NEWS BRIEFS: S.C. board wants power to limit books

Staff reports  |  The State Board of Education is considering a universal definition of “age appropriate” educational materials in South Carolina schools and libraries.  Currently, anyone who thinks a book or other material in a school library is inappropriate has to file a complaint with the local school district and board, which decides the matter.

According to the Associated Press, the state board’s maneuver for a new regulation would steer decisions from local to state control.  It is “the latest effort from conservative policymakers to restrict public school students’ access to books covering topics of race, gender identity and sexual orientation.”  

A vote earlier this week to move the proposal forward was the start of the process. “Final approval is expected to be decided next year before the Republican-led state Legislature can then take up the proposal. A similar bill currently sits in a conference committee of state lawmakers.”

In other South Carolina news:

Newman to step aside as judge for new Murdaugh murder trial. S.C. Circuit Judge Clifton Newman, who presided over Alex Murdaugh’s sensational murder trial this year, has agreed to step aside after the former lawyer and convicted murderer requested a new trial, citing alleged jury tampering by a court clerk. But the state Supreme Court on Thursday refused a request to delay Murdaugh’s Nov. 27 state trial on financial crime charges or to remove Newman from it. Murdaugh was convicted in March in the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, after a six-week trial in Colleton County. Newman, who was appointed to handle all of Murdaugh’s cases, presided over that trial and has presided over various hearings related to scores of financial charges Murdaugh also faces.

DHEC move costing S.C. nearly $500M. The breakup of South Carolina’s health and environmental agency into separate divisions and separate addresses is currently underway — but with an expensive price tag.

• • Related:  State plans massive move of state employees from downtown Columbia. Hundreds of state employees are set to move away from their decades-old, rundown Bull Street office locations in downtown Columbia into two different Midlands campuses.

S.C. leaders, utility chiefs look to energy future. Utility officials say that the anticipated growth in the state over the next 10 to 15 years could happen at a faster pace than their ability to generate the needed power.

S.C. restaurant inspections to get farm-to-table makeover. The S.C. Department of Agriculture will start handing out the health and cleanliness grades for restaurants starting in 2024.

S.C. lawmakers launch new effort to target cybercrimes, AI. South Carolina’s General Assembly is forming a standing committee focused on cybercrime and artificial intelligence to help aid the future of technology in the state.

McMaster signs to establish Kinship Guardianship Program. Gov. Henry McMaster recently signed a bill that allows the South Carolina Department of Social Services to create a Kinship Guardianship Program (KinGAP), a judicially created relationship between a youth and a responsible adult that provides an exit to foster care.

S.C. ports gain steam with strong cargo growth. Cargo moving through the Port of Charleston nearly rebounded to pandemic-era highs in October, as a number of inbound containers hit their highest level in a year.

Charleston Southern looks to be first S.C. private college to cover tuition. Charleston Southern University has adopted a program called Buc Promise that makes it the first private school in the state with a tuition guarantee.

S.C. civil rights leaders join call for Brown v. Board name change. Civil Rights protestors have joined a Kershaw County lawyer in filing a petition calling on the Supreme Court to acknowledge the SC lawsuit that spurred school integration, the first of four cases filed that became Brown v. Board of Education.

S.C. gas prices drop another nickel in the past week. The average price for a gallon of gas in South Carolina fell 4.9 cents over the past week down to $2.89 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s latest survey.