Gov. Mark Sanford says South Carolinians keeping watch for suspicious activity provide some of the best defenses against terrorism.

"I think we do a tremendous disservice to the American public, or for that matter the South Carolina public, if we suggest that somehow Washington will be the cure to all terrorism threats," Sanford said during an interview on CNN's "Late Edition" Sunday.

"I would rather have that neighbor looking across that neighbor's fence than an apparatus set up in Washington that took from us civil liberties that I think are a part of the American system."

Sanford said South Carolina's homeland security office at the State Law Enforcement Division also is working with local law enforcement to safeguard against possible terrorist attacks.

"I would say there's no heightened sense of threat in terms of immediate action on the behalf of terrorists in South Carolina," Sanford said.

Man Arrested In Aiken Shooting

AIKEN -- A Georgia man was arrested Sunday for the shooting death of a man killed in Aiken, officials said.

Quincy L. Bates, 23, of Augusta, faces murder charges in the death of Darnell Nealious of Jackson. Bates will also face charges of possession of a firearm during a violent crime, officials from the Aiken County Sheriff's Department said.

Nealious was shot in the chest while attending a party at an Aiken home early Sunday, officials said. He was arrested at a relative's home in Georgia, officials said.

DUI fines help spinal cord injury research

CHARLESTON A state fund set up for spinal cord injury research has collected $1.4 million in a little more than two years with fines paid by South Carolina's drunken drivers.

The General Assembly established the Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund in July 2000 in response to the state's high rate of spinal cord injuries, which were 22 percent higher than the national average.

Two-thirds of those injuries are to people in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 20 and 54. Fifty-eight percent of spinal cord injuries are vehicle-related.

Lawmakers felt it appropriate to add a $100 surcharge on DUI convictions, with that money going into the research fund. The money goes to all three of the state's research institutions.

The fund, based at the Medical University of South Carolina, has awarded eight research projects totaling $720,511.

"That's a substantial amount of money," said State Sen. Arthur Ravenel, R-Mount Pleasant. "The bad news is, there are still that many DUI convictions."

Among the projects in the first round of awards is a statewide educational conference targeting people with spinal cord injuries and their families.

The seven-member board that oversees the fund is asking for proposals in a second round in which it will give out around $1 million by July.

Fourth-graders given to mansion fund

GREENVILLE When fourth-graders at a private Greenville school heard Gov. Mark Sanford didn't have enough money to keep the Governor's Mansion open, they headed straight for their piggy banks and gathered up other loose change.

It didn't take long for the 88 Southside Christian School students and parents to reach their goal of collecting 100 pounds of change -- $416.66 -- that was donated to a fund to help pay the operating expenses of the mansion until a new fiscal year begins in July.

The students had met Sanford earlier this year during a tour of the State House, which "made a huge impression," said Lisa Stevens, a parent of one of the students.

"They have established a relationship now in the political world in the sense that they have received something and they have given something back," she said.