The State

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Residents of a small town that injected an unapproved chemical into their drinking water for 10 years want the chemical manufacturer and South Carolina health regulators to pay for exposing them to the unauthorized water additive.Berry Systems Inc. and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control face potential liability over the use of Halosan in the town of Denmark, a remote community that for years has drawn complaints about the quality of its drinking water.Lawyers for the residents asked a court this past week to add Berry and DHEC to a 2018 class action lawsui...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A planned debate between Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison fell apart Friday over an argument about whether participants should take a COVID-19 test ahead of the event.After Graham declined to take a COVID-19 test at Harrison’s insistence, Harrison refused to debate on stage with Graham and, instead of meeting face-to-face, the two candidates answered questions separately in two extended interviews inside a Spartanburg television studio.The coronavirus, which has infected more than 150,000 people and led to more than 3,300 deaths in South ...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated a South Carolina election law Monday night that requires voters who mail in their absentee ballots to have someone witness their vote by signing their name on the back of the mail-in ballot envelope.The high court issued a unanimous ruling after hours Monday night, overturning a decision made last month by U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs of Columbia. Childs had prohibited the South Carolina Election Commission from enforcing a state law that required a witness signature.The two-page decision ends a weekslong, on-again, off-again court battle f...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A chemical in marijuana may be able to help prevent colon cancer, according to a new study from top University of South Carolina researchers.The study, published in iScience, found that mice injected with THC and a cancer-causing chemical did not develop cancer. Mice in a control group were injected with the carcinogen but no THC, causing them to develop cancer.“We were really excited to see those results, which were so dramatic,” said co-author Prakash Nagarkatti, who is the University of South Carolina’s vice president of research.THC — the chemical in cannabis that causes a...