Family Photographer in West Ashley, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A West Ashley restaurant plans to close for good after 17 years in business.

The Sunflower Cafe, located at 2366 Ashley River Road, will serve its last meal on Sept. 30. Owner Jennifer Adams said a lot of things led to the decision, among them ongoing staffing challenges, food shortages and rising food costs.

“The price of everything has literally doubled,” she said. “When you’re a breakfast and lunch place, how high can you go?”

She said the COVID-19 pandemic really changed everything, but especially so for small businesses.

“I don’t really see an end in sight,” she said.

The family-owned restaurant, located at 2366 Ashley River Road, opened its doors in August 2005. Operated by four generations of women, the cafe has come to be known by its regulars at least as much for its personal touch as the authentic family recipes.

Those recipes have included breakfast favorites like omelets, benedicts, waffles and pancakes. Lunchtime staples have included “the Best Sandwich in Charleston,” with grilled filet mignon topped with swiss cheese and onion aioli on grilled ciabatta bread and au jus for dipping; a pan-seared Salmon filet served over fresh spinach salad with strawberries, feta and toasted pecans tossed with balsamic vinaigrette; a shrimp platter, or a grilled chicken sandwich topped with caramelized onions and swiss cheese on a toasted croissant with basil dijionnaise.

For some regulars, no visit was complete without a dessert of powdered sugar-dusted beignets.

“We treat them like family,” Adams said of her customers. “I never felt like it was a restaurant. I thought of it as another version of my home where I feed them. We genuinely love our customers.”

Their loyal, longtime customers feel the same way.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many restaurants were forced to offer take-out-only service, Adams said they were overwhelmed by the community’s reaction.

“I do love all of them and I appreciate the support we had during the pandemic,” she said, adding that people even offered donations to the restaurant to help keep them going. “It was really amazing to know we touched people and they touched us.”

The restaurant is open Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. offering breakfast and lunch; and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for breakfast only.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCBD) – A West Ashley man is warning others about a scam after someone attempted to gain access to his bank account while pretending to protect the victim from a fraud attempt.

“I initially got a text message asking if I had made a change,” explained Jamey Mellis, CEO of Software Solutions and Designs.

Mellis said the message appeared to come from his bank, Wells Fargo, on Wednesday.

“I’m looking at the message and just 10, 12, 15 seconds later I get a phone call from someone who said they’re from Wells Fargo fraud alert,” he recalled.

The person on the other end asked if he was attempting to make multiple purchases.

“Wanted to know if I had made a charge at Walmart out of Atlanta- I told him no. He asked me if I was out of town, and I said no. He goes ‘OK how about a charge at a gas station in Atlanta?’ No.”

The man texted him a link to confirm he did not make the charges.

“So, when I clicked on it, up came the screen asking me to sign into Wells Fargo — and I looked at it and did not have the same address as the link did. Nor was it a Wells Fargo address,” he warned.

Mellis told the man he didn’t know if this was legit.

“He said well, look- look at the number I’m calling you from and I want you to pull out your card. Turn your card over and you’ll see it’s the same number that’s on the back of your card and sure enough it was the same telephone number,” Mellis explained.

Mellis just happened to be driving by his Wells Fargo branch in West Ashley. He went inside and talked to someone.

“She told me that they were getting inundated with these types of calls and that it was definitely fraud.”

Mellis owns Software Solutions and Designs, and he is a certified, trained computer security expert. He said caller ID info can be faked to look like a call came from a legitimate number.

“Usually when I get a call and somebody tells me they’re from wherever I usually will hang up and call him to confirm,” he said.

He went the minute that I login, they capture my username and password and then they could’ve gone straight into Wells Fargo log into my account and got access to every account I have and drained everything that I have. I think if the average person, if they would have looked at that they would’ve fallen for that.”

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Earlier this week, state Rep. Gary Brewer made a post on Facebook demanding the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) look into the Highway 61 Bridge on Ashley River. Brewer is claiming the bridge is unsafe and driving on it could lead to dangerous collisions.

"I've been driving that road since 1982 and it's gotten worse and worse and worse," said Jeffrey Hearn, who lives in West Ashley.

The Highway 61 Bridge may be small, but for some driving over, it can be nerve-wracking.

Read more: Bridge replacement project along West Ashley Greenway to begin Monday

"Whenever I'm going over (the bridge), I tell my kids just to be quiet," said Addie-Jane Lynn, a West Ashley realtor. "I will answer your questions when I get over this bridge because the potholes are bad, it's kind of scary."

Many neighbors complain that the bride has erosion, which ends up leading to potholes.

"It's eroding on the sides and it's got a slope to it," Hearn said. "The other side that draws the city-bound traffic toward the other lane, it's really hazardous and really needs to be fixed."

Hearn has been driving over the Highway 61 Bridge for most of his life and after years of frustration, he decided to make a change. He hopes action is taken soon.

"I can get to where I'm going in 12 minutes on a bicycle and it takes me 20 minutes on a car," Hearn said. "I would love to see Glenn McConnell finished all the way to Summerville so it will get Summerville traffic out of 61. I don't know what else to say because all they do is talk about it, but don't get anything done."

Read more: Ashley River Bridge North closed due to mechanical malfunction, CPD says

The SCDOT issued the following statement on the bridge:

"The Ashley River Road bridge over the railroad tracks is in fair condition and does not currently meet the criteria to be replaced. We routinely inspect all state maintained bridges and this bridge is safe for travel."

"SCDOT is committed to improving our bridge network statewide. We are repairing and replacing hundreds of deficient bridges across South Carolina as part of the agency's Strategic 10-year plan to improve the state's roads and bridges. Additionally, SCDOT has asked the General Assembly to consider an additional $200 million per year over five years to be included in the upcoming budget that would be directed to expedite and increase those efforts."

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Some residents of the Avondale Community are worried about how proposed safety improvements in West Ashley will cause problems for their neighborhood.

Officials with both the city of Charleston and Charleston County said the improvements will make the intersection safer, but some Avondale residents worry it will negatively impact their neighborhood.

A petition called “Stop the Avondale Avenue at Savannah Highway Realignment Project” currently has over 300 signatures and counting.

READ MORE: Petition: “Stop the Avondale Avenue at Savannah Highway Realignment Project”

The writers of the petition claim realigning Avondale Avenue and Nicholson Street on Savannah Highway will bring “profound” and “permanent” effects on the livability, culture and safety of the Avondale Neighborhood.

For some background, the Avondale Realignment is just one part of the Savannah Highway Capacity and Intersection Improvement Project, which aims to improve traffic flow and safety at several West Ashley intersections. The project’s website states the plan for the Avondale portion of the project includes realigning Avondale Avenue with Nicholson Street, which would require the demolition of the building that currently hosts DBs and Alpha Graphics.

The City of Charleston said it is currently working with property owners to secure right-of-way acquisition for the realignment,’ which essentially means the city is working to secure the property owner’s consent.

Avondale Resident Katherine Anderson said she thinks realigning Avondale Avenue with Nicholson Street will push more cars through area neighborhoods, increasing traffic. She said she is also concerned that the realignment would enable a new parking garage to be built where the DBs and Alpha Graphics building currently sits.

“I think that this project is really to get the commuters into town and out of town, and the residents that live here are not necessarily being thought of, in my opinion,” Anderson said.

The City of Charleston said a private property owner has expressed interest in building a garage once the intersection improvement is done, but that it is not a part of the county or city’s plan.

“The city appreciates the county’s efforts to make this part of Avondale safer, particularly in light of last week’s tragic collision, and is working with area property owners to help secure the needed right-of-ways,” The City of Charleston said in a statement.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — The Charleston County School District will continue its search for a new superintendent on Tuesday as an ad-hoc committee plans to narrow down the list of search firms for the position.

It’s been over a year since the search for a new superintendent began in CCSD.

The previous Board of Trustees paused the search to wait until after elections, and now the new board seems to be ready to move forward, but not at the pace many initially anticipated.

READ MORE: Resident recalls West Ashley apartment fire and cat rescue

Ad-hoc committee members tell ABC News 4 that the list of search firms will be narrowed down from five, which is the list the previous board had left, to three at Tuesday's meeting.

That list will then go to the Board of Trustees to make the final decision on who to hire.

Board members tell ABC News 4 that the expectation is for a narrowed-down list to be reviewed by the March 13 CCSD Board of Trustees meeting. They'll use the selected search firm to start narrowing down superintendent candidates.

However, the initial timeline announced by the district in August was to have all finalists interviewed and a new superintendent announced by March 31.

While it doesn't look like that will happen, board members tell me that they're certain to get down to business in the coming weeks despite a lot of the moving parts.

“Although the parts are moving, it's constantly trying to keep up with what's actually happening, and what each member is considering and thinking and making sure that those are cohesive. Because ultimately, the board operates as nine or as a body politic, not as an individual," said Ed Kelley, District 2 representative. "So that's the piece, that it is so difficult to make sure that everyone's on the same page, or at least everyone is aware of what's coming down the pipe, so everyone can be prepared to engage meaningfully in the conversation.”

The full school board has been together for less than three weeks since the special election for the District 6 seat was held earlier this month. That's why the district is also getting help from the South Carolina School Board Association in the search process.

But throughout this all, there have been a lot of questions surrounding current superintendent Don Kennedy’s involvement in the district's future.

Kennedy took over as interim superintendent in January of 2022 after longtime superintendent Geritta Postlewait resigned after six years. District officials still have not confirmed why she left.

In July of 2022, Kennedy was promoted to full-time superintendent. Despite the title change, it was made clear he would hold this position only until a new superintendent was hired.

But it hasn't been ruled out if he will be a candidate in this search.

Based on the way he has handled the job so far, some board members say they hope he is.

“If you put yourself in his position, basically, you get a new boss randomly, and you don't know who it's going to be, because functionally, that's what the board is, as a group is to supervise [the] boss," Kelley said. "So on November the 9th, you get a new boss, and then that boss immediately goes, ‘Well, we are going to start searching for your replacement.’ How can anyone really [handle it] like he had? Mr. Kennedy has handled this with absolute dignity."

If Kennedy is replaced, it would be the fourth superintendent for Charleston County schools in nine years. ABC News 4 checked with the district, and the current total compensation package for the superintendent position is just over $246,000.