Latest Updates

  • Capped out: State law hurts qualified judicial candidates' election chances

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 4/17/24 – A day after this story was published, S.C. lawmakers rejected a bid by James Smith, a former state House member and Democratic nominee for governor, to become a 5th Circuit Court judge, voting 94-57 to restart the screening process for the seat. Since 2016,...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    April 16, 2024

  • Unapproved nuke model part of SC 'clean electricity' plan

    By RICK BRUNDRETT S.C. officials want to spend millions of state tax dollars on a new “clean electricity” strategy that includes a type of nuclear technology currently not in use by any U.S. utility, an investigation by The Nerve has found. In recently passing its version of the nearly $41...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    March 26, 2024

  • Many county magistrates still on bench past their terms

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 3/13/24 - A total of 66 county magistrates statewide remain in "holdover status," according to an updated list released by the S.C. Court Administration office. The latest list was provided after The Nerve on Feb. 23 submitted a written request under the state Freedom of Information...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    March 04, 2024

  • Ex-lawmakers, others with legislative ties often shoo-ins for S.C. judicial seats

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 3/14/24 - Following is an updated list of the salaries of higher-level state judges, which was released by the S.C. Court Administration office following a Feb. 2 written request by The Nerve under the state Freedom of Information Act: Supreme Court chief justice ($235,186), Supreme Court...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    February 07, 2024

  • Records: SC offered Scout Motors far sweeter deal compared to MS

    By RICK BRUNDRETT The $1 billion taxpayer-funded gift that S.C. lawmakers last year approved for the Scout Motors electric vehicle plant was seven times more than what officials in Mississippi, which lost out to South Carolina, were willing to offer in state grant funding through special legislation, records obtained by...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    February 01, 2024

  • Scout Motors threatens legal action against The Nerve

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Scout Motors is threatening to take The Nerve to court if it publishes “confidential and proprietary” information contained in an incentives wish list that the Volkswagen company submitted to the state of Mississippi, which lost out to South Carolina for an electric vehicle assembly plant. In a...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    January 31, 2024

  • Bridge, road work in SC still moving slowly with gas-tax-hike money

    By RICK BRUNDRETT In recently announcing his proposed nearly $41 billion total state budget for fiscal 2025, Gov. Henry McMaster recommended using a projected $500 million school-fund surplus for emergency bridge replacement and repairs. “Many of these bridges are 60, 70 and even in excess of 80 years old and...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    January 17, 2024

  • Happy Holidays, Y'all!

     To Our Readers: The Nerve is not planning to publish new stories this week and next in observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Thank you very much for all your support this year, and we are planning more hard-hitting stories for 2024 to hold politicians and other public officials...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    December 17, 2023

  • What S.C. officials don't 'really, really' want you to know about incentives

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 12/13/23 - Several hours after this story was published, Envision AESC announced in a state Department of Commerce press release that it would create an additional 450 jobs at its electric vehicle battery plant under construction in Florence County, bringing the total promised new jobs to...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    December 12, 2023

  • Supreme Court justice defends secretive disciplinary system

    By RICK BRUNDRETT At a recent S.C. House special committee hearing on judicial reform, Supreme Court Justice John Kittredge touted the “almost non-existent” number of ethics violations committed by state judges. “Each week, members of the judiciary receive a report of all the ethical violations of judges around the country,...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    November 30, 2023