Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

The Carolinas news | Zoo lets animals chase leftover pumpkins

South Carolina

COLUMBIA

Zoo lets animals chase leftover pumpkins

A South Carolina zoo is gearing up for a smashing good time.

Animals at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia will spot, sniff, chase and smash pumpkin treats Saturday as part of routine activities aimed at keeping the captive animals stimulated.

Zoo officials say the event gives visitors a rare opportunity to watch animals interact with unusual items in their exhibits. They also say it teaches the importance of keeping animals interested while in captivity.

Among the animals participating in the pumpkin-themed activities are the zoo's tigers, hyenas and elephants.

COLUMBIA

Trucking executive joins DOT board

A trucking executive is the newest member of the South Carolina Department of Transportation Board.

Ken Willingham takes over the at-large spot on the board from Tee Hooper of Greenville, who served for six years.

Willingham is president of Thompson Trucking Company Inc. in Charleston. He has a civil engineering degree from The Citadel and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and military police after college. He also has served on several Charleston-area transportation boards.

The seven-member board governs the DOT. Other members are selected from South Carolina's six congressional districts.

Willingham was appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford and confirmed by the state Senate during last week's special session.

GAFFNEY

Students trying to get on bus struck

Two South Carolina school children were treated at a hospital after they were hit by a car during their morning walk to the school bus.

WHNS-TV reported on its Web site Friday that a 5-year-old was crossing the road in Gaffney to get on a stopped bus that had its lights flashing when he was hit Thursday morning.

Cherokee County School District officials say a second child's backpack was knocked down after being hit by the car's mirror. Both children were treated and released at a hospital.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol says the driver, 15-year-old Christopher Mauney, has been charged with disregarding a stopped school bus.

GREER

Children removed from roach-filled home

Two children have been removed from a South Carolina home that deputies say they found infested with roaches, and their parents have been charged with neglect.

Reports came out Friday that deputies were responding to a domestic disturbance call at a mobile home in Greer when they saw roaches crawling everywhere, including inside the refrigerator.

Amy Coleman told deputies her boyfriend had beaten her with a baseball bat. Coleman told police she fought Jeffrey Booker off with a sword and ran to a neighbor's house with one of her two sons.

Both children were placed in emergency custody and taken to a shelter.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND

Couple sues firm for hiring arson suspect

A South Carolina couple has sued a Georgia-based security company for hiring a guard accused of setting fires.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported Friday that Norman and Marjorie Agin say Norred & Associates and two local supervisors were negligent because they failed to investigate four fires that were set before the January 2008 blaze at their home.

The lawsuit also claims the company failed to investigate Bryan Yeager. Authorities say the guard and Lady's Island fire fighter was in the area near the fires before they were reported. Yeager is awaiting trial on an arson charge.

The Agins want $1 million in damages. Attorneys for the security company deny the allegations.

North Carolina

RALEIGH

Court ends tobacco payments in Md., Pa.

North Carolina's highest court says three cigarette companies no longer have to make payments to tobacco farmers in Maryland and Pennsylvania through a decade-old settlement.

The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that Philip Morris, Lorillard and R.J. Reynolds tobacco companies could stop making payments to those growers through a 1999 agreement.

The agreement says the companies could reduce their payments when Congress agreed to a buyout for quota owners in 2004. The justices ruled the states entered the agreement knowing the payments would end as a result of a quota buyout.

RALEIGH

Child care experts: Stimulus ill spent

Critics of North Carolina's plan to spend thousands in federal stimulus money to send consultants to a workshop say the funds would be better spent on subsidizing child care for struggling families.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Friday that child development experts say the state's waiting list for subsidized child care has reached a record high of 41,000.