School official pleads guilty to embezzling
The former athletics director of a Lexington high school pleaded guilty to embezzling money raised for school sports teams, The State reported.
Bryan Butz, who worked at White Knoll High School, was charged with embezzling more than $135,000 three years ago. He acknowledged taking more than $10,000 in public funds in his Wednesday plea, but did not specify how much. Assistant 11th Circuit Solicitor Robert Elam said there is a dispute over the amount Butz took and that discussions regarding repayment are ongoing.
Butz took checks from White Knoll’s athletic booster club and deposited them in a private checking account over a period of more than four years, Elam said.
He will be sentenced Sept. 30. A deferred sentencing came after Circuit Judge Robert Hood accepted Butz’s plea at the Lexington County Judicial Center.
Council committee proposes police policy
City Council’s public safety committee has proposed a new plan for policing Five Points, which would focus more on stopping gang violence and taking unlawful weapons off the street, The State reported.
That doesn’t mean the city’s police will stop going after underage drinking and fake ID possession, interim police chief Ruben Santiago said at the meeting, but that its focus will switch to “the violent crime that has caused fear in Five Points.”
Columbia residents on the revitalized hospitality zone task force made five recommendations to the committee at its Tuesday meeting. Among them were additional signage regarding video surveillance; forming a public safety team with officers from city, county and state agencies; and ensuring police culture focused on targeting gangs and illegal guns, with alcohol violations coming second.
Republicans, Democrats dispute rally attendance
South Carolina Republicans and Democrats have found another thing to fight over: how many people were at Gov. Nikki Haley’s re-election campaign announcement Monday.
The Haley campaign estimated that 300 people showed up to the event, which featured Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the Greenville News reported.
But Roxanne Cordonier, first vice chairman of the Democratic Women of Greenville County, said about 75 people attended the rally, not including news media and campaign staff. A South Carolina Democratic Party spokeswoman said that the crowd was between 60 and 100 people.
A Greenville Republican political consultant said that while the crowd wasn’t large, it was a good number for a Monday afternoon on a hot day.
More than 200 people attended a fundraiser for Haley after the event.