Archive By Section - Editorials
Noted and Passed
• So, voters will have to go back to the polls a week from Tuesday, thanks to runoffs for one local race and two state races. While it wasn't inevitable, having three people vie for the Republican nomination for Kershaw County Council chairman certainly increased the chance for a runoff. At one point during election returns, it appeared Julian Burns hit the magic 50.1 percent to avoid a runoff, but voters turned out to be too split between him and challengers Gene Hartis and Ben Connell. Hartis came in second, but decided not to face Burns a second time ...
Graham and Cantor
Politics is often surprising, and trends don't always develop the way the so-called political pundits predict. Nowhere was that more evident Tuesday than in South Carolina and Virginia. Sen. Lindsey Graham swept to a resounding Palmetto State victory over a host of primary opponents, winning the nomination without having to endure a run-off, while in Virginia, U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor went down to a surprising defeat, knocked off by a little-known, under-financed Tea Party candidate.
Eyes on Pinehurst
The eyes of the sporting nation will be focused on the Carolinas -- Pinehurst, N.C., to be specific -- for the next two weeks as the men's and women's U. S. Open golf championships are held at the classic Pinehurst Number Two course, designed by famed golf course architect Donald Ross, who also crafted Camden Country Club. It will be the first time men and women pros have played their championships on the same course, and many are calling the back-to-back competitions a stroke of genius. Indeed, women pros, who've never garnered as much attention as their male ...
Noted and passed - June 9, 2014
• Tuesday is primary day and, as we always do, we urge everyone to go out and vote. Primaries tend to have a lower turnout than the general elections in November, but this year's primary may turn out to have a high participation rate. That's because several important races will be decided on Tuesday rather than in the fall. The biggest of these, of course, is that for Kershaw County Sheriff. With two Republican candidates and no Democratic contenders, Tuesday is the one and only time this year voters can decide who will be their next sheriff. The race ...
Texting ban
At long last, the S.C. General Assembly seems poised to pass a bill that will ban texting while driving. The move is overdue; South Carolina is one of only three states in the union which don't have such a law, but we suppose that late is better than never. House and Senate solons agreed earlier this week to a measure that will make texting while driving illegal. The law, if approved as expected, will take precedence over local laws passed by various communities, including one in Camden.
Tourism director
Tourism is more important than ever before to our economy, not just in the city of Camden and Kershaw County, but throughout South Carolina and the Southeast. It is especially important to Camden, however, as the general economy has remained sluggish despite recent turnarounds.
Noted and passed - June 2, 2014
• There is no doubt that the Ross E. Beard Jr. gun collection -- really it is so much more than that -- has energized interest in what is already one of Camden's crown jewels: the Camden Archives and Museum. Beard loaned a significant portion of his collection to the city more than a year ago. Friday's exciting news that the city is contemplating purchasing the entire collection outright means that the guns, photographs, spy gear and other memorabilia could be permanently housed at the archives. As of last August, just months after the Beard exhibit opened, Archives Director Katherine Richardson ...
Lake safety
With Memorial Day just behind us, the "official season" at Lake Wateree has begun, and between now and Labor Day, thousands of Kershaw County residents will be taking to the lake to enjoy summer fun. Duke Energy recently released a summer safety document, and we'd like to join in urging people to use sound judgment and common sense at the lake, lest recreation turn into tragedy.
VA brouhaha
Noted conservative commentator and writer George Will made a valid point recently in discussing the crisis at the Veterans Affairs Department. The federal government, he said, is really good at one thing: writing checks. But when it comes to operational matters, Uncle Sam seems to regularly find new and innovative ways to foul things up. The VA brouhaha is a classic example.
Noted and passed - May 26, 2014
• As KershawHealth begins to reveal more details and implement its recently released strategic plan, it's good to see strong support coming from both the KershawHealth Foundation and Carolina Cup Racing Association (CCRA). As published Friday, the two organizations are showing that support in the form of a more than $1 million investment -- a $675,000 grant from the foundation and another $345,000 in CCRA donations raised from past Cups -- to install a new nurse call system at the main campus' medical center. As KershawHealth's press release pointed out, the new system doesn't merely upgrade a patient ...
Moderates win
If Republicans hope to wrest control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats this fall, the party will need to have broader appeal than the support of the Tea Party and other hard-line conservative groups. Tuesday's elections opened that door across the country as in several states, moderate Republicans won primary victories over well-financed challengers from the right.
Head to the polls
Politically, it's a bit of an unusual year here in Kershaw County and South Carolina. Lieutenant Governor Glenn McConnell is stepping down to become the president of the College of Charleston, and those in line to succeed him say they don't want the thankless and mostly meaningless job. But in the meantime, there are four candidates running for that post in the June Republican primary, so it obviously appeals to somebody. We suspect there is the lingering hope that becoming lieutenant governor is a stepping stone to the governor's office, although it hasn't been so in ...
Noted and passed - May 19, 2014
• Polo. For many, the word immediately conjures up the phrase "the sport of kings." It's origins date back to, possibly, as early as the 6th century B.C. in Persia, apparently used as a training game for the king's guard or other elite cavalry units. Today, polo is played professionally in 16 countries. It is also played in Camden on the nation's second oldest polo field, built in 1898. Visitors from around the world gathered to watch polo matches on that field for the next 50 years. Interest waned in the latter half of the 20th century ...
Manning’s edict
We've certainly come a long way from the citizen-lawmakers envisioned by our forefathers -- farmers and craftsmen and professionals who would travel from their homes to the nation's capital, tend to the country's business and then go back home. But an even bigger divergence from the founding fathers' vision would be the concept that there is a class of people in this country who are above the law. That's the impression Judge Casey Manning gave recently when he ruled that Attorney General Alan Wilson didn't have the right to investigate possible illegal activities on the part ...
Free speech?
One of the most cherished rights on college campuses across the country is freedom of speech -- unless the tone of that speech doesn't agree with the politics of left-leaning professors and students. The tolerance they so widely espouse gets left in the dust in the case of people who don't share their own political philosophies.
Articles by Section - Editorials
Editorial: Big money Dems
The ever-present cable news shows are already fixated on the 2016 presidential campaign, with the Republican race a wide-open affair and the Democratic nomination said to be Hillary Clinton's for the asking. Of course, we'll point out Clinton was also the overwhelming favorite in 2008 until Barack Obama came along and stole her candy. But one thing's for sure, no matter whom the parties nominate: massive amounts of money will be spent.
Editorial: Giuliani’s comments
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who's never been accused of being circumspect, went over the top last week when he accused President Obama of not loving his country. Giuliani has refused to back down from his comments, and some in the GOP have defended him while others have said they wouldn't have made the same statement. Politics, of course, is involved, as both Democrats and Republicans are already jockeying for position for 2016.
Noted and passed - Feb. 23, 2015
• We're sad to learn of Joseph Bruce's pending retirement from KershawHealth and the KershawHealth Foundation (see our front page), but happy for him as he reaches that point in life where he can choose do what he appears to enjoy: namely traveling to the United Kingdom and other points abroad. Bruce had the difficult job of following foundation founder Vern Ketchem, who died just months before Bruce joined KershawHealth in late 2007. When we consider all the foundation has done since then, we believe Ketchem would be proud of Bruce's work. He and the foundation board launched ...
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