The Herald (Rock Hill)
How big is York Tech’s impact on the Rock Hill region?
A strong workforce topped Mac Winget’s list as he explained why his company, Southeastern Architectural Systems, recently signed off on a $12.3 million move from Charlotte to Rock Hill. The company president made mention of one spot in...
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Under Trump, a shift toward ‘absolute immunity’ for ICE
The instructions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents explain in clear terms how to defuse dangerous encounters: Use “minimal force” when trying to remove people from cars. Issue commands in “professional,” “firm,” “courteous” voices. “First...
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Winthrop repeats as cornhole national champions
Winthrop University’s groundbreaking cornhole program just collected two more national championships for its trophy case. Eagles Gavin Hamann and Jaxson Remmick won the doubles title at the Jan. 1-2 American Cornhole League regional event in Myrtle...
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Ex-York County cop will serve 40 years for child sex crimes
A former South Carolina police officer at York County departments who is already in prison for child sex abuse convictions has been sentenced to 10 more years after pleading guilty to more crimes. Charles Eugene “Chuck” Price, 53, now has to serve 40...
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Rock Hill lands 2 new upscale hotels near I-77 interchange
Two new Rock Hill hotels are planned for the city, part of a $30 million investment from one of the region’s most experienced hotel companies. Primo Investments plans to build a Residence Inn by Marriott, President and CEO Hitesh Patel told The...
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As US targets boats, Coast Guard tries to capture suspects
Long before the U.S. military began blowing up boats it suspected of smuggling drugs in strikes from the sky, the Coast Guard has pursued a very different campaign against drug smuggling on the water. Cutters guided by an intelligence center in Key...
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Winthrop employee fired amid EEOC complaint
Amy Bailey, a former employee of Winthrop University, was fired after filing a federal discrimination complaint, but the university denies it was retaliation. The public university in Rock Hill cited “misconduct” as the reason for her dismissal in its...
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County looks at using tax rule for historic sites
There’s a way to keep some of York County’s most historic buildings without letting them sit idle and blighted. One option, development experts say, is for the county to take an incentive from the playbook of its cities and towns. York County’s...
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‘He was hurting’: Inside NC chess star’s final days
Editor’s note: This story includes a reference to suicide, which may be distressing to some readers. In life, Daniel Naroditsky spent the majority of his 29 years being celebrated. After being hailed as a chess prodigy at a very young age; after...
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Clover band marches together one last time to Rose Parade
On New Year’s Day, with millions watching, the Pride of Clover Marching Band will stand at a crossroad. They’ll line up for the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, with 75 years of rich tradition and an uncommon sense of community behind them. Ahead,...
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Ex-police chief, official arrested in tracking case
The former police chief and current administrator of the town of Great Falls in South Carolina have been arrested putting trackers on the private cars of the mayor, a town council member and a third person, according to state police and arrest...
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Fort Mill just landed another hospital
Two decades ago, several healthcare companies jockeyed to see which one could build a hospital to serve the fastgrowing Fort Mill area. Today, there’s one hospital open and another planned. There’s even a separate hospital under construction in nearby...
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York County doubles Clover School District impact fees
Impact fees are going up in the Clover School District. They’re just not going up as high as the district wants, again. York County Council voted 6-1 on Monday to double the existing fees to $8,000 per home, $3,952 per apartment and $5,236 per mobile...
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US strikes 3 more boats in eastern Pacific, killing 8
The U.S. military struck three boats it suspected of carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific on Monday, killing eight people, the U.S. Southern Command announced. The strikes, which the military said were carried out in international waters on what it...
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York County Library OKs new children’s book policy
The York County Library board on Thursday approved a new book collection policy that critics warn will restrict children’s access to LGBTQ-related books and could expose the county to the same First Amendment litigation now facing Greenville...
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Rock Hill principal wins ‘Oscar of Teaching’ award
Elementary level Principal Erica McCray thought the first ever gathering of Riverwalk Academy’s student body was scheduled to celebrate the Rock Hill charter school students for high marks on their report cards. It turns out, students were there to...
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As Indian Land booms, drivers await relief on clogged roads
As more federal money gets tied up in interchange construction along Interstate 77, drivers along busy York and Lancaster County highways have to wait their turn. That waiting also gives elected officials an opportunity to consider their role in the...
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Atrium’s $450M SC expansion plan ignites local competition
Atrium Health plans to build a hospital in Fort Mill, creating competition for a part of York County that’s long been coveted by healthcare providers. Atrium outlined plans for a $450 million hospital project Tuesday at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg...
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Federal immigration operation starts in New Orleans
Federal authorities announced the start of an immigration enforcement operation in New Orleans on Wednesday, the latest front in the Trump administration’s crackdown. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that its targets would...
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Enrollment is down at schools in Rock Hill area. Blame COVID?
All six Rock Hill region school districts are facing enrollment declines, a startling shift in an area that’s seen some of the highest population growth in the state for decades. Yet the most basic reason behind the loss of students suggests it may not...
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Fixing Rock Hill’s busiest interchange will cost $106 million
After millions of federal and state dollars were rerouted north to Fort Mill, local and state road planners finally have a way forward to fix the Interstate 77 interchange at Exit 82 in Rock Hill. It’ll cost $106 million, including $11 million in new...
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‘He loved to share music’: Iconic musician Bobby Plair Sr. dies
Bobby Plair Sr. didn’t just play music for more than nine decades in his hometown of Rock Hill and around America. He taught music to thousands of students, played before huge crowds and shared music with the world. Plair died Sunday at the age of 98,...
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Fort Mill band among just 2 public high schools in NYC parade
More than 180 Catawba Ridge High School students in Fort Mill will miss out on Thanksgiving Day dinner at home. Instead, the high schoolers will be at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade performing live as they walk the streets of New York City and for...
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Charlotte waits to see what will happen when feds leave
It’s not something the average Charlottean really, truly could have expected to see happening within the boundaries of our city when 2025 started. The sight of U.S. Border Patrol agents and ICE agents wrestling Latino-looking pedestrians to the...
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SC company buys $85M worth of land in York, Lancaster counties
A South Carolina company just bought a long list of properties across York and Lancaster counties, combining for more than $85 million. Saviria LLC bought nine York County properties on Oct. 23 for a combined $35.8 million. The more than 20 acres...
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As food stamp funds run out, can SC step in to help?
South Carolina is relying on philanthropy to fill in for unpaid federal food benefits, but some Democratic lawmakers say the state isn’t going far enough to help. While some states have injected money into food benefits, South Carolina has fewer...
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Rock Hill area election results: Voters crush Lancaster sales tax plan
Lancaster County voted decisively against a new sales tax to fund road work, unofficial returns show Tuesday night. Nearly 68% of voters cast a “no” for a tax meant to improve area roads, with all precincts reporting. Lancaster County had a 28% voter...
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Indian Land Target opens to the delight of shoppers
Linda Greenberg of Fort Mill and Charleston looked at the fuzzy gray pajama pants her daughter Lauren Clark contemplated buying and said, “Those are cute!” The mother-daughter duo already had a shopping cart full of items at the Indian Land Target....
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6 changes planned for major Fort Mill mixed-use development
A large apartment and retail project aims to extend Fort Mill’s downtown area, revitalizing one of the town’s oldest mill sites. Recent parking, pedestrian and price changes make it more likely to happen. Fort Mill Town Council is halfway through its...
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Johnson launches his bid for SC governor
On one wall of state Rep. Jermaine Johnson’s home office are photos of him playing basketball at the College of Charleston. On other walls are newspaper clippings, plaques and certificates. In the office are is palm cards he printed for his state...
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Fort Mill plans to install new traffic signals near schools
New traffic signals will be installed near some Fort Mill schools to help improve safety, more than a year after a crossing guard was fatally struck by a car while working near a school. A temporary signal will go in front of Catawba Ridge High School...
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Air quality safe at two Fort Mill schools, tests show
Tests found air inside two Fort Mill schools safe, with no sign of chemical hazards from the nearby Silfab Solar manufacturing plant. But parents still aren’t breathing easy. At a Fort Mill School District community session Tuesday, environmental firm...
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Impact fee amounts may rise in Clover, Lake Wylie area
Amanda Hauser doesn’t have a child in the Clover School District. Yet she’d happily pay a $15,000 fee if she were building a home there, the Lake Wylie resident said, on top of taxes to support schools. “I don’t think it’s fair for people who are...
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Catawba Ridge claims another 4A state marching band title
This version of the Catawba Ridge marching band found itself in a familiar spot Saturday night, celebrating another state championship. Catawba Ridge won the 4A title with two performances of its show, “This Version of You,” at Blythewood High School...
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Legendary Rock Hill civil rights hero Phyllis Hyatt dies
During the early 1960s, when young Black men marched for equality and pushed for an end to segregation in downtown Rock Hill, there were always young Black women protesting and marching, too. They marched and were called racial epithets. They did not...
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New homes, retail, offices planned across York County
New homes, retail and business sites are planned across York County, including in busy spots near Rock Hill and Fort Mill. The county Planning Commission sent several projects forward on Monday night for York County Council review. Land use changes...
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Trees fall, costs rise under plan to offset Scout project damage
The brilliant sunlight of a late summer afternoon barely made it through the forest of hardwoods, the thick canopy of trees causing deep shade on a landscape that farmers once stripped bare to grow cotton. Since cotton farming fizzled a century ago,...
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School voucher demand soars — who’s really benefiting?
The percentage of South Carolina school voucher applicants who attended a public school last year has plummeted, as newly-eligible private school students flood the taxpayer-funded scholarship program. Only 28% of this year’s applicants attended...
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Packaging company to add 116 jobs, invest $92M
A packaging company will invest $92 million and add 116 jobs with a new manufacturing site in York County. Pratt Industries is one of the biggest corrugated packaging companies in the country and one of the world’s largest privately held producers of...
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Lawsuit seeks data on how USC shares $20.5M with athletes
A South Carolina freedom of information advocate has sued the University of South Carolina to obtain the school’s deals to share more than $20 million with its student-athletes. According to the lawsuit filed Sept. 30 in Richland County, the state’s...
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Doctors, preachers: Abortion bill draws crowds to SC statehouse
Two sister Senators were shut down during testimony. A speaker colorfully insulted the bill’s sponsor before being escorted out. An OBGYN provided a sex education lesson to state Senators. And a large fake contraceptive device overlooked an over...
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Winthrop’s former attorney sues school over open meetings law
Former Winthrop University General Counsel Christopher “Todd” Hagins has filed a lawsuit alleging the school’s board of trustees repeatedly broke South Carolina’s open meetings law by holding secret votes on public spending, contracts and tuition and...
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Rock Hill bar provides a safe space for drag queens
One performance night before a sparse crowd entered the bar, Will Lattman spent more than an hour perfecting his makeup. His eyes, flittering with fake eyelashes, took the longest. His transition from Will to Seveene Eleveene, his drag name, was a...
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Company to move HQ from Charlotte to Rock Hill
Charlotte-based supply chain management company Riverstone Logistics will move its headquarters to Rock Hill, with a $16.4 million investment set to create 159 jobs. The Rock Hill site at 220 W. White St. will be the first one in South Carolina for...
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Sister of man paralyzed in bus attack calls for more safety
Angelia “Angie” Adams of rural Chester County in South Carolina has seen and heard days of news coverage about the August stabbing death of a Ukrainian woman. She has watched with empathy for the family of the dead woman and wondered what will be done...
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Lancaster County could see nearly 1,100 new homes
More than 1,000 acres of undeveloped Lancaster County property could be cleared to add nearly 1,100 homes. The Lancaster County Planning Commission saw several large projects at a workshop last week that are likely to come up for votes on Sept. 16....
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Combative or collaborative? Style next SC governor may bring
During his time in office, Gov. Henry McMaster’s mantra has been to “communicate, collaborate and cooperate” as he’s worked to have a good relationship with the General Assembly. McMaster’s approach with lawmakers was different than his predecessors,...
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‘Never easy to say goodbye’: Middle James Brewing Co. closes
A Rock Hill brewery is the latest closure at The Power House, the downtown food hall in University Center. Middle James Brewing Co. announced its closing Sept. 6. Middle James was the anchor location at the food hall that opened two years ago at the...
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MARCHING TO THEIR OWN BEAT
It’s Hawaiian shirt day, and Scot McGuire stands behind the half-wall overlook of a trophyladen chorus room banging a taped-up drumstick against a ledge like a metronome. “Do you hear a difference when we all commit?” he asks nearly three dozen...
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SC test results: High marks for Fort Mill, Clover
New South Carolina school test scores put Fort Mill at the head of the class again. But Clover and Lancaster County schools received plenty of high marks, too. On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Education released scores from its SC READY...
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Historical marker celebrates memories of Jefferson High
Arthur Lowry, who turns 91 on Sunday, devoted his lifetime to public education. But the York native won’t spend his Friday nights cheering on his alma mater this fall. He won’t catch a school play or a basketball game there. That’s because Lowry’s...
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Work is underway on the Catawba River’s next big park
Work is underway for a new state park along the Catawba River, though it’ll be a couple of years before the park opens. Duke Energy started work this summer near the site entrance for the park near Great Falls. The South Carolina Department of Parks,...
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Artist Jim Shore to open museum, shop in downtown Rock Hill
An artist known for crafting some of the world’s most iconic characters is bringing his talents to downtown Rock Hill. He’ll also bring his collection. Jim Shore, 75, a York County native known worldwide for his Heartwood Creek folk art figurines and...
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Federal judge throws out man’s lawsuit against Mace
A federal judge put an end to a South Carolina man’s lawsuit against U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Charleston, on Wednesday. Judge Richard Gergel quickly ruled on a series of motions at the federal courthouse in Charleston that one after another closed off...
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SC likely to join ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda
South Carolina is expected to join a growing number of states embracing the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda by restricting some “junk food” from being purchased with federal food benefits. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Health and Human Services...
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Can former Democrat Pascoe win GOP nomination for AG?
First Judicial Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe is trying to accomplish a feat that hasn’t been done since 1994. He wants to win a statewide election as a Republican, after switching from the Democratic Party. Pascoe, who earlier this year switched to...
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Classroom Central gives back, teachers get free supplies
Just last summer, Rhonda Neely from Gaston County Schools was paying almost $500 out of her own pocket to purchase school supplies for her students. This year, she walked out of Classroom Central with a full cart of free school supplies, feeling a...
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York County artists have lifeline at Gettys Center, for now
York County artists at the Tom S. Gettys Center won’t have to pack up just yet after Rock Hill offered a month-to-month lease extension at the community arts hub. The move reverses earlier plans that would have required the Arts Council of York County...
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SCarowinds adds interactive experience with ‘The Conjuring’
“The Conjuring” horror film universe is coming to SCarowinds this Halloween season with a new interactive haunted attraction called “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear.” Iconic characters of the movie franchise such as The Nun, The Crooked Man and The...
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Rock Hill region goes back to school: 5 things to know
Summer doesn’t officially end for a couple months, but it’s already time for thousands of families across the Rock Hill region to fall back into school routines. Most public school students start back Monday, Aug. 4. That means more buses on busy...
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Fort Mill schools won’t have crossing guards direct traffic
Just days before school starts, the Fort Mill School District warned parents to prepare for significant traffic safety changes due to a lack of traffic guards. Fort Mill won’t get traffic guards from its usual third-party vendor this year, according...
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Teaching duo traveled the world, then found Rock Hill
Not many work just a few doors away from their first love, but Michelle and Dan Stone found themselves doing exactly that. The two originally retired from the Denver Public School District in Colorado in June 2023 and chose to live in Greece for a...
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‘I get nothing now’: Food insecurity rises under SNAP cuts
Food banks across the Carolinas are bracing for more impacts from federal budget cuts they say threaten to upend nutritional support for millions of Americans. In Rock Hill, the strain is already being felt. Local food pantries, previously able to...
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CLT airport is among first with TSA family lanes
TSA officers opened a new family lane last week at Charlotte’s airport to make the security checkpoint process easier for passengers traveling with their kids. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is among the first airports to offer this service,...
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Cornhole championships in Rock Hill attract global players
More people from more countries are coming to Rock Hill for a shot at a world title in the most-played sport in the United States. The Rock Hill-based American Cornhole League expects more than 10,000 people to gather for its July 28-Aug. 3 ACL World...
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Catawba River camp made fixes amid flood fears
Just nine months ago, parts of Camp Canaan were under 7 feet of water, with decades of work destroyed. Floodwater from Tropical Storm Helene covered the camp’s multipurpose room, where campers spend their lunches laughing and bonding. Water lines left...
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Waterfront event venue to transform Fort Mill property
A new waterfront event venue could add to one of the fastest-growing parts of Fort Mill. Charlotte-based Dixie Dog Investments applied to rezone nearly a dozen acres on North Dobys Bridge Road to create Epps Farm at Dobys Bridge Road. About a quarter...
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Blue Goose arts store helps creativity thrive in Rock Hill
Rock Hill’s vibrant art supplies store Blue Goose got its name from the blue car its owners, Andrew and Mary Lazenby, used to drive to go on dates together in high school. Freshly established in October in Rock Hill, the Blue Goose Arts Supply Store...
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Feds give greenlight to existing nuclear plant
Federal regulators have extended the license of the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, meaning it is authorized to operate until at least 2062, according to a news release from Dominion Energy, the plant’s operator. The 20-year license extension,...
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Carowinds unveils new River Raft Blast at Camp Snoopy
Carowinds has a new water ride to help beat the heat, and park goers don’t have to board it to get wet. Charlie Brown’s River Raft Blast is now open in Camp Snoopy. The raft ride for children and adults is right beside the family launch roller coaster...
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Key piece of Rock Hill history is among June property deals
A key piece of Rock Hill’s textile history, a prominent York County church site and nearly two dozen homes highlight the region’s biggest property deals in June. The three-county region — York, Chester and Lancaster — had more than 30 sales last month...
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Carowinds’ swim-up bar: Is it worth it?
While typically confined to the indoor office space, work took a different route for me last week when I spent the afternoon cooling off in the Carolina Harbor water park at Carowinds. I braced for ridiculous wait times when I first entered the park...
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FBI, US attorney outline Medicaid fraud schemes in Carolinas
State and federal officials said Monday they flagged over $22 million that four Charlotte residents stole from local Medicaid programs. The cases are part of a Department of Justice annual takedown of healthcare fraud, with a historic $14.6 billion in...
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