BLYTHEWOOD – Prepare to be entertained when the Reggie Sullivan band takes the stage in Doko Meadows Park Friday night with Christina Bhola opening. The concert admission and parking is free, and those attending are encouraged to bring the kids, lawn chairs and blankets.
From 6 – 9 p.m., the entertainment will include Jazz, funk, soul and rock originals and covers influenced by B.B. King, Miles Davis, John Mayer, Duke Ellington, James Brown, Ray Charles, Little Richard, John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye, The Canton Spirituals, The Beatles and more.
There will be kid-friendly activities and food vendors.
Beer, wine and soft drinks sales will be sold to benefit Bravo! Blythewood.
And for those who feel the need for some exercise during the concert, the Relay for Life event will also be taking place in the park until 10 p.m., and everyone is invited to join in the walk.
The Bravo event is funded by the accommodation tax revenue.
WINNSBORO – Every campaign year, a popular promise of candidates running for office in Fairfield County is to bring internet to the rural. But, as the year 2020 approaches, pockets of slow or dead internet zones still exist throughout the County.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes to change that.
Introduced by 14 House Democrats and Republicans, House Bill 3780 proposes creating the “Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology,” or GREAT, program to facilitate expanding broadband Internet service into rural areas of the state.
House members passed the bill in a 112-0 vote on April 3. The Senate has passed first reading on the legislation, and it has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the General Assembly website.
It was not immediately clear as of press time when the Senate might tackle second reading. Rep. Annie McDaniel, D-Winnsboro hopes it’s soon.
“I know for Fairfield County it will make a huge difference,” McDaniel said. “I support it 100 percent.”
McDaniel said she’s especially encouraged by the bipartisan support. She said expanding high-speed Internet access countywide carries a multitude of benefits, from students trying to complete schoolwork to conducting routine business transactions.
“When you look at McCrorey Liston School of Technology, they definitely need to have Internet service,” she said. “I’ve talked to many people in that area who’ve said the Internet doesn’t serve them really well.
“I’m excited that it’s something that we can work on together,” McDaniel continued. “I am exceptionally happy when I see that the Republicans and Democrats found a bill they can work together on.”
The latest version of H.3780 proposes creating a special revenue fund in the S.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority.
From this fund, grants can be awarded to applicants to subsidize qualifying broadband projects. Funding would be determined by the General Assembly, though the bill doesn’t specify how much would be funded, or from what funding source.
H.3780 also proposes creating a points system to determine recipient eligibility.
The scoring system would give weight to distressed counties, which according to FCC data have higher numbers of unserved residents when it comes to Internet service.
Some aspects of H.3780 are similar to a farmer’s aid bill presently stalled in Congress, which also seeks to enhance Broadband service in remote rural areas.
In July 2018, the U.S. House passed H.R. 4881, also known the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Act of 2018, which requires the FCC to establish at task force responsible for “identifying and measuring current gaps in the availability of broadband Internet access service on agricultural land.”
The task force would also be charged with “achieving reliable capabilities” on 95 percent of agricultural land in the U.S. by 2025, according to the bill.
No further action has been taken on the bill since the House passed it last summer, according to the U.S. Congress website.
Boosting Internet service could generate important economic benefits as well.
A provision within the bill gives the authority leeway to determine if broadband expansion “will benefit a potential economic development project relevant to the proposed area outlined in the eligible project.”
While Fairfield County has placed great emphasis on enhancing water and sewer services, expanding broadband is also important to industries that desire ready-made infrastructure, said Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor.
“Infrastructure, whether it’s water and sewer or soft infrastructure, like Internet, is critical,” he said. “It’s another tool to help market Fairfield County.”
Better broadband service also improves public safety, Taylor added.
“If you don’t have service, you can’t get 911 there or fire trucks there as quickly,” he said. “It’s wonderful from every angle.”
LAKE WATEREE – In late April, 24 of the top fishing guides and tournament catfishermen from North and South Carolina converged on Lake Wateree for the 2nd Annual Lake Wateree Catfishing event for children with special needs.
Under the auspices of the United Special Sportsman Alliance, Inc. (USSA) 34 special needs children, along with their parents, were able to fish on Lake Wateree, one of the top catfish lakes in South Carolina.
The event headquarters was Lake Wateree Baptist Church on Dutchman’s Creek and despite high winds and cool morning temperatures, almost every boat caught multiple fish and catfish weighing up to 45 pounds.
It was four exciting hours of fishing the kids won’t soon forget.
The USSA is a not-for-profit dream-wish granting charity specializing in sending children and veterans with life threatening illnesses and disabilities on the outdoor adventure of their dreams.
Justin Whiteside, a Rock Hill, S.C. fishing guide who fishes several lakes in the Carolinas, came up with the idea for the all-volunteer event.
“My original idea was to give back to the sport of fishing in some way because fishing has meant so much to me and my family,” Whiteside said. “I wanted to share the outdoors experience. After talking to friends, including professional fishing guides and top professional catfish tournament anglers, the idea became reality.”
Fishing guides, tournament anglers, cooks and boat crews donated a day of peak fishing time to help with the trip.
Brian Snipes, who volunteered as a boat captain during the inaugural fishing event last June, did so again this trip. He said reactions from the kids have been incredibly positive both years and that the kids on his boat expressed the joy of several firsts including first fish, biggest fish or both.
“Turns out I had as much fun as the kids,” he said. “They enjoyed catching every fish regardless of size, and I enjoyed watching them.”
Lake Wateree and Santee Cooper Lakes fishing guide Scott Peavy of Blythewood said the youngsters on his boat were thrilled to simply have the chance to catch fish.
“It’s a great event and one that really puts the joy of fishing into perspective,” Peavy said. “What began as a day for helping these kids get a chance to fish, turned into a day where the guides and tournament fishermen were impacted in a very positive way.”
Peavy said the events have made him realize that it’s easy to take the sport of fishing and the outdoors for granted.
Whiteside said because of generous donations to the event, all the children received fishing tackle of their own, including rods and tackle boxes.
On Friday prior to the fishing trip, the kids and their families were treated to dinner, and the event wrapped up with a cookout.
“You never know when something we do now will impact a youngster in a positive way for the short or long-term,” Whiteside said. “It takes a lot of volunteers to pull off an event like this,” he said. “Everyone from boat Captains, cooks and clean-up crews made a real difference in a lot of lives, not just the kids’ lives but the parents’, too. USSA adventures give patients something to look forward to and help sustain them in their time of need.”
Peavy agreed that healing thru enjoyment of the outdoors is a reality.
“Enjoying God’s great outdoors gift to us all is a passion for many and I, one hundred percent, believe it’s one of the best healing opportunities in the world, not just physically but mentally and emotionally,” he said. “Participating in these events has been humbling, enriching and healing for the volunteers, too. As a fishing guide I take people fishing and get paid for it. I love guiding, but the opportunity to take these kids fishing has become much more valuable to me.”
At the end of the day all echoed the same sentiment – that it was one of the best things they’d ever been involved with in the sport of fishing.
R2 school board member Lindsay Agostini resigns as secretary. James Shadd, right, was elected to replace Agostini as board secretary. | Barbara Ball
COLUMBIA – Chairwoman Amelia McKie’s ongoing ethics problems have prompted another member of the Richland 2 Board of Trustees to resign her officer position.
Lindsay Agostini stepped down as secretary of the Richland Two board, but still remains on the board as a voting member. Agostini notified McKie and Superintendent Dr. Baron Davis of her decision via email Friday.
In a prepared statement read at Tuesday’s meeting, Agostini said she consulted her personal attorney after raising concerns about two documents she says she was asked in her position as secretary to sign.
Both documents alluded to lingering legal and ethics issues that have haunted McKie for months.
“With these questions in mind and under advice of legal counsel, my principles would not allow me to sign these two documents,” Agostini said. “Therefore, I felt it was in the best interest of the district for me to resign as board secretary but continue in the capacity as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Neither McKie nor other trustees at Tuesday’s meeting responded to Agostini’s statement.
One document, titled “Certificate of Incumbency,” asked Agostini to confirm McKie as the board chair. It also stated the dates of McKie’s chairmanship are July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, Agostini said.
The “Signature and No Litigation Document,” which related to the recently passed $468.4 million bond referendum for school building upgrades, was modified to include verbiage inferring that McKie is legally allowed to serve on the board in spite of failing to follow state ethics law.
“The School District is aware that members of the public have called for the resignation of the current Board Chair because of fines owed by the Board Chair to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission because the Board Chair did not have on file a current Statement of Economic Interest prior to being sworn in to a second term as a member of the Board,” the document stated.
“The School District is not aware of any litigation, regulatory effort, or official proceeding challenging the Board Chair’s right and title to serve as a Board member or Board Chair,” the document continues.
Agostini said she refused to sign both documents since she said she cannot, in fact, verify that McKie is legally allowed to serve.
“This presented several questions to me. Is this normal wording? Why is an extra paragraph needed? Have we ever included wording like this in a Richland Two bond document?” Agostini asked. “We are asking our community for half of a billion dollar bond and we need to include this language?”
McKie owes nearly $52,000 in ethics fines for failing to file various campaign disclosure reports.
She also didn’t file statements of economic interest, or SEI, forms from 2015 to 2018 until December 2018, the S.C. Ethics Commission’s online database states.
McKie did not file the forms until after The Voice sought comment from her about the missing forms. March 31 is the deadline to file SEI forms in a given year, according to the Ethics Commission.
Section 8-13-1110 of state law says no public official “may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities” unless an SEI form is filed.
McKie has been serving on the board since her re-election in November 2018. She didn’t file her SEI forms until Dec. 4, nearly a month later.
McKie’s apparent ineligibility to serve has prompted several residents to call for her and other non-compliant trustees to step down.
“The proper action is for Ms. McKie and [board trustee Teresa] Holmes to stand up now and step away from the board immediately,” Richland County resident Gus Philpott said at a Richland Two meeting in March. “Ms. McKie is not legally a board member and so cannot be chair of this board.”
In January, when The Voice asked the state ethics and election commission spokespersons which agency is tasked with enforcing the eligibility statute, each agency punted the issue back to the other.
“I would think compliance would be a question for that body [the ethics commission],” Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the S.C. Election Commission, told The Voice in January.
Meghan Walker, the ethics commission’s director, said only the election commission has the power to remove a candidate from the ballot. She said the ethics commission only fines candidates for non-compliance.
“We don’t file an injunction or anything,” Walker said.
Section 8-13-1520 further says violations of the ethics chapter are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in prison, a $5,000 fine or both, though there’s been no indication that charges will be filed.
RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway will be colorfully yarn-bombed and read for visitors on Saturday, May 4, when the 13th annual Arts on the Ridge festival kicks off with a farmer’s market opening at 9 a.m. and festival activities from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
This year’s focus is on Opening Doors to Literary and Artisan Expression featuring 17 published local authors, panel discussions and book giveaways, arts and crafts vendors and unique handcrafted items.
Plein Air painters will be at work along the streets, there will be free musical performances, the Fairfield County Farmers Market will be open from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and attendees will be welcomed to visit the town’s new library.
At straight up 10 a.m., the festival organizer, Phyllis Gutierrez, will welcome the crowd and present the Fairfield County Arts Association will present the 2019 Friend of the Arts Award. The remainder of the day will be filled with musical performances, literary discussions, giveaways and drawings.
Stores and restaurants will be open all day with specials for Mother’s Day and other sales.
“The weather is expected to be great and the shopping will be too,” Gutierrez said. “It will be a really fun day for the whole family.”
BLYHEWOOD – Town Administrator Brian Cook gave an overview of the Town’s proposed FY 2019-20 budget last week and announced a workshop schedule for council to work out the details of the $1,621,696 budget, which is up from $1,565,114 last year.
Looking at possible changes in budgeting for the coming year, Cook said council will be giving some attention to how it allocates hospitality funds in the future. He said there are several ways council might want to make changes.
“In the past, we’ve allocated sporadically without knowing at any one time how many groups we are allocating money to for the entire year,” Cook said in an interview with The Voice. “I would like to see us look at the allocations for the whole year at one time so we don’t spend it all before we get to an event or project that we really want to do and then realize we don’t have any left for something that we feel is important. Council is going to look at the best use of the money.”
Cook said he would like to also look at specific projects that can be paid for with hospitality tax funds but that have been overlooked in the past. The new budget includes $10,000 for re-sodding and landscaping plantings and $500 for a new weed eater. About $7,000 was allocated from the current budget for a lawn mower, Cook said.
“We are going to do the mowing of the park and town hall area in-house now and discontinue the contract we currently have for mowing the park. We’re going to be saving money right out of the gate,” he said. “We’ll pay for the lawnmower in the first year.”
“There are a lot of things we can use hospitality funds for that are not event based,” Cook said.
“This [hospitality] money can be used to beautify the town and landscaping,” Cook said. “The entrances to the town, maybe lay some new sod at the entrance to the park, places that are weedy and pretty much dying. When you go around to other places like Killian’s Crossings and look at the medians planted with color, we could be looking at doing some of that.”
“Once we get to the May workshop, that’s when we will really get down to it,” Cook said.
Cook said council will also be looking at other ways they allocate hospitality tax money – where it’s going and how it’s being used.
At the April council meeting, Mayor J. Michael Ross told one event group that if they did not turn out better attendance numbers, the town might not continue to allocate hospitality funds for that event. He addressed the lack of local advertising by the event organizers.
At the April meeting, council heard requests for event funding from Blythewood Bikes & Beers for $8,750; from The Red Barn for $12,051.20, and The Blythewood Chamber of Commerce withdrew a request for $20,500 that Chamber Chairman-elect Phil Frye said would be requested at the May 9 workshop.
WINNSBORO – The 6th annual Fairfield County School District Hall of Fame gala was held April 27 in the school gym. A welcome by Tracie Swilley, Principal of FCHS and the introduction of the inductees was followed by dinner and entertainment by Seven Show Band. This year’s inductees include Russell N. Feaster, Sr., Jessie C. Gaston, Lloyd J. McGriff, Carolyn P. Pierce, James E. Smalls (posthumously) and Gloria B. Thomas.
WINNSBORO – Teachers, students, parents and friends joined the annual Chalk Walk at Fairfield Central High School last week to celebrate education and raise funds for scholarships. After stretching and warming up, the walkers made several turns around the track.
WINNSBORO – A Ridgeway man has been arrested and charged with assault and battery on Monday, April 29.
Wayne
Robert Wayne, 30, was taken into custody after he reportedly assaulted and held a Ridgeway resident against his will in a residence on Longtown Road. The incident occurred at approximately 1:45 on Monday afternoon.
Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) deputies reported that an assault had occurred and that the victim was being held against his will at this residence while a suspect was armed with a firearm and barricaded inside of the same residence.
Due to the nature of the information received, Sheriff Montgomery said he activated the FCSO Special Response Team in an effort to minimize risks to the victim, suspect, and responding officers while this incident was being resolved.
Officers secured the area to contain any potential threats and to protect other residents in that area. Deputies were then able to secure all persons inside of the residence without any further incident and the victim was provided with medical treatment.
Wayne was transported to the Fairfield County Detention Center.
RICHLAND COUNTY – Richland County Coroner Gary Watts has released the name of a man who died on Saturday after being involved in a kayaking incident on the Saluda River.
Watts said the incident happened on the river above Riverbanks Zoo around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Gregory Hinson, Jr. 27, of Winnsboro was transported from the scene by Richland County EMS and taken to Prisma Health Richland Memorial Hospital where he died at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday.
An autopsy indicated that the cause of death was due to asphyxiation due to drowning.
The Coroner’s Office and the Columbia Police Department are investigation the incident.
