"spartanburg" Tagged Stories

Milliken: The Man

A legacy for Spartanburg, and it keeps on giving

DECEMBER 9, 2009 3:01 p.m. Comments (4)

Roger Milliken once told Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnet about a garden he visited in England.

Its curator told him the man who planted the garden never got to see the full magnitude of what he had created.

Many say the same about Milliken, a private man who reinvented his family business into what is regarded as the nation’s best-run textile and chemical company, who is credited for the rebirth of the Republican Party in what had been a staunchly Democratic state and whose influence can be seen in almost every square foot of the Wofford College campus. Continue reading...

Small businesses get help

$2 million to be available this quarter

JANUARY 21, 2010 10:28 a.m. Comments (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...

Going with the grain

Residents say naming the western end of Spartanburg's downtown the "grain district" will spur further development

JANUARY 23, 2010 10:36 a.m. Comments (0)

Tony Forest didn’t have to worry much about where his customers were going to park when he opened Carriage House Wines on West Main Street a little more than four years ago.

Except for Sonny’s Brick Oven Pizza, there weren’t any other businesses. Continue reading...

SPARTA gets review

Spartanburg bus rider audit under way

JANUARY 21, 2010 10:53 a.m. Comments (0)

Aboard a minibus on the North Church Street route 10 riders – men and women, most of them middle-aged or older – turned to 11, 12, 15 and then a precarious 19 before folks started getting off at the Spartanburg Regional Hospital stop.

Initially silent, conversation turned to the crowded conditions before long. Continue reading...

Free medicine

Spartanburg County's employee clinic gets high marks from patients

FEBRUARY 18, 2010 9:58 a.m. Comments (0)

Tony Bell was visiting the clinic he helped set up for Spartanburg County employees recently, and the clinic’s advising physician happened to be there.

“My shoulder has been bothering me forever and a day,” said Bell, sporting a blue canvas arm sling late last week. “He said, ‘Why don’t you get an MRI?’ I hadn’t gotten back to my office before they were calling me to set it up.” Continue reading...

The other Greenville

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

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

Neighborhood activists are outraged it took the city of Greenville 465 days to finish work on the Spartanburg Street bridge where a young woman died in November of 2008 after her car plunged into Richland Creek.

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...

Spartanburg junior high will close

Whitlock Junior High had been under federal, state scrutiny to turn around student achievement

APRIL 7, 2010 3:50 p.m. Comments (1)

Whitlock Junior High will be shutting down after classes wrap up May 28.

The announcement, the first concrete step in a larger proposed restructuring of the district, came Wednesday morning in a briefing to members of the media and the district’s principals. A general announcement to the public was embargoed until 4 p.m. today after school personnel could be notified. Continue reading...

Attorney says District 7 broke law with disclosure delay

APRIL 7, 2010 4:25 p.m. Comments (0)

The Spartanburg District 7 Board of Trustees took a major vote Tuesday night.

But the implications of that vote – which were to close Whitlock Junior High and the Madden Center – were unknown to the public until district personnel explained it in a closed-door media briefing the following morning. Continue reading...

The gender difference

MAY 20, 2010 9:47 a.m. Comments (0)

After 22 years in education, Tammy Greer has seen all sorts of change, including one she never envisioned would be so popular: single-gender classrooms.

“I had never even heard of it when I started,” the Boiling Springs Intermediate principal said. Continue reading...

The ‘Southwest Effect’

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

MAY 21, 2010 9:13 a.m. Comments (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...

Spartanburg signs LGBT proclamation

Some council members, residents say he shouldn't have done it

JUNE 3, 2010 9:15 a.m. Comments (3)

Civil rights are not just a racial issue, Spartanburg Mayor Junie White said.

That why White signed a proclamation making June 19 Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Day. Continue reading...

Mayfair has lofty goals

JUNE 14, 2010 9:13 a.m. Comments (0)

The tenants at Mayfair Lofts generally aren’t locals but they have helped make the mill restoration project one of Spartanburg County’s success stories, said Pace Burt of Burt Development.

Perched alongside a major rail line on the edge of the City of Spartanburg, Mayfair Lofts is sandwiched between major shopping, and business opportunities as well as having easy access to colleges and the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg. Continue reading...

Facebook + Teachers = privacy questions

JULY 16, 2010 5:00 a.m. Comments (0)

Tagging, poking and friending may be fine on Facebook, but private information from school district employees' social web pages can end up in the district e-mail system.

Spartanburg District Five Director of Technology Tom Taylor said signing up for sites like Facebook with a work e-mail is opening the door for private information to be seen. Continue reading...

40 cold cases in Spartanburg County

Investigators say time is the trouble

JULY 21, 2010 6:34 a.m. Comments (1)

Crystal Bradshaw was getting her life back together.

The 28-year-old mother had been separated from her husband for several months and had recently purchased a home on Northbrook Street off Highway 9 in Boiling Springs. Continue reading...

How First National Bank of the South failed

JULY 21, 2010 6:58 a.m. Comments (0)

Business was booming for First National Bank of the South in 2007, just eight years into its founding with ambition to grow from one Spartanburg office into a statewide force in banking.

That ambition crashed last Friday when the FDIC put the bank into receivership, closed its doors and sold it to a private equity firm created to scoop up failed banks.

First National reopened as business as usual Monday under the new owners. Continue reading...

GSP plans expansion, renovations

Infrastructure upgrades to help reduce operational costs

JULY 22, 2010 7:11 a.m. Comments (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...

When passion meets purpose

AUGUST 17, 2010 7:29 a.m. Comments (0)

District 7 Superintendent Russell Booker’s passion and devotion got him selected for the next Liberty Fellowship class; those are some of the same traits that saw him tapped for the top schools slot in the city of Spartanburg.

At 40, Booker is a man who loves his job, his family and the community he’s been called to serve. He is an intense man with kind eyes that urge people to talk about themselves and their dreams.

His favorite quote “Relationships are all there is,” is by Margaret Wheatley and sums up his philosophy of schools administration and life. Continue reading...

AIR PLANS

Spartanburg’s largest property prepares for its next phase

AUGUST 18, 2010 8:00 a.m. Comments (0)

A $2.5 million renovation and upgrade project at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport is the first phase of a project that would see the facility increase its economic impact on the area from $10 million to more than $30 million.

“It’s the kind of thing that is going to require long-term commitment from the city,” said Dick Lewis, director of aviation for the Concord (N.C.) Regional Airport, a city-run facility located on the outskirts of Charlotte. Continue reading...

City will pay millions for landfill cap

AUGUST 17, 2010 6:37 a.m. Comments (0)

The city of Spartanburg is on the hook to pay all of the estimated $5.5 million to $6 million that it will cost to put an earthen cap on the old Arkwright landfill, city officials have confirmed.

Costs could be higher, said City Manager Ed Memmott, but are not expected to exceed the high end of estimates. Continue reading...

County plays clean up

Clerk of Court has thousands in unclaimed child support

AUGUST 17, 2010 7:38 a.m. Comments (0)

A steady stream of phone calls have been flowing into the Spartanburg County Clerk of Court’s office since the announcement that $900,000 in unpaid child support and restitution payments have been discovered languishing in county accounts.

Hope Blackley, the recently appointed clerk of court, said the backlog of funds dates from 1980. Some of the amounts are small, $2 or $3, and others (mostly restitution payments), run into thousands of dollars. Continue reading...

Timken scores big with bearings

Upstate plant project is part of $26-million contract

AUGUST 17, 2010 7:43 a.m. Comments (0)

Production has started at Timken’s Tyger River plant in Union County on massive bearings for use in wind turbines for China’s Goldwind Science and Technology Company, the fifth largest wind power maker in the world, as part of a $26 million contract.

Under the terms of the contract Timken provides engineering, advanced bearings, and condition monitoring equipment for Goldwind, said Lorrie Paul Crum, spokeswoman for Timken, a Ohio-based company that has operations in 27 countries and $3.1 billion in sales in 2009. Continue reading...

Coffee, and so much more

Hub City Bookshop brings literary world together

AUGUST 17, 2010 7:59 a.m. Comments (0)

Little River Roasting Co. has been in Spartanburg since 2002 but it wasn’t until the The Coffee Bar opened in the historic Masonic Temple downtown that the company had a retail presence.

The Coffee Bar and Cakehead Bakery opened up shop in the building with the Hub City Bookshop. Continue reading...

City of Spartanburg will pay millions for landfill cap

AUGUST 26, 2010 8:14 a.m. Comments (0)

The city of Spartanburg is on the hook to pay all of the estimated $5.5 million to $6 million that it will cost to put an earthen cap on the old Arkwright landfill, city officials have confirmed.

Costs could be higher, said City Manager Ed Memmott, but are not expected to exceed the high end of estimates. Continue reading...

He’s the man in the mirror

AUGUST 26, 2010 7:37 a.m. Comments (0)

For Christopher Adam Turner, self-portraits are a form of therapy.

Some people may talk to friends about issues going on in their lives but Turner picks up a paint brush. Continue reading...

Sport aircraft grow in popularity here

AUGUST 26, 2010 9:10 a.m. Comments (0)

The boom in light sport aircraft will help fuel growth at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport, said Darwin Simpson, airport manager.

Light sport aircraft are a Federal Aviation Administration approved class of planes that require less training (a FAA Sport Pilot certificate and a driver’s license is all that’s needed to fly) and medical certification than general aviation aircraft, yet have adequate speed and range to be useful beyond simply being fun to fly. Continue reading...

Parking in the City of Spartanburg?

AUGUST 26, 2010 6:24 a.m. Comments (0)

Parking scofflaws in the city of Spartanburg could be facing stiffer fines and the prospects their car will be immobilized by a boot device attached to a wheel.

City Council is expected to take up the proposal next month. Continue reading...

Denny's income drops

AUGUST 27, 2010 7:08 a.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg-based Denny’s Corp. net income fell 42 percent in the second quarter, the company reported. Continue reading...

The fine print

By Dick Hughes

AUGUST 30, 2010 9:01 a.m. Comments (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...

Spartanburg's $17.3 million

It's a new day for the county's parks plan

OCTOBER 13, 2010 7:34 a.m. Comments (0)

Just four years after getting into the parks business, Spartanburg County has launched an ambitious $17.3 million parks building program that officials say they hope it will return an equal amount in economic impact in the first year of operations.

“If things go as we hope they will the Tyger River Park will play host to several regional tournaments next year that should generate an economic impact at least equal to the total cost of the parks building program,” said Jeff Caton, director of parks for the county.

Spartanburg is trying to come a long way in a short amount of time since it is the last major metropolitan county in the state to create a recreation department, Caton said, and it has the lowest allocation per resident, $23 dollars, to pay for recreation. Continue reading...

Breathing, not so easy here

New ozone requirements will mean big changes

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 8:35 p.m. Comments (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...

Under water, out of luck

Spartanburg’s flood plain maps will soon be updated, leaving some residents not as high and dry as they once were

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 8:41 p.m. Comments (0)

Homeowners concerned that their property might be included in the new flood zone map can go to the Spartanburg County Graphic Information System Web site and click on GIS mapping program.

Once the program comes up on the screen click on the mapping pulldown at the top right corner and click layer choices and select flood zones and aerials 2009. Continue reading...

This season at the Chap

From Glenn Miller to Second City, season has diversity, depth

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 9:04 p.m. Comments (0)

Setting the season lineup for the Chapman Cultural Center’s CenterStage is a balancing act.

The schedule needs to have some crowd favorites that are sure to be slam dunks at the box office and acts that push the envelope and are outside the norm for the Spartanburg arts community.

“We feel a strong obligation not only to give the community what it wants, but also give it things that are different,” said Steve Wong, marketing director for the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg. “Part of our responsibility artistically is to broaden horizons.” Continue reading...

Caterpillar, lost

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

Caterpillar’s decision to build a new plant in North Carolina, rejecting Spartanburg and Montgomery, Ala., is causing angst and puzzlement across the Upstate.

“I’ve had more people talk to me about Caterpillar and the loss of them than any other project in 20 years, going back to when we recruited BMW,” said H. David Britt, vice chairman of Spartanburg County Council and chairman of the economic recruitment and development committee. Continue reading...

The week in pictures

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

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

Inspired

Leah Brown, one of Hub-Bub’s first artists-in-residence, returns for installation

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 9:07 a.m. Comments (0)

When Leah Brown saw the email offering a space in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. rent-free for somebody who had an idea for a business in the space, she got right to work.In 10 minutes, she threw together a business plan to turn the space into an art gallery.

The landlord loved her idea – one of more than 100 he had received – and Brown was suddenly an art gallery owner.

“In a matter of minutes, I went from having nothing to having a gallery,” said Brown, who opened 18 Rabbit Gallery in 2009. Continue reading...

Reading lives on here

School district helps keep kids' noses buried in books

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 1:45 p.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg High School’s Seven Reads climaxes with a pep rally like gathering in the gym for all 1,500 students that’s part motivational speech and a glimpse of just what makes a best-selling author tick.

But it is reading that lives at the heart of the story and a community that has pulled together to give all of the students a book of their own to read over the summer. One book each for 1,500 kids.

“It’s a way to get the students at Spartanburg High really involved with reading and to connect with the authors,” said McKenzie Wilson, a junior, during a telephone interview after school last Friday. Continue reading...

County Council notes

From the September 16 meeting

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010 1:48 p.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg County Council voted to table an ordinance that would have authorized the county recreation district to issue a general obligation bond for up to $1.6 million to pay for a building that would be used for office space, public meetings and events. Continue reading...

Warhol is here

Exhibitions boost city's cultural possibilities

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 1:53 p.m. Comments (3)

For more information, go to www.uscupstate.edu/warhol.

Jane Nodine almost threw away the University of South Carolina Upstate’s chance at owning a collection of photographs by famous pop artist Andy Warhol.

Back in 2007, Nodine was cleaning papers off her desk when a letter with the Andy Warhol Foundation’s return address caught her attention. Continue reading...

Start-up delayed

Electric car company pushes launch to December

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 2:20 p.m. Comments (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...

City Council notes

From the Sept. 27 meeting

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 10:41 a.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg expects to save about $60,000 a year by refinancing $16.7 million in tax increment bonds for the St. John-Daniel Morgan Redevelopment Project and special obligation bonds for the Renaissance Park Project, city council was told Monday night.

Passed on first reading, the complex refinancing package would take advantage of favorable interest rates, Chris Story, assistant city manager, told the council. The exact amount of the savings will not be known until after the bonds are issued and the interest rate is set. Continue reading...

AFL buys Verrillon, Inc.

Specialty fibers company acquired for undisclosed price

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 11:09 a.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg-based AFL has purchased Verrillon, Inc. of Massachusetts for an undisclosed price, AFL officials announced last week.

“It won’t mean any new jobs locally,” said Corie Culp, public relations manager for AFL. “But the folks up in Massachusetts will keep their jobs.” Continue reading...

Snap it up

Snapshot Spartanburg begins Oct. 6

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 11:19 a.m. Comments (0)

As a professional editorial and commercial photographer, Ian Curcio has access to some of the best photographic equipment on the market.

Sometimes, though, he just uses the camera on his iPhone. Continue reading...

The week in pictures

Look who's in the Journal Oct. 1-7, 2010

OCTOBER 3, 2010 2:16 p.m. Comments (0)

Th Continue reading...

Landfull

Waste management may request an expansion at a westside dump

OCTOBER 14, 2010 10:38 a.m. Comments (0)

Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency appear to contradict claims by Waste Management that the Palmetto Landfill’s ability to produce methane gas for use by BMW is poised to decline.

A possible decline is a reason Waste Management might give for seeking to expand the landfill. The company won’t decide whether to seek permission to expand before Jan. 1, an official with Waste Management, owners of the private dump, told the Journal last week.

The nation’s largest commercial trash disposal company approached BMW recently with the idea of expanding the landfill with an eye toward extending the dump’s capacity to produce methane. Continue reading...

Clothed for business

South Carolina company weaves conservation into new clothing line

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

Zachery Painter and Sara Raynor grew up as distant in geography and lifestyle as the Upstate and the Lowcountry, but share the dedication to preserving the respective identifies of the soft textile industry in the Upstate and the Loggerhead Sea Turtle in the Lowcountry.

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. Comments (0)

Greenville County holds onto its position as South Carolina’s richest and most competitive banking environment by deposits and banking offices, according to the FDIC’s 2010 summary of market share.

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...

Flower power

Locally written play brings breast cancer awareness to stage

OCTOBER 21, 2010 12:54 p.m. Comments (0)

Five women – each with their own flaws – would have never been brought together if it hadn’t been for Abigail Elizabeth Monroe Taylor.

But there they are together at a funeral home in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., to pay respects to their friend who has died of breast cancer.

Taylor, who changed her name from Polly Lou Clementine and got a job at Dollywood to start her road to stardom, sends the women off on an adventure that includes Elvis and others. Continue reading...

History's his thing

Slave cabin expert to speak at lunch and learn

NOVEMBER 14, 2010 2:12 p.m. Comments (0)

Slaves were marginalized in life and shortchanged by history, but their memory lives on in the dwellings they occupied.

“Lots of places spend inordinate amounts of money on preserving the big house on plantations,” said Joseph McGill, a program officer with the National Trust for Historic Preservation office in Charleston. “But it was the slaves who drove the economic engine of the plantation system and at many sites the places where slaves lived are rapidly vanishing.”

Southerners have a love affair with the idea of plantations; moonlight and magnolias is an easy sell for tourists visiting one of the many plantation homes converted into bed and breakfast inns across the South. Continue reading...

Orders up

Denny's focuses on what's new and improving

NOVEMBER 14, 2010 2:37 p.m. Comments (0)

After some tough years, Denny’s, the iconic Spartanburg restaurant chain, is experiencing upward trends.

Guest traffic is up, new restaurants are opening in travel centers and on college campuses, a café-style Denny’s is being tested, new leadership is falling into place, profits are edging up and the stock price is rebounding.

A lingering dispute with Nelson Marchioli, who was dumped in June as chief executive officer and from the board, was settled, although at a price. Continue reading...

The George

It's already paying off

NOVEMBER 19, 2010 12:45 p.m. Comments (0)

George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics at USC Upstate is winding up its first fall semester and the impact of the school on the City of Spartanburg is already evident.

“I can’t provide numbers this early on,” says Patty Bock, the economic development director of the City of Spartanburg, “but the USC Upstate Business School has definitely made a positive economic impact on the city, and it goes beyond our downtown.”

She says between faculty, staff and students, the school known as “The George” brings in nearly 1,000 people into downtown every day. Continue reading...

Voices from Iran

Upstate native returns for reading at Hub City

DECEMBER 3, 2010 3:03 p.m. Comments (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...

Spartanburg Marriott changes ownership

Included: plans to expand

DECEMBER 12, 2010 1:15 p.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg’s troubled Marriott at Renaissance Park will be under new ownership around Jan. 1 if all of the pieces fall together, said Greenville’s Andrew Cajka, president of Southern Hospitality Group, one of three partners seeking to close the deal.

The property is under contract with Bridgewater Capital Solutions of Atlanta, the current owner of the hotel building. The city owns the 4.7 acres the hotel occupies.

Changes to the city-owned lease with Bridgewater cleared City Council at first reading Monday and a final reading is on track for approval at next week’s meeting. The changes to the lease would enable SMR Hospitality LLC, the new potential owner, to finalize the sale. Continue reading...

Have music, will travel

Spartanburg Music Trail celebrates contributions of local musicians to national, international music scene

JANUARY 6, 2011 12:02 p.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg’s musical heritage did not start or stop with the Marshall Tucker Band.

While the band is arguably the headliner of the influential musical acts to come from Spartanburg, it is by far not the only one that has gone on to national or international prominence. Continue reading...

Preserved?

Hampton Heights residents have serious questions

JANUARY 27, 2011 3:55 p.m. Comments (0)

A house in the historic Hampton Heights neighborhood restored by the now-defunct Preservation Trust was found to have black mold, crumbling framework and deteriorating floor joists and roof rafters.

Earl and Sharon Troglin, owners of 144 W. Hampton Ave., sued the trust and the city of Spartanburg and reached a mediated settlement with the trust, the contractor and the home inspector.

The city settled with the Troglins before the settlement was negotiated, City Manager Ed Memmott and Councilwoman Linda Dougan said. Continue reading...

Art's all in their family

Cowpens husband-wife pottery team to participate in Smithsonian craft event

JANUARY 27, 2011 4:03 p.m. Comments (0)

Bending over backwards is something Rosa Eugene has had to work on all her life.

As a girl, she had a habit of telling people the truth point-blank, never stopping to think whether the words coming out of her mouth would hurt the people to whom they were directed. Continue reading...

"Life is short, Art endures."

Chapman Cultural Center makes plans for its next phase of growing here

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 3:48 p.m. Comments (0)

After a perfect storm of rising costs associated with the opening of the Chapman Center and flat revenues due to the recession, the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg is back on track in its fund raising efforts.

H. Perry Mixter, outgoing director of the partnership, said, “It wasn’t so much that fundraising slipped (that income was fairly steady) but that our expenses had jumped considerably (in 2009 through 2010) due to the opening of Chapman. We knew this was coming.”

Mixter said the partnership’s income from donations has remained steady at about $800,000 a year while expenses jumped sharply to around $1.2 million. Continue reading...

Doing just swimmingly

Converse swim team finishes undefeated in dual-meet season, has national qualifiers

FEBRUARY 10, 2011 1:49 p.m. Comments (0)

Jess Mason could have gone to an established collegiate swimming program but she decided she to be a part of building a championship-caliber program at Converse College.

“I wanted to help build something special,” she said.

And the freshman who swam for Mauldin High and Team Greenville is. Continue reading...

Southwest reports 'solid bookings' for GSP flights

Service will begin March 13

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

Southwest Airline’s bookings ahead the March 13 inauguration of service from Greenville-Spartanburg and Charleston “look very strong,” said Gary Kelly, the airline’s top officer.

“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...

Milliken's final wishes revealed

Will outlines how fortune will be doled out

FEBRUARY 19, 2011 3:19 p.m. Comments (0)

There’s dignity in work, the late Roger Milliken told his descendants in a letter written on Milliken & Co. letterhead in 2001 and included in his 111-page will filed in Spartanburg County Probate Court.

The late textile magnate, who ran the day-to-day operations of his family’s textile empire until he was 90 and remained chairman of the board until his death last December at the age of 95, said in the two-page letter he hoped trusts he established would generate enough income to enable his descendants to actively pursue any career.

But, he wrote he hoped the trusts did not provide so much income that his five children and nine grandchildren would do nothing of consequence. He wanted the money to enable them to achieve true self-fulfillment and the happiness that flows there from. Continue reading...

Track Star

Trevor Bayne made history by winning the Daytona 500 this year, and this racing whiz has connections here

FEBRUARY 24, 2011 8:55 a.m. Comments (0)

In Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne’s family, racing is in the blood.

The 20-year-old Bayne’s grandfather, William Bayne, raced in the Upstate circuit for years both against Eddie Hawkins and as a member of Hawkins’ racing team, the now retired veteran racer said.

“Trevor’s daddy, Rocky, and his brother both played with my boy around the shop when there were kids,” Hawkins said. Both Baynes graduated from Hillcrest High School and lived in Simpsonville. Continue reading...

The DuPre House

Could give one local school room to grow

MARCH 3, 2011 2:43 p.m. Comments (0)

Spartanburg city officials are negotiating with the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) to restore the DuPre House for use by the school’s new campus, possibly as a conference center, Mayor Junie White said last week.

A spokesman for the college would not comment on talks with the city about DuPre.

The home is located on Howard Street and abuts the construction site for the VCOM campus. Continue reading...

With the stroke of a pen

Spartanburg County worthless check program helps merchants collect money, keep cases out of court system

MARCH 9, 2011 2:57 p.m. Comments (0)

Les Cooper tried for months to collect on a $369 bad check a woman had written him for a new mattress set.

She told Cooper several times she would come back to 101 Home Furnishings to make the check good – at the end of the week when she got paid, after she got home from a trip, and by 5 p.m. the day a police officer knocked on her door and told her she needed to pay up.

“I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “I just wanted my money.” Continue reading...

High noon

Music sandwiched in gives Spartanburg music lovers something to eat to

MARCH 3, 2011 3:13 p.m. Comments (1)

The deep notes of the cello and more airy ones of the flute reverberated off the acoustic barrier behind the musicians in the Barrett Room at the Spartanburg Public Library Headquarters and drifted toward the audience, where feet were tapping and heads were nodding.

They were there for Music Sandwiched In, a free event open to the public and presented by the Music Foundation of Spartanburg and held every other Wednesday.

The people were seated in rows of chairs and at tables throughout the room. Some of the audience members ate at the tables in the back of the room, either the lunches they brought with them or sandwiches that were available for purchase at the event. During the music, which lasted from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m., people trickled in and out of the room. Continue reading...

GSP: A History

"Thank God for Mr. Milliken and Charles Daniel"

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

It began with a letter sent in 1945 to Eastern Airlines president Eddie Rickenbacker, inviting him to Greenville to talk about Eastern’s service to the area and the need for a new regional airport location.

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...

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. Comments (0)

Greenville and Spartanburg aggressively are taking advantage of a federal tax credit program to support several high profile developments that would not be possible or would be limited without it.

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...

All pride, no prejudice

Spartanburg Philharmonic debuts suite by Academy Award winner

MARCH 24, 2011 12:13 p.m. Comments (0)

Academy Award-winning composer Dario Marianelli performed a world premiere of his “Pride & Prejudice” suite in a concert with the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

Award Winning Film Score Night was the fifth in a series of Masterworks Concerts, performed at the Twichell Auditorium. Along with the new piece, the concert also featured Marianelli’s “Atonement” suite, “Clair de Lune” by Debussy, arranged by Stokovski, and “Le tombeau de Couperin” by Ravel.

The performance of the “Atonement” suite was originally scheduled to be performed by the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra last year, but was canceled because of weather. Continue reading...

Extended Stay? Not so much

Hotel company HQ packs up and moves to Charlotte

APRIL 11, 2011 2:09 p.m. Comments (0)

Extended Stay got state, county and city assistance to move to Spartanburg and eight years later is getting taxpayer help from North Carolina to pack up and move its headquarters to Charlotte.

Disappointed Spartanburg officials say Extended Stay and HVM, the company that runs the motels and employs virtually all of its workers, gave them no chance to keep the headquarters and, further, publicly gave reasons for moving based on thin reeds.

The move is a setback, too, for Spartanburg’s favorite son and benefactor, George Dean Johnson Jr., who was a founder of Extended Stay and brought the motel chain from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to his hometown in 2002 to set in motion revitalization of a crumbling downtown. Continue reading...

Cash flow

The divide between Spartanburg county council and parks and recreation

MAY 9, 2011 11:25 a.m. Comments (0)

A dispute between Spartanburg County Council and the recreation department comes down to either a failure to come through on expected projects or a failure to communicate accurately the department’s intentions, officials said recently.

County council ordered a recreation department audit in April and voted to amend the ordinance creating the recreation commission in a move that would bring the department under the supervision of County Administrator Glenn Breed. The recreation commission would remain to handle run-of-the-mill issues.

Council Chairman Jeff Horton said the county’s issues with how the recreation department is run stem mainly from a lack of progress on big-ticket projects like Va- Continue reading...

These pets are raising funds

Greenville and Spartanburg Humane Societies receive hundreds of photos

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

Two hundred and fifty submissions poured in for the New Face of the Greenville Humane Society photo contest which wrapped March 24, just before the facility’s new location at 305 Airport Road opened. (View slideshow above to see the winners)

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...

Conservatives want to get the tea party started

Spartanburg tea party focuses on county

JUNE 23, 2011 9:58 a.m. Comments (1)

The Spartanburg Tea Party has turned its attention to the local scene, bringing its grand experiment in smaller government and lower taxes to the county level in a way that even conservative Spartanburg has never seen before, observers say.

In Spartanburg County employees have not had a raise in five years and yet council, with hearty tea party applause, has passed a tax cut for the next fiscal year.

“The last real tax increase we had in my 17 years on council was the road use fee,” said council Chairman Jeff Horton. “But I don’t think the tea party has that much influence with the council itself. We’re a pretty conservative bunch, overall.” Continue reading...

Arkwright closing moves ahead

City council votes to start condemnation

JUNE 23, 2011 10:32 a.m. Comments (0)

The last piece in the Arkwright Dump closing puzzle will cost the City of Spartanburg $22,000 and require condemnation proceedings.

The council recently voted to start the condemnation of 6.79 acres owned by VigIndustries that was once part of the IMC Fertilizer Plant. The land will be used as a buffer to help ensure the clay cap planned for the dump will be effective.

City Manager Ed Memmott told council he had hoped to avoid condemnation but the owner of the property had fears about potential liability issues forcing the city’s hand. Staff is of the opinion that the city is the only responsible party in the eyes of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading...

What it takes

Byrnes High student races the clock to get in enough activity to gain admittance to West Point

JUNE 30, 2011 11:28 a.m. Comments (3)

Averi Jolly set her sight on U.S. Military Academy at West Point when she was in the fifth grade.

Now that she’s going into her senior year in high school, the time to prove herself is coming to an end.

She’s just back from West Point’s Summer Academy in New York where she got up every day at 5:45 a.m. for physical training, then a day full of classes, military training, athletics, social events. Lights out arrived at 11 p.m. Continue reading...

Chow town

When it comes to dining out, more folks are going downtown

JULY 7, 2011 1:00 p.m. Comments (0)

Cribb’s Kitchen wrapped its last dinner service on Saturday.

The restaurant will open in a new location at 226 W. Main St. July 14.

For three years William Cribb ran a catering company from 121 N. Spring St. After expanding to offer lunch and dinner service a year ago he quickly outgrew the 34-four seat space. Continue reading...

Who's No. 1?

Turns out some lists don’t matter at all

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

In Forbes Magazine’s latest rankings of the 200 best places to do business and have careers, Charleston ranks 40th in the nation, Greenville 60th, Columbia 73rd and Spartanburg 145th.

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...

Westside's story

Areturn to retail has a once-empty mall revitalized

JULY 14, 2011 11:06 a.m. Comments (0)

What was once an almost empty mall has come back to life on Spartanburg’s Westside.

Dollar General and Office Depot have been joined in the 10-acre Westgate Village by Longhorn Steak House and Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us.

Pier One and Circuit City left the 35-year-old shopping center at the intersection of W.O. Ezell Boulevard and West Blackstock Road. Continue reading...

Those two little words

"Thank you" takes on big meaning in Gratitude Project

AUGUST 10, 2011 11:23 a.m. Comments (0)

If kind words can change the world, then taking the time to put them down on paper and actually mail a letter to someone is the ultimate expression of that belief.

The lost art of letter writing and the arcane notion that saying “thank you” counts melded into a seamless whole.

Kerry Ferguson, a theater professor at Wofford, playwright, poet and stage director, was in a funk some months back over her lack of gratitude. Continue reading...

Additional lawsuit filed in train crash

Woman is seeking unspecified damages for injuries sustained by her sons

AUGUST 12, 2011 9:05 a.m. Comments (0)

A second suit was filed in connection with the fatal derailment and crash of Sparkles at Cleveland Park in March.

The first suit in connection with the crash was filed within days of the accident by the family of Timothy and Tasha Harris of Cherokee County.

In papers filed by Greenville attorney Michael Parham in the Spartanburg County Court of Common Pleas, Misti Y. Harris, the mother of Morgan Harris and Camden Harris, is suing Spartanburg County, the county parks commission, the state department of labor, licensing and regulation, Matt Conrad, Donnie Carrigan and Jeff Caton. Continue reading...

First in class

For students at the Edward Via College for Osteopathic Medicine, it’s not just about the medicine, there’s a mission, too

AUGUST 18, 2011 10:05 a.m. Comments (0)

The first class of the Spartanburg campus of Edward Via College for Osteopathic Medicine began classes last week in a new building on ground that once was home to one of Spartanburg’s biggest textile mills.

The mill’s 182-foot smokestack, the tallest structure of its kind in South Carolina, is preserved on the site as a reminder of what had been the world center of the textile industry.

“The students love it,” said William King, associate vice president of student services. “It is a tie to history.” Continue reading...

DuPre House to be restored

VCOM to pay $400,000 to restore exterior and will raise funds to restore interior

AUGUST 18, 2011 10:26 a.m. Comments (0)

Edward Via College for Osteopathic Medicine plans to restore the DuPre House, one of Spartanburg’s historic buildings that was acquired from the city for $1 and now sits abandoned on the campus of the new medical school.

William P. King, associate vice president for student services, said VCOM will pay the $400,000 or more that it will take to restore the exterior and will raise funds over time for restoration of the interior.

The college is soliciting bids for the exterior work and will hold the first of a series of fundraisers for the interior restoration in October, he said. Continue reading...

SLED investigates parks agency

Preliminary investigation opened into issues cited by a soon-to-be released audit

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 2:47 p.m. Comments (0)

The State Law Enforcement Division has opened a preliminary investigation into issues cited by a soon-to-be released audit of Spartanburg County’s recreation department, SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson said this week.

At this stage it is impossible to determine if any criminal charges are likely, Richardson said.

Information obtained by the Journal last week found that former County Administrator Glenn Breed stepped down after being confronted about the audit by council members in an executive session last month. Continue reading...

Spartanburg snuffs out smokers

SEPTEMBER 11, 2011 8:47 a.m. Comments (0)

The day was warm and sunny, perfect September weather to enjoy a cigarette outdoors.

But this time it wasn’t by choice. Those who normally would have been smoking in restaurants and bars, were taking a quick smoke on the way back to work, sitting in groups in the square, or slowly wandering the downtown area trying to stay within the constraints of the city’s new ban on smoking.

Beginning last Thursday, patrons can no longer smoke in public buildings. Continue reading...

County Council spending

Audit reveals more questions

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 7:54 a.m. Comments (0)

More than $3.5 million was transferred from an account at the Spartanburg County Jail designated for building a new detention facility and used to balance the county’s budget without county council’s knowledge, officials confirmed to the Journal this week.

“When I took over the jail and started looking over the books I found about $200,000 in one account that should have had about $4 million in it,” Sheriff Chuck Wright said.

The money came largely from payments for housing federal prisoners, inmate canteen receipts and a few other sources, Wright said. Continue reading...

Reading, it's always on their mind

School District 7 connects writers with readers

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 1:40 p.m. Comments (0)

No matter your age, feel free to be a kid.

That was the message Melissa Conroy, the daughter of New York Times bestseller Pat Conroy, brought to District 7 students this week as she read and talked about her two children’s books.

Conroy read to kindergarten and first grade students in the media centers at Pine Street Elementary and Houston Elementary Monday and at Chapman and Mary Wright Elementary schools Tuesday. Continue reading...

TEDxSpartanburg a success: now what?

It's about keeping the passion going

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 11:01 a.m. Comments (0)

When TEDxSpartanburg concluded earlier this month, its organizers were sure of one thing: if we can do this, everyone can.

TEDxSpartanburg (x = independently organized TED event) was Spartanburg’s take on TED (Technology, Entertainment, & Design), a nonprofit that helps initiate worldwide “ideas worth spreading.”

Past TED events, which have been held around the world, have brought speakers from a variety of backgrounds, including JJ Abrams, a director and writer, Robert Ballard, who discovered the RMS Titantic wreckage, and former president Bill Clinton. 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. Comments (0)

Decades of low tax zeal and heavy growth have produced an infrastructure maintenance deficit in Spartanburg and Greenville counties, state highway officials said this week.

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...

BMW pro-am enlists help from local college students

BMW tournament organizers hope to broaden event's appeal with a little help from college students here

OCTOBER 7, 2011 10:35 a.m. Comments (0)

When Tom Holgate attended the BMW Charity Pro-Am last year he saw a flourishing tournament, but also realized how much more of an impact the event could have on Spartanburg.

“This needs to become a more prominent event for everybody,” said Holgate, president of American Credit Acceptance, who organized a program to bring the heft of four Spartanburg colleges to increase interest in the Pro-Am in Spartanburg, which tournament organizers said has remained stagnant.

The tournament is held at Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, Thornblade Club in Greenville and this year, the Greenville Country Club’s Chanticleer Course has been added. Continue reading...

Artists. Here, everywhere

Diverse in their backgrounds and their talents, they have shaped and continue to shape Spartanburg’s visual arts scene

DECEMBER 21, 2011 2:33 p.m. Comments (0)

They are the diners sitting at the next table, the next person in line at the grocery store.

They are neighbors, co-workers and the teachers at the school down the street. Continue reading...

SCC to begin president search

Dr. Para Jones leaving in February

JANUARY 5, 2012 2:06 p.m. Comments (0)

Dr. Para M. Jones, Spartanburg Community College’s president for the past two years, is taking the helm of Stark State College in Ohio, her “home” college.

She will become the fourth president in Stark State’s 51-year history on Feb. 6.

Jones had spent 22 years at Stark State, including four as vice president for advancement, planning, college and community relations, before becoming the first woman president at Spartanburg Community College in 2009. Continue reading...

Pocket park planned

Event space will be beside Masonic Temple

JANUARY 12, 2012 12:15 p.m. Comments (0)

A narrow nondescript alley on West Main Street is being turned into a small respite for downtown visitors, a venue for occasional small events and a demonstration place for low-impact development techniques.

The pocket park will be in the alley between the Masonic Temple, where the Hub City Bookshop, The Coffee Bar and Cakehead Bakery are located, and the former Cantrell Wagon company building, home to Carriage House Wines & Wine Bar.

Pocket parks are small-scale urban open spaces that provide an area for small events, lunch breaks and a resting spot for visitors, said Angela Viney, director of the Spartanburg office of Upstate Forever. Continue reading...

Science Center 2.0

New interactive exhibits first in four years for center

JANUARY 12, 2012 12:22 p.m. Comments (0)

Science is a subject that should be experienced.

That’s what makes the Spartanburg Science Center’s new exhibits so exciting to the organization’s executive director John Green.

The Science Center is showcasing 14 new exhibits it received from Discovery Place in Charlotte during an open house Saturday. The old exhibits were informative, but not interactive, Green said. Continue reading...

"Every poem is a love poem"

Spartanburg's newest artist-in-residence is a poet

JANUARY 20, 2012 9:31 a.m. Comments (0)

For Hub-Bub’s newest artist-in-residence, it took falling in love to fall in love with his art form.

Travis Blankenship dabbled in all types of art before he became serious about poetry when he was 21.

“Poetry is the most natural expression of emotion I’ve been able to accomplish,” said Blankenship, who arrived in Spartanburg last month to complete a residency that ends in May. Continue reading...

How to sink the Titanic

Engineer designs a sinking deck for Spartanburg Little Theatre production

MARCH 1, 2012 11:53 a.m. Comments (0)

When the Titanic hit an iceberg during its maiden voyage in the Atlantic Ocean 100 years ago, water poured into the ship that was said to be unsinkable.

During the Spartanburg Little Theatre’s production of “Titanic: The Musical,” the ship will “sink” without a single drop of water.

Mechanical designer Tim Reed has designed a 40-foot long suspended mechanical deck that will create the illusion of the ship sinking, a big part of the drama of the musical’s second act. Continue reading...

False savings in animal control

Change in Spartanburg animal control policy leaves too many animals uncontrolled.

APRIL 19, 2012 11:24 a.m. Comments (3)

Spartanburg County’s decision to break ties with the Humane Society and contract animal care services out to Greenville County has resulted in an exploding population of stray and unwanted animals in the county that could threaten public safety, said Jimmy Smith, a former Spartanburg Humane Society board member, in an open letter to the Spartanburg County Council.

“Many fellow citizens, like myself, are concerned about the negative impact that our county’s new animal policies are having on our already serious stray and unwanted animal population,” Smith wrote. “I am especially disappointed with how County Council Chairman Jeff Horton has portrayed this to the public. Leaving over half of our stray animal population to wander and reproduce freely in our county is not saving money. It threatens public safety. Having our Animal Control officers transport Spartanburg animals to Greenville every day is not an efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Discouraging Good Samaritan rescues by telling citizens who have picked up a potentially lost animal that they will have to arrange a pick-up time with Animal Control does not reunite owners with their lost pet. It results in more lost and stray animals.” Continue reading...

Church 2.0

The future of worship in Spartanburg is not where you think

APRIL 26, 2012 12:33 p.m. Comments (0)

When leaders at North Hills Community Church in Taylors discovered that some people were traveling from Spartanburg to attend services there, they began work on a plan to serve those worshippers closer to home.

Rev. Matt Nestberg is not a newcomer to the Upstate, but his congregation, CrossLife Church in Spartanburg, is a new kid on the block. The new church was planted this spring by North Hills Community Church. Nestberg, the worship pastor at North Hills for 13 years, is now leading the congregation that meets in Fairforest Elementary’s auditorium. Continue reading...

Opening new fronts in the ‘War on Cancer’

Spartanburg Regional’s Gibbs Cancer Center to build new center in Greer; other health systems also expanding treatment options

MAY 25, 2012 9:24 a.m. Comments (0)

The Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System recently broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot cancer center – not in Spartanburg, but at the Village Hospital campus on Highway 14 in Greer.

The Gibbs Cancer Center opened in 1999 in Spartanburg and became affiliated with the M.D. Anderson Physicians Network in 2006. David Church, vice president for oncology and support services, said the center is expanding to the Greer area so patients will not have to travel as far for treatment. The expansion is part of the center’s master plan “to improve cancer treatment in that area,” he said. “Eighty to 85 percent of cancer care is given at a local center.” Continue reading...

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