Thumbs down to Battle, Lowe, Lucas, Neilson for tax votes

Thumbs down to Reps. Jim Battle of Marion, Phillip Lowe of Florence, Jay Lucas of Hartsville and Denny Neilson of Darlington for their vote to uphold Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of the cigarette tax increase. Apparently, they don’t want to make it harder for children to start smoking and seem to think South Carolina doesn’t need to improve the health care of some of our citizens, especially children. And by the way, they also are OK with turning down the millions of dollars in federal aid that would have come to our state if we had raised the tax — lowest in the nation — by 50 cents a pack. That’s a tax increase that more than 80 percent of our citizens favor raising. Also, a recent poll by the Morning News and Francis Marion University also showed more than 70 percent of our residents think paying for health care costs is one of their biggest worries. Apparently, these Pee Dee legislators don’t.

Thumbs up to the Greater Florence Habitat for Humanity. The group is replacing dilapidated dwellings in Florence with new Habitat houses. Six houses were donated to Habitat, a Christian ministry whose goal is to provide safe, decent and simple housing to low-income families in need of a place to live. Shannon Copes, executive director of Habitat, told the Morning News, “This is thrilling for us to see these houses removed and new Habitat houses replace them.” It’s thrilling for us, too, not only that people are being helped within the community, but also it’s a step that improves Florence’s image. Thank you, Habitat.

Thumbs up to Water Missions International, a South Carolina group working to get safe drinking water to people around the world, for sending nine water purification systems to earthquake victims in China’s Sichuan province. Water Missions International officials told The Associated Press three of its portable systems are in place and another six are being shipped to areas hit by an earthquake May 12. To date, the quake and its aftershocks have claimed more than 66,000 lives and left more than a quarter of a million people injured, according to Water Missions International. The organization was founded in 2001 with a goal of bringing clean water to 100 million people worldwide. The filtration units have 275-gallon tanks in steel cages that can be put on pickup trucks and taken to remote areas. They include generators that operate pumps to purify water from ponds or streams. For details about the group, visit www.watermissions.org.

Florence County Sheriff’s Lt. Wayne Howard offers this: “Special thanks to the following for making the 16th annual Florence County Sheriff’s Office Bass Pro Shops Fishing Tournament a great success: Farmers Telephone Cooperative, First Federal Bank, Coca-Cola Co., Smurfit-Stone Container, Marshall’s Marine, Mercury Outboard Motors, Ranger Boats, Piggly Wiggly, Outback Steakhouse, Fatz Cafe and many volunteers who worked this two-day event. Hundreds of kids enjoyed this exciting event and were treated to a cookout the night of May 23, with breakfast and lunch on May 24 prepared by Jackie McGee. Proceeds for the event help finance Camp Pee Dee Pride, which is now in its 12th year at Francis Marion University. This camp provides fun and educational activities for area youth ages 8-12 at no cost to the taxpayers of Florence County.” To get involved in the camp, or fundraisers for it, call Howard at (843) 665-2121, ext. 339.