Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas resigns

By Daily Journal Staff

Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas will resign, the city announced Wednesday, a week after a draft of a federal report criticized the Charleston Fire Department’s handling of the June 18 Sofa Super Store blaze that killed nine firefighters.

The announcement also comes one day before a city panel releases its own report about the fire.

Chief since 1992 and a member of the fire department since 1976, Thomas submitted his resignation letter Tuesday. His retirement is effective June 27.

“The loss of my nine friends last June 18 changed me and this department forever. I committed that night to dedicating the rest of my career to honoring their memory. I think about them every day,” Thomas wrote in his resignation letter to Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.

“Over the last 11 months, our department has responded to that tragedy with an intense self-examination, and we are in the midst of an ongoing effort to bring our department in line with the highest standards of firefighter safety,” he said.

The city’s fire review team is expected to release its findings Thursday. Its report will analyze the fire and include recommendations for fire department improvements. The report will include information from various agencies that investigated the fire.

Thomas has been repeatedly challenged and second-guessed in connection with his handling of the Sofa Super Store blaze on Savannah Highway. A draft version of a report from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that Riley released last week was critical of Thomas’ order to break the store’s front windows and effectively fuel the fire with oxygen. The report detailed a number of tactical errors firefighters made that night.

After its release, some firefighters and the president of the union-affiliated S.C. Professional Firefighters Association renewed their calls for Thomas to resign.

Riley has consistently supported Thomas.

“I know that on the night of June 18, 2007, you did everything in your power to fight that terrible fire and protect our firefighters,” Riley wrote to Thomas on Tuesday in response to his resignation letter. “Without your efforts, more lives could have been lost.”

Riley said losing Thomas from the fire department is a cause of sadness and commended the chief for his 32 years of service with the department.

“You took our fire department to a new level of achievement,” Riley wrote. “You were never just doing your duty. You were always doing more; whether it was responding to a fire call, leading your great firefighters, preparing for hurricanes or responding positively to a wide range of community causes, you were always there, ready to serve.”

Riley is looking for Thomas’ successor.

Judge approves CSU settlement with Parish investors

By Daily Journal Staff

U.S. District Judge David Norton has approved a settlement between Charleston Southern University and investors who lost money through former CSU professor Al Parish’s investment schemes, according to court documents.

Under the deal, CSU will pay $3.9 million and surrender up to $1.5 million in claims it could make against the money recovered from the sale of Parish’s assets.

In October, Parish pleaded guilty to federal charges of defrauding hundreds of investors out of up to $80 million. He is slated to be sentenced at 10 a.m. June 26 at the federal courthouse in Charleston and could face 30 years to life in prison.

Last month, Parish appeared in court in Charleston to answer a state charge of mail and wire fraud. As he had in the federal case, Parish pleaded guilty to defrauding about 470 investors of between $50 million and $80 million.

Although CSU lost $8.4 million of its own money in Parish’s schemes, federal investigators have long maintained they think the school also inadvertently helped him perpetrate his fraud.

Among prosecutors’ assertions are that CSU officials knew and approved of Parish’s running his “investments” from his office there, and that computers used to further his schemes were actually university property.

In addition to his interim report to the court, receiver Gregory Hays of Atlanta also received a June 2007 deposition of David Mack, an attorney and former colleague of Parish’s at CSU, wherein he admitted being the author of an April 2006 letter in which he affirmed that Parish was not violating federal securities law.

Mack admitted vouching for Parish despite the fact that he did not research any of the economist’s transactions.

Harrell says he won’t run for governor

By Daily Journal Staff

Charleston Republican Bobby Harrell will not run for governor in 2010, as many had anticipated, opting instead to remain speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives.

“He feels he can do more as speaker,” said spokesman Greg Foster, mentioning Harrell’s goals to advance economic development, improve the wages of South Carolina residents and support the efforts of the state’s research universities.

“For him, it has always been about what you can do for the state, not what office you hold,” Foster said.

Harrell began notifying friends and supporters recently about his decision as more tried to persuade him to run, Foster said.

While no one has formally filed to run, speculation has included such Republican candidates as Attorney General Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and U.S. Rep. J. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C.

O’Quinn, Porter-Gaud schools merge

By Daily Journal Staff

The O’Quinn Schools, a private preschool with two area locations, will merge with Porter-Gaud School, an independent college-preparatory institution in Charleston, after the close of the 2008-2009 school year.

Both schools will maintain their names and no changes are expected in faculties, programs or tuition, the two schools said.

Nikki Dumin will continue as director of O’Quinn’s Mount Pleasant location, while Anna O’Quinn, daughter of founder Linda O’Quinn, will direct the James Island site until another director is hired and trained.

“It’s going to take a while to work through the details,” said Porter-Gaud Headmaster Chris Proctor. “And we’re committed to being thoughtful and as communicative as possible along the way.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“This merger assures the continuation of these vital feeder schools and fulfills the O’Quinns’ desire to see their schools thrive beyond the years of their direct day-to-day involvement,” Proctor said.

Both Linda and Anna O’Quinn are expected to retire within the next several years. Linda O’Quinn will serve as an adviser during that time.

“With Porter-Gaud’s educational excellence and school management expertise, we are confident that our schools can continue to thrive,” Linda O’Quinn said.

Linda O’Quinn founded The O’Quinn Schools in 1971. It educates more than 640 children in preschool through kindergarten and has been a longtime feeder to Porter-Gaud.

Founded in 1964, Porter-Gaud is an Episcopal school with 920 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Public meeting on James Island traffic abatement proposals tonight

By Daily Journal Staff

Charleston County RoadWise will hear comments tonight at a public meeting on proposed plans to improve traffic congestion at a major James Island intersection.

The meeting, which will review proposals to improve turning lanes and signals at the intersection of Folly and Camp roads, is from 7 to 9 p.m. at the James Island Charter High School at 1000 Fort Johnson Road.

The work will be funded by a half-cent sales tax created to pay for transportation projects. Charleston County Council requested a second meeting on the project in response to increased public interest.

Tonight’s attendees can comment, ask questions and review the proposals.

RoadWise is the county’s management program for road and highway construction, resurfacing, paving and drainage projects that are funded by the half-cent sales tax. Charleston County voters in November 2006 approved issuing bonds to fund county road and transportation projects and imposing the half-cent sales tax to pay off the bonds.

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