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More than 115 years have passed since two dams were built on the Catawba River in the sleepy town of Great Falls to power three textile mills.

The mills in this Chester County town closed decades ago.

Residents still live in the mill villages. Historic store fronts along the town's main roads have been shuttered for years.

Residents have one grocery store, the Great Falls IGA, once a Piggly Wiggly. One of the town's remaining restaurants, The Flopeye Diner, has a sign on the porch with the word "hope."

Now, town and state leaders are hoping restaurants, shops, hotels and tourism-based companies will flood the town and wash away its economically-depressed status with the completion of Duke Energy's wide-scale project on the Catawba River.

Duke officials said the Great Falls-Dearborn project, which will create new recreational channels along the river for kayaking, is about 70% complete.

The project was scheduled to open this summer, but additional work was needed, said Michael Brissie, manager of generation project engineering for Duke. Brissie said the facilities will open in spring of 2023.

The project has many components — public to access channels on the river, a state park with hiking trails, an historic visitor's center, a pedestrian bridge, a 3,000-foot hiking trail on an island, parking and restrooms — all within three miles.

"This is a game-changer, obviously for Great Falls," state Sen. Mike Fanning said.

Duke started construction on the project at the Great Falls Reservoir more than a year ago. As part of a new license for the Catawba-Wateree Project in 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires Duke to provide recreation, enhancement to water quality and quantity, fish and wildlife habitat protection and land conservation along the river.

The main focus of this project is to bring water back to two channels, or bypasses, that were cut off more than a hundred years ago. Those channels made up the 50-foot Great Falls of the Catawba, the town's namesake.

One channel will be the long bypass, a 2.25 mile stretch for leisure kayaking and canoeing. The long bypass will have Class II and III rapids, which are appropriate for families and individuals wanting a leisurely trip down the river, said Duke spokesman Ben Williamson. The short bypass will have faster water flowing over three-quarters of a mile that will have Class III and IV rapids and is geared more to experienced kayakers, said Christy Churchill, recreation planner for Duke.

Duke can control how much water it releases into the channels. Tourists will be able to check the flow schedules online, or through an app, when planning trips.

To date, Duke has built the Nitrolee Access Area with restrooms and parking for 100 vehicles. Nitrolee will be the primary public hub for access the Great Falls Reservoir and the long bypass. Adjacent to the parking lot on property owned by the Catawba Valley Land Trust is the Arc Building that was part of the Nitrolee plant in the early 1900s. The historic building will become the visitor's center.

Within a year of the project's completion, the site will be connected to the Carolina Thread Trail, a regional network of "connected greenways, trails and blueways that reaches 15 counties," according to the trail's website.

Another component of the project will be a state park on Dearborn Island. Duke is providing money to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to help the state develop a park on the 600-acre island with trails, Churchill said. Construction on the park, which will have a campground area, will begin once the lease with Duke and SCPRT is finalized, she said.

Duke also will build a pedestrian bridge from a kayak launch to provide access to the island.

Fanning said ideas are floating to offer a unique camping experience, including "glamping," or glamorous camping, where campers stay in modern-day yurts. He said Dearborn Island will be the third state park in Chester County, which is rare in South Carolina.

"We have plenty of regular camping and so this island is going to be a way for you to spend time on a campground and have a different form of camping," Fanning said.

Duke also will create a trail, roughly half a mile, on Mountain Island at the Cedar Creek Reservoir that will allow kayakers to hike back and put their kayaks back in the water.

Churchill said the Dearborn project is unique.

"I would bet in the country, it's pretty one-of-a-kind," Churchill said. "It's like an engineered system to enhance the natural experience."

Glinda Price Coleman, executive director of the Great Falls Town Home Association, said the return of the water is a "game changer" since the mills closed in the 1980s.

"And since then, there's been several attempts to do something to punch up the economic structure here in town," she said.

The Great Falls Home Town Association is a community and economic development nonprofit that has rallied to have nature-based tourism brought to Great Falls and the surrounding community since 2000, Coleman said.

Coleman said developers and businesses are looking into the area, but could not elaborate on specific plans. The plan now is to bring opportunities for local entrepreneurship and attract businesses to set up shop, Coleman said.

Coleman said an array of business would "be another layer of what will bring people here, not only the natural beauty that we have in the area and outdoor recreation opportunities that we have with the trails and the whitewater and the state park."

Data produced by the nonprofit, American Whitewater, estimates that whitewater activities alone will bring $3.1-$4.6 million to Great Falls annually. Coleman has said it will likely exceed that.

"I think it's providing (Great Falls) a catalyst to begin work from their perspective and from their point-of-view building back their town," Churchill said. "We're building the recreation and then from there, hopefully they can build up interest in the general public and tourism to come down to this area and go rafting, go to the park on the trails, and hopefully bring some economic benefit to the area."

Fanning said Chester County has been "looking for that next big thing and the timing is perfect."

He pointed to California-based wine giant E&J Gallo, which is building its first East Coast facility in Fort Lawn, a small town in Chester County.

Fanning said the Dearborn project "will be the single largest development, economic development, dollar amount that we've seen in a project that was not a business in the history of Chester County."

Fanning said 53 business leaders, residents and town officials from Chester, Lancaster, York and Fairfield counties meet every month to discuss the project.

"I don't want it just to have water that comes down at a high speed," Fanning said. "We're looking to promote this as a destination for people to come and spend their time and just take advantage of spending time outdoors."

Fanning said community members have met with investors to promote the area. The discussions have centered around Great Falls but Fanning is touting Eastern Chester County as the "outdoor recreational capital of the Southeast."

He said the experience will be "phenomenal." "You think about the fact that people have been doing indoor whitewater rafting in Charlotte forever," Fanning said. "Meaning we know there's a demand, we know that we're going to have people coming from all over and it's going to be spectacular."

Kayakers can visit the U.S. National Whitewater Center in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina, but the Great Falls project is not an event venue or center, Churchill said.

"They are totally different animals," Churchill said.

The Great Falls whitewater experience comes from a free-flowing channel.

"Obviously the structures that we're building to help manage the flow is man-made," Churchill said. "However, the channel itself and all the features, the scenery, it's all nature."

Fanning said a year ago, locals were "rolling their eyes and saying here's another promise that will never come to pass." But now you can drive ... and you can see the work, he added.

"This is going to happen," Fanning said. "It will happen within the next year and it will be phenomenal."

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Thousands of ticks of an invasive species that can kill animals and make humans severely ill were recently found on a South Carolina farm, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is now asking for the public’s help to find out if they’re in other parts of the state.

Asian longhorned ticks have been identified in nearly 20 different states, and while they have been discovered in South Carolina in recent years, health experts said a recent infestation on a cattle farm pasture in York Country is the first time they have found so many of them in one place in the state.

“So, the risk is there,” Dr. Melissa Nolan, director of the University of South Carolina Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases and assistant professor of epidemiology at UofSC’s Arnold School of Public Health, said during a virtual media briefing Monday. “What this ends up being, we’re not quite sure, but a situation, again, we want to closely monitor.”

Smaller numbers of these ticks were found in 2020 on dogs at shelters in Pickens and Lancaster counties before the York infestation was identified last month.

While those counties are closer to North Carolina, Asian longhorned ticks have also been discovered in Georgia recently, so health officials said they could be present but not yet identified in more parts of South Carolina.

Researchers said a single female tick can produce thousands of eggs without mating.

“The concern really is that this tick could overwhelm livestock or dogs or people, so you could be out walking in the field with your dog, and you could get hundreds of ticks that bite on you. They’re very aggressive feeders,” Nolan said.

These insects can transmit more than 30 diseases to humans and animals, make humans severely ill, and even kill animals.

While state health leaders said these ticks haven’t gotten any humans sick in the US so far, they should still take precautions, like using EPA-registered insect repellants before going outdoors, wearing protective clothing tucked in at the waists and ankle to prevent bites, and checking themselves and their family for ticks after they have been outdoors.

State Veterinarian Dr. Michael Neault, who also serves as the director of Clemson University’s Livestock Poultry Health Department, said standard tick prevention for pets appears to be effective against this species.

“If you’re anywhere near any brushy areas, if there’s wood or anything else like that, just go ahead and check the animals over as well as yourselves,” Neault said, adding owners should contact their veterinarian if they find ticks on their pets.

If people find an insect, they suspect to be an Asian longhorned tick, they can send it to a laboratory to determine its species and if it carries disease.

They are asked to put the tick, dead or alive, sealed in a zippered storage bag or a vial, and include their name and contact information, where and when the tick was found, and if it was found on a human or animal, along with the type of animal.

It can then be sent to: Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 921 Assembly Street #417A, Columbia, SC 29201

Copyright 2022 WIS. All rights reserved.

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COVID-19 cases in South Carolina are spiking, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

DHEC says the updated community levels map for South Carolina from the Centers for Disease Control shows 29 counties with high levels of COVID-19 and 11 counties with medium levels.

Here is a breakdown of those counties:

Counties with high community levels: Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chesterfield, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Florence, Georgetown, Greenville, Hampton, Horry, Kershaw, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland and Williamsburg.

Counties with medium community levels: Allendale, Beaufort, Cherokee, Chester, Clarendon, Lancaster, Lee, Spartanburg, Sumter, Union, and York.

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DHEC is recommending in communities with medium levels of COVID-19, individuals who are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 as well as those who are regularly around immunocompromised individuals are encouraged to mask up, while it is optional for others.

In communities with high levels of COVID-19, DHEC is recommending masking in indoor settings, including schools and workplaces.

DHEC said from July 17 through July 23 more than 16,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported statewide with nine new deaths and 538 hospitalizations.

DHEC held a virtual media briefing on Wednesday and said hospitalizations are now a major concern.

They also encouraged parents to get students vaccinated before the school year begins.

"Our students and teachers have been significantly impacted by COVID-19," Dr. Brannon Traxler said. "With vaccines readily available now for everyone 6 months old and up there's no better time than now for all children to get their COVID-19 vaccination. So that they can focus 100% on school."

Traxler also spoke about COVID-19 vaccinations. She said DHEC is ordering doses of Novavax, which is the newest COVID-19 vaccine.

Traxler also spoke about the antiviral Paxlovid, which President Joe Biden used to treat the virus.

"The monoclonal antibodies there's only one that is still effective against this Omicron and particularly this subvariant that we are seeing BA4 and BA5," Traxler said. "And so we really are seeing an increased emphasis the oral, the pills by mouth, which are the Molnupiravir Paxlovid, with the Paxlovid being the most commonly used one."

For more information, continue to visit http://scdhec.gov/covid19.

For COVID-19 testing locations, visit http://scdhec.gov/covid19testing and to find a vaccine or booster provider, visit http://scdhec.gov/vaxlocator.

U.S. News & World Report releases annual national rankings

CHARLESTON, S.C. (July 26, 2022) – MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston was named by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth year in a row as the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina, with two of MUSC Health’s specialty areas ranking among the best in the entire country: ear, nose and throat (#15) and obstetrics and gynecology (#16).

Twenty additional MUSC Health programs are considered “high-performing” specialties, procedures or conditions in the 2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings, represented in the following MUSC Health system divisions:

MUSC Health-Charleston Division (University Medical Center): cancer, gastroenterology & GI surgery, rheumatology, urology, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, aortic valve surgery, back surgery (spinal fusion), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), colon cancer surgery, heart attack, heart failure, hip fracture, hip replacement, kidney failure, lung cancer surgery, ovarian cancer surgery, pneumonia, prostate cancer surgery, stroke and uterine cancer surgery.

MUSC Health-Florence Division (Florence Medical Center): chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, kidney failure, stroke.

MUSC Health-Lancaster Division (Lancaster Medical Center): chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

MUSC Health-Midlands Division (Columbia Medical Center Downtown): chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart attack, heart failure, hip replacement and kidney failure.

“These rankings indicate to all South Carolinians that MUSC Health, as the only public, statewide hospital system, continues to work very hard to remain one of the best care providers in the country,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO and MUSC executive vice president for Health Affairs, University. “Across the board, it's been a time of challenge and incredible opportunity for all of our care teams, and their commitment to ensuring that our patients are receiving the right care, in the right place and at the right time hasn’t wavered. The entire MUSC family is honored to know and work with such compassionate, innovative and collaborative individuals.”

U.S. News & World Report unveiled its 33^rd edition of the Best Hospitals rankings at health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings. Designed to help patients with life-threatening or rare conditions identify hospitals that excel in treating the most difficult cases, Best Hospitals 2022-23 includes consumer-friendly data and information on more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide in 15 specialties and 20 procedures and conditions. In the 15 specialty areas, 164 hospitals were ranked in at least one specialty. In rankings by state and metro area, U.S. News & World Report recognized hospitals as high performing across multiple areas of care.

The U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals methodology evaluated each hospital’s performance using a variety of measures such as survival rates, complication rates, patient experience and level of nursing care. The Best Hospitals methodology factors in data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, American Hospital Association, professional organizations and medical specialists. For the first time this year, U.S. News rated eligible hospitals in ovarian cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery and uterine cancer surgery.

“The hospitals named among the best have extensive medical expertise and a history of delivering good outcomes,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News. “When patients and their medical professionals are considering their options for care, the rankings are designed to help them identify hospitals that are superior in the kind of care they may need.”

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About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,000 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 850 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $327.6 million in research funds in fiscal year 2021, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding, with more than $220 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 14 hospitals with approximately 2,500 beds and five additional hospital locations in development; more than 350 telehealth sites, with connectivity to patients’ homes; and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2022, for the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets totaling $4.4 billion. The nearly 25,000 MUSC team members include a world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver and support groundbreaking education, research and patient care.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

COLUMBIA, S.C. ― South Carolina public health and livestock officials have recently identified a large population of Asian longhorned ticks infesting a pasture at a cattle farm in York County. This invasive species of tick is not commonly found in the United States, and bites from these ticks have caused severe illnesses in people, animals and livestock in other countries.

As of June 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports Asian longhorned ticks were first identified in the United States in 2010 and have since been found in 17 states. In South Carolina, a small number of these ticks were identified in 2020 on shelter dogs in Lancaster and Pickens counties.

The Asian longhorned ticks in South Carolina have been identified through the state’s tick surveillance program – a collaborative effort between DHEC, the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and Clemson University Livestock Poultry Health.

“While no documented cases of diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or anaplasmosis have been reported in the United States due to bites from Asian longhorned ticks, the ability of this tick species to spread diseases that can make people and animals ill is a concern,” said Dr. Chris Evans, State Public Health Entomologist with DHEC's Bureau of Environmental Health Services. “However, more research is needed in the United States to better understand what diseases the Asian longhorned tick can spread and to what degree they are a health risk to people, livestock, and other animals. The ability of this tick species to increase its populations very quickly, leading to large infestations in a short amount of time, is also concerning.”

Unlike other ticks, a single female Asian longhorned tick can produce 1,000 to 2,000 eggs at a time without mating. This means a single animal could host hundreds or thousands of ticks.

Dr. Michael Neault, South Carolina State Veterinarian and Director of Clemson University’s Livestock Poultry Health Department, advises that animal owners consult with their veterinarian about the use of products approved in the United States for other tick species that are found to be effective in treating animals with the Asian longhorned tick.

“Companion animal and livestock owners should discuss with their veterinarians about using appropriate tick preventatives for their animals," Neault said. "Livestock owners especially should be aware that these ticks can carry the parasite Theileria. In Virginia, they already have spread this infection in sheep, and it also may spread to cattle. In other countries, the Asian longhorned tick has spread anaplasmosis among livestock, so producers may want to take preventative measures for their herds.”

Asian longhorned ticks are light brown in color and tiny. Because of their small size and quick movement, they are difficult to detect. These ticks can feed on any animal but are most commonly found on livestock, dogs and humans.

“The establishment of the Asian longhorned tick has real animal and human health concerns,” said Dr. Melissa Nolan, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Arnold School of Public Health and director for the UofSC Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. “We are asking the public to send us any ticks they encounter in their everyday lives to help us track and monitor its spread. With local help, I believe we can slow the spread of this tick in our state.”

A recent $585,000 grant awarded to Dr. Nolan by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will enable the South Carolina tick surveillance program to expand its efforts. The five-year project will convene experts from nearly a dozen locations in nine key states to form the CDC Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases – a collective effort that will enhance the identification and monitoring of tick migration and hotspots, including invasive species such as the Asian longhorned tick.

To help state officials learn more about the prevalence of Asian longhorned ticks in South Carolina, residents are asked to carefully submit ticks suspected to be Asian longhorned ticks for confirmatory identification. This surveillance will help determine tick species presence, distribution, seasonality, and potential tick-borne disease risks.

To participate in the tick surveillance project, carefully collect a tick by using gloved hands, tweezers or another tool and send collected ticks, alive or dead, in a puncture-resistant sealable vial or zippered storage bag to Laboratory of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 921 Assembly Street #417A Columbia, SC 29201. Please include:

State health officials ask all South Carolinians to be mindful of ticks when enjoying time outdoors. To help prevent tick bites and possible exposure to tick-borne illnesses:

Clemson University recommends that livestock owners work with their veterinarian and extension agent to develop a comprehensive tick management plan that includes using approved tick preventatives that can be applied to horses and livestock and following procedures that reduce ticks in pastures.

It's important to note that the Asian longhorned tick has no relation to the Asian longhorned beetle that was identified in South Carolina two years ago and prompted a 73-square-mile quarantine zone in Charleston and Dorchester counties.

For additional information about Asian longhorned ticks, visit Clemson University’s South Carolina Ticks and Animal Health webpage. To more learn about tick-borne illnesses in South Carolina and the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health tick identification program, visit scdhec.gov/ticks.

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