South-Carolina
Hollywood SC mayor sued for using town Facebook page to endorse brother
HOLLYWOOD — The mayor here is being sued by a Republican candidate for her old Statehouse seat after she allegedly used the town’s Facebook page to endorse her brother for the office.
In a lawsuit filed in state court in Charleston, James Teeple — a Republican candidate for House District 116 — claims Hollywood Mayor Chardale Murray used the town’s official Facebook page on several occasions to promote her brother, Hollywood-based pastor and Democratic Statehouse candidate Charlie Murray Jr.
In a pair of since-deleted posts on the Hollywood Facebook page, the town appeared to be explicitly boosting Murray Jr.’s campaign, including by featuring an ABC News 4 story announcing his bid for the Charleston-area seat.
The district stretches from just outside West Ashley into the Ravenel area and south toward Edisto Beach.
After Teeple’s campaign issued a complaint, the town took down the post. But a little more than a week later, on March 20, the town posted a series of photos of Murray attending her brother’s campaign launch, which explicitly noted Murray Jr. was the brother of the sitting mayor.
A Facebook post by the town of Hollywood showing Mayor Chardale Murray at the campaign launch event of her brother, Democratic candidate Charlie Murray Jr.
Teeple claims in the lawsuit the posts were intentionally made to help Murray Jr.’s campaign. Teeple charges the act is a violation of Section 8-13-1346 of the South Carolina Ethics Code, which stipulates an individual “may not use or authorize the use of public funds, property, or time to influence the outcome of an election.”
“It has absolutely tipped the scales in this election,” Teeple said in an interview with The Post and Courier. “I’m gonna have to spend more dollars, more time and more effort to try to combat the illegal activity of the Murrays. That is undisputed fact.”
Teeple is asking for a public apology, the reimbursement of the cost of his attorneys fees, a prohibition on the town making any political posts on social media, and for both Chardale Murray and Charles Murray Jr. to be “barred from office for 15 years, per the statute.”
Sources with Murray Jr.’s campaign, however, claim there is nothing to try them on, and are considering a countersuit against Teeple and his attorney, William Koatesworth Swope, who earned public reprimands from the South Carolina Supreme Court for violations of the South Carolina rules of professional conduct in 2002 and 2012.
“Obviously, this is ridiculous,” Aaron White, Murray Jr.’s campaign manager, wrote in a statement. “Rev. Murray has no control over what any of his supporters post on Facebook. Mr. Teeple, who is a far-right wing extremist, and his attorney, who has previously earned a reprimand from the SC Supreme Court, are using the legal system to create a false political narrative. Rev. Murray is a respected member of this community, and the voters here will not be fooled by these shameless shenanigans.”

Emailed messages to Murray’s assistant and the Hollywood town attorney’s office were not immediately returned.
Teeple said he has also reported the offending posts to the South Carolina Ethics Commission, which declined to confirm or deny an investigation in emails with The Post and Courier.
The race for the 116th District is expected to be one of the most competitive of the 2024 elections.

Murray, who was elected to the seat by fewer than two points in the 2020 elections, lost her seat by a similarly small margin just two years later in her re-election bid against Johns Island Republican Matt Leber, who is vacating the seat to run for the South Carolina Senate.
After district lines were redrawn following the 2020 U.S. Census, the seat is still essentially a toss-up, though the Democratic vote share in the 2020 elections currently outweighs Republicans by a three-point margin, according to state redistricting data.
But in a presidential election year, every vote counts — particularly for a candidate who already faces a slight disadvantage. As of April, Murray Jr.’s campaign had outraised Teeple by several thousand dollars, fueled by an infusion of $30,000 of his own money, according to campaign finance reports.
Teeple said he just wants a level playing field.
“I want nothing monetary,” said Teeple. “I’m just about making it a fair election. There’s going to be people that may not show up to vote now, that think it won’t matter in that area. And that absolutely goes back to voter suppression through their illegal use of their office. It just blows my mind that would happen.”
South-Carolina
Nancy Mace’s foul-mouthed airport tirades roil race for South Carolina governorship as rival slams ‘spoiled brat’
New disclosures of a foul-mouthed tirade by Rep. Nancy Mace in the Charleston airport have roiled the South Carolina governor’s race and ignited angry accusations between the lawmaker and one of her competitors in the Republican primary.
Her rival, state AG Alan Wilson, called Mace a “spoiled brat” who treats cops like “servants,” at a time when the two of them are furiously competing for support from voters – and President Trump.
Mace back in August called herself “Trump in high heels” and acknowledged “I would really like his support for governor.” So far, Trump hasn’t given it – to anybody.
Mace this week slammed an internal Charleston Airport Authority investigation that probed her profanity-laced “spectacle” Oct. 30, when Mace chewed out police officers and TSA agents over expedited security for her outbound flight, after a planned VIP escort fell through.
New details are still coming to light – including an earlier incident in April where Mace allegedly blew up at agents who wouldn’t let her bring a family member through expedited security, according to the investigation report.
“This is the only airport that gives me s–t,” she complained, according to one of the numerous law enforcement officers interviewed as part of the probe.
The investigative report was obtained by The Post through a public documents request.
One interviewed TSA agent quotes Mace as telling a cop following the botched Oct. 30 escort for her arrival at an airport gate, “I’m sick of your s–t, I’m tired of having to wait.”
Another officer, an explosives tech, described Mace as being “very nasty, very rude.” She said she could hear Mace calling police officers “f–king idiots” and “f–king incompetent” and stating that she was a “f–king representative.”
Yet the airport was “not busy at all” at the time of the incident, the officer said.
A TSA agent said during the interaction Mace “literally was on that phone talking and texting her life away” as well as “saying rude things,” according to the investigative report.
One TSA officer who had been at the airport 23 years told investigators “every VIP or whomever, dignitary, that we’ve been across and had to deal with, we never, never had this problem.”
Mace hired an attorney and threatened weeks ago to sue the airport over the October incident, but has yet to do so.
The report revealed the April confrontation when agents wouldn’t let Mace bring a family member through expedited security. TSA later let her take family members with her when she got screened.
“I thought that the way she acted showed a sense of entitlement – [that] she is entitled to special protection, she is entitled to special treatment. When she doesn’t get special treatment, she throws a tantrum. To me that harkens back to a child not getting their way,” Wilson told The Post in an interview.
“These are public servants, not personal servants,” he said of law enforcement at the airport.
Mace told CNN in an interview this week the report had been “falsified,” without providing evidence. In response to Wilson’s “brat” comment, she wrote: “Imagine being ‘Attorney General’ and flying 500 miles for the sole purpose of dismissing death threats against a single mom.”
She told The Post she has received numerous credible death threats, and said on Friday a judge denied bond to a man accused of making online threats against her. She said during the April incident TSA had violated its own policy allowing federal officials to bring a guest and separated her from her child.
Mace has been taking her case to the airwaves in a week where she trashed the House Republican leadership in a Washington Post op-ed.
A consultant to Mace’s campaign, Austin McCubbin, resigned Dec. 1, accusing her of turning her back on MAGA and trying to “hug the political cactus that is the [Sen.] Rand Paul [and Rep.] Thomas Massie wing of the Party.”
South-Carolina
A Stronger Rail Network Is a Win for South Carolina’s Economy – FITSNews
“The combined rail system would offer the reliability our business community has been asking for…”
by NATHAN BALLENTINE
***
For as long as I’ve served in the South Carolina House, I’ve believed that strong infrastructure is the backbone of a strong economy. Whether talking about roads, bridges, broadband, or freight mobility, our ability to efficiently move people and goods determines how competitive our state will be in the decades ahead. South Carolina continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, and with that growth comes a responsibility to ensure our logistics network can meet the demands of modern commerce.
That is why the proposed merger between Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) deserves thoughtful consideration, not just at the national level, but here at home. South Carolina’s economic success is directly tied to reliable freight transportation. From advanced manufacturing in the Upstate, to the distribution and warehousing centers in the Midlands, to the countless businesses that depend on steady supply chains, every region of our state relies on a freight system that works smoothly and predictably.
When freight rail is fragmented across multiple networks, bottlenecks and delays become far more common. Businesses, especially those operating with tight production schedules and narrow delivery windows, feel the impacts immediately. A delayed railcar can throw off inventory planning, disrupt operations, and create ripple effects that stretch across an entire supply chain. These unpredictable slowdowns can be enormously costly for the companies that keep South Carolina’s economy moving.
***
The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger aims to address many of these longstanding challenges. By creating a unified network connecting more than 50,000 miles of track and linking 43 states with over 100 ports nationwide, the combined rail system would offer something our business community has been asking for: reliability. Studies indicate the merger could generate approximately $1 billion in annual cost savings and improve freight-car velocity by around 10 percent. These aren’t abstract figures, they reflect tangible improvements that would strengthen operations for employers, distributors, retailers, and consumers alike.
***
“Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina…”
***
A more dependable rail network means companies can plan with greater precision, suppliers can manage logistics with fewer surprises, and transportation partners can commit to schedules with increased confidence. Economic development teams would also have an even stronger pitch when attracting new employers to South Carolina: not just a skilled workforce and business-friendly climate, but a transportation network capable of supporting long-term growth.
Improved rail performance also benefits South Carolina’s infrastructure more broadly. Rail is one of the most efficient ways to move goods long distances. Every shipment that travels by rail instead of truck reduces congestion on our highways, lowers fuel costs, and decreases wear and tear on roads that taxpayers ultimately fund. Better rail capacity complements, rather than replaces, our ongoing efforts to invest in roads and bridges across the state. It allows us to stretch transportation dollars further and focus on the improvements most needed in fast-growing communities.
Another important factor is competitiveness. States across the Southeast are aggressively investing in logistics infrastructure to position themselves as national leaders in manufacturing and distribution. If South Carolina wants to stay ahead, and continue attracting companies that create stable, high-quality jobs, we must support improvements that strengthen the reliability and efficiency of our freight network. The Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger presents an opportunity to do just that.
***
RELATED | SOURCES: S.C. LAWMAKERS THREATEN SUPREME COURT
***
As someone who has spent nearly two decades advocating for responsible, forward-looking growth in our state, I believe that modernizing our freight system is not just a transportation issue, it is an economic necessity. Ensuring that goods can move quickly, safely, and predictably is fundamental to the success of our businesses and the financial well-being of South Carolina families.
Federal regulators will ultimately determine the path forward, and their review should be thorough and transparent. But from where I sit, the potential benefits to our state are clear. A more integrated, efficient rail system will help South Carolina businesses compete, help consumers by keeping costs lower, and help our state maintain the strong economic momentum we’ve built over the past decade.
A stronger rail network means a stronger South Carolina, and that is a future we should fully support.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Nathan Ballentine represents the citizens of House District 71 in the S.C. General Assembly.
***
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South-Carolina
LIVE: SC AG Alan Wilson, state, national leaders hold press conference on statewide drug busts
Statehouse Reporter Mary Green will have more on this tonight.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – South Carolina Attorney General and other officials will be holding a press conference Friday at 9:30 a.m. to talk about statewide drug busts.
Wilson is set to be joined by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel, representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as several local sheriffs and other law enforcement partners.
Watch the full press conference in the video above.
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