SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA 23-year Santee Cooper vet to head board

Gov. Mark Sanford has named a 23-year Santee Cooper veteran to head the state-owned utility's board.

Sanford on Monday named T. Graham Edwards to serve as chairman of the board of the Public Service Authority. Edwards' appointment must be approved by the Senate.

Edwards has served in many capacities at Santee Cooper, including a seven-year stint as president and chief executive officer. He also has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the authority.

COLUMBIA

Campaign finance changes headed to Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would restrict campaign contributions.

The bill would prohibit a political party from getting contributions from the party's committees or legislative caucus committees. Candidates also would not be able to use campaign funds for personal expenses.

Under the bill, the limit for disclosure would be reduced to $25,000 from $50,000. Once a committee has donated the limit to a candidate, it must go through the process of disclosing donations. Legislative caucuses are excluded from the regulation.

Lobbyists, whether registered or not, cannot contribute to any campaign.

The bill goes to the full Senate for debate next week.

COLUMBIA

County delegation overrides Sanford's veto

The Charleston County delegation in the House on Tuesday overrode a veto by Gov. Mark Sanford.

Sanford in February vetoed a bill that would have combined Charleston County's two voting offices into one. Lawmakers pushed the bill to reform the election process in Charleston County, which in November was plagued by long lines and a lengthy vote count.

The veto upset a number of lawmakers, who said Sanford did not contact members of the delegation to inform them of the veto.

Sanford said he didn't oppose combining the offices, but the bill was local legislation targeted at a specific county, and therefore, unlawful special legislation.

Republicans in the Charleston County delegation had a difficult time getting the necessary support to override the veto. But on Tuesday, members agreed. They voted 14-0 to override the veto.

COLUMBIA

Resource officer charged with sexual abuse

A Darlington police officer who worked at a junior-high school was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old student, the State Law Enforcement Division said.

Derrick Harrell, 29, of Society Hill, has been charged with committing a lewd act on a child and misconduct in office. Harrell was released from the Darlington County jail Tuesday on $10,000 bail, SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson said.

Prosecutor Jay Hodge said Harrell is charged with inappropriately touching a girl, who was a student at Darlington Junior High, on at least one occasion.

An investigation began after the girl reported it to a school teacher, Hodge said.

NORTH CAROLINA

RALEIGH

Rebirthing technique may soon be outlawed

Legislation to ban a technique known as rebirthing is moving quickly through the state Senate, and its sponsor says it faces no problems on the way to becoming law.

Sen. Austin Allran, R-Catawba, said people have come to realize the technique, which is intended to re-create the birth process for adopted children, is barbaric.

The Senate Judiciary II Committee became the second to endorse the legislation, which now moves to the Senate floor.

The prohibition would apply to any therapeutic technique that involves re-enacting birth while using restraints that create the threat of injury or death. The bill would make use of the technique a misdemeanor and a second offense a lower-level felony.

CHARLOTTE

Fraternity charter revoked over goose killing

The Supreme Executive Committee of Kappa Sigma fraternity has shut down its Davidson College chapter over a February hazing incident in which six freshmen were required to kill a goose to become members.

At its quarterly meeting in Dallas, the fraternity's five-member international governing board voted unanimously to revoke the chapter's charter "for conduct unbecoming a chapter of our fraternity," said Mitchell Wilson, executive director of the fraternity.

The action, effective immediately, means the 64-member chapter, which was suspended after the killing, is no longer in operation.

CHARLOTTE

Teacher charged for binding hands with tape

A Charlotte teacher accused of using masking tape to bind a 7-year-old boy's wrists to discipline him was charged with assault Monday, authorities said.

Judy Costner, 47, turned herself in at the Mecklenburg jail about 9:35 p.m., records show. Bond information was not immediately available, but she was expected to be released.

Costner has been charged with assault on a child under 12 and contributing to the delinquency or neglect of a juvenile. She could not be reached for comment, but her attorney said he looked forward to proving she's not guilty.

According to Tanya Owens, the boy's mother, her son touched something on the teacher's desk on or about Feb. 24. The teacher bound his wrists together with masking tape and made him sit under a desk, Owens said.