SC Democrat seeks age limit for 'geriatric' politicians
(AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) (Meg Kinnard)CHARLESTON, S.C. — (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham is proposing an age limit for South Carolina politicians — a cap that would cut off the 75-year-old incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster — and making a veiled argument that even fellow Democrats like President Joe Biden are staying "in office way past their prime." South Carolina currently requires judges to retire officially at age 72, although jurists are allowed to stay on the bench in a fill-in capacity beyond that age limit. However, 8 in 10 Republicans do not have much or any confidence in either his physical health or mental capacity. Republicans including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, have called on Biden to resign, calling him “incoherent, incapacitated and confused.” Former South Carolina Gov.
wftv.comSC Dem seeks age limit for 'geriatric' politicians
(AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) (Meg Kinnard)CHARLESTON, S.C. — (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham is proposing an age limit for South Carolina politicians — a cap that would cut off the 75-year-old incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster — and making a veiled argument that even fellow Democrats like President Joe Biden are staying "in office way past their prime." South Carolina currently requires judges to retire officially at age 72, although jurists are allowed to stay on the bench in a fill-in capacity beyond that age limit. However, 8 in 10 Republicans do not have much or any confidence in either his physical health or mental capacity. Republicans including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, have called on Biden to resign, calling him “incoherent, incapacitated and confused.” Former South Carolina Gov.
wftv.comGov. McMaster renominated as Democrats vie to oppose him
South-Carolina-Transgender-Youth-Sports FILE - South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File) (Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster won his party’s nomination for a second full term Tuesday, while five Democratic gubernatorial candidates were vying for their party’s nomination. If McMaster wins the general election in November and completes the term, he will become the longest-serving governor in the state's history. She said South Carolina needs an alternative to the string of "Republican Light" Democratic men who have run and lost the past five gubernatorial races.
wftv.comAppeals court mulls arguments on South Carolina abortion law
The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act" is similar to abortion restriction laws previously passed in a dozen states that became tied up in the courts. South Carolina's law requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for fetal cardiac activity, which can typically be detected about six weeks into pregnancy. Circuit Court of Appeals centered on its notion that Planned Parenthood doesn’t have legal standing to bring the challenge on behalf of women who would potentially be prevented from getting abortions. Texas’ abortion law, the most restrictive in the nation, also bans abortions as early as six weeks but, unlike South Carolina's law, has no exceptions for rape or incest. Legal challenges against that measure are ongoing, but the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Texas' law to remain in effect.
wftv.comGovernors turn to budgets to guard against climate change
Climate Change State Spending FILE - California Gov. Newsom deemed climate change one of five “existential threats" facing the nation's most populous state when he rolled out his proposed state budget this past week. Beyond increasing climate spending, states are looking to the windfall to pad their reserves, cut taxes, boost funding for education and increase affordable housing. California-based companies that work to address climate change and develop green technologies could be eligible for tax credits. Democrats who control Maryland's legislature are pushing a climate change measure that would reduce methane emissions, modernize the electric grid and invest in green technology.
wftv.comFormer SC gov candidate John Warren launches Bitcoin venture
Warren Bitcoin FILE - Republican John Warren participates in a gubernatorial primary debate at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on June 5, 2018. The multimillionaire businessman who forced South Carolina Gov. Warren on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, launched GEM Mining, to be headquartered in Greenville, S.C. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, File) (Grace Beahm Alford)COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — John Warren — the multimillionaire businessman who forced South Carolina Gov. “We saw huge opportunities with our connections to mining,” Warren told AP. Warren told AP his PAC will “play a very, very large role in next year’s elections, especially with superintendent of education and several House races."
wftv.comDebate over explicit memoir becomes a focus of GOP gov races
Debate over a memoir that contains explicit illustrations of sexual acts is surfacing in a handful of states where Republican governors are gearing up for reelection next year, foreshadowing a recurring theme for conservative leaders in the coming campaigns. The book in question, Maia Kobabe's “Gender Queer,” has been the focus of ire from Republican governors in various states, most recently playing a role in the Virginia governor's race. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday released a letter — similar in nature to one days earlier by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — calling on Superintendent Molly Spearman to perform a systemic review of “inappropriate” materials in the state's schools.
news.yahoo.comThe Latest: Judge: Masks OK in So Carolina school districts
Virus Outbreak South Carolina FILE - Camden Elementary School students in masks listen as South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File) (Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, South Carolina — School districts in South Carolina now have the authority to require masks, the state’s education chief said Wednesday. There were 14 reported deaths on Tuesday for a total of 12,620 in the nation of 5.5 million, the most since mid-June. ___MOSCOW — Russia is reporting record coronavirus deaths for the second day in a row, but authorities say they are not considering imposing nationwide restrictions. Russia’s state coronavirus task force on Wednesday registered 857 deaths, the country’s highest daily number of the pandemic.
wftv.comFederal judge overturns South Carolina school mask ban
Virus Outbreak South Carolina Two Camden Elementary School students in masks listen as South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins) (Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday suspended South Carolina from enforcing a rule that banned school districts from requiring masks for students. Henry McMaster and GOP lawmakers who said parents should decide whether students wear masks, not school officials. The budget provision didn't outright ban districts from requiring masks, but said state money couldn't be used to enforce a mask requirement. “Some have also contended that the politicalization, by both opponents and proponents, of the decision to forbid local school districts from requiring students to wear a mask at school is gravely wrong.
wftv.comThe Latest: SC schools without mask mandates get virus wave
State health and education officials say the statewide mask ban in schools took away one of their best tools to stop the spread of COVID-19. The country is recording over 30,000 new COVID-19 cases a day. ___JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Military leaders on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson have declared a public health emergency in response to increasing COVID-19 cases in Alaska. Hospitalizations and COVID-19 cases across the state have increased as a result of the highly contagious delta variant. — A child is among the latest to die from COVID-19 in Louisiana, state health officials said Friday.
wftv.comSchools get the brunt of latest COVID wave in South Carolina
Virus Outbreak South Carolina Two Camden Elementary School students in masks listen as South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins) (Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — In the past few weeks, South Carolina has set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases have approached peak levels of last winter. Classes, schools and entire districts have gone virtual, leaving parents frustrated and teachers quitting weeks into the school year. Though not an outright ban, the proviso prevents school districts from using state money to enforce a rule requiring masks. Lawmakers stuck the proposal in the state budget two days after McMaster ended the state of emergency.
wftv.comGOP prosecutors threaten lawsuits over vaccine requirement
Biden President Joe Biden leaves after speaking about the economy in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, in Washington. "Your plan is disastrous and counterproductive," the prosecutors, led by Attorney General Alan Wilson of South Carolina, wrote in a letter sent to President Joe Biden. The letter is the latest GOP opposition to sweeping new federal vaccine requirements for private-sector employees, health care workers and federal contractors announced by Biden earlier this month. The OSHA rule, which covers nearly two-thirds of the private sector workforce, would last six months, after which it must be replaced by a permanent measure. In lieu of vaccine or weekly testing requirements, the prosecutors proposed that some companies could have employees work remotely, rather than report in person.
wftv.comSouth Carolina officials want out of mask mandate ban suit
The plaintiffs are challenging a budget measure passed this summer that prevents South Carolina districts from using any state funding to require masks in schools. In papers filed last week, attorneys for McMaster — a Republican who has said repeatedly that parents alone should decide if children wear masks in schools — argued that the ACLU and its clients “have not alleged, and they cannot reasonably or plausibly allege, that Governor McMaster acted with bad faith or gross misconduct.”
news.yahoo.comBiden's vaccine rules ignite instant, hot GOP opposition
Henry McMaster says he will fight “to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.” South Dakota Gov. More than 208 million Americans have received at least one vaccine dose, but some 80 million remain unvaccinated, driving infections. Vaccine mandates are supported by a small majority of Americans. Overall, 55% back vaccine mandates for government workers. And about half of working adults favor vaccine mandates at their own workplaces.
wftv.comDeSantis rips into Biden’s strategy to mandate vaccines for millions of workers
ORLANDO, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis is tearing into President Biden’s strategy to mandate vaccines for millions of workers. Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates Thursday, including requiring private businesses with 100 or more employees to have staff vaccinated or be tested weekly. Less than 24 hours after Biden’s announcement, DeSantis said the president’s actions are unconstitutional and threaten the jobs of people in his state. WATCH: Central Florida businesses face changes after Biden’s vaccine executive order“I’m standing for them, we are going to protect their jobs from federal overreach,” DeSantis said. READ: Alaska Gov: Biden’s vaccine order ‘un-American’DeSantis is not alone.
wftv.comBiden's vaccine rules ignite instant, hot GOP opposition
Henry McMaster says he will fight “to the gates of hell to protect the liberty and livelihood of every South Carolinian.” South Dakota Gov. Another 17 million workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid also will have to be vaccinated. Vaccine mandates are supported by a small majority of Americans. Overall, 55% back vaccine mandates for government workers. And about half of working adults favor vaccine mandates at their workplaces.
wftv.comSeeing danger, some in GOP leery of Texas abortion law
Almost instantly after most abortions were banned in Texas, Democrats were decrying the new law as unconstitutional, an assault on women's health that must be challenged. “I’m pro-life,” said Republican Glenn Youngkin, a GOP candidate for governor in increasingly Democratic Virginia, where the only open governor's race in the nation is coming up in November. When pressed on the Texas law by a reporter, he quickly noted that he supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest and where the mother’s life is in danger — exceptions notably not included in the new law.
news.yahoo.comThe Latest: ACLU sues SC over ban on school mask mandates
Henry McMaster talks about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic at a news conference in Columbia, S.C. Public health officials have pleaded with the governor and legislators to lift the ban on mask mandates. The deal was reached Monday with a union coalition, shortly after the Pfizer vaccine earned full Food and Drug Administration approval. ___WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says he’s hoping for an uptick in the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations following U.S. government approval of the Pfizer vaccine. ___WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden is celebrating the full FDA approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and is urging the unvaccinated to go get their inoculations.
wftv.comACLU sues over South Carolina ban on school mask mandates
But some school districts and cities have disregarded the ban and gone forward with implementing a school mask mandate. The ban on mask mandates is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit. The lawsuit from the ACLU is not the first time South Carolina's ban on mask mandates has ended up in court. Public health officials have pleaded with the governor and legislators to lift the ban on mask mandates. South Carolina is one of seven states that have implemented a ban on mask mandates.
wftv.comFederal government takes notice of South Carolina's stance on masks in schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has sent a letter to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Department of Education Superintendent Molly Spearman, warning against policies that prevent school districts from requiring masks.
news.yahoo.comClean needles depend on the blue blood of horseshoe crabs
Vaccine Safety-Horseshoe Crabs South Carolina Gov. Many of these crabs are harvested along the coast of South Carolina, where Gov. Their value to avoiding infection emerged after scientists researching their immune response injected bacteria into horseshoe crabs in the 1950s. During a year, Jordan said his harvesters can bring in 100,000 to 150,000 horseshoe crabs, and still can't satisfy the growing demand. “We need more, though,” Jordan told McMaster, adding that his company is working with the state to open up more harvesting areas.
wftv.comRepublicans take to mask wars as virus surges in red states
Ron DeSantis of Florida has issued an executive order threatening to cut funding from school districts that defy a statewide ban on classroom mask mandates. Even the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the purple state of Virginia has decried school mask mandates in the name of parental rights. In Florida, which has seen cases and hospitalizations rise sharply, some school districts are suing to oppose DeSantis' order. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he opposes DeSantis’ orders against school mask mandates, saying on CNN Sunday, “The local official should have control here.”One Republican governor has backtracked. But not all school districts are pushing mask mandates, either.
wftv.comSouth Carolina gov gets anti-abortion org's 1st 2022 backing
Pharmaceutical Expansion South Carolina Gov. The state's sole abortion clinic is challenging the measure's legality, arguing that it unconstitutionally restricts access to abortion. Mississippi’s Republican attorney general, in turn, has asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Last month, McMaster led a coalition of a dozen Republican governors submitting an amicus brief supporting Mississippi's law. “The right to life is the most precious of rights and the most fragile,” McMaster said then, in a statement.
wftv.com‘We know the vaccine saves lives,’ McMaster says as SC reaches 50% COVID vaccination
“If (people) have questions they can get answers and they need to talk to the people they trust. Whether it’s a preacher, a doctor, neighbors or friends, and make a decision. We made what I think is the right decision,” said Gov. Henry McMaster who has been vaccinated.
news.yahoo.com20 states support South Carolina in abortion lawsuit
Twenty states are supporting South Carolina's defense of a new abortion law, arguing in an amicus brief that a federal judge was wrong to pause the entire measure instead of just the provision facing a court challenge. In a filing Tuesday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the states, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall argued that U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis overstepped her authority when she put the entire abortion law on hold, rather than just the portion being challenged. The judge's ruling, Marshall wrote, “treads on South Carolina’s sovereign ability to decide for itself the purposes of its legislation” and “aggrandizes the judicial power by treating the court’s injunction of the challenged provision as erasing it entirely so the whole Act collapses.”
news.yahoo.comWhite House calling out critics of door-to-door vaccine push
With the COVID-19 vaccination rate plateauing across the country, the White House is returning fire at those they see as spreading harmful misinformation or fear about the shots. Henry McMaster tried this week to block door-to-door efforts to drive up the vaccination rate in his state, White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not mince words in her reaction. “Now we need to go to community-by-community, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and oftentimes, door-to-door — literally knocking on doors — to get help to the remaining people" who need to be vaccinated, Biden said Tuesday. Months ago, the Biden White House refrained from responding when officials criticized its vaccine allocation strategy of sending more doses directly to pharmacies instead of through state health departments after the former strategy proved more effective. White House officials are quick to point out that their criticism is not related to the officials' political affiliation but to their rhetoric.
wftv.comWhite House calling out critics of door-to-door vaccine push
With the COVID-19 vaccination rate plateauing across the country, the White House is returning fire at those they see as spreading harmful misinformation or fear about the shots. Henry McMaster tried this week to block door-to-door efforts to drive up the vaccination rate in his state, White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not mince words in her reaction. “Now we need to go to community-by-community, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and oftentimes, door-to-door — literally knocking on doors — to get help to the remaining people" who need to be vaccinated, Biden said Tuesday. Months ago, the Biden White House refrained from responding when officials criticized its vaccine allocation strategy of sending more doses directly to pharmacies instead of through state health departments after the former strategy proved more effective. White House officials are quick to point out that their criticism is not related to the officials' political affiliation but to their rhetoric.
wftv.comMcMaster directs health officials to prohibit door-to-door COVID vaccine efforts in SC
“Enticing, coercing, intimidating, mandating, or pressuring anyone to take the vaccine is a bad policy which will deteriorate the public’s trust and confidence in the State’s vaccination efforts,” McMaster wrote in a letter to DHEC’s board chairman.
news.yahoo.comMcMaster directs health officials to prohibit door-to-door COVID vaccine efforts in SC
“Enticing, coercing, intimidating, mandating, or pressuring anyone to take the vaccine is a bad policy which will deteriorate the public’s trust and confidence in the State’s vaccination efforts,” McMaster wrote in a letter to DHEC’s board chairman.
news.yahoo.comSouth Carolina gov: Abortion order 'oversteps' federal power
South Carolina's governor wants a new abortion law to take effect, arguing Wednesday that a judge's decision to put the whole measure — and not just the parts being challenged in court — on hold during a lawsuit “oversteps the bounds of federal judicial power.” Gov. Henry McMaster's brief with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asks appellate judges to lift a lower court's injunction on the “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act. ” The Republican signed the measure into law earlier this year. Planned Parenthood attorneys sued immediately, and the entire law has been blocked from going into effect during the litigation.
news.yahoo.comRead the room: Now is not the time for these huge government salary increases
It’s hard to justify such exorbitant increases, writes The State Editorial Board. These are government jobs, publicly-funded jobs. The men and women earning the statewide median salary of $53,199 are paying these salaries.
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