Electrician in Lugoff, SC

Three new developments are under construction which is expected to provide 280 units to the area

LUGOFF, S.C. — As more people call Kershaw County home, more apartments and homes are popping up also.

According to the United States Census Bureau, from April 1st, 2020 to July 1st, 2021, over 700 people moved to the area,

Kershaw County Administrator Danny Templar says, "It seems like a land that can be developed is being developed."

Most of that land the county is the western half of the county. "Growth tends to be in the West Wateree side of Lugoff and primarily Elgin," he says. "If you look at the census data maps and heat maps if you will from 2010 it was really hot you could see the growth and that trend has certainly continued, that trend has continued into 2020."

Residents like Patsy Jackson live near all of the construction. She says she's curious about what's happening, "It started out as homes, then it started turning into townhouses, and I'm not really sure some apartment buildings, and so forth I'm really not really sure what all it is."

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The development includes three new subdivisions that will welcome a total of 280 units. "There are some businesses coming in on the main strip but it's more single-family homes," Templar says. "Clearly there is a demand, it's supply and demand, as you can see these homes are built, they're not even finished and there is a sold sticker in the window so that it's a true indicator for the market is and the demand."

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Restaurants like Lugoff House of Pizza say this will be good for their dining room too. "We do see more people coming this way here because I think they are building new apartments over here, we're seeing new customers coming this way, of course, it's good," says Hossam Naama, the manager of Lugoff Pizza.

As for how much more growth the area can handle Templar says, "Growth is good, we're not anti-growth, we certainly welcome growth and members in the community, but we have to also be mindful of this is a mostly rural county so we don't quite have the infrastructure in terms of roads and signal you might have in a larger community."

'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan thanked the sheriff's office after an unusual situation unfolded at his door.

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — A former WWE star who now lives in the Midlands is making headlines for an incident at his home.

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan is known for carrying around a two-by-four and giving the thumbs up ahead of his matches in the ring. And he's currently a Kershaw County resident.

Last week Duggan posted a thank you note to Kershaw County deputies on social media for how they handled an incident at his home. The deputies responded after Duggan said a man he did not know jumped his fence and began pounding on his front door.

Duggan went on to say he held the man at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived. Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan said this all started a few houses down from where the Duggans live.

“A young man and a young lady had some problems in the past,” he said. “She separated from him, went to live with her dad, who lives down the road from the Duncan residence. And he shows up at the house. Dad's not aware of it. He looks up, there's a guy inside his house who he feels is a threat to his daughter, so he immediately starts assaulting him, hitting him, and somebody in the house pulled a gun on him.”

The sheriff said the man ran from the area “scared to death.”

“Turns out that apparently there was a back-and-forth conversation between the young man and the young lady, and I think she kind of invited him to the house,” the sheriff said. “Dad didn't know this.”

The sheriff said this was the core case that they were investigating. The situation, however, continued to the Duggans’ house where authorities said the young man beat on the front door and came in.

“But he immediately said he was scared. Somebody was trying to kill him,” the sheriff said. “Hacksaw listened to what he was saying and, to start with, he felt like it was somebody trying a home invasion and he was like a diversion - and they may come in the back door.”

“And so, you know, he held him at gunpoint, got his wife Deborah to call our dispatch and she was able to tell him what was going on,” the sheriff added. “We got deputies out there and as soon as we got everything organized at that point, he's like, OK, I understand why he was going door to door.”

The sheriff said that deputies and the Duggans were glad that the situation ended the way it did.

When it was all said and done, no charges were filed in connection with the case. Duggan said on social media that he and his wife are safe and there was no damage.

If you haven’t heard of Tegan Riechers before, you will, and soon. The 11-year-old from Lugoff, who has been acting since the age of 7, is starring in a new movie, Fifty Times Rock, set to debut on Amazon Prime on March 27. A special screening is set for this Saturday at the Little Theater on DeKalb Street.

In the comedy movie, Art Newkirk plays Cecil, an aging rocker, whose band “Thirty Times Rock” was big in the 1980s. Now, years later, he wants to be famous again, but seems to have a hard time making it back onto the charts. That is, until his young niece, Annie — played by Tegan — arrives, bass guitar in hand.

“Annie has a lot of sass, and Tegan is sassy in real life, too,” her mother, Jennifer Riechers said during a recent interview; Tegan was busy at a bass guitar lesson.

Tegan’s career started about five years ago in 2019, with a radio announcement.

“They said they were having auditions at a hotel in Columbia for people 5 years old and up to come,” Jennifer Riechers explained. “If you received a card, you moved on to the next level. She heard and begged to go, so we did. We sat for over six hours because there were hundreds of people there and they were only going to pick 25 people.”

As part of her audition, Tegan learned the lines from a LEGO commercial to recite in front all the agents.

She won a card.

“She was 7 years old at the time. They told us she had major potential and they wanted her to go to Georgia for the next three weekends to brush up some skills with an acting coach of theirs. Well, they loved her and then wanted to send her to L.A., where we spent about two weeks,” Tegan’s mom said.

There were runway shows and acting classes, resulting with four call backs. From those call backs, the family helped Tegan pick out an agent with whom they were comfortable — one they felt was suitable for what she was looking to do. She took more classes in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Her agent now works out of Orlando, Fla.

“After that, things just took off for her with her acting/modeling career,” Jennifer Riechers said. “However, she hit a small bump in the road. She was called to do a movie called Welcome Home Christmas. We went there to film the first day and then she fell really ill and had to be hospitalized.”

Doctors there told Tegan’s family that she had immune thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP, a blood disorder that can lead to easy or excessive bruising and bleeding.

“Well, she was still able to be in that movie, but only in a small portion, because they had to replace her since she was in the hospital. That did not stop her. She has been moving along since then and has been in several movies, commercials, prints, magazines, public service announcements, healthcare brochures, and more. Even with her ITP, she is a strong-willed child with a clear vision of what she wants to be,” Tegan’s mother said.

Tegan’s first commercial was for Robert’s Shell Station in the town of Kershaw back in 2019.

Since Tegan has had to go to the hospital so much, her mother said she started wanting to do things to give back. She began reading online to kids and then raffled off the books, using the money raised to buy toys to donate to Prisma Health’s pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients.

“She had a big toy drive with the Punishers Biker Club and has another one coming up this spring or summer that helps the kids in Camp Chemo,” Jennifer Riechers said. “She is just an all-around great kid that loves to act, model, play bass guitar, and give back to those that have helped her through her hard times. Having ITP, she is unable to play sports, so she has really found her calling in life, something she truly enjoys doing.”

Among Tegan’s film roles is one that is, technically, an uncredited supporting role in at least one scene in the recent DC Comics film, Black Adam. In a scene set in ancient Egypt, Tegan plays the unnamed Egyptian king’s young daughter — a princess. Additional films include V, Syndicate Wars 2047, and A Unicorn for Christmas, which ran on the Hallmark Channel in December.

In addition to Fifty Times Rock, Tegan will also star in two other films coming out later this year. In The Warrior, Tegan will play Jenny. It’s a semi-autobiographical independent film by Derrick Wayne Mullins about how he lived with and fought cancer when he was 8 years old. Also, she will portray Kayli in Tea Party, listed as a short film. According to the Internet Movie Database, or IMDB, both movies are in post-production status, meaning there is still work being done to ready the films for their debuts. No release dates have been set.

Jennifer Riechers said her daughter is also starring in the upcoming Halloween holiday movies Witch Hitch and The Witch, the latter of which will be released via YouTube.

Tegan’s not the only one in the family doing some acting and modeling work. She and both of her brothers have been models for Osh Kosh clothing and Stride-Rite shoes. One of Tegan’s brothers, Levi, joined her in a zombie movie and has a small part in The Warrior.

Some of the movies Tegan has acted in were filmed in North Carolina, others in Georgia, with a few elsewhere.

Right now, Fifty Times Rock seems like the best bet to get her noticed for her “sassy” performance, comedic acting and bass-playing chops, and holding her own with adult actors. The Warrior could do the same on the dramatic side of the business.

In addition to the Little Theater’s showing of Fifty Times Rock, the movie will be shown at a theater in Winston-Salem, N.C., where it was filmed. The Riechers hope to attend that premiere, too.

The special showing of the movie at the Little Theater in Camden on Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m.

As her repertoire grows, don’t be surprised if you start seeing the name Tegan Riechers up in lights on movie marquees across the country.

A study underway at the site will hopefully soon provide clarity on what needs to be done.

LUGOFF, S.C. — An effort to fix and upgrade parts of Patriot's Landing in Lugoff has returned to the Kershaw County Council agenda.

County Council has commissioned a study at the site, While that study is not complete, officials hope it will provide insight on how to move forward.

"Madam Chair Katie Guinn, she made a motion to fund $20,000 and/or 10% of the project costs," said Kershaw County Councilman Russell Brazell. "I'd like to see us allocate a little more money to that project, so we can get larger matching funds."

The Council is also asking the Kershaw County legislative delegation for some help at the state level for the project.

Brazell says the goal to upgrade this project has been ongoing for over a year.

"About a year ago, we allocated, I think it was $6,500 to a study and that study is just now coming around," Brazell. "So, that money was allocated and a portion of it was used to remove that floating dock, so that's as far as it's gotten and it kinda fizzled, so we're trying to push it again this budget cycle, and we're definitely going to need more funding. The county has been willing to take this up and make it a project of our own."

The vision for the site is to make it safer and more user-friendly.

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"There is zero parking, people are actually parking in fire lanes, and a lot of people want to utilize the river, it's one of our best resources," Brazell said. "What we need, we need two boat launches, potentially a floating dock that is upstream of the launches, and hopefully a bigger parking lot."

It's something one resident we spoke to said he could get behind.

"I've been using it basically my whole life said resident Rick Jay. "It's the only access point to the Wateree River for people in Lugoff and Camden. "I would love to see it done sooner rather than later because boating season is coming up."

The county expects there to be an update for the council this month.

The Eastside wrestling program etched its name in the history books and ended Lugoff-Elgin’s best season in more than a decade.

The Eagles won the first eight matches on their way to a 51-23 win over the Demons on Saturday in the Class 4A championship match at Dreher High School.

The championship is Eastside’s eighth in a row, which is the most in state history in any classification.. The Eagles have won 18 total championships, which ties Rock Hill for the most in state history.

Fourteen of the 18 titles have come since 2004 as the Eagles stake their claim for one of the most dominant runs in any sport in South Carolina history.

“I haven’t won any championships,” said Eastside coach Jack Kosmicki, who is now the all-time winningest coach in league history in dual competition. “You are talking about hundreds of kids and a large group of coaches. They are committed, dedicated and focused. Collectively, we take pride in our legacy.”

Eastside went 19-0 against in-state competition this year.

Lugoff-Elgin was making its first appearance in finals since winning the Class 3A championship in 2010. Shortly after the match, L-E coach Ted Monroe pulled his team against the wall and told them it won’t be another decade to make another trip.

“Put this down in writing. We are going to be back,” Monroe said. “We aren’t going to shy away. We are going to work in the weight room and we will be back, probably facing these guys again next year.”

Monroe thought they lost a few matches he felt they would win and couldn’t get over the big deficit.

The match started at 126 pounds and the Eagles rattled off wins by Payton Schrader, Colt Schrader, Hank Lee, Bronek Snizaski, George Maholtz, Jack Wyland, Lane Schrader and Baron Leonard to lead 40-0.

The Demons followed with four straight wins. Ethan Korn won by technical decision. Jonathan Sinard and Troy Evans recorded pins and Titan McGee won by forfeit to close within 40-23.

Tyler Tice, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 120, stopped the run and won by pin to make it 46-23.

“We don’t have anything to be ashamed of,” Monroe said. “We dominated our way through the lower state. We had some matches that could have went our way but came up short today. I’m super proud of them.”