Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Inside This Issue: July 12, 2000 Toeay’s Weather ft Wfl&Bmmk Si Page6 Q • A/r hr 7 ■ 7 nna N7>c90s Serving the Larolma Lommunity since LyUS vol. 93, No. 93 University of South Carolina www.gamecock.sc.edu USC Law student Talley wins state legislative seat by Jennifer Carter . Staff Writer In addition to finishing his first year of law school, USC’s Scott Talley recently had another great accomplishment: he just won a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Talley received an overwhelming 80 percent of the vote in the Republican pri mary on June 13 in Spartanburg and will be unopposed in the November election. I...... At 24, Talley will be the youngest member of the South Carolina House of Representatives by seven years. But instead of being intimidated, he feels that his age gives him an advantage. “It’s my fiiture that will be affected by these laws I’ll be helping to make,” Talley said. “I have a lot more at stake than the older members of the legislature do.” He said he has a drive to work hard for his community, and he feels he’s al ready proven that he’s capable of hard work. Conducting his campaign while in "his first year of law school, he commut ed back and forth from classes in Co lumbia to Spartanburg to campaign. He knocked on more than 2,500 doors, made hundreds of phone calls and participated in public debates in order to reach his voters. Faced with much criticism from his opponents as well as the media for his young age, Talley said the key to his suc cess, along with hard work, was keep ing a positive attitude and enjoying what he was doing. There are several things Talley would like to accomplish during his term of of fice. Particularly, he would like to see more emphasis placed on public education, care for senior citizens and tax reforms. Talley hopes to begin programs to al low for more technical and vocational training in South Carolina high schools for students that might not be interest ed in attending college. “By giving them the means to learn a skill or trade in high school, they will be more prepared to enter a vocation up on graduation,” he said. In response to the general aging of the population across South Carolina and in his own district, Talley would like to I ALLEY SEEPAGES Police seize video poker machines Associated Press The State Law Enforcement Divi sion seized 60 video gambling machines Sunday, one day after employees of the outlawed industry were attending a spe cial session to help them find new jobs. The seizures were made at several locations across the state. At the Gold en Nugget in Lexington County, agents seized parts and cabinets of 34 machines, SLED Spokesman Hugh Munn said. Twelve cabinets and riibnitois were seized _ at a closed convenience store in Lan caster. Five machines were seized ai Petro Mart Inc. in Columbia and five were seized at the Rooty Branch Food Store in Bennettsville. One machine was found abandoned in Florence, and three ma chines were found in a laige trash bin in Jasper County. SLED Chief Robert Stewart said in vestigators will try to determine either the owner or operator of the machines and refer the information to prosecutors. Those found guilty of having the ma chines will be subject to a year in prison and a $500 fine. viueo gamoung oecame illegal lr South Carolina at midnight June 30, bui local police and SLED gave operators until Sunday to take their machines oul of the state. Last week, the agency seizec 18 machines that were still operating af ter the ban. Poker seewgej State residents voice mixed reaction to flag by Jairus Dayton Staff Writer A" -3'k On July 1,139 years after the Civ il War began, many South Carolinians had mixed feelings. While the lowering of the Con federate flag from the top of the State house could be viewed as one more step towards stability in South Caroli na's jagged racial history, it could be aigued that neither flag proponents nor detractors accomplished their goals. For many, the day was undoubt edly a monumental one. However, both supporters and opponents present on the Statehouse grounds seemed per plexed, as if nothing was solved by low ering the flag and placing it in a dif ferent location. As promised by state lawmakers, the flag was removed from atop the Statehouse dome, and a similar battle flag was placed behind a monument honoring Confederate soldiers, which stands in front of the Statehouse. Con federate flags hanging in the House and Senate chambers were, reportedly, al so removed. One month before the event, Gov. Jim Hodges criticized the controver sy surrounding the flag issue as mere ly “one more hurdle that has to be over come.” | But some were content to leave the hurdle right where it was. “The flag should not have been re moved from the Statehouse,” Rock Hill resident Sherry Hicks said. “It served as a reminder of the past The flag does n't represent my history or anyone else's. Instead, it represents a period of not just Southern but American histo ry-” Hicks said there is no difference between expressing American patrio tism and waving a flag representing pride of one's Southern heritage. “If the American flag is allowed to fly over the Statehouse with all of its diminishing historical characteristics, Sean Rayford Photo Editor ■ ■ > li l —I ■ _^ -- li l M_mK Sean Rayford Photo Editor then any of its smaller counterparts, like the Confederate flag should be able to as well,” she said. Conversely, opponents argue that the same heritage that supporters praise is one that oppressed their an cestors slavery for more than 200 years. They see the flag as an ugly re minder of the South's racist history. And merely placing the flag in a new, and some say more visible, location is hardly recognition of the opponents' point of view. NAACP President James Gallman said the new location is too visible. When the proposal to place the flag behind the Confederate monument was first proposed, Gallman said the orga nization's executive committee vot ed unanimously against it. Columbia resident Chris Staley shares Gallman's concerns about the visibility of the flag. “It should be put in a museum where it belongs so that it can be viewed by those who choose to see it,” Staley said. “I understand they want to re member their history. But if all the cit izens in South Carolina placed a relic of their history in the front of the State house, it would be a baffling mess.” Placing the flag in an outdoor place of prominence only serves as a reminder of South Carolina's racist past, Beau fort resident Harold Cosby said. “The South has suffered countless blows in its history because it is iden tified with slavery, racism and segre gation,” Cosby said.