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LEGEND:

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Senators started debating the measure last week and it was at the top of the agenda Tuesday.

The proposal calls for the state to limit spending increases to no more than average tax collection growth during the previous decade. Any extra money collected would be set aside to use in lean years.

The resolution requires a two-thirds vote before being sent to the House.

Senators were also expected to talk about the illegal immigration law changes approved in the House last week.

The state already takes DNA samples from people convicted of felonies.

Supporters of the bill to be considered Tuesday say the saliva or tissue samples can be used to solve unrelated crimes.

Under the measure, the DNA sample can be removed from the state database if the person providing it upon arrest is later cleared.

Republican Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the idea last year. He said taking such personal information from people without a court order violates their civil liberties.

Isle of Palms Sen. Chip Campsen says he hopes the measure clears up confusion over what kind of public prayer is considered constitutional, based on rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The legislation would give local governments three possibilities for legal prayer. They could elect a chaplain, let each member of the board pray on a rotating basis, or invite local religious leaders to put their name on a list to pray and schedule them on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The House Judiciary Committee is to take up the bill Tuesday. The Senate approved the bill last month.

The National Weather Service said thunderstorms carrying hail were likely through midmorning in parts of southwest Missouri. More ominously, the agency said conditions later in the day could be similar to those that spun funnel clouds that killed 26 people Saturday in the Southern Plains and the Southeast.

Even if the latest storms aren't particularly violent, they'll make for a soggy cleanup in towns such as Picher, Okla., where Tressie Gilmore and four family members emerged from a pile of debris that used to be their house Saturday evening, shaken but with nothing worse than bruised ribs.

On Monday, the 25-year-old joined family and friends in salvaging what they could from what remained of her mother and stepfather's home after the tornado - packing wind estimated at 165 to 175 mph - slammed into Picher, killing seven.

"It felt like evil," she said. "It didn't feel like Mother Nature. It felt personal."

The 7.9-magnitude quake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills north of Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu. Striking in midafternoon, it emptied office buildings across the country in Beijing and could be felt as far away as Vietnam.

About 1,300 rescue workers and troops arrived Tuesday at the quake's epicenter, which had been cut off since the earthquake struck. The number of casualties there is not yet known.

Rain has compounded the difficulty of rescue efforts elsewhere. Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew to the region, said rain was forecast for the next several days.

The government was pouring in troops to aid in the disaster recovery. Xinhua said 16,000 were in the area and 34,000 more were en route.

The five-member S.C. Supreme Court unanimously reversed Regina McKnight’s 2001 conviction, ruling her trial attorney made several serious errors.

McKnight, 31, was convicted of homicide by child abuse for killing her fetus by using cocaine. She is serving a 12-year sentence at a state women’s prison in Greenwood.

The 15th Circuit solicitor’s office in Conway hasn’t decided whether to retry McKnight, Deputy Solicitor Fran Humphries said Monday.

“There really is very little that we, as prosecutors, can do to sort of appeal-proof these kinds of issues,” he said. “We’re basically left with the same case.”

Byron Road, 300 block: A woman called police at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; she said her ex-boyfriend broke into her apartment and assaulted her. The 27-year-old woman said the man climbed up to her second-story balcony and forced open a door to steal an electronic game. The woman said she was trying to stop the 41-year-old man when he began to hit her. She said he shoved her head into a wall and the apartment door across the hall from hers. She said she began to fight back by scratching and kicking the man, but he didn’t stop until police arrived. He was charged with criminal domestic violence and arrested.

LEXINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF

Spool Wheel Road, 1000 block: A woman called police at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to report that she had received a suspicious phone call asking for money. The 51-year-old woman told deputies that a man called her and said he was calling for a law enforcement association and he was collecting money for a fund honoring a trooper who had recently been killed. The woman said when she declined to donate the caller became obviously agitated and tried to get her to commit to a smaller donation. The woman said that she asked him for a number to call him back, but when she dialed the number he gave her, it was not in service.

IRMO POLICE

“I can remember thinking, ‘When are these shots going to end?” Brown, 32, said Monday in his first public comments since the May 4 ordeal.

“It seems like they were going on and on and on.”

Brown was shot three times — two rounds struck his protective vest, destroying a portable radio, he said, and the third hit and broke his left forearm.

His left arm was in a cast and sling as he spoke to reporters at the Highway Patrol’s Troop 7 headquarters in Orangeburg. A permanent metal plate was screwed to the outside of the broken bone, he said.

The department expects to overspend by $4.3 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The outlook is worse for next year. Corrections Department director Jon Ozmint said Monday he expects court-ordered supervision to follow any prison shutdowns.

“There’s nothing more that can be cut,” Ozmint said. “It would take a huge layoff and closing of institutions for us to come up with money for next year’s budget.”

Ozmint said food, medical and fuel costs this year are running $8 million ahead of expectations in a prison system that costs nearly $1 million a day to run. He contends the agency’s total spending of $336 million this year started $129 million short because the budget doesn’t keep up with inflation and still lacks money slashed during past state budget cuts.

The death of Teneisha Smalls of West Columbia appears to have been an accident, Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman said.

The incident happened around 3 p.m. in a pond off the 1600 block of Two Notch Road in Lexington, Harman said.

Rick Brundrett

Melrose Heights Neighborhood

Since its earliest decades, the Melrose Heights neighborhood has featured multiple occupant residences, a decision on the part of the community’s developers that has resulted in a blend of citizens diverse in their interests, careers and backgrounds. Early apartments, like their single-family counterparts, reflect the prevailing styles of the time. The asymmetrical, multi-gabled facade of 1405-1407 Maple St. blends in well with other homes erected from the 1910s through 1940s.

The collective result of several design elements renders this 1920s/’30s property a striking example of a Tudor Revival cottage style duplex. Set atop a red brick foundation, yellow masonry clad first-story walls complement the stucco and faux half-timber details found within the building’s gabled roofline. Diamond-pattern-over-one sash, tall, slender windows further invoke a renaissance feeling. The use of brown trim paint accentuates these elements harmoniously with the duplex’s other natural colored aspects. Vinyl and aluminum siding, installed within the past 20 years has obscured the structure’s once exposed rafter tails and bracket detailing.

— T. Gordon McLeod and John M. Sherrer III

About 18 months ago, the Bluffton Township Fire District, which serves the community at the entrance to Hilton Head Island, told the marina the problem had to be fixed.

“It was scary,” harbor master Rick Byrd said. “There was really very limited access for them.”

The solution, like so many other things on Hilton Head, came on the back of a golf cart.

The harbor recently bought a $40,000 Fast Attack fire cart, a three-hose apparatus that sucks water from the marina and pumps it through 200-foot hoses. Different valves allow it to spray water or foam to fight different kinds of fires, and its gas engine can power it for up to two hours.

City Council members are considering two proposals. One would ban smoking everywhere except bars. A second proposal would ban smoking at all workplaces.

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at the Eau Claire Print Building, 3901 Ensor Ave.

Adam Beam

“I still hear some dogs barking,” said Carville, the flamboyant Louisianan known as the left’s ragin’ Cajun. “I’m for Senator Clinton, but I think the great likelihood is that Obama will be the nominee.

“As soon as I determine when that is, I’ll send him a check.”

In an address peppered with his trademark sharp wit, Carville took questions from students and the public for more than an hour. The topics ranged from energy policy and conservation to Carville’s occasional acting roles. But much of the discussion was about the Democratic presidential campaign.

Carville said voters should wait to see results from today’s West Virginia primary, which Clinton is expected to win, and results from the other contests that extend into early June.

Coroner Rae Wooten told The (Charleston) Post and Courier that 42-year-old Christina Akabidavis and her 15-year-old daughter, Marcushire, died in the crash Monday afternoon.

Highway Patrol Cpl. Paul Brouthers says the women were in the front seat of a car that abruptly changed lanes in front of the cement truck. Brouthers says the truck couldn't stop and landed on top of the car.

Pete Rogers with the Charleston Volunteer Rescue Squad says cement then started to fill the car and it took 20 rescuers with shovels to dig out the women, who then had to be cut from the car.

One had diamond-cut detailing, another had a chrome finish on all its surfaces, and one even had a picture of Al Pacino as Scarface airbrushed on the body.

“Hardly anybody buys a motorcycle and does nothing to it,” said Richard Pate, the store’s owner. “All of the bikes we customize are different — different colors, different motors, different rakes (how the front end is extended from the motorcycle), different details.”

Motorcycles are very personal things, said Pate, who has been building bikes for 19 years, and that’s where the custom motorcycle industry steps in.

The Harley-Davidson spring rally in Myrtle Beach is a prime sales time for local custom builders and shops that add custom parts to stock motorcycles.

The justices said William Gary White III committed several ethical violations in his handling of a car insurance settlement for a client.

A hearing panel had recommended a 90-day suspension, but the court chose to impose a harsher sanction, citing the “gravity” of White’s misconduct.

The court also reinstated attorney Carroll A. Gantt, who was suspended Nov. 5 for six months for ethical violations in his handling of several sales contract matters.

Rick Brundrett

DHEC is still determining how many people came in contact with a rabid raccoon found on Hilton Head Island a few weeks ago.

A family adopted the 3-week-old animal and passed it around to their friends. Many fed, kissed and held it. The raccoon started having seizures, was euthanized and sent to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, where it tested positive for rabies.

DHEC is giving shots to 16 people who might have been exposed through the raccoon’s saliva. Their pets are under quarantine. Seven other people might need the vaccines. DHEC is still interviewing them.

Of the 20 pets under quarantine, DHEC has determined three of those are unaffected and do not require quarantine.

The court Monday overturned an administrative law judge’s ruling requiring the boats to report gross proceeds and payouts from gambling machines.

The justices agreed with the operators of SunCruz Casinos that state law requires that they report only the percentage of winnings to losses per machine.

Associate Justice John Waller disagreed, saying the Revenue Department is required to do an annual audit and would need the gross receipts. He said local governments also can tax the boats based on gross receipts, which they would need to know. The majority opinion said boat operators would have to provide that information for an audit, but not on monthly reports.

The Associated Press

A man told police he was walking on Fontaine Road about 11:30 p.m. when a silver Ford Taurus pulled up next to him, said Sgt. Kim Myers, department spokeswoman.

The passenger leaned out with a handgun and told the man to lie on the ground. The victim ran, and the passenger fired several shots. No one was injured.

• Suspect arrested on drug, gun charges

A man was arrested Monday on several charges after a tip that someone in the Lincolnshire community off Fairfield Road had a gun.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 20 at Ridge View High School, 4801 Hard Scrabble Road. Hundreds of communities around the country will hold similar meetings that day.

The Reconnecting Communities and Schools Coalition was created in 1997 as a project of the S.C. Department of Education and the South Carolina School Boards Association.

Ishmael Tate

Outdoor water use restrictions are returning in some neighborhoods with the rise in temperatures even though weather experts at the National Climate Prediction Center forecast an average summer in the Midlands.

Rain is refilling waterways but not enough to permit excessive use, officials say.

Mike Hancock, manager of the Lugoff-Elgin Water Authority, isn’t comfortable about being able to meet possible demands for water in that part of Kershaw County.

“We don’t see enough running in,” he said.

In the past month, the county installed a gravel road from the back of the Riverside Forest subdivision. The road crosses a swampy area parallel to the Broad River, turns left and runs on county-owned property along the river to the rowing center.

The road allows access to the rowing center from the south. It was built after the county and the private owner of the Riverside Golf Center couldn’t agree on terms for use of a road through the golf center to the north.

Residents in the subdivision say they’ve been left out of the loop on the county’s plans. They wonder what kind of public access will be allowed on the county property and how it will impact their quiet neighborhood.

The county has set a public meeting about the road at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the former Maxway store next to Belk at Dutch Square Center.

1943: During World War II, Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.

1958: The United States and Canada signed an agreement to create the North American Air Defense Command (later the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD).

1978: The Commerce Department said hurricanes no longer would be given only female names.

1998: A day after India’s first atomic test blasts in 24 years, neighboring Pakistan said it was ready to test a nuclear device itself.

You’ll be paying a penny more to mail a letter starting today.

Rising fuel prices factored into the new cost of a regular postage stamp — 42 cents.

Legislation passed in 2006 allows the Postal Service to adjust its shipping prices each May for inflation.

“When fuel goes up a penny, it costs us $8 million,” Postal Service spokesman Harry Spratlin said.

1. “Iron Man,” $50.5 million

2. “Speed Racer,” $20.2 million

3. “What Happens in Vegas,” $20 million

4. “Made of Honor,” $7.6 million

Obama added superdelegates from Utah and Ohio, as well as two from the Virgin Islands who had previously backed Clinton. The additions enabled Obama to surpass Clinton’s total for the first time in the campaign. He had picked up nine endorsements Friday.

The milestone is important because Clinton would need to win over the superdelegates by a wide margin to claim the nomination. They are a group that Clinton owned before the first caucus, when she was able to cash in on the popularity of the Clinton name among the party faithful.

Those party insiders, however, have been steadily streaming to Obama since he started posting wins in early voting states.

“I always felt that if anybody establishes himself as the clear leader, the superdelegates would fall in line,” said Don Fowler, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“What is the best advice your mother ever gave you?”

Here are their responses:

“Never depend on a woman to cook for you.”

— Barry Walker, restaurateur (also known as Chef Fat Back) and blues musician, 47

New parents didn’t stray far from past habits in 2007 when naming their babies. Only one name — Elizabeth — is new to the top-10 list, returning after a two-year absence. Samantha, which previously ranked 10th, dropped to No. 12, according to the latest list released Saturday by the Social Security Administration.

Besides Jacob, other top picks for boys were Michael, Joshua and Matthew. For girls, Isabella, Emma and Ava came after Emily, which has been the most popular female name since 1996.

Rounding out the top 10 for girls, in order, were Madison, Sophia, Olivia, Abigail, Hannah and Elizabeth. The list for boys also includes Ethan, Daniel, Christopher, Anthony, William and Andrew.

For male twins, parents were most likely to combine Jacob with Joshua, Matthew with Michael and Daniel with David. The most popular combination for female twins was Ella and Emma.Also popular in 2007 were names for girls that were based on spiritual and philosophical concepts. Rising to No. 31 was Nevaeh, or “heaven” spelled backwards; it previously ranked 43rd. Also represented in 2007 were Destiny (No. 41); Trinity (No. 72); Serenity (No. 126); Harmony (No. 315) and Miracle (No. 461). Cutting against the trend was Armani (No. 971).

Susan O’Toole, a nutritionist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, who first squeaked going up stairs after getting home from her hip-replacement surgery in 2005, said she thought the banister she was gripping needed repair.

Their artificial hips — and those of hundreds of other patients, are made of ceramic materials that were promoted as being much more durable than older models. But for reasons not yet fully understood, their hips started to squeak, raising questions about whether the noises herald more serious malfunctions.

“There is something amiss here,” said Douglas Padgett, chief of adult reconstructive and joint replacement service at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

More than 250,000 Americans get total hip implants each year, a procedure that generally costs close to $45,000. Hip replacements have a success rate of more than 90 percent, based on patients’ achieving relatively pain-free mobility after recovery periods that range from a few months to a year.

Away from the glare of television cameras that have beamed other first family weddings into American living rooms, this outdoor wedding at the ranch reflects Jenna Bush’s preference for the casual over grandiose.

“This is a joyous occasion for our family, as we celebrate the happy life ahead of her and her husband, Henry,” President Bush said in his Saturday radio address. “It’s also a special time for Laura who this Mother’s Day weekend will watch a young woman we raised together walk down the aisle.”

Jenna Bush, 26, is the 22nd child of a president to get married while the father was in office. Their ceremonies have ranged from Tricia Nixon’s extravagant wedding broadcast live from the Rose Garden in 1971 to the secretive second wedding of Jenna’s aunt, Dorothy Koch, in 1992 at Camp David.

More than 200 family members and friends were converging for the nuptials on the 1,600-acre ranch. The bride was to be attended by her twin sister, Barbara, as maid of honor, along with 14 other women dressed in a palette of colors to match the Texas wildflowers in bloom.

But he has seen them now on CNN.

They are survivors of the devastating cyclone that hit the country on May 3, leaving more than 60,000 people dead or missing. Countless others are injured and facing disease and starvation as Myanmar’s military government hampers efforts to deliver international aid.

Paul’s relatives are living in a monastery in Bogalay, a small village near his hometown of Kyun Kya, once known for its rice cultivation.

That town no longer exists.

President Bush is scheduled to give the graduation speech May 31 at Furman, a fairly conservative school of 2,625 undergraduate students in the state’s traditionally conservative Upstate.

Earlier this month, 222 students and faculty members signed and posted on the school’s Web site a statement titled “We Object,” which outlines objections to the president’s visit. It cites the war in Iraq and the administration’s “obstructing progress on reducing greenhouse gases while favoring billions in tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies that are earning record profits.”

“We are ashamed of the actions of this administration. The war in Iraq has cost the lives of over 4,000 brave and honorable U.S. military personnel,” they wrote. “Because we love this country and the ideals it stands for, we accept our civic responsibility to speak out against these actions ... .”

The school said the event would mark the first time a sitting president has visited the school in its 182-year history. Some protesters said they will skip the Bush speech entirely; others said they plan to attend, perhaps wearing armbands in protest.

One question they won’t find on any exams in the next two weeks: Is 2008 the final year for Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests?

The fate of the test program rests with 46 state senators. Legislation that would replace PACTs with a different battery of end-of-year exams is in limbo.

State Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, opposes the Legislature’s directing the Department of Education on which tests it should administer. State schools chief Jim Rex insists a law abolishing PACTs is the quickest way to get new tests in place in 2009.

Meanwhile, about 330,000 students across six grades in elementary and middle schools embark on the annual task of taking the high-stakes tests that will determine how the public and the federal government will judge the quality of their respective schools.

About 500 elementary and pre-kindergarten students in one of South Carolina’s poorest areas will begin receiving free laptop computers next week.

The first laptops will be distributed May 20 to parents of 4- and 5-year-olds in Marion School District 7.

An elementary school in Gresham and an early childhood center in Mullins are pilot sites for the program, called One Laptop Per Child South Carolina. The XO laptops are funded through private donations and designed for children. They have a keyboard meant for children’s small hands, are rain-proof and won’t break when dropped.

Officials hope to expand the program statewide.

Members will meet at the district education center, 715 Ninth St., West Columbia. Call (803)796-4708 for more.

Devon Copeland

Bush is scheduled to speak at Furman's graduation ceremonies May 31.

The 222 co-signers say in a statement on the school's Web site that they object to the president's visit for several reasons, including the war in Iraq. They also cite the administration's "obstructing progress on reducing greenhouse gases while favoring billions in tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies that are earning record profits."

English professor Robin Visel says a lecture series about various Bush administration policies is planned before Bush comes to the Greenville school.

The first laptops will be distributed May 20 to parents of 4- and 5-year-olds in Marion School District 7.

An elementary school in Gresham and an early childhood center in Mullins are pilot sites for the program, called One Laptop per Child South Carolina program.

State Education Superintendent Jim Rex says giving children early access to technology will help prepare them for the computer skills they'll need to be successful in school.

The XO laptops are funded through private donations and designed for children. They have a keyboard meant for children's small hands, are rain-proof and won't break when dropped.

The department expects to overspend by $4.3 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The outlook is worse next year. Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint said Monday he expects court-ordered supervision to follow any prison shutdowns.

"There's nothing more that can be cut," Ozmint said. "It would take a huge layoff and closing of institutions for us to come up with money for next year's budget."

Ozmint said food, medical and fuel costs this year are running $8 million ahead of expectations in a prison system that costs nearly $1 million dollars a day to run. He contends that the agency's total spending of $336 million this year started $129 million short because the budget doesn't keep up with inflation and still lacks money slashed during past state budget cuts.

Deb Herman at Clemson's Michelin Career Center told The Greenville News there haven't been any problems in students getting entry-level positions.

Tracy Powers at USC'S Carolina Career Center says while the housing and financial services sectors have been hurt, for the most part, college hiring is up.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers reports the hiring prospects this year are down.

But Clemson graduate Alvin Bradley says he had to decide which offer to take after getting a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

The semi-rural district is grappling with overcrowded schools and aging buildings. Board members have been unable, or unwilling, to make solid decisions, which has prolonged work on attendance lines.

The longer the district waits, the greater the chance that construction prices will go up, more students will sit in crowded or shoddy classrooms and more portable classrooms will sprout.

“When you deal with a growing district, these are normal kinds of issues that you deal with,” said superintendent Frank Morgan.

In Camden, the task of redistricting hinges on the Jackson School decision — an issue steeped in historical significance, racial undertones and a failing facility. Many want a new school near the current site.

They’ll be model cars, but educators and energy experts say it’s part of a move toward embracing more environmentally friendly ways to provide power.

Chapin Middle is one of the state’s 20 Green Power Solar Schools that will receive a 10-by-12-foot solar panel to help teach students about alternative sources for energy. Teachers and students — as well as anyone in the community — will be able to monitor a Web site to see how much energy the panel produces.

The program is part of a partnership between Santee Cooper power company and Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative.

“We wanted something that is reaching out to a young audience,” said Laura Varn, vice president of corporate communications for Santee Cooper.

They were reminded not only through speeches given by peers, lawmakers and Benedict President David Swinton.

They also were reminded by example. Senior U.S. District Court Judge Matthew J. Perry, the state’s first black federal judge, received an honorary degree, designating him a Doctor of Laws. The degree recognizes those who’ve done a service to the state, learning and mankind, according to the school’s officials.

“You are one of the most accomplished jurists in South Carolina,” said Ruby Watts, Benedict executive vice president. “(You have) played a role in almost every case that integrated public schools, hospitals, golf courses, restaurants, parks, playgrounds and beaches.”

The onetime civil rights attorney began his legal career in 1951 in the second graduating class of S.C. State College’s all-black law school.

“I was born here in the middle of the previous century, and spent the last 30 years writing about imaginary versions of the current century,” Gibson said at the college’s commencement. “Somehow, I never expected to see Conway in the 21st century. I think it looks very good indeed, and I’m proud to be born here.”

Gibson’s family moved around with his father’s work and he ended up in British Columbia, where he still lives. He said he has thought of South Carolina only in passing, usually when an airport customs officer looks at his passport and asks where he was born.

The top-performing S.C. student was Elliott Chartock, an eighth-grader from Crayton Middle School in Columbia, according to G. Marguerite McClam of the S.C. Society of Professional Engineers. Chartock finished 101st out of 228 students in the competition, McClam said by phone from Denver, the tournament site.

Chartock’s classmate at Crayton, Hardie Cate, finished just outside the top half of all competitors at 118th, McClam said. Sam Collinsworth, a seventh-grader from Irmo Middle, placed 149th.

John Rushman, a Crayton Middle math teacher who plans to retire this June, coached the team. The S.C engineering society organizes local and state-level MATHCOUNTS competitions to find a team to compete in the national tournament.

In the process, he will shake about 4,500 hands of new graduates, as well as countless parents and family members, a custom abandoned by many large universities.

His lineup included hosting with his wife, Donna, about 700 students and their families at the president’s residence on the historic USC Horseshoe, and several graduation exercises at the USC regional campuses.

Sorensen, who will turn 70 in July, remains a vigorous advocate for USC and its students, and plans to return to a tenured professorship in the School of Medicine when he retires from the presidency at the end of July.

Presidential Search Committee Chairman Miles Loadholt has said he sees the search process quickening and expects three finalists to be named in June.

Rep. Bill Cotty, a Republican who has represented the district for 12 years, recently announced he won’t seek re-election.

Three Republicans are competing in the June 10 primary to earn the party’s nomination for the seat. The winner will face a tough test in the fall from a well-funded Democrat who narrowly lost to Cotty two years ago.

Cotty said he’s stepping down after a two-decade grind in politics.

“It’s time for me to go do something else,” said Cotty, whose proudest achievements include helping to move the Confederate flag from the State House dome, reducing residential property taxes and reforming welfare. “Including my time on the (Richland 2) school board, it’s been a 22-year sentence. I haven’t done anything that bad.”

“They’re trying to get drunk.”

— Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, on a bill to outlaw alcohol inhaler machines that allow people to inhale alcohol instead of drink it

S.C. PRIMARY

Days left until the June 10 primary: 30

A hearty congratulations to Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Orangeburg, who graduated from the University of South Carolina’s School of Law this week.

And just in time, as the General Assembly needs more lawyers.

The Buzz mentions this because Sellers told The Buzz that our publishing his $10,400 salary as a state lawmaker did little to impress the women of the Columbia area.

Though Sellers still needs to pass the bar exam, The Buzz thinks ladies might want to reconsider their previous verdict.