News - Local/State

Wednesday, May. 21, 2008

News In Brief - May 21, 2008

Two women charged in Great Falls house fires

CHESTER -- Two woman were arrested Tuesday after authorities say they burned two Great Falls homes in October.

Police charged Tera Carter Minors and Dawn D. Neely, both of 7289 Heritage Road in Winnsboro with two counts of arson, second degree in connection to the Richburg Road fires that happened Oct. 3, 2007, Major James McNeil of the Chester County Sheriff's Office said.

Carter and Neely surrendered to authorities Tuesday afternoon, McNeil said.

Arrest warrants note that Minors and Neely caused two houses at 5919 Richburg Road and 5901 Richburg Road to burn.

Officials are looking for another female in connection to the fires, he said. Anyone with information about the location of the third person is asked to call Chester County Sheriff's Office at 803-581-5131.

Senior from Clover to be student leader at Winthrop

Students at Winthrop University have a new leader.

Tatiana Sosa, a rising senior from Clover, will be the chairwoman of the Council of Student Leaders for the 2008-2009 school year. Sosa will serve as the student representative to Winthrop's board of trustees.

The 40-plus-member council is made up of students from major student associations as well as at-large members. Sosa was elected by council members in March after serving as secretary last academic year.

She succeeds Dustin Evatt, who served as leader the past two years.

Sarah MacDonald, a rising sophomore from Goose Creek, will serve as vice chairwoman.

-- Jessica Schonberg

Public can comment on Allison Creek project

Residents living near the 2,300-acre proposed Crescent Resources and Allison Creek Partners re-zoning project will have two chances to comment on changes to the plan in June.

Public hearings on the development agreement for the 1,400-acre proposed mixed use development near Allison Creek are scheduled for the June 2 and June 16 York County Council meetings. Officials will outline changes to the plan at these meetings at 6 p.m. in York.

Councilman Tom Smith, who has been pushing for this type of large development and lake protection since before he started on the County Council two years ago, said he'd like to see some of the concerns raised in a previous public hearing addressed in the development agreement with the county.

Those who wish to review the detailed contract between the county and the developers should request a copy from the County Planning Department, 1070 Heckle Boulevard in Rock Hill, 909-7240.

Candidates forum planned for Thursday

A host of Republican candidates will field questions Thursday night at the York County GOP's monthly meeting. A big crowd is expected for the 7 p.m. gathering, to be held at Thursday's Too restaurant. The public is invited.

Among the candidates scheduled to attend:

• Paul Lindemann and Jeff Updike, County Council's District 1 seat covering northern York County

• Tom Smith, David McCorkle and Bill Stiles, County Council's District 2 covering Lake Wylie

• Joe Cox and Kenny Ruffin, County Council's District 3 seat covering western York County

• Curwood Chappell and Ashley Martin, County Council's District 5 seat covering southern York County and Doby's Bridge Road

• Buddy Motz and Alex Haefele, County Council's District 6 seat covering northern Rock Hill

• Carl Gullick and Kyle Boyd, state House District 48 covering northern York County

On Friday, Gullick and Boyd will meet again before the Clover-Lake Wyle Republican Women's Club at the River Hills Country Club.

Lancaster school's writing program earns state praise

LANCASTER -- North Elementary School in Lancaster County was among eight schools recognized by the S.C. Department of Education ON Tuesday for having an outstanding student writing program.

Schools had to submit written applications that explained their writing programs. Site visits were conducted at 11 of the schools by at least two reviewers. Then eight schools were designated Exemplary Writing Program Schools.

"The ability to communicate in writing is absolutely crucial, whether you're at work or at home," state education Superintendent Jim Rex said in a news release. "These eight schools are succeeding in helping students to develop their writing skills, and they are infusing the teaching of writing into every part of their curriculum. It's a daily part of each student's work."

Other winners were in Anderson 5, Colleton County, Lexington/Richland 5, Richland 2 and Spartanburg 4.

-- Jessica Schonberg

Severe storms move across state

COLUMBIA -- Severe storms moved across South Carolina on Tuesday evening, leaving at least 15,000 homes and businesses without power.

The National Weather Service received at least 20 reports of wind damage and 35 reports of hail as Tuesday's storms knocked down trees and dropped hail as large as golf balls. No major property damage or injuries have been reported.

Lines of storms struck the northern and central parts of the state, while several individual storms moved across southern areas.

The weather service received several reports of tornadoes, but have not confirmed storms touched down.

About 15,000 customers were without power in South Carolina. Duke Energy reported more than 5,000 outages in Greenville and Spartanburg, while South Carolina Electric and Gas reported 5,000 outages around Charleston, 2,700 around Columbia and 1,600 outages in the southwestern part of the state.