JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – After the weekend, the Johns Island and Lowcountry community came together to help out St. John’s High School.

The local high school hasn’t had a traditional homecoming dance since 2020, but this year they are bringing it back. One student on the dance’s committee took to Facebook and sent out a post hoping to make this year’s homecoming special.

“She was worried our homecoming dance wasn’t going to happen,” Erin Longshore, a teacher at St. John’s High School, said. “I think her original intention was to see if she could get a couple of things here and there for us to have really great decorations and from there it just kind of exploded.”

The response from that post allowed the school to raise over $13,000. Longshore checked her email on Saturday and shared the news with her committee members Madison Evans and Morgan Denton, who are also teachers at the school.

“Completely utter shock,” Longshore said. “I started crying when I saw all the emails on Saturday and I normally don’t check emails on Saturday, but something told me to.”

School officials said students are excited for the dance and were also surprised by the amount they fundraised. Some of the donations included buying tickets for students and others to their Amazon wish list. With the dance coming up tomorrow, students and staff on the decorating committee are continuing to prepare for the night.

“We’ve been patiently waiting for the Amazon delivery truck to show up so we can get all our packages and undo those,” Longshore said. “They’ve been able to come out of their classes do so, and we’ve been slowly decorating during lunch. And in any free time we might have, which we don’t have much, but we’ve been getting it done.”

Officials said the remaining amount of money will go towards future dances and activities, which will leave the students and staff plenty of time and resources to plan ahead. Longshore said this year’s decorations will be recycled and reused.

The dance is on Oct. 17, while the homecoming football game and parade will be on Oct. 18.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A science teacher at James Island Charter High School hopes you’ll help her provide her students with the tools to collect and analyze scientific data, specifically how sea level rise is changing our local environment.

Eve Kendrick believes her students could be the key to solving serious environmental problems in the Lowcountry.

“My students are very enthusiastic and passionate, and they’re full of life,” she says. “I want to capture and harvest that energy and maybe direct it toward some environmental stewardship through learning about different aspects of sea level rise in environmental science.”

Kendrick plans to encourage this stewardship through a real-world research project in the field looking into coastal freshwater streams. The project aims to document how sea level rise and saltwater moving further inland are transforming these freshwater environments.

“We’re going to be looking at insects, and using these insects as an indicator of how our streams are changing,” she says. “They’ll be able to process these samples on the streambed outside, and they’re really going to get a personal connection with these ecosystems that maybe wasn’t on their radar before as something really critical to monitor.”

Kendrick hopes to provide her students with the tools to carry out this monitoring through her project on Donors Choose is called "Too Salty! Sea Level Rise & Freshwater Environments."

She plans to buy nets, waders, sieves and other testing equipment to track how these delicate coastal environments are being affected.

“I’m going to partner with the Adopt-a-Stream organization in South Carolina, and so this data that my students will collect through my ‘Too Salty’ Donors Choose project, that’s actually going to go into a state database,” Kendrick says. “Scientists will be able to access it, and it’s going to allow my students to take ownership of the research that’s currently happening in our state.”

With your donation, you’ll be able to not only make an impact on students but also your local environment now and into the future, Kendrick says.

“We’re going to take all of our skills and take them outside so [my students] can actually get their hands dirty and wet and actually collect insects and process their own data,” she says. “I think that going outside and having a personal connection with the environment helps to encourage students to become lifelong learners. It also might encourage them to have some environmental stewardship as they move forward as adults and citizens in South Carolina.”

Kendrick also has a second Donors Choose project called "Interactive Biology and Data Analysis" that is designed to bring biology concepts to life through collaboration, realistic case studies and interactive labs. She plans to use basic resources funded through the project, including calculators and clipboards, to create a notebook documenting her students' problem-solving and analyses.

You can become a Live 5 Classroom Champion for these students by helping to fund these projects. All donations are tax-deductible. The Donors Choose organization collects the money, purchases the items and sends them to the teacher. That way you know your donation is used appropriately.

If you’re a teacher who would like their Donors Choose project featured on Classroom Champions, please email [email protected].

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- The 2024 general election is quickly approaching, but South Carolina voters will not have to wait until Election Day to cast a ballot.

Governor Henry McMaster signed a law in May 2022 that replaces in-person absentee voting with an early in-person voting period for the two weeks leading up to election days.

Any registered voter, including those who will be 18 years old by the Nov. 5 general election, can cast a ballot during the early voting period without an excuse.

“Early voting provides a convenient and secure way for you to cast your ballot,” said Howie Knapp, the executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission. “Find an early voting center in your county, vote just like you would at your polling place on Election Day, and have your voice heard.”

Early voting for the 2024 election begins on Monday, October 21, and ends on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Interactive content by Flourish

Here’s what voters need to know:

The ballot will include seven candidates for president, according to officials:

An eighth candidate — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — was initially nominated by the South Carolina Alliance Party. However, party leaders withdrew him from the ballot in August after he suspended his presidential campaign.

Additionally, each of South Carolina’s seven U.S. House of Representatives seats is up for election.

All 170 seats in the South Carolina state legislature — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are also up for grabs this year. Some are uncontested, however.

Some ballots will also include races for county sheriff, circuit solicitor, probate judge, coroner, school board, and other countywide and local races.

Voters can find out who is on the ballot where they live by obtaining a sample ballot from the South Carolina Election Commission.

South Carolina adopted new state legislative district maps in December 2021 following the 2020 U.S. Census. Some district lines were redrawn, new districts were created, and some districts were eliminated.

Voters can find out which district they live in on the South Carolina legislature’s website.

Each county in South Carolina is required to have at least one polling location open for early voting. Some larger counties may have multiple open locations while smaller counties may have just one early voting site.

Early voting centers are open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the early voting period. Early voting is not available on Sunday, Oct. 27.

Here are the early voting locations* in the Lowcountry, by county:

Beaufort County

Berkeley County

Charleston County

Colleton County

Dorchester County

Georgetown County

Orangeburg County

Williamsburg County

You can find the complete list of early voting locations in every South Carolina county here.

Editor’s Note: The list of early voting centers may be updated as additional information becomes available.

A valid photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina elections, including during the early voting period. Acceptable forms of identification include:

State law requires an individual to register to vote at least 30 days before an election.

The deadline to register for the 2024 election is Monday, Oct. 14.

There are several ways you can register to vote in South Carolina:

1 – South Carolinians can register online by visiting scvotes.gov before midnight on Oct. 14. You will need your South Carolina Driver’s License or DMV ID card.

2 – Download a voter registration form from scvotes.gov. Complete and return the form to your county voter registration office either by fax or email before midnight on Oct. 14, or by mail – but it must be postmarked by Oct. 14.

3 – Register in person at your county voter registration office. Remember: most offices close at 5 p.m. for in-office registration.

Voters can check their registration status by visiting scvotes.gov.

As Election Day nears, you can count on News 2 as your Local Election Headquarters to keep you up-to-date on the latest from the campaign trail.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Nine couples sued a homebuilder on Johns Island after the builder terminated their contracts at the last minute, and a judge ruled in favor of the buyers saying the contract lacked ‘any mutuality’ and was ‘unconscionable.’

Christopher Raybon was one of many who thought he had found his dream house with Eastwood Homes in Swygerts Landing on Johns Island.

“I remarried in 2019 and my wife and I both were really excited about looking for a fresh start. We had our eyes on probably six or seven different properties, and decided to go with Eastwood because we’d heard such great things about the houses,” Raybon says.

He signed a contract with Eastwood Homes and the process began.

“We felt great going into it. The person who gave us contracts went over everything with us, assured us that they never had any problems with anyone with their contracts, and that it was pretty, as we’ve heard a couple times, just kind of a boilerplate contract,” Raybon says.

Raybon recalls getting weekly updates on the house, that started to slow in the months approaching the move, but he didn’t think anything of it. He was never notified of any sort of issues. Then, he says it was only a month until the big move when he got the call.

“Just out of the blue, I received a call from them, kind of, expressing that they had an HOA issue and that they wanted to work through, would take a couple months, and they want us to voluntarily exit the contract, and didn’t give me a choice of what to do. It was a really sinking feeling, because the impact of it didn’t hit me all at once, but after I got off the phone, it really sunk in it they want me to exit this contract, and I’ve got to explain to my wife how we no longer have anywhere to move,” Raybon says.

Eastwood Homes wrote the contract. The part this lawsuit deals with is a paragraph titled “Seller Option to Cancel Prior to Closing.” The paragraph says that if a bona fide dispute should arise between the buyer and seller, and it cannot be resolved, it is the seller’s sole judgment to cancel the contract. In that event, Eastside would notify the buyer, refund their purchase, plus $100 for the trouble.

Local attorneys Ross Appel and Michael Cooper handled the case. They say the legal issue isn’t whether there was an HOA dispute, but instead with how the contract is written and how dispute is defined.

“One of the issues that we have in this case is that when you’re dealing with these national builders, the contracts that you sign are not negotiated. These are take it or leave it form boilerplate contracts that are being provided on a take it or leave it basis by the builder,” Appel says.

“The builder is allowed to use their own contract, right? That’s totally fine, but the terms of the contract have to be fair and sort of mutual. Like, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Cooper says.

At trial, Eastwood’s lawyer testified that they defined ‘dispute’ as any reason the builder wanted to cancel. The Eastside lawyer says in the record “Your opinion is irrelevant because it’s the seller’s sole judgment, so I really don’t care what your opinion is. It’s only my opinion that matters. Period.”

The judge ruled that the terms of the contract were not mutual, lulled the buyers into a false sense of security and “no reasonable, honest, or fair person would accept such terms that allow the party with superior bargaining power to terminate the agreement at-will and without meaningful consequence.”

“The ruling that we got from Judge Scarborough stands for a pretty simple proposition, that when a builder enters into a contract with a homebuyer, they have to take that contract seriously, and they can’t just terminate the contract for any reason they want and do so in a way that’s completely one-sided, and that’s really what this case is about,” Appel says.

“So they can’t say you have to use our contract, but then I get all the benefits and you get none. And so, you know that’s the issue - is when it’s not really bargained and it’s not fair,” Cooper says.

At trial, the Eastwood lawyer said the company had the right to define ‘dispute’ dispute however they wanted and for example, could end the contract if they wanted to try and re-sell the home for a higher price.

“It was really devastating us. We were really looking forward to beginning a new life, moving into this new house. And it was just devastating to know that someone could come into a contract that we entered into with faith and just decide on a whim not to sell it to you. And, you know, and the dream that you had, we don’t really care about that, because we care more about what we think we need to do for our bottom line,” Raybon says.

Eastwood homes is appealing against the ruling, so this case may be heard by the State Supreme Court in 2025. Raybon is glad to have been a part of setting the record straight in the first ruling, even if he still doesn’t have that dream home.

“It was just completely unfair. If they could do that to us, they could do that to who knows, however many other homeowners and I’ve never been one to stand by when I felt like there was a, you know, someone was being wrong,” Raybon says.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

When you load up the car with gas and press play on a new playlist, you're likely on your way to some outdoor excursion or small-town adventure. But here in South Carolina, our restaurants are good enough to warrant a day trip. That's why we're recommending a visit to Lost Isle in Johns Island, even if it means a few hours of driving time.

Just outside of Charleston, Johns Island is 84 square miles of land characterized by rivers, marshes, and abundant wildlife. Lost Isle blends seamlessly into this landscape, offering its visitors a hyperlocal Lowcountry experience.

Lost Isle is among the region's newest restaurants, and it's already made a name for itself after making The Restaurant List in The New York Times. It's tucked away behind a little white house. You'll follow a canopy of flora to a backyard garden, where you'll be seated under a beautiful canvas canopy complete with chandeliers. This outside-only dining space is perfect for a cozy meal under the stars, with the added benefit of seeing your food cooked just a few feet away.

Lost Isle is a "fire-to-table" restaurant, and local, seasonal ingredients are prepared over an open fire. Lead chef Josh Taylor grew up in Northern Georgia and incorporates familiar Lowcountry staples into his menu. And yet, it's the globally-inspired flavors that really make the plates shine.

The menu is divided into small plates, shareable sides, and mains, giving you a chance to share a handful of dishes with your group. Be sure to start off your meal with the whipped ricotta, served with charred tomato, herb oil, chili honey, and focaccia. Other popular orders include the curry braised collards and rire-roasted Georgia clams. The Harissa cauliflower steak is also highly recommended.

No matter what you order, be sure to pair your meal with something from the bar. There's an impressive list of house cocktails as well as beer, wine, and non-alcoholic options.

Have you had the opportunity to visit Lost Isle on Johns Island? What were some of your favorite menu items? We'd love to learn all about your experiences there! For more information, including menus and hours, be sure to check out the Lost Isle Johns Island website. Lost Isle does not currently accept reservations, and they recommend arriving either early or late to secure a table. The restaurant is located at 3338 Maybank Highway, Johns Island, SC 29455.

Need a place to stay while you're exploring the area? Check out these unique vacation rentals in Johns Island, South Carolina.