| Yearender Top Stories in South Carolina |
| (AP) -- The loss of South Carolina's most
prominent political figure of the past century was the top story of
2003. Members of The Associated Press selected the death of retired Senator Strom Thurmond as the #1 news story of the year. But what surprised many was the end-of-the-year revelation that he fathered a mixed-race daughter when he was 22. Thurmond died June 26th at 100 in a newly renovated wing of a hospital in his hometown of Edgefield. But just months after the nation's longest-serving senator was eulogized by Vice President Dick Cheney and other dignitaries, 78-year-old Essie Mae Washington Williams came forward to tell the world Thurmond actually had five children instead of four. Williams said she waited to come forward because she didn't want to harm Thurmond's political career. In other top stories from 2003, the Palmetto State mourned the loss of more than ten servicemen from South Carolina who died in the war on terrorism. Thousands lost their lifetime earnings when a popular investment group collapsed, filed for bankruptcy and told many they would see little, if any, of their hard-earned money. Thousands more lost their jobs as manufacturing and textile plants closed. State government continued battling its largest budget crisis in memory, a situation that may have had a trickle down effect on everything from schools failing federal standards to state employees being laid off. When talk ventured away from money, state and national politics dominated the news. Here are the Top 10 South Carolina stories of 2003 as voted on by AP members statewide: No. 1 - Strom Thurmond, the nation's oldest and longest-serving senator, dies at 100 after retiring. Six months after his death, Essie Mae Washington-Williams publicly reveals she is Thurmond's illegitimate, biracial daughter. No. 2 - Hundreds of reservists and Guard members are mobilized for the war in Iraq, and at least 11 servicemen from South Carolina die during the conflict. Three of the fallen soldiers alone were graduates of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. No. 3 - Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., announces he will not seek re-election in 2004. No. 4 - The Republican Party controls the governor's office as well as the state House and Senate for the first time since Reconstruction as Mark Sanford is sworn into office. No. 5 - Jobless rate hits nine-year high as the state continues to suffer the loss of manufacturing and textile jobs. No. 6 - Democratic presidential candidates crisscross the state as South Carolina prepares to host the first-in-the-South primary on Feb. 3, 2004. No. 7 - The state continues to deal with a budget crisis and a multimillion-dollar deficit, forcing many state employees out of work. No. 8 - South Carolinians lose $275 million when Carolina Investors collapses and files for bankruptcy along with parent company HomeGold Financial. No. 9 - Three-fourths of South Carolina schools fail to meet new federal standards. No. 10 - The Rev. Jesse Jackson leads protests in Greenville as the County Council votes against observing a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Eventually, the council lets employees vote on holidays, and MLK Day is rejected for 2004. |