Published: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 / Updated: Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 06:59 AM

In Brief: November 12, 2009

Interfaith to celebrate 10 years of service

ORANGEBURG -- Interfaith to celebrate 10 years of service

Interfaith Hospitality Network of York County will host an open house Sunday to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Tours will allow visitors to see renovations to the building on East Main Street near downtown.

Director Jennifer Coye and board members will announce a new name and logo to better reflect the organization's mission. The program starts at 2 p.m.

Karen Olson, Founder of Interfaith Hospitality Network and National President of Family Promise, will be a guest speaker. The event is open to the public, and light refreshments will be available.

For more information, call Coye at 803-329-2456 or visit www.ihnyc.org.

Matt Garfield

Input sought on children with disabilities rules

The S.C. Department of Education wants public input on proposed changes to state regulations over educating children with disabilities. People can attend one of these regional hearings, each of which starts at 5:30 p.m.:

Thursday: Colleton Annex Learning Center, 609 Colleton Loop, Walterboro.

Monday: Lexington County School District Office, 100 Tarrar Springs Road, Lexington.

Nov. 18: Pee Dee Education Center, 520 Francis Marion Road, Florence.

State agency representatives will explain the proposed amendments and take comments.

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 was amended in December 2008 in the areas of parental consent for continued special education and related services; non-attorney representation in due process hearings; state monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement; and funding. The amendments also include a requirement relating to efforts to employ and advance individuals with disabilities that was omitted from previous regulations. Amendments to South Carolina State Board of Education regulations are intended to align them with federal requirements.

Anyone who can't attend the regional hearings can get copies of the proposed amendments by calling the Education Department's Office of Exceptional Children, 803-734-6516, or visit at http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/Standards-and-Learning/Exceptional-Children

Written comments can be sent to Marlene Metts, Office of Exceptional Children, South Carolina Department of Education, 1429 Senate St., Room 808, Columbia, SC 29201.

Individuals who need the proposed amendment in an alternative format or who require accommodations to participate in a public hearing should contact the Office of Exceptional Children.

All comments submitted by 5 p.m. Nov. 30 will be reviewed and considered, according to the Education Department.

Shawn Cetrone

S.C. State workers must take 7 days off unpaid

South Carolina State University employees must take seven days off without pay to help shrink the public school's $6 million deficit.

The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported Wednesday that employees' normal breaks have been extended with unpaid days off. Those include three days around Thanksgiving, two days around Christmas and two days during spring break.

Employees learned of the furlough in a memo from college president George Cooper. Their January-through-April paychecks will be reduced.

Cooper blamed the shortfall on fewer students than expected, the university giving out more financial aid than budgeted and state budget cuts.

Woman charged with kidnapping S.C. infant

A woman has been charged with kidnapping a 2-week-old South Carolina infant found unharmed in a plastic bag.

Multiple media outlets reported that 30-year-old Annette Melissa Rich of Myrtle Beach was arrested Wednesday.

Conway police said Sharawn Jerod Chestnut Jr. was found Tuesday afternoon and returned to his mother after a news conference about his disappearance.

The boy's mother told police she put her infant son to bed around 11 p.m. Monday, and he was missing when she checked an hour later.

Police say Rich took the baby late that night. A family spokeswoman says the baby was found in a plastic bag under the seat of a vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.

Rich was in the Horry County jail on $75,000 bond. It was not clear if she had an attorney.

Special needs teacher accused of grabbing boy

A South Carolina special needs teacher has been charged with grabbing a student by the neck and shoving him.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Wednesday that 59-year-old Rosemary Mills of Summerville is charged with illegal conduct toward a child. She was released on $10,000 bond Tuesday.

Authorities say a parent at Williams Memorial Elementary School in St. George saw Mills grab a 10-year-old boy by the neck and shove him into a chair and later toward a wall on Oct. 14. The parent reported the attack to school officials.

Mills has been put on administrative leave. Her husband, Lewis Mills, told The Associated Press he's confident his wife will be cleared of the charge if all of the facts are considered.

Man dies as car hits tree felled by Ida's rains

A South Carolina man has died after his car hit a tree that fell on a road as rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida moved through the area.

Multiple media outlets reported that 40-year-old Terry Lee Stancil Jr. of Anderson died in the crash about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskin said the tree had fallen as a result of a storm.

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said Stancil's car ran beneath the tree, shearing the roof from the car. Shore said Stancil died at the scene from a head injury.

Body of missing Beech Island man found in river

Authorities said workers at a South Carolina plant found the body of a 52-year-old man.

Media outlets reported that Gregory Brabham of Beech Island was found Wednesday floating in the Savannah River near the Kimberly-Clark power station. The river marks the border between South Carolina and Georgia.

Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said Brabham had been missing for about a week.

An autopsy is scheduled today in Newberry.