The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 5

COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA Business ed METRO WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2001 SECTION The State St Lobbyist-regulator lat or selected to lead DHEC By SAMMY FRETWELL Staff Writer Earl Hunter, a lobbyist and 20- year state regulator, was named Tuesday to head the state Department of Health and Environmental Control after a six month national search. The 45-year-old DHEC em- More hydrants planned after fire Lake Murray subdivision is receiving three after two homes burn By LORA HINES and TIM FLACH Staff Writers Carolina Water Service will install three fire hydrants in the Lake Murray neighborhood where a blaze destroyed two homes Saturday, a company official said. The hydrants could be installed this week, said Sam Davis, regional manager for the privately owned utility. There is no state law mandating the placement of hydrants near one- and two-family homes. But residents and fire officials say last weekend's fire, which injured three firefighters, shows guidelines are needed.

"There's not a lot we can do," said Brian Hood, spokesman for the county fire service. "It's a countywide problem. There are subdivisions that are not adequately covered." Meanwhile, Lexington County firefighter Jeff Chavis, who was severely burned while fighting the fire in the Windward Pointe subdivision, was in critical condition Tuesday at Doctor's Hospital i in Augusta. Hood said Chavis' kidneys stopped functioning and he endured his sixth operation Tuesday. "He is not doing well," Hood said.

"He is still very critical." Helen Bass, who lives in Windward Pointe subdivision, said she can't understand why it took a tragedy to get fire hydrants. "We are real livid about this now," she said. "We have high water bills out here now. For what?" Davis said he wasn't aware of any request from residents or county officials for new hydrants before the fire. Hydrants in the area weren't possible before county water lines were hooked up to serve it three years ago, he said.

The wells that formerly supplied the area when it was developed in the early 1990s couldn't SEE HYDRANTS PAGE B5 ployee won the job over more than 80 applicants because of his ability to build consensus and his knowledge of the agency, officials said. Hunter, a Heath Springs native, becomes the third consecutive lobbyist to lead the more than employee department. Outgoing Commissioner Doug Bryant, and NEW DHEC CHIEF a Name: C. Earl Hunter Hometown: Heath Springs Resides: Lexington Age: 45 Current position: Legislative liaison for DHEC since 1993. Professional history: former director, DHEC division of water quality assessment and enforcement; environmental technician; district field inspector.

Education: bachelor's degree, marine science, University of South Carolina; master's degree, business administration, Webster Hunter University. his predecessor, Mike Jarrett, were lobbyists for DHEC. Hunter will make $132,000 annually as commissioner, DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said. That's a $44,000 raise from Hunter's current salary. In accepting the post, he takes control of an agency with significant challenges on both the environmental and health fronts.

Among those are plans to put new federal air standards in place, cut water pollution discharges near Charleston Harbor, control factorystyle hog farms, and enforce tighter river pollution standards. The agency also is working to SEE DHEC PAGE B3 WET 19. 19. PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON STATE Before sunrise Tuesday, Mary Wynn reports in Columbia during WLTX's two-hour morning newscast. WLTX-TV winning ratings war news format help CBS affiliate win back-to-back victories over WIS By DOUG NYE Television Editor If the feathers on the NBC peacock aren't shining quite as brightly today, there's a reason for it.

In the just-released May Nielsen ratings, CBS affiliate WLTX racked up its best showing ever against NBC affiliate WIS by winning the 5 a.m newscast, the noontime newscast and prime-time programming. WLTX not only stacked up a slate of victories in May, but also dramatically bested its showing over the same time last year. Compared with the ratings it achieved for its 5 a.m. newscast then, its ratings increased 100 percent, though its winning margin over WIS was slim. Meanwhile, WLTX's ratings at noon have increased 36 percent from May 2000 to May 2001.

In prime time, WLTX duplicated CBS's strong national showing by finishing with a 9 rating and SLED to investigate prison librarian attack Staff Writer The State Law Enforcement DiviBy KIMATHI LEWIS pened about 4:50 p.m. Monday. sion was called in after 5 p.m. State officials have been called The woman was in the library in to investigate reports of a sex- when the inmate jumped her and ual assault involving a prison li- dragged her to the restroom where brarian and an HIV-positive in- she was beaten and raped, officials mate. from SLED and Corrections said.

Corrections Department offi- The inmate has not been charged cials said the assault happened at in the incident. the Broad River Road Correctional The 35-year-old Florence man, Institution, which has the highest who tested positive for the virus level of security and houses vio- that causes AIDS, has been in the lent offenders. prison since 1991. He was senPrison spokeswoman Cheryl Bates-Lee said the incident hap- SEE PRISON PAGE B5 Same-sex benefits OK'd at Furman School becomes first in South Carolina to offer domestic partner coverage From Staff and Wire Reports GREENVILLE Furman University will become the first college in the state to offer health insurance benefits to same-sex and unmarried couples. A growing number of Southern colleges are extending benefits to domestic partners, but the trend has eluded South Carolina.

None of the state's 33 public colleges and universities offers benefits to domestic partners, nor do any of the 86 school districts, said Michael Sponhour, spokesman for the state Budget and Control Board. Furman, a private liberal arts university, is not officially affiliated with any religion. The school broke ranks with the South Carolina Baptist Convention in a 1992 dispute over who would elect the school's governing board. "We want to ensure that all of our faculty and staff and their families have access to our benefits," President David Shi said Monday. "It's the right thing to do." A history professor, Lloyd Benson, said the faculty will probably SEE FURMAN PAGE B5 INSIDE List of area TV ratings highlights.

See Page B5. 19 share. WIS posted an. 8 rating and 17 share. It marks only the second time WLTX, which was also No.1 in February, put together back-to-back prime-time victories in the 10-county Columbia market.

A rating is the percentage of households with TV sets. A share is the percentage of those households watching those TV sets at a particular time. Rich O'Dell, WLTX general manager, said his station's ability to connect with viewers' concerns, coupled with the network's success, are the big reasons for the improvement. "We try to cover news from the peoples' point of view," O'Dell said. "But connecting with viewers means doing more than slapping your logo on a T-shirt and saying we're involved." He cites the "On Your Side" feature that runs during the daily newscasts.

He said the station gets more than 600 calls a week from viewers asking for help in solving SEE RATINGS PAGE B5 HERE B2 BRIEFS Congaree flood map on hold FEMA delays release of map showing Green CBS-affiliate WLTX scored a banner May in ratings. HOUSE MOTHS ERIK Columbia, SC This moth is part of a puzzling invasion of hundreds and possibly thousands of moths at the State House. With legislators returning to the Capitol today to start a special session, maintenance workers have been fighting the moths since Thursday. Moths and moth carcasses were to be found throughout the State House earlier STATE this week. B3 OBITUARIES B4 Diamond site From Staff Reports Federal officials have canceled a meeting scheduled for today at which they were to release a final Congaree River flood map.

The map would have shown how much of the 4,600 acres owned by Burroughs Chapin is in a flood plain. The Myrtle Beach developer plans a $1 billion multiuse project called Green Diamond on the land. Joe Allbaugh, the new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, delayed the map's release, said FEMA spokesman Mary Hudak. She said Allbaugh has heard from a number of people asking him to study the information personally. Allbaugh has not decided how long to delay the map's release, Hudak said.

The map FEMA released in September put much of Burroughs Chapin's property in a flood zone. The company says it can go forward with the project no matter how the map is drawn. LIVING.