National Family Volunteer Day Nov. 25

National Family Volunteer Day may be the most powerful new holiday for bringing families together in a meaningful way for a shared cause.

This holiday, happening the Saturday before Thanksgiving, inspires families young and old to give back to their communities, in any way they choose − e.g. volunteering with a local nonprofit, helping neighbors in need, or picking up litter at the local playground.

Please comment here or give us a call at 843-393-3811 if you know of any volunteer events.

Vote for Good Health Election Results

Wrapping up ETV Smart Cat’s “Vote for Good Health” on-air promotion, ETV staged an election of a more mouth-watering variety. Throughout the campaign that lasted six weeks, kids of all ages had a chance to get involved in the democratic process by voting for their favorite fruit or vegetable.

Fruit and Vegetable Election Results:
Strawberry 141
Watermelon 126
Apple 95
Corn 55
Carrot 55
Peach 44
Squash 16
Lettuce 6

For more information, visit ETV Kids.

2008 Exit Exam scores released

Link to 2008 High School Assessment Program scores

More South Carolina students passed the state’s high school exit exam on their first attempt this year, according to results released today by the Education Department.

Four out of five South Carolina 10th-graders passed both sections of the state’s exit exam by scoring at Level 2 or higher on the test’s four achievement levels. The average passing rate of 80.8 percent, the state’s highest to date, was a 3.7 percentage-point improvement over 2007.

HSAP serves as both a state-mandated exit exam required for a S.C. high school diploma and a federally mandated testing program to measure high school progress.

Public school students must pass both the English Language Arts and mathematics sections of the High School Assessment Program to meet the state’s exit examination requirement for a diploma. The tests are initially administered in the students’ second year of high school, and students who do not post passing scores on their first attempts have additional opportunities to retake the parts they did not pass.

About half of the states require high school students to pass an exit exam, in addition to earning the state-mandated number of course credits, to earn a diploma. South Carolina also requires students to earn 24 high school credits to graduate; some states require as few as 14.

In addition to functioning as the state-mandated high school exit exam, HSAP scores also factor into high school Adequate Yearly Progress ratings under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires that all students score at a level of Proficient or higher by 2014.

McMaster to Hold Fundraiser with Andy Card

Attorney General Henry McMaster will hold a fundraiser in conjunction with the fall meeting of the Republican Attorneys General Association with special guest former White House Chief of Staff The Honorable Andrew H. Card. The event will take place in Charleston at the restaurant Mercato on Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 9 p.m.

Poster Design Contest

Charleston Harbor Fest is proud to announce the second annual official poster competition. Artists who are 18 years or older may submit original works for the design of the 2009 Charleston Harbor Fest poster. These designs will be judged by a panel representing both the maritime and art communities and should reflect Charleston's rich maritime history while also featuring attributes that reflect Charleston's modern harbor and highlights of the annual event. Artists are encouraged to capture the look and feel of Charleston Harbor Fest, with its blend of international tall ships from around the globe, classic wooden boats, education village, children's activities and celebration of all things related to the sea. The poster must incorporate the text The Tall Ships are Coming!® and the event title, Charleston Harbor Fest 2009.

The winner receives a $1,000 cash prize, public recognition, 5 commemorative posters, 10 t-shirts, a VIP package for the event, and the poster design will be featured as the 2009 Official Harbor Fest Poster. The poster art design will be showcased on official retail merchandise as well as posters in storefront locations, posters for sale and various other promotions.

To enter, artists must submit an application with their mounted artwork no later then Friday, December 12, 2008 to the South Carolina Maritime Foundation office at 480 East Bay Street, Suite F, Charleston, South Carolina, 29403. Once submitted, all entries become property of Charleston Harbor Fest and the South Carolina Maritime Foundation. Entry into the competition is free.

Also, an additional component of the competition this year will be a student poster competition! We are inviting students from across the Palmetto State, grades 1-8, to participate in creating a poster that celebrates Charleston's magnificent maritime history. Any medium can be used and the winner will receive tickets for their entire classroom and families to come to Charleston Harbor Fest in June 2009! They will also receive a Charleston Harbor Fest gift pack and be recognized in the South Carolina Maritime Foundation publication, Voyage. All entries will be displayed at Charleston Harbor Fest 2009 in the Education Village.

Additional information and application forms may be downloaded from www.charlestonharborfest.org.

A watershed time for state government

An Opinion Piece By Richard Eckstrom, S.C. Comptroller General

When you're spending other people's hard-earned money, it's just common courtesy to let them know how it's spent.

That's not a principle always embraced by government. Too often, tax dollars are spent under a shroud of secrecy, and decisions which affect your family are made out of public view.

Fortunately, this is a watershed time for South Carolina government. There's a growing movement afoot to improve and reform government, and chief among the reforms is increased transparency.

Earlier this year, I implemented a transparency measure with Governor Sanford which allows anyone with Internet access to view spending data on state agencies. It’s linked to the Comptroller General’s Web site -- www.cg.sc.gov -- and contains detailed yearly and monthly spending information for 80-plus state agencies. The premise is that state agencies are far more accountable when their spending is done in the open, and the taxpayers should have as many tools as possible to find out how their money is spent.

Aside from allowing taxpayers to see how their hard-earned dollars are used, it should serve as a reminder to public officials that their spending will be seen, and therefore they should act responsibly with your tax dollars. Sunshine, as they say, is the best disinfectant.

Several weeks ago, a bipartisan group of lawmakers announced they’re renewing a push to have more legislative votes recorded for the public to see. There are too many “voice votes” on important issues, they rightly contend, and so they’re now leading a charge to have more votes cast on the record, in full view of the citizenry.

Like the spending-transparency Web site, this would be a tremendous step toward a more open, accountable government. Elected representatives who truly vote in their constituents' best interests should welcome this change.

Empowering ordinary citizens with the access to how money is spent and how their representatives vote will help safeguard the public trust, hold those in charge of our purse strings accountable and allow people to make better-informed decisions in the voting booth. At a time when many believe there is a real crisis of leadership and trust in our country, these common-sense reforms are more important than ever.

Ultimately, an informed citizenry is the watchdog that ensures sound governance.

In an election year, "change" and "accountability" become political buzz-words, so it is encouraging to know there's a serious challenge to the "business-as-usual" mindset which is pervasive in Columbia. Other good-government reforms which will likely see vigorous debate during the upcoming session include restructuring state government so that it operates more efficiently, and capping the growth in state spending so that overzealous government doesn’t outpace our ability to pay for it.

But if we are to truly change the ways of Columbia, we must first change the way we view the role of government: We serve the people, and they have a right to know how we spend public money and how we arrive at decisions that impact them.

Good government can flourish best in full view of the public.

Insurance Fraud Awareness Week

Governor Mark Sanford has proclaimed November 10-14 as Insurance Fraud Awareness Week in South Carolina. Insurance fraud is a felony in South Carolina and can result in jail time. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau studies indicate 10 percent or more of property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent.

While there are organized fraud rings throughout South Carolina, other people you wouldn't suspect, such as a next-door neighbor, co-worker or close acquaintance, are also the causes of insurance fraud and increased insurance premiums.

"We need the general public to fight fraud in our state and not tolerate it," said Brandolyn Pinkston, Administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. "The message is a simple yet powerful one: We all pay for insurance fraud - it's time to fight back."

Officials encourage consumers to use the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline to report cases to the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division. The South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline (1-888-95-FRAUD) is available toll-free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What is Insurance Fraud?

• Misrepresentation of the number of miles on an auto insurance application.
  
• Failure to report an accurate medical history when applying for health insurance.
  
• Fake or exaggerated injury claims to avoid work and draw workers’ compensation pay outs.
  
• Falsification or overstatement of injuries in an auto accident to obtain a large settlement or damages award.
  
• Staged auto accidents that result in claims for non-existent or exaggerated injuries.
  
• Fabrication of relationships to obtain life insurance benefits.
  
• Exaggeration of the amount and value of items stolen from a home, business or automobile.