Across South Carolina

Woman with West Nile is in serious condition

COLUMBIA - An elderly Charleston County woman has contracted the mosquito-borne West Nile virus and is in serious condition, the state health department said Wednesday.

The unidentified woman developed West Nile encephalitis, a more severe illness that involves a brain infection, the Department of Health and Environmental Control said.

People older than 50 are more at risk to develop the illnress, which can cause serious complications and even death, officials said.

Officials said South Carolinians should continue to protect themselves from mosquitoes even as temperatures drop.

South Carolina has had five confirmed human cases of West Nile this year and 14 since 1999. The first human case occurred in 2002 in Union County.

Baby sitter's husband is convicted in killing

DALTON, GA. - The husband of a baby sitter convicted of killing a 23-month-old child was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for making false statements in the infant's death.

Prosecutors said Clinton Banta, 55, did not get proper medical attention for Charisma Wallace and lied to police about how she died.

In October, he was found not guilty on charges of felony murder and cruelty to children.

Katherine Banta, 47, was sentenced Oct. 1 to life in prison after being convicted of felony murder, cruelty to children and making false statements.

Ms. Banta was baby-sitting Charisma on Feb. 28, 2004, the day the girl died.

Prosecutors said Ms. Banta beat Charisma, causing a head injury that led to her choking to death on her own vomit.

The head injury, according to testimony from a medical examiner, was from "multiple blows to the head."

'Magic' Johnson center will open in February

CHERAW, S.C. - A technology center funded by the state and basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson's foundation is set to open in Bennettsville in February.

The Magic Johnson Workforce Empowerment Campus in downtown Bennettsville will provide computer access, and training in jobs skills and technology.

It is the second of five community empowerment centers the foundation is opening in rural communities in South Carolina.

The Bennettsville center is funded with a $250,000 grant from the foundation and a $170,000 grant from the state Commerce Department.

The center will include 25 computers, printers, fax machines and cameras.

Ceremony celebrates Air Force promotion

CHARLESTON, S.C. - A simple ceremony signaled the end of Col. Susan Desjardins' tour as head of the Charleston Air Force Base's 437th Airlift Wing.

Col. Desjardins was the first woman to lead the 4,250 airmen and the wing's 54 airplanes that are the workhorses of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She passed a flag and command of the wing and its $679 million budget to Col. Glen G. Joerger. Col. Desjardins has been tapped to become the commandant of cadets and commander of the 34th Training Wing at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.

She will officially be promoted to brigadier general Dec. 8.

Hundreds of jobs to be created by boat maker

BAXLEY, GA. - The small town of Baxley in southeast Georgia will get at least 424 new jobs because a Miami-based boat maker is opening a manufacturing operation there, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday.

Contender Boats, which makes high-performance, semi-custom sport fishing boats, will move into the West Appling County Industrial Park, on a 25-acre site that has been vacant for three years.

The boat company will spend $12.8 million to equip the facility to start making boats at the beginning of next year, said Dale Atkins, the chairman of the Southeast Georgia Regional Development Authority.

The plant will hire 150 people the first year, and as many as 500 people within five years.

- Edited from wire reports