The Friday Five 3.1.19

Happy Friday! 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. U.S. Stocks on the rise as signs indicate a nearing trade deal between U.S. & China. Today, after a three-day losing streak, U.S. stocks are on the rise after U.S. officials suspect that a deal between the United States and China could be signed within a month.
2. SC Supreme Court Chief Justice John Beatty stresses diversity, pay & independence for judiciary. On Wednesday, South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice John Beatty delivered the annual State of the Judiciary to the General Assembly, urging lawmakers, to increase judges’ salaries, the need for more diversity on the bench, and more. Following the speech, Rep. Murrell Smith, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, stated that a pay increase for judges is currently in progress to be included in the state’s budget.
3. Dabo Swinney address Joint Session as Clemson is celebrated at the SC Statehouse. Clemson University’s Head Football Coach, Dabo Swinney, spoke to a joint session of the General Assembly earlier this week to celebrate Clemson Day. Capitalizing on bipartisanship, Swinney called for lawmakers to work together to get things done, just as his team did to clinch Clemson’s third national title.
4. Greenwood’s Fujifilm announces $3.9 million expansion. Greenwood’s current business-friendly climate would not be where it is today without Fujifilm’s presence. Since 1988, the Japanese company is credited for spurring steady growth in the community, and even influenced another Japanese company (Teijin Carbon Fibers) to call Greenwood home – the largest single investment in South Carolina in 2016.
5. Three new stores to open in Anderson Mall today. Three new locally-owned businesses are opening today in the Anderson Mall. These businesses include Boss Up Hair Salon, confectionery Sweet Temptations, and Northern Suga – a food boutique. “To meet community demand, we continue to evolve to deliver the right combination of retailers, dining, services, entertainment and events to keep our guests engaged and returning often” stated Chunsta Miller, the general manager of Anderson Mall.

Bonus: A 30-million page library is heading to the moon. Yes, you read that correctly. The Lunar Library, as the archive is known, will serve as a “civilization backup” to ensure that our distant descendants never lose humanity’s collective wisdom, according to Nova Spivack, the founder of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit behind the project. The space-based library is designed to survive for at least 6 billion years. “One of the primary evolutionary challenges that we face is amnesia about our past mistakes, and the lack of active countermeasures to repeating them,” Spivack said in an email. “For the survival of our species, we need to find ways to raise our awareness of what worked and didn’t work, and we need to ensure it is shared with the people of the future.”