Across South Carolina

Woman charged with biting off a chunk of man's ear in fight

GREENWOOD --- Authorities have accused a 43-year-old Greenwood woman of biting off a piece of a man's ear.

Greenwood police charged Marilyn Middleton with aggravated criminal domestic violence.

Officer Matthew Owen says he found the 55-year-old victim in the home early Sunday bleeding profusely, with the top part of his ear missing. A witness told police Ms. Middleton argued with the man about money.

The Index-Journal of Greenwood reported Tuesday that Ms. Middleton said she bit his ear in self-defense.

Ms. Middleton was in the Greenwood County jail Tuesday on a $25,000 bond. It was unclear if she had a lawyer.

State fines resort for not paying laid-off workers

HILTON HEAD ISLAND --- The state of South Carolina has fined a Beaufort County resort for not paying dozens of laid-off employees their for their vacation time.

A spokesman for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation says the Daufuskie Island Resort and Breathe Spa was fined $6,900. Jim Knight says 69 workers were owed more than $130,000.

More than 100 employees have been laid off from the resort on the island accessible only by ferry.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported Tuesday that several vendors say they're owed money, too.

The chairman of the real estate firm RBC Enterprises said the resort's owners, Bill and Gayle Dixon, of San Francisco, plan to sell property to make the resort profitable.