Latest Updates

  • 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

  • Electric bus maker required to do less for taxpayer-backed incentives

    By RICK BRUNDRETT When Proterra announced in February 2010 that it was locating a hybrid- and electric-bus assembly plant in Greenville, the then-CEO said the company selected South Carolina over some 30 states because of the “numerous benefits in terms of workforce capabilities and research and development support.” Former CEO...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    November 14, 2023

  • Hidden currents: How S.C. officials kept electric vehicle project secret

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 11/7/23 - Eight days after this story was published, voters in the town of Blythewood ousted incumbent Mayor Bryan Franklin, electing Town Council member Sloan Griffin as the new mayor by nearly 70% of the vote, according to state election results. Voters also rejected a re-election...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    October 30, 2023

  • Courting favor? Senator's cases before magistrates raise ethics questions

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 12/6/24 - S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge issued an order generally banning magistrates from hearing any contested matter involving a state senator, whether as a lawyer or party, who has "direct authority" to recommend the magistrate for appointment by the governor. The order, which...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    September 29, 2023

  • S.C. senators maintain strong grip on local magistrates

    By RICK BRUNDRETT Update: 10/16/23- Less than three weeks after this story and a companion investigative piece were published, Gov. Henry McMaster in a letter to the S.C. Senate called for reforms in the magistrate selection process, pointing out that his "relatively recent predecessors adopted or acceded to a custom...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    September 29, 2023

  • State agency surpluses total $4 billion to start fiscal '24

    By RICK BRUNDRETT When fiscal 2022-23 ended on June 30, the state’s general fund had a balance of less than $58 million – a relatively paltry amount compared to the $1.2 billion surplus reported a year earlier. But that doesn’t mean state government in South Carolina is poor. Far from...
    Rick Brundrett

    Written by
    August 29, 2023