Lottery did not follow guidelines, audit says
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina's lottery didn't follow procedures in a contract to put security features on lottery tickets and isn't providing enough information about who is playing the games or their chances of winning, according to an audit released Tuesday.
During the past two years, the South Carolina Education Lottery added bar codes to scratch-off tickets as a security feature and to let players check to see whether they won. But the bar codes were added at a cost of about $398,000 without going through the proper channels in state government, the Legislative Audit Council report said.
Lottery Executive Director Paula Harper Bethea said that was caused by a miscommunication and quickly addressed by staff.
The report notes negotiations with the vendor, Georgia-based Scientific Games International Inc., ultimately saved the lottery $720,000.
The agency also did not follow state approval procedures when it paid $408,000 for the rights to sell The Price is Right scratch-off tickets.
The agency said it regrets that but pointed out the lottery picked up additional advertising and promotional items because of it.
Lawmakers vote to support amendments
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina legislators passed a measure Tuesday lambasting Congress as overstepping its constitutional bounds.
The South Carolina House voted 86-27 to affirm its support of the Ninth and Tenth amendments, which limit the scope of federal power, and the Second Amendment, which supports gun rights.
The vote ended a week of debate. Democrats complained the resolution was a pointless, political move to cull favor from conservative voters.
Republicans countered that Democrats were the ones wasting time delaying and arguing against the measure.
The House initially approved it last year. The Senate approved an expanded version last month.
SC deputy arrested on child pornography charge
LEXINGTON, S.C. --- A South Carolina police officer has been arrested after authorities say they found child pornography on his home computer.
Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says he fired 25-year-old deputy Craig Wlaschin after he was taken into custody Monday by detectives.
Metts says Wlaschin worked for his office for more than two years as a patrol deputy near Irmo.
The sheriff says the investigation began Sunday after deputies received a tip Wlaschin had child porn on his computer.
It wasn't clear if Wlaschin had an attorney and a phone number listed for him was not working.
Bomb blows up unoccupied truck in SC neighborhood
SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Authorities say someone planted a bomb that exploded under a pickup truck in a South Carolina neighborhood.
Spartanburg County deputies say the explosive device destroyed the unoccupied truck Tuesday morning, damaging a second truck nearby and blowing out the windows of a mobile home.
Deputies say firefighters discovered the bomb after extinguishing the fire that started after the truck blew up.
Authorities say no one was injured in the blast and investigators checked the area and didn't find any other explosive devices.
Deputies don't have a motive for the blast or any suspects.
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