
Zak Koeske
Projects Reporter at The State
Projects reporter @thestate. Tips/gripes: [email protected]
Articles
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6 days ago |
thestate.com | Zak Koeske
Mikal Mahdi is shown at age 40 at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia in 2023. Courtesy Mikal Mahdi's attorneys COLUMBIA, S.C.Last month’s firing squad execution of Mikal Mahdi was a “massive botch” that left the convicted murderer in excruciating, conscious pain for at least twice as long as would have been expected, according to a legal filing by Mahdi’s attorneys.
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1 week ago |
thestate.com | Zak Koeske
Commissioner Cheryl Harris listens during a meeting of the Richland 1 School Board on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Joshua Boucher [email protected] COLUMBIA, S.C.The State Media Co. spent several months reporting on a Richland County nonprofit’s use of an $800,000 federal criminal justice grant it received in spring 2023 and a related $156,000 reimbursable county grant it was awarded a few months later.
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1 week ago |
thestate.com | Zak Koeske
Commissioner Cheryl Harris speaks during a meeting of the Richland 1 School Board on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Joshua Boucher [email protected] COLUMBIA, S.C.In April 2023, a who’s who of Richland County Democrats gathered at a sheriff’s substation on the campus of Lower Richland High School to announce the kickoff of a local anti-crime initiative called the Community Cares Project.
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1 month ago |
thestate.com | Zak Koeske
COLUMBIA, S.C.A Columbia landscaping business that worked on Richland School District 1’s abandoned early learning center project risks being held in contempt of court for its failure to respond to court orders.
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1 month ago |
thestate.com | Zak Koeske
A Florida-based education management company claims in a lawsuit that the Charter Institute at Erskine does more than just provide oversight and accountability to the schools it sponsors. It also sells them management services, alleges Charter Schools USA, one of the nation’s leading for-profit education management firms.
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After months of trying to trace the spending of a politically-connected Richland County nonprofit that was awarded $800K in federal funds to spearhead an anti-crime initiative, I've only been able to account for how about $100K was spent. https://t.co/ZBxC6jkz3d

An enigmatic landscaping company that Richland 1 school district paid $910K last year risks being held in contempt of court for ignoring subpoenas seeking documents related to its work on the district's abandoned early learning center site. https://t.co/WhuZCgTBnq

Charter Schools USA, one of the nation’s largest education management firms, claims the Charter Institute at Erskine has abused its position to target private companies it views as competitors for the services it sells to schools. https://t.co/VUiPm3PRfa