centers,” said Jennifer Butler, director of DMH emergency services/. The majority of that funding will go to Mental Health America of Greenville County to hire staff and some to Charleston-Dorchester which is coming online,” Butler said.
Currently, there is one national crisis lifeline call center in South Carolina. It’s operated and staffed by Mental Health America of Greenville County. Another is to be funded in the Lowcountry and should open next year. Butler said the grant also will fund 10 staff members in the Upstate call center.
In other news this week:
Union wins port labor ruling. A National Labor Relations Board panel has ruled against the Port of Charleston, which may jeopardize the hybrid union-non-union employment model implemented by the State Ports Authority at the Leatherman Terminal. According to a 2-1 ruling, all work at the Leatherman Terminal must now be performed by union workers. But the State Ports Authority said it intends to appeal the ruling. And the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) vowed to fight back.
With S.C. abortion ban stalled, lawmakers look for another push in 2023. South Carolina Republican lawmakers are looking to continue their efforts for a statewide abortion ban after the state’s Supreme Court blocked their motion in the fall. Republican legislators filed two proposals to start the Jan. 10 session.
South Carolina senator files bill to pay college athletes. S.C. Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, filed a bill that would provide pay to Division I college athletes, a bill he said is “long overdue.”
Carolina Squat ban possibly coming to S.C. Virginia and North Carolina recently passed a ban on the infamous “Carolina Squat” car modified. One state lawmaker has filed a bill that will ban the modification of South Carolina roads.
S.C. lawmaker drafting bill to send South Carolinians to space. S.C. Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, introduced a bill to the state’s House Ways and Means Committee that would offer South Carolinians a trip to space.
2024 presidential intrigue follows Haley, Scott. Former Gov. Nikki Haley and recently reelected U.S. Sen. Tim Scott are in the rumblings for running in the 2024 presidential race. Haley and Scott spent much of the 2022 election cycle traveling around the country, putting their names and faces in front of GOP voters.
State won’t seek death penalty for Murdaugh. State prosecutors announced Tuesday they won’t seek the death penalty for disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh, accused of murdering his wife and son as well as a host of financial crimes, according to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson. Lawyers for Murdaugh, who has pleaded not guilty and repeatedly denied involvement with the murders, welcomed the move, the Associated Press reported, saying it moves impediments to starting the trial as scheduled next month. Murdaugh also faces dozens of finance related charges, including tax evasion.
Covid cases, deaths rise in South Carolina. State health officials reported 7,999 new cases of Covid-19 between Dec. 11-17 — 1,498 more cases than the previous week. For the week ending Dec. 17, state officials reported 23 people died from Covid-19.
S.C. unemployment rate steady at 3.3%. November’s rate was the same as a month earlier, state officials said.
“Marshall” law
Cartoonist Robert Ariail often interprets things a little differently, but always has an interesting take on what’s going on in South Carolina. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Remember freedom fighters in Ukraine
By Andy Brack | As you enjoy friends and family in the warmth of your homes across South Carolina during the holidays, let’s not forget freedom fighters in Ukraine.
Too often, children and adults are cold. Temperatures through the end of the year will be much like they are here – highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s. Across all of Ukraine, people are subject to blackouts, food shortages and periodic shelling from rockets or drones.
Yet they fight on, demoralizing Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops.
And they’ll keep fighting, Charleston resident Jamie Price will tell you at the drop of a hat. Since the fight began earlier this year, he’s been to the region twice for two months each. And the stories of resilience, courage and the love of freedom that he tells make you wonder how we can do more.
“These people are the strongest, most focused people I’ve ever seen,” said Price, a 74-year-old former developer. “It reminds me of America in the 1950s.”
They’re focused, en masse, because they want to keep their freedom. They don’t want their longtime pesky and contentious neighbor, Russia, to take away the democratic life that they’ve passionately embraced.
During Price’s first trip from April to June, he was focused on two things – figuring out how to help the thousands of kids orphaned during the war and filming what was happening that you don’t see on the nightly news.
“What I want the film to be is to show what’s really going on because what you see on the news is not what’s going on,” he said earlier this month when back in Charleston. “They’re really tough. I want people to see how they’re handling it. They’re amazing.”
Back home over the summer, he said he raised $22,000 to buy equipment that soldiers need. He said the U.S. government sends weapons and missiles, but the armed forces need much more gear to be able to keep up the day-to-day conflict.
“I went to friends and raised money to get a couple of drones, body armor, night-vision scopes and medical supplies.” In October, he took 10 suitcases filled with supplies. Drones later were rigged to be able to drop explosives.
During his latest visit, he recalled spending a lot of time with a fighting unit of about 30 soldiers.
“I’m now attached to them,” he said. “They accepted me. I slept in their safe houses. I slept on floors. There’s nothing I didn’t do with them.”
Throughout it all, he filmed using two high-resolution phones and a vest camera. Now, he is working on finishing a documentary before heading back sometime in the new year to continue to help.
He recalled a scene of war devastation in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found on streets, in buildings and in makeshift graves, according to The New York Times..
“I’m videoing the street where 104 Russians were killed and 10 tanks and 15 vehicles blown up. I looked down this one driveway and this one lady was planting flowers. So, of course, I had to talk with her.”
He found out that she was working to get life back to normal, even though she and her husband had been living in the cellar of their destroyed home.
Price now is trying to raise about $30,000 before he returns. On his third trip, he wants to buy a couple of used vehicles to allow soldiers who have become friends to be able to get around better.
Price keeps up with his group of soldiers via texts. And these days, he ends text messages with the phrase, “Slava Ukraine,” which means “Glory to Ukraine.”
NOTE: Price doesn’t have a nonprofit for donations because he says it’s difficult to set up one if you’re benefiting a war zone. If you want to donate, you can send a check to the Charleston City Paper with a memo note “Ukraine.” Address: P.O. Box 21942, Charleston, SC 29413. We’ll make sure he gets it.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
S.C. Farm Bureau
Statehouse Report is provided for free to thousands of subscribers thanks to the generosity of our underwriters. Today we shine a spotlight on our newest underwriter, S.C. Farm Bureau. It is a grassroots, non-profit organization that celebrates and supports family farmers, locally-grown food and rural lands through legislative advocacy, education and community outreach.
S.C. Farm Bureau’s alliance of nearly 100,000 members includes everyone from foodies and fishermen to lawyers, restaurateurs, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and of course, farmers. By connecting farmers to the larger community, the organization cultivates understanding about agriculture’s importance to our local economies. The S.C. Farm Bureau explains its mission: “We deepen our collective knowledge of who, where and how food grows. We empower people to make informed choices. We grow mutually-beneficial relationships. And, we ensure the future of the family farms, locally-grown food and the rural South Carolina lands we love.”
- To learn more about S.C. Farm Bureau’s programs, click here.
- To view media and publications, click here
- For policy and legislation, click here.
Everybody else missed it
To the editor:
On “CofC to unveil portrait of McConnell on anniversary of secession:” When I first read this I thought that this story had the same feeling as fingernails scratching a chalkboard. (A time-specific metaphor). Creepy.
Is there something that changed to recognize a Cro-Magnon leader in this Trump Era where core values are irrelevant? Guess so. Is it permissible to overlook slavery, the reenactment of Dachau train rides, or engage in other gross deletions for the convenience of suspending recall of human history?
Thanks for calling attention to this. It was missed elsewhere.
– Fred Palm, Edisto Island
Graham more than naughty
To the editor:
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham rates more than “naughty.” He is anathema to good character, honesty and trustworthiness.
The new superintendent of education and Bob Jones University are embarrassments for those of us who disapprove of stealing public money for private schools. (I know there are special situations in very rural areas where there is no public school but private schools can provide education for given students. Work that on a case-by-case basis.). But the goats in that election are the voters of South Carolina.
– Mary Bostic, Columbia
Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
Groovy building
So here’s a groovy building somewhere in South Carolina, but where? (This one might be kind of tough.) Send us your guess – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Hats off to several eagle-eyed readers who correctly identified “Brick build with green door,” although one reader said the door really was blue. The image, sent in by reader Bill Segars of Hartsville, is a magazine building that remains at Fort Johnson on James Island in Charleston County.
Congratulations to those who identified it: Jay Altman and Elizabeth Jones, both of Columbia; Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla.; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Pat Keadle of Wagener; Lawrence Moore of Folly Beach; and David Taylor of Darlington.
Peel provided more information: “Today’s mystery photo is a shot of the Gunpowder Magazine building located at Fort Johnson on the banks of the Ashley River, just 1.4-miles west of Fort Sumter. With a clear, line-of-site shot, it is not surprising to learn that this is the very site that Confederate forces used to fire the first shots of the civil war onto Fort Sumter.
“The fort was named after Sir Nathaniel Johnson (1644 – 1712), who served as the 14th Governor of Carolina from 1703 to 1709. The magazine was built in 1765 and is a brick structure that measures 27-feet long by 20-feet wide. It was buried during the American Civil War by Confederate soldiers, and uncovered in 1931. Fort Johnson and the magazine were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.”
>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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