February 28 12:05 AM
The Privatization of America’s Infrastructure
Our friends at Project Censored, a media research group at Sonoma State University, recently released their annual report of the most alarming stories that were virtually ignored by the national press last year and that will probably continue to be ignored in 2008. Columbia City Paper recapped underreported environmental stories last year, so for this installment we pulled out the most alarming stories specific to social and human rights issues. Sleep well… -Todd Morehead
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:45 PM
Here come the tolls...
S.C. highways may be controlled by private firms in the near future
(a sidebar to this issues cover story Privatization of America’s Infrastructure)
The South Carolina Dept. of Transportation has public-private partnership (PPP) legislation in place.
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:41 PM
Rediscovering Black History
it’s just been buried
History, like theology, inspires the passions and genius of some, the scorn and ridicule of others. Like theology, history is never concluded. It periodically must be re-imagined, reconstructed and re-written to keep it fresh and relevant.
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:36 PM
Letters to the reader
Imagine an elderly statesman from the Pee Dee or Lowcountry squeezing off a denture-rattling warning shot from a .357 Magnum he can barely lift
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:34 PM
Regional Briefs
mmm methamphetamine…hey maybe I should drive to the police station in a stolen car to demand my evidence back?
There’s a whole bunch of dumb criminals in this issues Regional Briefs:
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February 27 11:12 PM
A Dull Ache
THE WEASEL SYNDROME
“I’m a politician, which means I’m a cheat and a liar, and when I’m not kissing babies, I’m stealing their lollipops,” Dr. Jeffery Pelt from The Hunt for Red October.
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:09 PM
The Conservation Hotlist
For the last three years, the Conservation Bank has been the most important source of funding for land conservation in South Carolina. For only $70 million, the Bank has protected 134,171 acres of vulnerable natural and historic lands.
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:06 PM
Mr. Meaner's Crime Watch
29204 No good deed goes unpunished: A 25-year-old man offers to buy a 26-year-old homeless woman lunch and the two are waiting in line for the food together. The man hands the woman a $20 bill and – what happens? – the lady snags it and takes off running. Cops later catch up with the ungrateful vagrant, who no longer has the money, and the man tells the officers he wants to teach her a lesson by putting her through the ringer of the system. Another day in the Capital City where we put the B, the U and M in Columbia; 2500 block Powalski Street.
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:03 PM
Frustrated Sanford shows bad judgment
Sanford scores big on bad judgement
Read this storyFebruary 27 11:02 PM
Support Local Music
Information about City Paper’s all local music stage in Five Points at the March 15th festival…
February 27 10:46 PM
Talk no, vote yes!
A weird new tactic is highlighting the troubling extent to which the news media fails to hold our elected officials accountable. First, a politician calls a press conference where he issues a strident declaration for or against a bill. Big headlines follow. Then, when the matter comes up for a vote, he votes exactly the opposite of what he had said he would. And no one pays attention.
February 27 10:36 PM
KingPin's hip-hop events and review
Hotep!!! Black History Month is currently in full effect, so be sure to take some time to improve yourself. Just got back from checking Chrisette Michele tear PURE (Old Comedy House) down. Showcasing her debut album I AM (Def Jam), she went through all her hits and got crazy love from South Cak. Shouts to RockStar Entertainment (Jermaine and the whole fam!!!) for bringing her down. Great show!! Let’s get to it!!!!
Read this storyFebruary 27 10:35 PM
Movie and Game Reviews
So there’s lots strange this time around. I’m reviewing an awards show, a book adaptation, a video game and a parallel review. And on top of all that I’m gonna rave about something I haven even seen yet! So let’s get cracking…
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February 27 10:18 AM
2008 Homeless World Cup set for Melbourne
Ambassador for the Homeless World Cup and Manchester United soccer legend Eric Cantona shows off skills in Copenhagen at the 2007 cup. One of the premier homeless soccer programs is currently based in Charlotte, N.C.
Read this storyFebruary 18 09:23 AM
Thalidomide is back
The drug that left thousands of newborn babies severely malformed between the late 1950s and early 1960s has been given a public relations makeover—and a new name—and is now being used to fight a certain type of blood cancer.
Read this storyFebruary 18 04:45 AM
Broken Commandment
Here in the Palmetto State, the question is whether you are “Republican enough”
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February 18 04:29 AM
The Story Of Stuff
International sustainability activist, Annie Leonard encourages viewers to buy local when shopping is necessary and to support businesses that seek to protect the environment and support workers rights.
Read this storyFebruary 18 04:25 AM
Runyan gains Azar endorsement
For the first time since 1992 Azar has decided to sit this one out.
Read this storyFebruary 18 04:18 AM
Regional News Briefs
By Todd Morehead
AIKEN
Ollie North to Surface in Aiken
Oliver North, a central figure in the Reagan Administration’s “Iran-Contra” weapons and drug trafficking affair and current host of “War Stories with Oliver North” on FOX News, is slated to speak at a JROTC fundraiser in Aiken on March 12. North is expected to speak about the situations in Iraq and Iran. Tickets are $50 and are available through the USCA Etherredge Center box office at 803-641-3305.
ANDERSON Man arrested for peddling Wal-Mart meat Darryl Rich, 43, of Anderson was ordered to serve 35 days in jail and pay around $1,200 in fines for shoplifting meat from an Anderson area Wal-Mart and then attempting to resell it at half-price on Clemson Blvd. Rich was said to have left the store with 17 pieces of meat and two bottles of Tylenol. Police were alerted by the manager of an O’Charley’s restaurant when Rich attempted to sell the raw meat to restaurant goers and employees.
Brawler KO’s self with mailbox
Anderson police responding to a domestic disturbance call last week found a man riddled with cuts on his face and elbow, who said his injuries were caused by a mailbox. The brawl reportedly began when Bradley Vickery, 38, allegedly struck Cornelia Burton, 37, on the lip. Burton responded by somehow biting Vickery on his tongue, sending the man into a drunken rage. “He was slinging around a mailbox,” one officer noted in a report obtained by the Anderson Independent-Mail, “[and] hit himself with the mailbox several times while trying to swing it.” Neither Burton nor Vickery pressed charges and no arrests were made.
CHARLESTON
Man robs same bank twice in one month Michael Molina Lopez, 44, of Charleston has been arrested and charged with robbing the same North Charleston Wachovia twice in less than a month. On Jan. 7 Lopez allegedly entered the bank and gave the teller a note advising her to cooperate and comply with his demands. The robber employed the same tactic during his Feb. 4 robbery and police were able to match fingerprints on both notes with Lopez.
Black hotel employee claims boss put noose around his neck A former employee of the Charleston Place Hotel claims his white supervisor slipped a noose around his neck at an October hotel function at Boone Hall Plantation near Mt. Pleasant. John Green, 62, a former event supervisor at the hotel said his boss was showing a man from another country how to tie a noose and then snuck up behind Green, put the noose around his neck and began tightening it. Green, who claims he was fired for complaining to hotel managers about the incident, says he filed a report with the Employment Opportunity Commission’s office in Savannah, Ga., though Charleston Place management says they have not heard from the commission. The hotel’s general manager says Green was fired for violating company rules, but those rules have so far not been specified.
FLORENCE / MYRTLE BEACH
Woman claims dentist accidentally pulled all her upper teeth
FLORENCE—A Sumter woman is suing the Sexton Dental Clinic in Florence, claiming dentists accidentally removed all 16 of her upper teeth during what should have been a routine procedure to fix a cracked tooth. Elizabeth Smith filed the complaint after a May 2006 visit to the clinic during which three practicing dentists at Sexton recommended extracting two teeth in addition to the cracked one. When the procedure was over Smith says all of her upper teeth were gone and the dentists, according to court documents, had “fabricated entries” in her dental chart to cover their tracks. The clinic has so far denied all charges. Smith’s attorney, Robert Ransom, submitted a sworn affidavit from a third party dentist who claims information he found in Smiths dental records didn’t match what he found in his examination of her mouth. Ransom told the Florence Morning News that potential damages awarded from the suit will hopefully help Smith replace what she lost. “She certainly wants her teeth back,” he said.
ORANGEBURG
Man plans to give wife potato for Valentine’s Day
The Orangeburg Times and Democrat reported Sunday that Orangeburg resident, John Gaskin, plans to give his wife of 20 years a heart shaped potato he found at an area supermarket for Valentine’s Day. “I intended to eat it,” Gaskin told the newspaper, but then decided to give it to his wife, Martha, he said, “to show my love for her.”
-Todd Morehead
February 14 12:35 PM
Is Public TV In Peril?
The first in a two-part “Goin’ Digital” series
Read this storyFebruary 14 12:26 PM
Savage Love
My boyfriend and I have been dating for four months and we’re crazy about each other. He’s been slowly introducing me to butt play.
February 14 12:16 PM
TET: Military Victory, Political Defeat
“Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing on the day of the TET Offensive,”
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February 14 11:15 AM
Hooray for the Flu!
Enjoy the short reviews of flicks that got me through it…
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