CURRENT, FORMER GAMECOCKS REPRESENT THREE NATIONS

University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley will be one of 12 Gamecocks athletes and coaches representing their countries at the Olympic Games next month in Beijing, China.

Staley, who only recently signed a contract with USC, will serve as the Assistant Coach for Team USA Women’s Basketball.

Former Gamecock goalkeeper Brad Guzan will represent the U.S. in men’s soccer while Sharntelle McLean will compete in women’s freestyle swimming for Trinidad & Tobago.

Nine other athletes will . They are Americans Leroy Dixon, Natasha Hastings, Mechelle Lewis, Rodney Martin, Tiffany Ross-Williams, and Terrence Trammell and Jamaicans Aleen Bailey, Chelsea Hammond, and Shevon Stoddart.

The XXIX Summer Olympics begin Friday, Aug. 8 and run through Sunday, Aug. 24 and will be broadcast on NBC.

VERIZON OFFERS $45K IN GRANTS TO SC

Hot off the wire is news that the Verizon Foundation is seeking grant proposals from nonprofit organizations and educational institutions in South Carolina. The grants are aimed at innovative projects that support the use of technology in literacy or Internet safety programs.

Eligible nonprofit organizations and educational institutions may submit proposals online and compete for individual grants ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 to fund programs that most effectively match the Verizon Foundation’s literacy and Internet-safety focus areas. The foundation will award a total of up to $45,000 in grants.

“Higher literacy rates result in stronger communities, economic growth and a skilled workforce for today’s technology-driven workplace,” said Stan Bugner, state director of public affairs, policy and communications for Verizon in South Carolina. “With regard to Internet safety, the Internet’s dynamic features also make it a convenient vehicle for those who intend to take advantage of innocent consumers.”

Any 501(c)3 nonprofit organization can apply for a grant, in areas ranging from family, adult, early childhood or K-12 literacy, to English as a second language programs, to basic computer literacy skills.

Verizon says they are particularly interested in proposals that deliver literacy training via e-learning or use technology to enhance literacy training, such as computer and Web-based training programs.

This grant based program is very similar to the “Donors Choose” Website, which The Palmetto Scoop is using to raise money for South Carolina schools. Yes, this is a shameless plug, but to date y’all aren’t really helping the cause!

FIGHTING FIRE, THE BRITISH, TAXES, UNEMPLOYMENT

A look outside the window here in the Midlands shows that today is definitely Stormy Monday. Hopefully Tuesday won’t be just as bad.

Anyway, here are a few small stories making some ripples in the rain:

• THE FIRESTARTER, TWISTED FIRESTARER, GETS 15 YEARS — If you missed it, that was the second musical refrence in the post… something TPS regulars will appreciate as a rarity.

Anyway, the Associated Press is reporting that Kimberly Wooten was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for burning down four homes near her Irmo neighborhood, with two years suspended for time served. The 42-year-old mother of two pleaded guilty but mentally ill in June to seven counts of second-degree arson and other charges related to the fires.

• GRAHAM PUTS ON TRI-CORNER HAT, FIGHTS LOBSTERBACKS — Sen. Lindsey Graham has picked up the musket ball fumbled by his colleague Sen. Jim DeMint and is now “a key player” in the struggle to get national park status for the Battle of Camden site in Kershaw County, The State reports.

A measure to require the Department of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study for possible park status passed the U.S. House late last year. This is the first time the measure has reached the Senate.

Ordinarily, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., would be shepherding the bill. It landed in his committee, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

But DeMint has turned his back on the bill, and Graham is riding to the rescue.

When asked why he abandoned a chance to preserve South Carolina’s history, DeMint reportedly said, “I just got back from a séance, and the spirits from the battle gave me some really bad vibes. That, and I also want to drill for oil there someday.”

• — For big kids like me who never really grow up and always wish they were still in first grade throwing play-doh at Susie and stealing little Billy’s Tonka trucks, tax free weekend rocks. It’s a chance to stock up on all sorts of new school clothes, backpacks, the latest Air Jordan’s and, most importantly, pencils that can be sharped down into tiny pencils for throwing at other kids — all without paying the state government a dime. Wait, no one else does that? Whatever, forget you then.

Anyway, the ninth annual tax-free weekend runs from midnight Friday, Aug. 1 through midnight Sunday, Aug. 3 across the state. But be warned, tax-free weekend is so popular that it is the third busiest shopping period of the year.

• SC’S LATEST MONSTER IS A GOOD MONSTER — Monster.com was cool about five years ago when they were tops in the online job search sector, but has since become one of the most useless places to look for employment. I saw a commercial the other day that pretty much hit the nail on the head when they said Monster and others aren’t selective enough and will let a whole field of unqualified Joe Schmos crowd out the best candidates.

So they’re taking the same approach as drugged up celebrities — they’re going to rehab. And what better place than South Carolina where you can be secluded from the rest of the world in a place where most people will leave you alone and let you recover?

For Monster, that means opening a recruitment center in Florence. For South Carolina, it means up to 350 new jobs. Everybody wins except for those who like unemployment checks!

PAGEANT VP ARRESTED ON SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES

The poor folks at the Miss South Carolina pageant just can’t catch a break.

Less than a year ago, former Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton became the laughing stock of the nation courtesy of her excessively blond moment. And now, a much more serious scandal has erupted that has a top official with the Miss SC pageant in jail on charges that he sexually abused a young girl at an Easley hotel three years ago.

Joseph Pettigrew Sanders, 44, of 237 Sanders Road in Liberty, was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 11 in connection with a 12-year-old girl’s complaint this summer that she was molested in an Easley Comfort Inn sometime during 2005, according to arrest warrants.

Also charged is Anita Jordan Gearhart, 52, who faces two counts of unlawful conduct with a child, according to warrants, which list her address as the same as Sanders’.

On Friday, Easley Police Maj. Tim Tollison said Sanders is associated with the pageant but that the alleged misconduct didn’t occur as part of pageant activities. [ERIC CONNOR - Greenville News]

Sanders’ father is the pageant’s president and CEO.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, so I will give this guy the benefit of the doubt here. But if this proves true, it goes without saying that this will be yet another black eye for this organization. Only this time, nobody will be laughing.

DEEP SOUTH LEADS NATION IN CASES, NOT IN FUNDING

A startling new report to be released Monday shows that the Deep South leads the nation in both HIV infections and AIDS deaths, but ranks last of four regions in overall federal funding.

The Southern AIDS Coalition found that HIV infections in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Carolinas are spreading faster than any other states in the U.S., spurred largely by rural areas home to impoverished blacks facing overwhelming health and social problems.

[The report] says federal funding to fight the disease has not followed the epidemic’s path, with an unfair share of money for treatment, education and support services remaining in other, wealthier parts of the nation that have fewer new HIV cases and declining death rates.

“Rising infection rates coupled with inadequate funding, resources and infrastructure have resulted in a catastrophic situation in our public health care systems in the South,” the report says. “Unless we act to correct funding and treatment disparities, we endanger not just isolated communities, but our states and our nation.”

Kathy Hiers, chief executive officer of AIDS Alabama and co-author of the report, said HIV/AIDS has settled into remote areas of the South inhabited by black people who are at great risk for infection. “The ruralness of the epidemic is what’s becoming painfully clear,” Hiers said.

The report notes that the number of deaths from AIDS decreased in the rest of the nation 2001-05, but continued to rise in the South. During that period, more than 190,000 Southerners died from AIDS. [DAVE PARKS - Birmingham (Ala.) News]

The report notes that South Carolina eliminated the waiting list for more than 500 persons in need of HIV medications through the AIDS drug assistance program, thanks to collaborative efforts to increase state and federal funds.

The state’s HIV/AIDS Council’s Project F.A.I.T.H. (Fostering AIDS Initiatives That Heal) has done a lot to eliminate stigma and strengthen the ability of churches to create local solutions. That organization now funds 30 multi-denominational, faith-based entities across South Carolina.

But although we have made great strides over the last few years, this report show we have a long way to go in winning the war on AIDS. And it comes less than a week after our own Sen. Jim DeMint lost his bid to limit President Bush’s AIDS funding in the federal budget.

Hopefully, this disheartening report will jar enough people to make a difference.

TROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL FORMS OFF COAST OF CHARLESTON

The third named storm of the hurricane season has formed off the oil rich coast of South Carolina and may have its sights on the New Englanders who ran around bashing our state last week as “backwards” and “intolerant” because taxpayers don’t want to waste their money on some politically-motivated pet project. Cristobal formed earlier today and will likely pummel North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

See what I did there? I introduced a new story but rehashing two totally unrelated ones. They should give me a Pulitzer Prize or something.

Anyway, at this time, the center of the storm is about 125 miles east of Charleston and about 205 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center said Cristobal was moving northeast at about 7 mph.

Tracking predictions show the storm could hit New England but will probably miss making landfall after passing through North Carolina.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the South Santee River north.

Some surf instructor in Carolina Beach, NC told the Associated Press that, “it looks pretty fun out there.” I say the fact that our storm is named “Cristobal” is “so gay.” Get it? I did the Pulitzer winning thing again.

NOTHING… AT ALL… OF INTEREST… GOING ON…

I figured I could sit here all morning waiting for something newsworthy to happen in South Carolina, or I could grab the bull by the horns and write a story about how there is nothing newsworthy happening in South Carolina in the hopes that my usual luck would mean something immediately happens.

So in that spirit, I bring you the most fascinating stories I could find.

First, the story EVERYONE is talking about: The South Carolina Beekeepers Association is meeting this week at Clemson University. Talk about breaking news.

So, what exactly do bee keepers meet about? The Anderson Independent-Mail — proving once again that they will write about pretty much anything — “reports” that they will discuss “colony collapse disorder and other bee problems, along with potential solutions.” Hurry though, tickets for this are going faster than free .

Also tearing up state headlines is word that a couple geolists at the College of Charleston who apparently haven’t left their classroom in decades say there’s no off shore oil to drill. So much for all that Republican wishful thinking.

In other news, Congressman Joe Wilson will be going to the 53rd Annual Beaufort Water Festival tomorrow. Why is this newsworthy? Well, it’s not really.

And lastly, Coca-Cola says it will be raising prices on their beverages after Labor Day. Thankfully, there are no plans to re-release New Coke.

STATE ‘PRIDE’ GROUP LAUNCHES ‘SC WILL BE GAY’ MOVEMENT

In an effort to reclaim a $5,000 ad campaign targeting gay tourists in, the Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement says it is launching a South Carolina “Will Be So Gay” effort to pay for the posters placed in London’s Underground claiming that the state is “So Gay.”

That project was terminated by the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism last week after The Palmetto Scoop broke the story, resulting in local outrage and national news attention.

Area gays became incensed over the cancellation of the campaign and are now fighting back against what they call the “conservative ‘Bible Belt’ politicians” that put an end to the project and today announced the “SC Will Be So Gay” fundraising effort.

Ryan Wilson, president of South Carolina Pride, said that once debt to the British ad firm Amro Worldwide is repaid, the remaining proceeds will go to benefit the SC Pride 2008 Festival and Parade in Columbia.

“South Carolina may not be ‘so gay’ currently – but we are going to show the world that we can be and we WILL BE so gay, and gay friendly some day,” Wilson said in a press release announcing the initiative.

The pride festival, which is sponsored by the City of Columbia, Club Fusion and ID Lubricants, has already received $10,000 in taxpayer money — much it to pay drag queen RuPaul for “entertainment services” — and another $15,000 in community promotions money for the Gay & Lesbian Advocacy Movement, something that has Columbia residents up in arms.

“The City Council loves to give out all sorts of our money to promote their political agenda,” said one prominent city resident who asked not to be identified. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they handed NAMBLA a blank check. But just imagine if a conservative heritage group asked for even a quarter of what they’re getting.”