Sports Bar in Dorchester, SC

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — All seven seats on the Dorchester District Two (DD2) school board are open this November and five candidates, vying for three of those seats, participated in a forum Wednesday night hosted by the South Carolina PTA in Summerville.

2024 is the first year DD2’s school board will be split into single-member districts rather than seven board members at large. Of the seven open seats, four have unopposed races and the other three have active contests.

Cynthia Powell, an incumbent hoping to secure District 5, said her nearly 40 years of teaching experience translates to her time on the board.

“Education is not a job, it is a calling,” Powell said. “I never really wanted to leave DD2 once I came here. I’m a graduate of Summerville High, I wanted to make sure I invested what I had learned in the classroom on the board.”

READ MORE | "Dorchester District Two hosts Fall Recruitment Fair, offers hiring incentives"

When asked about the biggest issue currently facing Dorchester District Two schools, Jim Lee, running for the District 7 seat, pointed to community involvement.

“The challenge that we have today in our culture is a disconnectedness. The community is not connected to one another, neighborhoods are not connected to one another,” Lee, a grandfather of three DD2 students, said.

His opponent, Patrick Davidson, said the district’s shortcomings are a result of money. He made sure to include the fact that DD2 is the third lowest funded school district in South Carolina.

“A lot of our large industry is in the Western part of Dorchester County,” Davidson said, leaning on his experience in accounting.

“Our big companies have plenty of real estate up there in St. George and Harleyville to put big, massive industry, where we don’t really have room for it here,” he explained.

On the topic of book banning, candidates differed on whether it’s truly a problem facing local classrooms.

Justin Farnsworth, a member of the board since 2014, said while parents have the right to question material, there’s due process to be followed before any book is removed.

“What we see too often is one parent that thinks they should determine what my child should be able to see, read and do. That’s not okay,” Farnsworth said.

READ MORE | "South Carolina Board of Education advances regulations for book challenges"

His District 1 challenger, Eric Unger, claimed that the school district’s process is failing. Unger, whose children attend DD2 schools, pointed to more than 150 books he agreed should be pulled.

“There should be a process but the one we have right now is very honoris,” he said. “It didn’t keep them from getting in, so we need to look how these books are getting in, and we need to discern to put positive books in our libraries.”

Early voting in Dorchester County runs through Nov. 2 and Election Day is Nov. 5.

2024 Dorchester District Two school board candidates:

District 1:

Justin Farnsworth (incumbent)

Sabrina Ferguson Edwards

Eric Unger

District 2:

Bethanny King

District 3:

Kellie Bates (incumbent)

District 4:

Evan Guthrie (incumbent)

District 5:

Cynthia Powell (incumbent)

Glenn A. Zingarino

District 6:

Ashley Wimberly (incumbent)

District 7:

Patrick Davidson

Jim Lee

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston County leaders want to hear from community members about what improvements they want to see on Dorchester Road.

Wednesday evening, Charleston County Public Works will host the first community meeting for a new project to address improvements they are looking to make in the Dorchester Road Corridor. This project will look at the area of Dorchester Road from the county line on the road down to Michaux Parkway.

A study conducted for this area showed that 1,419 car accidents were reported just from 2018 to 2022. In total, these accidents caused 9 deaths and 563 injuries. Over half of the deaths reported were pedestrians. With the growth that the area is experiencing, traffic volume is forecast to increase 20% over the next 27 years.

This is part of why county leaders are working on the Dorchester Road Corridor Improvement Project. Leaders hope that, with this project, they can reduce congestion, increase capacity and improve safety in the area.

Some ideas they are looking into are widening the roads and adding pedestrian upgrades like the addition of a multi-use path. However, they want to hear from those who frequent the area about what improvements they think could make the biggest difference.

Mackenzie Kelley, the project manager for the Dorchester Road Corridor Improvement project, shared that this project is for the community, so the community should be the ones to decide what needs to change.

“We know that Dorchester is a high traffic area, we want to hear from the residents that either maybe walk or bike or sit in traffic every day, get their feedback on what improvements they’d like to see,” Kelley said.

This project will be funded through the county’s second transportation sales tax, which is also why they want to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on this project and what they hope to get out of it.

Wednesday’s meeting was originally scheduled for September but was rescheduled because of impacts from Hurricane Helene. It is now scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Jerry Zucker Middle School located at 6401 Dorchester Road in North Charleston.

The meeting will be drop-in style and is open to anyone in the community. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to review the initial concepts for the project, as well as speak with and ask questions of the project team. Kelley said that they will highly consider the feedback provided at the meeting.

“We will definitely - if there is a lot of comment, maybe for the sidewalk to be on one side of the road or the other - we will definitely take that into consideration or if there is something we didn’t consider or see, we want to hear from the public that travels it every day or lives there,” she said.

For those who cannot make the meeting in person, they are also allowing submission of written and online public comments until Nov. 7. Written comments can be submitted in-person at the meeting, on the project website linked here, by emailing the project team at info@DorchesterRoadImprovements.com, or they can be mailed to the following address:

Kelley said that the next steps after the meeting are to create design plans, obtain permitting and finalize their construction plans. She said that they are looking to begin construction on this project in 2028 and complete it within two to three years.

At the public meeting, the South Carolina Department of Transportation will also be in attendance to provide an update on a related, but separate project. SCDOT will be providing information on its SC 642 Dorchester Road - Road Safety Audit from Michaux Parkway to Kent Avenue, so those in attendance can expect to hear more about that as well.

Many improvements are in the works already for Dorchester Road, as Dorchester County also has an ongoing project for their portion of the road. More information on the other two Dorchester Road projects can be found here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Published: Oct. 20, 2024 at 7:50 PM PDT|Updated: Oct. 21, 2024 at 1:26 AM PDT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Dorchester County Sheriff’s Candidates Sam Richardson and Charles Frederick answered a series of questions in front of community members, highlighting some of the expectations they have for the future of the department.

Live 5 Anchor and Reporter Raphael James was the moderator for this debate-like forum and asked the candidates the same question within the same amount of time.

There were over 50 community members there to see this public Q&A that lasted about an hour.

“Well, it’s a lot of vague questions that you try to perspective in a two to three-minute time. It’s very difficult to put a life-long amount of experience in 2 to 3 minutes, it’s difficult to do that, but you know we are up for the task,” Frederick said.

Fredrick says this was a more community-engaging forum when compared to the others.

There have been three in total leading up to the voting season, and today citizens were able to ask some of their own questions.

“Listen, good questions, good questions. I got a chance to state my platform but I got a chance to answer some important issues for our citizens and the good thing about it is being accountable and transparent, I take a lot of fulfillment in doing that,” Richardson said.

Some community members’ questions involved topics like mental health, sex trafficking, women in the agency, funeral escorts, immunity among officers as well as their budget with technology.

Both Richardson and Fredrick said they plan to incorporate more technology if they win come November.

In their opening statements, Richardson laid out his goals for the position as better technology, more patrol in the streets as well as keeping violent offenders off the streets.

Frederick said that his background in the South Carolina Highway Patrol would bring something different to the community if elected as their sheriff.

“At the end of the day, when we’re talking about managerial differences, yeah we’re different in our opinion. I come from the highway patrol which is a state organization, when I came into the sheriff’s department…I walked in and they didn’t have uniforms. So I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s a different philosophy at doing business and I think I’m the man that can change that,” Frederick said.

Though both believe they are best fit for the role, Richardson says his current position as Chief Deputy in second in demand has prepared him for this.

“I don’t have anything negative in terms of what I’m going to say about him. What I am going to say is our experiences are so different. He comes from highway patrol, he was a corporal in highway patrol. He came in, sheriff made him a lieutenant in traffic. His experience was the patrol division centered upon that. He was not involved in any of the strategic planning at the office, the budgetary process or the jail. So I’m just not sure he would be an effective sheriff for us and I don’t know if that’s a good thing for Dorchester County,” Richardson said.

Early voting opens on Oct. 21, 2024.

Here are the early voting locations for Dorchester County:

Here are the early voting dates and times:

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Dorchester County is the temporary home this week for the "Wall That Heals," which arrived with a special escort Tuesday.

The wall is a travelling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., and starting Thursday the exhibit will be open to the public.

The mobile memorial arrived Tuesday, escorted along Highway 78 to the Dorchester Heritage Site in Ridgeville by the South Carolina chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders.

"Today's an honor, a privilege, that we get the opportunity to escort a wall that carries the names of those that didn't make it home to their loved ones," said Gene Eaton, veteran and state captain for the SCPGR.

The Patriot Guard Riders were joined by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office and others for the short trek, lasting just long enough for the public to catch a glimpse of the truck adorned with signage related to the wall, American flags, and flashing lights.

READ MORE | "Veterans reunite for annual memorial service on historic USS Yorktown"

After the truck arrived in Ridgeville, the escorting parties gathered to reflect on the 58,281 names etched into the mobile wall.

"It's a good representation of all the veterans that passed and the ones that are still around," said Bill, a Navy veteran in attendance. "To give them the memory."

"I'm here to thank them today, to welcome them home," said Ray Richards, the husband of a veteran. "We stand for our veterans whenever we can, so it's an honor to be able to stand besides these men and women."

J. Denise Cromwell was in attendance; she runs the veteran-based nonprofit Project Street Outreach and has family who served.

"Words cannot even express what this means. I'm so honored," said Cromwell. "I'm just so elated that we are doing something like this here in America for our heroes."

Wednesday the wall will be taken down from the truck and put together by dozens of volunteers before fully opening to the public Thursday.

The exhibit will be open through Sunday, Oct. 20, when it will be packed up and head to its next stop in Hinesville, Georgia.

READ MORE | "Army veteran, non-profit founder leads mission to find Helene victims"

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Dorchester County Council voted Monday night in a third and final reading of a plan to rezone a 78-acre parcel of land.

Council members approved rezoning the land, located in St. George off of Sugar Hill Road, from agriculture residential to single-family residential.

Some community members attended the meeting to voice some of their concerns. One of them, Betty Walker Collins, a pastor at a nearby church, said her concerns included flood risks, traffic getting on and off Hwy 78, noise and safety with the lack of street lights.

“That’s one of our biggest concerns just don’t move in on us. What are you doing to help us…and to help our community and to improve our quality of life?” Collins says.

She says she wants to be the voice for the families that have lived there for decades and was let down following the decision.

“Well, my reaction was disappointed, of course,” she says. “After speaking with some members of the council I feel better, I feel like they have heard some of the issues and concerns that we have address. and what we’re trying to make sure is to protect the community.”

Her neighbor, Mazella Berry, agrees.

“New people coming into our community, we are not against the growth. We want the growth for this town, but the town is not ready,” Berry says. “There are several things that need to be done before this takes place.”

The current potential developer is DR Horton; however, with this motion to approve this change, it allows any developer to build on the designated area in the future.

“DR Horton is a good builder. We just want to make sure that they hear us so that they might consider the concerns and issues that we would like to have addressed,” Collins says.

Another concern residents have is the natural corridor that includes rivers, streams, wetlands and swamps which might increase flood risks.

Community member Tommy Feagin says he feels like though he doesn’t live in St. George, he will still be affected.

“I actually live in the lower part of the county, but I’m very interested in Sugar Hill Road because the whole county seems to be over-developed at this time and they’re not paying sufficient attention to the infrastructure needed for the developments that’s going on,” Feagin says.

Moving forward, Vice Chairman David Chennis says the what and how will be addressed in future steps.

“Will we make everybody happy? No. But we really have heard the concerns and are going to try to address them and we may change ordinances based on some of the concerns that we’ve heard over these ratings in the public hearings and everything else,” Chennis says.

Chennis also says they will probably address those ordinance changes later down the road because when they can’t change the rules somebody midstream after the submission process.

As for the what and how in regards to development, Chennis says that will be discussed later down the road.

The Dorchester County Zoning and Land Development Standards list out the differences between these two zones, which you can access here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.