Wedding & Event Venue Near Saint George, SC.

A developer is requesting to change more than 360 acres of residential land to industrial land.

ST. GEORGE, S.C. (WCSC) - Calling one place home all your life until a rezoning request sign pops up on your street. That is what happened to a group of people who live in St. George.

One developer is requesting to change more than 360 acres of residential land to industrial land that would affect large properties off Highway 78 one mile east of St. George.

Although Dorchester County’s plans do not say what exactly will be built in this area, a number of residents who have spent their whole lives here say they want their land to be kept the way they’ve always known it to be.

Richard Myers was born on Sugar Hill Road in St. George and has lived here all his life.

“Everybody seems to know that something big is going to happen in this area except the people that live here,” Myers said.

He owns around 37 acres, which has the possibility of turning into industrial land.

“All of this that we’re standing on now used to be our farm, but as the years changed... the farm got smaller,” Myers said. “But we still got a farm, and we want to keep it that way. We don’t want a factory sitting in the middle of it or a warehouse.”

Another resident in the area, Barbara Felder, is the sixth generation in her family to live here. Her grandparents and aunt’s home is still on the land.

She was asked what her reaction was when she first saw the Dorchester County rezoning sign down the street.

“We were shocked,” Felder said. “There were no letters or no communication about the changes in our area.”

Felder says she worries about how this rezoning could affect pollution, their roads and access to emergency vehicles.

“We shouldn’t let the county nor the developer to come in our community and tell us what to do as taxpayers and for our future,” Felder said.

Myers says he has no intention of selling his land but knows his taxes will rise if he doesn’t.

“If they want your property, they’re going to get it because they’re going to run your taxes sky high until you say, ‘Enough,’” Myers said. “‘I got to sell it because I can’t pay the taxes.’”

Both of them say they want to be involved with the rezoning process.

“We are tired of explaining and they need to change and not think about the almighty dollar that’s coming into Dorchester County area,” Felder said.

Dorchester County did not respond for a comment because Monday was a holiday. This rezoning still has to go through three readings before it can be approved.

To take a closer look at the official rezoning plan from the county, click here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Many locals have recently earned academic honors or degrees from colleges and universities across the country.

Utah Tech University has announced Fall 2022 academic honors for two locals attending the campus in St. George, Utah.

Natalie Pierce of Poway was among the 1,282 students named to the President’s List. The honor went to 10 percent of the student body, who completed a minimum of 15 credits and achieved a GPA of 3.9 or higher.

Brooke Tyler of the Rancho Bernardo area was among the 1,468 students named to the Dean’s List. The honor went to 11 percent of the student body, who completed a minimum of 15 credits and achieved a GPA of 3.5 to 3.89.

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Taylor Sakaguchi of Poway was among the more than 6,900 students named to the Fall 2022 Deans’ List at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sakaguchi is a sophomore majoring in microbiology at the campus’ College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. To be recognized its students had to earn a GPA of 3.75 or higher.

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Grace Cooper of the Rancho Bernardo area is among the more than 1,200 cadets and students recognized for their academic achievements during the Fall 2022 semester at The Citadel. To be honored at the Charleston, South Carolina campus students had to complete 12 or more semester hours and earn a GPA of 3.2 or higher.

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Joseph Vu of the Rancho Bernardo area recently graduated from The University of Tampa with a Physician Assistant Medicine degree. The commencement ceremony included 985 undergraduate and graduate candidates.

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Braeden Bourne of the Rancho Bernardo area was named to the Hamline University College of Liberal Arts Dean’s List for the Fall 2022 term. The 597 students to make the list had to earn a GPA of 3.5 or higher and complete a minimum of 16 credit hours. The campus is in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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Angela Lam of ZIP code 92127 was named to the Fall 2022 Dean’s List at Rochester Institute of Technology. Lam is in the physician assistant program. Full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students at the campus in Rochester, New York, had to earn a GPA of 3.4 or higher and complete at least 12 credit hours.

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Alexandra Dowd of Poway was named to the College of Charleston’s Fall 2022 President’s List. Dowd is majoring in history and political science at the campus in Charleston, South Carolina. To qualify, students had to earn a GPA of 3.8 or higher and complete a minimum of 14 semester hours.

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Three local students were named to the Fall 2022 Dean’s List at Emerson College in Boston. They had to earn a GPA of 3.7 or higher.

Skylar Hutcheon of ZIP code 92127 is majoring in communication studies and is in the Class of 2026.

Paris McClung of ZIP code 92127 is majoring in creative writing and is in the Class of 2025.

Christina Sugimoto of ZIP code 92128 is majoring in marketing communication and is in the Class of 2023.

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Mackenzie Rogers of Poway was named to the Fall 2022 Dean’s List in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. Nearly 2,500 Fulbright College students were honored at the campus in Fayetteville. To qualify they had to achieve at least a 3.75 GPA and complete a minimum of 12 credit hours.

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Four locals were among the more than 9,800 University of Maryland Global Campus students named to its Fall 2022 Dean’s List. They are Martin Michel of ZIP code 92127 and Edline Leatrice Cruz, Joel Mariscal and Dovono Wright of ZIP code 92128.

To be eligible, students had to complete at least six credits during the term, earn a GPA of at least 3.5 for the term and maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 at UMGC. The university is based in Adelphi, Maryland.

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Ava Zamadics of the Rancho Bernardo area was named to the University of Mississippi’s Fall 2022 Dean’s Honor Roll list. It is for students who earn a semester GPA of 3.50 to 3.74 and complete at least 12 graded hours in the semester. The campus is in University, Mississippi.

The Florida Times-Union

Arguably the crown jewel of Florida’s First Coast, St. Augustine and superlatives are often mentioned in the same sentence.

Already this year, the oldest city in America has been featured on a nationally televised travel show and its beaches have been named among the best in the United States.

And this week, St. Augustine earned a new accolade: The South’s Best Small Town 2023 by Southern Living as part of its annual The South's Best feature.

“With its Spanish colonial heritage, melting-pot population, and wealth of Gilded Age relics, there’s truly no other town cut from the same cloth (or, perhaps, patchwork) as St. Augustine, Florida,” travel writer Valerie Rains wrote in Southern Living.

More honors:St. Augustine Beach named among Top 25 in United States in new ranking

In case you missed it:St. Augustine gets spotlight on PBS travel show 'Samantha Brown's Places to Love'

During her four-day stay in the city, Rains gushes over the city's restaurants and bars, including Boat Drinks, The Floridian, Casa Reina, Collage, River & Fort, Llama, St. Augustine Distillery and more after exploring St. George Street and downtown, the waterfront and waterways, Anastasia State Park and the city’s connection to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.

St. Augustine's St. George Inn is featured on one of the covers of the magazine's special double issue.

The city bested other small towns of the South, including Gatlinburg, Tenn.; Tybee Island, Ga.; and Sanibel, Fla.

"In a year when more people than ever are traveling and moving to the South, we wanted to put a spotlight on small towns in this year's South's Best Awards,” said Sid Evans, Editor in Chief of Southern Living, in a news release. “These are the hidden gems our readers picked for their character, charm, and unmistakable Southernness.”

Southern Living named Charleston, S.C., its pick for The South's Best City.

In late January, PBS’s “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love” featured an episode on St. Augustine. And just last week, Tripadvisor ranked St. Augustine Beach No. 13 on its list of Top 25 Beaches – United States.

A year ago, St. Augustine was named to Southern Living magazine’s The South’s Best Beach Towns, earning praise for its beaches, the Castillo de San Marcos and Lightner Museum.

Southern Living's South's Best Small Towns

Here are the Top 10 of the magazine's Top 50 list of best small towns of the South.

By Ceder House Spa

What is red light therapy?

Red light therapy uses photobiomodulation, which is a low-level laser therapy that delivers red and near-infrared light to areas of your body. In doing this, it helps regenerate (or grow back) cells, restore cell function and trigger blood flow. In turn, this helps to heal and relieve pain.

Photobiomodulation was discovered about half a century ago. Now, it’s used to treat all kinds of ailments, sometimes multiple at the same time. It relaxes muscles, which relieves muscle spasms, pain and stiffness. It has a similar effect on joints, including relieving aches, pains and stiffness.

One of the primary benefits of red light therapy is to treat chronic (ongoing) inflammation, which eases pain in joints and muscles.

Benefits of red light therapy

Its major benefits include improving joint mobility and easing muscle pain. More specifically, red light therapy helps with:

Arthritis pain

Joint pain

Muscle pain, including healing muscle injuries and reducing soreness after exercise

Tendon pain, such as from Achilles tendonitis

Some people also experience additional advantages, including improved sleep, less stress, reduced anxiety and relief from depression.

With whole-body red light therapy, your entire body reaps the benefits of this treatment. This means if you have multiple conditions, such as arthritis and muscle pain, you can treat them at the same time. However, you can also use this therapy to treat targeted areas of your body.

What happens during red light therapy?

Each session takes about 15-30 minutes depending on which service you are receiving. The process is painless, but the lights are bright. To protect your eyes, you’ll wear special goggles during treatment.

You might experience pain relief in just one treatment, or it may take a couple of sessions. This depends on how significant your injuries are.

Are there side effects of red light therapy?

Red light therapy is considered a safe treatment when administered by a trained medical professional. By determining the appropriate dosage for your needs, they can ensure your condition is treated without any negative side effects.

However, if you have certain conditions, such as skin sensitivity or if you are pregnant, your provider may recommend avoiding red light therapy.

What Treatments are available at Cedar House for Red Light Therapy?

Red Light therapy is incorporated in our 30 min Zero Gravity Massage Chair. We also use it in Hydrafacials and our anti-aging facials. To book your appointment contact 843-563-4515 or come in 903 Dukes St, St George, SC 29477

The Big East Player of the Year will have Rhode Island ties.

Providence forward Bryce Hopkins and Cumberland native Tyler Kolek are the two leading candidates entering championship week at Madison Square Garden. Both were unanimous selections to the all-conference first team, which was released on Sunday.

Hopkins has starred with the Friars in his debut after a transfer from Kentucky. Kolek has performed like one of the nation’s best point guards while driving Marquette to a first outright league title. The winner will be announced during a ceremony scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan.

Hopkins is one of three players in the league to lead his team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.1 points and 8.5 boards. He’s collected 10 double-doubles through 31 games and ranks inside the conference’s top four in both categories. He also sits first in free throws made and attempted, third in defensive rebounds and fifth in minutes played.

More:Two college basketball stars with RI ties on midseason watch lists

Hopkins offered one of the season’s premier performances to date in a double-overtime home win against the Golden Eagles on Dec. 20. He racked up 29 points and 23 rebounds while playing 47 minutes in a 103-98 triumph. It was the first 20-20 game in the league since January 2017 and the first at Providence since January 2010.

Hopkins was named to the short lists for the Naismith Award, Karl Malone Award and Oscar Robertson Award. He played double-digit minutes only twice after Jan. 1 last season for the Wildcats and didn’t appear in an NCAA Tournament stunner against Saint Peter’s.

More:Providence basketball goes missing against Seton Hall; what went wrong?

Kolek entered Sunday assisting on 40.4% of made field goals during his time on the floor, a top-5 national mark per KenPom.com. He’s second nationally in assists per game at 7.9 and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.3-to-1. Kolek cut his turnover rate by more than 6%, improved his 2-point shooting by more than 16% and his 3-point shooting by more than 11% since his 2021-22 debut with Marquette.

Kolek is a former star at Cumberland who prepped at St. George’s and committed to George Mason for a lone season. He was the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year with the Patriots in 2020-21 and entered the transfer portal after head coach Dave Paulsen was fired. The Golden Eagles closed 17-3 in league play and are 25-6 overall entering their quarterfinal on Thursday with St. John’s or Butler.

The Friars also placed Devin Carter among the honorable mention selections. He ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points, second in rebounding at 5.0 boards, first in steals and second in assists and blocked shots. The transfer from South Carolina has started all 31 games to date after appearing in 45.3% of minutes with the Gamecocks in 2021-22.

The Connecticut pair of Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner and Xavier guard Souley Boum joined Hopkins and Kolek on the first team.

Carter was joined among the honorable mentions by Musketeers center Jack Nunge and Bluejays guards Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman. Marquette forward Oso Ighodaro and guard Kam Jones, Red Storm center Joel Soriano, Villanova forward Eric Dixon and Xavier guard Colby Jones made up the all-conference second team.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25