Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i:he (Samecock Burger King closes Columbia restaurants by Shawn Miller The Gamecock If you’ve had trouble finding an open Burger King in the Midlands lately, it’s no surprise — 12 area “BK” restaurants have closed in the past week. The closings, which have put about 500 people out of work, are the result of a financial dispute between James A. Hinton, the franchise owner, and the Miami-based Burger King Corp. Hinton was ordered by Burger King to close the restaurants after he fell behind in his franchise payments by more than $300,000, which pays for advertising and royalty fees. Burger King franchise owners have also sustained additional expenses stemming from Burger King’s April 1999 corporate makeover that created new logos, color schemes and drive-through systems. Though Hinton also owes $5,000 in property taxes on some of his BK properties, he has not filed for bankniptcy. Closed restaurants include those on College Street across from the Horseshoe, North Main Street, Two Notch Road, St. Andrews Road, Charleston Highway and Bush River Road. Hinton’s attorney, Robert Zarco of Zarco & Pardo in Miami, indicated that the restaurants might be reopened if the dispute is resolved. He said Burger King’s decision to close the restaurants was a “drastic measure.” Though rumors of the closings circulated among employees for weeks, the abruptness of the closings was unsettling. “They just walked in and said, ‘We’re closing the store,’” said Constance McClain, a former manager at the College Street Burger King. Many former BK employees are single mothers with no other sources of income. Debora Smith, for example, has run out of food since the BK she worked at closed, and she must now live on a $68 unemployment check each week until she can find another job. Marvin Jackson, the Lexington Employment Office director, said he is confident that the office can place laid-off BK employees in new jobs. Jackson said he has been contacted daily by employers with positions to fill, including Waffle House and Lizard’s Thicket. This isn’t the only bad luck endured by local Burger King restaurants lately. On July 3, the Devine Street Burger King was robbed in the early morning hours. No one was hurt. The news desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com c State House | = Colle9e Horseshoe Greene Mackenzie Clements/The Gamecock Twelve area Burger Kings, including the one on College Street, have been closed in the past week because of a feud between franchise owner James Hinton and the Burger King Corp. Student Classification Tuition % Increase Originally Resident undergraduates $3,964 5.2 percent 10.4 percent Non-resident undergraduates $10,904 8.5 percent 10.4 percent Resident graduate students $4,434 5.2 percent 10.4 percent Non-resident graduate students $9,854 8.5 percent 10.4 percent Resident medical students $9,900 10 percent 20 percent Non-resident medical students $28,686 10 percent 20 percent Budget cuts: A 6-month saga by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock When Gov. Jim Hodges recently vetoed cuts to the state appropriations of South Carolina’s institutions of higher learning, it was the last chapter in a six-month saga that had once pitted him against the presidents of the state’s colleges and universities, a saga that often changed along with Hodges’ thinking. “Our state cannot achieve success without proper funding of higher education,” Hodges wrote in a letter to Speaker of the House David Wilkins after announcing he was vetoing the cuts to all of the state’s 33 colleges and universities. GOP attempts to override the vetoes in the General Assembly all came up short of the necessary two “To cut the source of enlightenment ... is just not something that we’re going to accept without putting up a good fight.’’ USC President John Palms thirds majority. Over the course of the six month fight over higher education, Hodges went from the enemy of higher education to its savior, finally deciding to put deeds behind a March 22 promise to “fix higher education.” It all began in late 2000, when Hodges reportedly warned USC President John Palms that past budget procedures might force state leaders to make deep cuts in South Saga seepages Hodges' vetoes restore budget by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock Making good on his promise not to cut higher education, but drawing criticism that he didn’t care about the state’s poor or elderly, Gov. Jim Hodges used his line-item veto pen to spare South Carolina’s colleges and universities from far-ranging cuts to the state’s $5 billion budget. Despite the fact that Hodges’ vetoes also undid a tax break that would have saved South Carolinians a penny on every dollar spent on food, the General Assembly failed to override the vetoes dealing with higher education. “I am vetoing the budget cut for the University of South Carolina so this funding can be restored,” Hodges wrote in a refrain he echoed for every one of South Carolina’s 33 institutions of higher education. The move saves USC $24.5 million. “Our state cannot achieve success without proper funding of higher education,” Hodges wrote, something he repeated for each item he vetoed about colleges and universities. The vetoes were among 48 Hodges issued after a furious end to the legislative session that led to gridlock over how to slice $500 million from the state budget to avoid constitutionally banned deficits. To spare colleges and universities from severe budget cuts, though, Hodges was forced to suspend last year’s penny-on the-dollar sales tax break on food purchases. However, Hodges said he expected something from colleges in return. “Consequently, I expect our colleges and universities to repeal any exorbitant tuition increases,” Hodges said. USC responded immediately by slashing a 10.4-percent tuition increase in half for resident undergraduates and cutting back on the increase out-of-state students will have to pay. “I am disappointed that the General Assembly did not adopt other more effective tax relief such as the additional sales tax holiday.” Republicans returned fire, saying the moves could throw the state budget into deficits later in the year and force the Budget and Control Board to cut all state agencies. According to House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, the math behind Hodges’ vetoes doesn’t add up. He said that while Hodges restored $95 million in spending, he only added $72 million of revenue. “The Budget and Control Board will have to go in and have to cut all the budgets across the board one-half (percent) to 1 percent in order to bring the budget back in balance,” said Harrell, who, as House and Ways Chairman, is a member of the board. The board was forced to make a similar move this year, a move that impacted colleges and universities when a bill to exempt them — sponsored by Harrell and supported by Hodges — floundered in the House. But Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning, cast doubt on the GOP numbers. “I doubt their figures very seriously and I think this budget is totally and perfectly balanced,” Land said. DUiiiiic /ttiouia, a mwyci iui the Senate Finance Committee, implied the argument was a matter of semantics. She said the vetoes would throw the budget out of balance, but only if the colleges and universities didn’t return the $28.5 million they were to receive from the clean-up fund from the Barnwell low-level nuclear waste Vetoes seepage4