Home Care In West Columbia, SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — A West Columbia woman reached out to WACHFOX News with concerns about her house falling into a hole.

Karina Helgeson tells WACHFOX News she is concerned about the safety of her family.

"I'm really afraid of it just falling through," said Helgeson

According to Helgeson, these massive sinkholes keep appearing in her yard.

She believes it's all due to water pressure from the Congaree River and a poor water system following the deadly 2015 flood.

"So we filled it and took care of it, but then we started noticing a lot more appealing and now it's at a point where this wall is actually buckling that way it is a retaining wall so it is buckling toward that area and all of this is trying to go with it," said Helgeson

Helgeson purchased her home in 2017 and according to her, the house was previously condemned by the state – meaning it was unfit for living just two years before she purchased it.

She claims she had no idea.

"They didn't put any knowledge about any of that in any documents," said Helgeson

Helgeson says with the increase in moisture they now are experiencing high levels of black mold.

"Very very high in that room and the whole house had some elevations of the black mold growth and they recommend I move as soon as possible this situation is very serious for health, the silent killer is what I think they call it," said Helgeson

Helgeson has a three-year-old with Down syndrome and claims this is affecting her health.

"Her immune is not able to take it like ours, so I notice a lot of running noses and crusty eyes. it's just starting to get a lot worse at his point," said Helgeson

She tells us other homes in the neighborhood are experiencing sinkholes and one road collapsed.

Helgeson says she’s been trying to contact city officials hoping something can be done.

"It needs to be marked off or they need to be doing something about it to keep people safe," said Helgeson

WACHFOX News reached out to SCDOT to ask about the sink holes and they notified us that they are not in charge of that area.

WACHFOX News also reached out to Mayor Tem Miles Junior, he was not available for comment.

A spokesperson for the City of West Columbia stands that this is not a city issue.

If you’re home for the holidays and drive across the Gervais Street bridge, it might be hard to believe what you see. West Columbia is changing fast, with new businesses opening on State Street and the Brookland apartment complex rising on the skyline with its views of downtown Cola.

Early this week, the City of West Columbia shared its year-end report, including a recap of the year and a look forward at upcoming projects.

Several upcoming key initiatives include:

Major transformations are planned along Meeting Street and the US-1 Corridor to enhance the area’s entertainment, retail, and restaurant hub. The project will include on-street parking, dedicated left turn lanes, planted medians, pedestrian crosswalks, and shared-use paths for walkers and bikers, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and SCDOT.

West Columbia is focusing on pedestrian safety and beautification in key redevelopment areas. This includes extending street lighting along 12th Street, complemented by landscaping additions along Charleston Highway between 12th Street and Meeting Street. Traffic calming is underway in the Avenues, along with six solar-powered speed limit signs in various locations to address speed concerns.

Expanding sewer services along Sunset Boulevard/US Highway 378 is anticipated to spur economic development.

Aesthetic upgrades include refurbishing the WeCo Fountain and introducing city-branded bike racks to boost local appeal.

New developments like the Bark West dog park and a pedestrian bridge near the Botanical Gardens are designed to foster community spirit and enhance recreational opportunities.

With these initiatives, West Columbia is prepared for future growth that will come along with major announced projects like Langley Pointe and the new USC College of Nursing facility.

A Midlands restaurant known for its Southern country cooking has closed after nearly a half-century.

Compton’s Kitchen, located at 1118 B Ave. in the Triangle City area of West Columbia, has closed its doors, according to a message on the restaurant’s website.

“We are sorry to announce that the RESTAURANT IS CLOSED!” the banner message on the Compton’s website said on Wednesday morning. It’s not clear how long the restaurant has been closed, but social media messages about the closure from Midlands residents began to pop up earlier this month.

A call to the restaurant Wednesday morning went unanswered.

Compton’s Kitchen originally opened in November 1977 at the corner of Platt Springs Road and Charleston Highway, per a 2022 profile of Columbia-area country cooking joints from The State reporter Jeff Wilkinson. The restaurant later moved to Sunset Boulevard and finally landed in its B Avenue location in the mid-1980s.

The restaurant was known through the years for its Southern food and meat-and-three lunches, with items such as collard greens, macaroni and cheese, chicken fried steak and gravy, fried okra and more being favorites through the years.

The Compton’s news is just the latest in what has been a series of restaurant closures in the Midlands featuring eateries that had been open for decades.

For instance, Jin Jin Chinese Restaurant, which had been located at 469 Sunset Blvd. in West Columbia for 29 years, bid farewell in early December. “We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support, loyalty and companionship throughout these cherished years,” Jin Jin said in a parting Facebook post.

Al’s Upstairs, a West Columbia Italian restaurant with views over the Congaree River, closed its doors in late December after a 44-year run.

Yamato, a Japanese steakhouse that had a presence in Columbia for 49 years, closed its restaurant at 360 Columbiana Drive in January.

And Rockaway Athletic Club, the Rosewood Drive tavern known for its pimento cheeseburgers and polar-cold beer, shut its doors in January after a 42-year run.

As an effort to continue development in West Columbia, the city is working to enhance safety along the Highway One corridor.

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of West Columbia was awarded a grant for traffic studies to boost pedestrian safety along Highway One.

West Columbia residents Nick Gavin and Kathryn Morit said walkability is a huge factor when deciding which bars and restaurants they visit. Having recently moved to West Columbia, Gavin said he enjoys being near downtown, but once he gets further from the river, Highway One becomes less walkable.

"Here, there's a nice pedestrian crossing where there's flashing lights, and cars can see you. I think that's really helpful. This is one of the few places that I've seen that has that," he said. "Then, you go along this road, and there's not too many places where you can cross or are very accessible."

According to West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles, that could soon change. The city was just awarded $288,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a "Safe Streets For All" program. He said the money will be used to conduct safety surveys on pedestrian traffic.

"We're looking into some pop-outs to help folks know where the pedestrian crossings are," he said. "We're looking into incorporating some better places for pick up and drop off for ride share apps and services; we're just looking for ways to increase the safety of pedestrians along Highway One, where we intended to see further revitalized to be more of a retail corridor where you have more and more pedestrians moving about."

He said the study will be run through the entirety of Highway One in West Columbia as the city pushes to add more development to the Highway One corridor.

"There's nowhere more important than Highway One," Miles said. "It's the center of town, and it's the opportunity for us to go and really build out and have some additional retail. It's our best chance for that and to get a Main Street feel."

Moret said having more places to walk to and safer ways to get there would greatly help the area.

"If we can walk anywhere, that's so much better than worrying about Ubers, especially on a busy night with college students in town, and you have to worry about surcharges and Uber variabilities," she said. "But anywhere that we could walk would be better, so that's definitely a plus."

Miles did not give a timeline for the study project but says it should be started in the next year.

Photo | John A. Carlos II

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Posted Saturday, January 27, 2024 7:44 am

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With South Carolina’s Democratic primary just more than a week away, the nation’s first lady paid a visit to West Columbia to speak at an education rally.

On Friday, Jan. 26, prior to her husband's Saturday arrival to attend a Democratic state party fundraiser and church event in Columbia, Jill Biden addressed a crowd at Brookland Baptist Church’s Teen Center. She was among a group of speakers who focused on educational issues and showed support for the president in the upcoming election.

South Carolina’s part in the primary process starts next week with the Democratic primary on Feb. 3.

“The call of service is in itself an act of hope,” the first lady said. ”Because this isn't just a job, it's a calling, and all of you were called to this profession for a reason.”

Jill added that educators never give up on the families that they serve, and that they continue to believe that a better world is possible.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, was also among the speakers. She touched on supporting candidates that believe that everyone and every student deserves to have the resources, access and opportunities they need to realize their wildest dreams.

“We all in this room gathered here know that public education is the foundation of an inclusive and thriving democracy and economy and society,” Pringle said. “In this moment, we have two responsibilities. Our first responsibility is to promote and to protect and to strengthen public education. And since it is the cornerstone of democracy, that's job number two – we have to save our democracy. And we do that by supporting candidates who believe that every student, every student, everyone must have the resources and access and opportunities, all that they need and all that they deserve to be fully human and to realize their wildest dreams, for that to be our reality. We know our public school educators and our students and our families must be valued and they must be supported.”

She said that’s exactly what the Biden administration has been about, telling the crowd that Biden-Harris made the largest federal investment in public education in the nation’s history, adding that they prioritized investments in mental health, work to keep guns out of school and expanded access to school meals.

According to Pringle, voters will have a stark choice in this consequential election year, between a president who does incredible things for people or a president who does incredibly horrible things.

“Donald Trump is focused on banning books, cutting funding for public education and eliminating the Department of Education and he is threatening the freedom for our students to learn and our teachers to teach,” She said. “Then, we have our president and our vice- president.

“Right here in South Carolina, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris are focused on lowering healthcare costs for hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians, carving a pathway towards real student debt relief,” she added.

During her speech, Jill thanked two speakers, Cassie Moore and Tyler Mitchell, who are both educators in South Carolina. The first lady told them and the crowd that because of them, somebody is working harder, is braver and is a better thinker.

Moore, a school librarian, touched on how the Biden-Harris administration’s actions on student loan relief helped her $167,000 loans be forgiven. She said that with this relief, she won’t have to work a second job this summer and will be able to partake in an NEA fellowship.

The first lady told the crowd that educators, specifically in South Carolina, helped elect her husband the first time. Adding that the president gets things done and is delivering results again and again, whether it’s safely reopening schools, addressing mental health and academic needs or focusing gun laws.

She stated that her husband needs their support again, telling the crowd that they are fighting for the future of this country.

“It's clear South Carolina, as Becky said, you're eight days away from the primary,” She said. “I know that we all have that teacher's voice that makes people stop and pay attention to what they're doing. Now is the time to use that voice.”

Keywords

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