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T H E S O U T H ’S O L D E S T D A I LY N E W S PA P E R
July 6, 2006 . Charleston . North Charleston, S.C.
THURSDAY
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U.S., allies
seek way
to punish
N. Korea
Briefly
Enron founder’s saga
comes to a sudden end
Kenneth Lay traveled in the highest
business and political circles before the
company he founded
spiraled into bankruptcy. On Wednesday, he died suddenly,
leaving victims of the
Lay
Enron debacle grappling with questions of forgiveness,
retribution and justice. 7B
Ocean creatures may
fight global warming
Swarming by the thousands, small
jellyfish-like animals called salps are
doing their part to clean up the excess
carbon dioxide in the ocean by feeding on the algae that are drawing the
gas from the atmosphere. 1B
FILE/MIC SMITH/STAFF
S.C. sweetgrass
Basketmakers depend on plants that are getting harder
to find, and a researcher hopes to help grow more
Diplomatic efforts
to continue despite
launch of 7 missiles
BY COLUM LYNCH
AND ANTHONY FAIOLA
The Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS — The United States
and its allies on Wednesday sought to impose punitive measures on North Korea
for launching a series of seven missiles,
but emphasized that diplomatic measures
with the communist nation should not
be abandoned.
Major South Korean newspapers reported late Wednesday night that North
Korea had three or
four more short- or
medium-range missiles on launch pads Were launchings
and ready for fir- just a cry for
ing. The North also attention? 3A
barred people from
sailing into some areas off the coast until
July 11 in a possible sign of preparations
for additional launches.
U.S., British and Japanese officials attempted to increase pressure on North
Korea through the United Nations, presenting the Security Council with the
draft of a legally binding resolution demanding that the North Korean government immediately cease the development,
deployment, testing and proliferation of
ballistic missiles.
President Bush stressed the need for a
unified response in the United Nations
and elsewhere to North Korea’s missile
tests when he spoke Wednesday night
with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, the White House said.
Inside
Summer evenings are
perfect for playtime
As summer temperatures continue
to soar, now’s the time to take advantage of the lingering daylight and
cooler temperatures in the evenings to
get outdoors with the family and enjoy
some energy-burning games. 1D
Rock Hill editor fires
back at Post and Courier
Terry Plumb, the
editor of The (Rock
Hill) Herald, defended his fair city
and took a few shots
at Charleston after a
tongue-in-cheek story in Saturday’s Post
and Courier rankled
Plumb
some in the Upstate,
not to mention a number of local
transplants and Winthrop alumni. 1B
Swank cites husband’s
drug abuse in divorce
WADE SPEES/STAFF
Citadel professor Danny Gustafson walks back to his boat after visiting a plot on Apron Island owned by the
school near Folly Beach. The biologist has planted clumps of sweetgrass in a test plot and is doing genetic
research hoping to increase the dwindling supply.
Satellite
monitoring
falls from orbit
BY GLENN SMITH
The Post and Courier
“I knew something was happening,
but I didn’t know what,” Oscar-winner Hilary Swank said of how Chad
Lowe’s “substance-abuse problem” affected the breakup of the marriage. 2A
Today’s outlook
An afternoon thunderstorm or two. High 85.
Low 70. Complete
5-day forecast, 12B.
Index
Bridge ..................... 7D
Business ...................7B
Classifieds ................1F
Comics ..................6,7D
Crosswords .........6D,9F
Editorials ................10A
Family Life ...............1D
Please see KOREA, Page 8A
Horoscope ............... 7D
Local News ...............1B
Movies ............Preview
Obituaries ................4B
Sports ......................1C
Television ................ 8D
Weather .................12B
Setting the record straight.................2A
On the Web
BY DIANE KNICH
The Post and Courier
C
itadel biolog y professor
Danny Gustafson knows a
lot about sweetgrass for a
guy who’s lived in the Lowcountry
for only three years.
Gustafson, a plant molecular ecologist, said he hopes his work ultimately will help replace some of the wild
sweetgrass lost to development.
He’s doing research that involves
genetically testing and monitoring
sweetgrass plants to learn which ones
grow best along the South Carolina
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CYAN-AOOO MAGENTA-OAOO YELLOW-OOAO BLACK
Please see SWEETGRASS, Page 8A
Charleston County magistrates no longer will release criminal defendants from
jail on satellite monitoring until questions about the reliability of the tracking system are resolved, authorities said
Wednesday.
The move came after a man awaiting trial in a Folly Beach rape case was accused
of sexually assaulting another woman
last month while wearing a monitoring
device. Daniel Hanf, who was supposed
to be under house arrest when the rape
occurred in Mount Pleasant, later sliced
off the satellite bracelet and eluded police
for several days.
In light of the Hanf case and other
Bridge walkers’, runners’
cars rile property owner
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Post and Courier free 24-hour news and
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“I can do my nerdy plant stuff and
still help people,” he said. “How can
you lose?”
Gustafson’s research has two parts.
In the first part, which he has completed, he genetically tested three types of
grasses that people in different parts
of the country call sweetgrass.
He confirmed through genetic tests
that the plants that grow along the
east coast of the United States from
North Carolina to central Florida
and along the Gulf Coast from central Texas to central Florida are a
Please see SATELLITE, Page 8A
BY PRENTISS FINDLAY
Info line
coast. And he’s doing much of his
work on Apron Island, an 18-acre
island surrounded by marsh that The
Citadel owns near Folly Beach.
Native sweetgrass basketmaker
Maryann Jefferson said the artists
often have to travel to Georgia and
Florida to gather the grass because
there’s less growing in this area. And
much of what is available here grows
inside gated communities, beyond
the basketmakers’ reach, she said.
It’s rewarding to do scientific research that may also be good for
people and the environment, Gustafson said.
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge offers spectacular views for
runners such as Megan Vam Liew, who
on Wednesday parked her black Ford Explorer on a dusty road shoulder near the
intersection of West Coleman Boulevard
and Patriots Point Road.
It’s a prime parking spot for runners
and walkers looking to work up a sweat
and catch a sea breeze while taking in
the Charleston skyline. It’s also the focal point of a property owner’s beef with
the town.
Dr. Fred Pittman of Sullivan’s Island
argued Wednesday before the Police,
Judicial and Legal Committee that the
town should put up “no parking” signs
on the right of way that fronts his land,
the very spot that Vam Liew and scores
of other runners and walkers prefer for
parking because it’s within sight of the
bridge pedestrian path.
Pittman said runners and walkers who
park on the right of way in front of his 2.7
acres have destroyed a landscaping project and created a traffic safety hazard.
He worries that someone stepping out of
Please see BRIDGE, Page 8A
MELISSA HANELINE/STAFF
Carrie Lanning (left) of West Ashley and Meredith Rigot of North Carolina
make their way to the Ravenel Bridge on Wednesday after parking along
Patriots Point Boulevard near its intersection with Coleman Boulevard.
8A.Thursday, July 6, 2006 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Post and Courier
FROM 1A
Researcher
hopes to
help grow
sweetgrass
Popular parking
Bridge walkers’ parking has sparked concern.
Dr. Fred Pittman’s land
17
Right of way along Patriots Point Road
17
Coleman Blvd.
River
Mt. Pleasant
soccer field
200 ft
Patriots Point
Golf Links
SOURCE: ESRI; CHARLESTON COUNTY
STAFF
Walkers’ cars rile property owner
BRIDGE From Page 1A
a car on the roadside into traffic
will be injured or killed.
“Wait until some child is run
over there,” he said.
When informed of the controversy, Vam Liew, 36, seemed surprised that there was a chance that
her favorite parking spot could be
declared off-limits. “I’ve always
parked here because no one ever
told me not to,” she said.
In response to Pittman’s concerns, Mayor Harry Hallman
said he plans to have town staff
put a “directional sign” on the
road shoulder fronting Pittman’s
land advising bridge runners and
walkers that they have the option
to park about 300 yards down the
road at the town soccer field. That
would suit Vam Liew just fine,
since she’s training for a marathon,
but she said it might be a problem
for families with small kids.
“I think there has to be an alternative, something that allows
people to take advantage of this
great bridge,” she said.
An alternative is in the works,
Hallman said. It’s the town’s new
20-acre waterfront park and pier at
the foot of the Ravenel Bridge. The
new park will become a reality in
about two years, he said.
“I just urge everybody to be patient,” Hallman said.
In the meantime, Hallman wants
to leave well enough alone on Patriots Point Road.
“I’m just reluctant to fix things
that aren’t broken,” he said. “I just
hate like the dickens to be in an
enforcement mode all the time.”
The strip of roadside right of way
that concerns Pittman looks like it
might have enough room for about
a dozen cars to park on Patriots
Point Road. Across the street, a
Union 76 station has street signs
that forbid unauthorized parking,
but inside the lot there are signs
that say it’s OK for people to park
and walk or run the bridge if they
are customers.
Citadel assistant football coach
Dave Crockett laced up his running shoes while parked at the
Union 76 station. It was his first
time looking for bridge parking
in Mount Pleasant. “I was actually trying to figure out where to
park. I didn’t know where to go.
You kind of take a risk of getting
a ticket,” Crockett said.
Beyond the Union 76, the Omar
Shrine Auditorium offers parking
for bridge walkers and runners on
days when an event isn’t booked
at the building, said administrative assistant Stacey O’Brien.
O’Brien said people exercising on
the bridge who park along Patriots Point Road make travel on the
road more hazardous, particularly
when she is pulling out of the parking lot at work.
“I can’t see, and it’s kind of dangerous,” she said.
Reach Prentiss Findlay at
[email protected]
or 937-5711.
U.S., allies seek to punish N. Korea
KOREA From Page 1A
Japanese media says North Korea’s envoy to the United Nations
has threatened “all-out countermeasures” in case of sanctions.
Separately, Japan imposed limited economic sanctions on the
North, including a measure prohibiting its officials, ship crews
and chartered flights from entering Japan.
While Bush administration officials condemned the test-firing
of the missiles on Tuesday, they
played down their military importance. The longest-range missile,
believed capable of reaching Alaska
and possibly the U.S. West Coast,
failed less than a minute after
launch and fell into the Sea of Japan.
“There are attempts to try to
describe this almost in breathless
World War III terms,” said White
House spokesman Tony Snow.
“This is not such a situation. This
is a situation in which people are
working with a regime in North
Korea, trying to reason with a dictator, to step back from provocative activities.”
The major fallout from the series
of missile launches and the malfunction of the long-range rocket
is that North Korea’s missile program now looks somewhat inept,
weapons experts said.
“The Taepodong-2 was not ready
for prime time,” said veteran
weapons inspector David Kay of
Pyongyang’s long-range missile.
The multistage Taepodong was
supposed to be capable of flying
perhaps several thousand miles,
but fell into the sea between Korea
and Japan about 40 seconds into
its flight, before its second stage
ignited, officials said.
The result of the attempt is that,
to some specialists, North Korea
looks less dangerous than it did
just a few days ago. However, retired Rear Adm. Michael McDevitt, a former chief planner for
the U.S. Pacific Command who
is a specialist on East Asian militaries, said North Korean rocket
scientists probably gained valuable
data from the failed launch.
North Korea’s two main benefactors, China and South Korea, as
well as Russia have had a muted
response to the launches.
“We hope that all the relevant
sides can remain calm and restrained and do more things which
are conducive to peace and stability,” said Liu Jianchao, a Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman.
China and Russia, two of the Security Council’s five veto-wielding
members, expressed concern that
the imposition of punitive measures could derail efforts to re-
start stalled six-nation talks with
North Korea to suspend its nuclear
program. They said that it would
be more appropriate to respond to
North Korea’s tests with a statement of concern from the president of the Security Council.
Several observers warned that
even if Beijing agreed to some
form of censure, it would remain
reluctant to impose tough economic sanctions out of fear that
such measures could destabilize
North Korea and spark a crisis on
their shared border.
John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the
council’s reaction to the missile
tests highlighted North Korea’s
growing isolation. “No member
defended what the North Koreans
have done,” Bolton said.
South Korean officials joined the
United States and Japan in verbally
condemning the launches, but officials in Seoul said they were still
“carefully considering” whether to
follow through with their earlier
threats to cut off humanitarian aid
in the event of a missile launch.
Christopher Hill, the White
House’s top negotiator in the sixparty talks aimed at dismantling
North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, said Wednesday that North
Korea will not be offered any new
incentives to suspend its program.
St
.
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Johns
Island
R
Fort
Joh
nso
171
.
y Rd
Foll
.
Patriots Point Rd
separate species that since 2003 has
been called muhlenbergia sericea.
It was formerly called muhlenbergia filipes.
Knowing that the plants that
commonly grow along the Southeastern shores are a separate species is important, Gustafson said,
because people can use that knowledge to avoid planting nonnative
plants that could be harmful to the
environment.
But it’s a long way from South
Carolina to Texas, and plants, like
people, vary widely even within
the same species.
That led Gustafson to the second
part of his research.
He wanted to know if the plants
from Texas fared as well in the
South Carolina Lowcountry as
those that are native to the area.
And so far, the Texas plants are
failing miserably.
Gustafson planted more than 100
plants, some from Texas and some
from South Carolina, in a greenhouse, where they grew for eight
months. All the Texas plants flowered in the greenhouse “on their
Texas schedule” before October
when the South Carolina plants
typically flower, he said.
In late October, Gustafson transplanted about 100 plants to a small
clearing on Apron Island. About
46 percent of the Texas plants died
over the winter, compared to just
5 percent of the South Carolina
plants.
About 70 plants remain on the island. Gustafson said he’ll observe
them for at least another year.
i ve r
Coope
r
Dr.
Gas station
SWEETGRASS From Page 1A
and
MOUNT
PLEASANT
Sweetgrass grows along much
of the Southeastern coast.
Clumps can be found along
beach dunes, between marshes
and woods, and in wet savannahs up to 20 miles inland.
Artisans in and around Charleston use it to weave the region’s
famous sweetgrass baskets. But
coastal development, fire suppression and other factors have
made the grassCaharder
to find.
mp
Rd
er l
Riv
Mag
rath
Darb
y
Blvd
.
Ravenel Bridge
pedestrian/
bike lane
The sweet grass
Apron Island
n
To learn more about
how the grass grows, one
Citadel professor has set up a
research project on Apron
Island near Folly Beach.
Folly Beach
Sweetgrass can’t grow in saltwater and does poorly in shade.
It got its name because it
tastes and smells sweet.
Plants grow to about three
feet and flower in October.
Although sweetgrass is a
separate species, it’s similar to
some West African grasses.
Hurricanes are actually good
for the plants because they
leave open areas for direct sun.
SOURCE: U.S. FORESTRY SERVICE, THE CITADEL
Then, he said, he’d like to find
some places in the area accessible
to basketmakers where he could
plant local sweetgrass.
“You can’t believe how helpful
that would be,” Jefferson said.
A few such places exist, but not
many.
Gustafson said in the future he’d
also like to compare plants from
South Carolina with those that
grow in Georgia and Florida.
STAFF
Now, a lot of landscapers in
newer housing developments order grasses and other plants from
those states, he said.
But sometimes mixing native
and nonnative plants can “break
down the genetic combinations
that make them adapt to the local
environment,” he said.
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Charleston County satellite monitoring falls from orbit
SATELLITE From Page 1A
reported gaffes, judges want to
make sure that the technology is
sound and doesn’t promise the
community more protection
than it delivers, Chief Magistrate
Henry Guerard said. In the meantime, magistrates in the bond and
preliminary hearing courts have
decided against placing new offenders on electronic monitoring
as a condition of bail, he said.
“The concern is that we’re giving
people in the community a false
sense of security when we tell them
we’re putting someone on monitoring,” Guerard said. “I’m not
sure we are where we need to be yet
in terms of being able to depend on
this, from the technological side or
the human side.”
Many people assume that the
bracelets immediately alert law
enforcement to violations, causing officers to swoop in and haul
the defendant back to jail, Guerard
said.
In reality, even if police are
alerted in a timely manner, there is
little they can do unless they catch
the offender in the act of a crime.
More often than not, a court
hearing is required after the fact
to determine whether the person
should return to jail for violating
the terms of release, he said.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor Ralph
Hoisington has repeatedly questioned the reliability of the monitoring, which is provided in the
Lowcountry by bail-bonding companies. At any given time, about
20 offenders in Charleston County
are being tracked this way.
They pay bondsmen about $500
to provide the monthly service,
creating a disincentive for the
companies to report violations,
Hoisington has said.
He argues that monitoring should
be handled by law enforcement.
Guerard said that idea warrants
further study. He said judges also
want to explore whether new legislation or guidelines are needed
to increase accountability and to
ensure those placed on monitoring
are appropriate for the program.
Hoisington said it wouldn’t
bother him if the judges decided
to drop satellite monitoring entirely. It may have its use in ensuring
defendants show up for court, he
said, but it does nothing to stop an
offender who is bent on hurting
someone else. “I just don’t think
it protects anyone,” he said.
Two years ago, Hoisington
urged magistrates to stop placing criminal defendants on satellite monitoring after an armed
and dangerous man disappeared
while on the system. The practice
CYAN-AOOO MAGENTA-OAOO YELLOW-OOAO BLACK
resumed, however, after two of
the three bondsmen who offered
satellite monitoring pledged to
provide computer passwords to allow authorities to randomly check
on people placed on the tracking
system. But few agencies have
taken advantage of the tool and
monitoring inconsistencies have
continued, authorities said.
Local bondsman Larry Ballard,
who runs Alternative Incarceration Methods, has defended the
monitoring effort, insisting that
it offers a much better solution
than releasing offenders with no
supervision.
Ballard, who was in charge of
monitoring Hanf, could not be
reached for comment Wednesday
about the magistrates’ decision.
Greg Robinson of Robinson
Bonding said monitoring programs are time-consuming, unprofitable to run and fraught with
liability. His firm got into monitoring primarily to accommodate
the needs of the courts, and he said
he would not be sorry to see the
program go. They currently track
two offenders, he said.
“If they cut that out, it wouldn’t
bother me at all,” he said. “It’s more
of a headache than anything else.”
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