In what may be one of the most sweeping (and yet inconsequential) victories for open government this year, Judge Cynthia Graham Howe has placed commendably strict sanctions on the town of Atlantic Beach after a resident's freedom-of-information lawsuit.

Hope for the future

I have been running the Myrtle Beach marathon since 2003. This was going to be my eighth consecutive race. I look forward to this every year. I ran that first race in 2003 to dedicate to my grandfather, who was in Texas dying in the hospital from cancer.

Given the tremendous challenges we're facing as a state and as a nation, the benefits of transparency should be recognized in any effort to improve the quality of government and strengthen the public trust.

Most South Carolinians would be surprised to hear that there is an area of public education in which we are a national leader. That is because most are not familiar with the S.C. Public Charter School District.

As this winter has poured out an unusual dose of bad weather - strong wind, heavy rain, prolonged cold and even a bout with snow - the meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Wilmington have done an unusually good job of informing the public about it.