SC Senator fined over $40,000 for campaign violations
Retiring state Sen. Raymond Cleary was ordered to pay $41,900 in fines to the South Carolina Senate Ethics Committee after allegations of using campaign donations for personal expenses, The State reports. Cleary, a 68-year-old dentist, publicly apologized last week for "sloppy bookkeeping." The Georgetown Republican has faced at least 19 violations from 2013 to 2015 and announced he will not run for re-election in 2016.
Earthquake reported near coast
A minor earthquake was reported in the Lowcountry Tuesday afternoon, WIS reports. There have been no details on damage from the 0.8 magnitude earthquake yet. According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, the quake hit close to Summerville at approximately 1:30 p.m.
DHEC forms deal to clean up nuclear weapons complex
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Tuesday an agreement with the federal government to speed up the clean out and closure of waste tanks containing atomic waste at the Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex, The State reports. According to DHEC, the U.S. Department of Energy will begin assisting in the cleanup by 2019 via a treatment plant and "additional technologies." The tanks contain toxic residue from the Cold War atomic weapons effort.