South-Carolina
South Carolina emerges as early battleground for GOP presidential candidate hopefuls
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South Carolina is shaping as much as be an early battleground state for GOP presidential hopefuls within the 2024 election, as Republicans start campaigning within the state Democrats chosen to be first of their main calendar.
Republicans started circling the realm as early as January after former President Donald Trump traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, for an “intimate” occasion the place he introduced his South Carolina crew. Former Trump U.N. ambassador and former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) is anticipated to announce her presidential marketing campaign on Feb. 15 in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Different GOP officers who’re elevating hypothesis a few White Home bid in 2024 have set their eyes on the state, as effectively. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is launching his “Religion in America” listening tour out of Charleston in late February to commemorate Black Historical past Month.
Former Vice President Mike Pence initially deliberate to go to South Carolina for a roundtable with legislation enforcement in Charleston on Monday and provide a meet-and-greet in Myrtle Seashore, however he postponed his journey after his daughter went into labor, per CBS.
Each Scott and Pence have but to announce that they’re operating for president, however they’ve closely hinted at it during the last a number of months. Scott stated throughout his reelection victory speech in November that he wished his father was alive to see “maybe one other man of coloration elected president of the US.” Pence advised supporters in mid-November that he was giving the choice “prayerful consideration” and that he thinks America can have “higher selections” for president sooner or later.
South Carolina has a historical past of selecting the eventual GOP White Home nominee, former Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey advised the Hill. He’s now unaffiliated with a marketing campaign.
“For the reason that inception of its main, the winner of the South Carolina contest has gone on to be the Republican nominee for president each time apart from as soon as, so it is sensible that we’d see candidates … of all backgrounds, candidates with all visions, candidates with White Home aspirations, come and make South Carolina like a second dwelling,” Godfrey stated.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung stated the previous president has led by “broad margins” in nationwide and South Carolina state polls. Trump has campaigned within the state throughout earlier presidential bids and supplied endorsements within the state’s primaries, weighing in favor of Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC).
“He made a profitable journey to the state and unveiled his management crew consisting of elected officers and grassroots leaders,” Cheung stated through the Hill. “President Trump is the one one who can cease Joe Biden’s radical agenda and return America to greatness.”
Nonetheless, Trump’s previous success doesn’t assure that South Carolina will swing in his favor, as voters within the state have traditionally thought-about numerous choices.
“I believe he does nonetheless have a really robust base of assist, however South Carolinians have all the time — this has been true in each Republican and Democratic primaries within the state — they’ve been fairly sensible about issues, and they also don’t all the time vote their coronary heart. They generally take a look at the lay of the land and take into consideration the larger image of who can truly win the final election,” Danielle Vinson, a professor of politics at Furman College, stated.
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The Palmetto Household Council advised the Hill it’s going to deal with this like a “12-month interview course of” and can hear from many doable GOP candidates on the Imaginative and prescient ’24 Nationwide Conservative Discussion board. Invited visitors embrace Trump, Pence, Scott, Haley, and DeSantis, however their attendance has not been confirmed as of but.
A January ballot from South Carolina Coverage Council discovered that 37% of main voters would assist Trump because the GOP candidate in 2024. Nonetheless, in a matchup between Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), the previous president considerably trailed the governor, 33% to 52%.
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South-Carolina
2 Union soldiers awarded Medal of Honor for Confederate train hijacking
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WASHINGTON — President Biden on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry to two Union soldiers who stole a locomotive deep in Confederate territory during the Civil War and drove it north for 87 miles as they destroyed railroad tracks and telegraph lines.
U.S. Army Pvts. Philip G. Shadrach and George D. Wilson were captured by Confederates and executed by hanging. Biden recognized their courage 162 years later with the country’s highest military decoration, calling the operation they joined “one of the most dangerous missions of the entire Civil War.”
“Every soldier who joined that mission was awarded the Medal of Honor except for two. Two soldiers who died because of that operation and never received this recognition,” Biden said. “Today, we right that wrong.”
The posthumous recognition comes as the legacy of the Civil War, which killed more than 600,000 Union and Confederate service members between 1861 and 1865, continues to shape U.S. politics in a contentious election year in which issues of race, constitutional rights and presidential power are at the forefront.
Biden has said that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump was the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War. Meanwhile, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, riffed at a recent Pennsylvania rally about the Battle of Gettysburg and about the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The president said Wednesday that Shadrach and Wilson were “fighting and even dying to preserve the union and the sacred values it was founded upon: freedom, justice, fairness, unity.”
“Phillip and George were willing to shed their blood to make these ideals real,” Biden said.
Theresa Chandler, the great-great-granddaughter of Wilson, recalled for The Associated Press how the Union soldier had the noose around his neck on the gallows and spoke his final words.
She said that Wilson essentially said that he was there to serve his country and had no ill feelings for the people of the South, but that he hoped for the abolition of slavery and for the nation to be united again.
“When I read that, I had chills,” Chandler said. “We can feel that as a family and that we’re enjoying our freedoms today, what he tried to move forward at the time.”
Brian Taylor, a great-great-great-nephew of Shadrach, said this was an opportunity for his ancestor to be remembered as “a brave soldier who did what he thought was right.”
“I kind of feel that he was a bit adventurous, a bit of a free spirit,” Taylor said.
Shadrach and Wilson are being recognized for participating in what became known as the Great Locomotive Chase.
A Kentucky-born civilian spy and scout named James J. Andrews put together a group of volunteers, including Shadrach and Wilson, to degrade the railway and telegraph lines used by Confederates in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
On April 12, 1862, 22 of the men in what was later called Andrews’ Raiders met up in Marietta, Georgia, and hijacked a train named The General. The group tore up tracks and sliced through telegraph wires while taking the train north.
Confederate troops chased them, initially on foot and later by train. The Confederate troops eventually caught the group. Andrews and seven others were executed, while the others either escaped or remained prisoners of war.
The first Medal of Honor ever bestowed went to Pvt. Jacob Parrott, who participated in the locomotive hijacking and was beaten while imprisoned by the Confederacy.
The government later recognized 18 other participants who took part in the raid with the honor, but Shadrach and Wilson were excluded. They were later authorized to receive the medal as part of the fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
Shadrach, born on Sept. 15, 1840, in Pennsylvania, was 21 years old when he volunteered for the mission. He was orphaned at a young age and left home in 1861 to enlist in an Ohio infantry regiment after the start of the Civil War.
Wilson was born in 1830 in Belmont County, Ohio. He worked as a journeyman shoemaker before the war and enlisted in an Ohio-based volunteer infantry in 1861.
The Walt Disney Corp. made a 1956 movie about the hijacking titled The Great Locomotive Chase, starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter. The 1926 silent film “The General,” starring Buster Keaton, was also based on the historic event.
Copyright 2024 NPR
South-Carolina
Dates set for South Carolina’s 2024 Tax Free Weekend
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – The dates are set for South Carolina’s 2024 Tax Free Weekend.
It kicks of Friday, Aug. 2 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 4.
Eligible items that can be purchased tax-free both in-store and online include:
- computers
- printers
- school supplies
- clothing and accessories
- shoes
- certain bed and bath items
Click here for a detailed list of tax-free items and shopping lists.
“As inflation continues to drain many wallets, this year’s Tax Free Weekend offers some relief for weary families,” said South Carolina Department of Revenue Director (SCDOR) Hartley Powell. “Every shopper saves money during this tax holiday, particularly on back-to-school essentials.”
According to SCDOR, shoppers in the Palmetto State bought over $30.4 million in tax-free items during last year’s Tax Free Weekend.
Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.
Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.
South-Carolina
Gas prices rise ahead of July 4th in Georgia, South Carolina
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Though gas prices in Georgia and South Carolina have risen ahead of Independence Day, GasBuddy predicts the lowest holiday price since 2021.
These are the prices for some of our counties a day before the holiday, according to AAA:
In the Augusta-Aiken area, gas was priced at $3.32 per gallon. That’s 10 cents higher than a year ago.
In the Aiken-Edgefield area, the price per gallon averaged $3.24 – seven cents higher than last year.
According to GasBuddy’s annual summer travel survey, 45% of Americans plan to head on the road over Independence Day weekend.
Drivers this Independence Day weekend might feel a little bit more patriotic when they head to the gas station. The national average price of gasoline on July 4 is expected to be $3.49 per gallon, the lowest holiday price since 2021, GasBuddy states.
As of Wednesday, the national average price still sits at $3.51 per gallon.
To save money on gas, drivers should shop around for the best prices, especially when crossing state lines, using a tool like the GasBuddy app. Road trippers can also sign up for the free Pay with GasBuddy card to save up to 25 cents per gallon on every fill-up.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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