🕊️ “Tell the truth or sell your soul.” A principle I live by daily, though I can’t take credit for it. Like so many things in my professional life, I owe it to a self-described redneck I met while working for @wis10. After a long fight with cancer, my dear friend Jeff Mattox passed away in a home where he and I had broken bread and talked for years about the horrors of our federal and state government, which he had a gift for stripping of all dignity with what he called, when being nice, “DUMB-ocracy.” A master carpenter by trade and an anarchist by conviction, he spent years as a thorn in the side of both Kershaw County Council and its sheriff’s office, armed with an old laptop, a well-worn YouTube page and a cast of puppets, including a pissed off sheep named “Poke Chop.” Having crossed paths with Jeffy during my own coverage of Kershaw County, I found in him someone who never hesitated to listen to my frustrations with WIS, push me to leave #MSM or shape the work I do at @FITSNews, an outlet he read as faithfully as he criticized… … and I owe him more than I ever got around to telling him. Rest assured, though, if heaven’s got a county council, Jeffy just became its most dangerous attendee.

‼️ SLED INVESTIGATING “INTERNET OUTAGE” IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY Spartanburg County’s government network, plagued by repeated cybersecurity attacks, is now experiencing what officials are calling an “internet outage” — with agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (#SLED) having been requested to investigate. While few details have been shared officially, a SLED spokesperson told @FITSNews the agency’s S.C. Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (#SCCIC) unit was “assisting Spartanburg County” regarding the so-called “internet outage.” The SLED spokesperson noted SCCIC’s investigation was “active and ongoing.” 📲 Read the full report at FITSNews

🗳️ @FITSNews is on location in Greenville, S.C., for Lt. Gov. and controversially Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Pamela Evette’s watch party at United Community Bank. #StayTuned

‼️ SOUTH CAROLINA COUNCILMAN SHOOTS UP HOME DURING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS, REMAINS ARMED AND ON COUNCIL 📍 South Congaree, South Carolina According to an incident report from the Lexington County Sheriff's Department (#LCSD), South Congaree Councilman Brian Jackson discharged a pistol and two shotguns inside his Ramblin Road home while hallucinating during the early morning hours of April 22. Less than 24 hours earlier, investigative notes from the South Congaree Police Department (#SCPD) allege Town Administrator Crystal Bouknight instructed the town's now-former police chief to conceal Jackson's deteriorating mental health from the rest of council. Jackson has since returned to regularly scheduled town council meetings. 📲 Read the full report at @FITSNews.

‼️ S.C. SENATOR, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE JOSH KIMBRELL FOCUS OF FEDERAL INQUIRY, SOURCES SAY South Carolina Sen. Josh Kimbrell, a Spartanburg County Republican polling at the back of a crowded gubernatorial field, has officially drawn the attention of federal authorities, sources tell @FITSNews. These sources further allege that federal agents conducted at least one interview with a principal figure connected to a civil lawsuit accusing Kimbrell of diverting more than $2 million from Exodus Aircraft, LLC, a charter aviation company he once managed. When FITSNews reached out to Kimbrell for comment, his only response was a single text asking this reporter for his “full name and home address.” 📲 Read the full report at FITSNews.

🚨 #BREAKING: South Congaree Police Chief CJ Quinlan, appointed to the position in January 2026, claims he was “illegally fired” by the town following a series of allegedly criminal revelations involving a police officer and a town official. @FITSNews spent Monday afternoon with Quinlan while he was off duty and out of jurisdiction, on a so-called mental health recovery leave stemming from what he described as a “hostile workplace environment” created by town administrator Crystal Bouknight. “I think it’s retaliation,” Quinlan said before learning he had been fired. “I reported numerous violations, including some which could amount to criminal offenses… I feel I may pose a threat to [Bouknight’s] employment as town administrator of South Congaree.” 📸: Andrew Fancher/FITSNews