South Carolina

ANDERSON

Investigators: 2-year-old shot, killed

A 2-year-old boy is dead after finding an Anderson County deputy sheriff's gun and pulling the trigger.

Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown says Josiah Tate was at home with his mother when the accident happened. McCown says a deputy who lives at the home laid his guns on a bedroom counter and left to run errands.

McCown says the boy's mother saw him playing with the gun just seconds before he shot himself in the head Tuesday afternoon in the Colony Mobile Home Park.

Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper says because the shooting happened at a deputy's home, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been called in to investigate. Skipper declined to identify the deputy.

Columbia

Union County home to winners

Tip: It might be worth a drive to Union County if you’re in the market for a winning lottery ticket.

For the third time in a little over a month, purchasing a lottery ticket has paid off for a Union County resident.

In a statement released Tuesday, Holli Armstrong, public relations coordinator for the South Carolina Education Lottery, announced that a Union County woman she described as a single mom is “celebrating a fresh start thanks to a $100,000 lottery win.”

Armstrong stated that the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told lottery officials she'd purchased the $5 Muscle Car MoneyTM instant game ticket at the Hot Spot on the Jonesville-Lockhart Highway while on her way home from work last week.

In May, a Union County man who also asked to remain anonymous, won $100,000 on a Money Maker scratch-off ticket purchased from the Kangaroo Express #1509 on South Pine Street in Spartanburg.

Also in May, a Union homemaker won $10,000 after purchasing a Junior Jumbo Bucks lottery ticker for $1 from Li'l Cricket #807 at 616 W. Main St., Union.

COLUMBIA

Student housing may boom downtown

A North Carolina company is in talks with Columbia developer Ben Arnold to build a 600-student housing complex at the intersection of Huger and Blossom Streets.

Meanwhile, an out-of-state developer is considering reviving a plan to turn the old Palmetto Compress building off Blossom Street into private dorms, The State Newspaper reported.

Those deals are being struck as work is planned to convert the former Palmetto Center on Main Street into housing for 800 students. “It’s like a great intersection that suddenly gets four fast-food restaurants,” Arnold said. “If it’s a good idea then everyone wants to do it. It’s going to be a wave of student housing.”

Along with total enrollment at the University of South Carolina passing 30,000 for the first time, the influx will have a positive impact on the Vista, Main Street and Five Points, said Fred Delk, executive director of Columbia Development Corp.

EASLEY

Nursing-home death tied to heat

Easley Police are investigating the death of an 84-year-old woman who died at a nursing home June 30 from what could be heat-related causes, according to officials.

Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelly said an unresponsive Eloise Arnold was transported from Majesty Health and Rehab to Baptist Easley Hospital where she was then pronounced dead.

An autopsy to confirm cause of death was conducted on Monday, and Kelly says the results should be in within 4-6 weeks. The coroner's report also said Easley Police are investigating. According to The Weather Channel, temperatures in Easley reached a high of 102 outside on Saturday.

In a statement, Majesty officials said they could not comment on individual cases.

“Due to resident privacy laws Majesty cannot comment on any specific resident issues but will as always cooperate with all appropriate agencies regarding the safety of our residents,” said Administrator Sandra Ferguson, adding that the nursing home has tried to take all proper precautions during the heat wave.

“Majesty, like all skilled nursing homes in the United States affected by the current heat wave, is most concerned for its residents,” she said. “The Majesty facility has taken additional steps to ensure all of the residents here are properly hydrated and as cool as possible in this heat. There is AC available in the facility and we are doing everything possible to supplement the system during this heat wave.

North Carolina

Raleigh

Lawmakers seek to help whistleblowers

North Carolina lawmakers are acting to protect whistleblowers after a hospital sued a former employee who reported what the state auditor later determined were excessive taxpayer charges.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that legislation passed this week now goes to Gov. Bev Perdue for her approval.

The push for action came from the lawsuit Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center filed against former hospital administrative director Joseph Vincoli. The hospital accused Vincoli of contacting the State Health Plan about his concerns that the state plan had overpaid Baptist. He was fired in 2007.

The taxpayer-provided health insurance plan provides coverage for 663,000 state employees and teachers. A state auditor's report determined that Baptist overcharged the state plan by $1.3 million. Baptist Hospital dropped its lawsuit against Vincoli last October.

From wire reports