Although ordinance 828 needs tweaking, it must not be swept under the rug because of outspoken citizens opposing it as observed Monday night.  The ordinance can be tweaked for dogs protecting livestock, reputable breeding establishments, and reputable hunters as well as fees. However, keep in mind that not everyone in the aforementioned groups are necessarily […]

Monday’s county council meeting was attended by the most citizens of all the meetings I’ve been to.  When I got to the speakers’ signup sheet, names were already halfway down the backside of the page.  The citizens really came out to speak about the revised animal ordinance and it was a great sight!  Obviously, the […]

The Civil War was the darkest period in American history. But from the midst of the horror came a moment of hope. Sunday marks the anniversary of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln on Sept. 22, 1862, just five days after the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history. The […]

Now that the state of South Carolina has three court-approved methods that a condemned convict can choose from to meet his maker, it’s curious lawmakers didn’t consider a tried-and-true method of execution so gruesome that it should be certain to have a deterrent effect: the guillotine. South Carolina is scheduled to get back into the […]

Fairfield County’s animal welfare efforts have been stalled for years due to a lack of progress on the comprehensive animal ordinance and the construction of a new animal shelter. Despite being on the agenda for the County Council’s Monday meeting, the ordinance was again delayed and the shelter discussion was removed from the agenda entirely. […]

“If you’re too big to do the small things, then you’re too small to do the big things.”  I don’t know who deserves the credit for this, but it’s powerful in its simplicity and meaning. Let’s consider the “small thing” example of revising the county council regular meeting agenda items outside of a public meeting […]

In a recent story in The Voice (8/8/24), Fairfield County Fire Chief Jamie Webb said the county has only six full-time and one part-time paid firefighters and fewer than 90 volunteer firefighters right now. “We need at least twice that many volunteers to adequately man the county’s 15 fire stations,” he said. In other words, […]

Peggy Swearingen is the only Fairfield County Councilwoman who has dared to speak out and emphasize the importance of life-saving EMS services, well-paid law enforcement, and the need for full-time firefighters to keep our citizens safe. It’s clear that the current approach of deploying a single paid firefighter to a station from 8 a.m. to […]