This first of-its-kind catalogue presents a helpful guide for Palmetto State Families to understand and access the growing number of education options in South Carolina.
COME CELEBRATE STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING IN YOUR COMMUNITY!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
8:30 AM Meeting Street Academy, 201 East Broad Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306
11:15 AM Midlands Middle College, 1260 Lexington Drive, West Columbia-Cayce 29170
2:00 PM Palmetto Scholars Academy, 2415 Avenue F, North Charleston, SC 29405
Questions? Call Palmetto Policy Forum at 803-708-0673

The South Carolina Budget and Control Board announced on October 4, 2013 that CSID, received the award to assist South Carolina taxpayers whose personal information was compromised during the 2012 Department of Revenue (DOR) security breach. Eligible taxpayers will be able to enroll either online or over the phone with CSID’s state-provided identity protection coverage on October 24, 2013. Next week CSID will launch an enrollment outreach plan to educate the taxpayers of South Carolina on the state-provided services available.
For more information or a list of frequently asked questions, please visit the DOR website at www.sctax.org/security.

It seems the general public has a pre-conceived notion that Human Trafficking is a crime only happening in 3rd world countries with corrupt governments. While that is true, It’s also true that it occurs right here in the U.S. and our home state of South Carolina. However, SC is making strides in working to prevent this crime from growing any further and protect people who have been effected by it.
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of “labor or services,” such as domestic workers held in a home, or farm-workers forced to labor against their will.
It is estimated that there are over 100,000 children in the sex trade in the United States each year and According to the U.S. Department of Justice, as many as 300,000 American children are at risk of falling victim to trafficking. Traffickers move victims around frequently to keep them isolated and under control. South Carolina is a trafficker’s ideal channel. Interstate highways including I-85 and I-26 connect major trafficking destinations. I-95 connects known trafficking hotspots of New York, DC, Atlanta, and cities in Florida. SC Law enforcement has been diligently uncovering more cases, and national and local tips have increased about possible trafficking on farms, in restaurants and nail spas, in areas such as Santee, Greenville, Greenwood, North Charleston, Charleston, Columbia, Conway, Myrtle Beach and rural areas of the State.
So, what is being done about it? House Bill 3757 is the most recent piece of legislation regarding human trafficking that passed the SC General Assembly last year. This legislation requires that all money, valuables, and property of a person convicted of human trafficking or felony extortion (labor trafficking) used in connection with, or gained from the crime, be forfeited to the State. Then, all of the proceeds from seized assets will go into a fund which pays for critically needed victim services including attorney and court-related costs, prosecution of traffickers and law enforcement investigative costs for human trafficking cases, costs borne by the state task force, public education and outreach on human trafficking. The bill was passed unanimously by the SC General Assembly and was put into effect December, 2012.
The state also started a Human Trafficking Task Force, which brings together law enforcement agencies, victims’ advocates and other state agencies. The task force works to prevent and prosecute these crimes. They are also a result of the law that Gov. Nikki Haley signed late last year.
Currently, in the Judiciary Committee is S.284. Senator Hutto sponsored this legislation requiring national human trafficking resource center hotlines in certain business establishments. It provides the language for the posting and a penalty for failure to post.
In February of this year, Representative Hardwick also sponsored a sister bill to S. 284, as well as sponsoring legislation to add the offense of trafficking to the State Grand Jury’s jurisdiction. (Specifically if the victim has been trafficked in more than one county or when the trafficker commits the offense in more than one county.)
For more information on Human Trafficking and what organizations and the government are doing to stop it, see the websites below.
http://traffickinginsc.wordpress.com/
http://www.thestate.com/2013/08/06/2904575/sc-attorney-general-human-trafficking.html
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/3757.htm
http://www.polarisproject.org
http://enditmovement.com/

Leading South Carolina pro-family advocates endorse Haley for re-election

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Pro-family and pro-life leaders from across South Carolina today joined the Haley for Governor Faith and Family coalition.

Members of the coalition will advise Governor Haley on family issues over the course of the 2014 campaign and beyond and work directly with her to strengthen South Carolina families.

“The stronger our families are the stronger our state is,” said Dr. Bob Taylor, a member of Hampton Park Baptist Church where he serves on the Board of Deacons. “Governor Haley realizes that, and her hard work to bring jobs, protect the unborn and defend traditional marriage is making our families, and therefore our state, stronger.”

Dr. Taylor is Chairman of the Greenville County Council and retired dean at Bob Jones University.

“Guided by Christian faith and grounded in the unshakable values that make our country great, Governor Haley and First Gentleman Michael Haley, a captain in South Carolina’s Army National Guard, are standing tall for South Carolina families, and South Carolina families are proud to stand with the Haleys,” said Dr. Tony Beam, Vice-President for Student Services and Christian Worldview at North Greenville University.

Dr. Beam hosts the radio show “Christian Worldview Today.” He is also Vice-Chairman of the Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

“Governor Haley has a stellar pro-life record,” said Lisa Van Riper of Greenville, who leads S.C. Citizens for Life. “By signing two important pieces of pro-life legislation, Governor Haley has advanced the cause of protecting innocent human life in South Carolina. The governor signed the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act that ensures any child born alive in South Carolina, including a child who survives an attempted abortion, is an individual human being entitled to the full protections of the law. The governor signed the Abortion Opt Out of Obamacare that excludes coverage for most abortions in the federal exchange programs. South Carolina is privileged to have a strong, pro-life governor and we intend to keep her.”

“Traditional, Christ-centered family values are under assault from Washington to Columbia, and it’s no longer enough for elected officials to talk the talk, they have to walk the walk,” said Hilton Head Island’s Stu Rodman, who holds leadership positions on the boards of several national Christian ministries. “Not only do we know Governor Haley, a wife and mother of two, to be ‘personally’ pro-life and pro-family in her words, we have seen her fighting every day and using every resource at her disposal, beginning as a freshman legislator, to strengthen our families by defending traditional marriage and protecting every human life. She is exactly what South Carolina families need in a governor.”

Rodman, Vice Chairman of the Beaufort County Council, served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church and led the Palmetto Family Council.

Newberry County’s S.C. Citizens for Life chapter president, Chad Connelly, contrasted Governor Haley’s commitment to strengthening South Carolina families with liberal career politician Vince Sheheen’s troubling record of pandering to pro-abortion, anti-traditional marriage interests.

“We are touched to have the support of these dedicated and influential faith and family leaders from around South Carolina who understand the importance of having a governor who is truly, in words and deeds, committed to the values we hold so dear,” said Connelly. “Nikki Haley has a record of fighting for every single life and for South Carolina families. That’s not true of Vince Sheheen who has spent his campaign for governor undermining the hard fought efforts and hard won victories of the values community in South Carolina, kicking it off at the home of an abortion activist and secretly appearing at a rally promoting gay marriage. We need a governor who will stand up for South Carolina values – not just when it’s politically expedient but every single day, and Nikki Haley is that governor.”

Members of the Haley for Governor Faith and Family Coalition include:

Frank Barron, Board Member, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Lexington
Dr. Tony Beam, Vice President for Student Services and Christian Worldview at North Greenville University, Greenville
Wayne Cockfield, Florence Chapter President, S.C. Citizens for Life; Vice President, Medical Ethics at National Right to Life; Member, Board of Directors of National Right to Life; Florence
Chad Connelly, Newberry County Chapter President, S.C. Citizens for Life, Newberry
Lauren Cooley, CEO, Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow, Furman University, Greenville
Dr. John Duncan, Dean, Charleston Southern Business School, Charleston
Bill Egerdahl, Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Lexington
Carl Falk, Former Chairman, Palmetto Family Council; Chairperson of Teach My People, Georgetown
Lenna Fox Neill, CEO, Piedmont Women’s Center, Greenville
Holly Gatling, Executive Director, S.C. Citizens for Life, Columbia
Chad Groover, Deacon, Cornerstone Baptist, Greenville
Jimmy Jones, Pastor, Christ Central Ministries, Columbia
Josh Kimbrell, Host, Common Cents Radio; Chair, Palmetto Conservative Alliance, Greenville
Trudy Laub, Executive Director, Palmetto Pregnancy Center, Rock Hill
Deb Marks, Midlands Chapter President, S.C. Citizens for Life, Columbia
Glenn McCall, Member, Board of Directors for the Palmetto Pregnancy Center, Rock Hill
Linda McCall, Former Counselor, The Palmetto Pregnancy Center, Rock Hill
Drew McKissick, traditional family activist, Columbia
Huey Mills, Pastor, Fellowship Bible Church & Administrator Carolina Christian Academy, Lancaster
Alexia Newman, Executive Director, Carolina Pregnancy Center, Spartanburg
Randy Page, Public Relations Director, Bob Jones University, Greenville
Stu Rodman, Former Chairman, Palmetto Family Council; Chairman, Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Chairman, Christ Central Ministries, Beaufort
LaDonna Ryggs, Pro-life activist, Spartanburg
Hal Stevenson, CEO, Grace Outdoor, Columbia
Dr. Bob Taylor, Greenville County Council Chairman, former Bob Jones University Dean, Greenville
Lisa Van Riper, President, S.C. Citizens for Life, Greenville

(Members of the Haley for Governor Faith and Family Coalition made personal endorsements, not endorsements on behalf of any organization with which they may be affiliated.)
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Rob Godfrey, Nikki Haley for Governor, (803) 807-7144

I was fortunate to meet a great American Hero recently, Mr. William H. Funchess, and was presented an autographed copy of “Korea P.O.W.”.

Here’s an exerpt from his book. On page 43, titled “Pocket Bible,” he talks about how he utilized his faith to help boost morale in P.O.W.’s around him in the camp:

“I told the men in the room I had a Bible and asked if they wanted me to read to them. All of them answered in the affirmative but told me to be careful because the guards might catch us. We knew most Communists were atheists and we were unsure what their reaction might be.

I had never been much of a student of the Bible but I recalled the 23rd Psalm provided inspiration in times of trouble. I read it aloud and one of the wounded men asked me to read it again, so I did.

I asked the men if they wanted to take turns reading to the group but they insisted I continue reading since the room was so dark and I was nearest the window. I started at the beginning of the Bible and read one chapter. After a few hours I read another chapter. I kept it up as long as I was in the room. It gave all of us a feeling of comfort in the strange land so far away from home.”