MORNING HEADLINES | Conway native Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who now lives in Charleston, is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In that role, Bessent will spearhead what has been called an unconventional economic agenda “that is expected to be built around raising tariffs and cutting taxes.”
The 62-year-old Bessent, founder of Key Square Capital Management investment firm, is a former Democratic donor who raised millions for Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda. He “has called for rolling back government subsidies, deregulating the economy and raising domestic energy production.” He also has defended the use of tariffs as an economic strategy.
In Charleston, Bessent owns the so-called Pink House, an eight-bedroom mansion on East Battery that went on the market for $22.25 million in October.
In other weekend stories:
CP OPINION: Kapp: On facing a new women’s health care uncertainty. “For the nearly 90% of Americans who believe that birth control should be legal and accessible for all, the future of contraception is top of mind. Today, our elected leaders have the opportunity to put these uncertainties to rest. Our leaders can – and must – commit to the availability of and, as importantly, the affordability of vital contraceptive care.”
CP OPINION, Brack: Picking the right quote is fun, daily challenge. “The quote, called a “thought for the day,” is a way to ease a subscriber into the news morning, offering a pithy thought, amusing comment or a wry notion somehow related to the morning headlines.”
CP WEEK IN REVIEW: ‘Crank’ likely to stay in S.C. public high school libraries. A State Board of Education panel recommended Thursday that Crank, a frank novel about a young woman’s struggles with methamphetamine addiction, remain available for checkout in S.C. high school libraries, but only with parental permission.
CP ARTS: Quinn to head to Mississippi museum. Charleston-based curator Chase Quinn has announced he will be inaugural creative director and curator of special projects of the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson starting Jan. 13, 2025.
SC-1: TV show skewers Mace over bathroom politics. The Daily Show has poked lots of fun at U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., over her obsession with bathroom politics about a transgender legislator.
HOLIDAY: Nearly 80 million people to travel during Thanksgiving. AAA predicts a record number of Americans will travel during the holiday, in part due to lower gas prices. But wintry weather in some areas could make it messy. More holiday news:
- Charlotte airport workers on strike
- Leave early, watch speed during holiday travel
- Charleston offers free parking for holiday shopping
- Christmas tree lit on Statehouse grounds
Columbia mosque vandalized with propaganda, swastika. Richland County authorities are investigating the vandalization of a Columbia mosque with White supremacist propaganda, including a spray-painted swastika.
UCLA upsets S.C. women’s 43-game winning basketball streak. The top-ranked South Carolina women’s basketball team fell to No. 5 UCLA by a 77-62 score in its first loss since April 2022.
Thousands celebrate pets at “Paws in the Park” event in Charleston. More than 3,000 people turned out Saturday to celebrate pets — and the 150th anniversary of the Charleston Animal Society.
Humpback whale spotted off S.C. coast. A humpback whale was spotted over the weekend off the Myrtle Beach coast.
Inside the monkey farm that grabbed the world’s attention. A look at what goes on at the Yemassee research facility from which 43 monkeys escaped earlier this month.
2025 groundbreaking set for stalled Magnolia project in Charleston’s Neck. The long-planned development seems to be sputtering ahead.
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