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  For more than 20 years, Elliott and the Untouchables have been entertaining audiences throughout South Carolina and beyond with traditional and original blues music that jumps and swings. In this report, Elliot New talks about his passion for this “real” music and how he writes his songs. He also demonstrates his homemade “diddley bow,” a primitive instrument early bluesmen made from nails, baling wire and broomsticks. Untouchables bassist J.T. Anderson also comments on what motivates his friend and fellow musician.

  Minor league baseball contributes to a community’s quality of life, as well as its economy. And there’s a lot to like. Whether it’s the game itself, the food, the whacky between-innings promotions, or the social aspect, everybody has a favorite thing about baseball, even the people who work every day to put the game on the field. We hear in this report from two broadcasters, a general manager and a team owner about what they think minor league baseball adds to life in South Carolina. One says the stories, one says the opportunity for service.

  More than seven months after the thousand-year flood, many residents are still struggling to recover from the disaster. This spring, the state selected an organization called Hearts and Hands Disaster Recovery to take on long-term disaster case management. Falon Alo, Executive Director of Hearts and Hands, says disaster case management involves helping flood-affected residents get on a path toward complete recovery.

Faye Washington is looking forward to moving back home. Her three-bedroom red brick house with yellow trim looks the same from the outside, but the inside is completely new.

Volunteers are drilling nails into drywall and taping together new air ducts. Washington has lived at this home for 56 years.

“This house was built in 1960 and I was born in 1960,” she said.

Washington fled her Georgetown home last October when nearly 12 inches of water seeped in the doors and windows. She said it felt like her house was in a river.

Below Gills Creek Road in Lancaster County, a stream has stopped flowing. It’s become a pond, stuck behind four metal pipes blocked with branches, garbage, and debris. There's barely any water making its way through to the other side. Cooper McKim speaks with experts on how outdated culverts are impacting both humans and the stream's ecosystem.

A white former North Charleston police officer has been charged with federal civil rights violations for shooting and killing an unarmed black man last year. 

Michael Slager has been indicted with violating Walter Scott’s civil rights. He’s also charged with obstruction of justice for knowingly misleading authorities investigating the incident.

Slager was charged with unlawful use of weapon during the commission of a crime. He also faces a state murder trial scheduled for October. Last fall, North Charleston approved a $6.5 million civil settlement with Scott's family.

In the wake of the devastating flood of October 2015, both Richland County and the city of Columbia are seeking to help victims in the flood plains whose homes were ruined. The city and county are looking for funding to buy the homes of qualified landowners and return the property to green space, never to be developed as housing again. They’ve applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for funding to make the buyouts, which will be completely voluntary. Criteria must be met for homeowners, and the governments themselves must put up a 25% match.

Farming is all Jamie Burgess knows. He has worked this same land since kindergarten.

“I’ve been driving a tractor since I was six years old. My daddy used to get me out of school to drive a tractor.”

And 44 years later he is still driving one.

He’s already planted corn and is getting the fields, 80 miles north of Charleston, ready for the rest of the crops.

“Behind that corn, I’ve already sprayed and weeds are dying.  And it's going to be grain sorghum back there.”

  Most of us are aware, especially in this political season, of the reports about inequality in the workplace for women.  Our next guest's organization has just released a report on this subject that she says will be important for corporations who want high profitability, local governments who want to attract businesses, and community members who want to see our state’s economy strengthen.

Mike Switzer interviews Amy Brennan, executive director of the Center for Women in Charleston, SC.

In 2002, the City of Cayce started work on its river walk project. Through the years, the greenway has grown to eight miles, one of the largest within any municipal limits in the Midlands.  A portion of the walk, Phase 2, has been closed since the October flood. Special Projects and Grants Coordinator Tara Greenwood said getting Phase 2 re-opened to the public is the city’ top priority.

Greenwood said many residents use the walk to get from their neighborhood to the main corridor of the city.

South Carolina destinations are set for another record summer this year, following records in both 2014 and 2015. The rebound comes at a good time, as October's flood caused a $40 million decrease in revenue for the tourism industry, including losses to golf courses, restaurants, conventions, and more. Cooper McKim speaks with experts about how tourism rebounded in South Carolina after the flood.

  South Carolina has a reputation for conserving its natural resources.  And sometimes that conflicts with interests of various business sectors.  A good example recently was the combined effort by our state's coastal communities to reject offshore drilling.  Our next guest's organization says that often though, the business community and conservationists work together.  Especially when there's a tax benefit.

Mike Switzer interviews Erin Knight, Land Trust Director with Upstate Forever in Greenville, SC.

  We are all aware of the tainted water supply issues facing the residents of Flint, Michigan.  Fortunately, South Carolina is generally blessed with some of the best ground water in the country – good tasting and free from hardness-causing minerals and natural contaminants.  However, that doesn’t mean our state is exempt from concerns about lead, chemical and biological hazards in the water.  These are the kinds of problems related to infrastructure, agriculture, or industrial activities in and around populated areas…and can happen anywhere.

    The many attractions of Myrtle Beach have led to the area’s being named by some as the second fastest growing metropolitan area in the country. Between 2000 and 2014, Horry County’s population grew from just under 200,000 to 300,000, a 50 percent growth in just 15 years.

Farmer Jamie Burgess has cut the cord to his home internet, landline phone and cable. After back to back seasons of bad weather and low crop prices he needs to cut costs wherever possible. 

Floods drowned nearly his entire soybean crop in Williamsburg County last October, preceded by a drought that devastated much of his summer corn. A few bad crops in a row meant no income. 

“It has put us in real bad shape,” he said. “It’s just real hard on us. Real stressful.”