The Opinion Blog

An intimate history, redefined

After 30 years, we find out the truth?

Perhaps that famous intimate moment for the Jenrettes on the Capitol steps never did happen after all. At least according to the woman involved. John, still here in Myrtle Beach, isn't so sure.

Read more over at The State.

WEDNESDAY CARTOON EXTRA

By John Branch, Branchtoon.com

A guide to the 7th District

A few technical kinks getting worked out on where exactly this will live, but for anyone who's curious, I've started a guide to the 7th District race. It includes information on all of the candidates I know about (13 in the race, and 4 considering) along with links to their websites, stories we've written about them, etc. It will be updated over the coming months as new information and new candidates emerge.

http://thesunnews.typepad.com/opinionblog/guide-to-the-7th-district-race.html

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Recession by the numbers

Curious what the recession actually did to our area? New Census Bureau numbers out today show at least a partial picture of the impact on income, comparing counties in 2007, before the recession, and in 2010, after it supposedly ended.

One of the most interesting findings for our area? Horry County has fallen behind Georgetown County when it comes to children living in poverty. Before the recession, Horry had a smaller percentage of children living without. But while the downturn hit both counties hard, Horry took the bigger hit, at least in that area, putting us behind Georgetown.

The numbers:

College: It's Better Than You May Think



Tuesday’s editorial takes a deeper look at the S.C. Policy Council’s recent report on the state’s higher education:

After last week’s front-page story about the South Carolina Policy Council’s latest report on state colleges, it’s worth looking a little closer at some of the numbers specific to Coastal Carolina University.

While some of our state’s colleges, as the Prepared in Mind and Resources report said, may indeed be spending their money on “misplaced priorities” and may also be run by trustees who don’t bother to seek “ways to measure and improve academic quality,” CCU, on the contrary, doesn’t fall into either category.

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Lost Trust



By Sunny Fry

Sitting smack in the middle of the newly created District 7, from whence a brand spanking new member of the US House of Representatives will come, the view includes:

A ridiculous number of local indictments for mortgage fraud, and perhaps consequently, a number of local banks closing or operating under regulatory orders.  So much fraud, in fact, that it seems obvious that someone must have known about at least some of it.

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SUNDAY CARTOON EXTRA

By Kirk Walters, The Toledo (Ohio) Blade