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Residents in a North Charleston neighborhood are being asked to sign a petition organizers say will make their community safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Residents in a North Charleston neighborhood are being asked to sign a petition organizers say will make their community safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Whipper Barony Neighborhood Association is urging their community to call for bike lanes and sidewalks to prevent any serious injuries.

The Whipper Barony neighborhood is located between Meeting Street Road and Rivers Avenue near McMillan Avenue. Its neighborhood association said this two-mile stretch of Meeting Street Road sees a lot of foot traffic and biking, which requires drivers to be on high alert during nighttime hours when it may be difficult to see pedestrians.

They said they have seen “potentially tragic commuting” on this street and they would like to see changes and priorities made for improving this road.

Click here to read the full petition.

Whipper Barony Neighborhood Association President Kalin Morrison says the petition will be presented to North Charleston City Councilman Sam Hart. The idea has been previously presented at the association’s monthly meetings with the mayor and council members.

Morrison said she would ideally like to see sidewalks start where Meeting Street Road and Durant Avenue intersect with Rivers road all the way down to Dorchester Road.

She said seeing someone in a wheelchair riding in the middle of the road prompted her to voice her concerns for pedestrians.

“It started a couple of years ago I was driving on Meeting Street and saw a guy in a wheelchair there,” Morrison said. “On Meeting Street just in the middle of the road and that’s kind of what brought my attention to the problem in the first place. The fact that someone in a wheelchair didn’t have a place to ride on the side of the road safely.”

The Lowcountry Rapid Transit Project plans to place a bus stop on Durant Avenue, but Morrison said she feels pedestrians would still walk down Meeting Street Road based on the convenience to access public transportation.

Daniel Brock, who serves as regional strategist for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, said Lowcountry Rapid Transit is now in its engineering phase for the project which is set to be accessible in 2030. They’re working on making sure these areas near public transportation are walkable.

“Additionally, there’s going to be about 19 miles of sidewalk and mixed-use path that comes along with Lowcountry Rapid Transit,” Brock said.

Morrison said this petition will be presented to their councilman and they are currently at 57 signatures out of their goal of 100.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

District 113 Rep. Marvin Pendarvis filed the bill Wednesday afternoon, saying that needs are not being met in the city of North Charleston.

“We’re here because we care about the quality of education in our schools,” Pendarvis said. “We’re here because the city of North Charleston, there’s a number of underperforming schools that lie within the City of North Charleston. We’re here for good reason, and I hope through collaboration and continuing the conversation we’ll be able to get something done.”

State law lays out how school districts can be formed and broken up.

According to 59-17-20, only an act from the state legislature or by authorization of the county boards of education can break up a district. Even then, the boards of education still need to meet certain conditions.

In a statement from the office of Attorney General Alan Wilson those conditions are as follows:

In (b), both districts involved would have to have a petition signed by at least four-fifths of the registered voters in the district. In (c), the districts would need only one-third of the voters to sign a petition but would then also have to have a vote on it called by the county board of education.

Earlier in the day, North Charleston’s mayor confirmed the city is exploring what would be required to withdraw schools in the city from the Charleston County School District.

Mayor Keith Summey said on Wednesday morning North Charleston City Council will explore breaking away from the school district to create their own.

“I think council is concerned about the number of failing schools that we have and what we can do generate more opportunity for the kids coming up in North Charleston,” he said. “It’s not anything that’s in concrete. It’s something that we’re looking at the possibility of.”

The effort, he says, is in a research phase to determine if the idea of pulling schools from the Charleston County School District is feasible, adding it would not be a “fast-paced” project.

Summey said he believes the city contributes more than what they are getting from the school district. He said the majority of failing schools in the district are in North Charleston.

“A community, at the end of the day, is only as strong as the education we can provide for our children, and we just want to make sure that our kids are getting the top chance that they can to get that education,” he said.

Summey said his vision would be for the schools to become a department within the city. He says he believes it would ultimately take a voter referendum, likely in 2024, for the change to happen.

North Charleston Mayor Pro Tem Jerome Heyward said he does not see one member on council not standing behind mayor in support of this.

“The city of North Charleston has been left out of the equation,” Heyward said. “Academic wise, we suffered over here because 30 of our schools are failing. It’s time for us to fix our schools.”

Summey said he has not yet heard from the school district, adding he would like to sit down with them.

“We’re just interested in making sure that children in North Charleston have the same opportunities as children in the entire county to get the best possible education that they can, and that’s not to say that the school district is not making effort,” Summey said. “It’s saying we don’t believe that effort to date has been successful.”

Charleston County School Board Chair Pam McKinney says she has not heard a single word from Summey or the city since she took office. She claims she learned of the mayor’s plan from news coverage.

“CCSD is proud to serve students from every corner of Charleston County,” McKinney said. “It is a priority for the board to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education. North Charleston students deserve a great education and that is exactly what we are working to deliver.”

The Charleston County School District provided a response to the city’s plans, saying the proposal to withdraw would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil.

Mayor Keith Summey’s proposal to withdraw North Charleston schools from the Charleston County School District (CCSD) and instead house them in a department within the City of North Charleston would fail students. Such would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil for both academic support and capital improvement.

Mayor Summey’s assertion that the City contributes more than what it receives from CCSD is untrue. In fact, North Charleston has historically received well above the CCSD average funding for construction and facilities maintenance.

North Charleston’s schools currently account for 30.32% of the District’s total student population yet receive approximately 35.6% of funds allocated for schools. In addition, the average budgeted per-pupil allocation in FY2023 for North Charleston schools was $16,645.18 compared to that for all other CCSD schools at $14,171.06; isolating North Charleston’s schools served through Acceleration Schools boasts a $19,532.61 per pupil allocation.

Claims that academic efforts in North Charleston schools have not been successful are also misleading. Most recently, for example, three North Charleston schools were removed from the state improvement designation list while others made significant gains.

Rather than benefiting students, withdrawing schools from CCSD would exacerbate educational disparities between geographic areas that CCSD has worked to address. Likewise, the assertion that creating a smaller district would ensure children in North Charleston have greater opportunities is simply misguided. Smaller schools and smaller districts have historically been less-able to offer such access and opportunity.

The District calls on Mayor Summey to address his concerns directly with CCSD leadership so that adults can avoid negative outcomes for students, parents, and educators. The Mayor has not reached out to the District directly since February 2022, after which he and Superintendent Kennedy met with other District and City officials.

The city refutes this, claiming the mayor reached out in May 2022 about an educational program.

Summey reaffirmed Wednesday morning he has not yet decided if he will seek re-election but expects to do so within the next 30 days.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

NORTH CHARLESTON — City leaders are on track to increase the salary of the mayor to $218,310 a year, a 12.6 percent increase over incumbent Keith Summey’s current pay of $193,880.

The full City Council will take its first vote on the matter Feb. 23 after its finance committee earlier voted 8-2 to raise the pay for the city’s mayoral position, making North Charleston’s mayor the highest paid in South Carolina.

If passed, the mayor and council member salaries would go into effect in January 2024 — after the city’s November municipal election.

The city contracted the outside firm of Management Advisory Group to analyze the salaries of the mayor, City Council and employees. MAG recommended a 20 percent increase for the mayor, which would’ve put the mayor’s pay at $234,000.

City staff instead recommended a 12.6 percent raise, equal to the raises employees have received over the past three years.

The firm also recommended an increase for other elected officials. The city’s Finance Committee, which includes all members of the council, voted the same day in a 6-4 vote to also increase the salaries of North Charleston City Council members from $20,657 to $23,260 a year.

MAG said the salary increases are meant to “more adequately compensate for the time and effort to do their jobs involved in the diligent performance of their responsibilities and bring the city in line with comparable cities within the state.”

MAG did a similar analysis in 2019, after which City Council approved the current pay for mayor and council. The new salaries will go to whoever is elected in the city’s November general election.

North Charleston has a full-time mayoral position, as opposed to some other governments where the mayor might serve in a part-time capacity.

First elected in 1994, Summey, 75, has remained tight-lipped about his political future, though several sources inside City Hall have said Summey has told them he does not plan to run for an eighth term. He told reporters at City Hall on Feb. 22 that he’ll make a decision within 30 days.

“I love what I do,” Summey said. “In a couple of weeks, I’ll be 76 years old. I have four beautiful grandkids. I’ve got to make up my mind. I’ll do a final sit-down in the next couple of weeks with my family and make it a family decision.”

Summey’s financial activity for a potential political campaign has been mostly dormant. His campaign finance reports show no fundraising activity for 2022.

North Charleston is one of two large South Carolina municipalities that use a strong-mayor form of government in which the mayor runs the city’s day-to-day operations acting as a chief administrator. In Charleston, Mayor John Tecklenburg earns $214,394.39 annually.

Elsewhere throughout the Palmetto State, mayors of larger cities mostly act as elected officials who preside over council meetings while hired city mangers run daily operations of local government.

Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson makes $228,314, according to 2021 data provided online by the city. At the time, then-Mayor Steve Benjamin earned $75,000. Greenville manager John McDonough earns $278,512, according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina. Part-time Mayor Knox White makes $24,000.

The uncertainty surrounding the North Charleston mayoral position is one of the reasons Councilman Bob King voted against the salary bump. King said he may have supported the pay raise if Summey had planned to run for reelection.

That said, $213,000 is still too high of a salary, King said.

Councilman Ron Brinson, who also voted against the pay raises, said the timing of the proposals isn’t ideal.

“I think with all that’s going on in the economy, it’s just not a good look,” Brinson said.

The full City Council will have to make a final decision on the new salaries. Council meets at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 to make an initial vote inside City Hall.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Sometimes, in the toughest of times, it’s the littlest thing from the most unlikely place.

“My purpose in life has always been to look after kids and their purpose,” North Charleston High School (NCHS) assistant coach and Lowcountry native Ray Mullins said. “Help them grow confidence. Coaching the game, I fell in love with the game. Gave me confidence and I tried to instill confidence in kids who needed places to grow.”

Mullins graduated from Hanahan. Played for Lander. He’s coached in the area for over two decades.

“Coach Ray, I am forever grateful for him,” Summerville native and Pinewood Prep grad Michael Wright said. “There is a short list of coaches. Coach Eidson, my dad, who impact a player, and Ray was one of those guys. The moment I walked into the gym, he took me under his wing and believed in me as a basketball player.”

Their bond is deeply rooted. But, lives move on. Wright went to Pinewood Prep. He played AAU basketball for Mullins as a 15 year old. Wright is now a fifth year graduate student at University of Illinois Springfield. He plans on playing professional basketball overseas. Mullins, now teaching and coaching at NCHS, the place where his life forever changed less than a year ago.

“I was in Mr. Darby’s office at NCHS when I found out - they just told me - stage 4,” he said. “You think about life. You think about how things are going to work out - you hear stage 4. Nowadays, stage 4 isn’t a good thing to hear, but with technology and people wanting to support, there is a plan out there for you.”

Just as cancer spreads, so does word of it.

“Terrible,” Wright said. “I remember finding out through Facebook. Something he had gone through. Somebody who cares so much about community and given so much to community through basketball, to have something like that effect their life, never like to see that.”

So, Wright took his emotions into his own hands. Literally. During the “Coaches versus cancer” night - he held up a sign. It simply said, “I suit up for Ray Mullins”.

“It’s humbling to me, brings me hope, great things in humanity,” Mullins said. “He did surprise me with the salute at the game the other night - super proud of him and what he’s become as a man. Just super proud. Gives me hope, doesn’t allow me to quit- didn’t know what quitting was until I started this chemo thing. They say not to quit, stay strong.”

“I got too much to pay it forward for, it’s not just about me,” he continued. “About kids I’m coaching. Kids that are fighting the same fight against cancer.”

In basketball terms, impact, is a “give and go”.

For the Press & Standard

World-Class Professional Bull Riding (PBR) returns to North Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 3-4. Interviews available with defending Event Champion Michael Lane.

For the fifth time in history, PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour will buck into North Charleston, returning to the North Charleston Coliseum on Feb. 3-4 with the PBR Collision at The Coliseum.

For two nights only, some of the best bull riders in the world will battle the sport’s rankest bovine athletes in the ultimate showdown of “man vs. beast” in one of the most exciting live sporting events to witness.

As one of the initial events of the regular-season, fans will watch on as some of the sport’s newest up-and-coming talent goes head-to-head against established stars vying for crucial points to return to the sport’s top tour.

Among the contenders hoping for great success in The Palmetto State is veteran rider and defending “Collision at The Coliseum” event winner Michael Lane.

Beginning his career as a youngster riding his siblings’ show sheep, Michael Lane has since become one of the world’s top professional bull riders.

As the winningest bull rider on the PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, in 2021 Lane appeared to be poised to be crowned the tour’s year-end champion until injury struck.

Winning two events throughout the regular season in both Wichita, Kansas, and Bangor, Maine, Lane was ranked number one in the tour standings ahead of the two-day “Velocity Tour Finals” in Las Vegas. Lane, however, was unable to compete, sidelined by a broken thumb. Unable to challenge for the title, Lane finished runner-up to Champion Adriano Salgado by a mere 26.5 points.

In 2022, despite a strong start to the season, winning the “Velocity Tour” event in North Charleston, Lane fell short of his first “Velocity Tour Championship” and a berth to the prestigious “PBR World Finals.”

Eager to reverse his fortunes in 2023, determined to be crowned by the “PBR Velocity Tour Champion” and return to the prestigious “PBR World Finals” for the fourth time in his career, Lane is ready to take North Charleston by storm.

For more information contact Kacie Albert via email at Kacie.Albert@img.com or call (212) 774-6762.