Commercial Roof Repair in Awendaw, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Just six days before the primary election day, Charleston and Berkeley County have some of the highest turnout numbers in the state during the first year of early voting.

In both counties, people were flooding in and out casting their votes by the minute. Hanahan Library is one of three polling locations in Berkeley County that’s seeing a steady increase in voters day by day.

“Berkeley County is getting good percentage coming out early,” Doreen Thompson, one of the polling managers at Hanahan Library, said. “I can’t say overall how the percentage is, but for this area that we’re working right now, we’re getting fairly well.”

Records show that around 3 million people were registered to vote in 2020, but only about 22% of those people voted.

Isaac Cramer, the director of the Charleston County Board of Elections, is one of the main people in charge of making this happen.

“With our equipment and our poll managers and our training and our recruitment, we’re expecting a high turnout,” Cramer said. “Reality will probably be about that 20% number, but we are expecting a high turnout if that happens, so voters don’t have a long wait as they head into the polls.”

As of now, Charleston County has the fourth-highest number of early voters in the state. In 2018, only 1,700 people cast their votes in the first 30 days using in-person absentee voting. This year, the numbers have doubled to 3,600 in the first six days using early voting.

“Our intent with every election is to find access for every voter,” Cramer said. “So, Charleston, we’ve always led the state in ballots casts ahead of election day. We were actually the model for this legislation with the off-site early voting locations, but with the tight window of time between legislation passing and early voting starting, we weren’t able to expand to multiple locations across the county. But in November, we will have seven locations for early voting. So, we do anticipate this county to lead the state in early voting as we have had in the past.”

Cramer says that if you have not voted already, please visit scvotes.gov to find your polling location. He says he wants you to be best prepared on June 14.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The best part about being a Charlestonian is knowing the ins and outs of the 843. With National Tourism Day last weekend — on May 7, to be exact — we thought it apt to rack your brain about the best things a tourist should do in the Holy City.

From neighborhood bars like Share House to the Gibbes Museum of Art that you really shouldn’t skip, here are 16 recommendations for tourists to do according to, well, you.

Eat + drink

Check out this local restaurant suggested by Reader Mary V. that also landed a spot on our list of brunch eateries around town. We’d recommend The Fat Boy.

Shoutout to Reader Mary V. for this submission as well. Enjoy panoramic views of the peninsula while sipping on a frozen negroni or mimosa.

DYK the co-owner of this local distillery is one of two masterminds behind the world’s first hand-crafted Sweet Tea Vodka? Enjoy live music + other events, plus more than 25 spirits at this Park Circle establishment.

Grab a dozen donuts from this hidden gem offering breakfast, buns, and baked goods. Thanks, @thingstodoincharleston.

Check out the view from the highest rooftop in Charleston while indulging in light bites + cocktails. We’ll take an order of oysters on the half shell, please.

Be sure to make a reservation + check out the menu for this award-winning, casual steakhouse, suggested by @the_twinmike.

We can confirm: This recently-opened duo on Ann Street suggested by @noonan_15 is the place to be. Order a Larceny Mule from Share House and head back the next morning for a breakfast sandwich from Bodega.

Tours

Get tickets to explore our city during a daytime walking tour or evening ghost tour, if you dare. Shoutout to @lindseyy__m for the suggestion.

Choose a fishing charter, sunset cruise, beach walk, or custom charter to experience the Holy City waterways, suggested by @the.hangry.captain.

Must see

There’s nothing better than a beach day in the Lowcountry. Grab a beach chair + some friends and soak up the sun along this two and a half-mile long barrier island. Thanks, @thecharlestonsuites.

Reader Mary V. hit the nail on the head for a must-do during a classic Charleston day. Be sure to snap a photo of the picturesque landmark.

This local venue was recognized as one of “America’s Most Beautiful Gardens” by Travel + Leisure Magazine. Embark on a historic garden walk and explore the venue for an event or wedding.

Check out weekly tours + flight demonstrations at this local nonprofit dedicated to conservation through education.

Swing by this 6,000-acre nature reserve to explore 11 lakes, a blackwater swamp, and wildlife just outside of Charleston, by the suggestion of @thingstodoincharleston.

Museums

Suggested by local restaurant Bull & Finch, this museum offers programs + events, exhibitions, and a membership, working to connect our city’s history to contemporary art.

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCIV) — Roadkill is not an uncommon common sight around the Lowcountry, but finding a bear is not so common. Wildlife officials say a black bear was found dead in Charleston County over the weekend.

MaryChris Delcioppo said she was driving home from church on Sunday when she spotted something unusual off U.S. Highway 17 in Awendaw.

“I turned it around to go check and I pulled over and realized it was a bear,” Delcioppo said.

She called her friend and neighbor, Awendaw/McClellanville Fire Chief Michael Bowers. Bowers said he came to check it out right away and was sad to see it was indeed a bear.

“It’s just rare. I’ve lived out here since 2013, 2012 and this is the first one I’ve seen, even though I know they’re out here, this is the first one I’ve seen,” said Bowers.

Wildlife officials say it was a male bear between 3 and 4-years-old and it was likely hit by a car during the night.

“I was so sad because he’s been spotted all throughout McClellanville and Awendaw the last couple of months, he’s caused no trouble, nobody’s approached him or anything like that,” said Delcioppo. “It was just sad that he didn’t make it across 17 like apparently, he was trying to do.”

Kayla Brantley, wildlife biologist for South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said black bear sightings are not uncommon this time of year. She said it’s mating season and males are covering more ground than usual.

“Springtime and summertime are when they are most active, so this time of year is when we get most of our calls,” Brantley said. “Bears in bird feeders, bears in trash cans, they’re out moving, they’re looking for food, they’re looking for a mate.”

She said there’s about 350 coastal black bears in South Carolina with the vast majority living in Georgetown and Horry counties, but said sightings have increased over the last few years in Charleston County and Berkeley County.

“One of the biggest challenges that wildlife is facing today is habitat loss so these bears are being pushed out of their natural habitat and into more populated areas which increases human/bear conflict whether it’s just a sighting or bears getting into trash cans and things like that,” she said.

She said black bears are not aggressive, but rather skittish of humans. She said 90-percent of its diet is wild nuts and berries, but just like raccoons, they are curious and will rummage through trash cans in search of food.

“If it’s known that a bear is in your area or been sighted in your neighborhood or if you have trash outside or pet food or anything of that nature just take steps to secure it,” said Brantley. “As long as the food source is there, the bear is going to stay in the area, this includes bird feeders and hummingbird feeders.”

She encourages anyone who sees a black bear to report it to SCDNR, it’s data they are actively trying to track.

AWENDAW, SC (WCIV) — A local Awendaw man is making national headlines for working his way to the quarterfinals of the DIY Hero contest which looks to promote the “next big name” in Do-it-Yourself craftsmanship.

Some would even say Michael Bronco is the definition of “Do-it-Yourself." When you think DIY, your mind may go to little projects such as shelves and small art pieces, but what about an entire house?

What started out as working on cars with his dad, turned into building a full two-story home for his family in Awendaw. Building is something Bronco says he can remember doing from a young age.

Now, as a quarterfinalist in the national competition, he hopes to use this exposure to inspire kids across the Lowcountry to use their hands to do the same.

“For me those lessons that you learned to get through things when they're really tough, you can teach that in a workshop. You can teach confidence you can teach discipline you could teach, you know, pride in your work. It's just one of those things where I don't know how else we teach kids,” Bronco said.

With those same hands, he hopes to create opportunity for residents in the Lowcountry through construction.

“It's been a game changer having skills like this. there's no question about it. I couldn't buy the house that I built here with my son,” Bronco said.

“I spent a lot of time with him. and more time than I would spend if I was in school,” Bronco’s son Michael Jr. said.

Bronco pulled his son, who was then thirteen-years-old, out of school for a year to teach him the ropes. As well as teaching him life lessons along the way.

“The other kids were running around school, he had work boots on at 6 a.m. getting in the truck and coming out and building with me. So I hope one day, he's gonna appreciate that,” Bronco said.

Michael Jr, now 17 years old, shows that the appreciation.

“Now I’m pretty happy,” Michael Jr. said, “I have that kind of base now where I can, you know, extend like, if I want to go to a trade school.”

Bronco continued to teach others along the way.

“I'm just enjoying learning from my dad, learning these skills, learning how to use my hands,” Bronco’s daughter Jessy said.

“He taught me a lot. He got me interested in the field and working in the field and now I’m starting my own crawlspace company,” University of South Carolina senior Richard Hurteau said.

Bronco entered the national DIY Hero competition and is currently in first place in the quarterfinals of the contest.

The prize: $25,000 and a spot in Make Magazine. But he says he wants more than money.

“The idea is to build workshops, and areas where they're needed most and have a place for kids to go,” Bronco said.

He wants to use his exposure to start a nonprofit to teach youth in underserved communities lessons in construction, and to help Lowcountry kids learn the same life lessons he did.

“What we teach is a game changer for everybody,” Bronco said, “Life is hard. We don't hide that. But if you're going to succeed at anything in life, you better accept the fact that it's going to be hard.”

A game changer himself, Bronco also holds a summer program called the Huck Finn School where he teaches kids woodworking and blacksmithing skills.

You can vote for Bronco in the DIY Hero contest by donating to the American Lung Association.

The last day for voting in the quarterfinals of the DIY Hero contest is today. The field will then get cut down to 15 participants nationwide.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is taking a closer look at the Awendaw-McClellanville area after a social media post surfaced alleging strange behavior on the roads. The Facebook post was published on a community forum group with dozens of comments and shares of people telling their stories about a car or a pair of cars acting in a suspicious manner.

The stories range from a single car tailing at close range then suddenly stopping and turning off their headlights to a pair of cars boxing people in and slowing down. Some claim a car would drive straight at them while others report having entire roads blocked by a car.

“We had not had any reports about it,” said Andrew Knapp, public information officer for the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. “But we learned about the social media posts and assigned our Patrol Bureau to be on the lookout for such activity in that area.”

The complaints stem from an area near Steed Creek Road and Halfway Creek Road, as well as Highway 17.

Preston Danner had just left Sewee Outpost Wednesday night around 11 p.m. when he says he caught a tail, someone he describes as following so closely that he believed their intent was to run him off the road.

“It was very threatening,” Danner said. “I was confused because they could have gone around me. There wasn’t reason for brights or being six inches from my bumper.”

Danner says this continued for several miles as they neared Steed Creek Road. A case of tailgating may not sound strange, but it was what happened next that really got Danner’s attention.

“They just cut off their lights while they’re on 17 and then just put their breaks on and stopped on 17,” Danner said. “I just kept driving.”

Danner says he had no idea that other people were talking about these kinds of incidents in this area until he told his wife, Teresa.

“There’s all sorts of things that can happen out here and in general we are a safe community, but I mean, there are people out there,” Teresa Danner said. “My fear is that these things are going undetected.”

On Thursday night, Charleston County sheriff’s deputies could be seen in the area, parked in the woods along Steed Creek Road. Even if the alleged incidents aren’t nefarious, Danner says roads are no place to be messing around.

“It’s frightening but imagine being a teenager or an inexperienced driver or someone who is dealing with car trouble, and then to run into people like this who are predatory,” Teresa Danner said.

The area is on the line of Berkeley-Charleston County border. The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office says they have taken calls about road incidents in the area, but have not found anything yet.

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