Four of Gov. Nikki Haley’s staff members will testify about a state agency’s controversial decision to allow a Georgia port to expand after a state Senate panel took the unprecedented step Friday of subpoenaing them.“Yes, we will testify,” Rob Godfrey, Haley’s spokesman, said Friday. “And these senators will confirm, again, what they already know to be tru...

A strong start to the U.S. shopping season and fresh proposals for a far-reaching solution to Europe’s debt crisis sent stocks sharply higher today. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 300 points in afternoon trading, making up more than half of the ground it lost last week.Initial reports show a record number of shoppers hit the mall or bought gifts online during the holiday weekend. ...

Hundreds of political leaders, judges, lawyers and ordinary South Carolinians are expected to gather today to honor the late Judge Matthew J. Perry Jr., a civil-rights lawyer and jurist who led the legal fight to overturn segregation in South Carolina and earned a place as one of the state’s transformational political figures. The 11 a.m. funeral at Brookland Baptist Church will include a eul...

Mark Quinn, host of “The Big Picture,” ETV’s program that aired on TV and radio, has left the station to become the director of public and member relations at the Electric Co-Operatives of South Carolina.Taped episodes of the program will air through the summer, ETV’s Rob Schaller said. A replacement will be named. Staff reports

- UTILITY APOLOGIZES FOR ERROR IN RADIATION DATA. The operator of Japan's stricken nuclear plant reports that radioactivity in water in the Unit 2 reactor tested 10 million times higher than normal, forcing the evacuation of workers and delaying efforts to bring the complex under control. But hours later it says the number is inaccurate and apologizes. Tokyo Electric Power Co. says it is unsure wh...

Rep. Joe Wilson and Democratic opponent Rob Miller have new television ads that take a decidedly negative turn in their race for South Carolina's 2nd District.Wilson campaign officials say the Republican congressman's ad debuts Wednesday.In the ad, a somber Wilson introduces a retired two-star Marine general who tells Miller he should return contributions he's taken from the liberal organization M...

The GOP nominee seeking to become South Carolina's first female governor said Thursday she won't sign a pledge to put more women on boards and in charge of state agencies.The nonpartisan Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, which works to narrow South Carolina's political gender gap, has asked GOP Rep. Nikki Haley and Democratic Sen. Vincent Sheheen to agree that, if elected, they'll use ...

It is an obviously biased opinion, but former House Speaker Bob Sheheen gives his nephew, Vincent, "a better than 50 percent chance" of finishing first among Democrats in the race for governor tonight, without the need for a run-off.Sheheen is battling S.C. schools superintendent Jim Rex and Charleston Sen. Robert Ford for the Democratic nomination for governor. Sheheen, who has led in recent poll...

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Lexington, has drawn a Republican challenger, as the period to file with political parties for this year?s elections closed today. Candidates seeking office in 2010 had until noon to file with the parties. Challenging Wilson in the June 8 primary will be Lexington businessman Phil Black. Wilson defeated Black in 2008, and if he wins again the five-term congressman will face...