AC Repair in Huger, SC

HUGER, S.C. – A family of seven is receiving emergency assistance from the American Red Cross after a fire damaged their home on Buggy Trail in Huger on Wednesday afternoon.

Disaster-trained Red Cross volunteers responded quickly to assist the displaced family, providing financial support for immediate needs such as food, clothing, and temporary shelter. The organization is also offering referrals to additional community resources to help the family begin the recovery process.

According to a family friend, the fire victims- two adults and five children – escaped the blaze with only the clothes on their backs. The children’s ages reportedly range from 4 to 13 years old.

Every second counts during a home fire as you have just two minutes to escape safely, the Red Cross warns. To help protect your household, test your smoke alarms monthly and practice your fire escape plan. Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or a landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet. Also, you should take time to discuss the plan with everyone in your household and practice it at least twice a year.

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Home fires are so dangerous that they claim seven lives a day in the U.S and are the nation’s most frequent disaster. But working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half. The sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get out. While practicing your escape plan, teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like. Talk about fire safety and what to do in an emergency.

Through targeted outreach, the Red Cross said it’s working with community partners to connect with families and educate kids about fire safety. Red Cross volunteers and community partners are meeting one-on-one with families in at-risk communities through our Sound the Alarm events to share home fire safety information and install free smoke alarms.

YOU CAN HELP: Turn your compassion into action to ensure our South Carolina communities are ready and prepared for emergencies. Join the Prepare SC campaign and help the Red Cross:

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has begun work on a project involving safety improvements on Red Bank Road which also includes intersection improvements at the Red Bank Road and Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard intersection, both in Goose Creek.

By

The Berkeley Observer

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May 15, 2025

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. – Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians in Goose Creek can expect smoother, safer travels in the near future.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has officially kicked off a major infrastructure improvement project along Red Bank Road and Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard, aiming to modernize key intersections and roadways through the heart of the city.

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Work is already underway, with current efforts focused on drainage upgrades and initial road widening at the Red Bank Road and Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard intersection. According to Berkeley County officials, the larger project scope includes installing concrete medians, enhancing pedestrian access with new sidewalks, upgrading traffic signals, resurfacing asphalt, and improving signage along the Red Bank Road corridor.

Come fall 2025, drivers can expect to see continued progress with traffic signal installations and intersection paving at key junctions including Eagle Road, Harbor Lake Drive, and Bayshore Drive.

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The full suite of improvements is slated for completion by August 2026.

These upgrades come on the heels of Berkeley County’s recently completed Red Bank Road Gravity Sewer Project, which wrapped in April 2025. That project boosted local sewer capacity and helped prevent future overflows by installing a new gravity sewer main between Sunrise Boulevard and Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard.

Together, the projects mark a coordinated effort to modernize Goose Creek’s infrastructure—above and below ground—for years to come.

HUGER — Vice President J.D. Vance told a crowd at the Berkeley County mill for the country’s largest steel producer that America is entering “a golden age” for manufacturing.

Vance spoke Thursday at the Nucor mill in rural Huger to celebrate the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

In his 20-minute speech, the vice president categorized the administration’s controversial tariff policy as the catalyst for an incoming boom in U.S. jobs and American-made products.

“One hundred days under Donald Trump’s leadership sparks the beginning of the industrial renaissance in the United States of America,” Vance told the crowd of around 500, made up of steel workers and other invited guests.

“I believe the golden age of American manufacturing started 100 days ago, and we’re building it right here at Nucor steel in South Carolina.”

Vance leaned on his own past as the grandson of a steel worker in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio. He spoke about how his grandfather, who helped raise him, was proud of his profession and could name every American car made from Armco steel.

He told the Nucor steel workers he hopes they get the same satisfaction.

“When you see a lawn mower, a water heater, a kitchen appliance in your neighbor’s home, or your home, I hope every single one of you guys in front of me feel a sense of pride,” Vance said as workers in the crowd nodded their heads. “Because these are the products that make America work.”

The promise of a stable, well-paying job with a good pension that drove people to companies like Nucor has largely disappeared, Vance said.

This administration aims to bring them back, Vance said.

“I think we’ve got to send messages to our young people that the most interesting work — the work that’s going to challenge your mind but also allow you to work with your hands — is found at American steel mills right here in Nucor Berkeley in South Carolina,” Vance said to applause.

Vance was introduced by Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who looked at the crowd and said, “this is red, white and blue, made in America.”

He told them it’s possible to invest in manufacturing and still protect the environment.

“We choose both,” Zeldin told the crowd. “That is the Trump EPA, delivering for the people of South Carolina and delivering for the United States of America.”

Nucor produces a quarter of new steel refined in the U.S. The company is based across the state line in Charlotte, North Carolina, but founded in South Carolina and still employs more than 2,500 people total at locations around the state.

The Berkeley plant alone employs around 1,000 people and produces 3.6 million tons of steel annually.

The company has been a consistent supporter of the Trump administration’s tariff-laden economic plan. A 25% tariff on the importers of foreign steel products went into effect March 12.

Two days ago, Nucor CEO Leon Topalian told CNBC that the company has its biggest backlog in history, specifically mentioning the Berkeley mill in the interview.

Topalian thanked the administration Thursday “for continuing to level the playing field for American steel producers.”

While Topalian continues to back the tariffs, many South Carolina industries, like the state’s multibillion-dollar auto sector, are in a state of flux as they adjust to often-changing announcements about tariffs and how they’ll affect the cost of foreign-made parts used to build vehicles here.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s lone Democratic congressman, has been a staunch critic of the tariffs.

Clyburn said in a statement Thursday that Trump’s second in command would be better served meeting with South Carolinians “from all walks of life.”

“Trump’s exorbitant tariffs — imposed on countless essential products without any strategy — are increasing costs, jeopardizing retirement savings, threatening jobs, and putting small businesses at risk,” Clyburn said.

“South Carolina stands to be harmed disproportionately,” the statement said.

Vance told the crowd that tariffs are part of an effort to build up middle-class jobs in America, rather than let them be outsourced to other countries.

“Do you want to ship American jobs off to the People’s Republic of China?” He asked. “Do you want to rely on foreign corporations to make the things that you need in your home and your families need every single day?”

The crowd shouted “no” in response to both questions.

“So why don’t we rebuild America’s middle class?” he asked rhetorically. “Why don’t we rebuild American manufacturing? And why don’t we rebuild American industry, just like you’re doing right here.”

Later Thursday, U.S. Sen. Linsey Graham put out a statement thanking the Trump administration for choosing Nucor Steel in South Carolina to “make the case for bringing high-paying manufacturing jobs back to America.”

Urging Americans to support Trump as he “cleans up the trade mess that’s built up over the past 60 years,” Graham pointed to Nucor as an example, saying the company has had to compete against China and other countries “dumping low-cost steel.”

HUGER, S.C. - Vice President JD Vance told steelworkers in Berkeley County that the Trump administration has had a good start in its first 100 days.

Vance spoke at Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger Thursday afternoon immediately after touring the facility.

He told the crowd that history has taught that a country like America can’t rely on other countries to make the things it needs.

“One hundred days under Donald Trump’s leadership marks the beginning of the industrial renaissance in the United States of America,” he said. “I believe that a golden age of American manufacturing started 100 days ago, and we’re building it right here at Nucor Steel in South Carolina.”

He criticized past administrations, saying that for a couple of decades, leaders forgot about a “core part of American national identity.”

A new South Carolina law will make it easier for students to get experience for future careers while they’re still in school.

“They decided that America would no longer be a manufacturing power. Instead, we’d let the rest of the world make the necessary things we needed for our homes and for our families,” he said. “And when a nation decides to deindustrialize, my friends, you know what else? It stops using the intermediate goods central to that manufacturing, the things like steel that you all make right here at Nucor.”

He said when leadership decides that American’s don’t want to make anything, they cost businesses money, they cost workers their wages and cost a lot of people their jobs.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and others are pushing for the passage of a bill they say would streamline investigations into child predators.

“And that was the policy of the administration that came before us. But I’m proud that we’re 101 days into an administration that wants to invest in you, that wants to build the future with you.”