Groove to the Music with Dance Classes Near North Charleston, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A total solar eclipse will cross North America next week – but how much will we see in South Carolina? Well, it depends on where you are and the forecast.

Totality – like what we saw in August 2017 when the eclipse passed over Charleston – will not happen here at home; however, we are in store for a partial eclipse. That means only a portion of the sun will be covered by the moon when it passes by on the afternoon of Monday, April 8.

“Unfortunately, it won’t be like it was in 2017 when we got totality where it looked like it was in the middle of the night, yet it was the middle of the afternoon. So, we’re going to get about 70% obscuration,” said Storm Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Rob Fowler.

What is a total solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and earth, blocking the face of the sun, and causing the sky to go dark to appear as though it was nighttime.

Charleston saw totality in August 2017. This time we will see a partial eclipse with about 70% obscuration. However, most other areas in South Carolina will see a higher percentage on Monday afternoon.

What is the path for Monday’s eclipse?

The moon’s shadow will make landfall near Mazatlán, Mexico around 11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time before entering the United States in southwest Texas, according to NASA. It will cross many south-central states before moving over the Northeast and into Canada.

What is the timing for seeing the eclipse in Charleston?

Charleston will begin seeing the eclipse just before 2:00 p.m. with the largest chunk of obscuration happening for us a little after 3:00 p.m.

“It starts about 1:53 in the afternoon for us, and about 3:10 will be our highest percentage of obscuration for the partial solar eclipse, and then it ends at about 4:24 p.m.,” Fowler explained.

How much of the eclipse will we see in Charleston?

South Carolina is in the 70%-80% range but a small portion of the immediate coast, which includes the Charleston area, is less at 60%-70% obscuration. Fowler said we’re more in the 70% range.

“I always use the analogy that if you’re in a closet and you shut the door it is pitch black. Now open that door about 30% and how much light will come in? Now you can see your surroundings. We’re not going to get the full experience,” he said.

What is the forecast for Monday’s eclipse?

“The forecast for us right now, and we’re talking on Tuesday, the forecast for next Monday is good,” said Fowler. “Sunny sky, mid-70s- so kind of a typical April day. I’m excited about the weather.”

Forecasting something like viewing a solar eclipse really depends on cloud over. You can see a cirrus cloud that could block the sun a little bit just as much as you could have stratus clouds with more widespread sky coverage.

“When you’ve got different layers of clouds and you’re forecasting those different layers, that’s the toughest part – where do you see a hole, or do you even see a hole in the cloud cover. Fortunately, when you get into this time of the year, the sun is getting high enough in the sky that the sunlight will break through some of those clouds,” Fowler said.

Monday’s eclipse comes at a time of year when you should still be able to see plenty of sun and plenty of the partial solar eclipse.

Do I need to wear special glasses to view the eclipse?

Yes, absolutely. NASA says it is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection, except for a brief phase when the moon totally blocks the sun. Otherwise, you risk severe eye injury. And again, the sun will not be totally blocked when viewing from Charleston.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a partial or total, you have to use the special glasses. A lot of people who were around in 2017 probably still have their glasses hanging out – those glasses that you have most likely are the ones that are approved and safe. Sunglasses don’t do the trick and don’t look with the naked eye because it can absolutely do damage to your eyes,” said Fowler.

Click here to learn more about the proper solar eclipse glasses.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The South Carolina Ports Authority announced Tuesday it plans to purchase the former WestRock paper mill site in North Charleston to “further expand port capacity.”

WestRock announced in May 2023 that it would close the mill in late August, citing high operating costs and the need for significant capital investment as the driving factors behind the closure.

The SC Ports Board of Directors voted on Tuesday morning to move forward with a purchase sales agreement with WestRock. While the SC Ports did not provide a timeline, they said the transaction is expected to close “as soon as practical.”

Port officials said they also received support from the state for the project.

“South Carolina Ports is widely known as a top driver of our state’s booming economy, but that success doesn’t come by accident — it takes timely, strategic investments like this one. Every time we invest in port infrastructure, we see significant success at port-dependent businesses and new, good-paying jobs for our people. Our state’s investment in the expansion of North Charleston Terminal will yield dividends and create opportunities for future generations,” said Governor Henry McMaster.

“The tremendous backing from our state and an excellent partnership with WestRock allows us to make investments today that will support our state’s economy and create opportunities for future generations of South Carolinians,” said SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin. “We are adding significant port capacity to support growth in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast.”

The approximately 280-acre property sits adjacent to the North Charleston Terminal. SC Ports leaders say the former paper mill site will offer a natural extension of the container terminal allowing them to handle more cargo for port-dependent businesses.

It could expand the terminal’s capacity to handle five million containers in the future and create 5,000 feet of linear berth space for container shops, and around 400 acres of terminal space for cargo.

Port officials said the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is playing a key role in the project. They are planning to expand I-526 and will replace the Don Holt Bridge, which would remove height constraints for larger vessels.

“Plans are also underway to achieve a 52-foot depth up to North Charleston Terminal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District, is undertaking a feasibility study — a critical first step toward deepening this stretch of the Cooper River an additional five feet,” the SC Ports said in its release.

Leaders say the deepening and new bridge height will allow bigger ships calling the Port of Charleston to seamlessly access the North Charleston Terminal.

The S.C. State Ports Authority is looking for ways to protect BMWs stored at its waterfront Columbus Street Terminal in Charleston from the kind of water damage that hundreds of cars sustained in December at the agency’s cruise terminal less than 2 miles away.

Both low-lying sites are along the Cooper River and are susceptible to flooding during big rainstorms and king tides.

Passengers on the Carnival Sunshine returned to Union Pier Terminal the week before Christmas to find their automobiles damaged by a storm that flooded the Union Pier parking lot with high tides of nearly 10 feet. Spokespersons with the SPA and BMW wouldn’t say whether any of the German automaker’s Upstate-made vehicles have been similarly damaged while staging for export at the end of Columbus Street.

This month, the maritime agency’s board approved spending nearly $2 million to pave 18 acres at the Leatherman Terminal on the former Navy based in North Charleston so BMWs can be moved there when a big storm is approaching. The backup storage area will be behind the existing container yard, away from the waterfront.

The project “needs to be done in short order,” Walter Lagarenne, the SPA’s vice president of engineering and facilities, told the board. It’s expected to be completed by the end of May.

A study by the University of Tennessee shows an 18-acre parking lot could generally accommodate between 2,700 and 2,900 vehicles, depending on its configuration.

The paving work is among several steps the SPA is taking to protect BMWs and other export vehicles both at Leatherman and Columbus Street.

The agency installed tide valves and purchased pumps to help move water off the peninsula terminal’s parking area.

It also surveyed the site to identify areas where flooding is most likely to occur and then marked those areas with paint so vehicles won’t be stored there.

In addition, the SPA purchased AquaDams — temporary, removable barriers that can control or divert water — to keep flooding from reaching vehicles.

“The state has invested a great deal in the automotive sector, and automakers have invested significantly in growing operations here,” Barbara Melvin, the SPA’s president and CEO, said in a written statement. “As a critical supply chain partner for the automotive industry, S.C. Ports is proactively investing in port infrastructure to provide the capacity and operational excellence to support our customers’ global supply chains.”

BMW said in a statement that it has “a strong relationship” with the SPA and “we look forward to continuing to work together ... to address any weather events.”

Green aluminum

The Century Aluminum smelter near Goose Creek will soon give up its distinction as the newest in the U.S.

The Biden administration last week awarded $500 million to the Chicago-based company to build a new low-carbon metal-making factory as part of the White House’s push to support green energy initiatives. Century said it expects to build the smelter at a site within the Ohio and Mississippi River basins, potentially using renewable hydroelectric power.

The project is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs.

A construction timeline wasn’t announced.

The number of domestic aluminum smelters has dwindled to four from 19 over the past two decades as foreign producers, mostly China, dumped cheap metal on the U.S. market.

The Mount Holly site, touted as the most modern of its kind, is currently the newest in the U.S. It opened in 1980.

The Berkeley County plant, which gets its electricity from Moncks Corner-based Santee Cooper, operates at 75 percent capacity and is reviewing plans to boost production.

A recent study by the Moore School of Business shows the smelter contributes nearly $773 million annually to the South Carolina economy.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The future of land in North Charleston lies in the hands of city council members, and it’s a breath of relief for concerned community members and a strain for the company urging its industrial use.

The city council will be the next step forward for the proposed plan after a request to rezone two parts of the former Baker Hospital property on the Ashley River. They will vote on whether the land will be rezoned from R-1 residential to M-2, heavy industrial and M-1, light industrial.

The city’s Planning Commission on Monday voted 5-1 to deny the recommendation to rezone before passing it onto council - saying it didn’t align with the best interest of the city’s comprehensive plan, the location to the Ashley River and the public interest of surrounding neighborhoods.

The land, defined as a brownfield, is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

“We don’t need industry in our living rooms. We don’t need to breathe the fluid of industry in our neighborhoods. We don’t need to be impacted negatively that way,” Union Heights resident Skip Mikell says.

The Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission and Sea Fox Boats have a 90-year lease with the goal of building a manufacturing plant on 11 acres of the 46-acre property. Sea Fox Boats owner Freddy Renken says they plan to bring 200 or more jobs to the area and will fund the construction of a waterfront public park.

The commission says rent paid by Sea Fox Boats and its dry stack marina would offset operations and maintenance for the park. Nothing has been finalized or started because this is in a due diligence phase.

The park itself would have the following amenities:

Renken did not speak at the meeting but a company lawyer shared insight on his behalf:

“What is there not to want about this? To turn a brownfield into a park that provides jobs and an economic engine. With Sea Fox Boats, the City of North Charleston will be able to build planes, cars, boats. I think that is pretty cool,” Ronald Richter says.

Despite the push for approval, a resounding “no” was heard from a crowd of North Charleston homeowners and supporters. They say the company never shared its plans with surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, including Union Heights, Chicora-Cherokee and Accabee.

Mayor Reggie Burgess also pushed for a full recreational park option to be considered following the initial plan release.

Charleston County Parks states in this press release they planned on releasing public input meeting dates in early 2024. As of now, no updates have been provided.

The commission released the following statement:

The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) recently entered into a public-private partnership with the locally-owned Sea Fox Boat Company at its Ashley River site. The company is in a two-year due diligence phase, which includes addressing zoning and permitting issues.

Per the partnership, Charleston County Parks would continue to own the entire property, with tenant Sea Fox funding the creation and maintenance of the future public park. This would allow Charleston County Parks to develop and operate the park without taxpayer funds. Because of the site’s history as the former Baker Hospital and as a phosphate processing plant, it has created a brownfield that will require costly environmental efforts to make it suitable for recreational use.

The future county park would offer residents green space and views of the Ashley River. Other possible amenities at the park include a fishing/crabbing dock, trails, playground, splash pad, shelter for camps or programs, and unique event space. Public input meetings will be held to learn what the communities would like to see on the site. Once the zoning process has been completed, we will determine the timeline for the public input meetings.

Seventeen people spoke in opposition to the plan. Neighbors say adding the plant would not benefit their community in terms of work or play and are asking for the area to be solely a park.

“The neighborhoods we represent have some of the lowest unemployment rates in North Charleston. Chicora-Cherokee specifically has a 2.9 unemployment rate, which means our people are already working,” KJ Kearney says.

The planning commission stated in the agenda item they recommended denial because they believe the property’s location to the Ashley River makes the plant unfeasible and there is a “lack of support” to the city’s comprehensive plan.

Sea Fox Boats argues the area they are requesting rezoning for is on a brownfield, the former site of a phosphate processing plant and hospital, which would need environmental maintenance to make the area suitable for recreational purposes or greenspace.

North Charleston natives say they remember the smells, the sights and the feelings of growing up near the former plant and the concerns it raised for health and wellness.

“Those people don’t live here. So whatever damage they do, they leave at the end of the shift and go home. We live here and if there’s anything that we can do to prevent that kind of thing reoccurring. We’re going to do so,” Mikell says.

The site was donated to Charleston County Parks in 2015 by Charleston residents Michael and Jenny Messner of the Speedwell Foundation. The organization did not respond to a request for comment.

“The owner of that property is the Charleston County Parks and Recreation. Their purpose for being is to create parks, preserve and protect greenspaces,” Richter says. “We are not looking for the high bidder here, we are looking for the perfect partner to clean this place and make it a place of pride.”

The discussion will now go before city council starting on April 11 for its first reading. The next opportunity for public input will be on April 18.

For more information on the project, click here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Big changes could be coming to liquor sales in South Carolina, and several Lowcountry distilleries say those changes could mean a big boost in business.

Bill H. 4231 would allow counties and municipalities to let voters decide via referendum whether to allow Sunday liquor sales at stores in South Carolina.

It would also allow micro-distilleries, which are defined in the bill as manufacturers that ferment and distill on-site, to sell liquor on Sundays without needing to pass a referendum.

“We’re dark here on Sundays, there’s really nothing going on,” North Charleston’s Beyond Distillery co-owner Ryan Sadis says.

Another North Charleston business, Striped Pig Distillery, is closed on Sunday as well.

“So many people don’t come to do their events with us on Sundays because they can’t buy bottles,” Striped Pig Distillery CEO Pixie Paula Dezzutti says.

Firefly Distillery is closed, too, according to its owner, Scott Newitt.

“Sixty-five percent of the people that come here are tourists, and they show up Sunday and they can’t buy spirits,” Newitt says.

Sadis agrees that distilleries are a tourism-driven business.

“Without having Sundays, those are the days people are off, those are the days people travel,” Sadis says.

And if the Lowcountry prides itself on being a tourist destination, Dezzutti says, it needs to “pony up,” to be able to serve them.

“They come here, and they find out that they can’t even purchase a bottle, they’re so disappointed. I see their faces drop,” she says.

Rep. Marvin “Mark” Smith (R-Berkeley), a sponsor of the bill, says distillers are different from retail stores because they can only sell their products, and are capped at six bottles per day per customer.

When it comes to liquor stores, he says it’s time for South Carolina voters to decide what they want for their county.

“This bill would not force Sunday liquor sales across the state. This bill, if it advances, simply allows each county to put the referendum on the ballot,” he says.

The bill passed favorably in a subcommittee last week and is now moving on to the full committee, scheduled for this week, Smith says. After the full committee, he says it will be debated on the House floor before repeating the entire process in the State Senate.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.