David Slade

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | David Slade

JOHNS ISLAND — One of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the area is on Maybank Highway approaching the Stono River where two lanes become one heading to the bridge. The city and county are discussing a new way to change that. The road between the Stono River and River Road on Johns Island has been a vexing traffic problem for many years, partly because few people are keen to cut down more of the huge live oak trees that canopy the road.

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | David Slade

CHARLESTON — If a Charleston County government employee pays for a work-related meal with a county charge card, the maximum tip they're allowed to leave is 15 percent. That was once considered an acceptable tip, in the days when people could smoke in restaurants and white zinfandel was popular. Not so much, at most restaurants today. "We just haven't changed the policy," said Barrett Tolbert, the county's director of procurement.

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | David Slade

MONCKS CORNER — Faced with a flood of development and a rapidly rising population this town has decided to collect substantial impact fees on new construction to help pay for the services more residents will need. "This is the final hurdle on a long journey we've been on," Moncks Corner Community Development Director Justin Westbrook told Town Council at a May 20 meeting where the impact fees received unanimous approval. For a single-family home the fees that took effect May 21 amount to $4,805.

1 week ago | postandcourier.com | David Slade

May 29 is fast approaching, and, of course, that's 5/29 Day, an excuse to talk about 529 plans such as South Carolina's own Future Scholar. A 529 plan gets its name from a section of the federal tax code, and it's sort of like an Individual Retirement Account but for college. Due to federal changes in recent years, the money can also be used without penalty or tax (up to certain limits) for K-12 tuition, registered apprenticeship programs, repayment of student loans and even to fund a Roth IRA.

2 weeks ago | postandcourier.com | David Slade

JOHNS ISLAND — A revised plan to create a 933-acre members-only golf course subdivision on Johns Island calls for the developers to pay more than $2.1 million toward affordable housing efforts and emergency vehicles. The Orange Hill investment group is offering those and other incentives as it seeks a 10-year development contract with Charleston County, which would lock in zoning and fee rules for a decade.