Home Care In Irmo, SC

IRMO, S.C. – (WIS) Irmo Mayor Barry Walker has campaign signs up all around his Harbison neighborhood, signs the homeowners association that oversees the area says are against the rules.

Walker is facing backlash from some in the community for the lawn signs in the midst of his re-election campaign.

He has lived in the Harbison area, which is governed by the Harbison Community Association (HCA), for years.

Just as he did the last time he ran for office, Walker said he handed out lawn signs to his supporters when the candidate filing period opened on August 16.

The issue is that these signs are now against HCA rules.

“Thank you for all this extra publicity, but the individual supporters of Barry Walker, including myself, my wife, they put up the signs because they felt it’s alright to do it,” Walker said in an interview Friday.

The HCA covenant, or bylaw, regarding political signage clearly states that lawn signs may not be displayed more than 30 days out from an election.

Violators could be fined up to $1000 dollars, according to the Harbison Community Association.

Benjie Friday, who lives in the neighborhood, said she believes Walker’s refusal to comply with the regulation speaks to his fitness for office.

“I think if he can’t follow the rules of our community, I don’t know that he can govern the town of Irmo,” she said.

Town council member Erik Sickinger said this shows a lack of respect for the voters, and other candidates who do not have signs up within Harbison’s limits, including Walker’s opponent, Bill Danielson.

“Then are we encouraging people, candidates for an elected position as a representative position, is it then the current mayor’s stance that they should ignore any rule that they don’t like, or that they feel is bad or wrong?”

Sickinger, who is also running for re-election, compared Walker’s defiance to residents suggesting that the speed limit should be 50 miles per hour in all areas of an HOA.

“And then a number of folks are trying to use the speed limit, I mean madness, mayhem, we have to follow the rules,” he said.

Not taking down the signs is also disrespectful to individuals within Harbison who have worked to create “an orderly, well-run HOA,” Sickinger said.

Walker argued that Sickinger does not have standing in this argument because he does not live in Harbison, and “needs some publicity.”

Sickinger denied that this was a political, personal fight, and said, “I don’t win by having someone else lose.”

“My goal is to make sure that residents understand the government’s responsibility in relationship to HOAs and ensure that we clarify and clear up this issue so that we can move forward,” he said.

Walker contends that this rule was not in place when he moved into the neighborhood, and the change, which was made in the last few years, was not made transparently.

“If it was that serious of a problem, that they should’ve notified every homeowner here with registered letters or called a public meeting and made it transparent that this was a problem and if they were changing it, and then give us updated copies for our covenant books, they didn’t do that,” he said.

The mayor showed WIS a copy of the covenant handbook from 2019, which did not include any language about political signage.

Both HCAs and HOAs have the ability to enforce various covenants and rules that residents must follow, as long as they do not violate state or federal law.

However, the conflict in this case is that Walker contends that HCAs cannot change its covenants without approval from homeowners.

“If they want to solve this, tell me what your lawyer says, and I’ll tell you what my lawyer says, and then they’ll get together and talk about it and come to a conclusion,” he said.

Walker noted that he advised his supporters that they may incur fines if they put up his lawn signs, and he did not put any up on his own aside from the ones on his property.

As for any potential fines, Walker says the enforcement of those is on hold as the HCA’s lawyer reviews the legality of the change to the covenant bylaws.

The election is one month from Saturday, which would make the signs within the boundary of the bylaw as of next week.

Walker said within the next few days, residents should expect to see more of his political signs around the area.

Sickinger said this could have been a “nonissue” if Walker had backed down.

“This could easily not have resulted in any additional work, drama, strain, stress, confusion if the mayor had followed the rules of Harbison or not fought them publicly or encouraged his supporters to do that as well,” he said.

Town council has called a special meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the issue.

Sickinger says its purpose is to create a separation between what the mayor has said, and the town’s position.

Walker calls it a “publicity stunt” for Sickinger.

At council’s last workshop, Walker said he tried to discuss the issue, but was told it would be better handled during the special meeting.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Storeand Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.

Midlands restaurant week is here. What you should know

Restaurant Week, an annual program aimed at uplifting and spotlighting Midlands cuisine, is back for another week of specialty dishes, discounts and delectable eats.

Beginning Oct. 5, Restaurant Week Midlands includes eateries in Richland and Lexington Counties, including Bourbon, Lizard’s Thicket, Village Idiot and Steel Hands Brewing and Smoked.

Specials include limited menus — Hampton Street Vineyard will offer a three-course meal for $38 — or discounts on customer favorites (Vella’s in Cayce will offer up a free appetizer with lunch orders more than $15.)

Here’s the list of participating restaurants, for the full list, visit restaurantweeksouthcarolina.com/city/midlands/

Other Food News You Might’ve Missed:

Pumpkin spice up your life: Maybe coffee isn’t your thing, but you feel really left out by the fact that pumpkin spice is here and you can’t partake. Steel Hands Brewing has the solution for you — Pumpkin Spiced Lager. The Cayce brewery rolled out the 7% ABV lager, brewed with a variety of fall-flavored spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

Return of the ravioli: Alodia’s Cucina Italiana restaurant, which closed its Irmo location earlier this year while owners addressed issues at the Lexington location, will reopen in Irmo Oct. 17, according to the restaurant’s Instagram. Workers at the Lexington location walked off the job after going nearly two weeks without pay and the restaurant remained temporarily closed.

Coffee coming to the Vista: Bitty & Beau’s, a national coffee chain that employees people with disabilities to work in their coffee shops, is coming to the Vista, our Columbia business reporter Josh Archote reported. The coffee shop will open in the former space of Marble Slab Creamery.

Party like it’s... 1933: While it’s been just about a century since prohibition, the nationwide ban on alcohol in the United States, ended, there’s still plenty of bars that celebrate the impact the era had on our culture. Enter, popular speakeasy-adjacent Charleston-based bar Prohibition. The restaurant and bar has had plans for Main Street for quite a while and is finally nailing them down, with plans to finally open the location by the end of October, our business reporter Josh Archote writes.

IRMO — With less than a week until he is sworn in, Irmo’s future mayor has his hands full.

In November, Irmo Councilman Bill Danielson, a business executive who was elected to the town council in 2020, beat out the town’s current mayor, Barry Walker, in his bid for reelection. Since then, constituents have been calling nonstop, Danielson said.

“With change, people get nervous,” Danielson said. “So, I’m trying to be very hands-on right now and be very responsive to our citizens.”

With an eye on Irmo’s town hall space, bolstering public safety and instilling unity on the council, Danielson said the transition between leaders has been smooth so far.

On Nov. 7, voters in Irmo, a 12,000 resident town that straddles Lexington and Richland counties, favored Danielson over Walker, the town’s current leader, by a 4 percent margin.

Walker served as the town’s mayor for one term, after being elected as Irmo’s first Black mayor in 2019. Walker also sat on the council for several decades before that.

Also in the 2023 election, current Councilman Erik Sickinger was reelected, and Phyllis Coleman snagged an open seat. Because Danielson’s council seat does not expire until 2025, the town will soon conduct a special election to fill his vacant seat.

With so much movement on the council, one of Danielson’s top priorities is getting new members up to speed and ensuring that the new collection of council members works smoothly together.

“Coming into a town council role, it’s drinking water through a firehose,” he said. “And the plan (to unify the council) is simple. The plan is to make sure everybody is involved.”

Additionally, when every seat has been filled, Danielson said he would like to have a meeting to gather the rest of council’s ideas on where to take the town.

Another top issue when Danielson takes office is figuring out the future of Irmo’s town hall building, he said. The town staff is bursting at the seams in its current home, and is in desperate need of an expansion. Though a property for a new facility has been identified, just down the street from the current town hall, funding for to build it is still up in the air, Danielson said.

A Midlands woman said nobody believed her when she told them that she had won $300,000 on a scratch-off ticket, according to South Carolina Education Lottery officials.

Maybe they never will, since the woman told lottery officials that she plans to save the winnings from her windfall, according to a news release.

The winner said the first thing she did after discovering her good luck was to call those closest to her to share the exciting news, according to the release.

Even though lottery officials said she called all of her family and friends, each had the same response.

“They didn’t believe me,” the woman said in the release.

To be fair, capturing the grand prize was unexpected even to the winner, who said “it was a shocker.”

The woman bought the six-figure winning The Rolling Jackpot game for $10 at the Pitt Stop gas station/convenience store at 11047 Broad River Road, according to the release. That’s in Irmo, near Exit 97 on Interstate 26.

The winner will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

The odds of winning the $300,000 top prize in The Rolling Jackpot game were one-in-1,080,000, according to the release. Three of the game’s five top prize-winning tickets remain unclaimed, according to the lottery website.

Pitt Stop in Irmo received a commission of $3,000 for selling the claimed ticket, according to the release.

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.

Irmo football’s potent offense delivered another masterful performance Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets used a variety of big plays to defeat Myrtle Beach, 55-24, in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs at WC Hawkins Stadium. Irmo goes to James Island next week in the third round for a rematch of last year’s postseason game, a win by the Islanders.

Quarterback AJ Brand threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score. Running back Jaden Allen-Hendrix ran for two touchdowns and caught a 57-yard TD.

Receiver Telvin Smith returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown and also caught a TD pass.

“We had a heck of a test tonight. Coach (Mickey) Wilson and that group came out with a good game plan,” Irmo coach Aaron Brand said. “But our horses were just too much for them tonight. When those 200-pounders in the backfield get going and get (Donovan) Murph over the top for the big plays and Telvin Smith on the wings, we are tough to beat.”

Irmo (12-0) has 12 wins in a season for the first time since 2006. On Friday, they had four scoring plays of 50 yards or more in the game, with two coming in the final three minutes of the first half.

Brand connected with Murph on a 57-yard TD pass to put Irmo up 21-10 with 1:55 left in the second quarter.

After Irmo’s defense forced a three-and-out, Brand hit Allen-Hendrix on a swing pass out of the backfield that went 57 yards for the score and a 28-10 lead.

Brand finished 8-of-10 passing for 184 yards and also carried it 13 times for 128.

Myrtle Beach battled back in the third quarter. Quarterback Gibson Goodroe hit John Simmons for a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-17. But Smith took the ensuing kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown to put Irmo back up 34-17.

On the Seahawks’ next possession, Malachi Washington took a hook-and-ladder for TD to trim the lead to 34-24 with 6:22 in the third quarter.

Myrtle Beach got it inside the 15-yard line at the beginning of the fourth quarter. But after a holding call pushed the Seahawks back, they missed a field goal.

Irmo marched it dowfield and Allen Hendrix scored on a 10-yard TD to make it 41-24 with 8:59 left.

“We had to find out who was going to show up when it got hard, and who was going to step up to the plate,” Allen-Hendrix said. “Defense stepped up at the end and showed up. Then the offense did what we had to do to close out the game.”

Hendrix finished with 267 all-purpose yards including 185 rushing yards on 14 carries. Smith had 133 all-purpose yards.

Irmo’s defense had five sacks and also picked off a pass.

The Hammond Skyhawks are headed back to the SCISA Class 4A championship game.

Hammond used a big first half Friday to defeat Cardinal Newman, 33-14, at Edens Stadium. Hammond will play Laurence Manning for the state championship next Friday at Charleston Southern.

It was Hammond’s second win over Cardinal Newman this season and 24th straight over the Cardinals.

Hammond led 20-0 at halftime. Robert Malanuk had a TD pass, Kinson Holland a TD run and Bubba Alexander returned a fumble 51 yards for a score with 46 seconds left in the second quarter.

Cardinal Newman got it within 26-14 on Cortez Lane’s TD run with 3:59 left in the third quarter.

But the Skyhawks scored on a double reverse as Jack Croft hit quarterback Andrew Turner to make it 33-14 with 3:33 left.

Elgin Sessions blocked a potential game-tying field goal as Dutch Fork defeated TL Hanna, 31-28, in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Dutch Fork will host Gaffney in the third round next week.

Backup quarterback Ethan Offing, starting in place of injured Jon Hunt, ran for 137 yards and a TD and threw for 123 yards and a score for the Silver Foxes.’

Offing’s 2-yard run put the Silver Foxes up 31-28 with 8:11 left.

TL Hanna marched down on its next possession, chewing most of the clock and got it to the Dutch Fork 10, but Sessions blocked Walker Broome’s kick to preserve the win.

Deon Winsley had a 90-yard fumble return for a touchdown to put Dutch Fork up 10-0 in the first quarter.

KD Patterson rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns and Josh Donald also had two TDs for TLH.

There will be an all-Midlands showdown in the third round of the Class 3A Lower State playoffs.

Gilbert defeated Hanahan, 49-35, and Camden defeated Dillon, 35-21, both on the road, to set up next week’s game at Zemp Stadium.

The two teams met in the 2020 playoffs with Camden winning, 58-7.

In Camden’s win Friday, quarterback Grayson White threw two touchdowns, ran one in and also returned an interception for a touchdown. White was 20-of-32 passing for 220 yards and also ran it 12 times for 82 yards.

In Gilbert’s win, freshman Trevon Williamson rushed for 312 yards, three touchdowns and Jaylen Jay had 141 yards and three scores. Drake Braddock had a TD pass to Krew Morris.

White Knoll 50, Fort Dorchester 7: Quarterback Landon Sharpe threw five touchdown passes as the Timberwolves (12-0) moved on to the third round of the 5A playoffs. White Knoll will host Sumter next week.

Sharpe was 13-of-19 passing for 182 yards.

Five different Timberwolves (12-0) caught touchdown passes: Tiyon Fanning, CJ Earl (2), Tyson Cox, Austin Cunningham and Evan Henderson.

Cunningham caught five passes and also threw a TD pass. Fanning led WK rushing with 96 yards and a TD.

Dimensions Banks and Trenton Ilunga each had two sacks for the Timberwolves.

Brookland-Cayce 34, Philip Simmons 13: The Bearcats won their 10th game for the first time since 2016 and moved on in the 3A playoffs. B-C faces Crestwood next week. Running back DeShaun Washington rushed for 214 yards and four touchdowns. Jvonn Edwards added a TD run and Will Young rushed for 68 yards.

Gray Collegiate 62, Chesnee 14: The War Eagles rolled to the third round with a win over Chesnee. Gray will host Strom Thurmond next week. Quarterback Tyler Waller threw for two touchdowns and BJ Montgomery rushed for 150 yards and a TD. Dre Dopson had a TD pass.

Silver Bluff 22, Fairfield Central 21: Jordan Boyd had the game-winning interception return for a touchdown and the Bulldogs made the two-point conversion in the fourth for the win.

Strom Thurmond 53, Keenan 20: Quan Edmond threw four touchdown passes and Chris Barnes had two TD runs and a kickoff return for a score for Strom Thurmond. Keenan had a pair of defensive touchdowns, inclluding a fumble return by Corey Williams.

South Florence 50, Richland Northeast 20: The Cavs’ season ended at the hands of the defending 4A champions. SyRee Livingston ran for three touchdowns to lead South Florence. Will Wilson had two touchdowns for RNE.

Abbeville 41, Newberry 28: Jha’Louis Hadden ran for three touchdowns in Abbeville’s win over Newberry. Abbeville will host Silver Bluff next week. Kenton Caldwell had two touchdown passes and a TD run for Newberry.

This story was originally published November 11, 2023, 12:04 AM.