South Carolina, Lancaster, SC | featured news

United Way of Lancaster County kicked off its 2017-18 campaign Thursday, setting a $425,000 goal, almost 9 percent more than the drive raised last year.
Meeting this year’s goal won’t be easy, said United Way Executive Director Deborah Boulware. One reason is that one of the drive’s biggest contributors in the past, Duracell, is cutting back in preparation for closing its Lancaster plant by 2019.
“We are going to have to work harder,” Boulware said. “We got around $125,000 from them last year.”

Red Ventures CEO Ric Elias has launched a nonprofit to raise at least $10 million for the hurricane recovery in his home territory of Puerto Rico, and he has vowed to match up to $5 million himself.
Elias, who co-founded Red Ventures in 2000 and moved the headquarters to Indian Land in 2009, launched Rebuild Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

There’s a new piece of Bob Doster artwork displayed outside Bruce Brumfield’s office at the Founders Federal Credit Union headquarters in Lancaster.

A former employee at Gerdau Ameristeel’s Lancaster plant is suing the company, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation in his May 2016 firing.
Dirk Mitchell, a Pageland resident, was employed at the company’s Riverside Road facility for two years. He was hired as an inspector on a production line making railroad spikes, according to the suit, and a dispute over an inspection led to his dismissal.

The chances of getting busted are about to go up for drunk drivers in Lancaster County thanks to a sheriff’s office grant from the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
Announced during Monday night’s county council meeting, the $157,116 grant will pay for salary, benefits, a vehicle, uniforms, equipment and training for a third deputy on the sheriff’s office’s DUI Enforcement Team starting Oct. 1.

County council unanimously voted Monday to lease space for a satellite county government office in the Panhandle.

A motorcyclist was killed early Monday after he was struck by two vehicles in Indian Land.
The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Breck Higgins, 49, of Lancaster.
Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Gary Miller said the collision happened about 5:30 a.m. near the intersection of Marvin and Henry Harris roads, about 3 miles outside Fort Mill.
Miller identified the other two drivers as Joseph Michael Hatten of Indian Land and John Joseph Donohue of Fort Mill.

The S.C. Department of Revenue has affirmed Lancaster County’s 2016 vote that legalized Sunday off-premises alcohol sales after hashing out two opposing state attorney general opinions on the matter.
Michael Lewis, SCDOR regulatory manager, notified county officials Sept. 19 of the agency’s decision.
“The department has chosen not to cancel the Sunday sales temporary permits in your county/municipality on June 30, 2018,” Lewis wrote in a letter.