News - Local/State

Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2008

News In Brief - September 23, 2008

Tega Cay woman accused of selling fake coupons

A Tega Cay woman has been indicted in federal court for allegedly printing and selling fake coupons.

Janice Marie Carlisle, 46, was indicted on five counts of fraud related to the sale of bogus coupons, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Walter Wilkins. Carlisle faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

The indictment alleges that in 2005, Carlise defrauded companies such as Staples, Chick-fil-A, Outback Steakhouse and Kroger. She is accused of printing unauthorized discount coupons and selling them without the permission of the companies represented and of using e-mail and an Internet site to promote and sell the coupons.

The indictment also alleges that Carlise corresponded with the purchasers of the unauthorized coupons through U.S. mail, according to the release.

The case was investigated by agents of the U.S. Secret Service.

-- Kimberly Dick

Charlotte light-rail ridership still roaring

CHARLOTTE -- Weekday ridership on the Lynx Blue Line dipped slightly in August compared to July, but the Charlotte Area Transit System still carried more total passengers on buses and trains than it did the month before.

The average weekday light-rail ridership was 16,377 trips in August, down from 16,936 in July. That is still far above the train's first-year goal of 9,100 average weekday trips, and transit officials are hopeful they can reach their 2025 goal of 18,100 trips before the end of the year.

Overall CATS ridership was 2.335 million in August, up from 2.305 million in July. CATS carried 1.782 million people in August 2007, before the LYNX opened.

CATS saw a surge of ridership this summer, in part due to $4 a gallon gas. Though prices are high again due to Hurricane Ike, prices are expected to drop this fall.

-- The Charlotte Observer

Few S.C. parents enroll children for free tutoring

COLUMBIA -- School district administrators said Monday it's difficult to get poor parents to enroll their children for free tutoring because the after-school help is inconvenient or seen as a stigma instead of an opportunity.

Poor parents, who are often single and work more than one job, struggle to clothe, feed and keep their family healthy, so tutoring isn't a high priority, and students may have to baby-sit younger siblings.

While educators must make parents understand the importance of a good education, tutoring "doesn't add another set of hands or more hours in the day," Percy Mack, superintendent of downtown Columbia schools, said after testifying at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights fact-finding session on South Carolina's compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind education accountability law.

Under the law, high-poverty schools that don't meet educational goals for several consecutive years must offer free tutoring to poor students. For the past two schools years, only 13 percent of eligible students in South Carolina took advantage of the tutoring -- 8,835 students in 2007-08 and 6,887 in 2006-07.

Sanford: S.C. should move to cut carbon emissions

COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford said Monday South Carolina needs to tackle carbon dioxide and global warming issues before the federal government reacts.

On Monday, the Republican governor formally received a 653-page report from his Climate, Energy, and Commerce Advisory Committee that says South Carolina can release less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990 by promoting voluntary efforts driven substantially by incentives and laws already on the books.

South Carolina's greenhouse gas emissions rose 39 percent between 1990 and 2005, according to committee chairman Ben Hagood, a Republican state House member from Mount Pleasant. That's twice the national average. If nothing is done, South Carolina's greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 will be 125 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, with a third from power production and a third from transportation.