Mold Remediation in Columbia, SC

Columbia’s restaurant scene continues to thrive with a diverse array of new openings across its most vibrant areas.

Among the notable new or coming entrants is Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar, which plans to bring its casual seafood vibes to the BullStreet District, likely in 2025. The downtown area has seen the addition in 2024 of Prohibition, with innovative dishes and live music.

Harbison Boulevard continues to add culinary offerings including Yummy Bowl’s Asian cuisine, which is coming soon, and Mission BBQ’s smoked meats, which hit the scene in 2024. These openings underscore the city’s growth and appeal, offering residents and visitors an expanding spectrum of dining options.

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar to open new Columbia SC location | Published July 8, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The spot has a host of Asian flavors, from Taiwanese popcorn chicken to Sichuan wontons and beyond. | Published July 19, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

It’s at a site that was formerly home to a different national chain restaurant. | Published September 19, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

They’re known for wings, tenders and sandwiches. Now a new location is headed to a high-traffic road in a growing spot of the Midlands. | Published September 10, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The new restaurant is in an area that includes a host of other businesses and is near one of the area’s major high schools. | Published August 14, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

This location was previously briefly home to a country buffet. Now you’ll find a vastly different menu there. | Published March 6, 2024 | Read Full Story by Jordan Lawrence

The restaurant, which features a menu with both Asian and Latin flavors, has several locations across the region. One of the newer ones is in a busy shopping area near Columbia. | Published May 8, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The shop, which offers ice cream, street corn and other goodies, is located near a number of well-known Midlands businesses. | Published July 26, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The company already had locations in Charleston, Charlotte and elsewhere. Now it has a storefront in one of the Midlands most popular retail developments. | Published January 29, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The daytime cafe has more than 500 locations across 29 states. Now it has made its Midlands debut. | Published January 12, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The downtown Columbia space “has been updated to pay homage to the aesthetics of a 1920’s speakeasy situated in plain sight,” the company said. | Published April 8, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The restaurant, which has locations across the U.S., offers sushi, ramen and more. | Published September 12, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The mall has remained vibrant with stores, restaurants and other attractions. | Published June 3, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

Yamato closed its doors earlier this year after decades in business. Now another restaurant is coming to the building along Columbiana Drive. | Published September 11, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The company opened its first Midlands shop in Forest Acres, then it moved ahead with plans for another spot in a bustling retail corridor. | Published Aug 2, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

They have ribs, brisket, chicken and more, and they opened in one of the most popular commercial districts the Midlands. | Published April 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

The company, which has long been popular in North Carolina and Virginia, has continued to spread into South Carolina and the Midlands. | Published September 11, 2024 | Read Full Story by Chris Trainor

This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A former Columbia-area fugitive, who was arrested in Kentucky after skipping his child abuse trial this summer, will now spend four decades in prison for that abuse.

43-year-old Nathan Ginter was found guilty of abusing and burning his 3-year-old daughter at a June trial that he did not show up for.

That led to a multiple agency manhunt, and he was later apprehended by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office in Georgetown, Kentucky hundreds of miles away.

Body camera footage from his Kentucky arrest shows that he initially provided deputies with a false name.

Ginter was extradited back to South Carolina on Oct. 10. On Tuesday, he faced Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood in Richland County for the first time since all of this transpired to be sentenced for the child abuse charges.

Hood handed down a 40-year sentence, which was the maximum allowed under the law for these charges.

Ginter received a 10-year sentence for each child abuse charge, to be served consecutively.

“Usually judges will run things concurrently which means running them at the same time and together, but in this particular case the facts were so egregious,” Assistant Solicitor Anna Browder with the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office said in an interview following sentencing.

Tuesday was also the first time the guardians of Ginter’s children had the opportunity to address him directly.

His actions did not break these children, they said.

Lindsay Ott, the guardian of Ginter’s oldest daughter who witnessed much of the abuse, said there will never be true justice for these young girls, but now at least they can feel a safety they had never felt before with him set to be behind bars for a long time.

“The day that Nathan was apprehended in Kentucky was the first time that I have slept through night in over two and a half years because I was no longer fearful that he was waiting outside my door to harm his daughter or harm me or anyone else,” Ott said during the sentencing hearing.

Evidence at trial detailed prolonged patterns of abuse over a period of three months that escalated into water torture. Much of the abuse was videotaped.

Ginter began by bruising his daughter with a bamboo stick, prosecutors said, and also used a stun gun on her, leaving her with multiple second degree burns.

“We as prosecutors see a lot of things most people don’t see,” Browder, the lead prosecutor on the case, said. “But this was something that was in excess of what we normally see when it came to the physical child abuse”

Ashley Kimbler, the guardian of Ginter’s youngest daughter who is the victim in this case, said she does not believe Ginter has any remorse, and is only sorry he got caught.

His daughter, she said, is now thriving.

“She is kind and sweet and loving and not because of what he did, but because of me and my husband,” Kimbler said. “She gets to know what true love is from a father that took her in and would move the world for her, rather than trying to ruin her world.”

Browder said Ginter’s children and their families feel some relief for multiple reasons.

“They know that their children have the ability to grow up and get through their childhood without worrying about him coming around and being out of jail,” she said. “Also just the ability to move forward a little bit that this phase of the sentencing is over. It, of course, will never be over for these children, but the fact that this part is over they know they can move forward and continue with their healing.”

Ginter addressed the court briefly, prior to being sentenced, against the advice of Brett Perry, his attorney. He said he felt Perry did not adequately represent him.

Hood pushed back, and said despite the seriousness of the charges and the case, Perry was competent and professional.

He defended Ginter to the best of his ability at trial, Hood said, despite the defendant’s absence.

The 3-year-old’s mother, Tiffany Brittain, is currently serving out a seven-year prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to charges related to similar abuse of the same child.

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The University of South Carolina is planning to develop a unique hospital that would house the Palmetto State’s first standalone comprehensive medical facility dedicated entirely to integrated care of patients with brain and nervous system illnesses.

USC’s highly specialized hospital would offer advanced neurological and neurosurgery treatments, as well as neurological rehabilitation for trauma, stroke, cancer and other conditions. The innovative hospital, concentrating solely on the care of diseases affecting the brain and the nervous system, would be the first of its kind in the Southeast.

The hospital would provide an opportunity to address the pressing health needs of South Carolinians, while leveraging the broad multidisciplinary clinical, academic and research portfolio from USC. The hospital would house fully equipped clinical research spaces and laboratories and provide additional clinical training sites for USC students studying medicine, physical and speech therapy, nursing, pharmacy, artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering, and other academic, medical and technical disciplines.

The hospital would have about 115 beds that provide access to state-of-the-art health care from preeminent physicians, therapists and nurses.

“As USC expands its efforts to provide the highest quality medical education to South Carolina students and serve the state’s health care needs, building a single location for neurological treatment and rehabilitation is a vital next step,” President Michael D. Amiridis said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to address a critical gap in health care for brain-related conditions, not only for our state, but for the entire Southeast.”

The need for enhanced neurological care in South Carolina is critical. Stroke, caused by a disruption of blood flow to the brain, is the sixth-highest cause of death in the state, according to the S.C. Department of Public Health. South Carolina also ranks fourth for death rates due to traumatic brain injuries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported.

Increasing numbers of South Carolinians also are suffering from other chronic neurological conditions that can be mitigated through treatment and rehabilitation, including epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

Current neurological care and rehabilitation options in South Carolina are limited, forcing residents to seek care outside the state. The time and travel expenses required by patients and families can be overwhelming and can impact health outcomes. The planned USC hospital would make world-class treatment available right in the heart of South Carolina, while reducing costs for patients.

The hospital is planned next to the university’s soon-to-be-constructed School of Medicine building on USC’s Health Sciences Campus inside the BullStreet District of Columbia. It would be an extension of the university’s network of cutting-edge brain health care and research. USC is already establishing the Brain Health Center, a high-tech outpatient treatment and research facility near the BullStreet site. In addition, through clinics in USC’s Brain Health Network, patients in underserved areas across the state are receiving diagnostic care and treatment for complex neurological conditions and dementia.

“This would be the most impactful project in the history of the university, particularly for the quality of life of South Carolinians," USC Board of Trustees Chairman Thad H. Westbook said. "Our citizens would be able to get the best quality of care in their backyard. This is all part of our mission in serving the people of South Carolina. We do that through the delivery and development of knowledge, and here's an opportunity for us to help deliver healthcare at the highest level for brain health issues, which desperately need more attention in our state.”

The hospital would complement USC's long-standing partnership with Prisma Health by extending the collaboration at the McCausland Center for Brain Imaging and Brain Health Network, and in training medical students.

USC is coordinating plans for the hospital with the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The USC Board of Trustees approved an agreement with the state health agency on Oct. 25 to receive $10 million to perform preliminary architecture and engineering work.

The university is requesting $150 million from the state budget next year to help pay for the $350 million project.

USC’s growing health care services

Several recent and upcoming USC projects will combine to provide advanced treatment and research for a range of health care issues in South Carolina. Many of the projects will be clustered near downtown Columbia.

Brain Health Network: Focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, USC is serving patients in underserved areas to provide diagnostic care for cognitive impairment and memory concerns, access to specialized diagnostic technology and doctors, and assistance to patients and caregivers in navigating the healthcare system and community resources. Clinics are already operating in Sumter, Winnsboro, Seneca and Columbia, with plans to add more locations.

Nursing Training Center: In August, USC and Lexington Medical Center opened a new 52,000-square-foot facility that will boost the number of nursing graduates in the Midlands by 80 percent annually. The clinical education center in West Columbia provides high-tech, hands-on training for third- and fourth-year bachelor’s nursing students as well as master’s program students.

Brain Health Center: The outpatient center, near Prisma Health Richland Hospital and across Harden Street from USC’s planned hospital and soon-to-be-built School of Medicine building, will provide doctors and patients with access to the latest technologies, diagnostics and treatments and an expert clinical staff. It will include state-of-the-art MRI technology available nowhere else in South Carolina or neighboring states. Expected to open in early 2026, the center also will offer patients opportunities to take part in research and clinical trials.

School of Medicine building: USC plans to start construction in 2025 on a 300,000-square-foot building on USC’S Health Sciences Campus inside the BullStreet District that will replace the School of Medicine Columbia’s current facility on the VA Hospital campus on Garners Ferry Road. The new building will feature innovative active-learning classrooms, extensive medical-simulation spaces, a health science library, and labs for trailblazing clinical research that tackles the state’s diverse health challenges. The new medical school is expected to open in 2027.

Neurological hospital: The specialized hospital, planned for USC’s new Health Sciences Campus, will provide neurological treatment, surgery and rehabilitation – a first for USC and the first of its kind in the Southeast. The hospital, which also will house high-tech research space examining neurological conditions, could open as early as 2028.

Columbia will not host rounds of the NCAA’s March Madness men’s basketball championship in 2027 or 2028, despite submitting a bid earlier this year.

Columbia’s problem is its lack of full-service hotels, explained Scott Powers, executive director of Experience Columbia Sports, the city’s sports tourism agency.

“While it wasn’t a surprise, we’re disappointed,” Powers said, explaining that the NCAA informed the city earlier this month that it would not be among host cities for tournaments in 2027 or 2028.

In 2019, the city broke a nearly 50-year streak and was chosen to host a portion of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1970. Almost 48,000 tickets were sold for the six games hosted in Columbia that year, and the overall economic impact to Richland and Lexington counties was $11.3 million.

It was a big moment for Columbia, not only because of the economics, but also because March Madness draws international attention and it was a chance for South Carolina’s capital city to show its assets.

The city keeps hoping to recapture that moment, but every year since the city last won a host position the requirements have gotten more stringent, Powers said. In 2019, they found creative ways around the full-service hotel problem. But the NCAA hasn’t been willing to make the same concessions in more recent years.

Columbia and the surrounding area do have a lot of hotels. There were at least 160 hotels with a total of 13,263 rooms in the Columbia metro area as of December 2023, according to the state Restaurant and Lodging Association. That’s also a significant increase from December 2019, when there were 129 hotels and under 12,000 rooms. So the region is also adding hotels. But they aren’t adding the right kind of hotels fast enough.

The NCAA wants host cities with eight to 10 full-service hotels with in-house food and beverage options, with four meeting rooms of at least 2,000 square feet. And it wants each of the eight teams playing in the tournament rounds to have their own hotel to avoid any bad blood before or after games. There are only four hotels in the region that meet those requirements, Powers previously told The State, and the city hasn’t built any new ones in almost 20 years. The last NCAA-approved full-service hotel that opened in Columbia was the Hilton Columbia Center in 2007.

Columbia wasn’t the only city in the Carolinas to miss out on the host gigs. Charlotte is the only city in the Carolinas to have been selected by the NCAA this round. Powers thinks this indicates that smaller cities might not stand a chance in the future.

Powers said he will keep bidding to host NCAA tournament rounds, but he’s not optimistic that Columbia will get selected, at least until after 2030, because bids have to be submitted up to two years prior and Columbia won’t change enough in that time. He said one solution could be to limit the number of small hotels that can be built downtown in favor of larger projects.

Developer Ben Arnold has plans to build one new full-service hotel in the Vista in coming years, and the Convention Center has also been planning a hotel project adjacent to its property.

Powers added that he doesn’t think the NCAA’s decision is an indication that Columbia isn’t a good fit to host high-profile events, pointing to the recent Premier League Rivals in Red match hosted at Williams-Brice. While there are limits to what the city can support, he said, Powers believes Columbia will still continue to build momentum to host bigger events.

“Obviously we know we’re not going to host a Superbowl,” he said.

This story was originally published October 22, 2024, 12:04 PM.

The State

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Morgan Hughes covers Columbia news for The State. She previously reported on health, education and local governments in Wyoming. She has won awards in Wyoming and Wisconsin for feature writing and investigative journalism. Her work has also been recognized by the South Carolina Press Association.

A Columbia man was arrested for stealing more than $44,000 from the nonprofit organization where he used to be the executive director, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Darrel President Sr., 56, was charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent ($10,000 or more) on Oct. 16, SLED said in a news release.

Between May 19, 2023 and Feb. 29, 2024, President took funds from Greenbrier Resource Community Development Center and spent the money on “his personal enrichment,” according to an arrest warrant and affidavit shared by SLED.

“Darrel President did knowingly, willingly and without the the lawful authority to do so, take, steal or convert to his ownership, more than $10,000 from Greenbrier Resource Community Development Center where he was an authorized signer on the bank account for (the nonprofit organization) and in a position of financial trust,” an arrest warrant said.

The money — approximately $44,220 — was taken after the nonprofit had received $100,000 in state funded grants to build a community center in Fairfield County, the affidavit said.

President withdrew the money from the nonprofit’s bank account without the approval or knowledge of the organization’s board members, according to the affidavit.

There was no word about what personal items President bought with the stolen money, or if all of it was spent.

When President was questioned by the nonprofit’s board members he admitted to withdrawing the money and agreed to repay the funds, according to the affidavit.

“President began making payments back for the funds fraudulently withdrawn in June 2024,” the affidavit said.

SLED said President was booked into the Fairfield County Detention Center. Information about President’s bond was not available.

President will be prosecuted by the 6th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

If convicted on the felony charge, President maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, according to South Carolina law.

In 2018 and again in 2022, President unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Richland 2 school board.

In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.