Local crime, high school sports, county politics, events tonight, and business closings — the daily Pee Dee report from HERE Florence.
SportsFLORENCE, S.C. — Short-track racing in the Pee Dee is losing one of its best-known stops. Florence Motor Speedway said this week that its oval will sit quiet in 2027, with no schedule coming and no races on the books. The track, a 4/10-mile asphalt…
From the HERE City State DeskCOLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina gets No. 11 Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday with something it has lacked for most of the season: a mostly healthy lineup and an extra week to prepare. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. The Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3 SEC)…
From the HERE City State DeskCOLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women's basketball has its point guard for now. A judge in California on Tuesday granted an injunction that makes Brooke Quarles-Daniels and the other players in her lawsuit against the NCAA eligible for the 2026-27 season. Judge Beth McGowan issued…
From the HERE City State DeskCOLUMBIA, S.C. — Gamecocks junior Jana Stojanova punched her first ticket to the NCAA Individual Championships on Tuesday, beating North Carolina's Avery Nguyen 6-2, 6-2 in the singles semifinals of the ITA Carolina Regionals. The straight-set win sends Stojanova into the regional singles final and…
From the HERE City National DeskNEW YORK — The NFL said Tuesday it has no issue with how the Philadelphia Eagles cared for quarterback Jalen Hurts before and after his blood clot diagnosis, and the team will face no discipline. Hours later, the NFL Players Association said it knew of…
From the HERE City National DeskNEW YORK — The New York Knicks raised their first championship banner since 1973 on Tuesday night, then watched a retooled Philadelphia 76ers team leave Madison Square Garden with a 106-100 win in the season opener for both clubs. Tyrese Maxey paced Philadelphia with a…
From the HERE City National DeskCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is preparing to play the rest of the season without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, who is out indefinitely after hurting his throwing arm in Saturday’s win over Indiana. Coach Ryan Day said Tuesday the program will not set a timeline…
From the HERE City National DeskMILWAUKEE — Brandon Woodruff took a real step toward a World Series comeback on Tuesday, throwing 23 pitches of live batting practice at American Family Field to several of the Brewers regular hitters. His fastball sat at 90 to 92 mph in his first session…
From the HERE City National DeskNEW YORK — The NFL is tightening security for Sunday’s Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints game outside Paris, league officials said Tuesday, after rioting swept French cities over the weekend. Peter O’Reilly, the league executive who oversees international events, said at the fall owners…
From the HERE City National DeskCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Colorado College senior Charlie Flint has been chosen as the top women’s runner in the SCAC for the past week, the third time she has earned the conference honor this fall. The award follows her victory Saturday at the Augustana Interregional…
From the HERE City National DeskWILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Top-ranked Emory closed with the best team round of the final day to win the women’s NCAA Division III Fall Preview on Tuesday, finishing 36 holes on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort at 18-over-par 594. The Eagles began the day in…
From the HERE City National DeskCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Kate Chambon’s first college meet earned her a conference award, as the Colorado College freshman was chosen as the top women’s swimmer in the SCAC for the past week. Chambon, who is from Grenoble, France, took the 100-yard backstroke in 59.52…
From the HERE City State Desk
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Roughly 300 teachers, school administrators and law enforcement officers spent Tuesday at South Carolina's first statewide School Safety and Security Symposium, a full-day session aimed as much at dangers students meet on their phones as at threats inside school buildings. The gathering brought in the state…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new federal program will let South Carolina nonprofits begin handing out scholarships for private school tuition and other K-12 costs in January, funded by taxpayers who get a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for giving. The program, formally the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit under section 25F of…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's unemployment rate edged down to 4.0% in September, the seventh monthly decline in a row, and the number of residents with jobs climbed to a new high, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Department of Employment and Workforce. The state now sits below…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina growers and landowners are in line for roughly $84.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Farm Service Agency announced Tuesday, as federal price and revenue protection checks for last year's crops land alongside annual conservation rent. The state's share is part of a…
From the HERE City National Desk
EVERETT, Wash. — The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday signed off on the Boeing 737 Max 10, the biggest version of the company’s best-selling single-aisle jet, ending a certification fight that dragged on for close to 10 years. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered the approval in person at the Boeing…
Public Safety
EFFINGHAM, S.C. — Firefighters from two agencies kept a fire in a large backyard shed from reaching a home in the Effingham community south of Florence on Tuesday afternoon. The first alarm came in at about 2:10 p.m. A caller who spotted smoke rising from roughly two streets away reported…
Traffic
FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. — Rescue crews spent roughly an hour cutting a trapped driver out of a wrecked car Tuesday afternoon after the vehicle left U.S. Highway 378 and slammed into a tree in eastern Florence County. Florence County Fire Rescue was sent around 3:30 p.m. to the area where…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Side-by-side utility terrain vehicles will be allowed on some South Carolina public roads beginning Nov. 18, when a new state law takes effect, but state officials warn that taking one onto a street before then can still bring a ticket. The measure, Senate Bill 222, was pitched…
Politics
FLORENCE, S.C. — Voters turned out in such numbers Monday, the opening day of South Carolina early voting, that the parking lot at the Florence County elections office could not keep up, and the South Carolina Highway Patrol was brought in to direct traffic. By midday, more than 400 people…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina voters wasted little time once in-person early ballots became available for the 2026 general election, with 97,968 people casting ballots statewide on Monday, Oct. 19, according to a turnout report from state election officials. The heaviest opening-day traffic came from the state's largest counties. Charleston…
From the HERE City State Desk
CLEMSON, S.C. — President Donald Trump heads to the Upstate on Wednesday night to campaign for U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, a stop that comes one day after a national election handicapper moved South Carolina's Senate race a notch closer to a toss-up. The 7 p.m. rally is set for the…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolinians with old or unneeded prescriptions in the medicine cabinet will have a free, no-questions way to get rid of them on Saturday, Oct. 24, during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Drop-off hours are 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., and the state Department of Public…
From the HERE City State Desk
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Shoppers on the federal health insurance marketplace in six South Carolina counties will see a new name on the list for 2027, as Oscar Health moves into the state for the first time. The New York-based insurer, which focuses on people who buy their own coverage, said…
Hyper-local coverage across Florence
Reach thousands of engaged Pee Dee readers every day — section sponsorships starting at $149/month