By Seanna Adcox | Editor-in-chief
The line about barbecue in Paul Hyde’s column below was among the sentences that made me chuckle. Politicians on the campaign trail in South Carolina are sometimes asked about their favorite barbecue, not realizing there’s a perennial debate among South Carolinians on what’s best.
Barbecue is South Carolina’s “official picnic cuisine.” But legislators knew better than to designate one flavor. Instead, the 2014 law states that South Carolina is the only state with “all four barbecue finishing sauces.” Can you name them? What’s your favorite?
“There’s a lot here that’s encouraging.” - Patrick Kelly, lobbyist for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, on the 2026 state report cards.
State Superintendent Ellen Weaver announces school report card results at the Statehouse in Columbia on Monday. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
By Skylar Laird
More schools got top scores on state report cards than in any year since the rating system re-launched in 2018. Nearly a quarter of South Carolina’s K-12 public schools rated "excellent;" 90% of students attend a school that’s at least “average.”
The federal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting program is up for reauthorization in 2027. Advocates are pushing early to keep the program going. (File photo/Getty Images)
By Jessica Holdman
Advocates are touting the benefits of a home-visits program for new moms in a state that still ranks near the bottom for both infant and maternal mortality. It's up for reauthorization by Congress in a year. The program reaches only about 10% of the families that qualify for the help, even after a tripling in the numbers.
The moon rises behind the flags atop the South Carolina Statehouse dome in Columbia. (Photo by Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
COMMENTARY
By Paul Hyde
In his latest column, Paul Hyde gives a humorous welcome to newcomers making South Carolina the nation's fastest-growing state by percentage. It hopefully brings some levity to this tense election season.
It’s obviously meant to be humorous so don’t get upset, for example, about the state symbols not being factual. In those sentences, I hyperlinked the official state symbol. One exception: Sweet tea truly is our state hospitality beverage, as per a 1995 law. But our official state beverage (minus the hospitality) dates to 1984. Can you name it?
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