House bill 3039, or the Senator Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act, is named after one of the victims killed in the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in 2015.

If passed, the bill would allow for additional penalties in criminal cases where bias is proven to be a motivating factor, including race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

The church's tax bill has grown from $30,000 when it began to reopen after the pandemic to more than $100,000. The church wants the lot's tax-exempt status restored so it can sell the property, ...

"The introduction of legislation that denies the humanity of our neighbors in the LGBTQ+ community is distressing and does ...