Mattress storein James Island, SC

A James Island church reopened Sunday after nearly ten years of litigation between the South Carolina Supreme Court and 29 parishes.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A James Island church reopened Sunday after nearly ten years of litigation between the South Carolina Supreme Court and 29 parishes.

Episcopal and Anglican churches have been fighting in court since 2012, but in August, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that eight out of the 29 total churches in the lawsuit would be returned to the Episcopal church.

One of the eight churches, St. James Episcopal Church, has spent over 200 years on James Island. Reverend Taylor Smith was called to lead the church into its new chapter.

“Today [Sunday] was our first service back so it’s very exciting for us,” Smith said. “We pray for the folks who are not here anymore; they were so sad to leave this church as you can imagine, but the Episcopal Church of South Carolina is really excited to be welcoming St. James back, and the bishop asked me to lead that effort.”

Over the last decade, the church has still held services but under the Anglican denomination.

Many members of the congregation stuck by the church during that time. Smith said they will continue to stay loyal as the church reverts to an Episcopal church.

“We’ll get an eclectic group and I just can’t know what that is; that’s part of the excitement to lead something that is very hard to identify, but it’s thrilling,” he said. “Ultimately, we are all together doing the work of God in Jesus’ name and that’s always thrilling.”

The legal battle began when the eight churches left the Episcopal Church and later joined the Anglican Church. A South Carolina Supreme Court ruling stated that the churches that left did not have proper ownership to leave based on state trust law.

The August 17 ruling states:

We direct that appropriate documentation be filed in the public record indicating the National Church and the Associated Diocese now own that real estate. From our decision today, there will be no remand. The case is over.

As for the future of the church, Smith explained that they are more traditional than other churches, which some people love.

“A lot of ideas are going to spring up from the people,” he said. “I’m not coming in with an agenda other than to keep worshiping every week and to be inviting. We will do whatever people are motivated to do.”

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DANIEL ISLAND — As skates shuffled across the white surface temporarily covering the clay tennis court below, no ice spritzed from the blades and no grooves were left behind.

Children and adults alike shimmied from foot to foot as they looped the makeshift concourse. While it wasn’t the most polished performance to watch from the sidelines, on a 75-degree day in Charleston, those skaters wouldn’t have had the same opportunity if they had been on real ice.

The new outdoor ice skating rink at Credit One Stadium is one of three to pop up in the Charleston area this season that’s made of synthetic ice, a high-density polymer or polyethylene plastic.

There’s also one at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina in Mount Pleasant that will be open Thursdays through Sundays through Feb. 5 and another promised for Folly Beach across from Bert’s Market from Dec. 23 to 25.

More than 5,000 advance online tickets to the Credit One rink were purchased in just a few days; guests are still invited to come observe, but skating spots are booked.

As for the “ice,” polymer is cheaper to use and doesn’t require the same sort of cooling system that might falter in the Lowcountry’s unpredictable December temperatures.

The oval rink at Credit One, which takes up most of the flat standing-room surface at the Daniel Island concert venue, was built in three days by the in-house crew, a group that had never attempted the feat before.

That included seven employees installing 255 synthetic panels that each weigh 86 pounds for eight hours each day. After the 3-by-6-foot panels were joined together, dasher walls were added to line the rink’s edges. Then Christmas trees, fire pits for roasting s’mores and other festive touches were incorporated.

There’s a Santa’s Sweet Shoppe snack bar on the concourse for purchasing holiday treats, along with one up above with a great view of the rink serving up coffee and hot chocolate, plain or spiked with peppermint schnapps or Baileys Irish Cream. There’s a little something for the whole family, in other words.

For Chris and Emily Mingledorff, s’mores were a must after an hour of laps around the rink with kids Molly and George on Dec. 3. Their eldest daughter in high school was coming later that night with friends.

The family has lived on Daniel Island for the past 11 years and was quite excited to skate in their own backyard. They’ve been to the Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park skate rinks in New York City, along with ski resorts out west, but Emily Mingledorff said there’s nothing like skating at home.

“All us Daniel Island residents are really thankful to have these new opportunities for our family and friends,” Mingledorff said. “The tennis and concerts have been wonderful, but this is something extra special.”

The first-ever ice-skating rink at the venue was an idea encouraged by the Daniel Island Community Fund, including event planner Maureen Hickey.

“We had a conversation that instead of having our annual tree lighting across the street and then doing something festive here, why don’t we just combine the two?” said Hickey.

This year’s Daniel Island tree lighting was held inside the stadium, with a Santa Claus firetruck procession winding from the courtyard into the stands. The ice-skating rink opened the same night. As the lights turned on and glimmered throughout the amphitheater, including from a dazzling disco ball, fake snowflakes fluttered in a magical display.

“I just felt like, ‘Pinch me, is this Charleston?’” Hickey said.

Ashley Ridge High School teacher Kim Emery wasn’t there for opening night, but she was the day after as those who signed up online for a slot lined up for their skates. Her volunteer position with United Sports Foundation, an organization that raises money for students to play sports, included selecting the right size for skaters and sharpening the blades, a necessity especially for the synthetic ice.

Emery, who’s been at the Summerville school for 14 years, said she wouldn’t be surprised if some of her students showed up. She herself wasn’t planning to skate.

“I’m scared of it,” she said with a laugh. “I haven’t put on ice skates in 20 years. Now I might twist an ankle.”

While the fake ice doesn’t quite allow the same sort of glide that real ice might, it’s less painful to fall on, feeling more like a linoleum kitchen floor than a rock-hard veneer. From an observer’s perspective, it also seems to be steadier, with less full-on tumbles.

“I was watching from the sidelines to see how it worked, and by the end of the session, everyone was getting the hang of it,” Hickey said. “I think for the little children, especially, it’s probably easier. You didn’t see a lot of Bambi on the ice.”

Retired firefighter and paramedic Steven Rosone brought his experienced ice-skating family, originally from New Jersey and currently residing in Mount Pleasant, out to the rink on opening day.

His daughter Samantha, 11, who takes figure skating lessons at the Carolina Ice Palace, Charleston’s indoor ice rink, admitted that the fake ice was not quite like the actual stuff. Son Tyler, 13, agreed he was a bit disappointed.

“It’s easy to stay up, but not easy to skate,” offered Samantha between shuffles.

The point was for a festive outing, said Rosone, who was also planning to take his wife, Stacey, and kids to the James Island Festival of Lights and Isle of Palms Christmas Festival, along with some upcoming pop-up holiday markets.

“I grew up with skating and snow every year, but I’ll trade it in for this weather,” Rosone said with a laugh, noting that Samantha was donning a swimsuit and shorts in December.

Bob Moran, president of Charleston Tennis, said it’s been heartwarming to see locals engage in a new holiday tradition on the island.

“Our goal was to create a thoughtful, unique experience that brings joy,” Moran said. “Seeing how quickly the community responded to this and watching them enjoy the stadium in this way has been incredible for my team and I.”

In addition to the three outdoor rinks popping up in the Lowcountry, the Carolina Ice Palace is hosting skaters for the month of December at its “Winter Wonderland” holiday-decorated indoor rink.

Two fake stop signs have been found in one James Island neighborhood, which the mayor says has caused confusion and controversy between town officials and local

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Two fake stop signs have been found in one James Island neighborhood, which the mayor says has caused confusion and controversy between town officials and locals.

A neighbor’s security camera captured the Town of James Island’s public works department removing the illegal stop signs from the corner of Clearview Drive and Tennant Street on Oct. 21.

“You cannot put your own stop signs out. You can always come to the town and make a request, and it will always be merited,” Mayor Bill Woolsey said. “We won’t often be able to put them up, but you can’t put them up yourself, and how we respond is we immediately contact SCDOT. We would have been very surprised if they put a stop sign out there without telling us beforehand.”

A worker could be seen wiggling one of the signs a couple of times before lifting it out of the ground and placing it in the back of a truck.

Not only were the signs put in illegally, according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, but the ground next to the street was painted with white stop bars, as well.

“It’s the first I’ve ever heard about it, and I hope it doesn’t spread,” Woolsey said. “[I’m surprised] someone would come and paint a line in the road and buy some online stop signs and install them themselves in the middle of the night or early in the morning.”

Deputies said they were patrolling the area the night before and didn’t see any new signs, but when they went back the next day, they said the signs, which were apparently purchased online, had been put in overnight.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has also confirmed they have not installed any stop signs at the intersection.

Neighbors initially thought the stop signs were put in by DOT to help with speeders and said the fake signs hurts their ability to address the issue.

“I guess somebody duped us, and they were putting in fake stop signs,” neighbor Jim Boyd said. “They looked to all of us legitimate and 100% real. We are just in favor of anything and everything that we can get people to slow down. Yes, we understand first responders need to get here quickly as well, but we want everything and anything.”

However, Woolsey said he believes the signs did not pop up at random.

“If we find out who did it, they will be charged, and we believe that, most likely, it was someone who lives close by,” he said.

Woolsey also said there was a recent incident where an illegal speed bump was found and removed near the intersection. He said the speed bump had black and yellow stripes and was similar to one found in parking lots across the Lowcountry.

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The price tag for the Mark Clark Extension linking West Ashley to Johns and James islands has more than tripled to $2.35 billion and Charleston County would be responsible for most of the bill.

Some opponents are saying the excessive new cost figure for the final loop of the Interstate 526 system shows the route has gotten too expensive and should be dropped.

“It is time to say enough is enough,” said Jason Crowley of the Coastal Conservation League. “This to me is a perfect opportunity for Charleston County Council to walk away from this project.”

The S.C. Department of Transportation is asking the county to agree on moving forward, but with the local share of the project pegged at more than $1.9 billion it’s not clear where Charleston County would get the money.

Also favoring the completion is the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, which sees rising expenses as a reason to get it done as soon as possible, and the city of Charleston.

“No question, the cost estimates for major infrastructure projects in South Carolina are exploding, and (Interstate) 526 is no exception,” Mayor John Tecklenburg said in a prepared statement. “But that doesn’t change the fact that our West Ashley and Island residents need and deserve the traffic relief and public safety improvements this project will bring.”

The connection between Interstate 526 and the James Island Connector, aimed at easing traffic on and off Johns Island, has been debated for decades and growing more costly all the time.

The DOT’s new cost estimate is more than three times the $725 million price calculated in 2015, but all of the increase would fall to Charleston County because the state’s share of the cost was capped at $420 million in a 2019 agreement with the county.

Charleston County had expected to contribute about $305 million, not more than six times that amount.

“We’ll wait to see how the county responds,” said state Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall. “Our recommendation remains ... to proceed with preliminary activity on the project and get to the point where it would be shovel-ready.”

In a letter to the county April 25, Hall said DOT is asking the county and the state Transportation Infrastructure Bank Board for approval to spend $150 million for ongoing work to make the road plan ready for bids. The county would pay half that amount.

Beyond that, the highway department wants the county to demonstrate “a reasonable financial approach to the entire project.”

“I don’t know if people are going to have an appetite for it,” said County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor. “Where are we going to get the extra money from?”

County Council was expected to discuss the issue at its April 26 meeting, but instead Pryor announced that Hall would be attending the council’s Finance Committee meeting on May 5. No member of council mentioned the road project or the new cost estimate at the meeting, but several members of the audience did.

“My personal opinion is, we should just cut our losses and not spend another dime on the project,” said Linda Miller of Johns Island.

Supporters and opponents of the road plan have expressed shock over the new cost estimate. Bradley Taggart, a co-founder of Charlestonians For I-526, told County Council members that a temporary spike in commodity prices was likely to blame and could prove temporary.

“We could be looking at a project that costs half as much in six month’s time as the market rebalances,” he told council members.

The county and the state have each spent about $12.5 million on the project so far, Pryor said earlier in the day.

“The longer this thing is delayed, the more it’s going to cost,” said Pryor.

Hall said one reason the cost has gone up so much is the soaring price of real estate in Charleston County. Acquiring the land needed for the road would cost an estimated $261 million, she said.

The DOT estimate assumes construction could begin in 2028, and also assumes there would be two or three years of litigation before that.

A legal challenge to the project has been winding its way through the courts for years already, with the Coastal Conservation League fighting Charleston County’s 2019 agreement to pay all the costs exceeding $420 million.

Crowley, CCL’s communities and transportation senior program director, suggested the new cost estimate could open the door to negotiating a way out of the contract were the county to seek an exit.

The county is currently spending about $200 million improving Johns Island roads, the Limehouse bridge over the Stono River and the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and Main Road.

The Coastal Conservation League has strongly opposed the I-526 extension, calling it in 2021 “a last-century highway project that benefits few and impacts many.” A community organization called Nix 526 has also been fighting the project, and Charleston Waterkeeper and the S.C. Wildlife Federation have raised objections.

Supporters of the proposed roadway include the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors and the Trident CEO Council, the city of Charleston, Charlestonians For I-526, and many residents of Kiawah Island.

“The new cost estimate is a direct result of what happens when a critical project is continually delayed, costs inevitably go up,” said the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. “The current cost of the project heightens the important need of completing this effort now.”

While Crowley said it’s time to say “enough is enough” the Chamber said “Now is the time to double down on our efforts” in a statement April 26.

Johns Island residents have been divided on the project, which would make it easier to get on and off the island but could increase development there. The island’s population has been growing quickly and many new residential subdivisions are underway.

Charleston governs a large part of Johns Island and has long supported the road project. City Council on April 26 unanimously adopted a resolution urging the county to continue moving forward.

If the extension were completed, there would be a highway loop around Charleston, with the interstate running from Mount Pleasant across Daniel Island, North Charleston and West Ashley, then becoming more of a low-speed parkway across Johns Island and connecting to the James Island Connector on James Island.

While the project would extend from the end of I-526 in West Ashley, DOT calls it the Mark Clark Extension. It’s separate from ongoing plans to widen the existing parts of the interstate from West Ashley to Mount Pleasant.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A couple on James Island thought they were well on their way to renovating their back deck after hiring a Lowcountry contractor. But after the contractor took their money, they say the work never got done.

Don Geddes and his wife have lived on James Island for more than two decades. They recently revamped their front steps and in September of last year decided they wanted to pull the trigger on renovating their back deck as well. They wanted a certain material and Geddes says Travis Tardiff of Tardiff Builders initially came recommended by the company that makes the material.

“The deposit was 50 percent of the job,” Geddes says. “The job was $15,000 and we wrote him a check for $7,500. And that’s the last time I saw him.”

Geddes says Tardiff started out by emailing them updates.

“I wrote him that check in September,” Geddes says. “We would get emails that told us where we were in the process. He said some of the material had come in, and then he said the material had come in but not the railing.”

The last email though came in March when Geddes says Tardiff dissolved the contract.

“He said the money orders are in the mail – but we never got that,” Geddes says.

Geddes also found, out after the fact, that Tardiff’s contracting license with the state expired months before even taking on the job.

Attempts to reach Tardiff through multiple forms failed. The email account listed was not accurate and bounced back. Some of the phone numbers listed were out of service. One phone number made it to voicemail, but it was full. The address for the business listed is now occupied by another company.

At this point, Geddes has filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and says his next step is to take the matter to small claims court.

“We also need some kind of emotional closure to this – because it was a violation in a way for us,” Geddes says. “But doing the interviews with the new people are more exciting because I’m going to be counting on these people to do the work they promised to do.”

If you are in a similar situation, you should contact the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau.

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