STATE NEWS IN BRIEF

GREER Sanford begins tour to discuss jobs, economy

Gov. Mark Sanford began a three-day, nine-city tour of South Carolina on Monday, discussing jobs and the economy with business owners and reporters.

Sanford made stops at two small Upstate businesses before holding a roundtable discussion with reporters at a Greer restaurant.

The governor said he would discuss specific job growth and tax reform proposals closer to the beginning of the legislative session in January.

Sanford said he would continue to focus on recruiting new businesses to South Carolina and growing small businesses. He also said he would continue to work on reducing state income taxes, which he said are among the highest in the nation.

Lowering the income tax has been effective in creating jobs and increasing income levels in other states, Sanford said.

The state faces a difficult budget year: $350 million in the hole, with an additional $155 million deficit left over from two years ago.

Sanford said he wants to completely erase the $155 million deficit before his term ends because leaving it would set a "terrible precedent" for future governors.

NORTH CHARLESTON

Collies protect planes from bird collisions

A pair of border collies are helping protect Air Force planes from a dangerous foe: flocks of birds that roost near runways.

Since 1985, the Air Force has lost two dozen airmen and seen $615 million in damaged and destroyed aircraft after collisions with birds.

At the Charleston Air Force Base, collies Kim and Coal dog the flocks and keep them out of harm's way.

"We want to push the birds to somewhere where they're safe and we're safe," said Lt. Col. A.J. MacMillan, a pilot and safety chief for Charleston's 437th Airlift Wing, which flies C-17 transports.

The collies don't bark much, so they can sneak up on the birds like a coyote or fox. But unlike those animals, the collies don't kill the birds, they just scare them.

And, when birds get scared off several times, they tend to flock elsewhere.

"The birds see the dogs as predators," MacMillan said. "After a predator is in the area for a period of time, birds tend to avoid that area."

Since the collies have been on patrol, the field has seen the number of times when flights were affected by birds reduced by 85 percent, safety officer Maj. Steve Bruce said, making them worth their $180,000 price tag for the year.

CHARLESTON

Chief magistrate sets out to collect old fines

Berkeley County is owed thousands of dollars in uncollected fines, and Ava Bryant Ayers wants to collect.

Ayers was recently appointed Berkeley County chief magistrate and is trying to clear her files of thousands of uncollected fines dating back more than a decade.

No one knows for sure exactly how much money is owed, but Ayers says it could be more than $1 million.

There are more than 2,500 outstanding bench warrants and an undetermined number of traffic tickets tucked away in drawers and file cabinets at the magistrate's office.

The bench warrants represent people who were fined but never paid those fines for things such as drunken driving, domestic violence and bad checks.

The county doesn't have enough officers to arrest people on the ever-growing list of bench warrants or those people who never paid traffic tickets and have been driving with suspended licenses.

The Berkeley County Council recently gave the magistrate's office money to hire a temporary clerk to put the data from unpaid fines into computer files.

In August, Ayers sent 690 letters to randomly selected people with outstanding bench warrants issued since 1992.

She spent about $350 on postage and paper, and in return, the county collected $15,000 in a little more than two weeks.

GREENVILLE

DNR plan to help renew Jocassee Gorges

Some conservationists say the Jocassee Gorges property - with its steep slopes, dense forest and rare plants and animals - has been mismanaged and neglected over the years.

The state Department of Natural Resources will release a report next week calling for some areas to be burned, some to be cut and some to be left alone, The Greenville News reported Monday.

Nearly 3,000 acres will be cut or burned and restored to natural condition, and thousands more acres will be thinned to make the forest healthier, officials said.

The plan, which has been endorsed by groups including sportsmen and the Sierra Club, was long overdue, said Mark Hall, a biologist and forester with the state Natural Resources Department.

Until 1997, the Jocassee Gorges was owned by a subsidiary of Duke Power.

It is part of the "mountain bridge," a contiguous stretch of state and federal land from the Sumter National Forest in Oconee County to Table Rock State Park in northern Pickens County.

Much of the land is located in Pickens County. It is home to the largest concentration of black bears in the Appalachian Mountains and to hundreds of rare, threatened or endangered species, including the Oconee Bell wildflower, the eastern brook trout and eight species of a threatened song bird.

The 32,000-acre S.C. tract receives between 10,000 to 20,000 visitors each year.

The plan was an effort between scientists from the Natural Resources Department, researchers from Clemson University and representatives from several environmental groups.

George Polk, conservation chairman for the Sierra Club's Foothills Chapter, said: "So much of the Upstate is being taken over by urban sprawl. This little-bitty piece we have left is so gorgeous that we have to maintain it."