A 63-YEAR-OLD BLUFFTON WOMAN MIGHT JUST SHAKE UP THE RACE FOR NANCY MACE’S FIRST DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL SEAT, IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. MAYRA RIVERA-VAZQUEZ HAS LIVED IN THE LOWCOUNTRY FOR MORE THAN A DECADE AND IS THE FIRST LATINA TO RUN FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT SEAT. THE PUERTO-RICAN-BORN, SEMI-RETIRED RIVERA-VAZQUEZ HAS BEEN A COMMUNITY ACTIVIST FOR YEARS, SAYING SHE’LL DRAW ON HER EXPERIENCE IN LAW AND ECONOMICS TO PRIORITIZE STRONG BORDER, SMART POLICIES ON IMMIGRATION, INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AND A RESPONSIBLE FISCAL BUDGET. SHE SAYS SHE’D HAVE RUN FOR THE SEAT EVEN IF MACE WERE RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION INSTEAD OF FOR GOVERNOR AND IN HER LAUNCH VIDEO SAYS THE DISTRICT HAS NO ONE IN WASHINGTON FIGHTING FOR ‘THE AMERICAN DREAM’, AND AGAINST CORRUPTION AND CAREER POLITICIANS IN WASHINGTON.
NOBODY WON LAST NIGHT’S POWERBALL DRAWING FOR A 1.4-BILLION DOLLAR JACKPOT, MEANING SATURDAY’S DRAWING IS ESTIMATED TO BE WORTH 1.7-BILLION. FIFTEEN TICKETS, INCLUDING TWO IN GEORGIA, HAD THE 5 WHITE NUMBERS CORRECT, JUST MISSING THE POWERBALL, AND WON AT LEAST A MILLION DOLLARS. FOR WHAT ITS WORTH, AND IT WAS WORTH A LOT TO SOME, THE WINNING NUMBERS WERE 3-16-29-61-AND 69 WITH THE POWERBALL OF 22.
THAT ORDER FROM THE U-S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FOR SOUTH CAROLINA TO HAND OVER ITS ENTIRE VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS HAS BEEN BLOCKED BY A SOUTH CAROLINA JUDGE, AT LEAST UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY, WHEN A HEARING IS SCHEDULE IN AIKEN COUNTY, CITING A VOTER WHO SAID THAT RELEASING HER DRIVER’S LICENSE NUMBER AND PARTIAL SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WOULD VIOLATE HER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO PRIVACY. THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION IS STILL NEGOTIATING WITH THE D-O-J TO DECIDE WHAT INFORMATION WILL BE SHARED AND HOW. THE D-O-J HAD ASKED FOR THE COMPLETE VOTER ROLLS, INCLUDING DRIVERS LICENSE AND SOCIAL SECURITY DATA TO BE HANDED OVER BY FRIDAY. STATE OFFICIALS ARE SQUEAMISH ABOUT GIVING AWAY DATA THAT COULD BE USED BY HACKERS. AT LEAST 25 OTHER STATES ARE BEING TARGETED FOR THEIR VOTER ROLLS.
THE MAN WHO LED U-S-C-B’S ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FROM ALMOST NOTHING TO ITS STATUS IN NCAA DIVISION 2 IS LEAVING TO BECOME THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY. QUIN MONAHAN HAS LED U-S-C-B ATHLETICS FOR MORE THAN A DOZEN YEARS, LEADING THE PROGRAM FROM ITS N-A-I-A ROOTS TO FULL D-2 STATUS, ADDING SPORTS, IMPROVING FACILITIES AND STAFFING AND MAINTAINING A GRADE POINT AVERAGE OVER 3.0. HE SUCCEEDS RETIRING LONGTIME A-D MURRAY HARTZLER, WHO’D SPENT 25 YEARS RUNNING THE DEPARTMENT IN FLORENCE.