By Al Dozier The Irmo Town Council Tuesday approved a 30-day extension of a mask requirement in public places as part of an ongoing effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus The action, approved by a 3-2 vote, will extend the requirement to November 3. The measure had strongContinue Reading

For all our school district’s successes, one unfortunate hallmark of Lexington-Richland 5 is the willingness of certain board members to hurl accusations and insinuations as a way of suppressing unflattering information. District 5 has had more than its share of missteps over the past several years – persistent problems thatContinue Reading

Koon’s Watch The weather is getting cooler and more South Carolinians want to be outside; running near the dam, walking neighborhoods with their families, and heading out for nights on the town. That means more pedestrians on the streets, crosswalks and sidewalks. NHTSA reports that there is a traffic-related pedestrianContinue Reading

The Irmo Police Department may have started a trend in sporting pink badges, vehicle magnets and wrist bands in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month during all of October. These magnets are showing up on numerous first responders vehicles in the Midlands including other law enforcement jurisdictions and the coroner’s office inContinue Reading

Lexington-Richland School District Five’s Board of Trustees will hold a School Board Workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The event will take place from 4:00 p.m.to 6:00 p.m. at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies (916 Mount Vernon Church Road, Chapin, S.C. 29036). The agenda for the workshop includes an “UpdateContinue Reading

Joseph Randolph Henry, a 30-year-old Irmo man, has been sentenced to forty (40) years in prison following his conviction in Lexington County for Murder and Possession of a Weapon during the commission of a Violent Crime. Judge Frank R. Addy, Jr. imposed a sentence of 35 years on the MurderContinue Reading

Recognizing the challenges that local educators and students are facing this year, Columbia Economic Development (CED) partnered with the Black Public Relations Society – Columbia Chapter (BPRS Columbia) and six local businesses to run a School Supply Drive to donate supplies to Richland County School Districts One and Two. “ColumbiaContinue Reading

DESA, Inc. has announced Diane E. Sumpter, its President and CEO, has been awarded the Abe Venable Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement by the US Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). DESA, under Sumpter’s leadership, has operated the South Carolina MBDA Business Center for 27 years, making it one of theContinue Reading

By W. Thomas Smith Jr. COLUMBIA, S.C. – Richland Reads – a partnership between the Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (RCSD) and Richland Library (formerly the Richland County Public Library) – began in Sept. as an outreach initiative in which RCSD deputies are now reading children’s books to students online. ManyContinue Reading

Revered for more than a century, the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been an iconic recognition exclusively for young men, often called, “The Ph.D. of Boyhood.” Now, five young women from the Midlands have changed all that by becoming among the very firstContinue Reading

By Al Dozier Lexington-Richland District 5 schools will soon enter the next phase of a reopening plan that will eventually bring most students back to face-to-face classroom instruction, according to announcements at Monday’s board meeting. Superintendent Christian Melton outlined phase 2 of the plan, which brings back K-2nd graders fourContinue Reading