TheState.com: Breaking News

Southbound Lanes on Huger Street to be Open for Game Day Traffic

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:40 EDT

Engineers at the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) have determined that the southbound lanes on Huger Street near the site of the sinkhole that appeared earlier Thursday are safe for traffic. The sinkhole required the closure of the two northbound lanes near Blossom Street.

The two southbound lanes on Huger Street heading in the direction of Williams-Brice Stadium will be opened for football traffic.

At approximately 10 p.m. on Thursday evening, law enforcement officers will reverse the direction of the southbound lanes for northbound traffic. This means that traffic leaving Williams-Brice Stadium will have two lanes of traffic on Huger Street headed northbound.

SCDOT urges all motorists to use caution in this area and pay close attention to law enforcement officers directing traffic

TV cameras OK'd for SC bikini strangler sentencing

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:47 EDT

A judge on Wednesday decided to allow television cameras to record the sentencing of a convicted sex offender facing life in prison or death for raping a Clemson student and strangling her with her bikini top.

But Circuit Judge Edward Miller ban all live audio or video from being broadcast from Jerry Buck Inman's Sept. 8 sentencing hearing.

"I am going to bar a live feed," Miller said. "I'm not going through that again."

Last week, a television station inadvertently broadcast on its Web site audio of attorneys talking while court was in recess during Inman's guilty plea last week. Jim Bannister, one of Inman's attorneys, asked Miller that all television cameras be banned from further court proceedings and asked for an investigation of what information may have been broadcast while court was in recess.

Inman, bald with tattoos visible on his neck, arms and chest, and shackled at the wrists and ankles, did not speak to the court during the hour-long hearing in Greenville.

SC trooper gets radio logs, records for defense

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:19 EDT

Prosecutors turned over radio logs and messages to officers from dispatchers Wednesday to lawyers defending a South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper caught on tape using his patrol car to ram a fleeing suspect.

John O'Leary, an attorney for Lance Cpl. Steven C. Garren, asked for the evidence at a pretrial hearing. He said he also subpoenaed Greenwood County sheriff's deputies who helped in the chase to ask if they had any other video of the incident, but they didn't have any.

The only video seen so far in the case was captured by a camera in Garren's cruiser in 2007. In it, he is seen driving into a man as he ran in front of the car. The man flipped over the hood and into grass on the side of the road.

Garren was suspended from the patrol after he was indicted on federal charges that he violated the man's civil rights earlier this summer. If convicted, Garren faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Garren is white; the suspect he rammed is black.

"Yeah, I hit him. I was trying to hit him," Garren is heard telling another trooper.

Jonathon Rush going country

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:13 EDT

Two familiar voices on local morning radio will have new homes starting Tuesday.

Jonathon Rush, the longtime host of WNOK-FM 104.7’s “The Morning Rush,” will move his show to WCOS-FM 97.5. He’s replacing Charlie James, who will move to WVOC-AM 560 and begin working with the morning team of Gary David and Christopher Thompson.

All three stations are owned by Clear Channel.

LJ Smith, Clear Channel Columbia’s director of programming, said the moves have been discussed for weeks. “When we saw how many listeners COS and NOK were sharing, we thought it was a no-brainer,” he said. “A lot of people at WCOS would jump over to hear Jonathon Rush.

“And Charlie's always wanted to do news talk.”

Flooding damages bridges in Upstate

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:45 EDT

The South Carolina Department of Transportation reports damage to two bridges in Cherokee and York Counties due to flooding.

-- The bridge on Secondary Road 209 in eastern Cherokee County crossing Kings Creek and becoming Secondary Road 816 in York County. Large pieces of timber and other floating debris caused two spans, or approximately half the main bridge section, to collapse Wednesday at approximately 6 a.m. The bridge is located approximately 5 miles northwest of Hickory Grove.

-- Inspection crews reported damage to the bridge on Secondary 59 in York County off SC Highway 49 and near the town of Sharon. Inspectors report damage to the pilings and have closed the bridge to traffic. Further inspection to this bridge will be done once flood water subsides.

Detours have been set up at each bridge. Average daily traffic for each bridge is fewer than 500 vehicles.

-- From Staff Reports

Rain deluges Upstate; unclear how much relief will be gained

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:44 EDT

Fay transformed drought to flood, at least temporarily. How much of the moisture seeps into the water table and whether more rains come will determine the depth of the drought relief.

Heavy rains from the remnants of the tropical system drenched the Upstate and the Catawba River valley, the regions most in need of moisture.

Fay “has had a significant impact,” said state climatologist Hope Mizzell. “We have reports of farm ponds that were dry in the Upstate and now are full.”

But with a low water table from two years of drought, the farm ponds could sink quickly without additional rain in the coming weeks, Mizzell said.

The three-day rainfall totals are impressive: 9.38 inches in Chester, 8.08 in York, 7.47 at Kings Mountain, 6.61 at the Rock Hill airport, 5.74 in Table Rock, 5.68 in Walhalla and 5.38 in Gaffney.

Woman shoots self in head in hospital

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:07 EDT

Updated 12:39 p.m.
A patient in the Palmetto Health Richland emergency care area took a revolver from a Department of Corrections officer’s holster and shot herself in the head. She was in critical condition late Tuesday, Columbia police said.

The S.C. Department of Corrections this morning convened a panel to review the shooting and policies that apply to the transfer of inmates from correctional institutions to hospitals.

"Providing a safe and secure environment for the public, agency staff and inmates is the Corrections Department’s top priority, and the agency is closely examining events that transpired before this unfortunate incident. As part of the policy examination, agency staff also will meet today with hospital administrators," a news release from the Department of Corrections said.

No one else was injured in the 7:19 p.m. shooting, which occurred in a hallway in the hospital’s emergency department. The hospital diverted patients to other facilities for about two hours because of the shooting.

Police did not release the woman’s name or say why she had been placed in the emergency department for care.

Sinkhole prompts lane closure at Huger and Blossom

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:04 EDT

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has announced that the northbound lanes of Huger Street toward Interstate 26 at Blossom Street will be closed this afternoon through Saturday morning for repair of storm drainage.

A large sinkhole opened up as the result of a disjointed pipe.

-- From Staff Reports

Live video: Democratic National Convention (starting at 5 p.m.)

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:28 EDT

The Associated Press Online Video Network is providing live streaming video of the Democratic National Convention beginning at 5 p.m. and continuing for the duration of the evening. This stream is available only through the Internet Explorer browser.

Olympics, conventions, now football: What to watch?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:24 EDT

Late nights in front of the television have been the routine for many Americans in the last few weeks with the Olympics, the Democratic National Convention and coming tomorrow, Gamecock football. Besides causing crankiness from lack of sleep, the red-eye TV schedule presents a decision-making challenge: What to watch Thursday? USC kicks off its season against N.C. State, but it's also the biggest night of the convention.

Take our quick survey to tell us what you plan to watch, and if you want to leave a note about your TV watching strategies as well, use the comment form below.

Former driving instructor says he didn't intend to expose himself

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:31 EDT

ROCK HILL -- A former York County driving instructor accused of exposing himself to five students said Tuesday it was all an accident.

David Zitcovich of 1458 Covenant Place is charged with indecent exposure after five teenage girls told police he exposed himself to each of them in his car during a lesson. His trial began Tuesday after the judge rejected his guilty plea Monday.

Zitcovich claims he wears loose-fitting shorts and the exposure was not intentional, according to The Herald's news partner, WSOC-TV.

Several of the teens said Zitcovich asked them sexual questions. One student testified that he made bets with her where she would have to take off articles of clothing if she messed up on a driving maneuver.

Prosecutor Jessica Holland called the case unusual.

Accused Six Flags hacker pleads guilty in Upstate courtroom

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:52 EDT

A man authorities say was responsible for disrupting the computer system at Six Flags amusement park pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday in Greenville.

Mark Daniel Kahn, 27, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing damage to the computer system used by Six Flags.

Kahn will be sentenced at a later time and faces a maximum of a $250,000 fine and 10 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said evidence collected in the case established that in February 2004, Kahn disrupted the operation of a Six Flags website by inserting a malicious code into interactive job application forms that were then submitted to Six Flags.

Kahn inundated Six Flags with hundreds of bogus job applications bearing statements such as “THIS SITE WAS HACKED” and “FIX YOUR SITE!!! I’ll keep breaking it until you do.” Kahn also left a message for his girlfriend that stated “I Love you, Laura.” Six Flags Loss Prevention officials, together with a private computer security professional and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ultimately linked this hacking activity to Kahn.

Lexington deputy to be honored by local veterans

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:09 EDT

A Lexington County sheriff’s deputy named Officer of the Year by the South Carolina Office of Veterans’ Affairs will be honored by the Lexington Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8738, authorities said.

Deputy Kevin Eugene Blackmon, 31, of Lexington, a resident deputy in the Dixiana community, will be honored Sept. 2 at a dinner at the Lexington VFW Post on Cedarcrest Lane, a sheriff’s department news release said.

Blackmon, who volunteers at holiday food and toy drives and has helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity, has served as a military police officer with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division during Operation Desert Spring and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq in 2002 and 2003, the release said.

-- Lee Higgins

Sumter man sentenced to prison term on child porn charges

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:11 EDT

A Sumter man will serve more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges.

Robert Wayne Green, 34, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour sentenced Green to 16 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Green’s sentencing resulted from his guilty plea in which he admitted to possessing images of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The images were discovered in connection with a separate investigation into illegal sales of copyrighted computer games.

Green was previously prosecuted for that violation and received a 30-month sentence. Because the copyright and child pornography crimes resulted from the same investigation, Seymour imposed a total sentence of 46 months but gave Green credit for his 30-month sentence on the copyright case that he had already served.

This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

2nd Coastal Carolina player faces assault charges

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:54 EDT

Coastal Carolina University football player Jeremy Harden, 19, was arrested by campus police Monday night on charges he assaulted another student, marking the second arrest in a week for the program.

According to the school, Harden, a freshman, was charged with simple assault and battery after an incident in a residence hall. The incident involved two students, a male and a female, according to a news release from the university in Conway.

Coastal Carolina President David DeCenzo reacted with dismay in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"While I am not passing judgment on the guilt or innocence of any of our students and I trust fully in the judicial process to do that, I am nevertheless disturbed by these incidents," DeCenzo said. "The kind of disruptive behavior that has led to the arrest of two student-athletes within the past week will not continue on this campus. It's time for all players to take personal responsibility for their actions, and to demonstrate respect for themselves and others at every level throughout Coastal Carolina University. In a face-to-face meeting with the full football team and coaches, I've made these expectations abundantly clear."

Harden has been suspended from the university and the team on an interim basis.