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Tropical Storm Closing In on the Carolinas  

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — With wary eyes cast at Hurricane Ike farther out at sea, coastal Carolina residents prepared on Friday for gusting winds and torrential rain as Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward them. The storm was expected to make landfall near the North Carolina-South Carolina border early Saturday. . . .

Beach erosion was a major concern here, and farm workers were hustling to harvest tobacco and corn crops before the storm hit.

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Tobacco-Free USC 

Buoyed by Richland County, the City of Columbia and other municipalities across South Carolina going smoke free, the University of South Carolina has begun enforcing its smoking ban with citations and fines this semester.

The ban, enacted in August 2006, prohibits smoking in campus buildings, outdoor areas designated for eating and university vehicles. Outside, smoking is limited to 25 feet away from buildings.

Until this semester the ban had not been enforced as the university concentrated on getting the word out about it.

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S.C. ends funding for anti-smoking  

Anti-smoking advocates fear more teenagers will begin the habit in South Carolina and fewer adults will quit now that prevention programs are getting no state money.

For the past two years, South Carolina has spent $2 million on smoking cessation and prevention. At least a half-dozen states have reduced funding for such programs in the economic downturn, but South Carolina was the only one to eliminate it this year.

South Carolina and Connecticut are the only two states that spend nothing on prevention, according to the national Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Before getting the money in 2006-07, S.C. spent nothing for several years.

Since 1999, the youth smoking rate in South Carolina has dropped by half, from 36 percent to 18 percent. The teen movement Rage Against the Haze has helped teens

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USC Upstate to go smoke-free on its entire campus this fall 

The tobacco-free policy will take effect Nov. 20, the day of the nationwide Great American Smokeout. The date also coincides closely with the full opening of the Health Education Complex, which will house a new wellness center and serve as a landmark for the university's Healthy Upstate Carolina initiative.

"We think as a university, we have an opportunity to take a major step by declaring the campus a smoke-free zone," USC Upstate Chancellor John Stockwell said, "and that's what we're doing. Other entities in the county have taken this step, including Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, and we think it's time."

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• Farmers standing by tobacco, particularly as researchers find new uses for crop 

After a few ups and downs, including the War Between the States, which destroyed half the state's tobacco crop, South Carolina's "bright leaf" production rebounded, thanks to a top-quality crop and a heavy-smoking population.

Today, the Palmetto State's tobacco crop is considered one of the highest-quality, flue-cured leaves available, and demand has remained steady, despite the war on smoking here in the United States.

"Consumption here in this country has definitely gone down, but demand for our tobacco is up," . . .

While international smoking trends continue to drive up demand for South Carolina's tobacco, researchers are studying alternative uses for the plant.

"It's a plant that produces a fair amount of soluble protein in its biomass," explains Bruce Fornum,

Ph.D., of Clemson University's Pee Dee Research and Education Center, "So there's the opportunity to genetically modify that tobacco to produce other proteins that might be useful - possibly as an industrial protein or as a pharmaceutical protein. That would give tobacco farmers another avenue. . . .

Five or ten years from now, tobacco farmers could wind up in the pharmaceutical industry.

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A look at SC's new tobacco-use surcharge  

The state Budget and Control Board on Thursday approved a tobacco-use surcharge on health insurance premiums.

WHAT IT DID: Public employees will pay an additional $25 a month if they or family members covered under their plan smoke or chew tobacco.

WHEN: The surcharge takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.

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• Smoking SC gov't workers to pay more for insurance 

Tens of thousands of South Carolina public employees and their family members who smoke or chew tobacco will pay an additional $25 a month for their state health insurance starting in 2010.

With a 3-2 vote Thursday, state budget officials made South Carolina the eighth state nationwide to charge state employees more if they or their spouses light up.

Gov. Mark Sanford called it a "small but meaningful step" toward making people responsible for endangering their own health.

"It's a case of recognizing cost," he said. He added, "People ought to have complete freedom on how they treat their body," but said nonsmokers shouldn't have to pay for their co-workers' bad health care decisions.

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LETTER: Smokers litter the landscape with used cigarettes  

If I smoke, is the world my ashtray? After spending a week at a South Carolina beach, I could not believe the amount of cigarette butts littering the beach and water's edge. As I walk into restaurants, the grocery store, any public place, no matter where I am, cigarette butts are littered everywhere. Why?

Are the people that smoke so arrogant to believe that they do not need to pick up their own trash? Or are they naive enough to think that the butts are biodegradable? They are not. . . .

f you love Nashville and this world as much as I do, then you might consider doing the following: 1) pick up the butts you see on the ground. Take responsibility for keeping our city and our World; 2) when you see someone flip or throw their butt on the ground (or anything for that matter), kindly ask them to pick it up.

And if they refuse, by seeing you do the right thing, by picking up their trash, they will be inspired to do the same next time. I have searched the Web and have included an excellent Web site for additional information on the subject: www.cigarettelitter.org.

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Smoking led to assault, man says 

A Ridley Drive man called deputies early Saturday, saying he was assaulted, according to an OCSO incident report.

The man said that around 4 a.m., a male acquaintance attacked him suddenly at a Columbia Road residence. He said the man attacked him because he was smoking a cigarette in the kitchen. The victim cut his arm at some point during the incident.

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Not all smokers against North Augusta smoking ban 

As Katrice Griffin and her son enjoy eating together at the Waffle House in North Augusta, the air is a little clearer. Chairs that are usually filled by smokers, today are empty and its all because of the city's new smoking ban.

"I really think it is a wonderful thing. I am a smoker, but I just think we should all have respect for other people," said Katrice.

But not all feel like this smoker.

"I personally don't smoke, but I just think its wrong. I think its just another one of our freedoms being taken away, " said Jake Jones, a North Augusta non-smoker.

Waffle House regulars are still coming to the restauran

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Grass fire probably caused by cigarette, fire official says  

A small grass fire near the runway at Greenville Downtown Airport may have been sparked by a lit cigarette thrown out during exceptionally dry conditions Friday, a fire department official said.

The 4:30 p.m. blaze damaged a small shed, said Batt. Chief David Wright .

"Apparently someone threw a cigarette," he said, adding the super dry conditions and the wind pushed the fire up a tree.

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SC researcher finds that smoking bans work 

A new study from the Medical University of South Carolina shows that smoking bans do indeed improve air quality.

Researcher Matthew Carpenter of the Hollings Cancer Center sampled air quality two years ago in 23 bars and restaurants in Charleston and another 11 in Mount Pleasant.

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Tega Cay smoking ban vote dies; issue up for vote again Aug. 18  

The Tega Cay City Council has decided not to vote on a resolution to ban smoking in city-owned buildings.

During a special meeting Thursday, Mayor Bob Runde moved to vote on the resolution, but no one seconded it, so the measure died without a vote. The council then directed City Manager Grant Duffield to bring the issue back as an ordinance at the next regularly scheduled council meeting set for Aug. 18.

"The reason I didn't vote," Councilman George Sheppard said, "is because I believe we shouldn't do this by resolution. It's a one-time vote that doesn't allow public discussion."

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Study: Smoking bans improve air quality 

Smoking bans do indeed improve air quality, according to an MUSC study.

Researcher Matthew Carpenter of the Hollings Cancer Center sampled air quality two years ago in 23 bars and restaurants in Charleston and 11 more in Mount Pleasant.

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Easley considering a smoking ban at city festivals  

Easley city officials are set to discuss non-smoking feedback today in relation to the possibility of a smoking ban at city festivals and events or a citywide smoking ban in public places.

The meeting is planned for 8 a.m. in the conference room at City Hall, according to an e-mail from the city.

A committee was appointed with three City Council members -- Kim Valentin, Dave Watson and Brian Garrison -- to study smoking in the city limits.

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