Yesterday, about a month before the November general election, Democratic candidate for governor Vincent Sheheen and lieutenant governor Bakari Sellers held a Columbia press conference to call for the Confederate flag to be removed from the Statehouse grounds. [P&C, The State]

A 20-year old Clemson student who died aboard a Carnival cruise ship off the Florida coast earlier this week may have been knocked off a perch atop the ship’s mast by radar equipment, according to reports. [The State]

Letter in P&C from CofC senior: “Young Americans won’t buy [Rand] Paul’s stale pitch” [P&C]

A new poll out yesterday shows Gov. Nikki Haley ahead of Sheheen 44% to 34% among likely voters, while economic issues . [WSJ, Winthrop]

Acting House Speaker Jay Lucas named 22 members of the state assembly a new ethics reform panel. [The State]

New CDC numbers show South Carolina as one of the top ten states for new AIDS cases in the nation. [WYFF]

The Post and Courier reports that the man who threw allegedly pushed his co-worker off the edge of the Westmoreland Bridge last week before jumping in himself may have developed paranoia over his job shortly before the incident. [P&C]