Driving eighty miles per hour on South Carolina interstate highways is against the law.

    A state representative proposes making it the new legal norm.

This Veterans Day 2009, I have been pleased to see more signs at churches and businesses along the routes I travel, thanking our veterans.

There will be many toy drives this holiday season.

    But one going on this Sunday 11/8 carries a special memory with it.

    It’s the day of the sixth annual “Syl Syl Christmas Toy Drive.“

    The toy drive is 2 - 4 pm at “The Clock Restaurant” on West Poinsett Street in Greer.

    It’s in memory of Sylvia Holtzclaw.

Walking around the former Superbike Motorsports building last month was one of the most erie experiences I’ve had in the news business.

It was my first trip to Superbike.  I had gotten permission from the current owner to do an interview inside with Senior Investigator William Gary of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s office.

It was a long ride up Parris Bridge Road.  Superbike was in the middle of nowhere.  That was probably good for a business that generated a lot of noise with the revving of engines.

    Melissa Ponder-Larson, widow of Superbike murder victim Scott Ponder, now lives in Arizona.  News Channel 7’s Tom Crabtree interviewed her Thursday night 11/5 via telephone for her thoughts on the still unsolved Superbike case.  Friday 11/6 marks the sixth anniversary of the quadruple murder.  The following is a transcript of the interview:

Even in a down year, we did pretty good.

Gayle and I kept a running count of “trick or treaters” who came to our door this past Saturday night.

I can’t remember what time the first one knocked on our door.  But the last one who came by at 9:15 was number 66.

Some years we have 100 or more.  A few times we’ve only had maybe 30.

But considering the on-and-off pouring rain and competition from fall festivals at churches and schools, 66 was a solid number.

You’re probably very familiar with Columbia, SC, especially if you’re a Gamecocks fan.

South Carolina state capitol… state government hub… home of the University of South Carolina.

Ever been to Columbia, -North- Carolina?

If you’ve traveled to the NC Outer Banks via US Highway 64, you’ve gone right through it.

If you blinked, you missed it.

And that’s too bad.

  With unemployment standing at 11.6% in September, South Carolina hurts for good news about jobs.

    Tonight monumental good news has arrived on the wings of aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

    It’s big for the Lowcountry, but it’s also big for the entire state.

    Think of it as BMW with wings.

    In one of his live reports tonight from in front of the federal courthouse in Greenville, News Channel 7’s Chris Cato called this “a dark day for Union County.“

    Union County has seen more than its share of dark days over the past two years.

    Corruption and unemployment have made for hard times.

    Federal indictments revealed today accuse top current and former county officials of a wide range of corruption charges.

Though my family has lived in Spartanburg for 28 years, we are constantly discovering new things.

I’ve discovered we have some very fine restaurants, and the days of having to drive to Greenville for quality dining are over.

One of the best discoveries I’ve made recently happened September 5th when Gayle and I went downtown for the second annual “Spartanburg Creative Tastes” festival showcasing local restaurants.  It was our first time attending, and we had a terrific time.  We mingled with local leaders, friends from work, and buddies we hadn’t seen in ages.  The weather was perfect, and at each booth, restaurants were selling plates of food that looked and smelled amazing.

“Do you love me? (I can really move)  Do you love me? (I’m in the groove)  Ah do you love? (Do you love me)  Now that I can dance?“

These are the words to the chorus of “Do You Love Me,“ a 1962 hit for the Contours.

It’s one of the great songs from the soundtrack of the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.“

The greatest of the actors in that film has died.

Tonight the Carolinas mourn the passing of Patrick Swayze.

  A fun day on the radio today (Friday 9/11)!

    The folks at His Radio WLFJ-FM had me over this afternoon to help with this year’s “Sharathon.“  That’s the annual fundraiser to meet the coming year’s operating expenses for 89.3 FM and its network of Christian radio stations across the Carolinas and Georgia.

    If you have a dog, or just plain love dogs, there’s an event for you this Saturday 9/12 in Spartanburg County.

    It’s the “Spartanburg Tailgate” at Va-Du-Mar McMillan Park on McMillan Boulevard in Boiling Springs, 10 am - 2 pm.

    Here are the event highlights from the Spartanburg Parks Commission (formerly Spartanburg County Parks and Recreation):

    While News Channel 7 engineers were busy working on the station’s new tower, other staff members of WSPA/WYCW worked hard today on something far more down-to-earth.
    We pitched in at the “New Day Clubhouse” in Spartanburg.
    The weather was perfect for a very busy community work day.

My wife’s fortieth high school reunion last weekend turned out to be fun and a most interesting life lesson.

A lesson in what retirement may be like, and in some cases, should be like.

First let me be honest and tell you I really didn’t want to go.  I figured since it wasn’t my high school class, I would be bored.  But knowing it was important to Gayle that I go, I decided to make the best of it.  After all, I really only had to do two things:  (1) dress nicely and (2) not say anything stupid or that would embarrass Gayle.

The reunion was in Salisbury, North Carolina.  My wife was in the 1969 graduating class of Boyden High School, the last class before the school was renamed Salisbury High School.