Across South Carolina

State fights to get stay of execution lifted

COLUMBIA --- A man scheduled to be executed Friday was issued a stay just minutes before he was to die in the electric chair, triggering a flurry of legal moves by the state.

James Earl Reed, who has been has been on death row since 1996 for killing a Charleston County couple, was set to die at 6 p.m. Friday. A federal judge in Columbia issued the stay at 5:40 p.m. after a defense attorney's last-minute request.

Prisons spokesman Josh Gelinas said state lawyers filed a motion with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., to vacate the stay. They also filed the motion with the U.S. Supreme Court in case they were successful at the lower level and were challenged again.

Even if state attorneys got the stay lifted Friday, the state might have to reschedule the execution because it must be carried out by midnight.

Agency wants input on plan for aiding seniors

COLUMBIA --- With federal cash for senior citizens expected to dwindle, South Carolina must find innovative ways to help the state's skyrocketing elderly population in the coming years, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Friday.

"We have more and more seniors with more and more needs, and the federal government won't be able to meet those needs. State government will have to be creative," Mr. Bauer said at the first presentation of the state's latest proposal for addressing seniors' needs.

The state Office on Aging is seeking the public's input on its 2009-12 plan for using federal money designated for the elderly -- a blueprint for how South Carolina will provide services such as transportation, home-delivered meals and in-home care that keep seniors independent. Federal money accounts for 60 percent of the agency's budget.

Lawyer fights charges for graduation cheers

ROCK HILL --- A lawyer for five of the eight people arrested after cheering at graduations in Rock Hill says the charges should be dropped because no crime was committed.

Defense attorney Harry Collins told The Herald of Rock Hill that his clients are innocent and only violated school policy by shouting after students' names were called instead of waiting to cheer at the end of the ceremony.

The people were charged with disorderly conduct, and Mr. Collins says that involves someone using foul language, being grossly intoxicated in public or exhibiting obscene behavior.

-- Associated Press