Wet Morning Conditions
Bands of showers and thunderstorms swept through the Lowcountry and Midlands, Wednesday. Forecasters say rain rates of around 1-2 inches per hour were recorded in the Beaufort area Wednesday morning and that rain could cause localized flash flooding. Forecasters call for possible thunderstorms, by Thursday afternoon and said any additional rainfall may overwhelm the environment and cause additional ponding and flooding.
State Budget
Next year’s state budget, which goes into effect on July first, is now set. Wednesday, Governor McMaster vetoed 11 items from the $14-and-a-half Billion dollar spending plan. McMaster praised the General Assembly for passing what he called “a conservative budget.”
Homanit Breaks Ground
In May, leading manufacturer of wood materials, Homanit announced it was establishing operations in Clarendon County. Wednesday, the company broke ground at 1200 Spigner Road in Alcolu. Operations scheduled to start in 2028.
Marlboro County School District
Marlboro County’s second largest employer is its school district. Which is scrambling to repair a nearly $7 million budget shortfall without turning to staff reductions to staff reductions.
Earlier this week the school board shot down cost-cutting measures like consolidation and RFI, or reduction in force.
The board ultimately voted to recall $500 bonuses for eligible district employees.
Ground Beef Recall
A health alert for packages of organic ground beef sold at Whole Foods stores across the country- the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a processing company reported it had shipped ground beef that tested positive for the potentially deadly bacteria.
There have been no confirmed illnesses linked to the beef, but FSIS is urging consumers to check their refrigerators and freezers and to throw the product away or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.
A recall was not requested because the products are no longer available for sale, the agency said.
Reconstruction Era National Historic Network Adds IAAM
The International African American Museum in Charleston is now a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network-
its one of seven sites recently added.
The network connects sites across the country that provide education, interpretation and research related to the period of Reconstruction. (1861-1900)
other sites included are:
- Tolson’s Chapel is a historic African American church and cemetery in Sharpsburg, MD that was home to a school between 1866 to 1899.
- Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida traces its origins to the Cookman Institute, which was founded in Jacksonville in 1872, and was the first institute for higher learning for African Americans in the state of Florida.
- The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy is an interpretive museum and education center being developed in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania home and law office of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and his confidante Lydia Hamilton Smith.
- Based on Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Indian Territory Museum of Black Creek Freedmen History preserves and interprets the unique history and cultural experiences of Black Creeks in the Indian territories during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is an NPS site located in Calabasas, California, and has recently launched a program to interpret the story of the Ballard Family. John Ballard was born enslaved in Kentucky, and during Reconstruction he and his family became some of the first Black homesteaders in the Santa Monica Mountains, where John became a prominent leader in the Reconstruction era African American community around Los Angeles.
- Whitney Plantation is a historical sugarcane, indigo, and rice plantation in Wallace, Louisiana that operated from 1752-1975. During Reconstruction, Whitney Plantation operated as a wage labor business, employing those that had been formerly enslaved. Currently, Whitney Plantation is restoring the Plantation Store, a legacy of the Reconstruction era.
Greenville on CBS Evening News
The city of Greenville and Greenville Drive recently made national headlines; they were highlighted on CBS Evening News in a feature on June 2.
That report showed how Fluor Field helped drive growth and development in downtown Greenville’s West End.
According to the report, Fluor Field draws 500,000 people each year for games and events and over the past decade generated an economic impact of over $300 million.
