"Now it's our turn"

Immigration, health care repeal on governor elect's to-do list

NOVEMBER 4, 2010 12:02 p.m. (0)

Governing South Carolina next year won’t be for the faint of heart and Tuesday night Nikki Haley looked like she was so ready to jump in she was giddy.

Consider: South Carolina’s unemployment rate is 11 percent, sixth highest in the nation.

State government likely will have $1 billion less to spend. This year’s budget is $21 billion.  Continue reading...

 

What Hitt means for Haley

New Commerce chief has two decades of S.C. navigating experience

DECEMBER 9, 2010 12:28 p.m. (0)

Robert M. “Bobby” Hitt III’s appointment as Gov.-elect Nikki Haley’s chief at the Department of Commerce bodes well for the state’s economic future, officials with the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance said this week.

Hitt has been BMW’s go-to guy for nearly 20 years in incentive negotiations with the state and has dealt with South Carolina’s last five commerce secretaries. Observers say he has played a key role in one of the state’s biggest business successes.

He is 60 and a 1973 graduate of the University of South Carolina’s College of Journalism. He and wife Gwen have two sons ages 31 and 19 and live in Simpsonville.  Continue reading...

 

Legislature moves quickly on new governor’s agenda

But expert says first year won’t be true test on its relationship with Haley

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:18 a.m. (0)

New South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley told the state during her inaugural address it was time to get to work.

And the state legislature took her literally.

During the first days of this session of the state’s 119th General Assembly, the House passed a bill requiring more roll call votes and voters to have photo identification and the Senate confirmed some of Haley’s cabinet choices.  Continue reading...

 

Haley: "Join the Movement"

Governor promises to ensure budget cuts don't cause excessive harm

MARCH 10, 2011 1:55 p.m. (0)

Gov. Nikki Haley was blunt during Monday night’s Town Hall Meeting at Greenville Tech; South Carolinians in all walks of life are going to hurt over the budgetary decisions brought on by the recession and past legislative actions.

But she promised to make smart choices and to do all within her power to make sure the cuts do not hurt the least of the state’s citizens excessively.

In a particularly sharp exchange with Henry Harrison, CEO of American Services, over planned increases on unemployment taxes for companies that laid off the most workers during the depths of the recession; Haley said she doesn’t listen to politicians.  Continue reading...

 

Gov. Haley starts on memoir

MARCH 16, 2011 1:06 p.m. (0)

Writing a memoir is almost a rite of passage for presidential hopefuls and Gov. Nikki Haley is busy pecking away at hers in spare moments at the governor’s mansion in Columbia.

But she says it isn’t because she is planning to run for higher office.  Continue reading...

 

Bead Weaver

Melissa Earley turns old craft into fine art

AUGUST 1, 2011 11:18 a.m. (0)

Go to an art exhibit and you’ll see many pieces of finished art, but rarely does the public get to see what goes into creating it.

“It seems the general conception of artists is they’ve got some kind of supernatural talent or something,” said Spartanburg bead artist Melissa Earley. “I think it’s important for people to see the artistic process because it demystifies it. Art in general becomes a little less intimidating.”

That’s one of the reasons Earley decided to weave a large-scale beaded portrait during the month her work is being exhibited at the Metropolitan Arts Council gallery at 16 Augusta St. in Greenville.  Continue reading...

 

South Carolina tourism is bouncing back

Governor Haley warns against regionalism when promoting the state

MARCH 1, 2012 12:15 p.m. (0)

Greenville has seen a noticeable spike in tourism since the depths of the Great Recession, tourism officials said last Tuesday during the Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Travel at the Embassy Suites.

Tourist visits are up 9.7 percent since 2009. Figures from 2010 provided by Chris Stone of the Convention and Visitors Bureau showed 4.9 million visitors – that’s 13,600 per day – came to Greenville County, spending an estimated $957 million and creating 11,900 jobs.

Meanwhile, Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport showed a 38 percent jump in traffic, hotel tax collections were up 14 percent and restaurant sales were up 5 percent. Retail, reportedly, was holding even during the period.  Continue reading...