Developers of a major retailer to appear before design board

Plans for a drug store at Main and McBee will be considered

NOVEMBER 23, 2009 4:02 a.m. (0)

KDS Properties has filed an application with the City Design Review Board to build a two-story, 36,000-square-foot office/retail structure at the corner of Main Street and McBee Avenue.

According to the application, a nationally known pharmacy will anchor the ground floor and include a drive through area in the rear of the site, which has been vacant since the early part of the decade.  Continue reading...

Homeless, nobody's choice

As many as 1,200 Greenville residents have nowhere to go at the end of the day. None of them imagined they'd end up that way.

DECEMBER 4, 2009 4:48 p.m. (0)

Another is a brawny younger man, a construction worker by trade, who says he lost his home after steady work became impossible for him to find when the economy began to sour just over a year ago.

A woman in her 30s with long, dark hair worked in radio in metropolitan areas like Chicago and Philadelphia before a fractured relationship with her boyfriend left her penniless and on the street.  Continue reading...

I-385 detour set to begin

Probable traffic woes have Greenville residents concerned

DECEMBER 17, 2009 8:42 a.m. (0)

The project to rehabilitate the state’s oldest stretch of interstate type highway will be done in three phases. The first phase, raising overpass bridges to accommodate 10 inches of new concrete surface, has been finished.

Phase two, closing northbound lanes by taking down the I-385 flyover bridge at the intersection with Interstate 26 and resurfacing the northbound lanes starts Jan. 4.  Continue reading...

Keeping it earth friendly

Company a frontrunner for environmental leadership award

DECEMBER 17, 2009 8:50 a.m. (0)

Admittedly the South, overall, has been a late comer to environmental consciousness, said Bill Harris, environmental engineering supervisor with Freightliner in Gaffney.  Continue reading...

Are they really special?

Tax districts benefit few, experts say

DECEMBER 17, 2009 8:58 a.m. (0)

Jim Fields of the Palmetto Institute in Columbia said inequities developed in the tax system over the past 10 to 15 years have penalized business overall, while benefiting some segments disproportionately.

Act 388, which was aimed at easing the tax burden on private real estate by substituting a one percent sales tax, resulted in tax benefits to people who owned homes worth more than $100,000. Business ended up shouldering 42 percent of the property tax burden and governmental bodies of all types (including special tax districts) were forced into a seemingly endless round of tax increases to make up for revenue shortfalls.  Continue reading...

South Financial may convert shares to common

In an effort to provide stability TSFG considers turning over partial ownership to government

DECEMBER 17, 2009 4:23 p.m. (0)

Converting preferred shares to common would allow TSFG to record the shares as capital since common shares are a marketable asset whereas preferred shares, which carry a 5 percent dividend annually, are more like a loan and recorded as debt. No additional cash is exchanged.  Continue reading...

Aspiring engineers wanted

A.J.Whittenberg School prepares to open

DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:02 a.m. (0)

Her first job will be to recruit students to fill up more than 200 spots available to early elementary children all over the county. Attendance planners for Greenville County Schools have identified 72 children in the neighborhoods around the school who will be assigned to the school – out of up to 320 tiny desks to fill.  Continue reading...

New agency takes over homeless abuse inquiry

Justice Department's civil rights unit leads investigation

DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:12 a.m. (0)

U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins said this week lawyers assigned to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, headquartered in Washington, D.C., are in Greenville and are making decisions involving both the investigation and the prosecution of the case.

“They are calling the shots,” he said. “We are providing the support.”  Continue reading...

Making a plan, checking it twice

The need to look ahead is more important than ever says growth specialist

DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:14 a.m. (0)

The gaps are more the product political parochialism than lack of effort by those charged with planning, said Catherine Ross, author of “Megaregions” and director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development.  Continue reading...

Palmetto CEO stepping down

Patterson will leave at year's end

DECEMBER 22, 2009 11:39 a.m. (0)

The change is effective Jan. 1.

Patterson, 68, continues as chairman of the board of the holding company and as an employee of Palmetto Bank in the new position of senior executive for strategic development. His annual base salary was reduced to $250,000 from $387,500.  Continue reading...

Solicitor Bob Ariail won't run for re-election

His term ends in January 2011.

JANUARY 1, 2010 3:18 p.m. (0)

Ariail, who has been solicitor since 1997, has come under fire for his handling of the John Ludwig case, most recently for accepting a guilty plea for reckless homicide without getting a guarantee the former businessman would serve prison time.

Ludwig, who drove his Maserati through a Greenville County house, killing the homeowner as he watched television, was sentenced to three years probation and 500 hours community service.  Continue reading...

Ludwig won't get jail time in burglary case

Judge orders concurrent probation, upholds previous sentence  

JANUARY 8, 2010 11:16 a.m. (2)

Retired Circuit Court Judge James C. Williams Jr. filed an order Friday morning reaffirming the sentence which shocked 13th Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail, outraged the community and had some in the legal community talking about a two-tired justice system.

The sentence impacted an unrelated burglary case against Ludwig.  Continue reading...

Please, keep it green

New bins installed downtown are being used for some not-so-recyclable goods

JANUARY 11, 2010 11:01 a.m. (0)

Area artists competed to put their work on the sides of eight new recycling bins in downtown Greenville.

Now, they want to people to let people know what to put in them.  Continue reading...

Greenville County Council sets its work for the year

Burns wants the county to aggressively fight a change in the tax law on the sale of homes.

JANUARY 20, 2010 12:49 p.m. (0)

Issues that will test Greenville County Council in the coming year bubbled to the surface during the traditional closing ceremony where members are free to bring up any subject they wish Tuesday night.

Councilman Jim Burns urged council members to be cognizant of the state association of counties issues list for the coming year.  Continue reading...

Chamber wants to increase per capita income

Accelerate plan needs $4 million

JANUARY 20, 2010 1:51 p.m. (0)

Greenville Chamber of Commerce leaders unveiled a $4 million campaign Wednesday morning aimed at adding 15,000 jobs in the next five years to help reverse a trend of stagnating income for county residents.

The plan, dubbed Accelerate, calls for strengthening the business climate through investment and legislation; generating high impact start-ups and developing the region’s talent pool.  Continue reading...

Never been poor, until now

Many formerly middle-income Greenville residents now find themselves seeking help to pay the bills.

JANUARY 24, 2010 10:11 a.m. (0)

It took Mark Davis and Donna Stolba about six months to join the ranks of the newly poor in Greenville.

Their story, say social workers, is depressingly familiar.  Continue reading...

Small businesses get help

$2 million to be available this quarter

JANUARY 21, 2010 10:28 a.m. (0)

Entering the third year of being battered by the recession, The South Financial Group took steps to build a neglected business segment.

The company has created a 19-person department to become a bigger player in Small Business Administration loan programs in the Carolinas and Florida.  Continue reading...

Bus builder may move here

Proterra announcement expected Thursday

FEBRUARY 2, 2010 2:08 p.m. (0)

Proterra LLC is expected to announce Thursday the creation of a manufacturing facility at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research that will make products such as hybrid and battery-electric buses that are on average 10,000 pounds lighter than traditional buses, sources told the Journal.

The company will employ 1,300 once it is up and running within five years. It will be housed in a building which will start construction later this year.  Continue reading...

Business licenses rebound on '09

City records more than 500 new permits for the first time since '06

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 10:01 a.m. (0)

More than 500 entrepreneurs – 503 to be exact – rolled the dice in 2009 and went into business for themselves inside city limits.

That was the highest new business total in the city since 2006.  Continue reading...

City gives $20,000 for bike trail

Council also weighs street closure near Kroc Center

FEBRUARY 9, 2010 10:35 a.m. (0)

Greenville City Council breezed through a light agenda Monday night giving final reading approval to the annexation of Lieu’s Restaurant at 1149 Woodruff Rd. and to a public right of way agreement with Burgess Investments for the same property.

The annexation clears the way for a festive Chinese New Year celebration on Sunday Feb. 14 as liquor can now be served on the Sabbath at the popular eatery.  Continue reading...

School Board news, notes

The 15-minute rule debate continues

FEBRUARY 11, 2010 10:08 a.m. (1)

It’s only a difference of 15 minutes, but changing start and release times for tens of thousands of public middle- and high-school students in Greenville County has been five years in the making.

Under the current schedule countywide, elementary schools open at 8 a.m., middle schools at 8:15 a.m. and high schools at 8:30 a.m. In the afternoon, school lets out at 2:30 p.m. for elementary, 3 p.m. for middle school and 3:30 p.m. for high school.  Continue reading...

Proterra's employment impact

1,300 jobs would rank bus maker No. 4

FEBRUARY 11, 2010 4:10 p.m. (0)

Energy-efficient bus maker, Proterra, would become Greenville’s fourth-largest manufacturer if it is able to make good on its jobs projection of 1,300 hires in the next five years.

However, while Greenville was once known as a manufacturing city, its jobs base has changed just like the rest of the nation. The biggest employers now are in the service industry with 36 percent of jobs falling in the category, according to the federal bureau of labor statistics.  Continue reading...

Ride this way, city suggests

Council pitches pedal power, master plan

FEBRUARY 14, 2010 10:10 a.m. (0)

Greenville is discovering the economic value in promoting things like bicycling and alternative means of transportation far outweigh the costs.

The city’s growing “green” reputation for things like bike lanes and its sterling downtown have been key selling points in luring companies like energy-efficient bus maker Proterra, said Greenville city Councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle.  Continue reading...

The parking gods: Not smiling

City cracks down on parking offenders

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 10:05 a.m. (1)

Parking scofflaws, beware.

The city of Greenville is cracking down on repeat parking offenders by hitting them harder in their pocketbooks.  Continue reading...

Hours on the bus await some students

Most parents opt to drive children to school

MARCH 8, 2010 9:25 a.m. (3)

“I came to hear about her bus number,” said Nair, who grew up riding the bus to school in New York State. “I went and it was, ‘Oh no, your kids wouldn’t take the bus.’ I was taken aback.”

Nair said she would find out the status quo at Stone – where only about six magnet students take the bus – was for parents to drive their children to school. She has since learned as her three children have enrolled at the Sterling School and Southside High that children who take advantage of the district’s various choice programs countywide rarely take the bus. Her own children would have to be in their Travelers Rest driveway by 6 a.m. to catch a bus into town.  Continue reading...

The other Greenville

Never heard of the Greenline-Spartanburg community? That’s their problem.

MARCH 14, 2010 11:54 a.m. (0)

Shedreaka Davis was injured on Nov. 12, 2008, and died five days later. The city’s slow response is seen as typical of the indifference toward the Greenline – Spartanburg area by some in the community.

City Manager Jim Bourey said city crews addressed safety issues with the bridge within days of the accident and that the final refurbishment of the structure took longer than it should have because the city wanted to do the job right.  Continue reading...

A mall story

Menin Development plans retail, office space and a hotel on former mall site

MARCH 12, 2010 11:34 a.m. (0)

Instead of discussing whether Menin Development would make good on its promise to transform the former Greenville Mall site on Woodruff Road into Magnolia Place Town Center, a mixed-use development including a hotel, office space, residential and more retail, Jacoby thought by now he’d be talking about what a success the whole development had become.

But that was before what Jacoby called the “economic tsunami” of the last several years where credit was tightened and retailers where shuttering stores, filing bankruptcy and laying off workers.  Continue reading...

City completes GIS beta testing

New system is a version of the military's tracking system

MARCH 12, 2010 9:21 a.m. (0)

Greenville Fire Chief W.T. McDowell is in love with the city’s latest Geographic Information Services (GIS) Division invention.

Through that system, he gets real time situational awareness; a geeky term for the chief being able to know, as his trucks are rolling, if his vehicles can slip by an accident on I-385 to get to a fire or whether he should divert his crews to another route.  Continue reading...

Growing here: Physician education

Greenville Hospital System, USC team up to expand training here

APRIL 9, 2010 6:11 p.m. (0)

Steve Sloate’s job is to live 15 years in the future, then figure out how to get there.

What he envisions for Greenville is an expansion of medical training in an empty shell of a $20-million building on the campus of the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center.  Continue reading...

'Enough is Enough'

Parents, educators to rally for state funding

APRIL 18, 2010 7:47 p.m. (0)

This week’s revelation that state revenues are $60 million lower than lawmakers had thought – largely a clerical error – has done nothing to help the financial picture of the state’s public schools.

Educators, parents and other stakeholders in public schools will be rallying Monday to let legislators know in Columbia they are paying attention to the cuts and would prefer to see state-revenue declines addressed with a scalpel rather than an axe. The 5 p.m. rally will be at the International Center for Automotive Research off Millennium Drive near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Laurens Road.  Continue reading...

Bourey says resignation was forced

Manager will remain until June 30

APRIL 19, 2010 7:24 p.m. (1)

Ousted Greenville City Manager Jim Bourey said his resignation was forced because City Council no longer felt comfortable with him.

Bourey’s resignation is effective June 30.  Continue reading...

He's out

Bourey: ‘I’m sad it’s over’

APRIL 22, 2010 3:11 p.m. (0)

Councilwoman Amy Ryberg Doyle, the only council member to vote against accepting Bourey’s resignation, hinted at this as she explained her vote.

After reciting a list of things accomplished during Bourey’s tenure, she said the city manager could have been more forthcoming about the cost of buying and renovating the plant into a city operations center. The building also was to provide space for electric bus manufacturer Proterra until its facility at ICAR was completed.  Continue reading...

Helping businesses make cents of green practices

Furman course targets business leaders, sustainability

MAY 10, 2010 11:48 a.m. (0)

Starting this fall, the five-session course, involving 70 contract hours, is tailored for business executives and will lead to a post graduate diploma in corporate sustainability and seven hours of continuing education credits.

The first session starts Sept. 16; it ends Dec. 10.  The cost per person is $3,950. Enrollment is limited to 20, and admission is contingent on a review of interest in corporate sustainability.  Continue reading...

'I still got to live with this'

Father gets 25 years for murdering his son

APRIL 30, 2010 9:27 a.m. (0)

Christopher Lamar Wilson waited until he knew everyone in the house would be asleep.

Then as quietly as he could, sometime around 4:30 a.m. the morning of Aug. 7, 2007, he crept out of his house carrying a duffle bag that held the lifeless body of his 4-year-old son, wrapped in a blanket and stuffed into garbage bags.  Continue reading...

City knew trees were coming down, developer says

MAY 20, 2010 11:15 a.m. (0)

City officials knew, or should have known, that five heritage trees on the fringe of the controversial Brookside development would be coming down, David Douglas manager of Douglas Development told the Journal.

City officials issued a stop work order at the site located just off Wade Hampton Boulevard last month, charging removal of the trees violated the city’s conditional use permit.  Continue reading...

Study shows when it comes to firefighters, the more the better

Greenville chief calls department’s staffing adequate, says new station is needed  

JUNE 4, 2010 11:59 a.m. (0)

When an emergency call comes in to the Greenville Fire Department on the fast-growing far eastside of Greenville near Woodruff Road, there’s a greater chance than anywhere else in the city the station assigned to cover the area won’t be available to answer the call.

And if the Pleasantburg station isn’t on another call, there’s a greater chance than anywhere else in the city it will take more than four minutes for firefighters to arrive on the scene.  Continue reading...

The ‘Southwest Effect’

Entry of airline into GSP market should lower fares, boost options

MAY 21, 2010 9:13 a.m. (0)

Airfares plummeted at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last year.

The average round-trip ticket price flying out of the Twin Cities was $321.54 during the third quarter of 2009, nearly $151 less than the year before.  Continue reading...

School district buys more used buses

85 vehicles from Kentucky will join  fleet

MAY 26, 2010 7:03 a.m. (0)

South Carolina has resorted to buying old buses from Kentucky to keep its own aging fleet running – again.

The Department of Education announced Tuesday it won bids for 85 used buses from a collection of Kentucky school districts that were replacing theirs with new vehicles. The South Carolina department used money – spending an average of $3,826 per used bus – collected from scrapping the remains of buses already cannibalized for parts.  Continue reading...

Former city officers given probation

9039 Fairforest Road Prosecutor: Greenville’s police department “clean, straight arrow.”

MAY 28, 2010 9:49 a.m. (0)

Two former Greenville police officers received probationary sentences Friday for depriving suspects of their civil rights in which attorneys on both sides said were isolated incidents of officers losing their cool, not targeted abuse of the homeless.

Matthew Jowers and Jeremiah Milliman were both sentenced to three years probation by federal Magistrate Judge William Catoe.  Continue reading...

School budget includes cuts, mill increase

JUNE 3, 2010 8:17 a.m. (0)

The Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees on Tuesday voted 6 to 5 to give final approval to a $400 million general fund budget which cuts nearly $23 million in positions and programs, and enacts a 2.2-mill tax increase on businesses, rental homes and personal property.

For the owner of a small business with property valued at $200,000, the additional 2.2 mills will tack on an additional $26.40 a year to their tax bill. Likewise for the owner of a business with property valued at $1 million, the annual tax bill will go up by $132.  Continue reading...

Dogs that attacked Greenville man never found

JUNE 3, 2010 8:31 a.m. (0)

The three dogs that attacked a Greenville man in March were never found, Greenville Police Sgt. Jason Rampey said.

Al Hammer was bitten on his hands and right thigh while walking in the Augusta Circle neighborhood on March 15.  The puncture wounds required more than 200 stitches at Greenville Memorial Hospital.  Continue reading...

City manager settles in

Mayor: ‘He personifies the things that make Greenville different’

JULY 16, 2010 7:50 a.m. (0)

After the Greenville City Council members forced the resignation of former City Manager Jim Bourey, they said they’d search the nation for his replacement.

Turns out they only had to look down the hall.  Continue reading...

Waffle House opens for 24-hour business

Restaurant opponents ponder what to do next

JULY 16, 2010 8:13 a.m. (0)

Residents in neighborhoods surrounding a yet-to-open Waffle House on East Stone Avenue are deciding their next step after the restaurant was given permission to stay open 24 hours a day for the next year.

The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals granted a special exemption from zoning regulations approved last summer that prohibit some businesses next to residential areas from operating from midnight until 5 a.m. without a public hearing and board approval.  Continue reading...

Tech students face new deadline

JULY 18, 2010 4:13 p.m. (0)

Like most technical colleges in the state, Tech had always let students enroll up until the first day of classes (Aug. 16 for the coming fall).  Continue reading...

More than a Meal on Wheels

These volunteers are going the extra mile

JULY 20, 2010 7:33 a.m. (1)

Shirley Phillips can remember years ago her mother and aunt volunteering with Meals on Wheels.

Still, the Greenville woman who worked three decades as a social worker with the state Department of Social Services didn’t quite understand the bond between Meals on Wheels clients and volunteers.  Continue reading...

Police solve cold case

Men charged in six-year-old murder investigation

JULY 21, 2010 10:05 a.m. (0)

Two men were charged in connection with the shooting death of Curtis Deion Harmon on Aug. 29, 2004.

Michael Edward Hockaday, 33, of 6 B Bentwood Dr., Greenville; and Garcia Zenas Wilson, 31, of 607 Emily Lane, Piedmont, were both charged with murder, according to arrest warrants.  Continue reading...

GSP plans expansion, renovations

Infrastructure upgrades to help reduce operational costs

JULY 22, 2010 7:11 a.m. (0)

Work could begin as early as late spring or early summer 2011 on an $80 million to $100 million renovation and expansion of the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, officials said this week.

As plans stand now phase one of the work could be done by sometime in 2012.  Continue reading...

Please, no new taxes, say Devenger residents

JULY 26, 2010 7:12 a.m. (0)

It took nearly half of a two hour meeting for Greenville County Council to vote to put a hold on a request by the Devenger Tax District for two-tenths of a mil tax hike and a $10 fee increase.

Most of that time was taken up by Devenger residents who pleaded their case before council both for and against the request. There were allegations of misuse of funds pitted against the need to repair crumbling infrastructure and amenities in the subdivision.  Continue reading...

Slow food, it's catching on

JULY 28, 2010 7:42 a.m. (0)

Increasingly, Greenville restaurants are going green.

A few grow some of the food served. Others use biodegradable to-go boxes. They compost food clippings and recycle paper and bottles.  Continue reading...

So, you want to dance?

Flash Mob event to benefit cancer research

JULY 28, 2010 7:53 a.m. (0)

If you can find them, dust off your old dancing shoes for the Flash Mob: For the Cure at the Greenville Drive Stadium this Saturday, July 31.

The Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation is partnering with the Greenville Drive to create a promotional video for the Sept. 25 Race for the Cure and you have the chance to bust a move out on the field to raise awareness for breast cancer.  Continue reading...

Charter schools will pay up

Greenville County School District plans to charge for vocational training

AUGUST 2, 2010 10:20 a.m. (4)

As public school money grows tighter and the population of students enrolled in charter high schools expands, another dispute over funding has emerged with Greenville County Schools.

Fred Crawford, principal of Greenville Tech Charter High, said he received an e-mail May 19 from Laura Herd, the school district’s coordinator for school and program accountability, saying his school must refund the district $2,993 for every charter student who enrolls in vocational classes at one of five centers across the county.  Continue reading...

GHS, USC approve doctor training expansion in Greenville

First class expected in 2012

AUGUST 6, 2010 8:55 a.m. (1)

The University of South Carolina School of Medicine ­– Greenville got the go-ahead  from the boards of the Greenville Hospital System and the University of South Carolina.

The next step for the expansion of the doctor training program will be accreditation by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education.  Continue reading...

Water System may pay flood damages

AUGUST 18, 2010 11:11 a.m. (0)

Members of the Greenville Water Commission on Wednesday passed a resolution that may allow the Greenville Water System to pay for a homeowner’s flood damage.

Mike and Mitzi McCall’s house flooded when a water main near their house broke, sending a million gallons of water rushing onto their property.  Continue reading...

City Council notes

From the Aug. 23 meeting  

AUGUST 26, 2010 10:19 a.m. (0)

The first sign ordinance proposed by city planners would have restricted permanent window signs to 10 percent of the window space, down from 40 percent.

The restriction was one of several that business owners had raised concerns over earlier this month. Changes were made to the ordinance after meetings with business owners.  Continue reading...

County has a budget surplus

Kernell: extra $380,000 due to controlled expenses

AUGUST 26, 2010 10:31 a.m. (0)

Greenville County’s $380,000 budget surplus for the last fiscal year has its roots in conservative business practices and maximizing available resources, county officials have said.

The fact that Greenville has the largest population of any county in the state but ranks 43rd out of 46 counties in the number of employees per 1,000 residents is illustrative, said Joe Kernell, Greenville County administrator.  Continue reading...

Wanted:

Money, revenge and embarrassment prompt calls about county’s most wanted

AUGUST 26, 2010 10:36 a.m. (0)

“He” was Steven Edward Janes, a 49-year-old Greenville man Lee had put on the organization’s “Most Wanted” list four days earlier.

Janes had racked up 19 charges stemming back to the beginning of April, when he began working as a handyman for a Greenville woman. He is accused of taking jewelry, electronics and money from her home. And police say he broke into another Greenville home in May and made off with more than $2,400 in money and jewelry.  Continue reading...

The fine print

By Dick Hughes

AUGUST 30, 2010 9:01 a.m. (0)

ScanSource Sets Revenue Record

ScanSource, the Greenville-based international distributor and reseller of technology products, had a good year with higher sales and income, but it could have been even better if it were not for product shortages, the company reported.  Continue reading...

Space Case

Some say vacancies downtown are just another sign of the times. Now a group of business leaders has a plan to turn the trend around.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 10:01 a.m. (0)

The signs in the windows of Greenville’s downtown office buildings say it all.

“For Lease.”  Continue reading...

Growth, in the time of recession

Pinnacle Bank adopts a different model for expansion

SEPTEMBER 5, 2010 6:32 p.m. (0)

Good move.  When the crash came, Pinnacle pulled away from the pile-up unharmed.

“We were not smart enough back in 2005, 2006 to know you were to grow it really fast,” says David Barnett, president and chief executive officer, who led the effort to establish a new community bank in Greenville’s competitive market.  Continue reading...

For teachers, a working vacation

SEPTEMBER 5, 2010 7:22 p.m. (0)

Another spent a week visiting farms and agribusinesses across South Carolina.

Others studied the usefulness of dental floss and duct tape in emergency band instrument repair and the beauty of butterfly gardens.  Continue reading...

Mascots and motorcycles

Schools look to new ways to keep students motivated

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 7:42 p.m. (0)

Some motivate students by getting pelted with whipped cream pies.

Others might spend 24 hours on a school’s rooftop, dressing for a day in a silly costume or going nose-to-nose with some species of barnyard animal.  Continue reading...

Upstate schools win Blue Ribbons

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 8:54 a.m. (0)

Greenville Technical Charter High and Powdersville Elementary are among five South Carolina schools chosen as winners of the 2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced this morning.

The National Blue Ribbon exemplifies excellence, and winners are chosen due to their academic excellence or because they have demonstrated dramatic gains in student achievement, officials said.  Continue reading...

Beating under investigation

Homeless man dies after incident, investigators have no suspects

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 10:16 a.m. (0)

Terry Steven White, 55, died last Thursday at Greenville Memorial Hospital after lingering for two days in critical condition.

He never regained consciousness.  Continue reading...

City Council notes

From the Sept. 7 work session

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 10:22 a.m. (0)

City Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza told members of the Greenville City Council that all non-academic elements of the after-school programs at the city’s community centers will be eliminated this fall.

The department will eliminate after-school program and senior programming at the Juanita Butler Community Center and turn it into a teen center. The YWCA, which is across the street from the center, will provide after-school programming for children, Souza said. Senior programs will be based at the David Hellams Community Center, he said.  Continue reading...

County Council notes

From the Sept. 7 meeting

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 10:35 a.m. (0)

The expenditure qualifies under Council District Expense – Part II Community Requests account definition, according to documents accompanying the request.

Council also learned the sheriff’s department has been awarded a $225,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to install the first part of an upgrade to sheriff’s helicopter infrared imaging system. The FLIR system allows the helicopter to produce an infrared image of objects on the ground, transmit them to ground commanders instantly so that the commanders see what the helicopter sees in real time.  Continue reading...

City working to eliminate flood-prone areas

Storm water projects target Henderson basin

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 11:05 a.m. (0)

If they don’t, Gower Creek overpowers a culvert, rushes over the street and down the Chastains’ driveway toward their house like a mini waterfall.

A neighbor across the street had to remove the doors and windows on one side of their house because floodwater would come in after a heavy rain.  Continue reading...

Growing Green

Eco-Mow forges ahead in tough market

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 9:18 p.m. (0)

It’s not easy being green, and, as Chad Lane knows painfully well, it’s even harder if the green you need are dollars to bring an environmentally friendly riding mower to a market wedded to fossil fuels.

It’s been a tough 18 months for Lane’s Eco-Mow, the fledging Spartanburg company he and his wife Janice formed to build battery operated-riding mowers designed, engineered and built by Lane.  Continue reading...

The week in pictures

Look who's in the Journal: Sept. 17-23

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 8:05 a.m. (0)

For-profits raise questions

Have private companies found a loophole in the charter school law?

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010 8:44 a.m. (0)

The six schools educate slightly more than 2,100 children in elementary, middle and high school programs. One, the Meyer Center for Special Children, is for preschool children with disabilities.

Three of the schools are operated under the auspices of Greenville Technical College, whose high school just won the National Blue Ribbon Award. A seventh school opened this year.  Continue reading...

Piazza Bergamo: Makeover

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 12:42 p.m. (0)

Urban designers from Denver-based Civitas told business owners and downtown residents who attended a public meeting Monday the piazza renovation should be inspired by public squares in Greenville’s Italian sister city, Greenville’s textile roots and geographical characteristics and the yet unannounced private Woolworth development.

Developers hope to begin construction on the Woolworth project by spring 2011 and have construction of its first phase completed by July 2012, said Michael Kerski, city economic development manager.  Continue reading...

Looking for leads

Authorities search for answers in homeless murder case

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 12:45 p.m. (0)

Authorities have yet to be able to piece together the details of who might have attacked Terry Steven White or why.

White was found severely beaten and unresponsive three weeks ago off West Blue Ridge Drive near Cedar Lane Road in Greenville County. He died two days later at Greenville Memorial Hospital without ever regaining consciousness.  Continue reading...

It takes one to dance

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 12:56 p.m. (0)

But there was one problem. Ballroom dancing takes two people and she didn’t have a partner as serious about it as she was.

Then White discovered belly dancing.  Continue reading...

Start-up delayed

Electric car company pushes launch to December

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 2:20 p.m. (0)

If there are no more delays, the plant could be up and running in three to six months.

Curt Westlake, spokesman for CT&T in the company’s Atlanta office, said the delay was caused by the need to complete the distribution network.  Continue reading...

FHAngst

New regulations from the Federal Housing Administration causing financing woes for some condo buyers

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010 1:24 p.m. (0)

Only 14 of Greenville’s condominium developments have met the new strictures to qualify for FHA mortgages or, for that matter, financing from conventional lenders who are insisting on equally restrictive or higher lending standards.

Unapproved are some of downtown Greenville’s most exclusive – and pricey – addresses and upscale condominiums fresh on the market.  Nor are most of Greenville County’s long-established modest and low-end condo developments, making re-sales difficult.  Continue reading...

City Council notes

From the Sept. 27 meeting

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 10:57 a.m. (0)

It’s going to get harder to open a nightclub or bar in some areas of Greenville.

Greenville City Council members on Monday gave initial approval to a measure that will require bars and nightclubs wanting to locate in commercially zoned areas of the city to get a special exemption.  Continue reading...

Dreaming here

"We need to be ready to meet the needs of our community"

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 12:00 p.m. (0)

That’s the goal for the “Field of Dreams Gala,” a first-of-its-kind event planned for Oct. 7 at Fluor Field being staged to raise scholarship dollars for students enrolled in the GHS Medical Experience Academy, a recently announced pipeline for students interested in advanced training in healthcare.

The fundraiser includes a concert by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, a black tie and sneakers dress code, formal dining and a finale featuring fireworks as the backdrop to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.  Continue reading...

Andrew Wyeth: artist, grandfather

Granddaughter puts new face on the late artist

OCTOBER 11, 2010 7:18 a.m. (1)

But no one knows more about the life and work of Andrew Wyeth, the late American artist whose work helped transform the Greenville County Museum of Art from a regional museum to one with national and international prominence.

“I knew him as Andrew Wyeth, iconic artist. But I also knew him as Grandpa Andy,” said Victoria Wyeth, the late artist’s only grandchild and the niece of painter Jamie Wyeth.  Continue reading...

Brown Street gets a makeover

Business owners, city hope it will bring new life to upper end of downtown

OCTOBER 11, 2010 2:52 p.m. (0)

Most Greenville residents don’t know where it is, even though it is just off Main Street in the upper end of Greenville’s downtown, said Gary Selvaggio, one of the co-owners of Brown Street Jazz Club.

An improvement project started last week is designed to give the Brown Street district its own signature look, increase pedestrian traffic and make the area more attractive to new restaurants and retail businesses.  Continue reading...

Mummy, where art thou?

Greenville’s arts organizations capitalize on popularity of Halloween

OCTOBER 19, 2010 11:00 a.m. (0)

“People celebrate Halloween because it’s fun,” said Allan McCalla, artistic director for the Greenville Little Theatre. “All of us trick or treated as kids. And arts organizations are always looking for an angle.”

Americans are expected to spend $447.1 billion on Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation. And while Halloween used to be considered primarily a children’s event, it has become the second leading adult party reason behind New Year’s Eve.  Continue reading...

Clothed for business

South Carolina company weaves conservation into new clothing line

OCTOBER 14, 2010 11:12 a.m. (0)

In their 20s and engaged to be married, they are taking their principles into business, establishing the Loggerhead Apparel Co. to make quality clothing in South Carolina and help textiles and the loggerhead from “going extinct here.”

Their inaugural product is a South Carolina-made pima cotton polo shirt with a loggerhead logo.  Their first run of 2,500 “is just to give us some experience before Christmas and then we can look at some additional colors and follow up with a run to get ready for spring.”  Continue reading...

Upstate counties, by the balance sheet

Greenville County's banking environment "most competitive" in state

OCTOBER 14, 2010 11:29 a.m. (0)

Spartanburg County was fourth in deposits with $4.81 billion, a gain of $600 million, which increased the county’s share of the state deposit market from 6 percent to 6.9 percent. It has 80 banking offices.

Greenville led in deposits with $10.46 billion, down slightly from $10.54 billion reported in the FDIC’s 2009 report. The county’s share of the market declined from 15.10 percent to 14.88 percent.  The number of banking offices remained at 170.  Continue reading...

Who is Jim DeMint?

The senator from South Carolina

OCTOBER 22, 2010 8:39 a.m. (2)

If DeMint’s stable of tea party insurgents win on Nov. 2, he could become the leader of a coalition of hyper-conservatives with tremendous power in a sharply divided Senate.

Currently, he enjoys regular Republican support from Sens. Tom Coburn and James Inhofe, both of Oklahoma.  Continue reading...

In harmony

Henry Gibson, Greenville Chorale celebrate their golden anniversary

OCTOBER 22, 2010 6:07 a.m. (0)

That’s because he has been performing with the Chorale since its inaugural season in 1961.

Gibson had graduated from North Greenville Junior College and transferred to Furman University. Shortly after the fall term had begun, one of Gibson’s professors told him he should join what started as the Rotary Civic Chorale.  Continue reading...

The week in pictures

Look who's in the Greenville Journal this week

OCTOBER 24, 2010 8:47 a.m. (0)

The greater good x retail =

A different way of doing business

NOVEMBER 5, 2010 11:41 a.m. (0)

Out of the soul-searching came TimesTwo, a retail business that turns orthodox retailing on its head. Charity is the first goal and making enough money for costs and a profit follows, though with intent the purposes work in harmony.

The concept is simple. For every product TimesTwo sells, the company will give away an identical or similar item to a local charity.  Continue reading...

The week in pictures: 11/06/10

Look who's in the Journal

NOVEMBER 7, 2010 3:12 p.m. (0)

North Greenville raises curtain on new theater

NOVEMBER 14, 2010 2:48 p.m. (0)

The facility is one of two new buildings belonging to the theater department. Billingsley Theatre is located in the new Village at Tigerville, a 20-acre site that is home to the NGU Visual Arts Department, Carolina First Bank and Einstein’s Bagels.

The vision for the village includes numerous retail and campus-related buildings. Across from Billingsley is the new School of Theatre building, which occupies the historic Tigerville Elementary School building given to the university by the school district.  The original structure dates back to the early 20th century.  Continue reading...

The Peace Family

Seven generations now. Quietly helping grow a community.

DECEMBER 3, 2010 2:21 p.m. (0)

And without a $10 million pledge from three branches of the Peace family the idea to build a performing arts center beside the Reedy River likely would have died before it got started.

That was more than 20 years ago.  Continue reading...

Kudos for green

DECEMBER 6, 2010 7:39 p.m. (0)

A North Carolina solar energy company with offices in Greenville has ridden a green wave to a national honor for jobs creation by going from 30 employees to just less than 90 in a year.

Most of that phenomenal jobs growth has been concentrated in North Carolina where state incentives for green or solar generated, electricity are far higher, said David Odell business development manager for Southern Energy Management’s Greenville office.  Continue reading...

Legacy on Main Street

Sedran Furs celebrates more than five decades

DECEMBER 9, 2010 12:22 p.m. (1)

Along with the Ayers family’s leather store, Sedran Furs is the last surviving retail store of what once was the city’s lively shopping district anchored by the 200 block. Not a bad record of longevity for a couple of New Yorkers who were the first of their families to leave Manhattan for an unknown place and uncertain prospects.

“Fortunately for us, we came at the right time because the city grew and we grew with it,” says Stan. “We’ve always run a very honest business, and everybody knows that.  We are now selling to the fourth generation.”  Continue reading...

Zzzzzzzz

“In My Sleep,” produced by Greenville native, makes its premiere here

JANUARY 6, 2011 1:46 p.m. (0)

They wanted him to read books instead.

Then he discovered he could study filmmaking at the Fine Arts Center.  Continue reading...

Greenville County Council notes

From the Jan. 4 meeting

JANUARY 6, 2011 2:08 p.m. (0)

Greenville County Council Chairman H.G. “Butch” Kirven and Vice Chairman Bob Taylor were re-elected to the top spots on council by acclamation during Tuesday night’s organizational meeting.

Dan Rawls  Continue reading...

The week in pictures: 1/7/11

Look who's in the Journal this week

JANUARY 6, 2011 2:46 p.m. (0)

Centre Stage

Set for a comeback

JANUARY 21, 2011 10:34 a.m. (0)

Then auditors told her they were considering issuing a going-concern opinion, a warning they are required to give when they have substantial doubt about whether a company or entity can survive for another 12 months.

ManWaring said she was not aware of the full extent of the theater’s financial troubles when she took the job.  Continue reading...

Ariail: Ludwig case doesn’t define him

Former prosecutor hopes started Greenville County's drug court

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:25 a.m. (0)

Ludwig, a Greenville businessman, received probation for driving his Maserati through a man’s house and killing him.

Ariail hopes instead to be remembered for starting Greenville County’s drug court, for improving the quality of lawyers in the solicitor’s office and for pursuing justice in each case.  Continue reading...

Oh so sweet

She’s bringing her baking biz to Main Street

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:34 a.m. (0)

When Kristin Kuhlke Cobb was looking for a place to open her fourth bakery in South Carolina, a business consultant suggested she visit Greenville.

Cobb saw lots of people walking. Cars and bikes traveling the streets. Businesses open along and beyond Main Street.  Continue reading...

Paying the price

Week of snow days means extra school

JANUARY 21, 2011 11:57 a.m. (0)

Schools will be open Friday, April 1, Monday, April 4 and Thursday, June 2.

In addition, registration for kindergarten and first grade was moved to Wednesday and Thursday of this week and parents were able to submit Round 2 Magnet School applications until 12 p.m. on Thursday.  Continue reading...

The Heritage Green space

County looks for ways to improve public awareness of arts area.

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 3:39 p.m. (1)

The home of four museums, a community theater and the county’s main library is just three blocks from Main Street, yet is not widely thought of as a part of Greenville’s burgeoning downtown.

Some say that’s because of Academy Street, one of Greenville’s main central city thoroughfares that dissects Heritage Green from the rest of downtown and a more pedestrian-friendly Main Street.  Continue reading...

Dispute over billboards heads to appeals court

Companies demand compensation for removed signs

FEBRUARY 10, 2011 2:31 p.m. (0)

The South Carolina Court of Appeals will hear arguments Wednesday in a dispute over whether the city has to compensate billboard companies for signs it orders removed for violating zoning regulations.

A law passed by state lawmakers in 2006 prohibits local governments from amortizing nonconforming billboards without paying monetary compensation to the billboard owners.  Continue reading...

Southwest reports 'solid bookings' for GSP flights

Service will begin March 13

FEBRUARY 11, 2011 9:55 a.m. (0)

“We think South Carolina is going to be a wonderful addition to our route,” he told a news conference at the 122nd annual meeting and dinner of Greenville Chamber at the Carolina First Center Tuesday.

Kelly, who is Southwest’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, was the Chamber’s keynote speaker.  Continue reading...

The Stone Avenue plan

Proposal has some business owners worried about traffic, economic development

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 8:23 a.m. (0)

“Stone Avenue right now is not an attractive place,” said Mike Cubelo, vice president of the North Main Community Association. “It’s a sad-looking strip of road.”

Some neighborhood residents say a Stone Avenue master plan approved on principle by the city council Monday night will help transform the Stone Avenue area into a dramatically different north end of Greenville.  Continue reading...

Greenlink extends bus hours

New route will address increases in ridership

FEBRUARY 17, 2011 2:46 p.m. (0)

The route, which runs through the Berea area, will now run from 5:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Shelia Schmitt, the general manager of Greenlink said changes and improvements are always in the works as they look to improve services to customers. A key part in this new route that will address increases in ridership is the expansion of hours offered to customers.  Continue reading...

School growth slows

But Greenville will still need more classroom space

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 8:16 a.m. (0)

Two other new schools – a high school in southern Greenville County and a middle school in the northern end – remain in the plan designed to accommodate the district’s projected enrollment through 2025.

The revised plan, which looked at updated birth rates, planned subdivisions, school program changes and the economy, also calls for the conversion of an expanded Rudolph Gordon Elementary to a K-8 school and additions to seven other elementary and high schools.  Continue reading...

Dream on, and on, and on

Warehouse has a unique take on Shakespeare classic ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’

MARCH 7, 2011 8:08 a.m. (0)

In the early planning stages for the Warehouse Theatre’s production of the Shakespeare classic, somebody threw out the idea of having the mechanicals – the acting troupe that performs the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” during “Midsummer Night’s Dream” – not just do the play within a play, but the entire play.

Everybody laughed – and then agreed the unique spin was a great idea.  Continue reading...

More green, coming soon

GE and others begin work on energy efficiency program

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 9:46 p.m. (0)

A block of Main Street could get LED lights that are as much as 90 percent more efficient and create uniform lighting with no shadows.

City residents could get incentives to replace their power-hogging electric water heaters with new hybrid models.  Continue reading...

GSP: A History

"Thank God for Mr. Milliken and Charles Daniel"

MARCH 11, 2011 1:23 p.m. (1)

Greenville and Spartanburg, back then, had their own downtown airports and the Army, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, told Greenville officials that an airbase would be built south of Greenville to train B-24 and B-25 bomber pilots fighting in World War II. The base was renamed Donaldson Air Force Base in the late 1950s.

As larger aircraft were being built to carry 100 or more passengers, the downtown airports, already 15 years old, were becoming antiquated and unprepared for handling the coming jet age.  Continue reading...

Better parks, trails

Nearly $10 million in capital improvements proposed for 2012

MARCH 22, 2011 2:03 p.m. (0)

City Manager John Castile presented the city’s capital improvement program for 2012 through 2016 at a city council work session.

Nearly $10 million would be spent during 2012 on parks and recreation, sewer, economic development, public safety, roads and storm water projects.  Continue reading...

Google on Main, but better

Company still hasn’t decided if Greenville will get fiber network

MARCH 14, 2011 2:13 p.m. (1)

The effort, designed to woo Google into picking the city as one of the company’s ultra-high speed Internet initiative, put the Greenville in the pages of “Newsweek” magazine.

The organizer of the event is planning something bigger and better for this year.  Continue reading...

Where (tax) credit is due

Census data will change just who qualifies for a federal program that’s helped grow Greenville and Spartanburg

MARCH 23, 2011 3:07 p.m. (0)

In its 10th year, the New Markets Tax Credit program was enacted by Congress to stimulate lending for commercial and industrial development in areas designated by census data as having poverty rates of at least 20 percent or populations earning 20 percent less than surrounding median family income.

Large chunks of Greenville and Spartanburg, notably their downtowns, qualified under the 2000 census.  Continue reading...

Downtown, meet baseball

New event aims to bring Main Street to the diamond

MARCH 29, 2011 10:47 a.m. (0)

That’s the nub of the idea for Drive Business Downtown, a promotion uniting downtown, Fluor Field and the Greenville Drive, a Red Sox affiliate, for baseball and business centered around a specially scheduled day game on Tuesday, May 3.

Wanting to give thanks for the “high level of excitement and enthusiasm about downtown business,” Rick Davis, managing shareholder of Elliott Davis, and Craig D. Brown, co-owner and president of the Drive, came together to plan the event.  Continue reading...

Lion King coming to Greenville

Multi-week Broadway shows have huge impact on area’s economy

MARCH 17, 2011 9:18 a.m. (0)

And with it will come an infusion of millions of dollars into the local economy during the show’s four-week run beginning June 12, 2012, at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday for Broadway series subscribers. Individual tickets will go on sale to the general public in February 2012.  Continue reading...

One idea at a time

TEDx Greenville brings together industry, community leaders and students to make a difference

MARCH 24, 2011 11:37 a.m. (0)

And bringing them to Greenville was the goal for the second annual TEDx Greenville.

In all, 434 industry and community leaders, elected officials, students and creative folks  filled The Peace Center’s Gunter Theater to hear from 12 people chosen from 100 nominees.  Continue reading...

Police crack cold case

Victim’s family: ‘We thought this day would never come’

APRIL 4, 2011 10:11 a.m. (0)

He was found two doors from home.

On Monday, Greenville Police Chief Terri Wilfong announced that two men have been arrested and charged with murder and strong-arm robbery in the case.  Continue reading...

Wyche firm celebrates 90 years

Greenville law office branches out

APRIL 4, 2011 10:18 a.m. (0)

Granville is the late father of Tommy Wyche, a managing partner at the firm, who has maintained office hours at 44 E. Camperdown Way since shortly after graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1949.

The Wyche firm has become a Greenville institution in the 90 years that the various partners have been practicing law. They did it the old fashioned way with good client service and by hiring the best minds they could find coming out of law school.  Continue reading...

Park Place

Along the Reedy River, Greenville’s got plans for more green spaces

APRIL 24, 2011 12:00 p.m. (0)

The plan was met with skepticism.

That’s because the Reedy River hadn’t become a destination in the heart of downtown. The Liberty Bridge hadn’t been built. Falls Park didn’t exist. The residential campus of the South Carolina Governor’s School didn’t sit atop the hill along the riverbank.  Continue reading...

Update desk: The Peacock site

MAY 23, 2011 11:45 a.m. (0)

It was the first time a project had gotten out of the ground – concrete pillars and rebar still stand at the corner of McBee Avenue and Spring Street – and stopped, said Nancy Whitworth, the city’s economic development director.

“We’ve had sites cleared and projects stopped, but nothing where this kind of investment has been made,” Whitworth said. “There’s a lot of money in the ground. It doesn’t look like much, but there are millions of dollars invested.”  Continue reading...

Young at their art

Edwin McCain, Taylor Moore start new concert series for up and comers

MAY 16, 2011 8:43 a.m. (1)

He was living in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, working as a journalist during the day, playing music at night.

On his 24th birthday, he decided if he could make a living doing anything, he wanted that anything to be music.  Continue reading...

Billion dollar project completed

Superintendent: "The promises made to our community have been fulfilled"

MAY 23, 2011 8:29 a.m. (0)

With the opening of A.J. Whittenberg Elementary in August, the district’s unprecedented $1.06 billion construction program officially came to an end.

“The promises made to our community have been fulfilled,” said Superintendent Phinnize Fisher.  Continue reading...

They'll be givin' it laldy*

*Doing something with gusto.... at the Scottish games

MAY 23, 2011 6:58 p.m. (0)

“We should have thought of it sooner,” said Dee Benedict, president of Greenville Scottish Games.

Benedict thought of the idea after a visit by Britain’s Prince Edward for last year’s festival celebrating all things Scot.  Continue reading...

Main Street Rising

$100 million, two-tower complex planned

MAY 26, 2011 8:35 a.m. (0)

City officials had long identified the block as a key to developing downtown’s reputation as a shopping destination and as a vibrant business center.

“It was our last best chance for retail downtown,” said Greenville Mayor Knox White.  Continue reading...

The Washington Square Project

'Two years ago, (Greenville) asked me to make it happen.'

MAY 26, 2011 8:59 a.m. (0)

Nothing had higher priority than to create a destination with retail, office and public space that would serve as a catalyst for a resurgent North Main from Piazza Bergamo to the Hyatt Hotel, itself undergoing improvements.

No envisioned project held more promise.  None posed more financial challenge.  Continue reading...

It's swimming season

New volunteer program aims to help kids learn water skills

MAY 27, 2011 10:42 a.m. (0)

Drowning Prevention Foundation reported that 19 percent of them occur in public pools with certified lifeguards present.

Cory Satterfield has been in the water as long as she can remember, but while working as a lifeguard at Caine Halter Family YMCA, she realized that not all children have had the privilege to learn to swim.  Continue reading...

City considers work where residents play

Greenville's community centers need millions to upgrade

JUNE 2, 2011 10:08 a.m. (0)

But the neighborhood facilities that encircle the city’s downtown have deteriorated through years from inattention and deferred maintenance.

All of the centers – West Greenville, Nicholtown, Juanita Butler on Burns Court across from Greenville High, Bobby Pearce on Townes Street Extension and David Hellams on Spartanburg Street – need extensive repairs, have limited or no handicapped accessibility and have drainage issues.  Continue reading...

City: There's more to come

Bookstore, entertainment venues among want list items for downtown

JUNE 2, 2011 10:29 a.m. (0)

In the past few years, apartments have been built in downtown.

A grocery store within walking distance of the downtown hotels and condominiums has been built. And a pharmacy, something guests at downtown hotels have requested for years, is now under construction on one of Main Street’s long vacant corners.  Continue reading...

These pets are raising funds

Greenville and Spartanburg Humane Societies receive hundreds of photos

JUNE 17, 2011 10:55 a.m. (0)

Kim Pitman, the executive director, said the funniest of the photos was a yellow lab dressed in a ballerina costume compete with tutu and a cat, who Pitman says, must have been 25 pounds that had stuffed itself into a very small inbox tray.

“It looked like an exploded Jiffy Pop popcorn container.”  Continue reading...

Local teens start revolution

Mauldin student leads campaign for healthier school lunches

JUNE 17, 2011 11:06 a.m. (1)

Fed up with the lack of real nutrition in school lunches, where he says, iceberg lettuce and a few tomatoes pass for a salad and a soy patty colored and flavored is called a hamburger, he decided to do something.

Riddle started a blog called Operation Food Revolution: Mauldin High School that called on students to make healthier food choices and demand more nutritious options.  Continue reading...

On Any Given Tuesday

Southern Greenville County's roads are full of bikers

JUNE 23, 2011 1:55 p.m. (0)

Donaldson – better known today as the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center (SCTAC) – is the granddaddy in a rich and diverse sporting heritage that dates back at least 25 years in Greenville.

“This is the one place where everybody knows they can hook up for a great ride on Tuesdays,” said Steve Baker, the event organizer for the Greenville Spinners and director of bike racing for Hincapie Sports.  Continue reading...

Fountain Inn to get its own high school

School board votes to buy land near Main St.

JUNE 30, 2011 10:50 a.m. (0)

That could soon change.

The Greenville County Schools board voted Tuesday night to buy 61.54 acres of land on Quillen Avenue just blocks off Main Street in Fountain Inn from three property owners for nearly $2.2 million.  Continue reading...

Students do the shuffle

School board votes to reassign nearly 1.500 students to new schools

JUNE 30, 2011 11:01 a.m. (0)

“We moved to the Highgrove subdivision mainly for Oakview Elementary,” said Nath Mahendranath. “It’s the kind of school we want our children to attend.”

But Highgrove is one of a long list of subdivisions that is being reassigned to a new school beginning the school year after next.  Continue reading...

City zoo consultant worked on Disney park

Zoo looks to overcome challenges of its location

JUNE 30, 2011 11:25 a.m. (0)

Seattle-based PJA Architects + Landscape Architects will analyze the zoo’s site at Cleveland Park and an undetermined site of as much as 50 acres within the city limits as well as the zoo’s facilities and animal collections, said Dana Souza, the city’s director of parks and recreation.

“Our visitors say there’s a real charm to the Greenville Zoo,” Souza said.  Continue reading...

$1.4 Million

Thanks to changes big and small, Bi-Lo Center maintains operational profit

JULY 7, 2011 12:17 p.m. (0)

According to a survey of 10 regional venues conducted by district staff only Bi-Lo has shown operational profitability, said Roger Newton, president and general manager of the arena district.

In all of the other districts (except Charlotte which didn’t respond to queries) tax money is being used to fund operational expenses, Newton said.  Continue reading...

Hyatt plaza plans cause pause

Architects told to bring back plans with a ‘softer human scale’

AUGUST 1, 2011 10:14 a.m. (0)

Architects with McMillan Pazden Smith presented a plan that would remove the fountain and replace it with a smaller water feature that would separate the outdoor dining area for a restaurant fronting the plaza and the plaza itself.

The removal of the existing fountain would allow for better use of the plaza space during events, architects said.  Continue reading...

Who's No. 1?

Turns out some lists don’t matter at all

JULY 30, 2011 10:30 a.m. (0)

How can one explain such a wide disparity from city to city in the same state?

A Journal analysis of the metrics used by Forbes indicates the differences are not as great as the rankings suggest, and omissions and distortions in the components used to calculate positioning make such “best” listings misleading at best, meaningless at worst.  Continue reading...

The path more taken

As the Swamp Rabbit Trail grows, so does its usage, leaving some concerned traffic crossing signs aren't quite sufficient.

JULY 27, 2011 12:55 p.m. (0)

Riders and walkers screamed warnings that were lost in the sound of screeching tires and billowing blue smoke of burning rubber.

Half a dozen cars stopped mere feet from the girl, who froze in the middle of the eastbound lanes.  Continue reading...

Toys for tots, and more

The Greenville Woodworkers Guild celebrates its 30-year anniversary

AUGUST 1, 2011 1:42 p.m. (0)

It’s one of dozens of projects the Greenville Woodworkers Guild members have worked on for the 31 local charities they support.

“We’ve done everything from toys to art carts to key fobs for the Children’s Hospital,” said Comstock, the Guild’s president.  Continue reading...

Jail Project, case closed

Nonprofit Law in Action advocated for indigent detainees' right to counsel

JULY 27, 2011 1:54 p.m. (0)

Some detainees spent as long as six months in jail waiting adjudication of charges that carried maximum sentences of 30 days.

Henry and Law In Action, the nonprofit organization he founded, started the Jail Project, a pilot program where volunteers and then paid investigators made daily jail visits and worked to try to gain the early and safe release on bond of those charged with minor crimes. For the past three years Law in Action has advocated for indigent detainees’ right to counsel.  Continue reading...

Orders up

Sixty-five restaurants opened in Greenville during the past 18 months and more are planned

AUGUST 11, 2011 11:04 a.m. (0)

During the past 18 months, new business licenses were issued for 65 restaurants that were opening for the first time, changing ownership or changing locations within the city limits.

That doesn’t include new restaurants still under construction or restaurants yet to be approved by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals.  Continue reading...

CCES earns green kudos

DHEC awards school the 2011 Protecting School of the year

AUGUST 18, 2011 11:05 a.m. (0)

The award was given for the school’s work in protecting the environment at all three school levels – elementary, middle and high school.

Greenville County Schools’ Taylors Elementary was named the Restore school of the year for its programs dealing with recycling.  Continue reading...

An era's end

The Esso Station, Greenville's last full-service gas station, is closed and for sale

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 12:56 p.m. (0)

In Greenville’s bustling downtown, the full service gas station operated for more than half a century and was the last one left until it closed in April.

Now the site is for sale.  Continue reading...

Skate on downtown

Greenville will have an outdoor ice skating rink this year

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 1:22 p.m. (0)

His family’s company, Ice Rink Engineering and Manufacturing, has built rinks for the Regis and Kelly Show’s Christmas show, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and a Lifetime Movie Channel movie shot in Nova Scotia.

For eight years, he’s wanted to bring a Rockefeller Center type outdoor rink to Greenville’s Main Street.  Continue reading...

Seniors regroup

A tough housing market brings change to assisted living centers

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 1:44 p.m. (0)

The independent-living component of that business was built on the premise that seniors would use cash from the sale of an appreciating home to buy into a lifestyle of independence with a promise of a continuum of health care for life.             [Continued on page 28]

That model got turned on its head by the Great Recession, the snails-pace recovery of the housing market, even more deterioration of housing values and, indeed, by the prospect that a home will never again be worth what it once was.  Continue reading...

Graduation programs cut

Most grants that helped fund the programs have expired

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 11:41 a.m. (0)

Most of the grants that have helped fund the program for the past five years have expired, forcing the program to be significantly cut back this year, said Grier Mullins, executive director of Public Education Partners, one of the organizations that started the program after realizing that one in four students who started high school in Greenville County didn’t finish.

One of the five schools in the program – Greer – will have a graduation coach this year to work with students at-risk of dropping out.  Continue reading...

Ruling expected soon on One development appeal

Results could come as early as Friday

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 11:47 a.m. (0)

Downtown residents Heidi Aiken and Anthony Conway and commercial property owner Mary Dana Lowie filed in circuit court an appeal of the city’s Design Review Board’s decision to approve the project planned for Main and Washington streets.

In their appeal, they claimed the board should not have granted the project a certificate of appropriateness because it did not meet the city’s design guidelines for downtown projects and that the board member who cast the deciding vote should have recused himself because of a conflict of interest.  Continue reading...

One will move on

Opponents' appeal against Washington St. development is unsuccessful

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 11:46 a.m. (0)

A judge has upheld the city’s Design Review Board’s decision to approve plans for the $100 million downtown development One.

Downtown residents Heidi Aiken and Anthony Conway and commercial property owner Mary Dana Lowie appealed the issuance of a certificate of appropriateness for the project, saying it did not meet the city’s design guidelines for downtown projects and that a board member who cast the deciding vote had a conflict of interest.  Continue reading...

Heads in beds numbers improve

Convention business sees a comeback

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 12:09 p.m. (0)

“Back in ’07 we were booking about 45,000 room nights a year,” he said. “In the pits of the recession (2009) we had about 28,000 room nights booked,” he said. “Last year it was up to about 32,000 and we’re on track to book 38,000 this year.”

Greenville is considered a mid-sized market and draws most of its convention business from the state and region, Bertka said. There are about 8,500 hotel rooms available in Greenville County and a slightly lower number in the city, he said.  Continue reading...

Here's proof

New distillery downtown proves moonshine’s alive and well

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 1:06 p.m. (0)

It is a remembrance, if not a homage, of the fierce warfare in the late 1800s and early 1900s between government revenuers and the Scots and Irish settlers who viewed making whiskey as a God-given right.

Joe Fenton and Richard Wenger, partners in Dark Corner and engineers in day jobs, created not only an authentic copper still, they transformed the interior of a 125-year-old building with a copper patina façade to showcase the working distillery, tasting bar, museum pieces and crafts of local artisans.  Continue reading...

Keeping up with the pandas

A day in the life of a Greenville Zoo vet

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 11:08 a.m. (0)

Despite surgery, Joey’s scrotal tumor keeps coming back. And with the location of the mass, it’s unlikely surgeons could get all of it and enough tissue surrounding it to prevent it from just growing back again.

Five radiation treatments could buy Joey some time, but just how much is uncertain.  Continue reading...

Work on zoo plan could start in October

Architect has led the design of exhibits at Disney's Animal Kingdom

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 11:17 a.m. (0)

Seattle-based PJA Architects + Landscape Architects were selected in June to analyze the pros and cons of keeping the zoo at its Cleveland Park location or moving it to an undetermined larger site of up to 50 acres within the city limits.

The company led the design of the animal exhibits and holding areas for Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.  Continue reading...

City ponders community centers

Construction drawings for David Hellams could be done by end of year

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 11:20 a.m. (0)

City Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza showed council five options for fixing up the center on Spartanburg Street – ranging from $654,189 to $998,194.

The city has five community centers.  Continue reading...

Cash for roads hits dead end

Greenville and Spartanburg are badly in need of funds to repair roads

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 11:25 a.m. (0)

The two counties combined need about $384 million in state funds and $11 million in federal funds to resurface and maintain state and federal roads.

State money for resurfacing is zero, said Jason Allison, maintenance engineer for the Department of Transportation District 3 which includes Oconee, Pickens, Greenville and Spartanburg counties.  Continue reading...

Med school becomes No. 136

Greenville Hospital System, USC earn preliminary approval for The University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville, joining the ranks of the nation's 135 other medical schools

OCTOBER 7, 2011 10:03 a.m. (0)

The University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville had earned preliminary approval — the biggest hurdle in the effort to expand doctor training in Greenville.

Youkey, the dean of what is now the nation’s 136th medical school, started emailing. Mike Riordan, president and chief executive officer of the Greenville Hospital System. Spence Taylor, the medical school’s senior associate dean for academic affairs and diversity. Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina. Michael Amiridis, USC provost.  Continue reading...

Good News

Plans revive Magnolia Park  town square center concept for Woodruff Road development

DECEMBER 1, 2011 6:11 p.m. (0)

If there was any doubt, the recent location of REI, Trader Joe’s and the expansion of The Shops at Greenridge confirm what most Greenville residents already knew – that the Interstate 85, Interstate 385 and Woodruff Road is one of the most sought-after retail locations in the city.

And retailers are starting to look for new locations again, after pulling back for a couple of years in a troubled economy.  Continue reading...

What do you want in a zoo?

Greenville Zoo consultants will hold meeting public meeting regarding plans for renovation

JANUARY 12, 2012 11:27 a.m. (0)

Or maybe it’s snakes, salamanders and scorpions.

Greenville residents will get their chance to tell consultants hired to work on a master plan for the Greenville Zoo what animals they’d like to see at the zoo, what they like about the facility in Cleveland Park and what they want changed.  Continue reading...

100 years and counting

Greenville Hospital System celebrates a milestone

JANUARY 12, 2012 11:48 a.m. (0)

City Hospital opened on Jan. 10, 1912 on Memminger Street. Antibiotics didn’t exist, babies delivered at home often died of complications and patients had a less than 50-50 chance.

Now, surgeons use robotic equipment to perform intricate surgeries, an array of medicines are available to treat all types of diseases and prescriptions are sent to pharmacies with a keyboard stroke on a computer.  Continue reading...

School board tentatively approves new district lines

Redistricting reflects demographic changes over past decade

JANUARY 12, 2012 12:04 p.m. (0)

It is unknown right now how many Greenville County residents will find themselves living in a different school board district under one of the two plans developed by the South Carolina Budget and Control Board for consideration by school trustees, said Roger Meek, board chairman.

“We know the area, we just don’t know the people right now,” he said.  Continue reading...

Website promotes green

New directory connects sustainable companies with consumers

JANUARY 12, 2012 12:19 p.m. (0)

There are consumers who want to support them.

Often times, the problem comes with hooking the two up together.  Continue reading...

Telling a story on one sheet of paper

Minibook Collective challenges artists to tell about the Greenville they know

JANUARY 12, 2012 1:06 p.m. (0)

And complicated.

That’s what Greenville artists and residents are being asked to do in the Minibook Collective, a project that got its start when Greenville artist Melinda Hoffman read about a project in the United Kingdom that challenged artists around the world to create small books using a single sheet of paper that created a sense of place and told the story of their home.  Continue reading...

Three schools make worst list

School officials call report bogus

JANUARY 19, 2012 1:56 p.m. (0)

NeighborhoodScout, a website for potential home buyers that includes crime statistics, school performance and real estate appreciation rates, listed Lakeview, Berea and Woodmont middle schools on its list of the country’s worst schools.

One Greenville County charter school, Wohali Academy, made the list. The school ceased operation at the end of December 2009.  Continue reading...

Gordon "lived a life that mattered"

Dr. Rudolph Gordon had hand in many of school district’s milestones

MARCH 1, 2012 12:23 p.m. (0)

He wanted to help every student perform to his or her potential and to provide the resources necessary to do so.

And students today – 12 years after Gordon retired – are still benefiting from two of Gordon’s major accomplishments: the creation of the school district’s five-pronged Education Plan and the beginning of what turned out to be a $1 billion school construction program that renovated, added to or built 70 schools designed to give all students equal facilities no matter where in the county they lived.  Continue reading...

Board could name new superintendent Saturday

Three finalists include two from South Carolina, one from Indiana

MARCH 22, 2012 12:40 p.m. (0)

Read more about the finalists here

Members of the Greenville County school board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. to choose from three finalists to replace Dr. Phinnize Fisher – Burke Royster, the man who has handled the school district’s day-to-day operations for the past six years as deputy superintendent; Dr. Lynn Moody, who has led one of South Carolina’s best school districts in York District 3; and Dr. Eugene White, a leading figure in national education circles who wrote a book on leadership without excuses.  Continue reading...

Divided school board names Royster superintendent

Man who has led school district’s day-to-day operations gets top job

MARCH 29, 2012 11:18 a.m. (0)

A divided school board approved Royster’s appointment through a 7 to 5 vote after 14 hours of deliberation behind closed doors Saturday and another three hours in executive session Tuesday night after the conclusion of its regular monthly meeting.

Voting to hire Royster were Megan Hickerson, Lynda Leventis-Wells, Tommie Reece, Danna Rholeder, Chuck Saylors, Pat Sudduth and board chairman Roger Meek.  Continue reading...

New ideas, connections shared at TEDx Greenville

Conference devoted to “ideas worth spreading” draws hundreds to Kroc Center

APRIL 5, 2012 2:38 p.m. (0)

With iPads, laptops and smartphones in hand, more than 400 people crowded into the Kroc Center auditorium last Friday for the third annual TEDx conference. Throughout the day, a dozen speakers shared their ideas – from an exploration of Greenville’s nascent electric vehicle ecosystem to how a (male) artist’s designer tampon cases can provoke dialogue about uncomfortable sexual issues.

Along with the sold-out Kroc Center crowd – some of whom started hitting Twitter with “#TEDxGVL” posts before the house lights went down at 8:30 a.m. – many more followed the talks live through streaming video at www.tedxgreenville.org.  Continue reading...

'Client H' investigation raises more troubling questions for DSN

Did Disabilities and Special Needs violations contribute to the death of a Greenville group home resident?

APRIL 19, 2012 10:42 a.m. (3)

Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs has been cited by state officials for violating the standard of care in the Feb. 11 death of Heather Dawn Worchester Lemon, 36, a resident at one of the agency’s group homes.

The citation came in a recertification review of the Civitan Community Residence and is detailed in a state Department of Health and Environmental Control report dated March 8. The report was made available to the Journal by sources close to the situation.  Continue reading...

Fisher: ‘It’s about the children’

Schools chief retires after 43 years in education

APRIL 19, 2012 10:48 a.m. (0)

Not surprising at all, since “doing what’s best for children” was Fisher’s mantra during her eight years as superintendent of the nation’s 49th largest school district.

Fisher’s last day as superintendent is Friday, which is also the first day that her former deputy superintendent Burke Royster is elevated to the district’s top administrative position.  Continue reading...

Greenville DSN interim director cuts staff

Disabilities agency is attempting to bring spending under control

APRIL 26, 2012 12:01 p.m. (0)

Greenville Disabilities and Special Needs interim director Patrick Haddon plans to eliminate, or has eliminated, five positions at the troubled agency in an effort to save $203,433.20, documents provided to the Journal by a source close to the situation show.

Haddon did not return the Journal’s requests for an interview as of press time Wednesday.  Continue reading...

3 resign from Greenville disabilities board

Chairwoman, son deny harassment; say they want to correct errors and fight defamation

MAY 11, 2012 8:40 a.m. (50)

Maureen Kriese and former board secretary Judith Gibson resigned on May 2; Maggi Bailey filed her resignation on May 3.

Roxie and Todd Kincannon visited the Journal’s offices on Wednesday for a two-hour session to discuss the resignation letters, allegations of harassment and the state of the agency since the firing of former executive director Brent Parker and hiring of Patrick Haddon as interim director.  Continue reading...

Disabilities agency faces County Council

Interim director, lawyer say they are working to correct litany of problems

MAY 18, 2012 8:43 a.m. (4)

The interim director of the Greenville Disabilities and Special Needs Board painted himself as rescuer of the embattled county agency at Tuesday’s long-anticipated meeting between the Greenville County Council and DSN board and staff.

Patrick Haddon told the council Committee of the Whole that he found the state-funded agency mired in red ink with a disturbing record of medical errors when he took the interim job in February – a choice that itself drew criticism due to the speed with which Haddon replaced his predecessor, who was fired, and Haddon’s lack of experience in the disabilities field.  Continue reading...

County Council disbands disabilities board

State disability staff will run local agency until new board can be created

MAY 25, 2012 9:16 a.m. (4)

The troubled Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board became history Tuesday evening when Greenville County Council unanimously voted to rescind the 1992 ordinance creating the board and voted to establish a new board under county supervision.

The move effectively begins the healing process for an embattled agency that has faced financial problems and a litany of criticisms from the public regarding transparency issues and the amount of care owed the 2,200 disabled clients it is chartered to serve.  Continue reading...

Staff changes underway at Greenville disabilities agency

State DDSN reviews contract and terminates attorney's employment

MAY 31, 2012 10:37 a.m. (2)

Greenville lawyer David Holmes’ contract as attorney for the defunct Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board has been terminated by the state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, agency spokeswoman Lois Park Mole told the Journal this week.

“State DDSN’s attorney reviewed the contract with Mr. Holmes and determined it could be terminated with 30 days notice,” Mole said. “Holmes has been sent a letter notifying him of this action and he has 30 days to turn over all materials related to Greenville DDSN matters.”  Continue reading...