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A statewide program aimed at curbing recidivism rates among youthful offenders has been producing dividends in its early years, South Carolina Department of Corrections officials report.

The department incorporated the Intensive Supervision Services as a part of the Division of Young Offender Parole and Reentry Services in 2011. The program sought to reduce the rate that youthful offenders 17 to 25 years old return to jail. That rate historically has exceeded 50 percent, marking what the SCDC considered the least successful rate of any age group under parole supervision.

So far, the program has served 1,240 youthful offenders, and of that number, 57 violated terms of their parole ”“ and went back to jail ”“ while 140 others have graduated from the program and reentered their communities. A parole violation, like the failure of a drug test, doesn’t always result in a return to jail but can result in a graduated response such as additional rehabilitation or tracking bracelets.

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Politicians around the country speak of him reverently, casting him as the sagacious Obi-Wan Kenobi (or maybe Yoda) of local government and noting that no current mayor of a well-known city has lasted so long.

“To maintain enormous popularity in your city and equal reservoirs of respect professionally among your peers ”” I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been able to do that like he has,” Stephen Goldsmith, the former mayor of Indianapolis, told me.

I had to visit him. I was exhausted with all the cynicism, including my own, about politics and politicians, and I craved something and someone sunnier. I was curious about the perspective of a leader who had clearly gotten a whole lot right.

What makes for good governance? Riley’s observations warranted attention.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:3

I write on the eve of the upcoming trial between the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church scheduled, God-willing, to take place in St. George, SC from July 8””18, 2014 and under the jurisdiction of the Honorable Diane S. Goodstein. Much work by our legal team under the leadership of Mr. Alan Runyan has already been done. The staff and members from many of our parishes, as well as the diocesan staff, have logged countless hours in the detail work of discovery. Much prayer has been invested by our clergy, vestries, intercessors, and the rank and file members of our congregations. For all of this I am profoundly grateful.

The path that has brought us as a diocese to this hour has been long and winding. Yet through it all we have been guided by a desire to be faithful to the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as we have received it ever striving to be mindful that we have been entrusted with this Truth, this Good News and rich heritage, in order to share it with those who have yet to come into the reach of Christ’s saving embrace….

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When Father Aristotle Damaskos was growing up, he and his Catholic cousins would always “play mass.” “And I was always the priest,” Damaskos, a Greek Orthodox priest for 26 years, said with a smile.

But it wasn’t until a church camp trip to Greece at the age of 15 that Damaskos felt the call from God to become a priest. Originally, he had wanted to be a meteorologist, but he realized “it was too much math.” As Damaskos likes to say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

“God had other plans for me,” Damaskos said. Fifteen years later, he was ordained.

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From here:

During the duration of the legal proceedings involving the Diocese that begin on Monday, July 7th, The Prayer Center at St. Christopher in cooperation with the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul will coordinate a Prayer Vigil from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily on weekdays. Participants can commit to pray at The Prayer Center, the Cathedral, or in the privacy of their own church or home. Those that commit to pray at The Prayer Center can also book overnight accommodations (space permitting) at a reduced rate. To participate in this Vigil, please call Rhonda at St. Christopher at 843.768.0429 or Kelli at the Cathedral at 843.722.7345.

Read it all and note especially the NEXT Mere Anglicanism conference in 2015–Salt and Light; The Christian Response to Secularism.

After a flurry of last-minute emergency motions and appeals, the so-called “Episcopal Church in South Carolina” rump group (“ECSC”) has run out of maneuvers to delay the start of the scheduled trial next week before Circuit Judge Diane Goodstein.

Well — they did manage to delay the start by one day. They had argued, in a last-minute motion for a continuance, that they had not had sufficient time to complete thirty-four depositions of persons familiar with each of the individual parishes who joined Bishop Lawrence’s Diocese of South Carolina as co-plaintiffs in the case. And Judge Goodstein denied their motion to continue the trial, but ordered them to complete all 34 depositions this Monday, July 7.

Then ECSC overreached….

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The defendants’ conduct is sanctionable. They have willfully misused the judicial system to secure delay by casting blame on the Court and the Plaintiffs for the logical outcome of their ill devised strategy. If they lack time to prepare, it is not time they are due. By their own hand, they are where they are not by the hands of the Court nor those of the Plaintiffs. The Motion for a Continuance should be denied.

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South Carolina Circuit judge orders TEC to complete 34 depositions it had cancelled ”“ and cited as a reason to delay the trial ”“ on Monday

ST. GEORGE, SC, JULY 3, 2014 ”“ After 18 months of delays, a South Carolina court will on Tuesday begin considering the lawsuit to protect Diocese of South Carolina assets from seizure by The Episcopal Church (TEC) and its local subsidiary, The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC).

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Just a wobble away – that’s how close Tropical Storm Arthur will come Thursday to the Lowcountry.

Forecasters said the eye of the storm will pass 100 miles out to sea or closer. On Wednesday, the storm’s winds extended 90 miles from the eye.

The National Weather Service’s forecast Thursday night called for strong winds and rain squalls for Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties – harsher nearer the coast – but not tropical storm conditions.

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Passions on both sides of the birth control debate were inflamed Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that some businesses can hold religious objections that allow them to opt out of the new health law requirement that they cover contraception for women.

But one University of South Carolina law professor called the Hobby Lobby ruling “not a huge surprise.”

“It could have gone different ways, but the court has, in recent years, been very pro-corporation,” said health care attorney and professor Jacqueline Fox.

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Archbishop Peter Jensen and Archbishop Benjamin and Gloria Kwashi are visiting the Diocese. Both Archbishops preached in Diocesan churches on Sunday, June 29.

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But [Judge] Goodstein ruled, and reaffirmed this month in order denying reconsideration of her ruling, that adding the parties to the lawsuit with new counterclaims “would unduly complicate this matter, especially at this state of the litigation.” The judge noted that the request to add the parties had already been denied by the court three other times.

Her ruling was appealed this week to the South Carolina Court of Appeals, putting the trial, for now, on hold.

“We are disappointed that The Episcopal Church filed another appeal, but not surprised,” said a statement from Jan Pringle, a spokeswoman for The Diocese of South Carolina. “This is the 4th time they have attempted to unnecessarily add additional parties.”

She said the diocese has filed a court response and hopes that the trial will not be delayed. She noted two of the people named in the motion no longer have leadership roles in the diocese.

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(Craige Borrett photo)

You can read the article here but only if you read it alongside the A.S. Haley .

Archbishop Peter Jensen and Archbishop Benjamin and Gloria Kwashi are visiting the Diocese June 29-30

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As lawmakers continue the call for answers into the troubled Veterans Affairs health care system, including South Carolina’s Sen. Tim Scott, the White House released findings Friday describing “significant and chronic system failures,” substantially verifying problems raised by whistleblowers and internal and congressional investigators.

A summary of the review, ordered by President Barack Obama and conducted by deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors, says the Veterans Health Administration must be restructured and that a “corrosive culture” has hurt morale and affected the timeliness of health care. The review also found that a 14-day standard for scheduling veterans’ medical appointments is unrealistic and has been susceptible to manipulation.

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Slippersnails, olives, periwinkles, tulips – thousands of species of sea snails live in saltwater off the Lowcountry, uncounted millions of creatures.

If they all were wiped out by an ecological catastrophe it would take out the “base line” food of the marine food chain, the food eaten by foraging fish that in turn are eaten by larger fish. It would starve the ocean, the economies and the people who depend on it.

That’s not a dire prediction linked to climate change. It’s already starting to happen as the ocean gets more acidic. And for the Lowcountry, ocean acidification might not even be the real threat. It might be what scientists call the one-two punch of acidification and low oxygen in the estuaries, the nursery for the shellfish we eat – shrimp, oysters, clams.

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[Alonzo] Twine died in the asylum three years later of a devastating illness caused by malnutrition, stripped of his freedom and the writings of his faith. It looked as if the Baha’i Faith in South Carolina might die with him.

Instead, it grew quietly, spreading through living room “firesides” and prayer groups, under the radar of many.

That’s partly why a recent religion census drew a spate of national media attention to the Palmetto State. It was no surprise that the 2010 Religion Census found Christianity easily dominates here.

But who knew that 100 years after Twine’s death, the Baha’i Faith has become South Carolina’s second-largest religion? Not many people, except maybe the Baha’is themselves.

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South Carolina is on one heck of a roll when it comes to tires.

The Palmetto State in the fourth quarter of 2013 elbowed aside Oklahoma as the nation’s leading tire producer, churning out 89,000 a day compared to the Sooner State’s 88,000 a day, according to estimates by Tire Business magazine.

It is also expanding its lead as the export king ”“ last year shipping 30 percent of the nation’s overseas market, three times as many tires as its nearest competitor, Ohio.

“South Carolina is No. 1,” Dave Zielasko, the magazine’s publisher and editor-in-chief, said. “And its not surprising. South Carolina has really been aggressive in attracting these factories.”

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You may find the audio link here if you wish to suffer through it.

The collapse of Iraq’s armed forces in the face of a lightning advance by Islamic militants has left some Lowcountry veterans of the Iraq war, incuding the Army general who helped pave the way for the U.S. invasion in 2003, frustrated, saddened and disappointed.

“I’m very sad about what could have been and what appears is now happening,” retired Lt. Gen. Colby Broadwater, who commanded operations in northern Iraq and Turkey in early 2003, said Friday. “We lost the better part of 4,000 soldiers in that operation. The Iraqis lost a lot of people. We have put untold billions of dollars into assisting and stabilizing that nation, which is a very difficult thing, to build a nation, and now it appears it’s all falling apart.”

Broadwater, now president of the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, worked closely with American and Iraqi leaders, including current Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to organize Iraq’s new government after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

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From here:

John Claudius Blandenburg MEGGETT, SC – John Claudius Blandenburg, 69, of Meggett, South Carolina, husband of Marsha Muckenfuss Blandenburg, entered into eternal rest Wednesday, June 11, 2014. His Funeral Service will be held Saturday, June 14, 2014 in Christ-St. Paul’s Church, 4981 Chapel Road Meggett, SC at 1:00 p.m. Interment to follow in Christ-St. Paul’s Parish Churchyard. A reception will be held at the Church immediately following the service. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR INC., WEST ASHLEY CHAPEL 3360 Glenn McConnell Parkway. John was born October 19, 1944 in Augusta, Georgia, son of the late Claudius Elmer Blandenburg and June Boozer Blandenburg. He was a Systems Analyst with Medical University Health Authority. John frequently visited people in hospitals, delivered flowers to shut-ins and was also a faithful donator to the Red Cross. He also lovingly ministered to his Parish and was very devoted to his graduating class of 1962 of North Augusta High School. He is survived by his wife, Marsha Blandenburg of Meggett, SC; daughter, Dorothy Blandenburg Kitchens (Scott Barry) of Charleston, SC; three grandchildren, Amelia Kitchens, Gabriel Kitchens, Lucas Kitchens; two sisters, Patricia Kinard and Carol Ann Bostick, both of Columbia, SC. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Christ-St. Paul’s Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 426, Hollywood, SC 29449. A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston – See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charleston/obituary.aspx?n=john-claudius-blandenburg&pid=171320936&fhid=23129#sthash.i49FKm4x.dpuf

I am sure you have all had this experience at one time or other, but this friend and parish member died suddenly and I received the news early this morning. He was 69 and looked fine when I saw him on Sunday. One never knows what any day will bring.

It is still a shock to the system. Please Keep Marsha Blandenburg and this family in your prayers.

College of Charleston political scientist Gibbs Knotts said two story lines were at play in the outcome Tuesday.

First, Graham didn’t take the race for granted, campaigning full-bore while armed with his $7 million war chest.

Second, Graham’s six little-known GOP challengers ended up dividing the anti-Graham vote, not allowing for a single or choice opponent to emerge.

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Air Force veteran Charles Fitch is alive today, most likely because of “personalized” cancer treatment that used to be the stuff of science fiction, all thanks to cancer research and treatment based on genomics.

In regards to medicine, genomics basically refers to the analysis of a individual’s complete set of DNA, or genome, and how to treat diseases based on the mutations or other changes that have occurred to genes in the sequence.

Fitch, a 53-year-old grandfather who lives in Mount Pleasant, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2011, a few weeks after he started having chest pains. Lab results showed that he had a low, and later plummeting, level of platelets in his blood.

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The Charleston VA, operating on a $350 million budget, serves 60,000 veterans, schedules 700,000 appointments annually and employs about 2,000 people. Isaacks said more than 99 percent of patients are scheduled for an appointment in Charleston within 14 days.

“I wish everyone had this quality of care,” said Navy veteran Paul Hedden, 68, of James Island. “I’ve never had to wait terribly long for anything.”

There are no secret waiting lists at this facility, Isaacks insisted.

“I’ve heard story after story about the incredible things we’re doing for patients, but they’re all mad about the parking,” he said. “Parking is really the biggest complaint that we get in Charleston right now and we’re in the process of addressing that.”

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