roofer in Charleston, SC

MORNING NEWSBREAK | South Carolinians set a new voting record on what was the state’s first day of the two-week early voting stretch in the 2024 election.

The State Election Commission said 125,913 voters cast a ballot Monday, beating the previous one-day record for early voting during the 2022 midterms at 70,10o.

On top of early voting ballots, more than 47,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Tuesday, according to the commission.

“We are thrilled to see voters embracing the convenience of early voting, and we are anticipating a significant turnout for this election,” said Howie Knapp, the agency’s executive director.

Here’s the breakdown of ballots cast in the Lowcountry:

Voting centers are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday Nov. 2. The early voting centers, which can be found through scvotes.gov, are closed Sunday, Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, the state American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ system made it impossible for some 17,000 eligible teenagers to register to vote while obtaining a driver’s license or other identification. The lawsuit also names the State Election Commission.

In other headlines:

CP NEWS: Cogswell throws wrench in Ashley River pedestrian bridge plan. Charleston Mayor William Cogswell presented a revamped new design Tuesday for a pedestrian-bike bridge across the Ashley River, which has already been designed, vetted, approved and funded for about $80 million after years of work. But now the new plan unveiled at a city council meeting represents a possible wrench in the works. The freshman mayor’s proposed changes could delay the construction — and likely cause a hike in costs, observers say.

Charleston chosen as one of the friendliest places in the U.S. Among two recent studies, Charleston was dubbed a top location for varying accolades. Among them: home to some of America’s kindest and most helpful locals, and a favorite city in which to celebrate Halloween.

Charleston Waterkeeper kicks off shellfish harvesting with oyster recycling. Charleston Waterkeeper hosted its first weekly oyster recycling event Tuesday where volunteers picked through debris to sort oyster shells. Volunteers were looking for items such as saltine cracker wrappers, forks, and even hot sauce containers.

Patriots Point powers Charleston economy with $205M impact. Patriots Point is estimated to have a $205 million economic impact on the Charleston Tri-county region, according to a study by the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business.

Charleston residents request non-lethal coyote control. The Wagener Terrace community in downtown Charleston is suggesting a formal coyote mitigation plan that focuses on education, deterrence and avoidance over lethal action.

Charleston Co. leaders look to improve Dorchester Road. Charleston County leaders are seeking public feedback regarding a project that will look at Dorchester Road from the county line on the road down to Michaux Parkway. A study conducted in this area showed that almost 1,500 car accidents were reported just from 2018 to 2022, causing nine deaths and over 500 injuries.

Coastal Carolina Fair returns to Ladson in time for Halloween. The return of the Coastal Carolina Fair is a true sign that fall is here! This year’s event opens on Halloween and runs through November 10.

Radio Shack returns to S.C. Electronics lovers can head to Northwoods Mall in North Charleston to shop at the state’s only official Radio Shack store.

Lowcountry count reveals snapshot of homeless population. The numbers from the 2024 Point in Time Count were released Tuesday by the Lowcountry Continuum of Care, which counted the number of people experiencing homelessness in a single night.

$1.7M of Johns Island land considered for new county park. Charleston County Parks is looking at $1.7 million worth of land around Simmons Creek on Johns Island to bring greater water access to parts of the area that are seeing some of the largest growth as a new county park.

Help keep the City Paper free.No paywalls.No subscription cost.Free delivery at 800 locations.

Help support independent journalism by donating today.

[empowerlocal_ad sponsoredarticles]

| Oct 22 2024 at 07:48 AM | Logistics

Yusen Logistics (Americas), Inc., a leading global supply chain company specializing in ocean and air freight forwarding, warehousing, and supply chain management services, is pleased to announce its relocation and expansion to a new facility in Charleston, SC. This new 89,000 sq. ft. transload and distribution center features 130 dock doors and 645 trailer parking spaces, making it ideal for transloading services. Located near the Port of Charleston, the operation can handle thousands of containers annually, ensuring seamless unloading and preparation for final delivery.

“We are excited to continue supporting our customers from a new permanent location in Charleston,” says Greg Futato, Senior Vice President of the Contract Logistics Group for Yusen Logistics. “We outgrew ourtemporary transload center, where we transloaded approximately 8,000 cargo containers annually. This move allows us to enhance our capabilities to support the significant growth of our current major retail client and provide services to new customers in the Charleston market.”

SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin stated, “South Carolina Ports congratulates our partners at Yusen Logistics on this critical warehouse expansion that will support our retail shippers and importers in the booming Southeast. This investment provides much-needed capacity for our customers and keeps the South Carolina port market competitive”.

Yusen Logistics’ Contract Logistics Group serves as the company’s warehousing and distribution arm. With 35 distribution facilities across the U.S., the group operates more than 7.4 million square feet of warehouse space, with transload distribution centers strategically located at key East and West Coast ports, including Charleston, Savannah, New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles/Long Beach, and Seattle/Tacoma. Recent expansions have included a 320,000-square-foot facility in Indianapolis, IN, a 180,000-square-foot facility in Sumner, WA, and the acquisition of Taylored Services in 2023, which added 2.9 million square feet of capacity in the U.S.

“As with all our operations, the new Charleston site will integrate our best-in-class logistics experts, processes, and technology to deliver services that consistently exceed our customers’ expectations,” adds Futato. “Our customer-focused approach, based on Kaizen—continuous improvement—allows us to optimize distribution, materials handling, order processing, transloading, and shipment management,resulting in faster fulfillment and better service.”

"The new Charleston location is at 2000 Charleston Regional Parkway, Charleston, SC 29492. It will replace the company's current site and will open in late November 2024."

This Article Is Archived For Top Tier Subscribers Only

View the full archived article by Logging in!

Log In

Published: Oct. 21, 2024 at 7:49 PM PDT|

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The future of the Citadel Mall is on its way to becoming a new and improved development.

The City of Charleston had its Design Review Board meeting earlier this afternoon and approved the design guidelines presented.

This is a 75-page-long document, outlining some of the design elements that will be considered when that process begins including mixed-use outdoor and indoor properties.

Kim Simmons is the assistant manager at Edwin Watts, right across the street from the Citadel Mall.

“The Citadel Mall needs a facelift,” Simmons says. “You know I just think it would be great for this area and West Ashley in general, to have more things to do too.”

She says the potential ideas for the redesigns could improve their business, among other local stores in the area.

The applicants presented their final draft of the Design Guidelines for future development, where they want to incorporate a Charleston aesthetic while considering West Ashley families.

“Oh, the beautiful pastel colors, the columns, and the Spanish moss…if they could get that somehow designed in, I’d spend as much time as I could there,” Community member Mick Levitz says.

While presenting their ideas to the board, the applicants suggest a traditional, timeless environment while modernizing what needs to be done.

Design Review Board member Ashley Jackrel says the outdoor space, landscaping and greenery in the design guidelines could improve the location’s sustainability while attracting more people.

“This is kind of a sea of asphalt right? Like who wants to hang out in the Citadel Mall parking lot in the middle of summer… I know I don’t. And so there have been some really creative strategies employed there at the mall but in terms of really making it a healthy environment it really takes a full overhaul, right?” Jackrel says.

Following the meeting board members were excited for future plans.

“So it is incredibly difficult to come up with a design guideline document outlining what the expectations are, without really being kind of somewhat restrictive with what that creativity could look like in that final product,” Jackrel says.

As for the next steps, these are the expectations set for the future designers and architects which have not yet been confirmed.

The applicants did say they expected to start development in 2025, but Jackrel said it may take longer depending on their creative process.

The 88-plus acre existing site includes over 1.1 million square feet of retail uses, and the document stated that Belk, Dillard’s, Target and the Medical University of South Carolina are staying put.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Published: Oct. 21, 2024 at 1:50 AM PDT|

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Monday marks the first day of early voting in South Carolina, so Charleston County voters can now cast their ballots at any of the seven different early voting locations.

Over 100,000 early voters are expected in Charleston County alone, which would be record-high numbers amid a recent law change, according to the Executive Director of the Charleston County Board of Elections, Issac Cramer.

“We do anticipate early voting to break records for Charleston County because of the excitement in the voters. They want to cast their ballots, it’s a presidential election, and also [for] the convenience,” Cramer says.

In 2022, the Early Voters Bill passed allowing early voters to cast their ballots without a reason, making this the first major election that the law will be in effect. Only a valid photo ID is required to check in.

“The Early Voters Bill that passed in 2022 gives all voters in Charleston County the ability to cast their ballot without an excuse, in person, early… We are trying to get the message out that they don’t need a reason anymore. If they just want to vote early, they can,” Cramer says.

Acceptable forms of photo ID include a South Carolina driver’s license, a South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card, a South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit, a South Carolina voter registration card with photo, a United States military ID and a United States passport.

Cramer encourages people to vote early because it’s the easier option since voters get to choose the location, time and date that they would like to vote, rather than being constricted to 12 hours on election day and only going to an assigned polling place.

“We’ve got a lot of great feedback about our vote centers across the county, and we want our voters to know that they can vote at an accessible location, we offer curbside at every one,” Cramer says.

Early voting is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and will last until Nov. 2. CARTA will not be offering free rides to the polls during early voting, but they will be on election day.

Early voters can vote at any of the seven following locations:

To find early voting locations anywhere in the state, click here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

It’s kind of scary watching the left, Mount Pleasant and all those Exchange Club guys join forces.

They're battling elected officials, West Ashley residents and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce over the proposed half-cent transportation sales tax.

Who do you root for there?

Well, depends on how much you enjoy gridlock.

These disparate factions have their reasons to oppose the county's third sales tax on the Nov. 5 ballot, few of which have anything to do with our actual problems.

The Exchange Club wants to hurt CARTA because the public transportation agency wouldn’t let it renege on a land deal. Don’t ask; it’s complicated.

Mount Pleasant doesn't see enough in this for the town … probably because the county already tackled its biggest traffic problems.

Remember the nine-figure improvements to Johnnie Dodds? Or the Ravenel Bridge, which the county’s still paying for? Or Highway 41, funded by the previous sales tax but unbuilt because locals can't agree on its route?

The left (actually, an assortment of environmentalists and non-commuting Johns Islanders) wants to save the island from developers.

Since the last time they derailed 526 — when it would've cost a quarter as much — Johns Island’s population and number of homes has gone up 150%.

Turns out, developers don’t really care about adequate infrastructure. They’ll build anyway. Because, demand.

By decade's end, Johns Island's population will have doubled in 20 years ... with the same two ways on and off the island.

So, great job guys.

Now, we're all entitled to our own opinion … and these days too many think that includes their own facts. And these anti-tax campaigns are rife with facts that sound damning — when extenuating circumstances and pertinent details are omitted.

Let’s look at those.

The county hasn’t finished most projects from the last transportation sales tax.

True — it just broke ground on that Main Road flyover promised in 2016. But that argument only works if voters don't understand how the tax works, or how long road construction takes.

The county has completed two-thirds of the projects from its first two transportation sales taxes. The rest are underway.

Know why they aren’t done? Because the county finances projects as the money's collected. It’s called pay-as-you-go, and the county started this with the second round of sales tax projects to avoid overloading its bonding capacity ... and paying more interest with our money. So far, it's saved taxpayers about $200 million.

And, frankly, you can only do so much at once. One reason the flyover's behind is the county had trouble attracting bidders. Too much work out there.

The transportation sales tax will cost a family $1,200 per year.

Absolutely true … if your family spends $240,000 annually on local taxable items. The average family, however, will pay just shy of $10 a month.

Which they're already paying, since this referendum extends an existing tax.

Greenbelt projects will be shortchanged.

Also true, if nearly a half-billion dollars is shortchanging anyone. That's just funning with statistics.

This referendum dedicates $432 million to greenbelt projects, slightly more than the first two referendums combined. But it's a smaller percentage because this referendum is twice the size of the last one.

And it's only that big because 526 delays drove up the road's cost so much. Which brings us to …

This is all about extending 526 to Johns Island.

Actually, it's one-third about 526. A few points about that.

• Not building the road when it would've cost $500 million to $700 million absolutely did not stop growth on Johns Island (see above statistics). It has simply driven 20% of West Ashley roads over-capacity, because all the new Johns Island residents drive through it to get to their jobs downtown or in North Charleston.

• Despite misleading studies, 526 would save up to 40 minutes on a commute between Johns Island and downtown, and nearly an hour between the island and North Charleston. That 20-second malarkey includes trips between Citadel Mall and, say, Outback.

• No bike lane or public transportation is going to make a meaningful difference to congestion. Sorry, it just isn’t — even the S.C. Department of Transportation says so. You try commuting from Maybank and River Road to MUSC on a 10-speed in this climate.

• The populations of West Ashley, James Island and Johns Island are projected to grow by 63% in the next 25 years, highway or no. That's your reality check.

Remember, a lot of these same folks opposed the James Island connector. How would life around here be without that now?

So, vote against the sales tax if you want. Just understand you'll continue to sit in traffic that's gonna get worse.

Because, as we’ve established, lack of supporting infrastructure got us into this mess, yet it doesn’t stop development in South Carolina.

But half-truths can stop road improvements dead in their tracks.

Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings.

Email