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TOc (Bamccock Terminal might be built on Savannah River site i by Bruce Smith Associated Press HARDEEVILLE, S.C.— State law makers drove a dusty road along a Sa vannah River spoils area Thursday to get a firsthand look at a 6,000-acre site that some envision as a massive steamship terminal — a terminal that might be operated jointly by both South Carolina and Geoigia. “What we have here is a dream,” said state Rep. Clemente Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, as he spoke to his col leagues gathered on the edge of the Intracoastal Waterway. “Some peo ple think it’s a fantasy. We think it is „ A_.1__ „„„ -- „ ” U U1VU111 WIUI VUII UVVVII1V V* 1VUUVJ. Jasper County officials have been working for years to get the South Carolina State Ports Authority to build a steamship terminal on a 9 mile stretch of land between the bridge and the Intracoastal Waterway. The property currently is owned by the state of Georgia. Plans to build a $ 1.2 billion Glob al Gateway terminal on Daniel Island in Charleston have met with public opposition, while opponents of plans to deepen the Savannah River ship ping channel to the Georgia Ports Authority terminal farther upstream are suing in federal court. Turning the spoils area into a ter minal is “a worthwhile project for the state and a worthwhile project for Jasper County,” Pickney said. He said it’s also possible the project could be developed jointly by the states, operating like the joint New York New Jersey ports authority. An ad-hoc committee of Charleston lawmakers chaired by state Sen. Ernie Passailaigue has been studying the Daniel Island issue. Nine lawmakers, most of them committee members, took the tour escorted by Jasper County officials. “Certainly we’re impressed with the site. It’s a magnificent site,” said state Sen. Arthur Ravenel, R-Mount Pleasant, who said there was “plen ty of land; plenty of deep water.” Opponents of the Savannah Riv er dredging say deepening the chan nel for 22 miles would increase the amount of salt water upstream, threat ening the 26,000-acre Savannah Na tional Wildlife Refuge on the South Carolina side of the river. Supporters of a terminal on the South Carolina side note that it is on ly five miles from the open ocean and would require less dredging. “If I were a senator representing this district, it would be a great idea,” state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, said. But he added South Carolina does not have the $2 billion to build the terminal in an undeveloped area. He said if built, large steamships would eventually all go to the new termi nal, costing Charleston port jobs. “Why would we spend $2 billion in new money when all we have to do is expand in Charleston?” he asked. “We’re going to take a harder look at all the sites” reviewed in the draft environmental impact statement for the Daniel Island project, said Joe Bryant, director of terminal devel opment with the South Carolina State Ports Authority. “The system is working. This is part of the process,” he said, adding it might make sense to work with Georgia if South Carolina were to develop a terminal so close to Sa vannah. “We’ve been competitors for so long, it’s probably inconceivable to some people that we could work to gether,” he said. State to investigate prison sex claims Associated Press The state’s top law enforcement officer says his office will investigate spe cific allegations of sexual misconduct in South Carolina prisons, but will not go looking for cases. State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said Wednesday his office has a duty to find misconduct and corruption on the part of public officials. “But we also have a duty not to taint or ruin the careers of honest public of ficials,” he said. “In other words, we do not conduct fishing expeditions.” Attorney General Charlie Condon agreed, and asked the SLED chief Thurs day to approve having the state grand ju ry investigate the prison system because it could involve “public corruption.” The grand jury could compel testi mony, issue indictments, or suggest policy changes, spokesman Robb McBur ney said. Stewart has made no decision on whether to use the state grand jury, but will make a preliminary inquiry into the matter, SLED spokesman Hugh Munn said. The latest action comes after a re quest from a Greenville senator who is leading a legislative inquiry into sex be tween prison workers and inmates. Sen. David Thomas said he wrote Stewart a letter asking for the investiga tions into what he said was widespread misconduct. Several cases of sex between inmates and guards have been reported this year, with the most recent being last month. Convicted child-killer Susan Smith told a Corrections Department investigator that she and guard Lt. Houston Cagle had sex four times at Women’s Correction al Institution in Columbia. Cagle, a 13 year veteran of the department, was fired. Cagle has been charged with two I counts of having sex with an inmate for his relationships with Smith and anoth er inmate, Samantha Medlin. Corrections Director William “Doug” Catoe blamed turnover and inexperienced guards for other recent cases. A maintenance supervisor at the women’s prison was fired after he was accused of having sex with inmates. Catoe, in a letter to Gov. Jim Hodges, detailed his department’s investigation into three cases at other prisons where inmates had sex while incarcerated — two of them with prison workers. The third involved male and female inmates. Four other cases of sexual miscon duct are under investigation, and 10 cas es of sexual misconduct have been in vestigated since 1999. The Corrections Department will cooperate with an expanded SLED in vestigation or a state grand jury, officials said. Stewart is to meet with department leaders Friday to determine what other allegations to pursue. The governor’s office said this week that SLED will investigate all miscon duct cases at the Corrections Depart ment, including cases involving contra band. Clinton to visit Brunei, Vietnam after presidential election by Anne Gearan Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Clin ton will visit Vietnam as one of his fi nal foreign tours as president, but will make the politically sensitive trip on ly after the November elections. The White House announced Thursday that Clinton would tack the Vietnam trip to the end of a scheduled visit to Brunei. Clinton is to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co operation forum in Bandar Seri Be gawan, Brunei, on Nov. 15 and 16 and then go to Vietnam. “He will address the range of is sues we hope to advance with the peo ple and government of Vietnam fol lowing the normalization of our ties with their country,” a White House statement said. Two of Clinton’s predecessors vis ited Vietnam, according to the State Department. President Johnson visit ed U.S. troops at Cam Ranh Bay in October 1966 and December 1967. President Nixon met with South Viet namese President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon in July 1969. Clinton discussed the possibility of a trip last week during a brief meet ing with Vietnamese President Tran Due Long. Both leaders were in New York to attend the U.N. Millennium Summit. Clinton has long said he would like to visit Vietnam, site of the war that helped define his generation. Viet nam’s political isolation and Clinton’s personal baggage complicated and de layed that dream. The Vietnam War cost the lives of 58,000 Americans and approximate ly 3 million Vietnamese. Clinton was in college and grad uate school during the war years and did not serve in Vietnam. Some of his critics still call him a draft-dodger. Clinton’s choice of A1 Gore, a Vietnam War veteran, as his running mate in 1992 was seen then as one at tempt to overcome a potential polit ical deficit. Making the trip after the election would lessen the chance that contro versy about Clinton’s visit could hog news coverage when Gore, now the Democratic presidential candidate, might need it most. As president, Clinton has pursued a cautious rapprochement with Vietnam. He lifted the trade embar go against the communist government in 1994, and the next year restored diplomatic relations. Clinton reopened the U.S. Em bassy in Hanoi in 1996 and in 1998 is sued his first waiver of a law that bars trade relations with communist na tions that deny citizens the right to emigrate. Earlier this year, Clinton dis patched Defense Secretary William Cohen to Vietnam as the first U.S. sec retary of defense to visit since the war ended in April 1975. Cohen’s trip was intended to re inforce the Pentagon’s commitment to finding, recovering and returning to their families the remains of 2,000 U.S. servicemen still unaccounted for from the war. It was also aimed at conveying the Clinton administration’s interest in ties between American and Vietnamese armed forces. PARENTS! WE CAN FINANCE YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION Air Force ROTC schol arships can pay for tuition and fees at more than 700 uni versities and colleges nationwide. If your child wants an exciting career then Air Force ROTC is the way to go. Contact Captain Alexandria Watson Carolina Coliseum, Room 1018 803-777-3450 Leadership Excellence Starts Here Buses from page 1 baum and her staff have done a good job of managing the inspections of these af fected buses,” Hodges said. Thomas Built said a possible electri cal flaw in the breaking systems might result in temporary reductions of breaking capacity in one of the vehicle’s four wheels. However, drivers of the state’s buses have not noticed any breaking problems since the vehicles went into service a year ago. Another concern was the lack of avail ability for these specialty buses to chil dren with disabilities, said Don Tudor, di rector of the education department’s Office of Transportation. “We’re very fortunate that these in spections didn’t reveal any problems,” Tudor said. “We simply don’t have any substitute vehicles available in our fleet." According to the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration, South Car olina is the only state in the nation with a 100 percent compliance rate on school bus recalls. He said South Carolina is also the on ly state whose buses are owned and main tained by the state and not individual school districts, claiming the state’s bus es are one of the nation’s safest with only one passenger fatality reported in the last 20 years. The city/state desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com. When your socks stand at attention, it's time O to go to... _ o w ■ O \ y / ' x"-v_ Corner of Assembly & UJhaley 252-BBB5 Throwing your x*\ Establish money away on aqO'" yourself rent or dorm xKi e\\ v . by investing fees??? ™ in your future. 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