A suspicious package closed the Arthur Ravenel Bridge connecting Charleston to Mount Pleasant Saturday for three hours. On Monday, officials disclosed that the package was an abandoned liposuction machine in a metal box. The bridge is one of the busiest in the state, carrying about 77,000 vehicles a day. More: AP News, Charleston City Paper
In other headlines:
New initiative aims to curb hot car deaths in S.C. “Look before you lock” is a new campaign from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control hoping to bring awareness about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars. From 1990 to 2020, South Carolina ranked 16th in the nation for the number of child deaths due to being left in a hot car, with 21 recorded deaths. More: WISTV
Cunningham pledges marijuana legalization. Former Democratic Congressman Joe Cunningham, who is running for governor next year, debuted a plan to legalize marijuana in the state, saying it would free up police to focus on violent criminals, provide medicinal treatment to ill people and generate millions for the state. Predictably, Republicans don’t like it. More: AP News, The State, The Post and Courier
Clyburn to push Biden agenda today at Santee town hall. U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn’s “Help is Here” town hall will promote Tuesday the American Rescue Plan, the federal coronavirus relief package that includes child benefit payments that begin July 15. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Santee Conference Center in Santee. More: The Orangeburg Times & Democrat
How FEMA aid misses Black farmers in the South. Black families who have lived for generations in the South are missing out on federal disaster money due to heirs property designations. More: The Washington Post
To get dozens of South Carolina news stories every business day, contact the folks at SC Clips.
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