Tree Trimming in West Ashley

CHARLESTON, S.C., July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bank of South Carolina Corporation (Nasdaq: BKSC) announced unaudited earnings of $1,668,684, or $0.30 and $0.29 basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively, for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 – an increase of $167,661, or 11.17%, from earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 of $1,501,023, or $0.27 and $0.26 basic and diluted earnings per share, respectively. Unaudited earnings for the six months ended June 30, 2021 increased $456,555, or 15.11%, to $3,478,759 compared to $3,022,204 for the six months ended June 20, 2020. Annualized returns on average assets and average equity for the six months ended June 30, 2021 were 1.27% and 12.80%, respectively, compared with June 30, 2020 annualized returns on average assets and average equity of 1.28% and 11.46%, respectively.

Fleetwood S. Hassell, President of the Bank of South Carolina, stated, "Operating with the lowest margins in recent decades, our industry has managed to move forward in large part the result of fee income generated from the Paycheck Protection Program and mortgage originations. This has been the case as well for the Bank of South Carolina. Combined with exceptional management of operating expenses, our second quarter and year-to-date performance has exceeded our expectations and profit plan. Our challenge is to deploy the massive amounts of liquidity accumulated over the past 18 months into higher yielding assets. Current loan demand remains tepid and yields low. However, we will not compromise the lending standards upon which we have built the bank over the past 34 ½ years. Asset quality remains our focus.

The Federal Reserve has hinted at increasing rates in the next 24 months or so as they continue to balance their mandate of unemployment and inflation (transitory or not). We will stay the course with strong financial performance and look forward to the second half of the year."

About Bank of South Carolina Corporation

The Bank of South Carolina Corporation is the holding company of The Bank of South Carolina ("The Bank"). The Bank is a South Carolina state-chartered bank with offices in Charleston, North Charleston, Summerville, Mt. Pleasant, and the West Ashley community and has been in continuous operation since 1987. Our website is www.banksc.com. Bank of South Carolina Corporation currently trades its common stock on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol "BKSC".

SOURCE Bank of South Carolina Corporation

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http://www.banksc.com

Have you heard of Delta-8? No, we aren’t talking about the airline company, but it could make you take flight.

Today we are breaking down the 411 on the agricultural product known as Delta-8 that has been growing on SC.

What is it?

We don’t want to get in the weeds, so Delta-8 is 1 of 140+ compounds found in cannabis that has become increasingly popular due to the similarity to Delta-9 (aka tetrahydrocannabinol, the scientific name for THC). Delta-9 users have been known to experience feelings of happiness, increased hunger, symptom relief, and more.

Basically, the 2 cannabinoids have similar chemical structures + their names.

Is it legal in SC?

Currently, South Carolina has not banned Delta-8 + it is available locally. According to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, the hemp plant is legal to grow in the state with proper permits; however, it has to have a THC level below .3%. Anything above that is illegal in the state, for now.

Where can you find it locally?

I Heart CBD, North Charleston, West Ashley, Summerville, and Mt. Pleasant locations — Flower, vape accessories + gummies

Charleston Hemp Collective, 473 King St. — Gummies, bath products, tinctures, coffee + tea

Fatty’s Beer Works, 1436 Meeting St. — Vending machine filled with gummies, oil + vape cartridges

CBD Social, 507 1/2 King St., — Gummies + vape accessories

Poll

A challenge to the Long Savannah development has been settled after the builders of the 3,000-acre complex agreed to adjust their plans to avoid some wetlands destruction.

The settlement, provided to The Post and Courier, says builders will avoid filling or excavating another 50 acres of wetlands on the project. Before, the proposal had called for the disruption of 209 acres across its entire span.

Developers have rights to build 4,500 homes in total on the West Ashley land, at the edges of Charleston’s suburbs. The project also includes conserved green space in large city and county parks, but successive floods in existing neighborhoods nearby brought fresh scrutiny to the plans and their affects on the area, including around flood-prone Church Creek.

With the settlement, “We feel its a better project than when it first popped up,” said Andrew Wunderley of Charleston Waterkeeper.

That group along with the S.C. Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club challenged a state certification of the building plan.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that addresses the collective thoughts and ideas associated with a community plan that improves the Church Creek drainage system and conserves over 1,800 acres of land,” developer Taylor Bush wrote in an email.

Other components of the agreement include requirements that builders remove some older roadbeds to allow water to flow across the area in a more natural way. The land has been altered many times in history already, for logging and phosphate mining, once a booming business in the Lowcountry.

Developers will also make a one-time donation of $250,000 to a trust that will fund water-management projects in the three drainage basins that the development covers. A similar trust was set up to settle a separate environmental lawsuit earlier this year, centering on plastic pollution in Charleston Harbor.

Wetlands provide important wildlife habitat and serve as sponges that absorb and filter water. They are protected by state and federal rules. In addition to settling a state-level dispute, the agreement waives the rights of the three environmental groups to challenge the Long Savannah plan as developers seek future permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, which runs the federal wetland protection program.

The developers will be required to mitigate the destruction of the remaining 159 acres of wetlands with restoration work elsewhere.

“We were somewhat leery that we would have success in getting the certification stopped at the state level and the permit stopped at the Corps level,” said Steve Gilbert, a consultant for the Wildlife Federation.

Benjamin Cunningham, an attorney representing that group and the Sierra Club, said there was relief an agreement had been reached, but concern lingered over how the work will affect the area.

The groups may weigh in, however, when builders bring more complete stormwater designs to the city of Charleston. The rules for how to store and drain rainfall are particularly strict in the Church Creek basin, where part of the project is located.

“We wanted to maintain our ability to raise some issues with the changing climate and perhaps changing habitat,” said Cunningham, who works for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project.

MOUNT PLEASANT – The South Carolina Surf U14 girls soccer club has a chance to bring home some serious hardware.

The club team based in Mount Pleasant won six games in seven days from June 18 to 24 to claim the Southern Regional Championship in a field of 11 other teams and advance to the United States Youth Soccer (USYS) National Championship against the three other regional victors (Far West, Midwest, and Eastern).

The competition is scheduled for the week of July 19 in Tampa.

The Surf defeated teams from states such as North Carolina, Texas and Florida to advance to nationals, and also won the S.C. state championships back in May, which qualified it for regionals.

“It’s pretty incredible (with) the amount of hard work, grit and determination,” Surf U14 head coach Andy Grist said. “…They really showed a lot of defensive qualities for that tournament that really helped and won them the tournament.”

The South Carolina Surf has 14 teams total from boys and girls U13 to U19, and seven of them won state championships, including U13, U14, U15 and U19 girls, and U13, U14 and U19 boys. The U14 girls were the only Surf club to make it out of regionals and advance to nationals.

Leading the way for the U14 Surf defensively were team captains Addysen Cole and Claudia Hassell, an outside back from West Ashley and a center back from Mount Pleasant, respectively.

“I’m beyond excited,” Cole said of going to nationals. “It’s so unreal and I can’t wait. I’m really proud of everyone on my team.”

Being captains, both players knew that other players on the team would look up to them.

“I always like to be positive with my teammates and make sure that we have all communicated, and I like to think of each other as family,” Hassell said. “We all like to lift each other up and just make sure that everybody is on the same page, and we just like to get everybody hyped up with music; just get everybody ready for each and every game.”

Leading the way for the Surf offensively in regionals were Zoey Molten and with four goals and Callah Dando with two. Maddy Gwozdo poured in six assists and Molten added two assists of her own.

The team is made up of players from the Charleston, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach areas, and one of those players from the latter is center midfielder Lilah Jennings from Murrells Inlet, who contributed a goal and an assist in regionals.

“It was mostly our preparation,” Jennings said of the team being able to come out on top at regionals. “We always tried to stay hydrated and we always lifted each other up when we were down. Or when we got a goal scored on us, we were always like, ‘Come on, we got this.’”

The other player on the team from the Myrtle Beach area is Grayson Williams, who did not play at regionals but will be joining the squad for nationals.

Cole, Hassell and Jennings also gave a lot of credit to their coaches, including Grist and assistant coaches Tim Kelly and Michelle Ying, and their parents for the support.

Cole is appreciative for the parents doing things like buying them last-minute Clif Bars and chocolate milk, Jennings appreciated all the scrimmages and training sessions Grist set up for them to prepare the team for nationals and Hassell enjoyed when the team would circle up for a prayer before every game.

Grist said he is grateful to First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant and the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department for providing the team with playing venues.

NORTH CHARLESTON — A roadway is being targeted for safety improvements after hundreds of residents petitioned county leaders to look into ways to make the street more suitable for bikers and pedestrians.

Charleston County Council voted July 27 to approve a traffic study of Azalea Drive that will examine improving bike and pedestrian access along the 3-mile long North Charleston street.

Called a road diet study, the Azalea Drive analysis has been rolled into the county’s $175,000 Better North Bridge study, which County Council voted July 27 to pay for with transportation sales tax money.

The North Bridge study is exploring conceptual designs for a pedestrian bridge that would run adjacent to the traffic bridge on S.C. Highway 7.

The county’s Public Works department will complete the Azalea Drive study, and staff will present the results to County Council.

The county’s decision to fund the safety analysis comes after mobility advocacy nonprofit Charleston Moves spearheaded a petition in June that garnered more than 200 signatures from people calling attention the road’s lack of accommodations for cyclists and pedestrians.

Advocates pointed to the section of the roadway that runs between Leeds and Cosgrove Avenues. The stretch doesn’t have a dedicated space for bikers, said Katie Zimmerman, executive director of Charleston Moves.

The intersection of Cosgrove Avenue and Azalea Drive is also problematic, Zimmerman said. The intersection’s nonfunctioning crossing signals and faded crosswalks pose safety hazards, she said. The intersection is home to an elementary school, neighborhood grocery and bus stops.

“I think it’s dangerous,” Zimmerman said. “There’s a constant movement of vehicles at that intersection. You’re never sure, as a person on a bike, when it’s safe to go.”

The traffic study of Azalea Drive will analyze the possibility of restriping Azalea from four travel lanes to two, and installing a center turn lane and a bike lane on each side of the road.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation would include the restriping in its upcoming resurfacing project along Azalea Drive, the county said.

The road diet study is expected to be completed in August.

“If the results are favorable, the SCDOT will fund the final plans and complete the construction,” said County Spokeswoman Taylor Green.

The Cosgrove Avenue and Azalea Drive crossing will also tie into the new pedestrian bridge, which would run across the Ashley River and connect West Ashley to North Charleston.

Charleston County is developing a conceptual design and hopes to obtain funding through the federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant.

Richard Turner, the county’s deputy director for public works, has said the location of the new bridge would be to the right of those driving from West Ashley to North Charleston along the North Bridge.

The Azalea Road and Cosgrove Avenue intersection will play a key role in providing access to the structure, Zimmerman said.

“Azalea is gong to be the major connecting piece where the new bridge touches down,” she said. “Azalea is going to need to be made safe.”

The county’s North Bridge Study is a collaborative effort between the cities of Charleston and North Charleston, DOT, Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments and Charleston Moves.

The bridge has claimed the lives of several individuals over the years.

There have been three total fatal collisions involving pedestrians or cyclists from 2017 to 2021, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.

The department did not have Azalea Drive cyclist and walker fatality numbers available July 30.