Local Charleston SC News and Government News (2024)

A federal grand jury has charged a Lexington resident with lying to U.S. immigration authorities about his time running a Syrian prison where inmates, including political dissidents, were physically abused.

Traffic near the 190-mile marker on I-26 was at a near standstill for several hours the morning of Aug. 9. State transportation officials rerouted traffic through to bypass the running waters on a section of Dorchester County interstate. Rain from overnight prompted the closure neat the Cypress Campground overpass.

Berkeley County goes into OPCON 1 status on Aug. 9. Emergency evacuations were put in place in Moncks Corner and Cane Bay following flash floods in the early-morning hours.

Convicted murderer Montrelle Lamont Campbell, 42, will remain in prison for life after the South Carolina Supreme Court ended his bid for a new trial after a judge's error.

Charleston Mayor William Cogswell made a rare move ordering a citywide curfew and closing the flood-prone peninsula to all traffic during Tropical Storm Debby. He maintains it was right call. Business leaders mostly applaud it, though some said a lack of communication left them scrambling.

As comparisons are drawn between Tropical Storm Debby and 2015's "thousand-year flood," how resilient are the state's dams to excessive amounts of rainfall? State and federal data shows hundreds are in need of essential repairs.

Heavy rainfall has created perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes after Tropical Storm Debby.

North Charleston Police Lt. Joseph Sherwood was arrested on DUI and open container charges Aug. 7.

From prosecuting America's drug war in the streets of Brooklyn to accused of murder in South Carolina, former Summerville cop Anthony DeLustro will stay in jail.

Charleston City Market reopens after Tropical Storm Debby sweeps through the Lowcountry, an indicator the city is going back to normal and vendors are back in business.

What started as a press conference on future presidential debates spiraled into Donald Trump insisting that his rally crowds — especially in South Carolina — are bigger.

Rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby made landfills soggy and muddy, presenting hazards for truck drivers. The city of Charleston released a modified garbage collection schedule for the rest of the week.

Larry Ogletree will spend 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to breaking into an 85-year-old woman's home and repeatedly sexually assaulting her in 2022.

A portion of Romney Street between Meeting and King Streets is closed due to a sinkhole. Workers with the S.C. Department of Transportation are on-site surveying the hole. A timeline for repairs remains unknown.

Charleston-area rivers and creeks have already started to flood and are expected to continue to rise over the weekend from Debby and additional thunderstorms forecast for the next several days. The Edisto River remains a top concern for meteorologists.

At least 20 doctors or nurse practitioners who worked for the telehealth firm Bupe.me have reported fraudulent prescriptions bearing their names that were sent to pharmacies without their knowledge, The Post and Courier has confirmed through interviews and documents.

Distance did not stop Charleston area sports fans from watching Olympic events over the last two weeks. According to a Gallup Poll, an estimated 69 percent of Americans will have tuned into these Olympic Games.

After stalling off South Carolina, Tropical Storm Debby began its march north toward a second landfall near McClellanville.

Early assessments show erosion on Charleston-area beaches not as bad as some leaders were anticipating.

A former Columbia mayoral candidate is being held on child sexual assault charges. Multiple law enforcement agencies sought warrants for his arrest on alleged assaults that took place between 2018 and 2023.

An exit ramp of Interstate 526 near Dorchester Road and Paramount Drive prone to erosion is closed indefinitely after Tropical Storm Debby washed out the road.

The National Weather Service reports the potential of "life-threatening flooding" from Debby has decreased. But South Carolina isn't completely in the clear yet.

A Goose Creek lawyer requested Jarrod Swanger, owner of Charleston's Sweet Grass Vodka, reveal how much the company is worth and what he paid to "Marvel" actor Jeremy Renner.

Is your favorite trail getting upgrades? Check out which spots are seeing enhancements, including the Francis Marion National Forest, Swamp Rabbit Trail and Jones Gap State Park.

Tropical storm Debby unleashed its fury on South Carolina, downing trees, flooding low-lying areas and spawning tornados.

Heavy rainfall at the Plum Island Water Treatment Plant has caused wastewater to overflow into nearby marshes and creeks. Officials are warning people to stay away from the area.

That curfew kicked off at 11 p.m. on Aug. 5 and was extended through Aug. 6 and into the morning of Aug. 7 and a yet-to-be-determined time that will be reevaluated as Tropical Storm Debby continues to approach and is expected to stall off the coast.

Freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Millswas also a keynote speaker at a"Stop the Steal" rallyin Dallas, where hetold the crowd, "Let us be that patriot who's not scared to fight."

Post and Courier sports columnist Scott Hamilton writes about Tropical Storm Debby on Edisto Island — be ready, but chill out was the vibe on Aug. 6.

Reported tornadoes touched down in multiple areas across the Lowcountry, including West Ashley, Isle of Palms and Moncks Corner, damaging property and sending debris flying in the early morning of Aug. 6.

To create more space at the shelter for emergency intakes during Tropical Storm Debby, nearly 25 dogs from Charleston Animal Society are being transferred to shelters in the Northeast.

Divers found a submerged vehicle near the Brown's Ferry Landing in Georgetown County on Aug. 5. It held human remains and was registered to a Mount Pleasant man who went missing in 2015.

Why is everyone talking about a cow when a tropical storm is preparing to hit Charleston?Bessie the cow, better known as the "Coburg Cow," is a life-size statue that stands on an elevated platform at the front of the St. Andrews Shopping Center in Avondale, West Ashley.

National Weather Service forecasters predicted the storm will stall Aug. 6 near South Carolina, dumping as much as 25 inches of rain through at least Aug. 9.

A Johns Island man was killed after a vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree in Hollywood.

State police arrested Lynn Evans Myers, 67, Aug. 2. Myers is accused of stealing about $51,000 from the St. George United Methodist Church she worked for.

The towns of Folly Beach, Isle of Palms and Kiawah, Seabrook and Sullivan’s islands have declared a state of emergency, expecting significant erosion impacts to beaches and sand dunes, rough water conditions and widespread flooding.

Climate change turbocharged previous hurricanes. Now a storm called Debby may rewrite South Carolina's long tropical storm history.

As Tropical Storm Debby barrels through Florida, travelers wanting to skip town before the storm hits Charleston are having trouble as impacts are already causing waves of delays and canceled flights.

Lowcountry hospitals and their clinics are planning to curtail some operations and clinics as they prepare for potential disruption from Tropical Storm Debby.

Weatherman Jim Cantore is in town covering Tropical Storm Debby for The Weather Channel. The well-known meteorologist has been filmed in the thick of blasting winds and rising waters every hurricane season for more than 30 years, narrating shocking footage of some of the strongest storms in the Southeast.

The vitriolic rhetoric of politics is nothing new in Charleston, which has a long history of name-calling. Look toBenjamin Ryan Tillman Jr., whoearned the nickname “Pitchfork Ben” for taking potshots atPresident Grover Cleveland.

Ravenel residents, who are accustomed to a more rural lifestyle, worry about the implications of more developments, including a potential concrete batch plant.

Fisheries across the U.S. are experiencing record-low numbers of overfished fish stocks and stocks subject to overfishing, but a few species remain on the overfished list amid rising climate threats.

Dorchester PAWS evacuated all of its cats and dogs in anticipation of Tropical Storm Debby's arrival. Debby is expected to bring historic rainfall to the region.

NWS forecasts Tropical Storm Debby could drop up to 30 inches of rain across coastal South Carolina. That would be comparable to 2015's "thousand-year flood."

Fecal pollution in the Seine River has been a chronic issue during the 2024 Olympics. But Charlestonians shouldn't judge. We've got our own poop-filled rivers.

South Carolina's holding centers for juvenile offenders have been plagued with violence and unsafe conditions, a problem made worse by persistent overcrowding and understaffing.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who spent nearly 30 years in prayer for a wife, married Charleston interior designer Mindy Noce in a private ceremony before friends, family and former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Charleston city officials held an emergency briefing Aug. 3 to warn residents about the threat posed by Tropical Storm Debby and how residents should prepare.

Hundreds of boats gathered in the Cooper River before parading around the peninsula and toward Fort Sumter in support of former President Donald Trump.

A woman sued the owner of popular bar Local 616 after she was "catastrophically injured" after she contends the bar over-served a woman moments before a head-on collision on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in 2021.

Hubert "Wayne" Wilcher served as contracts and procurement director for the district from 2013 to 2023. The lawsuit claims he was fired while on sick leave.

A former Army soldier from Goose Creek will spend 20 years in prison after recording young girls performing sexual acts online. Federal prosecutors contend Evan Bucci, 23, psychologically abused the girls and groomed them so they would record themselves for him.