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JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - For four years, folks have flocked to an event known fondly as the Black History Soul Meet & Eat whose organizers say if you’re gonna be meeting, you may as well be eating.

This year, the event takes place Saturday at the James Island Arts and Cultural Center, along Camp Road.

Much like in years past it’s not only a celebration of how much you can eat or who you can meet, but also what you can learn along the way.

“It says ‘eat’ and, of course, it says ‘meet’ and with the meeting aspect we have networking so you can network with any business owners there and any of the vendors, yes, we will have vendors as well as the people that come from the community for this event,” Krystal Yeadon, the founder and CEO of Krystal Klear Productions, said. “We have to eat that good soul food, that Gullah-Geechee food. That’s just what it’s all about along with plenty of educational activities where you learn about different African Americans and their contributions to society.”

The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $11 in advance online and $15 at the door for adults and $6 for children. You can add on an entry to a Black History Basket giveaway when buying tickets for $1.50.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Yeadon says the fee helps fund some of the artists who attend the event, like the Speak Freely Foundation, which specializes in poetry. Yeadon says the group combines poetry and boxing while mentoring area youth. But Yeadon says what they’ll do at Black History Soul Meet & Eat is provide “poetic vibes.”

“I like to give back to Black-founded, Black-owned, nonprofit organizations,” Yeadon said. “It’s my way of giving back and the Speak Freely Foundation is special to me because when we did this event for the first year in 2019, we gave back to them as well. So now they’re coming back around and we’ll be giving back to them again. They do a Speak Freely Foundation Poetry Festival every year and I actually organized that festival as well. So that is our “give-back” organization this year. We’re giving back to the youth, I love the youth and I love the arts.”

Along with food, networking opportunities, live poetry, and opportunities to learn about black history, Yeadon says there will also be live music.

“We have a bunch of artists. That’s the main portion of it,” Yeadon said. “These artists are all performing artists and some are actually visual artists as well. There are probably gonna be some other surprises for everyone, probably even some for me, but whatever it is - it’s going to be soulful.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The James Island Public Service District has contracted to sell 6.52 acres of wooded property on Dills Bluff Road to a developer, even though residents have vigorously opposed this plan to develop publicly owned land for months.

More than 1,100 residents have signed a change.org petition asking the town of James Island and the PSD to leave this property as undeveloped green space, possibly a scenic, wooded town park with walking trails, picnic areas and maybe a dog park. The town has expressed its support for such a deal, but the district has not, at least not yet.

The property's location — close to a scenic boardwalk overlooking Simpson Creek, James Island Town Hall and the new Arts and Cultural Center — is well-suited for a park.

The first town of James Island purchased the property with public money to build a Town Hall, but the court conveyed most of this parcel to the Public Service District in 1997, after the first town was dissolved. In 2004, an adjacent piece of land previously conveyed to the Honeyhill Neighborhood Association was also transferred to the district, per the terms of the original court order. In March 2023, the district entered a 12-month contract with KT properties to purchase the site for $1.89 million.

The developer originally proposed a planned development called Marsh Walk Village, with 20 townhomes, a large shopping center and a parking lot. The plan involved removing 19 grand trees and dozens of unprotected trees. The accompanying stormwater management plan has been a serious concern for residents near the property, as they suffer frequent flooding. During several public meetings last year, residents from the adjacent neighborhood of Whitehouse Plantation and beyond spoke out against the rezoning. James Island Town Council voted down the Marsh Walk Village development plan in October.

The Public Service District has since extended the developer's contract, and the developer is seeking to move forward with two plans to develop the property under its current zoning, which would allow a 50,000-square-foot, 3-story storage facility and 12 single-family homes. But these plans are just as environmentally destructive. James Island is an urban Sea Island, and urban forests like the one on Dills Bluff Road are critical to managing stormwater.

Charleston County has lost more than 10,000 acres of tree cover since 1992; that's an area larger than the Charleston peninsula and Daniel Island combined. New stormwater ponds and other features cannot fully replicate the absorption ability of a naturally vegetated and wooded area. A 2019 study of 12 cities, including Charleston, showed that runoff increases when forested land is converted to impervious surfaces.

If the proposed project is developed, the retention ponds will not adequately manage the stormwater runoff, and that water will have to go somewhere. And where it will go is to the existing homes behind the proposed retention ponds and Dills Bluff Road. This will have a devastating impact on Whitehouse Plantation homeowners, and Simpson Creek will likely be impacted, too.

It would be incredibly shortsighted for the PSD to effectively sell out the residents of James Island; and it would be unwise to sell this land to a developer to build 10 to 12 homes and a massive self-storage facility that is nothing more than another asset for an investment firm's real estate investment portfolio.

The James Island PSD should terminate its contract with the developer and allow the town and the residents of James Island to purchase the land, possibly with county greenbelt funds, and turn it into a park.

Casey Buchanan is a James Island resident.

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JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A James Island resident claims an area on Fort Johnson Road is lacking crosswalk signs in his neighborhood.

Gabe Macaluso has lived on James Island for almost four years and says he loves the area. His family calls James Island “The Sandlot” because of how welcoming the neighborhood is for children and families. Macaluso says most people know each other and look out for one another in the community.

Macaluso lives less than a mile from Stiles Point Elementary. When his son entered the third grade, he asked if he could start riding his bike to school. Encouragingly, Macaluso wanted his son to continue to grow and become active. While walking around the neighborhood and being by his son’s side as he biked to school, Macaluso noticed the lack of crosswalk signage in the area. On Fort Johnson Road at Tallwood and Joe Rivers, Macaluso says the crosswalk signs only face one direction and cars frequently drive right through when pedestrians are waiting to cross. He even says in October 2022, he notified the South Carolina Department of Transportation of the issue. Unfortunately, he says that was two years ago and the signs still have not been placed correctly.

“We don’t always blame the cars for blowing through the crosswalk signs because there is no crosswalk sign facing them,” Macaluso says. “And the two streets are close but they’re probably two or three blocks away, so I don’t know if the Department of Transportation just figured ‘Oh we’ll put one crosswalk on this end and one crosswalk at this gap, it’ll cover it.’”

Macaluso says despite this, he does see the state recognizes the need for people to be mobile on the island with flashing lights and signs indicating crosswalks for pedestrians so vehicles approaching can slow down.

“You know we have a new James Island Mayor and I think it would be awesome if we had a public art project for crosswalk paintings,” Macaluso says. “Just something to draw attention to it. We do live in a time where people are distracted and people are always in a rush to go somewhere.”

SCDOT Communications Coordinator Kelly Moore said they are working on some fixes in the area.

“We did pass along this information along to the local office so that the traffic and maintenance teams can work together and address the missing sign and pavement markings,” Moore said. “Typically those issues are addressed in 30-60 days.”

If you have a road that driving you crazy, you can submit your concern to Live 5 News.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — A James Island woman is recovering after she had her hand amputated after it was badly burned by her hair dryer.

Mary Wilson passed out while drying her hair at her home on Feb. 7.

“The way I [fell] on top of the dryer, like it was under me, and I was in a weird, contorted placement and the dryer was still running,” she said, adding that she believes she was shocked by the dryer.

The dryer was scorching Wilson’s skin when her partner found her.

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“She’s telling me, ‘your hand, your hand,’" Wilson recalled. “I look at my hand. I don’t even register that’s a part of me. It doesn’t even look recognizable.”

Wilson was rushed to the hospital. Due to the burn and nerve damage, the decision was made to amputate her left hand.

“The biggest thing is not being able to do the simple things I want to do, or things take so much longer,” Wilson said of her life post-amputation.

She believes blow dryers ought to have automatic shut-offs, similar to coffee machines and other hot tools.

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“You see it with hair straighteners and flat irons – they do have that ceramic plate that once it gets to a certain temperature, it turns off,” she said. “If it did, then maybe my injuries wouldn’t have been so bad.”

Wilson said the support – both financially and emotionally – she has been receiving has been “incredible.”

“It’s support that I never even knew that I had, and it definitely meant a lot,” she said, adding that James Island restaurant Bohemian Bull plans to set aside some of the proceeds of an upcoming cornhole tournament for her.

Updated with visitor information on Friday, Oct. 13

Something green is coming to Charleston, and we’re not talking about St. Patrick’s Day. A new state park is in the works at the tip of James Island. We spoke with SC State Parks Director Paul McCormack for the latest on the project.

The waterfront park will be located on 23 acres at the end of Fort Johnson Road, adjacent to the Fort Johnson historic site. The parcel is managed by the SC Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Tourism.

In 2021, the state purchased the land from the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy for $23 million. The May Forest Convent located on-site is expected to be converted into an event venue that will be the main component of the new park. Funding has not yet been secured for the venue construction project.

Charlestonians can look forward to a day-use recreation and picnicking area with views of the Charleston Harbor, the Ravenel Bridge, and Fort Sumter. There is an existing gazebo and bench swing. Conceptual images are not yet available, but stay tuned.

An event space, lodging, and a dock may be added in the future. A structural assessment of the property is expected to determine park features down the road. What would you like to see this new park offer? Let us know.

In addition, there is a master plan that envisions the entire ~100-acre Fort Johnson area that is separate from the state park project.

The park is expected to open this spring or summer. There is currently no timeline for potential future amenities, but keep an eye on the newsletter for updates. The plans for Fort Johnson, which surrounds the state park area, are long-term.

May Forest launched its soft opening phase. The new state park on the northeast waterfront of James Island offers views of the Charleston Harbor, Ravenel Bridge, and Fort Sumter, plus woodland and fields abutting the shore.

The park is far from finished — but you can stroll for yourself now.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources bought the 23-acre park land from the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy for $23.25 million in 2021.

May Forest State Park and the ~100-acre Fort Johnson area make up a long-term development plan including updated trail access, greenspace, historical interpretation, and research campuses.

The park is located at 424 Fort Johnson Rd. Since it occupies one tip of James Island, navigating is easy: just follow the road to its end and follow the signage for visitor parking.

During the soft opening phase, the park is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays, grounds only.

May Forest is currently hiring a park ranger. Once they do, you’ll be able to visit on weekends, too.

Currently, May Forest offers walking trails and four picnic tables to unwind by the water. Pets are welcome in most areas, but you’ll need to keep them leashed.

As the park grows, look forward to an event space at the old May Forest Convent, overnight accommodations, and dining options.