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Associated Press
COLUMBIA — The retirement of U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings and the race to replace him was the top story of 2004 in South Carolina.
Hollings' political career spanned more than half a century as a state legislator, governor and member of the U.S. Senate, where he spent the past 38 years.
He delivered his final Senate speech Nov. 16, criticizing his colleagues as he always has for their spending and free-trade policies.
The race for his seat was between three-term U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Democratic state Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum along with a few third-party candidates.
DeMint got 54 percent of the vote in the general election, giving South Carolina two Republican senators for the first time since Reconstruction and strengthening GOP domination in the Senate.
Here are the top 10 South Carolina stories of 2004 as voted on by Associated Press members statewide:
1. DeMint replaces Hollings
U.S. Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., closes his political career that spanned more than half a century as a state legislator, governor and U.S. senator. U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., defeats Democratic Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum for Hollings' seat, giving South Carolina two GOP senators.
2. Hurricanes
Busiest hurricane season in decades causes almost $150 million in damage as two hurricanes make landfall in Charleston County and a total of seven storms affect the state. For the first time in more than a century, the tracks of four storms move across the state. Tornadoes spawned by hurricanes help South Carolina set a new yearly record with 84 twisters.
3. Carolina Investors
More than 8,000 investors lost $278 million when Carolina Investors went under in 2003. Investors were told they would get 18 cents back for each dollar invested as part of a civil settlement approved in November.
In the year's third-biggest story, Earle Morris Jr. was convicted of securities fraud as former chairman of the Pickens-based Carolina Investors. Morris, a former lieutenant governor and ex-state comptroller, was sentenced to 44 months in prison for scheming to defraud investors and misleading them to keep money in the company as it slid into bankruptcy.
4. Democratic presidential
primary
South Carolina holds the first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary in February, giving North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Seneca native, his only primary win.
5. Governor vs. legislature
Politics were contentious in the South Carolina State House, too, with Gov. Mark Sanford sparring repeatedly with the Legislature — the No. 5 story of the year.
Sanford is the first Republican governor since Reconstruction to preside over a GOP-controlled state Legislature. Despite being from the same political roots, the two sides repeatedly clashed on vetoes, polling questions, a threatened lawsuit and the governor's agenda.
Legislators squealed in outrage when Sanford carried two squirming piglets into the lobby outside the legislative chambers to emphasize what he saw as pork-barrel budget spending. The General Assembly agreed with the governor on just seven of his 106 vetoes.
6. Sharpe indictment
An FBI and SLED investigation of a cockfighting operation results in the indictment of state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Sharpe. He is accused of accepting at least $20,000 from an organization involved in breeding and raising birds for cockfighting in exchange for helping the group avoid legal trouble.
7. Hotel fire
A January fire at a Comfort Inn in Greenville kills six people, including a North Augusta woman, and injures 12 others. The fire was ruled arson, though no suspects are arrested.
The five-story Comfort Inn was built in 1988 before building codes required sprinkler systems. It has remained closed since the blaze.
8. Minibottles
As the only state in the nation requiring minibottles to be used to serve liquor in restaurants and bars, South Carolina voters passed a constitutional amendment to allow lawmakers to decide how drinks are served.
About 60 percent of voters approved the amendment to get rid of minibottles, the eighth biggest story in the state.
The Legislature is expected to pass a law next year to allow businesses to serve drinkers from larger free-pour bottles, although lawmakers my keep minibottles as an option.
9. Confederate funeral
Thousands of re-enactors and members of the public attended the April burial in Charleston for the eight-member crew from the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which was found off the South Carolina coast nine years ago.
The crewmen, in coffins draped with Confederate flags and pulled on horse-drawn caissons, were laid to rest 140 years after the vessel became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship.
The hand-cranked Hunley made history on Feb. 17, 1864, when it rammed a spar with a black powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic near Charleston. The Housatonic sank, but the Hunley never returned from the mission.
10. Tattoo regulations
South Carolina was only one of two states prohibiting people from getting tattoos when the House and Senate compromised to pass a law removing the ban. Oklahoma is the other state.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control Board approved new tattoo regulations in November, but the creation of new regulations means it will be months before it's legal to get a tattoo.