Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

Tuesday, April 30, 2013  High school students would no longer have to pass South Carolina's exit exam to earn a diploma under a bill passed by the House.

Friday, April 26, 2013  Parents and teens say their families are back on track after enrolling  in the Next Step Program with Richland County Sheriff's Dept.

Thursday, April 11, 2013  Members of the Greenwood County Council are accused of violating state laws.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013  The Obama administration's budget slashes funding for a plutonium reprocessing project in South Carolina and questions the viability of the multi-billion-dollar effort.

Monday, March 25, 2013  The state Department of Education is recognizing 662 of South Carolina's public schools for student achievement.

Thursday, March 21, 2013  A new transitional housing facility for women and children promises to provide safe living accomodations to those who are financially unable to secure housing due to economic hardship or life crisis.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013  The price tag for a South Carolina project intended to turn weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors has risen by nearly $3 billion.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013  Report: Schools in such disrepair, updating them would cost $542 billion over next decade

Thursday, February 14, 2013  The governor could appoint South Carolina's education chief under legislation advanced by a Senate panel.

Thursday, July 19, 2012  State schools Superintendent Mick Zais says a waiver from key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform education in South Carolina.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012  Officials with South Carolina Electric & Gas and the state-owned utility Santee Cooper are celebrating the licenses that will allow them to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County.  However, opponents say the reactors are not necessary and the design has not been properly reviewed since last March's Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan.

Thursday, March 01, 2012  A father of three children ages 2 to 6, Fairfield County resident Kevin Thomas says he's not excited about sending them to the county's public school system.

Monday, October 31, 2011  The federal government is going to use a facility at the Savannah River site near Aiken to produce tons of plutonium oxide for the complex's future mixed-oxide fuel plant.

Monday, August 08, 2011  Superintendent Mick Zais says he will seek more flexibility for the state from the federal government's all-or-nothing education accountability law.  Zais said Monday he wants greater flexibility in spending federal money, with less regulation.

Thursday, June 16, 2011  A congressional committee is expressing concern over rising costs and potential delays at the U.S. Energy Department's mixed oxide fuel project at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.