Guest Views

Back in May, Tega Cay residents packed a Public Service Commission of South Carolina hearing to speak out against a proposed rate increase request by Tega Cay Water Service, a private utility that serves approximately half of the city.

The referendum on the next stage of York County's "Pennies for Progress" program is nearly 10 months away. But county officials already are scurrying to get the public involved in the effort to approve another list of road projects.

The Catawba River has run through York County for eons, but oddly enough, residents have begun to recognize it as a premier public recreation attraction only recently.

South Carolina hasn't seen a lot of victories in the nuclear waste wars, so it's worth taking a moment to celebrate the decision by an internal panel at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop President Barack Obama from deep-sixing the only plan this nation has ever been able to agree to for storing the deadly byproducts of the Cold War and of our peacetime energy appetite.

Local underage drinkers can’t escape law enforcement officers simply by taking a boat onto Lake Wylie. York County’s Alcohol Enforcement Team will come after them.

We need health care reform in the U.S. and we need it now.

Until little more than a year ago, most people had no idea that storage of coal ash left over from generating power might become a big environment and public health problem. That was before a dam burst in Tennessee that allowed toxic sludge to flood the countryside near Kingston, Tenn., ruining the nearby landscape and prompting reviews by state and federal regulators and environmental advocacy groups of the potential danger elsewhere.

A bill that would prohibit those driving with a learners' permit or age-restricted license from talking or texting on a cell phone narrowly passed a S.C. House committee last week. It's an excellent idea, but one that needs to be expanded. Why restrict only permit holders?

Financial institutions and the major auto manufacturers aren't the only ones worried about making ends meet. The Tega Cay City Council is meeting next week to take a second and final vote on a measure to borrow $400,000 against anticipated tax revenue. Without the loan, the city will run out of cash before the end of the month.

Earning the title of most endangered river in the nation may be the best thing that has happened for the Catawba River in some time. But if leaders in both North and South Carolina fail to heed the warning, it may prove to be the river's obituary.