Note: This story comes from The Last Sunday Drive—Vanishing Southland, due out fall 2019. Sunday drives carried us past junkyards, past James Dickey’s “parking lot of the dead” into no man’s land. There they were, wrecks by the score open to the sun and

Today is the first day of Spring. The yellow hue on our cars and driveways can only mean one thing: the flowers and trees are starting to bloom. If you are one of the millions of people, like me, who have seasonal allergies, it also means sneezing, conges

Are you putting off contributing to your IRA? You may want to think twice, because when it comes to your retirement account, contributing “early” may be better in more ways than one. For starters, the earlier you begin contributing to your IRA, the better

Springs creaking, Granddad’s maroon Ford jounces down Mom and Dad’s long dirt driveway. Its washouts make for a rough ride but that doesn’t stop Granddad. Here he comes selling Watkins products. His trembling hands pull a glass bottle of vanilla flavoring

“Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona!” No, that isn’t gibberish. That is how you say ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day’ in Irish, or Gaelic. St. Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of St. Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration dating back to the death date of St. Patrick, t

By addressing key issues in food, farm, small business, and community-level and institutional policy, there is potential to identify strengths, changes needed, and gaps in the food system. Good food policy and effective coordination between food system st

South Carolinians who get their electricity from one of our state’s 20 co-ops (including Pee Dee and Santee Electric) and directly from Santee Cooper are in debt to the tune of over $8 billion. Half of that comes from Santee Cooper’s 45 percent ownership

I took a deep breath and entered no man’s land, a hair salon. Dolly’s Salon, however, I would discover is not your ordinary salon. My muse, Memory led me to write about this unusual salon in Edgefield. A classmate who did my mother’s hair for many years d

It’s that time of year again. Finally, we have some extra afternoon sunlight to actually get some things done like gardening, yard work, taking walks, and playing with our kids and dogs. Even though we lose an hour of sleep, it is worth the extra sunlight

By Janet Trautwein Dozens of lawmakers just formally took their seats in a new Congress. At the top of their legislative agenda this year should be a measure that commands bipartisan support -- repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac Tax on high-co

I had to see it. I heard it was up North Carolina way, and with the aid of my son-in-law’s Garmin GPS I found it, the resting place of mules and horses. To see this poignant cemetery is to see how urban encroachment chews up farmland. To see it is to witn

Taking this job has come with some creative outlets. Growing up I never really liked English and creative writing classes. When I got to high school and college, they seemed to come easier to me. For my first editorial I was stumped on what I should write

by Thomas L. Knapp The longest partial “government shutdown” in US history ended on January 25. To get Leviathan’s gears turning at full speed again, President Donald Trump said uncle on funding for his pet border wall project in return for a three-week

Dear Editor, My name is Alexis Hinson and I am a junior in the IB Program at Wilson High School. I have been a student in Florence School District 1 for my whole life and have experienced the horrible conditions in the buildings of our district. There is

This will be my last editorial as the Editor of The News Journal. It has been a great experience being Editor these past few months. I have enjoyed getting to meet with all sorts of different people in the community. I have learned so much about Florence