News+Opinion, Charleston City Paper

Blotter: So I'm dating an axe vandal

Paul Bowers — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

During a domestic dispute, a man grabbed an axe and smashed two bedroom windows, a dresser mirror, the glass doors on a kitchen hutch, several ceramic pots, and his boyfriend's laptop computer.

Domestic spying is legal because the government says it is

Mat Catastrophe — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Earlier this month, The Guardian and The Washington Post published two sets of supposedly astonishing revelations about the reach of the federal government's electronic surveillance system.

Why are so many criminals on house arrest free to roam?

Tara Servatius — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

In 2011, Brandon Bannister was under house arrest when he raped a Moncks Corner woman. A judge ordered Bannister, who had been charged with indecent exposure, to wear a GPS monitor on his leg as part of the terms of his bond.

Stegelin: Rev. Chris and Mr. Collins

Steve Stegelin — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"Conflicts of Interest for Dummies"

A lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines continues

Susan Cohen — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Just hours after the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a suit against Carnival Cruise Lines in 2011, the S.C. State Ports Authority (SPA) held a press conference. At the time, Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said, "We will do everything we can to make sure this lawsuit fails," according to the Charleston Regional Business Journal.

Vice magazine's suicide fashion spread is the lamest form of satire

Chris Haire — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:40:00 -0400

From time to time, somebody, somewhere is going to raise a stink about a pair of boobies and an airbrushed ass shot. They may hold a protest outside of a strip club or burn copies of Playboy or launch a boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch. more…

The Agenda: Big Dreamliners; Local NAACP pushes review after ACLU report; State budget talks progress

Sam Spence — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:46:00 -0400

Big Dreamliners - Boeing Co. confirmed plans (P&C) for a longer Dreamliner model at the Paris Air Show today (NYT), and company officials were "surprisingly noncommittal" (Seattle Times) when asked whether any part of the plane would be built in its Everett, Washington plant, leaving the door open for the new jet to be built in North Chuck. Boeing also confirmed (P&C) orders for ten new Dreamliners through GE. more…

Charleston police to move officers from bar district to problem-plagued neighborhoods

Chris Haire — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:46:00 -0400

This may go down in history as the worst column I've ever written, one that will likely be filled crimes against grammar and numerous and nearly unavoidable misspelkings. See, it's started already. more…

Hybrid buses anchor new CARTA airport-area loop

Sam Spence — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:08:00 -0400

It's already been a big year for CARTA, and a new North Charleston Area Shuttle (NASH) loop is just one of the notable additions to local transit, but it's the route's brand new hybrid buses who are the stars of the show.

For years, Charleston Area Regional Transportation has operated three free DASH routes downtown, and together they account for more than a quarter of the system's total ridership, moving more than 114,000 riders in April alone. more…

UPDATE: Charleston Waterkeeper in non-profit purgatory

Susan Cohen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:07:00 -0400

UPDATE: Story updated below after talking with Waterkeeper Alliance Executive Director Marc Yaggi.

This weekend, local activist Ken Bonerigo sent an e-mail to supporters of Charleston Waterkeeper, informing them that the organization’s tax-exempt status had been revoked by the Internal Revenue Service on May 15, 2012. Because Charleston Waterkeeper failed to file the proper forms for three consecutive years (2009, 2010, and 2011), it was no longer a 501(c)3 organization. more…

The Agenda: Downtown-ers look to stop late-night vandals; Sanford's cold reception; Moultrie guns get high-tech help

Sam Spence — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:50:00 -0400

Sanford - Congressman Mark Sanford reportedly got a cold reception (Politico) Friday during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition. more…

Remembrance ceremony for Charleston 9 to be held Tuesday

Susan Cohen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:46:00 -0400

This year marks the sixth anniversary of the Sofa Super Store fire, a tragedy that took the lives of nine Charleston fire fighters.

To memorialize the event, the Charleston Fire Department will hold a remembrance ceremony in honor of the lives lost on Tues. more…

Chime in on the Palmetto Trail completion next week

Susan Cohen — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:35:00 -0400

For almost 20 years, the Columbia-based Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF) has been at work at its Palmetto Trail.

It's meant to be a 425-mile hiking and biking trail through the beauty of the South Carolinian landscape, organized into passages that can be traveled as day trips if you can't make the whole trek in one shot. more…

Police use automatic license plate reader to recover stolen car

Paul Bowers — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:24:00 -0400

Charleston police recently used an automatic license plate reader to nab a car that had been stolen from a rental company in West Columbia.

more…

The Agenda: F&B on Obamacare; S.C. coast sees fastest growth; Winery releasing harbor-aged wine

Sam Spence — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:09:00 -0400

Restaurants on Obamacare - The P&C looks at how the Affordable Care Act will affect large restauranteurs in the Charleston area as provisions require employers to provide health benefits to full-time F&B workers who traditionally have not been offered benefits.

State growth centered on coast - New Census data (AP) shows that while the state has shown about 2% growth since 2010, some of the fastest growth in the nation is centered along the state's coastline, with growth above 6% in Mount Pleasat and Berkeley County and about 4.3% growth in Charleston and North Charleston. more…

Folly Beach council members say they're not dysfunctional

Paul Bowers — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:36:00 -0400

This week's cover story took a look at three challenges facing Folly Beach: 1. the eroding shoreline, 2. more…

Crisis Ministries launches internal investigation, continues fundraising efforts

Paul Bowers — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:00:00 -0400

When Stacey Denaux started her job as CEO of Crisis Ministries nine years ago, Chief Financial Officer Carol Libby had already been working there for about a year. A certified public accountant from New York, Libby had moved to Charleston and taken a job at the homeless shelter, based in a former Piggly Wiggly warehouse on crumbling upper Meeting Street.

Chris Collins casts a sinister spell on the Charleston County school board

Chris Haire — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:37:00 -0400

The more time that passes, the more I'm convinced that Chris Collins is some kind of wizard. And a really, really good one too. more…

The Agenda: Rainey-Haley suit dismissed; Cruise case progresses; CARTA starts free airport-area service

Sam Spence — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:35:00 -0400

Court dismisses Rainey - The State Supreme Court ended Camden attorney John Rainey's years-long quest (The State) to bring ethics charges against Republican Governor Nikki Haley Wednesday, dismissing an ethics complaint against the governor. For background on Rainey, a conservative who has taken it upon himself to uncover Haley as a fraud, see Corey Hutchins' 2011 story on him for the CP. more…

The PRISM compromise: Obama must allow camera crews to film him 24 hours a day

Chris Haire — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:39:00 -0400

Barack Obama can go lick the mangy underside of a flea-bitten dog. He should gargle a mouthful of kidney stones and butt-chug a bottle of bed-sore sour mash. more…

Racism is just another form of class warfare

Mat Catastrophe — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

A few weeks ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center outed Roan Garcia-Quintana, a co-chair for Nikki Haley's re-election campaign, for being a member of the Council of Concerned Citizens, a white supremacist group. In the days that followed, the governor's camp defended Garcia-Quintana, but he ultimately resigned from the Haley team.

The Eroding Edge of America

Paul Bowers — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Folly Beach: A six-mile strip of sand, situated at the dead end of a highway and far removed from the genteel influence of peninsular Charleston. Since the early 18th century when pirates allegedly made stops on the island, successive waves of eccentrics, good ol' boys, damn Yankees, and beer-swilling spring breakers have crashed on her shores and somehow created a community.

Blotter: Careful, he's had Six Lokos

Paul Bowers — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

After setting two fires at his campsite near Morrison Drive, a man wearing camo pants and combat boots stood by the road and threw a crutch, a fire extinguisher, a folding chair, an American flag, and a sleeping bag into the roadway.

Charleston Pride moves downtown for its fourth year

Susan Cohen — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

After 2012's Charleston Pride Festival, the organizers sent a survey to its vendors, sponsors, and e-mail list. The questions covered everything from entertainment to vending to the festival's location in North Charleston's Park Circle neighborhood and at Riverfront Park.

Stegelin: Being watched in the NSA's USA

Steve Stegelin — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Checking in...