Latest news with #GeorgetownCounty
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Coal silo catches fire at International Paper site, officials confirm
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Fire crews responded to a fire at the International Paper site in Georgetown County Saturday, officials confirmed. At 2:55 p.m., crews responded to the scene and saw heavy black smoke coming from a large coal silo. Responders deployed handlines and entered the silo finding a heavy fire load on the coal conveyor system, according to Brandon Ellis, emergency service director for Georgetown County. The fire was spreading vertically. Firefighters responded with an aggressive attack, and the flames were brought under control. No injuries were reported from the situation, and damage was contained to the original silo, Ellis said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Search continues for missing boater on Waccamaw River
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The search continued Monday for a missing boater along the Waccamaw River. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office and SC Department of Natural Resources have been looking for Kerry Van Arsdel, who left The Reserve Marina on May 19 and has not been seen since. Officials with the sheriff's office said marina employees located Arsdel's unmanned boat Thursday near Butler Island, miles away from the docks. His belongings were still inside. The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol ended its recovery efforts Monday ahead of expected bad weather. 'Deputies are concentrating on the area between The Reserve Marina and the bridge near Georgetown, judging tides, water temperature, and time as factors in the search. They will resume Tuesday morning,' officials explained. As the investigation progresses, deputies ask that anyone with information about Arsdel give them a call at 843-546-5102. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
16-05-2025
- Associated Press
South Carolina man convicted of murdering two people gets a June execution date
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man who was twice sentenced to die for killing two people nearly two decades ago was scheduled Friday to be executed on June 13. The state Supreme Court issued the death warrant against Stephen Stanko for the Horry County shooting death of a friend. Stanko is also on death row for killing a women he was living with in Georgetown County and raping her teenage daughter. Stanko is the first person whose death has been scheduled in South Carolina's since Mikal Mahdi was executed by firing squad on April 11. Mahdi's lawyers released autopsy results that show the shots that killed him barely hit his heart and suggested he was in agonizing pain for three or four times longer than experts say he would have been if his heart had been hit directly. Stanko will get to decide if he dies by firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. The deadline for his decision is May 30. The crimes Stanko, 57, is being executed for killing his 74-year-old friend Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner's home in April 2006 after lying about his father dying and then shot Turner twice while using a pillow as a silencer, authorities said. Stanko stole Turner's truck, cleaned out his bank account and then spent the next few days in Augusta, Georgia, where he told people in town for the Masters golf tournament that he owned several Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a woman who took him to church. She then called police once she saw his photo and that he was wanted for murder, police said. Hours before killing Turner, Stanko beat and strangled his girlfriend in her home and raped her daughter before slashing the teen's throat. The daughter survived and testified against him at one of his trials. Greg Hembree, who prosecuted one of the trials, later became a state senator and was the chief sponsor of the 2021 law that allowed South Carolina to use a firing squad. His own lawyer called him a 'psychopath' Stanko admitted to the killings. His defense said he had problems with the frontal lobe of his brain that left him aggressive, unable to control his impulses and without empathy. They argued that he was either not guilty by reason of insanity or that he at least shouldn't get the death penalty because of his mental illness. In his appeals, Stanko said his trial attorney ruined his chance at a fair trial and lost any sympathy with jurors by calling him a 'psychopath.' Firing squad problems Any final appeals by Stanko in the weeks before his execution will likely include the problems Mahdi's lawyers raised after his firing squad death. The only photo of Mahdi taken at his autopsy shows two apparent chest wounds. Officials said all three bullets fired by the three volunteer prison employees hit Mahdi, with two going through the same hole. During the state's first firing squad death, the autopsy found that Brad Sigmon's heart had been destroyed. Just one of the four chambers of Mahdi's heart was perforated, which likely meant he didn't die in the 15 seconds experts predicted he would have if the squad's aim was true, according to his lawyers. Witnesses said Mahdi, who had a hood over his head, groaned 45 seconds after he was shot. South Carolina's busy death chamber Stanko will be the sixth inmate killed in South Carolina since an unintended 13-year pause on executions ended in September 2024. The state struggled for years to get the drugs needed for lethal injections until it passed a shield law that allowed the execution procedures, and the names of the drug supplier and execution team members, to remain secret. Three South Carolina inmates have died by lethal injection over the past eight months, while two have chosen the firing squad. Across the U.S., 16 executions have taken place in 2025, with at least six more scheduled before Stanko is set to die.
The Independent
16-05-2025
- The Independent
South Carolina man convicted of murdering two people gets a June execution date
A South Carolina man who was twice sentenced to die for killing two people nearly two decades ago was scheduled Friday to be executed on June 13. The state Supreme Court issued the death warrant against Stephen Stanko for the Horry County shooting death of a friend. Stanko is also on death row for killing a women he was living with in Georgetown County and raping her teenage daughter. Stanko is the first person whose death has been scheduled in South Carolina's since Mikal Mahdi was executed by firing squad on April 11. Mahdi's lawyers released autopsy results that show the shots that killed him barely hit his heart and suggested he was in agonizing pain for three or four times longer than experts say he would have been if his heart had been hit directly. Stanko will get to decide if he dies by firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. The deadline for his decision is May 30. The crimes Stanko, 57, is being executed for killing his 74-year-old friend Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner's home in April 2006 after lying about his father dying and then shot Turner twice while using a pillow as a silencer, authorities said. Stanko stole Turner's truck, cleaned out his bank account and then spent the next few days in Augusta, Georgia, where he told people in town for the Masters golf tournament that he owned several Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a woman who took him to church. She then called police once she saw his photo and that he was wanted for murder, police said. Hours before killing Turner, Stanko beat and strangled his girlfriend in her home and raped her daughter before slashing the teen's throat. The daughter survived and testified against him at one of his trials. Greg Hembree, who prosecuted one of the trials, later became a state senator and was the chief sponsor of the 2021 law that allowed South Carolina to use a firing squad. His own lawyer called him a 'psychopath' Stanko admitted to the killings. His defense said he had problems with the frontal lobe of his brain that left him aggressive, unable to control his impulses and without empathy. They argued that he was either not guilty by reason of insanity or that he at least shouldn't get the death penalty because of his mental illness. In his appeals, Stanko said his trial attorney ruined his chance at a fair trial and lost any sympathy with jurors by calling him a 'psychopath." Firing squad problems Any final appeals by Stanko in the weeks before his execution will likely include the problems Mahdi's lawyers raised after his firing squad death. The only photo of Mahdi taken at his autopsy shows two apparent chest wounds. Officials said all three bullets fired by the three volunteer prison employees hit Mahdi, with two going through the same hole. During the state's first firing squad death, the autopsy found that Brad Sigmon's heart had been destroyed. Just one of the four chambers of Mahdi's heart was perforated, which likely meant he didn't die in the 15 seconds experts predicted he would have if the squad's aim was true, according to his lawyers. Witnesses said Mahdi, who had a hood over his head, groaned 45 seconds after he was shot. South Carolina's busy death chamber Stanko will be the sixth inmate killed in South Carolina since an unintended 13-year pause on executions ended in September 2024. The state struggled for years to get the drugs needed for lethal injections until it passed a shield law that allowed the execution procedures, and the names of the drug supplier and execution team members, to remain secret. Three South Carolina inmates have died by lethal injection over the past eight months, while two have chosen the firing squad. Across the U.S., 16 executions have taken place in 2025, with at least six more scheduled before Stanko is set to die.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Community Leaders in Georgetown Holds First Biomass Informational Meeting
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD)—On Friday night, leaders held a community meeting to educate the public and hear feedback from the community on a proposed biomass plant that could replace the old papermill Dozens of community members filled up the sanctuary at the Soul Saving Station, eager to learn about Biomass and what impact it could have on the community and the environment. Residents who live on the West side of Georgetown up to the Waccamaw neck attended the event ready to learn about what could be coming to their area with a list full of questions, such as what will be produced at the proposed biomass plant. 'What usually happens with these biomass facilities is that they say they start off using waste wood in the forest. Still, we have videos of trucks with hardwood on them instead,' said Rev. Woodberry, founder of environmental justice training. During the event, experts discussed the negative factors of bringing a biomass plant to the community, such as air pollution, health issues, environmental damage, and increased carbon emissions. Nearly 5 months after operations shut at the papermill, some residents are still struggling to find a source of income. During the meeting, one resident spoke about the need for opportunities to bring economic impact and improve the environment. 'We want to make sure that whatever development is done in that industrial area, folks get good-paying jobs instead of just focusing on it by the water. Let's put up some $500,000 condos by the water or expensive restaurants where people only have jobs to wash dishes. You know people want good-paying, sustainable cleaning jobs.' Organizers said the event's goal was to educate the public on Biomass and to remind people to make their voices heard because the future of the area people call home along the waterfront district depends on it. 'Environmental justice is a pain to minority, underserved communities, especially the black communities. Please don't lose sight of the fact that when folks cut down trees, their lives diminish, so please be honest about it and don't forget, said Marvin Neal, the 3rd Vice President of the NAACP Branch in Georgetown.' Officials said they plan on hosting another community event in the coming weeks, and you can count on 2 to bring you updates on air and online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
