AC Repair in Ladson, SC

LADSON, S.C. (WCIV) — It's that time of year again! The annual Coastal Carolina Fair kicks off this week in Ladson with some brand new rides and foods.

The fair opens this Thursday and Friday from 3 to 9 p.m.

This year's fair will run from Thursday, Oct. 27 to Sunday, Nov. 6.

RIDES

There will be around 65 rides in total this year, including some new ones.

Thrill seekers will be excited to see the largest rollercoaster AND Ferris wheel they've had yet. The Ferris wheel is over 100-ft tall.

“We’ve got a brand-new carnival. It’s a big deal for us. We had a very long relationship with the last one, and this one had some opportunities to bring some new coasters, rollercoasters in. Some great rides, and we just couldn’t pass it up,” said Coastal Carolina Fair’s media relations spokesperson, Jay Wallace.

FOOD

A wide variety of tasty treats are on the menus: barbeque sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, funnel cakes, deep fried brownies- and the list goes on and gets more creative.

Some other options will include funnel cakes, elephant ears, and award-winning jalapeno corndogs.

Be sure to look out for the Oreo-encrusted turkey leg!

ENTERTAINMENT

In addition to rides and food, fairgoers will find lots of other entertainment.

TICKETS

Coastal Carolina Fair officials suspended online ticket sales until further notice after fraudulent activity was detected Wednesday.

Tickets can be purchased at Circle K stores or at the fair gates for the time being.

Credit and cash are accepted at the gate ticket booths, but only credit is accepted at the kiosks located at each entry gate.

Fair officials said do not buy tickets from people that approach you or posted online.

Check the fair's calendar for special discount days for seniors and more.

TICKET PRICES THROUGH OCTOBER 26TH:

TICKET PRICES BEGINNING OCTOBER 27TH:

SAFETY

The use of metal detectors and a clear plastic bag policy will continue for this season, and that there will be plenty of security. Some of it will be around the clock during the fair’s two-week run.

“The No. 1 rule we have around here that tells us if we’ve had a good fair is if we’ve had a safe fair," said Coastal Carolina Fair’s media relations spokesperson Jay Wallace.

All rides are inspected by multiple agencies, Grimm said.

LADSON, S.C. (WCIV) — Officials with Trident Medical Center are officially breaking ground on a new, standalone behavioral hospital!

It will be the first the first freestanding behavioral hospital to open in the Lowcountry in over 30 years.

The nearly 58,790-square-foot facility in Ladson will include a single-story hospital and interior courtyard with space for recreation and therapy. The facility will have “state of the art” inpatient and outpatient services for Lowcountry residents.

The main difference this building will provide in comparison to general hospital care is more of a focus and extended resources for geriatric and adolescent care. The behavioral hospital will continue adult care as well.

The medical director for behavioral health at Trident, Jeffrey Culver, says he starts every day in the emergency room.

Currently, there are only 250 beds for mental health patients in the Lowcountry, and without a dedicated space for them — in most cases — a lot of them must go to the emergency room.

But with the construction of this new facility, Culver hopes it will help provide a safe space for real change and will get more people the help they need.

“I fully expect when this facility opens, that the dialogue both locally and nationally will continue to help chip away at that stigma. I think we're still a long way from where we need to be, where we can talk about mental health and mental illness the same way we talk about things like heart disease and cancer, but we're getting there. And I think being able to open up a brand-new facility and have people see that what we're doing is part of medicine,” Culver said.

ABC News 4's Sean Mahoney spoke with longtime mental health advocate Kelly Troyer, who works with the National Alliance of Mental Illness - Greater Charleston area.

She says the Lowcountry has come a long way in providing mental health services, but that there is still more work to be done and she hopes this will help kickstart that change.

Troyer also says the need for mental health services has drastically increased over the course of the pandemic.

The City of Charleston reported a 78.1 percent increase in the number of suicides from 2020 to 2021.

Troyer also has a personal connection to mental illness, as her son, Alex, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. She says finding resources in the Lowcountry was nearly impossible in the beginning, as she had to go out of state for care.

However, she says the construction of this new facility is a step in the right direction.

“As far as access to service, no, there's not enough in our state, especially in the rural areas. Then also, even here in the Lowcountry, we have great resources and we have people. But look at the Latino community and the African-American community, there's more [of a ] stigma around mental health conditions, so they don't reach out as much to the access that's here,” Troyer said. “So this groundbreaking of this hospital is very good news for us in our community. And we want to celebrate that.”

The hospital is expected to start out with 60 inpatient beds with the ability to expand and also will provide outpatient resources.

Construction started on the $30.4 million facility started in December, but officials with Trident waited until Thursday to hold the ceremony because of the weather.

Work is expected to wrap up in spring of 2023.

The groundbreaking ceremony and celebration is taking place at 11 a.m., at the construction site, which is about two miles from Trident Medical Center and right off highway 17 in Ladson, at 3445 Ingleside Boulevard.

Dorchester County citizens had an opportunity to offer feedback and voice concerns about streetscape improvements planned for Ladson Road at the Aug. 22 public meeting held at the Dorchester County Council Chambers.

Dorchester County personnel and consultant representatives from SeamonWhiteside, a local engineering and design firm, were on hand to discuss the project with citizens as a group and individually, as requested.

The well-attended meeting showcased a lively discussion during which citizens expressed their concerns, fears and frustrations over the project plans to date, as well as what is seen by many present as current problems that could be made worse going forward.

Construction of dedicated turn lanes at key intersections and installation of raised, landscaped medians with plantings and street lights are the key elements of the project. Video displays and print handouts were provided at the meeting to illustrate the plans under consideration. The project will impact the section of Ladson Road from the termination of the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Dorchester Road Safety Improvement project to Coopers Ridge Boulevard.

“Last night’s meeting was the first step in soliciting public input, and we received many good comments that will be considered as we continue to move the design forward,” said Daniel Prentice, Deputy County Administrator. The meeting followed the DOT public comment requirements, according to Prentice.

The Ladson Road Streetscape Project is part of the Oakbrook Redevelopment Plan which was established in 2019. The plan outlines a comprehensive, multi-agency plan to revitalize the Oakbrook area. Funding comes from Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a method for financing redevelopment in blighted, conservation and sprawl areas of counties. TIF utilizes incremental increases in assessed value and property taxes to fund projects.

The price tag for the overall Oakbrook Redevelopment Plan now stands at $5 million, but county officials insist that it is not represented by a tax increase or impact fee.

“A TIF district is not a tax increase,” said Prentice. “The entities that levy millage (the rate at which property taxes are levied) partner to send tax dollars resulting from growth in assessments of new or improved buildings to the TIF fund which funds the public improvements. The public improvements, in turn, are used to continue to spur new private growth, increasing the overall vitality of the area.”

County personnel and officials projected their belief that by making the area more attractive for retail and restaurant activities, improving pedestrian and bike safety, improving infrastructure, reducing traffic and increasing safety and other upgrades, investment dollars will increase; new business and development will be established.

Presentation of the project leaned heavily on the aesthetic and beautification benefits to be realized, but county officials and staff also stressed improvement in safety as a major goal. “Data shows that safety will be improved by closing off the current open medians and guiding traffic through the use of dedicated turn lanes and restricting other turning movements due to the proposed medians,” said Prentice. “While one of the goals of the TIF district is beautification, the County believes that an additional positive outcome will be the function and safety of the corridor.”

Not everyone in attendance was convinced. Several citizens expressed frustration in their view that the county is giving priority to aesthetics over safety and functionality. Concerns voiced included existing poor access to certain businesses, which could increase under the plan; traffic load; difficulty of large and service vehicles to navigate turns; challenges of cyclists; maintenance costs associated with the use of plants versus other materials for division; and problems arising out of the overlap of traffic routes between counties.

One business owner, whose business requires drop-off traffic, complained that attracting new business and traffic, when existing businesses are negatively impacted by current road and traffic design, is not in the best interest of businesses along Ladson Road.

Proponents of the plan defended medians as a more modern design consideration for roadway construction and advocated for guiding traffic to dedicated turn lanes.

“Access management studies show that the true overall impact is not negative, although acclimation to the changes is required due to new traffic patterns,” said Prentice.

Construction on the Ladson Road Streetscape Project is slated to begin mid-2023, according to county personnel. Additional information on the Ladson Road project, Oakbrook Redevelopment Plan and TIF can be found on the Dorchester County website at https://www.dorchestercountysc.gov.

Public comments, written or oral, are invited.

LADSON, S.C. (WCIV) — A little over a week ago, ABC News 4 brought you the story of one Mount Pleasant mother fighting the Charleston County School District in what she says was a forced school placement change.

Since then, ABC News 4 has received dozens of reports of families going through similar situations.

One involves a Summerville mom stuck with a school district's choice looking to move her two sons to different schools.

The mother, Leslie Jackson, is described as a mom’s mom.

“I'm on top of my kids, you know, with their schooling a lot. A lot of people tell me that I’m probably the most involved parent when it comes to the kids,” she explained.

Jackson said that her love for her children resonated when she watched Olivia Rose-Walker’s story.

“When I did see [the] story about Olivia, I mean, I cried my eyes out. I felt for a mom, I felt for Olivia,” she said.

Jackson’s sons, Elijah and Xavier, also have learning disabilities. Both twins were born at 24 weeks old, with each spending numerous months in the hospital after birth. Both were diagnosed with autism with Elijah also having expressive language disorder.

While the two twins have a different disability than Olivia does, they do face a similar battle ahead.

“We had Eli’s IEP in May,” Jackson said. “They decided to place him at Malcom C. Hursey Montessori school. When we did Xavier’s IEP that next week, [it was decided] he is to go to Ladson. And I was like, well, why are they being separated from schools?”

While Olivia’s battle dealt more with the disability placement change, this challenge focuses more on the process of school placement. By the time Jackson found out about Xavier’s placement, the deadline for school choice in CCSD had already passed, leaving her with many questions.

“It kind of threw me for a loop that, they're brothers, you know, they're twins, you know? How did one get placed somewhere and one get placed somewhere else? And no one can really give me an answer for that,” she stated.

She's another mother feeling the same pain that Olivia’s mom did, while going through a school change they don’t want to do.

“This whole thing, honestly, it's made me feel emotional about it. You know, during the meeting, I almost felt like a failed parent. I was like, how did this happen?

But just like Olivia’s mom did, Jackson searched for help.

“Charleston Autism Parents [Facebook group], I put out a post on there and let them know the situation was like, [has] this happened to anybody else?” Jackson explained.

After her message was posted, she received dozens of comments in response, informing her that she was not alone. Up to 20 families reached out claiming they are in a similar situations.

“There are a lot of people that responded that [I was like] wow, I guess this happens a lot,” she said.

After seeing the responses to Jackson’s post and the messages we have received at ABC News 4, we tried to find out how often situations like these happen.

The answer is that they happen more than you might think.

“This is something that we see often.” Director of Youth Transition Program at Able SC Paige Winget said. “We have the seasons of calls from parents.”

Representatives with Family Connection South Carolina say referrals for a program which helps families navigate the IEP process have skyrocketed in the past year, with over 5,000 referrals overall to all of their programs.

“Our referrals for this program have gone up by 65% since last year,” CEO of Family Connection SC Amy Holbert said.

So the question that remains is why is this so common?

These experts say it may be the stress the pandemic has put on these families or the lack of all-around resources at every school, which forces these placement changes to specific programs.

“Ideally, you know, inclusion we know is best practice,” Winget said. “But sometimes, there's a lot of lack of training for our general education teachers, and for just our school administration, and those that are in the school that aren't necessarily always working with students with disabilities.”

These experts say it could also be the system of IEP placements, which sometimes may not meet the needs of a specific student.

“The I in an IEP is individualized, and it needs to be for that student, and not because of a specific diagnosis or something else that's determining that factor,” Director of Education and Family Support for Family Connection SC Sally Baker said.

While these experts say a lot of the times the schools or IEP administrators do have good advice for these students, in situations where they may be disagreements like in Jackson’s case, they are here to help.

We are working in school districts. We might know someone and might be able to say, let me, you know, chat with this person. Or let's get the full picture,” Winget explained.

“We've talked to all the different people that can potentially help you answer the questions along the way,” Baker said. “[We] talk about what's kind of next, what's coming. Who are you going to meet? Are you going to see how to use your voice and how to use the things that you see at home that you know your child can do? Find their strengths and how to communicate that over to their educational team?”

Able South Carolina is a disability-led organization that helps push for change in systems and communities surrounding people with disabilities.

Family Connection SC has many programs that do the same thing, including its Education Partner program, which helps families communicate with schools and gather more information on their specific IEPs to help parents make informed decisions.

It's something Jackson said is important to continuing the fight.

“If you're not okay with this, you don't have to accept that you can’t fight this. You have options,” she said.

We reached out to CCSD for a statement on Jackson’s situation. In response, the district said:

“While we can't comment on a specific student matter related to this topic, we want to emphasize we are committed to providing the best possible resources available for all of our students, and we work collaboratively with all parents and guardians. IEP teams make determinations regarding services and placement for students with disabilities based on the individual needs of each child.”

LADSON, S.C. (WCIV) — For the last two years, the trucking industry has struggled with an all-time high in truck driver shortages. Amid this crisis, a Charleston trucking company is looking to change the narrative right here in the Lowcountry.

In exactly four months’ time, the Coastal Carolina Fairgrounds will be full of truck service companies, operators and vendors taking part in the first-ever trucking expo in the Lowcountry and South Carolina.

The expo is hosted by the trucking agency CM Transportation. The event will serve two main purposes:

One is to connect prospective drivers with current operators, vendors or agencies to provide the first step into entry in the trucking industry and open doors to those who haven’t had the opportunity before. It also looks to connect these prospective drivers with resources on how to get certified and obtain a commercial driver’s license.

The second is to connect operators with vendors in an attempt to improve supply chain management and look at ways to increase revenue.

With the current driver shortage totaling nearly 80,000 drivers nationwide, according to the American Trucker Association, leaders with CM Transportation say they felt the need to step in to try and make a change.

“With there being so many changes, like the cost of diesel fuel right now increasing the rates, we have a lot of people who are interested in entering into our industry,” CM Transportation owner and operator Carisa Carter said. “The lack of knowledge is why we peril. So, they don't really have the information that a lot of people don't have. The information that they need when they begin their journey in trucking. So, I think that this will change the face, because now they'll see that there is a support system.”

Carter said another focus of hers is to increase the female presence in the trucking industry. She hopes to use her connections within female-owned small businesses to help connect truck drivers with big players in the industry.

Truck drivers are in high demand, but there are many more factors that contribute to some of the struggles within the trucking industry.

One is the hike in diesel fuel prices over the last few months. Mix that with supply chain delays, and trucking companies like CM Transportation say it has completely changed the cost analysis for many companies and even caused many financial struggles.

Entry into the industry has also become harder over the last few months. New federal laws passed in February increased prices to obtain a CDL, which is required to be able to become a truck driver, by thousands of dollars.

To combat this, trucking officials say they have seen the highest salaries for drivers in almost 23 years, and with Charleston’s roots in shipping and ports, CM Transportation leaders hope this expo will drive more people into the industry.

“From East Coast to West Coast, there's just not enough truck drivers to deliver the amount of cargo that came in after the world opened back up after COVID,” Carter said. “That is one of the foundations, the biggest industries, that we have here locally, and so we're, you know, with this being a port city, the value is increased nationwide, which has allowed us to increase the value of our drivers here.”

The official date of the expo is set for Sept. 17 at the Coastal Carolina Fairgrounds. There will also be food, a DJ and a raffle for an estimated $6,000 set of tractor tires.

Tickets officially go on sale Tuesday for the first-of-its-kind expo. General admission starts at $25, with a professional package with more amenities starting at around $50.

Check out ABC News Four’s Sean Mahoney’s Twitter or Facebook page for more information on how to sign up.