The Friday Five 2.15.19

On behalf of the Upstate Chamber Coalition, we would like to wish you a Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! Before you head into your weekend, check out five articles you may have missed this week:

(As more and more legitimate news sites charge for their content, we apologize if many of these articles are behind paywalls. You have to pay for good journalism.)

1. Progressive Democrats Claim Victory Over Amazon. After facing resistance from protesters and local politicians, Amazon is no longer seeking to peruse headquarters in NYC. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio promised Amazon.com billions of dollars in incentives, however, the deal fell through after progressive democrats savaged the plan. Sen. Lindsey Graham pleaded to Jeff Bezos (founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Amazon) in a tweet earlier this afternoon, stating, “South Carolina would love to have you locate your new HQ here. South Carolina is a great place to do business!”
2. BMW announces plans to build two new models at Upstate plant. Beginning in April of 2019, the BMW plant in Greer will start producing two additional BMW models – the X3 M and the X4 M. With these additional models, BMW will produce a total of 9 BMW models at the Upstate plant.
3. White House announces members of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. The 25 member Advisory Board, co-chaired by Secretary Ross and Ivanka Trump, will work directly with the National Council for the American worker and develop a strategy to better prepare the American workforce to meet the demands of the 21st century.
4. First African-American mayor to spearhead Inman revitalization. The city of Inman is encountering extensive physical revitalization, all under the leadership of Mayor Cornelius Huff.
5. Sen. Scott “Nay”, Sen. Graham “Yea” on government funding package. Last night, Congress held a vote on the government funding package, which included a fraction of the President’s request for border security. Senator Lindsey Graham and Representative Joe Cunningham were the only members of the South Carolina delegation to vote in favor of the bill. In the Senate, the bill passed 83-16-1.

Bonus: Think Valentine’s Day is tough now? The Holiday used to involve choosing a sweetheart by lottery. During the 17th and 18th centuries – not long after the holiday gained its reputation for love – it was traditional for people in Europe to choose their Valentines by drawling names. Men and women would gather together,  typically on the eve of Valentine’s Day, and would draw slips of paper. Men would draw women’s names and women men’s to determine who their “Valentine” would be.