Across South Carolina

Father accused in infant's death

LEXINGTON, S.C. — Authorities have accused a 23-year-old South Carolina father of shaking his 2-month-old son to death because the infant wouldn't stop crying.

Lexington County Coroner Harry Harman said Rashard Lynch died about 1:20 p.m. today, two days after being hospitalized for severe brain injuries. The infant was being treated for brain swelling consistent with shaken baby syndrome. An autopsy is set for Tuesday.

Sheriff James Metts said the charge against Alexander Lynch of Columbia will be upgraded Tuesday to homicide by child abuse. Before the infant died, Mr. Lynch was charged with severely injuring a child. He was baby-sitting his son and three other children ages 2 to 5 at the time.

Mr. Lynch remains in the Lexington County jail. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

SC officials creating 2020 education goals

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina education officials are setting new accountability goals that public schools and students should meet over the next decade.

Members of the Education Oversight Committee and the state Board of Education met Monday to discuss goals for 2020, to coincide with a revamping of the state's end-of-school-year tests.

The group decided to postpone voting on a goal until August.

Members debated whether the goal should include specific benchmarks, such as percentage of students who test on grade level and graduate on time. They discussed whether the goal should be realistic or inspirational. And they discussed whether such goals should be set 10 years out.

They noted the state won't meet the 2010 education goals set under the state's 1998 education accountability law.

Body in burned car identified as missing NC woman

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Authorities have positively identified the remains of a North Carolina woman killed after she came to South Carolina to break up with the boyfriend she met on the Internet and get back jewelry she had given him.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts told the State newspaper of Columbia Monday he had used dental records to identify the remains as the body of Nikki McPhatter.

Authorities last week released more details on the May 6 killing of the 30-year-old U.S. Airways employee from Charlotte, N.C. Sheriff Leon Lott says Theodore Roosevelt Manning IV of Gadsden shot McPhatter in the head, put her in the trunk of her car and set it on fire in rural Fairfield County.

Manning is charged with murder. He is being held without bond.

CofC board increases tuition 7 percent

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tuition at a South Carolina college will cost in-state students an additional $588 next school year, while out-of-state students will pay an extra $1,428.

The board of trustees at the College of Charleston approved the 7 percent tuition increases Monday. The board voted to include an additional $1.1 million in the budget for financial aid to help offset the increases.

The hikes bring undergraduate tuition for the school year to $8,988 for in-state students and $21,846 for out-of-state students. Graduate tuition also increased.

College officials said the tuition hikes would be higher without the debated federal stimulus cash that Gov. Mark Sanford requested Monday under court order. College of Charleston gets about $5 million of that money, which helps make up $9 million in state budget cuts since last July.