Air Force puts new 3-star general in command of US Air Force in Mideast as Afghan war heats up

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Air Force is putting a new three-star general in charge of its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and moving him from the United States to the front as the conflict in Afghanistan heats up.

In letter, SC gov explained desire to stave off divorce, predicted ‘public humiliation’

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Less than a month before he traveled to Argentina to see his mistress, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford predicted in a letter to his spiritual adviser that “public humiliation” would follow revelations of his shattered marriage.

Army chief says basic training to include anti-stress skills that could help prevent suicides

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — The Army’s top general says basic training will soon include anti-stress programs as part of a broader effort to help soldiers deal with the aftereffects of combat and prevent suicides.

SC man charged with having sex with horse; police say he has attacked same animal twice

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man has been arrested for having sex with a horse after police say the animal’s owner caught him on surveillance camera.

SC woman ticketed for disorderly conduct for riding a stolen horse down main street

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A woman has gotten a ticket for riding a stolen horse down the main street in a small town in northwestern South Carolina. The Greenville News reported Tuesday the 40-year-old woman was given a ticket for disorderly conduct after a pedestrian flagged down an officer in Six Mile and told them the woman was about to fall off the horse.

Snug as a rug: Toupee wearer’s hairpiece survives South Carolina roller coaster ride

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The owner of a South Carolina hair replacement business says a Myrtle Beach roller coaster isn’t nearly as hair-raising as the commercials claim. A television ad shows the 150-foot-tall Time Machine at Freestyle Music Park moving so fast that a man loses his hairpiece. But Dennis Murphy, who owns a hair replacement business, says the ad puts toupees in a bad light.

Arabic teacher at SC university on Fulbright program arrested, held for immigration violation

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Federal immigration officials were holding a Syrian woman for overstaying her visa while she taught Arabic at Clemson University on a Fulbright program, and her husband says he is fighting to allow her to stay with him in America.

SC governor, family to leave on long-planned European vacation Thursday

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and his family are heading to Europe for a long-planned family vacation.

Arabic teacher at Clemson arrested for immigration violation, husband argues her case to stay

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Federal immigration officials are holding a woman from Syria who taught Arabic at Clemson University for violating immigration law, and her husband says he is fighting to allow her to stay with him in America.

FBI says ‘limping bandit’ drew little attention while robbing 23 banks over 3 years

CHARLESTON, S.C. — There were no breakneck getaways for the so-called “limping bandit” who the FBI says robbed 23 banks across the Southeast, often waiting in line to pull a gun and then simply limping away to blend into the streets outside.

SC gov. says he’s ready to get back to leading in first public talk since revealing affair

GREER, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says it’s time for him to put aside discussions of his extramarital affair and get back to work governing.

More people than usual have made appointments to chat with SC gov after affair confession

GREER, S.C. — More people than usual are requesting face-to-face chats with Gov. Mark Sanford following his confession of an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman.

SC lawmakers plan to give Gov. Mark Sanford’s pricey flights a close look given travel rules

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina legislators say Gov. Mark Sanford’s travel spending needs scrutiny, following an Associated Press review that showed he was booked on pricey flights despite laws that say state employees must travel as cheaply as possible.

Justice Dept. moving some operations to SC, leasing building from Univ. of South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice is relocating some of its U.S. attorney operations from Washington to South Carolina under a 20-year lease agreement with the state’s flagship university, officials announced Monday.

SC Gov. Mark Sanford asks residents to let God change him, says he’ll be a more humble leader

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, still clinging to office after admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released Sunday that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a more humble and effective leader.

NTSB says Learjet should change thrusting system on plane after evaluating deadly SC crash

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Nearly a year after a plane hurtled off the end of a South Carolina runway last fall, killing four and injuring celebrity DJ AM and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, federal regulators said Friday the plane’s manufacturer should make changes to part of the plane’s design.

Spokesman for embattled SC Gov. Sanford plans to leave state job, says scandal not a factor

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The spokesman for South Carolina’s philandering governor plans to leave his state job, the first high-profile departure since the scandal over Mark Sanford’s international dalliance broke.

SC senator calling for hearings into governor’s spending on visits with Argentine ’soul mate’

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina lawmaker says he plans to hold hearings into whether Gov. Mark Sanford spent state money during trysts with his Argentine mistress.

AP INVESTIGATION: No coach seats for SC governor; Sanford flew up front on key state travel

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford shed his fiscal conservatism on several taxpayer-funded international trips, including a South American jaunt that included time with his mistress, choosing expensive first-class or business-class seats while his aides sat in coach.

Feds accuse SC poultry plant of knowing managers hired hundreds of illegal immigrants

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Federal authorities say the company that runs a South Carolina poultry plant knew its managers were hiring illegal immigrants at a facility raided in October.

SC governor’s office e-mails show man of few words, a contrast to lengthy letters to mistress

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Office e-mails from South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford released Wednesday show a man of few words, a stark contrast to the lengthy, intensely personal messages he sent to his Argentine mistress.

1 woman dead after 1,800 gallons of ammonia leak near chemical distribution facility in SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina authorities say a woman was killed and a half-dozen people taken to a hospital after 1,800 gallons of ammonia leaked from a tanker truck.

3 weeks after announcing Argentine affair, SC Gov. Sanford taking ‘personal’ trip with wife

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford headed out of state Wednesday for personal time with his wife, as the two try to reconcile, and skipped a meeting with a top economic adviser ahead of what’s expected to be more bad economic news including rising joblessness.

Records: SC Gov. Sanford brushed off economic development meetings during Argentine jaunt

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Newly released phone and e-mail records show South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford brushed off a meeting with a business interested in relocating to the state during the days he was with his mistress in Argentina, but they fail to show whether his staff could have reached him via phone.

Judge revokes license of SC funeral home that cut 6-foot-7 corpse’s legs to fit body in casket

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina judge has ordered the closing of a funeral home where a worker cut the legs off a body so it would fit in a casket.

Ex-GOP official: Sanford should use $1.7M left in campaign account to repair party’s brand

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s former GOP chairman says Gov. Mark Sanford needs to use the $1.7 million left in his 2006 election account to rebuild the GOP image his extramarital affair tarnished.

State prison officials seek FCC permission to jam inmates’ contraband cell phone calls

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Southern prison official says correctional leaders from more than two dozen states have signed a petition asking permission to jam cell phone signals inside state penitentiaries and thwart inmates’ forbidden phone calls.

Correction: SC Governor-What is Love? story

COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a July 2 story about South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital affair, The Associated Press misspelled the surname of a sociologist. The correct spelling is John Bartkowski, not Bartowski.

SC gov determined to finish 2nd term, repair broken trust caused by his disappearance, affair

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has had a lot of indirect help holding on to office in the two weeks since his mysterious disappearance and revelations of a sultry yearlong affair with an Argentine woman.

E-mails show SC gov’s taxpayer-funded Argentina trip included real estate inquiry, free time

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When South Carolina’s Commerce Department planned a trade mission to South America last year, Gov. Mark Sanford rejected a historic tour, requested meetings with real estate agents, and tried to make sure he would have at least an evening free in Buenos Aires.