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  • Griffins senior night

    Stanley McManus (10), Tracy Williamson (4), Rodric Woodard (2), Jeff Russell (3), Tydarius Young (7), and Travious Williams (31) take one last photo on senior night. Photo/ Ross Burton

    WINNSBORO – The Griffins notched a 9-7 victory over Newberry High on their senior night, their last game before the start of the playoffs. Fairfield jumped ahead 9-2 early, and it was looking like a route in the making, but Newberry battled back to make it a much closer game.

    “Good way to finish up the season,” Griffins’ head coach Scotty Dean said. “We got a good baseball team when we throw strikes and put the ball in play, and when we don’t throw strikes and kick it around we’re bad. Today I thought we played pretty good on defense, I think we only had one or two errors, maybe, I think we had a few hits, put up nine runs.”

    Newberry actually jumped out to the early lead in the top of the first. Trey Kinard reached on a walk, then swiped second and, after a pick-off attempt went over the third baseman’s head, Kinard crossed the plate easily.

    Fairfield wasted no time in re-grouping, putting up two runs in the bottom half of the first frame. Montavious Thompson led off with a single, then stole a base and Rodric Woodard was walked by Bulldogs’ pitcher and former Griffin Ivan Ruff.

    Stanley McManus brought both Thompson and Woodard in to score with one swing of the bat for two of his four RBI’s on the night. McManus collected a double, but was tagged out in a close play as he tried to stretch the double into a triple.

    An error for the Griffins at shortstop allowed Adam Kessler to score from second and knotted the game back up at 2-2. Fairfield did not answer back in the second, but their bats erupted in the bottom of the third.

    Jacob McManus kicked off the third with a fly ball to right that should have been an easy out, but the rightfielder had trouble handling the ball, and McManus reached first. Newberry recorded a strikeout next, but then gave up a walk, an RBI-single, a double, an RBI Double, two hit batters and five-runs before they collected another out.

    The 7-2 Griffins lead continued to grow with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Montavious Thompson, who was hit by a pitch, score after a couple of errors opened the plate up for him, and Rodric Woodard scored on a Stanley McManus grounder, that left Woodard just enough time to squeak across home.

    The 9-2 lead seemed like it would be far too much for the Bulldogs to overcome, but they were not done rallying. A couple of singles and a couple of walks given up by the Griffins, allowed Newberry to put two runs in the top of the fifth.

    Newberry followed their two-run fifth with two more in the sixth. A pair of sack flies, along with a walk and hit batter set the stage for the two-run sixth inning.

    Fairfield could not plate anymore runs in their half of the sixth, meaning Newberry had three outs remaining to score three-runs and tie up the ball game, and they managed to score one of those but a double-play off the bat of the former Griffin Ivan Ruff put a bow on the game for Fairfield.

    “It was 9-2 in the fourth and we wind up making it interesting,” Dean said. “When you got young pitchers and they’re struggling to throw strikes, that kind of thing happens. But I got a lot of confidence in our guys. We start the playoffs on Tuesday. They did a good job making the playoffs.”

    Dean took a moment to remember the seniors that would be leaving the team.

    “This senior class right here has won a lot of ball games. This is probably the winningest class of seniors other than that 2014 group. Monk’s been playing varsity baseball since seventh grade. Rodric’s been playing a lot of baseball for us. Trey’s a four year starter. Jeff Russell just came out and he’s seemed to be pretty good. I’m gonna miss this group of guys , you can’t replace people like that.”

     

    FCHS:2-0-5-2-0-0-X-9

    NHS: 1-1-0-0-2-2-1-7

    Hitting: 1B- Montavious Thompson, Stanley McManus (FCHS) Adam Kesler, Alec Blackmon (2), Tramas Ruff (2), Bentrez Douglas, Riley Summer (NHS). 2B- Stanley McManus, Travious Williams, Antonio Jackson

    Pitching: WP-Jacob McManus, LP- Ivan Ruff

  • Blythewood Lacrosse done

    Photo/ Ross Burton

    Trey Edwards (22) scans the field in attempts to sneak the ball past Nation Ford defenders. The Falcons proved to be much for the Bengals, beating Blythewood 14-12 to advance to the 5-A State Title game. Alex Ramadanovic blazed through Blythewood defenders on his way to an eight-goal night. Nation Ford entered the playoffs as a 16-seed, and will travel to Chapin to face Wando in the State title game on Saturday.

  • Two Blythewood men die in boat crash

    Lanier
    Phillips

    LAKE MURRAY – A fatal boat crash on Lake Murray on Friday April 21, claimed the life of two Blythewood natives, and sent several others to the hospital. Christopher Shawn Lanier, 28, of Blythewood and Mark Daniel Phillips also of Blythewood but residing in Columbia, succumbed to injuries sustained after a 32-foot Intrepid powerboat collided with the 16-foot bass boat the victims were traveling aboard.

    According to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, Phillips’ body was found shortly after the incident, and an autopsy determined he died as the result of blunt force trauma sustained in the collision. Phillips was the owner of All Things Wild, a wildlife control company in Columbia, where Lanier was an employee.

    Lanier’s body was not recovered until the next evening at 5 p.m. and his autopsy was conducted Monday. According to Fisher’s autopsy report that was released Monday afternoon, Lanier died of blunt force trauma to the head sustained in the collision.

    It appears, according to investigators, that the 16-foot vessel that Phillips was operating and the 32-foot Intrepid being operated by Bruce Dyer collided, with the larger boat running over the smaller. All of the injuries reported came from Phillips’ boat.

    No charges have been filed, and authorities have not confirmed whether or not alcohol was a factor in the collision. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources continues to investigate.

    Of those taken to the hospital one remains hospitalized, but is recovering.

  • New proviso threatens RW funds

    RIDGEWAY – A Victim’s Assistance Program proviso approved by the State Legislature July 1, 2016, threatened to force the Town of Ridgeway to forfeit up to $35,000 of the slightly more than $60,000 in its Victim Assistance Fund (VAF) to the State Office of Victim Assistance (SOVA), Ridgeway Town Council members Angela Harrison and Heath Cookendorfer explained to Council during their regular monthly meeting last week.

    The newly implemented Proviso 93.95 provides that if the Town does not spend 90 percent of the funds it collected in previous years for victims’ assistance, it will have to forfeit any amount over $25,000 or 10 percent, whichever is higher, to SOVA. Only the balance in the fund can be rolled forward to the next year. Prior to the new proviso, all monies remaining in a town or county’s VAF could be rolled forward indefinitely.

    The new proviso came as a surprise to Council members last month since no notification had been sent to the Town by SOVA, and Harrison said information has not been easy to acquire. An email from Ethel Ford, Deputy Director of SOVA, to Harrison stated, “As you can see from the Proviso, we are not mandated by law to notify entities of current legislative changes.” SOVA, Ford wrote, provides training and technical assistance regarding the acceptable use of the funds.

    “We’ve always rolled the money forward,” Harrison told The Voice. “We didn’t know the proviso existed until we were recently looking at ways we could help victims in our town with these funds. In the past, we didn’t have anyone who was certified to work with victims, so we usually referred them to the Fairfield County VAF or Sistercare, so the money in our fund just rolled forward every year and built up. Now that we have Police Chief (Christopher) Culp who is certified as a victim’s advocate, we wanted to see what we could do to start using our funds to better help victims in our community,” Harrison said. “That’s how we found out about the new proviso.”

    Ridgeway’s victim assistance revenue comes from a percentage of the money brought in from traffic tickets written by the Ridgeway Police Department. The fund has grown to about $60,000 according to Harrison.

    After meeting with Ford in early April to clarify the details of the proviso, Harrison and Cooendorfer agreed there is still considerable confusion about a number of the proviso’s directives, however, Council moved forward to disperse 90 percent ($50,000) of the money in the Town’s current VAF through donations to local organizations authorized to distribute funds to victims.

    Cookendorfer introduced a motion to send $30,000 to Fairfield County’s VAF and $20,000 to Sistercare, with the Ridgeway Council reserving the right to say how those funds would be spent.

    Before that motion could pass, however, Harrison said she would like to see the more significant portion of the funds go to Sistercare.

    “Fairfield County has its own VAF. Sistercare needs the money more than the County. Sistercare recently had to house a family of five. Do you know what it’s like to have to feed a family of five every day and pay for their rent and all their needs on top of that?” Harrison asked.

    “We also have to remember that Fairfield County is our backup. They help us out when we don’t have an advocate,” Cookendorfer said. “We could even flip the number with $30,000 going to Sistercare and $20,000 to Fairfield County. Again, $50,000 is on the table. I think we can make both parties extremely happy.”

    Cookendorfer suggested the remaining $10,000 might go towards advocate training for Culp. Council also discussed using Ridgeway’s VAF to supplement a percentage of Culp’s salary in the future. That percentage would be determined by SOVA based on a 90-day time and activity paperwork filed with SOVA along with other documentation concerning the number of victims served and other data.

    Council voted to donate $50,000 to Fairfield County VAF and Sistercare with the split to be determined after research on the two groups is presented at the next Council meeting.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Blythewood journalist vindicated in court

     

    On Jan. 19, Pinewood Lake Park Foundation CEO Liewendelyn Hart went to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and filed an incident report with a deputy containing false claims against Quorum publisher Ron Aiken.

    Hart is currently under FBI, South Carolina Attorney General and Secretary of State investigations for her handling of hundreds of thousands of hospitality-tax dollars first reported by Quorum.

    The officer who took the report closed the report as “unfounded” and referred Hart to civil court.

    On Feb. 24, Hart repeated the false accusations to Blythewood Magistrate Court Judge Josef Robinson, and Aiken was issued a Magistrate Restraining Order summons.

    Monday, Aiken appeared without legal representation at the Magistrate Court in Blythewood to defend himself against the charges of harassment and stalking brought by Hart and her attorney, Nathaniel Roberson.

    After Hart and Aiken’s testimony under oath, cross examination and closing statements, Judge Robinson ruled that no proof had been given to show any actions by Aiken as rising to the level necessary for a restraining order, as Aiken contacted Hart just twice by phone and twice by text in the course of his reporting and, when asked in December not to contact Hart, did not do so again.

    “I am thankful that the truth of this matter was recognized and commend Judge Robinson tremendously for being able to distinguish it clearly,” Aiken said. “I contacted Ms. Hart responsibly, as any journalist would when seeking comment on a story, and when she asked not to be contacted any more back in December I respected her wishes completely and documented that request online.

    “There are very real cases of stalking and harassment that occur, and it’s unfortunate that someone called twice by phone and texted twice to comment for stories involving them would use our court system to bring improper harassment charges against a reporter, charges that included multiple lies, because they don’t like the consequences of accurate reporting.

    “In that way, it’s a small victory for journalists and the First Amendment, because reasonable contact by a journalist seeking information from a subject who is the recipient of hundreds of thousands of public dollars as to how that money was spent is speech protected by the First Amendment.”

    As the non-prevailing party, Hart was assessed a filing fee of $55.

     

  • Intergovernmental meeting takes new tone

    Compared to some of the Fairfield County intergovernmental meetings in past years, the one held at the Century House in Ridgeway on Monday evening was a virtual mutual admiration fest, focusing on the the leadership’s desire for cooperation and moving forward together.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor set the tone, saying that while the County is, fiscally, in good shape, he and other town and county government officials are looking toward greater economic and community development.
    Repeatedly throughout the evening, talk turned to water and sewer.

    “If we don’t address our needs with water and sewer, economic and community development is going to be difficult for us to achieve,” Taylor said. “We’re losing population now, and if we don’t do something to address the basic infrastructure we need, we aren’t going to attract the jobs and houses so that our community can grow and thrive.”

    Taylor said he wasn’t just talking about the County but about the towns as well.

    “We really need to work together. Right now, we’re trying to set the initial legal framework so we can see how we can put our assets, our revenues together to grow our system to where it needs to be so that in the future we can grow and thrive,” Taylor said, receiving several enthusiastic. ‘Amens!’ around the room.

    Each government leader assembled as well as the legislative delegation presented, Read more about those presentations in the April 27 issue of The Voice.

  • A Good Man

    After Blair resident Jeff Schaffer brought the neglected monument of revered former Jenkinsville School Principal W. L. Drummond to the attention of County Council two months ago, the County announced last week that it is looking into rescuing and moving the monument to a more centrally located, accessible location.

  • Bengals win consolation game in SCDI

    Blythewood J. Michael Ross tosses out the first pitch ahead of the Bengals opening game

    Blythewood baseball team finished off  J.L. Mann 5-4 in eight innings Saturday to claim the consolation game of the SC Diamond Invitational, but the Bengals very nearly let it get away.

    “That’s sort of how it’s been,” Blythewood head coach Banks Faulkner said. “It’s been really tough for us to finish games. I feel like if you want to make a playoff run, you’ve gotta learn how to finish games and you’ve gotta learn how to rally.”

    Faulkner was glad to see his team take some steps toward learning how to rally.

    Blythewood took a 4-2 lead going into the seventh inning. With two out and Miles Daniels at second, J.L. Mann found a little good luck. Blake Jeter hit a lazy fly ball out to left field, and Blythewood’s Brady Beasley was tracking it.

    And then Beasley lost track of the ball. When it dropped, Daniels raced around third and crossed the plate for the third run. With Jeter parked at second, King Price smacked a line drive that carried into the rightfield corner. Jeter easily made home, and Price slid in safely to third for a triple.

    Price stayed stranded as Ryan Watson flied out to centerfield and ended the inning.

    Blythewood nearly walked off with the win in the bottom of the seventh. Zach Bailes and Landon Cruz stroked back-to-back one-out singles, and Ian Stephen drew a walk to load the bases.

    The situation looked primed for a walk-off play, but Beasley hit a ground ball to Kyle Forman playing between first and second base. Forman fired to Watson behind the plate to force out Bailes, and Watson threw to Robert Powell at first to get Beasley and end the inning on a double play.

    Blythewood wasn’t finished. Relief pitcher John Lanier set the Patriots down in order in the top of the eighth. Then Ben Lang-Spittler lashed out a long double in the right centerfield gap to lead off the bottom half.

    In an odd move, likely looking to set up another double-play, J.L. Mann intentionally walked Todd Mattox and Aidan Massey to load the bases with nobody out.

    This time, Blythewood got a break. Cowan swung on and hit a lazy grounder to Powell at first. Powell moved in several feet in front of the bag to get it, but hesitated enough to allow Lang-Spittler to score the winning run.

    “You’ve got to learn to man up and find a way to keep competing,” Faulkner said. “Looking back, I’m glad something happened like that, because it tested our resolve and tested our spirit. We just kept fighting.”

    Late Friday, Dutch Fork beat Belton-Honea Path 7-6 in the fourth-place game.

    In other games Saturday, Lexington beat Nation Ford 7-2 in the third-place game. T.L. Hanna won the tournament championship with a 4-2 victory over Dorman.

     

    The Bengals finished the tournament 3-1.

    In the first game Wednesday, Blythewood chalked up a 4-1 victory over Nations Ford. Bengals starter Daniel Zippel worked a complete game 3-hitter, striking out five. His only run was unearned.

    On Thursday, the Bengals got out to a 3-0 lead going into the sixth, but the Yellow Jackets got four runs in the sixth and closed out a 5-3 victory.

    Blythewood rebounded with an 11-5 win over Belton-Honea Path Friday night. After three scoreless innings, the Bengals picked up three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth and three in the seventh. They were up 11-1 before the Bears picked up four runs on a hit and three Bengals errors in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough.

    “It was not easy for us, but we’ve got a saying that we’ve used, ‘the tougher it is, the more we like it,’” Faulkner said. “I don’t truly feel like our kids believe that, but hopefully this will help. We’re a very improved team. We’ve pitched really well the entire tournament, and defensively we played together. Just trying to put everything together has been a challenge for us, but we’ve focused on controlling what we can be controlled and staying positive.”

     

     

    Saturday

    Blythewood 5, J.L. Mann 4

    J.L. Mann:2-0-0-0-0-0-2-0- 4 5 1

    Blythewood:2-1-1-0-0-0-0-1 – 5 12 2 

    WP: Landon Lucas. LP: Jamison Patterson.

    Hitters: Blythewood –  Josh Cowan 3-5. Zach Bailes 2-4. Landon Cruz 2-3, 2B. Jordan Flemming 2-3. Ben Lang-Spittler 2B. J.L.Mann  – Myles Daniels 2-4, 2B. King Price 3B. Matthew Lumsden 2B. Blake Jeter 2B.

     

    Friday

    Blythewood 11, Belton-Honea Path 5

    Blythewood: 0-0-0-3-2-3-3-  11 12 3

    Belton-Honea Path:0-0-0-0-0-1-4-  5 6 1

    WP: Landon Lucas. LP: Jamison Patterson.

    Hitters: Blythewood –  Todd Mattox 2-4, 2B. Landon Lucas 2-4. Thomas Murphy 2B. Belton-Honea Path – Griffin Jester 2-4. Jacob Keown 3B.

     

    Thursday

    T.L. Hanna 5, Blythewood 3

    T.L. Hanna:0-0-0-0-0-4-1-  5 8 2

    Blythewood:0-1-1-0-1-0-0-  3 6 1

    WP: Tyler Kirkland. LP: John Lanier.

    Hitters: T.L. Hanna –  Gaines Yates 2-4. Austin Welborn 2-2. Alex Meredith 2B.

     

    Wednesday

    Blythewood 4, Nations Ford 1

    Nations Ford: 0-0-0-0-0-1-0  – 1 2 4

    Blythewood:  1-1-0-0-2-0-x –    

    4 6 2

    WP: Daniel Zippel. LP: Evan Lammers.

    Hitters: Blythewood –  Aidan Massey 2-3, Josh Cowan 2-3 Ben Lang-Spittler 2-4.

     

     

     

  • Blythewood fights high density growth

    BLYTHEWOOD – In an effort to slow high density growth in the town, Council voted last month to pass first reading to amend the Blythewood zoning ordinance text. The goal was to start the wheels turning to, sooner rather than later, repeal R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts which allow minimum lot sizes of 5,000, 8,000 and 12,000 square feet respectively within the town boundaries.

    “The major concerns are that we have gotten developments and neighborhoods that have so many houses in them, and we don’t have infrastructure to take care of them. We have tried to eliminate some of the smaller lot districts and request that they be a certain size,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said at the April Council meeting.

    Following on the heels of that vote was a request to the Planning Commission from developer D. R. Horton to rezone approximately 98 acres on two tracts of land located on Wilson Boulevard between Oakhurst Road and Highway 21 to accommodate the lot sizes that Council had voted a week earlier to banish. That property is currently zoned Development (D-1) with a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet.

    That request, presented by D. R. Horton representative Jordan Hammond, was not well received by the Commissioners who unanimously sent a recommendation to Council to deny D. R. Horton’s request, citing the high density allowed by all three of the developer’s requested options: PDD zoning (including R-5, R-8 and some commercial zoning which is a mixed-use requirement of PDD zoning), a combination of R-5 and R-8 zoning for the entire property and a third option of all R-8 zoning for the entire property.

    While the Planning Commissioners as well as the Town’s Planning Consultant, Michael Criss, questioned whether only 1.7 acres of commercial zoning in the requested PDD actually met the requirements for true mixed-use zoning which is a required component of PDD zoning, Hammond countered at last week’s Town Council work session that it did meet those requirements.

    “Whether it’s the prototypical, exemplary PDD zoning you see in San Antonio, Texas on the river (River Walk), it may not be that, but it’s a true mixed use of residential commercial and recreational uses,” Hammond said.

    But the PDD requirement wasn’t the only thing the Commissioners had trouble swallowing. In his presentation to the Planning Commission, Hammond discussed the higher density that is possible for the property.

    Commissioner Donald Brock challenged whether the density that could be approved for the property, should be approved.

    “If you left it up to homebuyers looking to move to Blythewood, the answer would be absolutely yes,” Hammond said. “The demand for homes out here and in Cobblestone is huge. We’re in touch with homebuyers every day and the demand for this area is more than the density we’re proposing.

    “Yes,” Brock said, “but I don’t know if the demand for yards you can mow with a weed eater is there. Your rezoning request is a very nice masking job, but it’s nothing more than that. It’s skirting the requirement to get the high density zoning that you’re looking for.

    “The Town of Blythewood is a great place where people want to live,” Hammond told Council last week. “It’s a great community. We want to be involved in it. From the development side of it, if there are ways that we can be creative, there are things like Neighborhood Improvement Districts that we want to have conversations about with the Town. There are negatives a development is going to have, yes, but D. R. Horton, a large developer, can contribute and participate in the (Master) plans the Town has and we want to have that conversation. We don’t want just denial. We want recommendations and feedback,” Hammond told Council.

    “So, with that, could we have a breakout meeting with Council or could I talk with (each of) you individually or just try to meet with you on Tuesday for breakfast and have this conversation?” Hammond asked at the end of his presentation.

    “I think all the options are open” Ross said, “but I think I need to remind you that the people who sat on the Planning Commission are the citizens of this town. They were appointed to be there and they certainly listened to your proposal and I have seen the minutes from that and their opinions and they are valued. They represent the people in this town….This has been through the proper channel of the Planning Commission. They gave their determination. I think you want us to look at something different.”

    Ross said Council would be open to considering other options presented by the developer.

    Acknowledging that eliminating R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts could turn in to a mountain of administrative work for the Town staff and Council, Councilman Tom Utroska asked Criss If there was another way to accomplish their goal of less density without the peripheral problems that might be created with the elimination of the three zoning districts.

    “Instead of eliminating the three zoning districts from the zoning map, you could consider leaving them in the text as is, but down zoning select parcels throughout Blythewood to lower residential density,” Criss told Council. “That approach would declare Council’s concern about density, but still preserve the zoning of existing or invested development in neighborhoods like Oakhurst (55 parcels), Cambridge Pointe (92 parcels proposed), Dawson’s Creek (25 parcels), Dawson’s Pond (25 parcels), Abney Hill Estates, Phase 1 (93 parcels) and Abney Hill Estates, Phase 1 (53 parcels proposed).”

    Criss explained that if the R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts are eliminated from the zoning test, they also become void on the Town of Blythewood zoning map causing each of the hundreds of affected parcels to be rezoned to another remaining district, presumably a residential district with a larger minimum lot size.

    “That would create many nonconforming lots” Criss said. “And along with larger minimum lot sizes come larger minimum building setbacks. That would create many nonconforming structures which couldn’t be rebuilt in the same location if they sustained damage beyond 50 percent of their replacement cost. In the private sector, zoning nonconformity of lots or structures can also affect issues such as titles financing, insurance and marketability,” Criss added.

    An alternate proposal is expected to be on the agenda for the May 24 Council meeting to be held at 7 p.m., at The Manor.

     

  • BHS requests 194-ft communication tower

    RALEIGH, NC – According to a notice from Milestone Communications of Raleigh, N. C., published last week in The Voice, the company proposes to construct a 194-foot AGL Monopol communications tower with appurtenances, at Blythewood High School on Wilson Boulevard.
    The notice asked for the submission of any written comments regarding the potential effects that the proposed tower may have on historic properties that are listed or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
    Those comments should be addressed to Tower Engineering Professionals, Inc. (Attn: George Swearingin) 326 Tryon Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 or call 919-661-6351 or fax 919-661-6350.
    Lindsey Woolridge, a spokesperson with Milestone Communications said she was not aware when a public hearing might be held for the tower.
    “We are only involved with engineering and environmental concerns at this time,” Woolridge said.
    The school district had not returned calls about the proposed tower at press tim