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SANTEE, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina could be getting its first and only casino in the small town of Santee in Orangeburg County.

Santee Development Corporation’s impact study shows it could bring an economic boom to the small, underdeveloped community.

Santee Development Corporation estimates the development of the casino and resort to bring over 4 million annual visitors from in and out of state. Mega donor Wallace Cheves plans to fund the project off of I-95.

Right now, abandoned buildings that used to be a part of the Santee Outlet Mall in Orangeburg County are where the development would go. They have been sitting for more than a decade.

A recent economic development study shows that the investment in the Santee area would support the underdeveloped Orangeburg community. The study found it would generate over $75 million in annual tax revenue according to Santee Development Corporation. The same study says it would create a total of 4,618 jobs in the state annually.

College of Charleston Professor of Economics Frank Hefner says with a town that small he thinks they’d need to bring in others from outside the community for some of those jobs.

“In that community of that size, where are the people going to come from? And that again could change the dynamics of the community, but that’s true for every community. Growth changes things in a community and that’s going to happen. To a large extent, that corridor has been left behind on economic growth for quite some time and so they need it,” Hefner said.

“In addition to the $1 billion construction cost, independent economic projections estimate an $8 billion impact on South Carolina’s economy within the first 10 years, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, driving tourism and expanding business opportunities for local communities,” Cheves said in a statement.

The Santee Development Corporation said not a dime of public money would be used. There are not any state or county incentives and it would all be privately funded.

In order to make this happen, the group is working with legislators to get a bill passed to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws. Representative Chris Murphy is the lead sponsor. It aims to establish the ‘South Carolina Gaming Commission’ to award casino licenses in certain counties.

If you want to take a closer look at that bill, click here.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - If a newly filed legislation is passed, South Carolinians will not have to leave the state to visit a casino.

If the bill becomes a law, a $1 billion dollar casino project could move forward in Orangeburg county.

The location for the proposed development would sit at the former Santee outlet shopping center which closed more than 10 years ago and is abandoned just off the I-95 corridor.

The bill is called the I-95 Economic and Education Stimulus Act, which would allow three counties within the Palmetto state, Orangeburg, Dillion, and Marlboro the ability to build casino resorts.

“I think that if we had more of an economic boost in Santee, the pay would go up, people would be happier and more areas would get the funding that they need,” said Nikole Willis one homeowner who lives by the proposed development site.

The site used to be home to thousands of shoppers looking for bargains.

The site could be home to millions testing their luck at another form of legal gambling to be approved in South Carolina.

“It could really, really be a game-changer,” said house representative Chris Murphy.

Murphy is the lead sponsor of the I-95 Economic and Education Stimulus Act. Hargues the corridor needs an economic boost, hence the chosen location for the project.

“You would draw a lot of people that right now, that don’t have economic opportunities, don’t have job opportunities in their own counties, but it would be a cental point for them”, said Murphy “have all the confidence in the world that this would be a game changer for this area”.

Murphy said Orangeburg County is considered a tier four county meaning it lacks economic opportunity, a reason some homeowners argue this development could benefit the area.

WIS spoke with several travelers and homeowners near the development to hear what they had to say about the bill and the proposed project.

Nikole Willis said she just recently traveled to North Carolina for a casino trip, and said despite her approval of the project, many of her own neighbors are against it.

“I know there are a lot of people that are against it because its growth and its development but we are never going to grow if we don’t accept these new things”, said Willis.

A spokesperson with the Santee Development Corporation said the casino and resort could bring in nearly 5,000 jobs and a $75 million-dollar annual tax revenue. They expect over four million annual visitors including travelers from out of state.

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Copyright 2025 WIS. All rights reserved.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - A former inmate will return to prison for at least a year after the South Carolina Department of Corrections hearing.

Bowen Turner, of Orangeburg, appeared before an administrative hearing officer Wednesday to address the community violations of his youth offender sentence.

The violations included using controlled substances and controlled substances and consuming alcohol while on supervision.

Turner, who was originally accused in 2018 and 2019 of the sexual assaults of three teens and who later took a plea deal to a lesser charge, was arrested Fon a Youthful Offender arrest warrant, Department of Corrections spokesperson Chrysti Shain said.

Documents also allege he failed to “refrain from consuming alcoholic beverages in excess,” detailing the purchase of eight Michelob Ultra beers on Tuesday at the Hillcrest Golf Club in Orangeburg. It also cites “special conditions that outlined a zero tolerance for any violations of the Youthful Offender Conditional Release Certificate.”

The state’s Intensive Supervision Administrative Release Authority granted the conditional release on Oct. 31, after he spent more than seven months behind bars after the ISARA revoked his parole following his arrest for driving under the influence, having an open container of beer or wine in a car, public disorderly conduct, a seat belt violation and resisting arrest.

In this incident, Turner crashed his car, narrowly avoiding another car and flipping his car multiple times, according to authorities. He was taken to the hospital where, officials say, he was argumentative, belligerent and extremely intoxicated, fighting with hospital staff and state troopers.

His legal troubles date back to 2018 and 2019, when he was accused of sexually assaulting three teenage girls over that time. As part of a sweetheart plea deal in 2022, Turner pleaded guilty to assault and battery and was given probation.

Weeks later, Turner was arrested in a separate incident and charged with disorderly conduct, possession of alcohol by a minor and threatening a public employee. Court documents show Turner threatened to bite off the finger of an Orangeburg County deputy when the deputy informed him of the jail’s COVID-19 protocols which required Turner to wear a mask.

Following that arrest and probation violation, Turner was sent to the Department of Corrections, where he stayed for about 16 months until he was let out in Nov. 2023 on supervised release.

Last month, the South Carolina Court of Appeals denied Turner’s appeal to be removed from the state’s sex offender registry.

Turner was being held in the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center. He is expected to appear before a Department of Corrections review hearing officer, who will review the case and make a recommendation to the ISARA, which will determine whether Turner violated the conditions of his release.

That process is expected to be completed within the next two weeks.

Shain said the hearing official recommended Turner return to S.C. Corrections and receive intensive addiction treatment while in prison.

He will return to Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center where officials will determine where Turner will spend the rest of his time at.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

There was a recent rescue mission in South Carolina to aid a woman who was stuck in a well where multiple snakes lived, according to the Orangeburg County Fire District.

On Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., members of the fire district responded to reports of a person trapped in a 16-foot deep well, officials said in a news release. Information about the location of the well was not available.

At the scene, the first responders confirmed there was a woman in the well and rescue crews conducted atmospheric monitoring while ventilating the well with fresh air, according to the release.

Information about how the woman got stuck at the bottom of the watery well was not available.

Using a tripod and rope rigging, a rescuer was carefully lowered into the well to secure the victim and raise her to safety, fire district officials said. Once removed, the woman was decontaminated and transferred to EMS, according to the release.

Further information on the victim’s condition, and if she needed to be treated at a hospital, was not available.

No other injuries were reported.

There was no word about how long it took to extract the woman from the well, but what officials called a “smooth rescue” was the product of teamwork from members of multiple emergency agencies.

Along with the Orangeburg County Fire District, members of the Pine Hill and North Fire Departments, Orangeburg County EMS, County of Orangeburg Emergency Services, Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Orangeburg Department of Public Safety and Meducare Air also responded to the scene, according to the release.

Information about the number and type of snakes seen in the well was not available. The fire district shared a photo of two snakes that were removed from the well.

Those two “slithery serpents tried to assist in the rescue but did not have the proper training so we had to escort them away,” the fire district said.

There was no word if the well was covered, or if any other safety precautions were placed in the area to prevent anyone else from getting trapped more than five yards underground.

A new bill could make Orangeburg County the first in South Carolina to have a casino.

Credit: Santee Development Corporation

SANTEE, S.C. — A new bill introduced at the South Carolina State House Thursday could make Orangeburg County the first place in South Carolina to have a casino.

The I-95 Economic and Education Stimulus Act bill was presented to the South Carolina House Ways and Means Committee. It would grant casino licenses to certain counties categorized as Tier 4, which could benefit Orangeburg County.

"I-95 is one of the places along I-95 considered in the poverty belt for some counties, and so any economic development would be looked at favorably because of the fact that it would boost tourism and infrastructure as well as housing in that area," Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said.

One possible site for the casino is the former Santee Outlet Mall. The Santee Development Corporation, which purchased the abandoned mall, plans to transform the property into a casino and resort. The development would include a hotel, spa, restaurant, and retail spaces, and the developers estimate it would create 4,618 new jobs and generate over $58 million in annual tax revenue.

The Santee Development Corporation sees the project as a chance to transform the area.

"It’s time to stop kicking the same can down the road and take a new approach—to think differently and with an open mind," the corporation said in a statement to News19. "There’s a tangible, transformative and life-changing opportunity for one such area, Orangeburg County, and along the I-95 corridor staring us in the face, without one dime of taxpayer risk."

Jane Powell, with the Santee Cooper Country Tourism Center, highlighted the need for more accommodations on the county's eastern side.

"I think it was 88 boats on the lake this weekend for a tournament. Some of those guys come to town," Powell said. "They stay here in Santee, then you've got, today is Friday, you've got people that are traveling on spring break that are going from north to the south, south to north to see Grandma, they stop off here because we're a halfway point. The hotels fill up, the next morning, you know, a new crowd comes in."

"Our people, schools and businesses will benefit dramatically as people traveling on I-95 will no longer pass us by but make us a destination place to visit and spend their money," Senator Brad Hutto, a co-sponsor of the bill, said. "I am just as confident that a privately owned resort casino owned by South Carolinians, properly governed with safeguards in place, will transform our county and region into an economic engine we can all be proud of."

For the casino to move forward, the South Carolina General Assembly must pass the legislation, and the governor must sign it into law.

The developer is scheduled to meet with the mayor of Vance on Monday to discuss the project.