Prosecution rests after 4 weeks of trial; Defense to start Tuesday
Disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who is being tried in Walterboro for the double murder of his wife and a son, had a cellphone with a flurry of activity just before he drove away from where authorities believe the pair were killed, according to Friday testimony.
Prosecutors rested their case Friday with a detailed timeline of what they think happened in the case, but some reports indicated they offered no "smoking gun" of evidence. Other reporting indicated that Murdaugh's alleged lies are causing big problems for the defense, which is expected to open its case on Tuesday following the President's Day holiday.
Brack: State lawmakers wrong to loosen gun laws
"Well, with guns, Republicans seem to want to take the anti-license approach to make it as easy as possible to walk around with a loaded weapon that can kill with the quick click of a trigger."
Average gas prices hover around $3/gallon
Prices are about $3.02 per gallon across the state -- 11 cents lower than last month.
MURDAUGH: Prosecutors show flurry of activity after killings
Disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who is being tried in Walterboro for the double murder of his wife and a son, had a cellphone with a flurry of activity just before he drove away from where authorities believe the pair were killed, according to Friday testimony.
Murdaugh defense to begin its case Tuesday
Detailed timeline presented at trial
What happened in 4th week of trial
Murdaugh trial to resume Tuesday
Murdaugh's car shows he sped down roads after murders
Murdaugh's apparent lies cause big problems for his defense
Takeaways from the Murdaugh trial and whether he will testify
Prosecution rests case in Murdaugh trial with timeline
CARTER: Former president elects for home hospice care
In what are expected to be his final days, former President Jimmy Carter has elected to spend his remaining time in hospice care at his home in Plains, Ga.
Tributes pour in for Carter
Despite landslide loss, Carter is celebrated today
Former president lives modestly in Georgia
Carter helped change world in his long career
Open enrollment bill would allow students to attend any school
The proposal would allow students to attend any public school in the state.
WORLD: Blinken has tense meeting with Chinese
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Saturday night in Munich with his Chinese counterpart in what was described as a confrontational meeting that resumed diplomatic contact after spy balloons traversed the U.S. and Canada.
Graham advises China not to jump on "Putin train"
Military finishes recovering spy balloon
Blinken says China was surveilling U.S. with balloon
A beauty seen in spy balloon pictures
This story talks about an old-time beauty in a Navy photographers photos of a downed Chinese spy balloon off the S.C. coast.
UKRAINE: Biden makes secret visit to Kyiv
The visit, in which the president took an hourslong train ride from Poland, was to demonstrate his resolve in face of Russia's yearlong invasion.
Biden visit is landmark moment for his presidency
War enters its second year
U.S. accuses Russia of crimes against humanity
Biden's trip is first to Ukraine since war started
Poland is next stop on president's itinerary
Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine
Putin's war is crafting a different Russia
VP Harris accuses Russia of "crimes against humanity"
2024: Haley's candidacy tests GOP sexism and gender politics
Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley's candidacy is testing the GOP's resolve on sexism and how female candidates can show strength, according to this analysis.
Dems grapple with how to handle Haley
Haley heads to N.H. to campaign
Sanders says Haley's "age-based competency" proposal is absurd
Hogan will make 2024 decision in spring
Division still exists in Haley's hometown, Bamberg
Some in GOP worry DeSantis overstepped on wokeness
What Biden's 2024 playbook might look like
Nephron furloughs some employees
A look at what the pharmaceutical company is doing.
Volvo wants to add 1,300 jobs at Ridgeville EV plant
The company wants to add 1,300 jobs to make its fully electric SUV in Ridgeville.
More Charleston restaurants embrace tech in worker shortage
A look at how more restaurants are using technology to battle worker shortages.
S.C. is nation's top exporter of tires and cars
Lots of commerce flows through the state's ports.
REI opens in Mount Pleasant
The outdoors store had a grand opening over the weekend.
Charleston history podcast heads to radio
Fans of the Charleston Time Machine, an award-winning local history podcast produced by the Charleston County Public Library (CCPL), will be able to listen to it in a new way starting today.
Conservationists say protection act no longer really works
"The Endangered Species Act turns 50 years old this year. Both university researchers and state agency conservationists say the law is outdated; the status quo no longer works for the vast majority of species."
512 acres protected at iconic Sheldon Plantation
The Beaufort County treasure has a bigger buffer around it.
SEWE: Photo essay of Dock Dogs
A look at some dogs jumping into water!
Birds of prey fly over SEWE
SEWE celebrates last day of events
MUSC motion-capture system seeks to prevent injury
A look at a new system that could prevent injury and improve health.
Can hospitals keep burned-out nurses?
The pandemic has pushed nurses over the edge, according to this story. A look at what hospitals can do to keep them.
QUOTE: Prison deaths rose nearly 50% during pandemic
A South Carolina woman is quoted in this story as saying, "“There are so many who passed away due to not getting the medical care they needed. Most of these people, they didn’t go in there with death sentences, but they’re dying.” It was the quote of the day in The New York Times on Monday.
History -- Beaufort gets silver cup awarded to captain who drove away pirates
An interesting story about a British sea captain, an elaborate silver cup given to him, pirates and Beaufort.
Lexington is using AI to control traffic signals
The practice is raising questions while easing congestion.
Georgetown council to review public comment policy
Council will revisit a controversial public comment policy that passed in 2022.
Columbia's fireplug sculpture to move to storage
The 40-foot fireplug will go into storage until the city can find another home for it.
Dorchester residents fear pains from growth
Ridgeville-area residents are worried by the impact of fast growth in the rural area.
On improving Union Pier plan
"But residents shouldn’t wait and instead now dive into the plan’s details, which include about 1,600 multifamily residential units and 600 hotel rooms, buildings up to 7 stories tall and 540,000 square feet of retail and office space on the 36 developable acres, plus 19 acres of public open space, mostly along the Cooper River."
Haley best, so far, for GOP
"...at this point, she is clearly the best Republican candidate for president. And she will remain such if she proves to have that magical set of qualities that makes her most able to outpoll Donald Trump, because the top goal of Republicans should be to make sure that the former president is not the 2024 presidential nominee."
Melvin: Help us bring Union Pier vision to life
"We announced last year that we plan to stop homeport cruises at the end of 2024 and transition to port-of-call cruises only. This frees up much of the property for redevelopment. The time has come for Union Pier to become something that truly benefits the people who live here. We should not let this opportunity pass us by."
Lawmakers need to get serious on reducing abortions
"You’d think that people who truly believe that abortion is murder would consider it more important to reduce access to the procedure as much as they can rather than pound their chests and proclaim that they refused to compromise with people who don’t want to go as far as they do, even as the number of abortions in our state skyrockets. But apparently not."
Scoppe: School provision not at odds with Supreme Court
"Lawmakers need to stick to their arguments about the confusion that was created by a badly written S.C. Supreme Court opinion and steer clear of the racism argument that they’ve been making — because frankly it’s indistinguishable from the woke arguments about U.S. history that they rightly object to. "
Parker: Murdaugh trial shows sloppy investigation
"But testimony and cross-examination revealed that SLED dropped so many balls that Murdaugh, conceivably, might not have been indicted. Investigators apparently failed to consider any other potential suspects, including members of a local drug gang known as the Cowboys, with whom, according to Griffin, Murdaugh conducted business to the tune of $50,000 a week."
On breaking the stalemate in Ukraine
"To allow an outcome that rewards the Kremlin in any way would be a moral travesty. It would also deal a potentially lethal blow to the principle on which Western stability and civilized international conduct rests: that sovereign states cannot be invaded, subjugated and subjected to mass slaughter with impunity."
Bacon: Reining in GOP judges creates need for shaming
"With little ability to formally limit the power of conservative judges, there are only informal means left."
What Ukraine now needs
"A year since Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine, the war is far from over. However bravely Ukrainians fight on, and however muddled the performance of Russia’s military, Ukraine cannot prevail without continued and substantial Western assistance."
Renkl: Hale Co., Ala., may be heart of America
"For nearly 90 years, this county in the Alabama Black Belt has been chronicled in the work of some of this country’s most celebrated artists."
Gates: Who is afraid of Black history?
" The so-called Lost Cause movement was, in effect, a take-no-prisoners social media war. And no single group or person was more pivotal to “the dissemination of the truths of Confederate history, earnestly and fully and officially,” than the historian general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Mildred Lewis Rutherford, of Athens, Ga."
Klein: We're not asking right question about Biden
"At some point, those of us who keep declaring Biden too old to do the job need to reckon with what they’ve missed until now and might still be missing."