With strong bipartisan support, the Georgia Senate has approved the proposed overhaul of Georgia’s criminal justice system.

Last November, nearly 400 business leaders came together in Florence to learn about the latest research regarding early childhood development. Those who attended the Pee Dee Regional Business Leaders’ Summit on Early Childhood heard compelling information about the value of investing in the earliest part of a child’s life — and now I and other state legislators have an opportunity to take action to help South Carolina’s children.

'The criminal justice debate is often divided into two camps: “Tough on Crime” and “Soft on Crime.” What we need is “Smart on Crime” — policies that distinguish between nonviolent, low-risk offenders and violent, career criminals. more

Instead of serving as a springboard to social mobility as it did for the first decades after World War II, college education today is reinforcing class stratification, with a huge majority of the 24 percent of Americans aged 25 to 29 currently holding a bachelor’s degree coming from families with earnings above the median income. more

Scott Youngquist is trained to save lives, not pull teeth. But rarely does the emergency room doctor end a 12 hour shift at University Hospital without seeing at least one dental complaint — from cavities to abscesses. It is a national problem spotlighted Feb. 26 in a report by the Pew Center on the States.