Chiropractic Care in Johns Island, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston says it is looking to spend millions of dollars to create a creek and additional wetlands to address street flooding and drainage issues on over 500 acres of Johns Island.

Rather than paving the area over for the Barberry Woods Drainage Improvement Project, the city said it is opting for a more ecological approach.

“Creating our own semi-natural creek system. It will look like a natural creek, even though we had dug it out,” Charleston Stormwater Management Director Matthew Fountain said. “Then, you would build a flood plain on either side of the creek that can hold water during storm events that would be built-in with natural vegetation.”

Photos captured the flooding following a heavy storm in the Barberry Woods neighborhood near Maybank Highway and River Road, which the project is named after.

City officials said the project will make the flooding drain faster and be less frequent.

Two homeowners who have been living in Barberry Woods since the mid-2000s said they love where they live, but a fix to their drainage problems has been long overdue.

“Once we do get the flooding, the flooding remains, and there’s no way for it to go,” homeowner Shannon Baker said. “It turns into a swimming pool scenario. I tried to get a vehicle out, and I did it a little too early, so I lost that [GMC] Yukon.”

“A week after I bought the house, my mother and my brother were visiting and came out onto my top porch, and they saw somebody kayaking past my house,” homeowner Kim Hicks said.

The city said a combination of developments downstream and blocked drainage ways are to blame for the flooding.

They also said the project was first inspired several years ago by the Dutch Dialogues. The city, along with the Historic Charleston Foundation, created the Dutch Dialogues in 2019 to discuss ways to work with the land that’s already there to reduce flooding risks on the peninsula, in West Ashley and on Johns Island.

“Don’t fix flooding in a way that eliminates what makes Charleston special,” Fountain said. “You need to find a way to do both. This is trying to find a way to maintain that rather than just paving the whole area over in concrete and asphalt.”

The city said they’re finishing the final designs and expect construction to start sometime in 2024.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Capping a week of Juneteenth celebrations across the United States, the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture is pleased to announce receipt of materials that will offer new insights into pivotal moments in the fight for civil rights in the South Carolina Lowcountry, including a rare recording of a speech made by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a visit to Charleston less than a year before his death.

The Eugene B. Sloan Civil Rights Collection constitutes an extraordinary archive of audiotapes, photographs, correspondence, ephemera and objects from award-winning South Carolina journalist and editor Eugene B. Sloan. Preserved by Sloan’s immediate family over more than five decades, highlights of the collection include three exceedingly rare and historically significant audio recordings:

Generously donated by Lisa Berman, review of the interviews and transcripts is currently underway. They will be accessible in the spring of 2023 to the CofC community and the public on Aviary, the audiovisual repository and platform for the Lowcountry Oral History Initiative. The collection also features artifacts and personal papers connected to Eugene Sloan and his family, including the Hasselblad camera he used to photograph King and other notable civil rights figures, as well as a personal recording Sloan made in the early morning hours after King’s death in 1968.

“The gift from Lisa Berman of the Eugene B. Sloan Civil Rights Collection is a perfect match to the mission and focus of the Avery Research Center,” says CofC President Andrew T. Hsu. “The Avery Research Center is a premier repository for Black history in the Lowcountry and having the 1967 recording of Martin Luther King Jr. in Charleston is an incredible addition to our world-class collections at the Avery Research Center.”

The Eugene B. Sloan Civil Rights Collection will also serve as a complementary element of Documenting the Arc, the Avery Research Center’s oral history project documenting the ongoing fight for equality in the Lowcountry. Supported by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Documenting the Arc collects interviews focusing on the grassroots demonstrations and organizing efforts in late 2014 through the local George Floyd protests and civil unrest that marked the summer of 2020, emphasizing the period between the killing of Walter Scott and the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church.

“The artifacts from the Sloan collection also demonstrate how intricately connected the Charleston peninsula and the Sea Island communities (especially Johns and Wadmalaw islands) were to one another and to the ongoing work toward justice,” says Tamara T. Butler, executive director of the Avery Research Center and associate dean of strategic planning and community engagement. “We are honored to be the stewards of this collection as it is an important thread of the civil rights tapestry that we weave together at the Avery Research Center.”

The Avery Research Center publicly announced the donation on Saturday, June 25, 2022, during the annual meeting of the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture, a separate nonprofit organization providing support to the Avery Research Center’s programs, operations and efforts to acquire archival collections. The meeting also inaugurated the Avery Institute’s Curatorial Committee, which will collaborate with Avery Research Center faculty and staff to design upcoming exhibits for the center’s historic building at 125 Bull St. in downtown Charleston.

“The Sloan collection would be a treasured and powerful addition to the holdings of even the largest academic library,” says John W. White, dean of libraries. “The conviction shared by Lisa Berman and the Sloan family that the Avery Research Center is the best steward for these materials is a testament to the institution’s ability to connect meaningfully with communities in the Lowcountry and around the world. We could not be happier to have the Sloan collection forever preserved and made available right here at the Avery Research Center.”

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (Lowcountry Weekend) - If you love Mexican cuisine, you have a new dining option in the Lowcountry.

Minero Mexican Grill & Cantina opened for dinner on Thursday at the space formerly occupied by The Fat Hen, at 3140 Maybank Highway.

The Neighborhood Dining Group says the opening marked a new chapter for the Minero name. The Johns Island location will continue its legacy of hand-pressed tortillas and Mexican favorites created by the former downtown Charleston Minero, with the addition of new menu items and an expanded indoor-outdoor footprint.

“We’re thrilled to bring Minero back in a new home on Johns Island, one of Charleston’s most exciting areas,” Neighborhood Dining Group President David Howard said. “Fans will recognize the same heart of what we do at Minero – attention to detail, great ingredients, and honoring Mexican traditions – but with a fresh take on both the menu and atmosphere. We can’t wait to serve Charleston once again and are appreciative of the warm welcome from the great residents of Johns Island.”

The kitchen is helmed by Executive Chef Shamil Velazquez, also of the group’s Delaney Oyster House, bringing inspiration from his Puerto Rican upbringing and chef-driven techniques to the newest outpost of the concept.

The menu is anchored by Minero staples like charcoal-grilled wings, tacos, and the burrito, as well as the tradition of making corn tortillas from scratch daily, but with exciting new additions for a fresh take on the Mexican concept.

Velazquez incorporates Latin American influences into the menu, including more seafood dishes, crudos, and ceviches, while drawing from Mexico’s coastal regions for inspiration.

“We knew the Minero favorites weren’t going anywhere on the menu, but we wanted to bring some additional elements, especially to highlight some of the great ingredients we get in the South and along our coast,” Velazquez said. “Mexican food can be celebrated through many different techniques, and I’m looking forward to bring a new perspective to the concept with the same emphasis on local ingredients and quality offerings.”

Click here to see the full menu.

Minero’s menu honors Mexico’s culinary traditions while weaving in inspiration from the culinary South.

The menu features longstanding Minero favorites including Charcoal-Grilled Wings tossed with Valentina; a Salsa Tasting including Benne, Rojo, and Verde; and the Minero Burrito featuring red rice, beans, Oaxaca cheese, crema, poblano, cabbage, cilantro, salsa verde, and avocado.

Exciting new additions include the Fajitas Al Carbon with charred onions, bell peppers, pico de gallo, crema, guacamole, red rice, beans, and housemade flour tortillas; the Yucatán Style Local Catch featuring crispy fingerling potatoes, pickled yum yum peppers, and pibil sauce; and Shrimp & Snapper Ceviche made with a ceviche sour michelada mix, cucumber, peanut, red onion, mandarin, radish and chips. The restaurant offers five signature tacos, including Fried Catfish or Grilled Fish, Cauliflower, Charcoal Chicken, Grilled Steak, and Pork Al Pastor. Select brunch items will be served on the weekends, including Steak and Eggs and Breakfast Burrito with hash brown, salsa verde, and huevos.

Beverages include the classic Minero Margarita with reposado and añejo tequilas, fresh lime, orange juice, curaçao, and agave, guests can personalize their margarita experience by DIY-ing it, adding a pineapple twist, boosting it for a crowd (the “Party” serves six), or even making it extra with a bottle-down Modelito and a choice of sidecar. Frozen concoctions, such as the Frosé Sangria and the El Santanico, and a comprehensive beer list featuring both Mexican and local options round out the alcoholic offerings, while a zero-proof margarita and refreshers provide plenty of options to abstain.

No reservations are needed. Seating is first-come, first-served.

The restaurant hours include dinner service on Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Happy Hour is Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The restaurant plans to add daytime service at a later date.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Monthly bills are less expensive in the Palmetto State … but there’s a catch.

South Carolinians pay significantly less than the national average on their monthly bills – but there’s a catch. Because income levels in the Palmetto State are so low compared to the national average, the effective amount of money citizens must devote to these necessities is higher.

In fact when you consider South Carolina’s anemic earnings, it essentially costs as much to live in the Palmetto State as it does to live in California – one of the states with the highest monthly bill rates.

That’s according to a new report (.pdf) from Doxo, an online bill management company.

South Carolinians pay an average of $1,783 on their monthly bills – including mortgages ($1,076), rent ($910), car loans ($412), utilities ($295), car insurance ($212), cable and internet ($120), health insurance ($120) and their mobile phones ($109).

That total amount is 11 percent below the national average of $2,003 – ranking the state No. 33 nationally in terms of its monthly obligations.

Again, though, there is a catch …

(SPONSORED CONTENT - STORY CONTINUES BELOW)

All told, 41 percent of household income in the Palmetto State goes to pay bills – which is higher than the national average. By comparison, residents in Minnesota and Utah pay only 33 percent of their household income on monthly bills.

The most expensive place to live in America? Hawai’i …

According to the report, the Aloha State ranks No. 1 nationally in terms of the cost of citizens’ monthly bills ($2,911) and the percentage of household income devoted to paying them (44 percent).

Zeroing back in on South Carolina, Hilton Head Island is the most expensive place to live – clocking in at $2,569 per month. Bluffton is a close second at $2,524. Mount Pleasant ($2,473), Charleston ($2,185), Fort Mill ($2,166), Greer ($2,080), Ladson ($2,069), Okatie ($2,062), Johns Island ($2,040) and Clemson ($2,017) round out the top ten.

Nationally, Doxo estimates the annual monthly bill market at $4.6 trillion – with $853 billion going to mortgages, $616 billion going to rent, $493 billion going to auto loans, $399 billion going to utilities, $250 billion going to auto insurance and $166 billion going to mobile phone payments.

Here is the full report …

*****

(Via: doxoINSIGHTS)

(Via: FITSNews)

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children. And yes, he has LOTS of hats (including that Durham Bulls’ lid pictured above).

*****

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.

SOUTH CAROLINA’S LATEST NEWS IN YOUR INBOX …

Advertisement

When it comes to clearing out of Charleston at the crack of July for some deeply desired summer fun, it’s always something.

Year after year, that ever-shifting, wet, hot blanket has kept me me stewing in my juices somewhere around town, with farther-flung European dalliances or mountain vistas eluding me once more.

And I’ve channeled my annual churlishness here in my weekly column, indulging in a light-bodied, hopefully quaffable summer whine. I first introduced my annual staycation story in 2019, when the start of this very job scuttled a planned July trip to the Hudson Valley.

Since then, our family has been grounded every year. One year, it was the pandemic that nixed travel to New York. Other years, professional pulls for either me or my husband Scott have forestalled that post-Spoleto jones to beat it out of town.

This year is no different. The city of Charleston’s July 2 free concert and fireworks at The Joe is as rousing a reason to professionally stay put. Then, the Denmark Vesey Bicentenary that takes place at Charleston Gaillard Center from July 14-16 is a compelling second.

Along with those choice Charleston happenings, we also managed a sweet swap with my sister, taking over her Wadmalaw home while her family heads up to the Hudson Valley.

And, summoning the ghosts of staycations past, we’ll aim to go as local as possible while reveling in a few days off right in the country’s top vacation spot that we like to call home.

That starts with an alfresco Friday movie night at Wadmalaw, served up with smoked wings from Rodney Scott’s BBQ and Edmund’s Oast Cut of the Leaf: Centennial, a 5.7 percent whole leaf hopped pale ale with flavors of orange, grapefruit and lime zest.

First up is “Daughters of the Dust,” the 1991 film by Julie Dash set on a barrier island, which is now available via Tubi. Then we’ll fire up “Sherman’s March,” the wry and rambling 1985 film by Ross McElwee that is partly set in Charleston, and is now available on Amazon.

Saturday morning, we’ll head out to gather goods on Johns Island. First stop is the Sea Island Farmers Market, which is set up year-round on the Charleston Collegiate Campus on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. On the way back, we’ll stop by HUM Grocery to pick up a pre-ordered tomato pie, pulled pork and a mac-and-cheese take-and-bake for 9-year-old Beatrice.

After a morning dip in the pool, it’s hammock time for me and Beatrice, to get going, if leisurely, on her summer reading list.

Last year, we were in the zone with it thanks to the middle grade novel “The Islanders,” which is set on Dewees Island and written by Charleston authors Mary Alice Monroe and Angela May. This summer, the two have a sequel out, the young adult “Search for Treasure” (Aladdin Books).

After a few chapters, as Beatrice’s attention turns back to the pool, I’ll likely linger a spell longer in that hammock, cracking open “Diamonds and Deadlines: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in the Gilded Age” by part-time Charleston resident Betsy Prioleau.

For Scott, more of a nonfiction reader, I’ll pick up “Surfing the South,” a memoir by South Carolinian author Steve Estes promising the merging of sports-centric surf and Southern turf.

Sunday, we’ll have friends round for the pool, grilling local meats from the farmers market. We’ll aim for local craft beers with a Fourth of July flavor, like Westbook Brewing Company’s colorful Blackberry Blueberry Smash fruit beer, with its blackberry and blueberry purees and sour ale. We’ll pick up some Barcoop Bevy Grapefruit Margarita Mix, a staple in our house.

We may also order an ice cream cake from Weezy’s Ice Cream and Cocktails. While it is made with Hershey’s Ice Cream, so is not local per se, it does offer a cocktail bar to enjoy when we collect it.

But to celebrate the vast array of homegrown musical talent, I’ve already started compiled a “SC Tunes” playlist featuring South Carolina releases from the past few months.

First, we’ll set the tone with “Big Dreamers,” the new album from Charleston music staple The Blue Dogs, their first studio-made work since 2004. Poolside-friendly summer fare, it’s sure to serve up nostalgia from our concerts past.

Then, for some reflective, rock-inflected time in the sun, I’ll segue into the latest from Charleston’s Susto, “Time in the Sun,” which came out in November. We’ll shift to Tourneforte’s “Swimming Lessons,” which was released in September. As the afternoon deepens, it’s time for Charleston-based Don Merckle’s “Rumor of a Ghost.”

Monday, we’ll return to Rockville’s Fourth of July parade, which last year proved to be a happy, homespun stars-and-stripes interlude, complete with a vintage firetruck, a host of golf carts, dirt bikes and other modes of transportation — with plenty of shotgun-riding dogs and a generous shower of candy for Beatrice to boot.

After repeated years of upended plans, she’s come to learn that there is always plenty of fun to be had in Charleston during July. Maybe it’s high time that I learned that, too.