Flint Hill firefighters to hold board election

SPARTANBURG -- Flint Hill firefighters to hold board election

The Flint Hill Fire Department will hold an election for its board of directors from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Voting will take place at the Flint Hill Station No. 1 at 1950 U.S. 21 Bypass, Fort Mill.

All residents of the Flint Hill Fire District ages 18 years or older are eligible to vote. For details, call Doug Chapman, 548-0199.

S.C. plastic surgeon's license suspended

South Carolina's medical board has suspended the license of a plastic surgeon who it says left an operating room for hours during surgery and had sex with staffers who became his patients.

Multiple media reports say a report from the State Board of Medical Examiners said the group took its action against Dr. Thomas Luther Roberts III after he admitted to the misconduct.

The report says Roberts left the operating room during a surgery and a nurse finished the procedure. It also says the doctor examined women without using gloves and falsified medical records.

Roberts can get his license back if he pays nearly $27,000 in fines and fees and completes an ethics course.

Roberts apologized to his family, friends and patients.

S.C. Air Guard wins F-16 competition

A South Carolina Air National Guard unit is the winner of an international F-16 competition.

National Guard officials said Thursday that members of the 169th Fighter Wing from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in central South Carolina represented the United States in the competition that ended Tuesday.

The officials said it was the first time an Air National Guard unit was selected to represent the United States.

The South Carolina unit won top honors for safely launching an air intercept mission and another for precision bombing runs.

They also scored tops in loading missiles and in overall maintenance.

F-16 pilots and crews from Jordan and Belgium also competed in the event.

S.C. sitter charged after 3-year-old girl dies

A 23-year-old South Carolina woman has been charged after authorities say she beat a child in her care to death.

Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that Erica Butts has been charged with homicide by child abuse.

Authorities say they found the toddler unresponsive Tuesday night at a Summerville subdivision. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Butts was charged after authorities say an autopsy showed the girl died from full body trauma.

The baby has not been identified, but authorities say her mother is in Michigan and is raising money to return to South Carolina. Authorities say Butts and the girl are not related.

Butts was being held at the Charleston County jail awaiting a bond hearing. It was not immediately known if she had an attorney.