The Palmetto Scoop

PHOTOS EMERGE OF OLYMPIC SWIMMER ALLEGEDLY SMOKING POT IN COLUMBIA
American swimmer Michael Phelps became an international superstar when he won eight gold medals last summer at the Olympic Games. Then in November he showed up in Columbia at various University of South Carolina events.
Many people wondered what exactly he was doing. Now we [...]

GAMECOCKS DEFEAT NO. 24 KENTUCKY IN FINAL SECONDS
For the second time this season, the University of South Carolina basketball picked up a miraculous one-point win over a 24th ranked opponent in the final moments of a game. Today, the victim was Kentucky and the hero was Devan Downey.
Downey’s turnaround jumper with 3 seconds left [...]

DAWSON COMES WITHIN EIGHT VOTES OF BECOMING RNC CHAIR, CONSIDERING SCGOP REELECTION
He came, he saw, he almost conquered.
On the sixth and final ballot to select the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, South Carolina’s Katon Dawson came just eight votes short of pulling off an improbable upset. But the dream was too good [...]

HEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE LAUDED AS ‘RIGHT CHOICE’
The Palmetto Scoop reported last week that South Carolina State Ports Authority Vice Chairman Bill Stern would be leading the effort to find the SCSPA’s next president & CEO following the resignation of Bernie Groseclose.
Stern was tasked to form a search committee and Thursday announced a 13-member [...]

168 MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE WILL ELECT CHAIRMAN
One of the nastiest, most drawn-out, expensive races to head the Republican National Committee ever is almost over. Within the hour, the 168 members of the RNC will vote for the chairman at the Winter Meeting in Washington, DC.
South Carolina’s own Katon Dawson is among the six candidates [...]

ATTORNEY GENERAL SPEAKS TO STUDENTS ABOUT GOVERNMENT, POLITICS
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster stopped by Dutch Fork High School today to talk with Kelly Payne’s advanced government class. And The Palmetto Scoop tagged along to see what all the buzz is about.
Like the late-night talk show circuit or visits with newspaper editorial boards, Payne’s [...]

REX CALLS FOR MASSIVE TAX INCREASE TO FUND BUREAUCRATIC MACHINE… SAYS ‘SYSTEM’ NEEDS OVERHAUL
South Carolina Schools Superintendent Jim Rex today said he wants the state legislature to pump another $74 million into our failing public schools, which already receive more funding per pupil than almost every state in the country.
In typical liberal fashion, Rex said [...]

CLYBURN TO SEND $3.2 BILLION IN ‘STIMULUS’ PORK TO SC
As prophetic rapper Notorious B.I.G. once said in his hit single “Mo Money Mo Problems,” its like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.
I’m not sure what exactly the song meant because I have trouble understanding the rap music the kids are [...]

WOLVERINE STATE REPORTS ONLY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HIGHER THAN SC
Yesterday’s news that the unemployment rate in South Carolina had shot up to 9.5 percent was pretty grim. More than 200,000 people are out of work for the first time in state history.
But just like California’s tax boondoggle, the silver lining is that there’s actually a [...]

GOVERNOR FLIES NAACP LEADER WHO CALLED FOR BOYCOTTS OF SC TO INAUGURATION
Buried in the last paragraph of a story in The State Sunday about Gov. Mark Sanford’s taxpayer-funded trip to President Barack Obama’s inauguration last week was a rather interesting passenger list.
Besides inviting a nice little old lady and a Greer High School student, Sanford [...]