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LAKE-BODY FOUND
Authorities say man's body found in SC lake
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - Authorities in Cherokee County say a man's body has been found in a lake.
Sheriff Steve Mueller said a tracking team saw the body in Lake Whelchel at about 10:30 a.m. Friday. Mueller said the body was discovered shortly after a missing persons report was filed.
Department of Natural Resources personnel assisted with the recovery.
Investigators say evidence suggests that the death is suspicious, but no further details were available.
SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA
Spoleto Festival USA opens 37th season
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - The 37th season of the internationally known Spoleto Festival USA is under way.
The festival opened Friday with a brass fanfare, speeches and a shower of confetti in front of Charleston City Hall.
Festival Board Chairman Carlos Evans dedicated the festival to the memory of Ted Stern, who was the original board chairman when the festival began in Charleston in 1977. Stern, also a president of the College of Charleston, died earlier this year at age 100.
This year is the last season for Joseph Flummerfelt, who has overseen festival choral activities in Charleston since the festival was founded. He said while he is leaving his role, he will regularly return as an audience member in the future.
This year, there are 160 performances during the 17-day festival run.
STORM SURGE-COMMUNICATING THE DANGER UPDATE
Hurricane center: Beware of the storm surge
MIAMI (AP) - During a hurricane, storm surge is 1 of the greatest threats to life and land, yet many people don't understand the dire warnings from forecasters to get out of its way.
This season, forecasters hope to offer easy-to-understand, color-coded maps and change the way they talk to the public.
Simply put, storm surge is the abnormal rise of sea water. Predicting it is far more complicated, and so is explaining it. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami discovered that again during a review of Superstorm Sandy.
Forecasts during Sandy were exceptionally accurate, but often confusing. Perhaps because so many things contribute to storm surge: intensity, pressure, forward speed, size, where it makes landfall and other factors.
DUI-BROTHER KILLED
Teen charged with DUI in crash that killed brother
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A Columbia teen is facing a felony DUI charge for an early morning crash that killed his brother.
Lance Cpl. Brent Kelly of the South Carolina Highway Patrol says 18-year-old Cameron Stringfellow ran off the road and struck several trees at around 2 a.m. after hitting a parked car in a Columbia subdivision.
Troopers say Stringfellow's 16-year-old brother, Cory, was in the backseat and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Another passenger and the driver sustained minor injuries.
There was no immediate word on if Cameron Stringfellow had an attorney or when he would appear in court. Authorities say all three in the car were wearing seatbelts.
GULLAH FESTIVAL
Gullah Festival returns to Beaufort this weekend
BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) - This weekend, the Gullah Festival is returning to Beaufort for a 27th season.
The 3-day festival opens on Friday and continues through Sunday in a new location - the Technical College of the Lowcountry. In past seasons, the festival was held in Beaufort's waterfront park.
The festival highlights the culture of slave descendants on South Carolina's sea islands. Events include a Gullah Village and, this year, a new children's village with games and play areas.
There will also be music, lectures and films about the culture.
BRANDED DOG
Dog branded with number 300
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - An abandoned, neglected dog found in the Charleston area branded with a large number 300 is getting a new home.
The foxhound now being called Lucky goes home with his new owner on Friday.
Authorities are trying to find out who branded the dog, which was found earlier this week by a man and brought it to a veterinarian clinic in North Charleston.
Charleston Animal Society spokeswoman Kay Hyman says Lucky was underweight and fighting an infection at the site where he was branded.
Hyman says sometimes people will use hair dye or temporary paint to identify their dogs in a pack during controlled hunts. But she says she's never seen a dog permanently branded and scarred.
SRS FURLOUGHS
Workers at SRS to return to full-time status
AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - Employees of the contractor that manages the Savannah River Site are returning to full-time work status.
Officials with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions said Thursday that about 2,500 workers would go back to full-time status starting on Monday.
The employees at the old nuclear weapons plant had been on furloughs since April due to federal budget cuts. SRNS CEO Dwayne Wilson said in a message to employees that a funding request had been approved, meaning that employees could go back to the schedules they were working at the end of March.
The 310-square-mile Savannah River Site once produced plutonium and tritium for atomic bombs. Work there is now focused mostly on research and cleaning up contaminated areas.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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