Free Republic

It appears that the Northern invasion of the South is complete -- at least it is on a patch of land known as Delta Plantation in Jasper County. There, a diehard rebel named Henry E. Ingram Jr. made his last stand against the onslaught of Yankees, only to be thwarted by a man from Long Island, N.Y., and now -- gasp -- a French Canadian. Ingram promised to keep Yankees out of Delta Plantation in Jasper County when he bought 1,700 acres there in 1998. His resolve to keep them out still is strong, but the covenants he put on...

World Grits Festival dishes out heaping helpings of family fun BY DENESHIA GRAHAM ST. GEORGE--Someone by the name of George got dibs on this small, Dorchester County town before grits could. Regardless of where it got its name, the town's heart belongs to the distinctly Southern staple. The love affair has been celebrated for two decades. Day two of the World Grits Festival took place Saturday. Thousands of grits-goers from near and far, some armed with flimsy paper plates of fried food, filed past one another, each heading to a variety of events. Commencing at 7 a.m., activities included a...

Group trying to block building name change: NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- A state appeals court heard arguments Wednesday over whether Vanderbilt University can remove the word "Confederate" from a dormitory the United Daughters of the Confederacy helped build in the 1930s. The Tennessee chapter of the group claims the university's effort to drop the first word from Confederate Memorial Hall violates decades-old contracts, but Vanderbilt claims the contracts are no longer valid. The judges, who did not say when they will issue a ruling, had strong words for both sides. "You're arguing social values and making the courts be the tough...