BRUCE SMITH

Associated Press Writer
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SC gov candidates promise agriculture leadership

Six candidates running for governor agreed Friday that agribusiness is crucial to South Carolina but each told an audience of farm and business leaders he has the best vision for the $34 billion industry.

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SC governor signs incentive package for Boeing

A $750 million Boeing 787 assembly plant is expected to bring thousands of badly needed jobs to South Carolina's ailing economy and, officials hope, a closer look at the state by other industrial prospects.

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Man pleads guilty for burn that became SC wildfire

A man fined for starting a blaze several days before the most destructive wildfire in South Carolina history has pleaded guilty and will pay $732.

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SC's Graham: Energy, warming policies go together

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., drawing fire from energy industry group after saying he would seek bipartisan consensus on energy and global warming, said Friday reducing pollution and energy independence go together.

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4 die in small plane crash near Charleston SC

A small plane crashed shortly after departure and burst into flames early Wednesday morning in South Carolina, killing four friends heading to an amateur radio convention in the Bahamas.

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SC Episcopalians to distance from national church

The Diocese of South Carolina voted Saturday to distance itself but not completely split from the national Episcopal Church because of church positions on same-sex unions and ordination of gays.

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Ethics probe of SC governor's travel under way

The head of the South Carolina Ethics Commission is confirming that an investigation of Gov. Mark Sanford's travel has been going on for 10 days.

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Boeing may expand SC plant for 787 production

Boeing Co. is seeking permits to expand its South Carolina plant, one of several being considered for an assembly line for its new 787 wide-body jetliners, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

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FBI: 'Limping bandit' is suspect in 23 bank heists

There were no breakneck getaways for the so-called "limping bandit" who the FBI says robbed 23 banks across the Southeast, often waiting in line to pull a gun and then simply limping away to blend into the streets outside.

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Reporting Argentina's Dirty War: an editor's story

Robert Cox risked his life chronicling the first years of Argentina's Dirty War (1976-83) that left thousands missing. Decades later, though, he still couldn't bear to write his own story of confronting a deadly junta.

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SC's Spoleto hits sales goal ahead of last weekend

The Spoleto Festival USA enters its final weekend of concerts, plays and fireworks with good news amid tough economic times: It reached a scaled-back target for ticket sales, unless final events are rained out.

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SC slave cabins were home to family through '60s

Eighty-six-year-old Johnnie Leach leans on his cane as he sits in warm sunshine on the steps of the old slave cabin where he raised 13 children four decades ago.

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Spoleto Festival USA opens in tough economic times

Even in bad times, the show must go on: the Spoleto Festival USA opened Friday with a brass fanfare and tributes to 80-year-old Charles Wadsworth, who retires this year after directing chamber music at Spoleto festivals for half a century.

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Beach still home despite hurricanes, now wildfire

They flock from other states and climes to the coast known as the Grand Strand, first as tourists, and later as residents, captivated by ocean views, rolling green fairways and the relaxed lifestyle. Most knew that an occasional hurricane was part of the bargain but didn't expect a different danger — a raging wildfire like the one that destroyed 70 homes this week.

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Judge: Hard Rock Park founders retain some rights

A federal bankruptcy judge on Monday refused to finalize the sale of Myrtle Beach's Hard Rock Park to new owners, saying its founders retain rights to some of the creative touches originally built into the theme park.

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Survivors of Holocaust train meet liberators in SC

Robert Spitz was an emaciated, lice-infested 15-year-old when he was put on an overcrowded train at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the waning days of World War II. He was sure it was a journey to death.

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In rural South Carolina, jobs — and hope — fade

On most days, freight trains rumble past vacant storefronts in the center of town, seldom ever stopping anymore. The rail spurs leading to a shuttered grain elevator are brown with rust, the buildings closed off by a chain-link fence.

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3 killed after small boat capsizes in SC river

A mother, daughter and a young man died after a small boat carrying six people capsized only 15 feet from shore on a chilly South Carolina river, authorities said Thursday.

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CSI Hunley: Fate of historic sub a cold case file

It could be one of the nation's oldest cold case files: What happened to eight Confederate sailors aboard the H.L. Hunley after it became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship?

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Spoleto Festival USA unveils modest 2009 schedule

Tributes to longtime chamber music director Charles Wadsworth, a return visit by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and an operetta inspired by movie actor Peter Lorre highlight a more modest 2009 season of the Spoleto Festival USA.

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Weak earthquake hits SC near Charleston

A weak earthquake shook parts of the South Carolina coast Tuesday, tipping over people's Christmas trees, knocking pictures off walls and causing minor injuries.

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Police reveal evidence in missing SC couple case

An accountant who was the last person to see a missing South Carolina couple alive bought drop cloths large enough to be body bags and turned off his cell phone for 12 hours after meeting with his wealthy clients nine months ago, police said Wednesday.

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Graham: Tainted GOP lost to Obama's positive view

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday the GOP lost the White House because the party was tainted by corruption, overspending and "sometimes came across as a bunch of grumpy old men."

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Competition, demand are new battle for MRAP maker

Force Protection, the military manufacturer that grew rapidly when the nation went to war, on Thursday unveiled a new prototype of a lighter armored vehicle on which the company is staking a key part of its future.

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Scientists have new clue to mystery of sunken sub

It's long been a mystery why the H.L. Hunley never returned after becoming the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship in 1864, but new research announced Friday may lend credence to one of the theories. Scientists found the eight-man crew of the hand-cranked Confederate submarine had not set the pump to remove water from the crew compartment, which might indicate it was not being flooded.

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