Gov. Nikki Haley vetoes legislator pay raise
Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed a $12,000-a-year pay raise to legislators that they themselves voted for, The State reported. Haley’s veto comes with an additional 75 other vetoes that cut $18.5 million from the $7 billion budget the General Assembly approved last July. Haley had told the lawmakers that she would veto any attempt at a pay raise throughout the process. She believes that any raise for lawmakers should be decided by voters in a referendum. However, legislators have overturned the majority of her vetoes and will reach a decision this week. It would take a vote of two-thirds of both the House and Senate to override the vetoes.
— Richard Lipkin, Editor-in-Chief
Starbucks pays for employee tuition costs
Starbucks Corp. is offering $6,500 a year in tuition to its employees that enroll in Arizona State University’s online bachelor’s degree programs for the first two years, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Starbucks will offer full reimbursement to workers in their junior and senior years. This opportunity is only available to employees that work 20 hours a week at any company-owned store, regardless of how long they have been with the company. While Starbucks is not the only company to offer its employees help with tuition, it is the first to do so with so few strings attached. Normally students are forced to work with the company for a certain number of years after obtaining a degree. Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said that the new initiative is designed to help employees in a time of increasing inequality in the U.S.
— Richard Lipkin, Editor-in-Chief
Kyle Carpenter receives Lexington holiday
A USC student now can claim his name day countywide. The Lexington Town Council recognized Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter, Medal of Honor recipient, with his own day, June 19, 2014. Carpenter is a resident of Lexington who served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Operation Enduring Freedom. Carpenter saved many of his comrades by jumping on a live grenade to spare them. Lance Cpl. Carpenter is set to receive a Medal of Honor, which is the highest military honor, from the President on Thursday. Carpenter has also received the Purple Heart and the Navy Achievement Medal. The Mayor of Lexington and Town Council are asking local businesses to display the “Kyle Carpenter Day,” on June 19, 2014.
— Anthony DeCoro, Asst. News Editor