STATE BRIEFS

Bankruptcy

numbers up

CHARLESTON - The number of bankruptcy filings rose about 18 percent in South Carolina last year, in part because of troubled real estate and mortgage markets.

There were nearly 7,200 corporate and personal bankruptcy filings - up almost 2,000 from the previous year.

Still, the number was only about half of those in 2005 when changes in the law made it harder for people to file for bankruptcy.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported for Tuesday's newspapers the cost of medical care, divorces and losing jobs were the most common reasons for filing.

But rising mortgage rates also played a role and there will likely be more bankruptcies to come, said Charleston attorney Michael Drose.

''We're just getting started,'' he said.

He expects more bankruptcies after people bought homes they couldn't afford through using low teaser mortgage rates. Those people got into trouble after their adjustable rate mortgages rose.

Kevin Campbell, a Mount Pleasant attorney who serves as a bankruptcy court trustee, said the number of bankruptcies across the state this year will be even higher.

''We'll be up to or very close to 12,000,'' he predicted.

People with traditional mortgages and good credit are also getting into trouble, said Michaele Pena, the director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service in North Charleston.

She said she has noticed more people using credit cards to make ends meet.

Inmate back in custody

DARLINGTON - Darlington County deputies say a man mistakenly released from custody last week threatened a possible witness in his murder trial while he was free.

Authorities say 22-year-old Mardrall Addison was supposed to be sent to Darlington County jail to await trial on a murder charge after his release from a state prison last week, but instead he was released from custody after a mistake by a county official.

Addison was free for four days before turning himself in Friday.

Over the weekend, deputies say they charged Addison with intimidating a witness because he called a potential witness in his trial. Authorities say Addison shot 19-year-old Wildrikus Hough in the head and wounded a second man in June. Hough later died.

Pickens County gets new jobs

LIBERTY - A medical device maker says it will double the number of workers it has in Pickens County over the next five year.

St. Judge Medical vice president David Ewing says the company's new 60,000- square-foot facility in Liberty will be complete by this summer.

He says up to 300 new workers will be hired to make parts used in pacemakers and defibrillators at the new site.

The company already has a 100,000-square-foot facility in Pickens County.

(Associated Press)