South Carolina, Lancaster, SC | featured news

Editor’s note: This occasional column takes you behind the scenes with Hannah Strong, who has been reporting for a little more than a year.

I walk down a narrow hallway with the mother of a teen who was shot dead just a week earlier.
My heart pounds as I walk into a small office at the Lancaster Police Department.

From release

CLEMSON – The two rivals faced off on the gridiron last weekend, but Clemson University and Auburn University are united off the field in supporting the World Food Programme’s efforts to defeat hunger.

“I am enormously proud that Clemson is exploring ways to join Auburn and WFP in our joint fight against hunger,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “Defeating hunger is an enormous challenge, but if we tackle it together, we know this is a fight we can win.”

A motorcyclist was killed early Monday after he was struck by two vehicles in Indian Land.
The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Breck Higgins, 49, of Lancaster.
Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Gary Miller said the collision happened about 5:30 a.m. near the intersection of Marvin and Henry Harris roads, about 3 miles outside Fort Mill.
Miller identified the other two drivers as Joseph Michael Hatten of Indian Land and John Joseph Donohue of Fort Mill.

A new farm in Van Wyck dedicated to children with special needs raised nearly $1,700 during its grand opening Sept. 16.

A Lancaster man has been charged with heroin trafficking after his wife accused him of beating her and holding her against her will.
In addition to the heroin charge, William James Beckham, 43, of 1665 Ruth St., is also charged with first-degree domestic violence and kidnapping.

As debate over the Affordable Care Act swirls in Washington, insurance officials this week agreed to allow South Carolina’s only individual plan on the state’s ACA exchange to raise its premiums 31 percent next year.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina initially asked for a 33.4 percent increase, saying this year’s premiums did not generate nearly enough to cover the insurer’s claims, taxes and administrative expenses.

INDIAN LAND – A Lancaster County Council committee is targeting a 2,200-square-foot space at The Commons of Doby’s Bridge as a possible site for satellite county government offices in the Panhandle.
The strip center is at 8451 Charlotte Highway, just past the Gate station on U.S. 521 North.
“It has come at a very opportune time that we didn’t know about before,” said County Attorney John Weaver, who has been scouting for an Indian Land location since May.