South-Carolina

SC education agency celebrates move after 6 decades in downtown Columbia

Published

4 months ago

August 13, 2024

SC education agency celebrates move after 6 decades in downtown Columbia

The South Carolina Department of Education officially cut the ribbon on a new headquarters in rural Lexington County Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, moving out of its downtown Columbia location. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Education officially marked the move of its 940 employees out of the agency’s long-time downtown Columbia office building, cutting the ribbon Monday on a new, 150,000-square-foot headquarters built by a politically connected developer.

“For six decades that building stood sentry over South Carolina’s education struggles and triumphs as the home of the Palmetto State’s education mission and thousands of committed South Carolina Department of Education employees,” state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said of the agency’s former building on Senate Street, two blocks east of the Statehouse.

“Now, exactly 60 years later, we celebrate the turning of another page and the opening of a new, hope-filled chapter in South Carolina’s education story,” Weaver continued.

The education agency’s move was part of a larger $133 million contract over 20 years, signed in 2022, with Columbia developer Bill Stern.

Stern, who chairs the state Ports Authority’s governing board and makes regular campaign donations — mostly to the state’s ruling Republicans but also to Democratic incumbents — agreed to build two new office facilities at the State Farmers Market in rural Lexington County.

He will lease them to the state Education and Natural Resources agencies for 20 years.

Stern was not among dignitaries in attendance at the ribbon cutting.

Four of South Carolina’s former state superintendents attended the Aug. 12, 2024 ceremony: (L-R) Republicans Mick Zais and Molly Spearman, current GOP Superintendent Ellen Weaver, and Democrats Inez Tenenbaum and Jim Rex. (Provided by SC Department of Education)

The state Education Department is the first of the two agencies to move in, joining the previously relocated state Department of Agriculture on the Farmers Market grounds.

The agriculture agency paid Stern $7 million in 2013 for two pieces of property to expand the State Farmers Market, according to a 2015 audit requested by legislators. Auditors found the market was running a deficit and suggested the state find new ways to support the site, The Associated Press reported at the time.

The education agency’s move to the building 10 miles away from its downtown home is not yet complete. Some employees are still moving in. The process started in June.

The three-story structure, which Weaver called “a visible token of the Palmetto State’s investment in and commitment to the educational future of all of our students,” boasts a cafeteria, exercise room, an atrium for employee gatherings and a wide variety of conference rooms and meeting spaces to host trainings for teachers and administrators from school districts around the state.

Construction continues on the Department of Natural Resource’s building.

Two miles north, Stern is also taking ownership of another major office property that will house state agencies.

Dominion Energy named Stern the grantee for the utility company’s 100-acre South Carolina campus, according to filings on the Lexington County Register of Deeds website.

A new deed has yet to be filed, and the purchase price has yet to be made public record.

The massive headquarters, which Dominion inherited when it took over SCANA Corp. in a 2019 buyout, will be the new home of the state agencies that provide services for people with disabilities, mental health issues, and alcohol and drug addictions, as well as the state public health agency after its recent split with the state environmental department.

That state is expected to spend nearly $500 million relocating those agencies from the redeveloped BullStreet District in downtown Columbia. Similar to the new education and natural resources locations, the lease with Stern for the former Dominion campus is a 20-year deal.

Meanwhile, the University of South Carolina spent $2.2 million in December to purchase the education agency’s downtown office building.

The state’s largest university system is still exploring its options for the property, spokesman Jeff Stensland.

USC is in talks with private developers about the potential of converting the 14-story office tower, located just off the college’s historic Horseshoe, into a housing development.

Stensland said that could potentially include housing for graduate students. It would not be geared to undergraduates.

Previous plans by a private developer to turn the building into apartments in 2022 never materialized.

The building, constructed in the 1960s, has been on the market since at least 2017.

In 2015, then-Gov. Nikki Haley included the tower among properties she called “money pits” that should be sold.

The South Carolina Department of Education headquarters in Lexington County (Provided by the S.C. Department of Education)

Source link

Click to comment

South-Carolina

Why South Carolina has a large group of NFL hopefuls playing in the Citrus Bowl

Published

2 minutes ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Why South Carolina has a large group of NFL hopefuls playing in the Citrus Bowl

South Carolina will play against Illinois in the Citrus Bowl. According to head coach Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks will be without Nagurski Trophy winner and consensus All-American Kyle Kennard. An NFL Draft announcement from national Comeback Player of the Year Rocket Sanders followed, but his status for the game hasn’t been addressed further.

However, on Friday, a long list of Gamecocks hoping to hear their names called in the NFL Draft made known their intentions to play in the New Year’s Eve bowl game.

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

Senior linebacker Demetrius Knight is one such NFL Draft hopeful. The transfer portal addition made it very clear he will play in the Citrus Bowl. Knight said he is, “looking forward to a couple more weeks with the guys…[not being in the College Football Playoff] is heartbreaking.” He added, “I’ve got kids,” so he feels that he doesn’t want them to bring up him not playing in the bowl game as an excuse for them not finishing something they started.

Fellow linebacker Debo Williams said one of the main reasons he and his teammates want to play in the bowl game is the pursuit of history. South Carolina football has won 10 games just four other times (1984, 2011-2013). “This means everything…we want to leave our mark,” he shared. The senior leader reiterated his preseason hope that the defense could “go for donuts” against Illinois.

One of the highest-projected Gamecocks in next year’s draft is Nick Emmanwori. The future professional safety quickly shot down any speculation that he wouldn’t join his South Carolina teammates in Orlando. “I’m going to be in the bowl game,” he told the media on Friday. The Columbia-area native cited the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s snub of USC as a motivating factor in his decision. “[We] want to make a statement,” he said. Emmanwori added that Carolina doesn’t want to end up like Florida State last year. The Seminoles got blasted 63-3 in the Orange Bowl after being left out of the CFP field. Though he made no definite statement on his future, Emmanwori left the door open for a 2025 return to USC.

Defensive tackles Boogie Huntley and Tonka Hemingway also will play in the bowl. Said Huntley, “It’s another opportunity to go out there and have fun and show the nation—the world—who South Carolina is.” Likewise, Hemingway revealed that he is “really excited to put on the garnet and black, to play for the name on the front and the back.” Both fifth-year seniors have played a lot of football in Columbia and could be late-round picks in April’s NFL Draft.

[GamecockCentral has gift subscriptions]

South Carolina will travel down to Orlando following a short break for Christmas. The Gamecocks and Illini will kick off at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31st. ABC will broadcast the game, and ESPN+ will make it available for streaming.

Source link

South-Carolina

South Carolina women plead guilty to charges related to trafficking of minors

Published

8 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

South Carolina women plead guilty to charges related to trafficking of minors

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – Two South Carolina women have been convicted after pleading guilty to charges related to the trafficking of three minors.

Monesha Tatayana Lapri Gary, 24, of Clinton, and Rebecca Melanie Perry, 30, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to human trafficking conspiracy in federal court in Columbia.

Evidence presented in court showed both women worked with co-defendants Antonio Marquis Nicholson and Terrell Counts to exploit the three minors in the commercial sex trade from at least December 2022 through August 2023.

Officials said Nicholson and Perry recruited one minor victim who was a runaway at a hotel and drove her across state lines, told her that she was going to work in commercial sex, bought her lingerie, took photos of her, advertised her for commercial sex on the internet, and arranged for customers to exploit her at hotels in the Columbia area and elsewhere in the state.

According to a press release, two minors were recruited near a high school.

Officials said members of the conspiracy used the internet to advertise the victims and carry out the crime.

Nicholson is accused of setting prices, collecting proceeds, deciding which minor victims would receive some portion of the proceeds, and how much they would receive.

Gary reportedly chatted with customers as if she was a minor victim, took a minor to another city to be exploited, collected proceeds, and turned them over to Nicholson all while the minor was multiple states away from her family. Perry helped similarly.

One victim was allegedly physically assaulted, and several of the members of the conspiracy carried guns and distributed drugs around the victims.

Under a plea agreement, Gary and Perry agreed to pay restitution to the victims.

United States District Judge Sherri A. Lydon accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Gary and Perry. An indictment is pending against Nicholson and Counts.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

Source link

South-Carolina

South Carolina takes commanding lead in Palmetto Series thus far

Published

16 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

South Carolina takes commanding lead in Palmetto Series thus far

Every South Carolina native knows the impact and weight of the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. As a well-known rivalry nationwide, it just means more around here.

The Gamecocks currently hold a commanding 4-0-2 lead in this year’s Palmetto Series. To put it into perspective, they went undefeated in the fall semester against their in-state rival.

Here’s how South Carolina has gotten its wins over Clemson so far.

Volleyball

After both soccer teams — men’s and women’s — tied in their two matchups with the Tigers, the volleyball team got the winning going in the Palmetto Series with a 3-0 shutout on Sept. 20.

Riley Whitesides led the team with 18 kills, including big swings in sets one and three to lock in the win, 34-32, 25-16, 25-23. The Gamecocks were able to move to 9-2 on the year with that win and finished their season 16-12 with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

Women’s basketball

Women’s basketball earned a big win in the series on Nov 20. Head coach Dawn Staley had hoped to set the winning tone for other sports to follow.

“I mean it’s always great. When I first came here, I said we’ll take a UConn win over a Clemson win any way and then people started going crazy,” Staley said. “I’ll take a win against Clemson, obviously for the rivalry, for the Palmetto point, for hopefully opening the winning ways for men’s basketball as well as football.”

Previously ranked No. 1 South Carolina did just that. Handling the Tigers on their home court in dominant fashion to win 77-45, South Carolina’s defense held Clemson to just six points in the second quarter.

Just 10 days later, the Gamecocks defeated Clemson as the underdog on the Tigers home field. The Palmetto Bowl was a highly anticipated game with Clemson ranked No. 12 and South Carolina at No. 15. There were also possible playoff hopes for both teams on the line.

South Carolina’s 17-14 comeback win held a lot of weight for head coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks.

“What about our team, to overcome some of the stuff that we had to overcome,” Beamer said. “So much of it self-inflicted and to just find a way to win at the end is really, really special.”

Men’s Basketball

South Carolina men’s basketball overcame adversity and found a way to win over No. 25 Clemson. The Gamecocks beat the Tigers 91-88 in overtime at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday.

For head coach Lamont Paris, beating Clemson meant more for the large crowd of fans in attendance.

“I was really happy with the crowd and really there’s a part of you that wants to really win the game, it’s a small part. The rest of it’s for all these other reasons, but you also want to win for your fans — you do,” Paris said. “They made the effort, there’s plenty of things they could have been doing. They came, they cheered, they’re exhausted, they rode the highs and the lows with you for 45 minutes. You want to win badly for that fan base.”

Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks with 22 points on the night. Murry-Boyles said his fuel for this game came from passionate fans in the crowd.

“Shoutout to all the fans that were here supporting us,” Murray-Boyles said. “They really kept my energy high, and I feel like they kept the team’s energy high.”

[GamecockCentral has gift subscriptions]