A memorial service is planned in Summerville for native son Johnny Wactor as authorities in Los Angeles continue to hunt for the thieves who fatally shot the former General Hospital actor during a catalytic converter heist. 

The voter turnout in Flower Town's special election was small, but those who did cast a ballot put Matt Halter in Russ Touchberry's former District 3 position.

With housing demands on a sharp rise in Charleston's tri-county area, the small town of St. George in Dorchester County may see a "cluster" housing project just outside its town limits — one which could be the area's largest development since its 1875 incorporation.

Touchberry defeated opponents Dickie Miler and Vickie Fagan with 53 percent of the vote in the Nov. 7 election.

The Summerville Town Council has voted to remove Dorchester County's human services building, which used to be the old county hospital from 1937 to 1975, from the Midtown TIF district. 

Summerville will be kicking off a drone program next week to help enhance public safety and collect more data for the town's geographic information system. 

LADSON — A 3-year-old boy was found dead in a retention pond at a Dorchester County apartment complex, the coroner's office reported Sept. 8. He is believed to have drowned. 

Twelve schools in Dorchester District Two meet the criteria for their students to start receiving free breakfast and lunch for the 2023-24 school year.

The Dorchester District Two school board has unanimously voted to pass a resolution approving the removal of the property at 500 N. Main Street from the Midtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. 

Dorchester Paws is encouraging anyone who's interested to foster or adopt any animal in their shelter, as they've taken in over 300 animals in the past three weeks and are facing severe overcrowding issues. 

As Mayor Ricky Waring does not plan to run for reelection, there are three Summerville residents who are running to take his place.

Summerville Town Councilman Bill McIntosh is moving districts, and will now run against incumbent Terry Jenkins for the District 2 seat in November. 

As Berkeley County grows, the need for more schools does as well. The Berkeley County School District is opening its second K-8 school, Carolyn Lewis School, and has plans to build more schools to accommodate the anticipated influx of students. 

The Summerville Town Council has pushed back the vote that could remove the property at 500 N. Main Street from the Midtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. 

This weekend, there will be a traffic shift as construction for the Berlin G. Myers Parkway extension continues. 

For roughly three months, Summerville residents have been protesting Dorchester County's decision to sell its human services building for redevelopment. Residents are keen on preserving a part of the town's history that was formerly the Dorchester County Hospital. 

The Summerville Town Council is in the process of removing the old Dorchester County Hospital from the Midtown TIF district. Several residents have spoken against it being removed from the TIF, and the potential redevelopment of the property as a whole. 

The Dorchester County Ladson Fire and EMS station opened on July 11. It will be the model for future stations throughout the county, according to Dorchester County administrator Jason Ward. 

Summerville police found the child floating facedown in a retention pond on July 8.

The St. George-based Dorchester Heritage Center received $1.5 million in state funding, which will go toward the construction of their new center in Ridgeville. 

Leaders from both Dorchester District Two and Dorchester County met to discuss and set up tentative plans for how to best manage the rapid growth they're anticipating in the school district. 

Duke Energy is giving Dorchester County $11,000 in grant money for five weather stations, which will help the county keep track of weather conditions. 

Summerville Town Councilman Bill McIntosh was fighting a losing battle when he proposed one last time to lower the property tax rate by 1.5 percent, right before the council passed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. 

Dorchester School District Two is anticipating the student population to increase by thousands of students in the next nine years. The school district is making an effort to collaborate with the Dorchester County Council to figure out how to best manage the influx of students. 

The Dorchester Children’s Advocacy Center — a nonprofit dedicated to helping victims of child abuse — is approaching its 20th anniversary in December this year.

Her father, Jim Palma, said he was concerned about the district's lack of communication, both with his family and with the wider school community. While he's met with school officials and security, he said he initiated most of those contacts. The incident also raised concerns for him that the district is not taking safety seriously enough.

Dorchester District Two will be dipping into their fund balance to cover their $5 million budget deficit. Chief financial officer Tina Meunier said approximately $2 million of those funds are one-time expenditures, and state-allocated funds should cover future recurring expenses. 

The Dorchester County Council will formally request the town of Summerville release the county's human services building from the Midtown TIF district. If released, the county will broker a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement with the future owner of the property.

While Summerville anticipates just over $43 million in revenue, the proposed budget also pulls just over $2 million from the town's fund balance. The overall revenues should be enough to give staff an average of an 8 percent pay raise.

Police reported watching TAs in two different incidents shove and physically abuse the student, who is non-verbal and deaf.

The Summerville and Berkeley County Education Associations hosted a “signing day” on May 10 for teachers to bring awareness to the teacher shortage across the Lowcountry and South Carolina as a whole, with an emphasis on how omitting information like salary and where they'll be working on the contract hurts recruiting and retention efforts.

Residents from just outside the town of Ridgeville have filed a lawsuit to stop the town’s development of a little over 1,000 acres of land the council voted to annex and rezone on Feb. 14.

A Lowcountry native, Melcher has worked with the Summerville Fire Department since 2000. Currently the deputy chief of operations, Melcher will take the reins on June 23.