And finally.

On having a home of their own

DECEMBER 18, 2009 10:04 a.m. (0)

Judy Jones is used to doing for others.

She raised five children as a single mother.

She brought a newborn granddaughter home from the hospital and reared her as her own, making sacrifices to pay for the piano lessons that will form the basis of her education at Lander University.  Continue reading...

 

The road home

For guardsmen, the trip was long, expensive

JANUARY 11, 2010 9:35 a.m. (1)

When National Guardsmen from South Carolina were left scrambling last month to find a way home for Christmas from training in Wisconsin before being deployed to Afghanistan, family members questioned why their loved ones should be expected to foot the bill for such an expense.

But officials with the S. C. National Guard and the U.S. Army insist the soldiers from the 174th MAC Combat Engineer Company in Wellford and the 1222nd Engineer Company in Fort Mill were treated exactly like soldiers everywhere else.  Continue reading...

 

Lawmakers want less LOLing while driving

Texting and talking while driving could soon carry a $100 fine

JANUARY 28, 2010 10:16 a.m. (1)

State Rep. Don Smith, R-Aiken, was non-committal following the first public hearing of a bill that could ban the majority of drivers from texting and gabbing on their cell phones while trolling South Carolina roads.

Smith is the main sponsor of the bill that would penalize offenders $100 if they are caught texting or dialing unless they are in a tow truck heading to a wreck, calling in an illegal activity, calling for medical help or trying to prevent an injury to a person or property.  Continue reading...

 

Texting while driving ban moves ahead

Subcommittee clears bill to make practice punishable by fine

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 10:23 a.m. (1)

A House subcommittee cleared a bill late Wednesday that would make driving a car while talking on a cell phone or texting away a fineable offense in South Carolina.

State Rep. Don Smith, R-Aiken, said the proposed bill will next go to the full education and highways committee, but could not say when. The Legislature is not in session next week, but state Rep. Phil Owens, R-Pickens, said he plans to bring it up in two weeks. Like Smith, Owens is a main co-sponsor of the bill.  Continue reading...

 

Sterling School springs a leak

Sealant in brick walls to blame

FEBRUARY 11, 2010 9:58 a.m. (0)

The water dripping down the brick walls at Sterling School is not from a leaky roof – a problem the Greenville County school district is accustomed to dealing with.

This moisture is coming from the bricks themselves, or rather the mortar holding them together. The Greenville construction firm Yeargin Potter Shackelford had agreed when building the school about two years ago to mix a sealant into the mortar.  Continue reading...

 

Accidents lead causes of death

A Journal Special Report on the leading causes of death in Greenville County

MARCH 15, 2010 9:34 a.m. (0)

Southern fried cooking. Cigarettes.

For an increasing number of South Carolinians, the two vices over time have become as lethal as a cocked and loaded handgun.

Not to mention a big part of why heart disease, cancer, stroke and lung disease are ranked as four of the five biggest killers in the Palmetto State.  Continue reading...

 

Squirrel hunter finds human remains

Investigators say body had been there for a year or more

MARCH 15, 2010 9:45 a.m. (0)

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An investigation is ongoing this morning to try and identify skeletal remains found Saturday in Greenville County by a squirrel hunter in an area where at least two other bodies have turned up over the past year and a half, authorities said.

The latest discovery happened about 4 p.m. Saturday off Kondros Circle, not far from Lakeside Drive, said Mike Ellis, the chief deputy coroner for Greenville County.  Continue reading...

 

Stone Avenue's 65 MPH problem

A master plan will address both looks and safety for the area

MARCH 29, 2010 10:46 a.m. (2)

About 400 cars were recently clocked on Stone Avenue going faster than 65 miles per hour, the speed limit is 35, Rick Hall a traffic engineer with Dover, Kohl & Partners told about 100 people at a wrap-up conference on early work on the Stone Avenue Master Plan.

“It points out the need for changes to make Stone a walkable, liveable street,” he said.  Continue reading...

 

St. Francis receives $1 million

JUNE 14, 2010 10:01 a.m. (0)

Bon Secours St. Francis Health System’s bone marrow transplant unit will soon more than double in size thanks to $1 million in donations from employees and community members.

The unit is the only one of its kind in the Upstate and one of two dedicated inpatient transplant units in South Carolina.  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...

 

Life and the Liberty Fellowship

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010 8:15 a.m. (1)

Sometimes help can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Erin Jones left her small Midwestern town to study education and then earn a master’s degree in theater from the fundamentalist Christian Bob Jones University, where she met and married the Jones family heir, Stephen Jones.

Betsy Fleming left a liberal-leaning family in Spartanburg to attend Harvard University, then studied at the London College of Arts and ultimately earned a doctorate from Yale University.  Continue reading...

 

Breathing, not so easy here

New ozone requirements will mean big changes

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 8:35 p.m. (0)

Spartanburg officials expect the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for ozone to tighten considerably soon, a change that is bound to have profound influence on how the Upstate does business and on overall health of residents.

In 2008 EPA set the primary acceptable ozone level at 0.075 parts per million (PPM). This year they are expected to lower that limit to between 0.060 to 0.070 PPM.

Data from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control shows Spartanburg County was significantly out of compliance with the existing ozone standard in the Aug. 13 and 14 time period with the ozone monitor in the northern part of the county recording a level of more than 0.080 PPM.  Continue reading...

 

Start-up delayed

Electric car company pushes launch to December

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

The delay in startup of electric cars in Duncan will not affect the company’s state and local incentives package, but it will push back hiring at the facility, a company spokesman said this week.

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...

 

The week in pictures: 11/06/10

Look who's in the Journal

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

This week:

 Continue reading...

 

Voices from Iran

Upstate native returns for reading at Hub City

DECEMBER 3, 2010 3:03 p.m. (7)

Author Elizabeth Eslami never called herself Iranian-American prior to her debut novel, “Bone Worship,” which was released in January.

Raised in Gaffney by her doctor father, originally from Tehran, and her American mother, a nurse-turned-homemaker, she often overlooked her Iranian background. Although not autobiographical, Eslami explores her roots along with her character, Jasmine Fahroodhi, who was also brought up in a small Southern town by an Iranian father and American mother.

Eslami is returning to the Upstate Dec. 11 for family time and a book reading and signing in Spartanburg at Hub City Bookshop.  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)

Heritage Green is having an identity crisis.

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...

 

The Stone Avenue plan

Proposal has some business owners worried about traffic, economic development

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

Some say Stone Avenue could be a lot like the West End – a place where families live and hang out, a place filled with shoppers and unique businesses and a place where people intend to go, not just go through.

“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...

 

Gen Why

New online network aims to capture the 21-35-year-old audience, from the Upstate and beyond

FEBRUARY 24, 2011 11:55 a.m. (0)

A national website with live anchors giving newscasts 24 hours a day in the style of Jon Stewart launches Tuesday from the Upstate.

OneMinuteNews.com targets 21-34 year olds by linking news with social networking. Its founders hope by making news a touch away it will challenge the myth that Generation Y is not interested in news.  Continue reading...

 

The week in pictures: 2/25/11

Look who's in the Journal this week

FEBRUARY 25, 2011 8:43 a.m. (0)

The Palmetto Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) held its Inclusivity Conference 2011 at Christ Church Episcopal School. The day-long conference featured speakers, presentations and break-out work sessions designed to foster cultural awareness and multicultural education.

Stone Academy presented “ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ by the Incomparable Dr. Seuss’” at Furman University. The school-wide production was funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission. Students in grades first through fifth, strings students, Percussion Ensemble, Play Production, Stone Singers, and the Dance Ensemble were directed in the original production by Stone’s related arts teachers.  Continue reading...

 

A baseball story

Bob Jones University premiers movie

APRIL 4, 2011 10:44 a.m. (0)

Screenwriter David Burke says there are three reasons why “Milltown Pride” will resonate with audiences in Greenville and the Upstate.

“Milltown Pride,” the newest production by Bob Jones University’s Unusual Films, tells the story of a young man who dreams of playing professional baseball.

But to do so, he has to defy his father and leave his privileged life for the local textile mill.  Continue reading...

 

Main Street Rising

$100 million, two-tower complex planned

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

After years of starts, stops and stumbling blocks, the pieces needed to redevelop the old Woolworth’s site on Main and Washington streets finally started falling into place.

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)

For three years, the city sought advice from developer Bob Hughes on ways to pull off a tough but critically important development at the site of the demolished Woolworth, a Main Street Greenville focal point rich in history.

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 all good news

Upstate native plays role in new bank that will be headquartered in his hometown

JUNE 2, 2011 10:21 a.m. (0)

When Walter Davis needed a role model on how to be successful in business, he had to look no farther than his grandfather.

In the days of segregation, Leroy Davis had one of the black-owned grocery stores in Greenville.

He owned a service station and a cemetery, too.  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)

With the announcement that Anthropologie will be an anchor tenant in One, the $100 million mixed-used development on a key block of North Main Street, another of downtown Greenville’s needs can be checked off city officials’ want list.

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...

 

Yes, it's really that hot

JUNE 6, 2011 3:14 p.m. (0)

State officials are warning that conditions are likely Tuesday for increased ground-level ozone concentrations in several Upstate counties.

DHEC is forecasting an Orange Ozone Action Day for Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union counties.  Continue reading...

 

Local, for the long term

CertusBank continues its steady growth in the Upstate

JUNE 23, 2011 10:01 a.m. (0)

CertusBank has gone from acquisition of a failed bank in Easley to the nation’s largest black-controlled bank, but any distinction as a “minority” bank is dismissed by its principals. The preferable adjective is “community.”

Charles Williams, vice chairman, put it simply:  “We are a bank. We are involved in our communities.  Like everyone else, we happen to look the way we look.   We’ve all had stellar careers. We consider ourselves great bankers.  That’s how we view this.” Click here to read about the officers and directors of Blue Ridge and Certus.

With financial help from the FDIC, CertusBank on Jan. 21 took over CommunitySouth Bank and Trust in Easley, planting headquarters there until it can move to downtown Greenville as an anchor tenant in the first phase of a $100-million office and retail complex.  Continue reading...

 

Ruling expected soon on One development appeal

Results could come as early as Friday

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

A judge could rule as early as Friday on the appeal filed by the opponents of One, a $100 million downtown development city officials say will help revitalize North Main Street.

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...

 

BJU board member resigns

Alumni-circulated petition took issue with how Phelps handled abuse allegations

DECEMBER 1, 2011 7:59 p.m. (9)

The Rev. Chuck Phelps has resigned from the Bob Jones University cooperating board after a group of alumni circulated a petition asking the university to remove  Phelps because of the way the minister handled allegations that a church member raped a 15-year-old girl in his congregation.

Bob Jones III, BJU chancellor and grandson of the founder, read Phelps' letter of resignation this morning at a regularly scheduled board meeting. A statement on the university's website said Phelps did not want to "distract distract BJU from its mission."

“We are grateful to Dr. Phelps for his many years of loyal service to his alma mater as a member of the Board of Trustees,” the statement quoted  Jones as saying.  Continue reading...

 

Two actors, 15 roles

“Stones in His Pocket” showcases actors’ talents

DECEMBER 1, 2011 6:16 p.m. (0)

Thomas Azar, one of the cast members in The Warehouse Theatre’s production of “Stones in His Pocket,” calls the play an actor’s play.

Two actors – Azar and Jason Shipman – play 15 roles, ranging from an 8-year-old kid to a 70-something senior.  Continue reading...

 

BJU seeks accreditation

Accreditation will make it easier for students to get financial aid

DECEMBER 8, 2011 10:47 a.m. (0)

Bob Jones University officials have decided to undertake the laborious process of seeking accreditation from the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges, which will make it easier for students to get federal financial aid and for graduates to get into graduate school.

Over the years the fundamentalist Christian university has rejected the idea of seeking accreditation because officials thought such oversight would require changes to the university that would compromise core beliefs.

The instructions for the application are 32 pages long and ask for information the university has held closely through the years such as detailed financial statements, qualifications of faculty and administrators and the responsibilities of board members. The application is as thorough as how big the stacks area is for books in the library and what is the university’s long-term debt.  Continue reading...

 

The Stone Avenue potential

New shops give glimpse of what could be on its way

JANUARY 5, 2012 1:29 p.m. (0)

Stone Avenue and the West End have a lot of similarities.

Both are near some of Greenville’s historic residential neighborhoods.

Both lead into downtown.  Continue reading...

 

Laws and the New Year

From phone greetings to new holidays, lawmakers will have plenty to talk about in 2012

JANUARY 5, 2012 2:14 p.m. (0)

Drivers would be prohibited from text messaging or talking on cell phones under multiple bills filed in advance of the 2012 South Carolina legislative session.

State Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, wants to require applicants for unemployment benefits to pass a drug test before collecting any money and take away benefits for anybody who works part-time.

Sen. Glenn Reese, D-Spartanburg, has proposed “Caylee’s Law,” legislation that would make it a felony to fail to report to law enforcement that a child has gone missing.  Continue reading...

 

Karate and algebra, a winning combination

Wired Minds and The Empowerment Zone provide a unique tutoring experience

JANUARY 19, 2012 2:15 p.m. (0)

Adam sharpened his math skills while walking on his hands.

“Whatever works is our motto here,” said Barry Horst, director of the Wired Minds tutoring center on South Suber Road in Greer, right across from Riverside High School.

Adam is a middle school student who went to Wired Minds to work on his algebra skills and in the process, self confidence, too.  Continue reading...

 

BJU's Bob Taylor to retire

Dean of College of Arts and Sciences  is stepping down after 50 years of continuous service at BJU

JANUARY 26, 2012 5:06 p.m. (0)

It was an old mathematics professor at Bob Jones University who, however unwittingly, set the course for Bob Taylor’s life in the late 1950s by urging him to go on for graduate level degrees in math and return to BJU to teach.

“Her name was Daniela Smith,” Taylor said. “She was from Texas.”

Taylor is stepping down as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in May after 50 years of continuous service at BJU. To those who know him best 50 years seems like about the right number.  Continue reading...