Message from the President

I am pleased to announce we have been working with the Palladino Auto Group (PAG) to create an exciting community alliance that is now up and running.

Our USW Local 6500 membership continually makes a positive impact in the community so, in recognition of this, the PAG is offering us numerous exclusive discounts at their dealerships.

These discounts are not defined in the link below because the manufacturers continually change their incentives and we want you to have access to the most current offers.

I would like to thank Jody Leveille and Joe Guido for working with Marissa Holla the Customer Sales Concierge at PAG for getting this community-based effort initiated.

The link below outlines which dealerships are included in the alliance. When they ask you to provide your contact information please do so. Your request will be sent directly to Marissa. Marissa will then forward your request to the appropriate staff and their team will work with you to get the deal done.

Please visit Palladino Auto Group for details

In Solidarity,

Nick Larochelle, President - USW Local 6500

Message from the Palladino Auto Group

This alliance with USW Local 6500 acknowledges their collective positive impact on the community, the families and businesses therein.

We wish to acknowledge this by providing a reward to Members as they support the businesses within the Palladino Auto Group.

Thank you for your positive contribution to the community!

As families, teams and individuals, who make up the Membership; please accept this token of appreciation for your continued support!

With Thanks - Palladino Auto Group

Please visit Palladino Auto Group for details

By Jamie Lovegrove [email protected].
Read this article on the Post & Courier.

South Carolina voters will need to get a witness signature for absentee ballots after a federal appeals court on Thursday put a halt on a lower court ruling that lifted the requirement.

When the General Assembly temporarily allowed all South Carolina voters to cast absentee ballots for any reason this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Republican legislative leaders left the witness signature requirement in tact, arguing it would guard against voter fraud.

But the Democratic political groups that filed the challenge said the witness signature requirement risked spread the deadly virus because it could force infected voters to interact with healthy people. 

U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs ruled in their favor late last week, determining that the requirement jeopardized South Carolinians’ fundamental right to vote and has little impact on preventing voter fraud.

But Republican lawmakers and the state election agency swiftly appealed that ruling to the U.S. Fourth Circuit. The appeals court’s decision to “stay” the lower court ruling means that the witness signatures are now required again.

State Republican leaders saw the appeals court ruling as a victory for state’s rights.

“The Federal court’s attempt to ignore the collective will of the General Assembly was rightly set aside,” S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas said in a statement. “We have ensured that every South Carolinian that cares to vote by absentee ballot may, while also continuing to secure the integrity of elections in this state.”

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson noted that state lawmakers had a chance to remove the witness signature requirement by legislation this month, and the Republican majority voted against doing so.

S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson said no decision has been made on an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We believe that the witness signature requirement for South Carolina absentee ballots is a wholly unnecessary burden on people trying to vote safely,” he said. “The Republicans are fighting common sense reforms to our voting system because they want to make it as hard as possible for South Carolinians to vote.”

State Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, called the verdict “a disappointing decision that makes voting even more difficult.”

“Requiring a witness signature during the pandemic is just one more hurdle for voters to have to navigate,” Hutto said.

The decision to restore South Carolina’s witness signature requirement was a 2 to 1 verdict by a three-judge panel from...