Morning Answer Daily

SLATER-MARIETTA, S.C. — A proposal to change Geer Highway in Slater-Marietta faced steep opposition Tuesday night from people in that area.

SCDOT will soon resurface a more than four mile stretch of Geer Highway from Old White Horse Road to Highway 11.

Coordinating with county developments plans for the future, the agency said, engineers were also asked to design two alternate proposals to the current four-lane highway.

Engineers held a public input session Tuesday night at Slater Hall Community Center, sharing those three options.

In option one, SCDOT would resurface the road and keep the original four lanes. Option two would bring four lanes down to two lanes, add a turning lane and a bike path and option three would have three lanes, a turning lane and a bike path...

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Parker Webster has always had a knack for creativity.

"I've always been interested in engineering and building," he said.

But even a few weeks ago, the Greenville native couldn't have known those skills would lead him to be a national gingerbread house champion.

Last week, judges awarded him first place in the five-to eight-year-old category for the National Gingerbread House Competition at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

He and his family visited the gingerbread masterpieces in previous years.

This year, he decided he wanted to give it a shot and so his mom and dad signed him up...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) Will Shipley ran for 128 yards and a touchdown and Clemson’s defense smothered South Carolina for its seventh-straight win in the Palmetto State rivalry 30-0 on Saturday night.

The Tigers (9-3; No. 23 CFP) won their fifth straight this season and matched the longest win streak in the series that they set from 1934-40.

Clemson’s defense limited South Carolina (6-6) to 206 yards, its second lowest output this season. It was the Tigers’ first rivalry shutout since a 45-0 win in 1989 and its first time holding an opponent scoreless since a 49-0 win over The Citadel in 2020.

The Tigers outrushed the Gamecocks 265 to 43. “There’s nothing more demoralizing than to have the ball run on you,” Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said...

LIBERTY, S.C. — Troopers have released a description of the vehicle they are looking for after a deadly hit-and-run Wednesday morning in Pickens County

A moped driver was traveling east on Highway 178 near Knoll St. around 1 a.m. when it was rear-ended by a vehicle, troopers said.

The moped driver died at the scene, troopers said. The driver's name has not been released.

Troopers said the vehicle they are looking for is a 2013-2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The color is unknown. Troopers said the vehicle should have possible damage to the right front near the area of the headlight...

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Three separate armed robberies in one Upstate city over the last three nights were cause for police to warn the public Monday about how to stay safe while shopping during the holidays.

Maj. Art Littlejohn, with the Spartanburg Police Department, said the first robbery happened about 9:15 p.m. Friday.

Littlejohn said two armed men forced someone at the Spinx Gas Station, located at 1605 John B White Sr Boulevard, to drive to an ATM and withdraw money.

He said the man left the scene after getting the cash from the victim, who was not harmed.

The next incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when three people were approached by two armed men in the parking lot of the Olive Garden, located at 1498 W. O. Ezell Boulevard, Littlejohn said...

GREENVILLE, S.C. — There is a new "wild" holiday tradition in Greenville.

The Greenville Zoo announced Monday it will host "Holiday at the Zoo" in December.

The event will take place Dec. 17-23 then again Dec. 26 and Dec. 30.

You can enjoy the event from 1 to 9 p.m. on those days.

The zoo welcomes everyone to "immerse yourself into a winter wonderland of twinkling lights, music, and holiday cheer."...

ANDERSON, S.C. — Leaders with the Anderson County Democratic Party said their office was vandalized a couple of weeks ago.

They said it was the third time this year they have felt threatened.

“It’s criminal and we won’t stand for it,” Chair Tonya Winbush said.

Winbush said she believes someone threw a brick at the glass window of the front door.

“We’re all human right? We all have our point of views and nobody wants their property destroyed or vandalized and it’s not right. It’s not fair,” Winbush said.

She said it could be someone upset with the party at the national level...

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — Three people have been charged in a series of barn fires that happened all in the same day, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office.

Anthony Boyd, 20, Blake Williams, 21, and Ashley Neal, 26 have been charged with setting barns on fire in the Leicester and Sandy Mush areas on Nov. 3, deputies said.

All three suspects were arrested early Tuesday, the sheriff's office said. They are all from the Leicester area of Buncombe County.

They are each charged with five counts of burning personal property, burning certain buildings and felony conspiracy....

(via WYFF) This fall is the perfect time to head to the theaters. Whether you're looking for a spooky flick, a story based on real life or a feel-good animated film, you're in luck.

Its the perfect time of year to settle in with cozy blanket and some apple cider to stream the latest, or since the theaters are reopened... Date Night is back on!

Click Here for a peak at the blockbusters hitting the big screen in the next few weeks...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — State Sen. Hugh Leatherman, South Carolina’s oldest and most powerful state lawmaker, died Friday at the age of 90.

Leatherman died at his home in Florence, where he was in hospice care with what colleagues described as an inoperable cancer, his office announced.

Days before his death, Leatherman’s staff began notifying lawmakers that the nonagenarian Republican had been hospitalized with severe abdominal pain, and that doctors discovered the cancer while removing parts of his intestine.

Leatherman was in his 11th term and among the longest-serving lawmakers in South Carolina’s Legislature. First elected to the Senate in 1980 as a Democrat, he later ran unsuccessfully for governor before switching parties in the 1990s, one of a number of lawmakers who did so as Republicans gained dozens of seats in Congress...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) — Gov. Henry McMaster has requested South Carolina Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman immediately begin an investigation into the presence of obscene and pornographic materials in public schools in South Carolina.

The governor made the request in a letter to Spearman after he received examples of pornographic materials found in schools from concerned parents in Fort Mill.

The letter in its entirety can be read here.

The governor has notified SLED to evaluate whether any state laws have been broken as a result.

“... It is my understanding that concerned parents were recently required to petition the Fort Mill School District to remove a book from a school’s physical or digital library, titled Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe,” McMaster wrote in the letter. “If school personnel had performed even a cursory review in this particular instance, it would have revealed that the book contains sexually explicit and pornographic depictions, which easily meet or exceed the statutory definition of obscenity...”

LAURENS, S.C. — An Upstate plant is closing after nearly 30 years in business, according to several employees who reached out to WYFF News 4.

Muffin Mam on Hunter Industrial Park Road in Laurens County closed Tuesday, employees said.

An employee says two letters were handed out to the more than 200 employees.

They said the first letter said the plant would close on Jan. 7.

However, they got another letter on Tuesday that said the company assets have been frozen and the plant was closed immediately...

MOORE, S.C. — A woman and her son are both facing charges after a middle school coach was assaulted, according to an incident report from the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office.

Jauqueline Robinson is charged with second-degree assault and battery.

Tyqwan Robertson, 18, is charged with third-degree assault and battery, breach of peace, threatening a public official, nonresidential burglary unlawful entry.

The report said the incident happened Friday at Dawkins Middle School.

Robinson is accused of cursing and screaming at the coach, scratching at his eyes and digging her fingers into his eye socket which injured the coach's eye, according to the report.

The report said the assault was captured on surveillance video.

According to the report, Robinson called her son Tyqwan Robertson, to come up to the school.

LONDON, Ky. — Law enforcement officials in Kentucky say a 16-year-old girl missing from North Carolina has been found after someone noticed her using a distress signal made popular on TikTok.

According to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, police have charged the driver who had the girl in his car with unlawful imprisonment and possession of material showing a sexual performance by a minor.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the sheriff’s office spokesperson, told The Lexington Herald-Leader on Friday that the girl and the driver were acquainted. The girl initially went with the driver willingly, but at some point got scared.

The sheriff’s office says the girl’s parents reported their daughter missing from Asheville, North Carolina on Tuesday. On Thursday, a separate driver heading south on Interstate 75 called 911 in Laurel County in Kentucky to report that a girl in a silver Toyota car was making distress hand signals he recognized from TikTok as a signal for domestic violence...

GREER, S.C. — A local pianist has been arrested after a Greer woman was found "brutally stabbed" to death in her Canebrake home last month, according to Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis.

Christina Larain Parcell, 41, was found dead Oct. 13 from multiple sharp force injuries, according to Senior Deputy Coroner Jennifer Cason.

Investigators said Parcell was found after someone she knew called 911. Lewis said she was "murdered in a very violent way..."

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Voters headed to the polls Tuesday across the country.

The majority of the elections in the Carolinas focused on local government positions such as mayor, county and city council, school boards, and commissioners.

Below you will find links to results:

• Anderson and Abbeville counties results HERE
• Greenville County results HERE
• Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union election results HERE
• North Carolina election results HERE

For other results for South Carolina, click here. For other elections results in North Carolina, click here...

HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. — Four students were taken to the hospital after a school bus crash Tuesday morning.

The bus flipped over just before 7 a.m. off of Green River Road, Henderson County Public Schools said.

Setup has started for the United Community Bank Ice on Main in Downtown Greenville.

On Monday morning, crews brought in the necessary equipment to keep the 3,200-square-foot ice rink frozen all season long.

“The United Community Bank Ice on Main is just an iconic part of our city’s tradition," Michelle Seaver, president of the United Community Bank in Greenville and Spartanburg Counties.

This year marks the 11th year of the Holiday tradition.

“Just seeing the smiles on people’s faces, whether they are skating or not skating, is my favorite part," said Seaver....

Happy Halloween Weekend. All of us at 94.5 The Answer hope you have a 'Spook-tacular' weekend of safe and sane fun. Watch out for little ghouls and goblins, ghosts and gourds. Trick or Treating kids are harder to see and usually pretty distracted. it is our responsibility to make sure they get home to enjoy their buckets and bags hard earned treats.

In the spirit of the holiday, here are some stories of things that go bump in the night! Maybe, with a little luck, you'll be able to sleep without a night light!!! Ahahahahahahah

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Customers are being warned to expect higher natural gas bills this winter. It comes as a result of rising market prices for natural gas.

“Globally, the price of natural gas is increasing," Piedmont Natural Gas Spokeswoman Jennifer Sharpe said

Upstate natural gas suppliers say their customers can anticipate this cost to trickle down to their monthly bills.

“For the average residential customer, you can expect an increase of about $10 or $11 a month in your natural gas bill,” Sharpe said.

Sharpe also points to a rate increase for safety and infrastructure improvements and the typical rise in costs in the winter as additional reasons for larger bills for its customers...