BLYTHEWOOD – After Mayor Bryan Franklin publicly demeaned two Blythewood town councilmen for requesting a special called meeting that he didn’t want, Councilman Rich McKenrick shot back, describing Franklin’s behavior as “the iron fist of Bryan Franklin over three years.” Both McKenrick, Councilman Brock and one other unnamed councilman requested the meeting called to address […]
Councilman calls out Mayor Franklin for three years of ‘iron fist’ behavior
Smart meter installation complete for Blythewood, now coming to Winnsboro

BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s Winnsboro water customers should soon have few complaints about their water bills and low water pressure. Their meter readers have now been replaced with 1,600 smart (electronic) meters which should make billing consistent beginning with the next water bill…or at least the one after. And because Winnsboro no longer purchases Columbia water, […]
RW to increase water rates .58 cents per 1,000 gal

Town to Spend Up to $10K for Forensic Review of Financials RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway Town Council voted unanimously at its June 9 meeting – the first of two readings – to raise the Town’s water rates by .581 cents per 1,000 gallons for all classes of water customers. “Winnsboro has raised the rates for our […]
Seven drive-by shootings put Winnsboro leaders on edge

WINNSBORO – Amid surging gun violence across the nation, including recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Tulsa, and Uvalde, Texas, the town of Winnsboro is grappling with a series of drive-by shootings of its own. Since April 21, there have been seven documented shooting incidents, one as recent as early Monday morning, according to reports filed […]
Pauley calls out Whitaker for charging group lunch to county

Council awards $50K to settle former employee claim WINNSBORO – Heated exchanges made it even hotter inside Fairfield County Council chambers Monday night. As council members fanned themselves in the 85 degree room, questions over county spending reached a boiling point during Malik Whitaker’s county administrator report. It started when Councilman Doug Pauley asked Whitaker […]
Fairfield Comprehensive Plan survey results are in

WINNSBORO – Poor road conditions, few shopping options and pervasive litter are among the list of grievances Fairfield County residents noted in a recent Comprehensive Plan community survey, distributed by the county. Wasteful government spending also came up often, with residents frequently blaming the current county council majority for these and other deficiencies. “I’ve never […]
Blythewood PC votes against rezoning for U-Haul

Gordge: Rezoning Would Make Most Housing, Commercial & Leisure No Longer Available BLYTHEWOOD – After Blythewood Planning Commissioners expressed gratitude to the U-Haul company on Community Road for its graciousness and goodwill over the years to allow Buck and Kristi Coggins to use, at no charge, several acres of U-Haul’s land for the Coggins’ twice […]
County rejects R2 request for 18.4 mills

Pugh: County Needs to Re-evaluate How We Spend Money COLUMBIA – Richland County Council passed third and final reading of its FY 2022-23 budget Tuesday night, excluding Richland School District Two’s request for an 18.4 millage increase. It was the second year the council has passed a no-millage-increase budget. The vote to pass the budget […]
Early voting underway in Fairfield County

WINNSBORO – Early voting for the primaries began Tuesday and will continue until 5 p.m., June 10. For this two week period, polls will be open for in-person voting without an excuse as was required in the past. Polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays during this two weeks, but will […]
Richland County PC holding workshop for mass rezoning

COLUMBIA – The remapping restart process for the mass rezoning of all the unincorporated areas of Richland County is on the agenda to be discussed at the Monday, June 6 meeting of the Richland County Planning Commission. Immediately following the meeting a workshop is scheduled to discuss the Land Development Code remapping restart, with three […]









