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

Tuesday, May 14, 2013  A Republican state senator is criticizing how the Department of Revenue paid its clean-up bills following the massive hacking of taxpayers' personal data.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013  A South Carolina Republican group is putting on hold plans its plans to raffle off an AR-15 rifle amid concerns the event is an illegal lottery.

Friday, May 10, 2013  The Greater Bluffton Republican Club is looking for more members and money.

Friday, May 10, 2013  South Carolina legislators would have to wait eight years after leaving office before they could lobby their peers, under legislation advanced by a Senate committee.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013  Mark Sanford is headed back to Congress after reviving his political career and winning his old House seat.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013  Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch says she feels positive and encouraged in her U.S. House race against former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013  Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says if he fails in his attempt to return to Congress, he will not seek office again.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013  Mark Sanford's quest for political redemption now rests with voters along South Carolina's coast. The former Republican governor, whose promising political career was sidelined by scandal four years ago, faces Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special election Tuesday in the state's 1st Congressional District.

Saturday, May 04, 2013  South Carolina Republicans have re-elected Chad Connelly as their leader.

Friday, May 03, 2013  Senators want to limit the foods Gov. Nikki Haley's staff can buy with public money, saying if the Republican governor insists on fighting obesity through food stamp restrictions, she needs to lead by example.

Friday, May 03, 2013  For a few hours, South Carolina will be at the center of American politics.

Friday, May 03, 2013  The Senate Finance Committee has approved a budget proposal that expands full-day 4-year-old kindergarten, gives state workers a slight raise, and puts more troopers on the highways.

Friday, May 03, 2013  U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson is meeting with employees of the Savannah River Site to talk about furloughs resulting from federal budget cuts.

Friday, May 03, 2013  U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is making a few stops in South Carolina while Congress is in recess.

Friday, May 03, 2013  Elizabeth Colbert Busch is making a bus tour in the final days of the heated 1st District congressional race.