GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) _ The mother of the 3-year-old boy who drowned after falling into a swimming pool in Greenville County has been charged with homicide by neglect. Thirty-six-year-old Marian Brownfield Stringer of Greenville was charged Wednesday in the death of 3-year-old Chance Stringer.

An annual report has ranked South Carolina better than only seven other states in terms of the overall wellbeing of its children.

A Midlands law enforcement officer is getting what he deserves, in a good way, as local volunteers extend a helping hand to make needed repairs to his home.

A groundbreaking move by the City of Columbia and Richland County, when you call an ambulance, changes who shows up to your 9-1-1 call first and how fast they are allowed to provide care.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ Two men have been indicted on federal drug charges stemming from a fire at a Goose Creek apartment in May that killed three people and left 36 homeless.

The Richland County Sheriff's Department has arrested Brett Parker in connection with the double shootings in Ascot Estates.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ South Carolina's jobless rate has gone up for the second month in a row. The state Department of Employment and Workforce said Friday that unemployment was 9.4 percent in June. That's 0.3 percentage points higher than in May but more than a full percentage point lower than the 10.5 percent recorded one year ago.

After a rare brain infection caused by a deadly amoeba kills a Sumter County boy, officials with the Department of Health and Environmental Control urge South Carolinians to use caution when enjoying fresh water lakes, ponds and rivers in the state.

Senate members Wednesday concurred with many veto overrides handed down by the House Tuesday. State senators' decisions to restore the state's arts commission, grant a pay raise to teachers and restore thousands of dollars for rape prevention education ends weeks of speculation about the future of those organizations. Governor Nikki Haley, however, stands by her vetoes.

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) _ Authorities say an off-duty South Carolina trooper was fired on after he followed a car he thought was being driven by an impaired driver.

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP) _ Investigators say a man who taped up the legs and muzzles of three dogs and threw them into a canal targeted animals owned by his daughter and mother-in-law. Georgetown County deputies said 47-year-old Bobby Joe McConnell was charged Wednesday with three counts of ill treatment of animals.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ A program started to help South Carolina residents make their homes more energy-efficient and lower their utility bills without putting any money down is going national.