New chairwoman preps for November election
Marjorie Johnson has been named the newest chairwoman of the Richland County elections board.
The appointment was announced at the board's second organizational meeting Tuesday.
Along with Johnson, Adell Adams was elected to serve with the new chair as her vice chairwoman. Adams is the only veteran serving on the board.
The board is prepping to run its first election since the election in November 2012.
The board will be holding workshops next week to help train poll workers and clerks on how to work with the voting machines at the county precincts.
The county is operating 25 new voting sites this year, bringing its overall total to 149 sites.
Johnson and the board will begin shipping the 1,132 working machines out to precincts starting Oct. 20.
Man burns pregnant woman, charged with domestic violence
A man in Union County was arrested after police say he burned a pregnant woman with a cigarette, WIS reported.
Police arrived on the scene Friday night after receiving a call around 10 p.m.
The woman was said to have a visible burn wound on her face and bruises up and down her arm.
She told police that 30-year-old Lamar Norman hit her and broker her cell phone in half after burning her in the face with his cigarette.
After being tracked down by Union County deputies, Norman was charged with criminal domestic violence and malicious damage.
This is not his first domestic violence charge. Norman has been convicted of the crime two times in the past.
Man charged in murder case of USC professor
On Monday, a Richland County court found Hank Hawes guilty of the death of former USC professor, Jennifer Wilson, The State reported.
Wilson was found stabbed to death in her home in 2011. Her clothes had been removed and she was wrapped in a sheet. In his initial testimony, Hawes claimed self-defense, but his defensive wounds were revealed to be self-inflicted.
A next-door neighbor testified that she was awakened on the night of the crime by what she believed to be Wilson's final words, which she says were, "No! No! No!" The question now remains whether Hawes acted out of premeditation, or as a crime of passion. The defense acknowledges that Hawes took Wilson's life, but pleads not guilty of murder.
A final ruling has yet to be determined.