MORNING HEADLINES | The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a transgender boy at a Berkeley County public high school could use the boys’ bathroom during the challenge of a state law requiring students to use the bathrooms of their birth sex.
In the unsigned order, the court said the ruling, which denied a state emergency appeal of a lower court decision to allow the student to use the boys’ bathroom, applied only to the 14-year-old student and wasn’t a measure on the merits of the legal issues.
According to The New York Times, “in rejecting South Carolina’s request to bar the student from the boys’ bathroom for now, the order said the state had not cleared the high bar for securing an emergency ruling in its favor.”
State Attorney General Alan Wilson said the ruling was a temporary setback: “This ruling only creates an exception for one student. The state’s bathroom law remains in full effect for everyone else. We may have lost this battle, but we believe we will ultimately win the war.”
The student and his parents first sued the state, school district and others in 2024 saying the bathroom restriction violated the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, according to the Washington Post. In July when the high court agreed to hear a case involving transgender athletes, a federal appellate court granted an injunction against enforcement of the bathroom ban in the teen’s case.
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In recent headlines
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Quietest hurricane activity in peak season in 30 years. Experts say late-season activity in the Atlantic basin still could produce a hurricane threat to the U.S., but so far the area is having its quietest peak season in more than three decades. Meanwhile, a state official says Charleston historic sites are vulnerable to hurricanes.
9/11: New York prepares to mark anniversary of terrorist attacks. New York City will have an annual reading of the names of those killed 24 years ago in terrorist attacks 24 years ago. In the Lowcountry, victims are being remembered with stair climbs, as recounted in stories here and here.
NATIONAL: Manhunt continues for killer of Charlie Kirk, right-wing activist. Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot to death in front of 3,000 people Wednesday at a Utah university. Police continue to look for his killer. Read here and here for S.C. reactions to the shooting.
Charleston’s Chubby Fish on Top 50 national list of restaurants. The New York Times listed Charleston’s Chubby Fish as one of the nation’s top 50 restaurants saying it is “wide open to influences from all over, proud of its own quirks and devoted above all to a good time.”
Harmful chemicals, pellets discharging into Congaree River, group says. Congaree Waterkeeper says harmful pellets and chemicals are being dumped into the river near a chemical plant.
Invasive beetles detected East of Cooper River. The state’s war on the invasive Asian longhorned beetle took a new front as it was detected in Mount Pleasant.
How will Charleston pay for its share of a big seawall? A $1.3 billion Charleston seawall project is moving forward. But the city’s share is $455 million — how will it pay?
Murdaugh’s attorneys try again to get murder convictions overturned. Attorneys for convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh this week filed court papers to again try to get his sentence overturned.
Inmates claim sexual assault in lawsuit. They claim in lawsuits that the jail’s former medical director sexually assaulted them during exams and promised medication for them to keep quiet.
Former Johns Island tomato packing site to become commercial space. A look at how the former DiMare facility on Johns Island is being transformed.
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