Tag Archive

How Do You Feel About This “TEA” Party Stuff?

By Steve Shanafelt

Yesterday was Tax Day, that dreaded time when we all chip into the collective kitty to keep this behemoth of a country moving. That’s right: If you make money in America, you’ve got to pay the tax man his cut. Of course, the massive amount of government spending of recent has raised some hackles among... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Memmott Takes Charge

By Steve Shanafelt

As many of you already know, Spartanburg City Manager Mark Scott announced his resignation last month. Although he’s still technically on the job until May 29, finding a suitable replacement before that time has been something of a concern. It’s a turbulent time in Spartanburg, after all, with devastating economic woes colliding head-on with... »

Reader Soapbox: School Budget Freedom?

By Reader Soapbox

Reader Soapbox lets you, the readers of Spartanburg Spark, create your own posts about topics you find interesting and important. To write your own post, visit our Reader Soapbox submission page. Soapbox contributor: Sylvie Galloway Today I am reading the Spartanburg Herald-Journal during lunch, noticed the piece about local politics, knowing I’d be reading more of... »

Rick Beltram Loses Spartanburg GOP Chair, Withdraws From S.C. GOP Race

By Steve Shanafelt

This is the Palmetto Scoop’s story, so I’ll let them tell it … Everyone’s favorite Upstate bad boy Rick Beltram has gone from South Carolina Republican Party Chair candidate and Spartanburg GOP chair to neither — all in one night. Only moments after suffering a stunning 291-87 vote defeat to activist LaDonna Ryggs in his reelection... »

How Would You Spend S.C.’s Stimulus Money?

By Steve Shanafelt

As you may known, S.C. Governor Mark Sanford is yet again requesting that some $700 million of the roughly $2.8 billion the state is eligible for be used — at his discretion — to pay down the state’s debt. Already rejected once by the White House, Sanford’s proposal has also been met with resentment... »

Spartanburg County Ponders The Future of Garbage

By Steve Shanafelt

If you are looking for clues that Spartanburg County’s culture is slowly changing from a hodgepodge of rural communities to a united community, look no further than the Spartanburg Herald-Journal’s recent coverage of the county’s plan to rethink garbage-collection. It’s a dirty job, but … well, you get the idea. Reporter Jason Spencer does a... »

The Conservatist Calls Rick Beltram Out, Claims Extortion

By Steve Shanafelt

In a blog post that went up on the Conservatist on Wednesday, political blogger and conservative activist Gary Coats makes a startling claim … Last week, in a conversation with Spartanburg County GOP Chairman Rick Beltram, was the first time I have ever felt like I was being extorted. After sitting on this... »

More Budget Woes for Spartanburg County

By Steve Shanafelt

Facing a huge budget crunch, the South Carolina House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee recently announced plans to cut some $122 million from local government funding. What does that mean for Spartanburg County? An already tough situation just got worse. According to County Administrator Glenn Breed, talking to Spartanburg Herald-Journal reporter Robert W. Dalton,... »

District 7 Spending Goes Under the Microscope

By Steve Shanafelt

Unless Spartanburg School District 7 Superintendent Thomas White is very, very careful in coming weeks, he and the School Board are going to end up as the scapegoat for everything wrong with South Carolina’s public school system. The questionable-at-best decision by the district to pay out some $325,000 to a private golf club to... »

Liberal Versus Conservative

By Steve Shanafelt

It has recently come to my attention that the perception of the Spark by our small, but growing, community is that this is a left-leaning “liberal” site. That would be as opposed to any number of “conservative” sites and newspapers in the area. Yet, as I see it, the Spark is nothing of the... »

Sparkle City Headlines: The Sheriff of Spin

By Steve Shanafelt

Remember when Sheriff Chuck Wright decided a few weeks ago to buck the County’s across-the-board “furlough” (read: temporary layoff) cost-cutting plan because, even though his department is consistently over budget, as an elected official he and his department weren’t legally required to chip in? (Never mind that he was the only person on the... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Landrum Rep. Millwood Rides the School-Funding Corruption Wave

By Steve Shanafelt

Is S.C. State Rep. Joey Millwood (R-Landrum) really concerned that the state’s schools are corrupt and spending their money like a lotto-winning seamstress at a piece good store closing? Or is his call for independent audits of the state’s school districts and the already hard-hit Department of Education just old-school grandstanding my a minor... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Journal Watchdog’s Colorful District 7 Golf-Gate Coverage

By Steve Shanafelt

For all the criticisms I’ve handed the Spartanburg Journal over the last few months — both in the design of their new JournalWatchdog.com site and general scope of content — I’ve rarely mentioned the good things about their work as a news-gathering agency. And there are good things, specifically when it comes to “color”... »

Sparkle City Headlines: School Board Gets Schooled

By Steve Shanafelt

The national economy is in the crapper, local unemployment is at its highest rate in almost 20 years and all across the state, funding for public education is being slashed. These are tough times for parents, but even tougher for schools. So when the District 7 School Board announced that after a seemingly impromptu vote... »

Sparkle City Headlines: More Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation Infighting

By Steve Shanafelt

If you’ve not been following Jason Spencer’s reporting on the divided Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation’s seeming inability to do anything but argue with each other, today’s story of their continuing drama provides a good synopsis. The Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation made several appointments to area boards and commissions Monday night, even though a list of... »