JENKINSVILLE – Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call on St. Barnabas Church Road on Nov. 23, where a father was reportedly being threatened with a knife by “the subject,” later identified as his son, Horace Lyles Richards, 29.
While in route, deputies were advised by dispatch that the
father had been cut and that he had shot Richards, according to the incident
report.
When deputies arrived, they reported finding the father on
the front porch of the home with another deputy, and the son was lying on the
floor of a bedroom inside the home, with an injury to the left hip area consistent
with being shot. After arriving on the
scene, EMS determined that the son was deceased.
The Fairfield County Sheriff’s office reported that it was
later ruled that the shooting was in self-defense.
The newly announced industry that expects to bring an $800M investment to the Blythewood area will be located off Community Road just above the Northpoint Industrial Park. | map by Ashley Ghere
COLUMBIA – Richland County Council has approved a major tax incentive for an $800 million manufacturing facility that plans to locate on Community Road just north of Koyo in the Northpoint Industrial Park just outside the Blythewood town limits.
The name of the company, identified as Project Golden Eagle,
has not yet been identified and still needs further approvals before
construction can begin.
County officials said the name of the company will be
released after the incentive package is finalized, which could come as early as
January.
That package is expected to include a reduction in the
company’s property tax rate from six percent to four percent for 40 years. The
company will also receive tax breaks on infrastructure investment, allowing it
to further buy down its tax bill by 70 percent for the first 10 years and 50
percent for 30 years after that.
According to County Council Chairman Overture Walker, the
company will manufacture solar panels and is expected to bring approximately
1,800 jobs to the Blythewood facility.
The property is located on the southern tip of the Blythewood
industrial park and just north of Koyo manufacturing which is located in the
Northpoint Industrial park.
If the project receives final approval, it will be one of
the largest investments made in Richland County to date according to county
officials.
The dog pictured above was photographed during a fatal attack on a donkey on Loner Rd.
Another dog in the fatal attack of the Loner Rd. donkey resembles the stock photo above.
BLYTHEWOOD – A fourth attack on miniature donkeys by dogs in
the Blythewood area – and this time with a coyote in the mix – occurred in the
early morning hours of Dec. 7, on Boatwright Road off Loner Road.
The two minis that were the target of the attack were not
injured, thanks to the quick actions of their owner, Aimee Norris.
“I woke up at 2:30 a.m., Wednesday morning to the sound of
dogs barking which I might ordinarily have dismissed and gone back to sleep,
but because we had been warned by a neighbor about the recent deadly attacks on
minis in the area, I jumped up and saw the dogs through the window near the
girls’ pasture,” Norris said.
“By the time I got out the back door, barefooted, they had
gotten into the donkey’s pasture and were chasing them,” she said. “I ran back
in to get my shotgun, then ran into the pasture to try to fend off the dogs and
get my minis into the smaller pasture where I could control the situation.”
The dogs moved to the back of the pasture when I came in
yelling at them, but they were circling and barking and all the time I could
hear the chattering of a coyote as well as the clinking of tags on a collar,”
Norris recounted. “I’m a vet tech, so I’m very aware of that sound.
Regan and Aimee Norris with their two miniature donkeys, Wednesday, left, and Pickles, a few days after they were targeted by dogs on Boatwright Road. The Norrises have since moved their donkeys to a safe place in Lexington.
“At one point I could see a coyote sitting in the corner of
the paddock, just sitting there making sounds, as the dogs circled and barked.”
As Norris was struggling to get her terrified donkeys into
the smaller enclosure, she said the attackers left the pasture on the back side
leaving paw prints and scrapes across the dirt where they had circled.
Norris said she spent the remainder of the night sitting on
the back porch with her shotgun at the ready.
Her husband, Regan, who was out of town at the time of the
attack, has since filed a report with animal control.
“Had I not been warned about the attacks in our area by a
neighbor who lost her donkey to the dogs last month,” Aimee Norris said, “our little
minis would most likely have been killed in a horrible way. It all happened so
fast. Very scary.”
Norris said that because the attacking dogs were constantly
whirling and running, she doesn’t remember much except that she thinks there
were two dogs and at least one was a light color and she could hear the
clinking of tags through it all.
“The coyote didn’t chase the donkeys,” she said.
Two specific dogs in two of the attacks have been described
as a light-colored, splotchy pit bull and a white and black or brown colored
dog that resembles a border collie with a collar. Those two dogs and a dark pit
bull were also caught on a doorbell video roaming through Holly Bluff
neighborhood on Aug. 23.
The owner of a miniature donkey killed by dogs on Nov. 6 on
Loner Road witnessed the two dogs as they attacked her donkey and snapped
several clear photos of the pit bull in the pasture near her donkey as it lay
dying.
On Aug 15, those two dogs, accompanied by a dark colored pit
bull, injured a donkey on Fulmer Road but were interrupted by the owner. That
owner told The Voice that on Aug. 21, two different dogs attacked and killed
his donkey as he tried to stop the attack.
The owners of the attacked donkeys say help from county
officials has been elusive, with no real investigation offered to help find the
two dogs who seem to have been involved and identified in all but one of the
attacks.
Deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s department took
an incident report on the Loner Road attack, but have told the donkey owners
and The Voice that it is animal control, not the sheriff’s department, that has
investigative and arresting authority over the attacks, that the sheriff’s
department investigates animal cruelty cases and that those cases generally
involve humans, such as dogfighting.
Another Loner Road miniature donkey owner, Ron Hart, has posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identity of the attacking dogs.
The natural gas regulator station is located at the corner of Syrup Mill and Blythewood roads.
BLYTHEWOOD – When land at the corner of Syrup Mill Road and Blythewood Road began to be disturbed during the first week of December, The Voice received several inquiries about it from the community.
A town hall official verified in a phone conversation on
Dec. 6 that the property is in the Town Center zoning district, that the town
hall knew about the project, and that it was a “temporary natural gas
stabilization site.”
Later that day, Town Administrator Carroll Williamson sent
an email to The Voice stating that was not the case, that the newspaper
reporter had misunderstood.
But a citizen had already provided The Voice with an email
from a town official dated Dec. 5, with quotes from Dominion Energy confirming
the project was “a compressed natural gas regulator station.”
“Basically it’s here for the winter to provide natural gas.
Once winter is over, the property will be returned to its original site,” the
quote in the email stated.
Finding out who approved/permitted the project was more
difficult.
Williamson posted a stop-work order later on Tuesday, and
called a meeting with Dominion for the next afternoon, Wednesday, Dec. 7, for
about 1:30. After the meeting, work resumed later that day.
The property where the project is located is owned by
Blythewood businessman Larry Sharpe, who told The Voice he has a one-year
contract with Dominion to lease the land, and that Dominion had handled all the
permitting. Sharpe said he had not been involved with any approvals.
During a special called town council meeting [on a separate
issue] on Friday, Dec. 8, Williamson was asked by Councilman Brock for an
update on the issue.
Williamson said that when he pulled up to the site [Dec. 6.]
he knew nothing about what was going on and was presented with an approved plan
for the work.
“While the project was land disturbance, it also changed the
use of the land,” he said.
“Richland County approves all land disturbance/storm water
permits,” Williamson said. “Richland County thought the Town was aware of the
project, but they are not necessarily obligated to notify us. So they approved it.
“So I talked with Dominion. In our ordinance is a temporary
non-conforming use that the town administrator can authorize as long as it
meets some benefit or upgrades the non-conforming use.
“So I wrote a non-conforming permit that says on May 31,
2022, this is over and has to be cleaned up,” Williamson said. “It was
miscommunication on a type of project we don’t often see. Dominion was very
apologetic.”
The project, according to Todd Feaster, a realtor with
Utility Land Service, is intended to provide extra natural gas capacity for
Cobblestone residents and others in the area who are served by Dominion until a
permanent pipeline can be constructed.
“There have been so many new homes built in the area in a
short time that the demand for natural gas has increased to the point that
there is not enough capacity for them all,” Feaster said.
“An on-site tractor trailer on wheels will house a
50-foot-long tank of natural gas that will be hooked into Cobblestone’s natural
gas system to provide additional capacity through this winter. When the tank
runs empty, another one will be brought in,” he said.
“The tractor trailers
will leave as soon as winter is over,” Feaster said. “Options in the lease,
however, allow the property to be used for two more winters if necessary.”
A member of the Cobblestone HOA board-elect told The Voice
that the temporary tanks were originally to be situated on a lot in Cobblestone
but were, for some reason, moved to Blythewood Road.
“It may be an eyesore for a while,” he said, “but it’s for
the good of the community.”
CHESTER – The Chester City Council selected Fairfield County Administrator Malik Whitaker as the new City Administrator for Chester.
Whitaker
Whitaker gave his notice to Fairfield County Council on
Tuesday that he will be leaving Jan. 15, 2023. It has not yet been disclosed
when Whitaker will report to work in Chester.
The City of Chester has been without a full-time
administrator since the firing of Stephanie Jackson in late March.
Chester County has been without a full-time supervisor since
September 2020 when former Supervisor Shane Stuart was removed from office by
Gov. Henry McMaster after being indicted on multiple drug and conspiracy
charges.
Ed Driggers was brought in on an interim basis, Driggers,
who had previously served as Chester’s interim administrator and before that as
an assistant to Fairfield County’s interim administrator, had recently retired
after 20 years as Greer’s administrator.
Driggers has had to deliver news at times that the council
has likely not enjoyed hearing, like the fact that Chester is on pace to run
out of money this coming July and has no credit, so borrowing is not an option.
However, he did work closely with department heads to craft a “very tight”
budget.
Whitaker, who says he lives in Ridgeway, has served as the
Fairfield County Administrator since last December. Previously he served as the
operations and management consultant manager for the Florida Department of
Children and Families in Tallahassee (from 2020 to 2021), was the director of policy
and continuous quality improvement for the South Carolina Department of Social
Services (from 2015 until 2020) and was the agency’s Regional Services Director
for the three years prior. Whitaker was the project lead for Communities in
Schools of the Midlands from 2011 to 2012; program director for United Way of
the Midlands from 2007 to 2011; research associate for Benedict College from
2003 to 2007 and assistant zoning administrator for Richland County from 1997
to 2003. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Political
Science and a Juris Doctor degree.
Whitaker has recently come under fire in Fairfield County
for approving bids and signing contracts for multi-million dollar projects
without council’s consent. He has also been the target of criticism from both
Fairfield citizens and employees in two sets of responses to surveys.
WINNSBORO – Robert C. Coffey, 42, of the Fort Mill area, has been arrested and charged with Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, and Possession of a Weapon during a Violent Crime.
Coffey
This arrest stems from an incident that occurred at a
residence on Rockton Thruway in the Winnsboro area during the early morning
hours of Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022.
During this incident, Mr. Coffey, who was armed with a
handgun, held the victim, who was an acquaintance, against her will and shot
the victim before fleeing from the residence.
After deputies secured the scene, EMS transported the victim
to the hospital where she was treated and released later.
Investigators obtained arrest warrants for Coffey on
Wednesday, Dec. 7.
Fairfield County, assisted by the York County Sheriff’s
Office and the SC Law Enforcement Division (SLED), located Mr. Coffey at a
residence in the Fort Mill area. After a brief standoff, Coffey was taken into
custody and transported back to Fairfield County where he is presently being
held at the Fairfield County Detention Center.
BLAIR – David A. Erving, 42, of the Blair area of Fairfield
County, has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of Ill Treatment towards
Animals and multiple counts of Dog Fighting.
According to a press release from the Fairfield County
Sheriff’s Office (FCSO), this investigation was initiated on Nov. 22, 2022 when
Fairfield County Animal Control (FCAC) was investigating a complaint about a
malnourished dog at a residence on Rd. 99.
After observing the dog, FCAC staff requested assistance
from FCSO deputies. Deputies obtained a search warrant for the residence and
property and were able to seize 7 dogs and 1 deceased dog, along with numerous
pieces of evidence that were consistent with what is commonly used in
dog-fighting operations.
Through the investigation, with assistance from FCAC and the
SC Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Erving was developed as a suspect and
arrested on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
Erving is currently in the Fairfield County Detention Center where he is awaiting a bond hearing.
This story is breaking and will be updated as more information becomes available.
WINNSBORO – A one vehicle crash that occurred on Candlewood
Circle near Little Cedar Creek Road on Friday, Nov. 26, has resulted in the
death of the driver.
Wayne Lee Willis, 69, of Blythewood, died when the vehicle
he was driving left the roadway and overturned, causing him to be entrapped.
The vehicle then burst into flames.
The crash happened at about 7:34 p.m., according to Trooper
Nic Pye with the S. C. Highway Patrol.
The vehicle was traveling South on Candlewood Circle when it
ran off the road, Pye reported.
An autopsy is scheduled with Newberry Pathology in Newberry,
SC to determine the cause of death.
The accident remains under investigation by Fairfield County
Coroner’s Office and South Carolina Highway Patrol.
More information will be provided when it becomes available.
BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood developer Kevin Steelman will come
before the Richland County Planning Commission Monday at 3 p.m. to request
approval for rezoning 90.79 acres on Kelly Mill Road from Rural (RU) to
Residential Estate (RS-E).
The property is located at the intersection of EJW and Kelly
Mill Roads in Blythewood 29016.
As many as 200 homes could be allowed for that acreage.
According to the agenda packet, the RS-E zoning district is
intended for single-family detached dwelling units on large ‘estate’ lots with
a low to medium density. The minimum lot area is 20,000 square feet.
Staff has recommended disapproval of the rezoning request.
“The proposed rezoning is not consistent with the objectives
outlined in the Comprehensive Plan,” the agenda packet notes.”
For more information about the request, the packet is
available at richlandsc.com. Click on planning commission, then click on
agendas/minutes.
The planning commission meeting will be held at the Richland
County building at 2020 Hampton Street in Columbia, Dec. 5, at 3 p.m.
Those wishing to speak to the rezoning request will need to
arrive a few minutes early to sign the speakers’ list.
