Platform Lifts in Mount Pleasant, SC

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – An annual event aimed at finding forever homes for dogs and cats is expanding from just one day to a full month.

Each year, NBC and local television stations, including WCBD News 2, team up with local animal shelters for an initiative to find homes for every pet awaiting adoption.

The event comes as animal shelters across the Lowcountry combat overcrowding, especially following the summer months.

More than 500 local animals were adopted during last year’s single-day event, but News 2 is hopeful the community will help find homes for hundreds more as the Clear the Shelters event expands to last the entire month.

Local shelters often offer special deals and discounts to encourage adoptions and to help find new homes for each animal.

Charleston Animal Society – 2455 Remount Rd., North Charleston, SC

At the Charleston Animal Society, all adoption fees will be waived during the month of August as part of the Clear the Shelters campaign. Adopted pets come neutered, spayed, vaccinated and with a microchip.

Hallie Hill Animal Sanctuary – 5604 New Rd., Hollywood, SC

Fees are also waived for pets at Hallie Hill Animal Sanctuary. Pets will come with up-to-date vaccinations, spayed/neutered, microchipped, and adopters will receive a gift bag with items to make your new family member feel right at home: Free food, a toy, leash and collar, access to behavioral support counseling and one month of heartworm and flea prevention.

Berkeley Animal Center – 502 Cypress Gardens Rd, Moncks Corner, SC

Berkeley Animal Center will offer a $20 adoption fee on adult cats and adult dogs (over 6 months), $50 adoption fee for kittens or you can adopt a kitten and get a kitten friend for no extra fee. Adoption for puppies is $200.

The shelter will offer additional special promotions and raffles throughout the month.

Dorchester Paws – 136 4 Paws Ln., Summerville, SC

Dorchester Paws will lower its adoption fees to $50 for adult cats, kittens, and adult dogs. Puppies are not included, some exclusions apply.

Did you adopt a pet during the News 2 Clear the Shelters event? We want to see your new family member! Click here to upload a photo and be sure to share it on social media using the hashtags #News2CTR and #ClearTheShelters.

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A proposed retail village in North Mt. Pleasant is raising concerns for some residents nearby.

Plans for the nearly 15-acre property located across Highway 17 from Oakland Market and Lowes include a racquet club with tennis and pickleball courts, retail, restaurants, office space, and a luxury pet boarding facility.

Developers say it will add to the livability in town.

A proposal and results of an impact assessment were presented to the town’s planning committee on Tuesday.

“The primary anchor of this is going to be a racquet facility,” said Mt. Pleasant Councilman Jake Rambo. “A racquetball, tennis facility which I think will be a great addition to the Town of Mt. Pleasant.”

But Mayor Will Haynie says the current proposal is different from the original plan that was presented to Mt. Pleasant Town Council a few years ago.

“These other things, all though there was a small retail component of that, the dog kennel and all that is new. And what we saw today is the tennis center, which is why we originally brought it into the town, is not in phase 1 that’s in phase 2,” said Mayor Haynie. “How do we know that we’ll ever even have the tennis because now the dog kennel and the retail are phase one and that’s a very different thing than I voted for when we brought into the town years ago.”

The pet boarding facility is raising concerns from the church next door, The Church at LifePark.

“We’re very concerned with the nuisance noise of dogs,” said Robbie Wiksell, a church member.

He describes the church campus as a quiet refuge away from a busy town and believes the pet facility will negatively impact that.

“We’re concerned we’re being set up to be continuously annoyed and in conflict with the dog development. We will then be in conflict with the town continuously asking for relief,” said Wiksell.

He hopes that town leaders will reconsider the location of the pet facility to be as far from the church as possible.

The developer switched the outdoor kennel portion of the boarding facility to the other side of the building further from the church, but both Mayor Haynie and Councilmember Rambo say the livability impact needs to be looked at further before the plans are set in stone.

“We have to look hard at what’s the buffer? What’s the placement of something like a kennel that could generate a lot of noise for a church next door,” questioned the mayor.

The planning committee approved the impact assessment and moved to push the proposal forward to be heard in front of the full town council next Tuesday, July 12.

Jeffrey Grossman, CEO of Commonwise Home Care and Cynthia Feldman, CEO of Sweetgrass Pharmacy outside of Sweetgrass Pharmacy in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Firms will integrate service offerings focused on supporting older adults.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, August 1, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Commonwise Home Care today announced a new partnership with Sweetgrass Pharmacy. This partnership will integrate in-home care and pharmacy services for customers of both organizations.

“Commonwise is a premium style in-home care provider, and our clients expect our help identifying other high-quality community resources. Sweetgrass is an obvious partner not just because of our ideological similarities, but also their unique and well-executed Sweetpak program which we plan to integrate into all Care Plans” said Jeffrey Grossman, CEO at Commonwise.

“While other pharmacies might offer packaged medications, few provide the adjunct customer service necessary to ensure patient's packages are updated and safe. This is one of the many ways Sweetgrass separates from the pack.” Grossman continued.

“Given our intention to provide the most comprehensive and high-quality support possible for our customers, Commonwise is an important strategic partnership for us. Customers often turn to us for a recommendation when they need in-home care. Until now, we have not had a firm with which we felt comfortable referring, let alone collaborating with to bring unique service offerings” says Cynthia Feldman, Founder, and CEO of Sweetgrass Pharmacy.

The benefits of this new partnership include.

• “Sweetpak” medication packages and delivery for all in-home care clients• Customized in-home care packages for Sweetgrass Pharmacy customers• Integration of back-office software and processes to enable seamless communication

About Commonwise Home Care: Commonwise Home Care is a premium, non-medical in-home care provider serving the Lowcountry. Established in 2013, Commonwise seeks to bring a higher quality in home care service to our communities by paying caregiving staff industry-leading wages and bolstering the care oversight function with full time RN Care Managers.

About Sweetgrass Pharmacy: Sweetgrass Pharmacy & Compounding is a locally owned and operated compounding pharmacy. Sweetgrass offers customized prescriptions for the entire family, including pets. Sweetgrass Pharmacy & Compounding makes more than medicine, we make a difference. Compounding pharmacy is about the power of personalized medicine. We make it personal.

Alexzandria Ternate Commonwise Home Care +1 854-222-3539 email us here Visit us on social media: Facebook LinkedIn Other

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — Since the Crab Bank restoration project was completed at the end of 2021, conservation partners have watched hundreds of sea and shorebirds make their return.

Crab Bank Bird Sanctuary is in the middle of the Charleston Harbor.

After Hurricane Irma took out the last of the highest grounds in 2017, conservation partners came together to redevelop and expand the nesting area nearby.

"It's been a really great experience being able to see the community come together to provide a new bird sanctuary for our sea and shorebirds," said Coastal Expeditions education director Katie Morrison.

It is still the middle of nesting season, but since the completion of the restoration project, they have seen hundreds of birds return to Crab Bank.

Oystercatchers were the first to come back with the first single nest found on April 1.

According to Janet Thibault with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, over 300 nests and pairs of other species have been spotted, as well, including nearly 100 pairs of gull-billed terns, just over 200 pairs of least terns and more than 200 black skimmer nests.

"With sea level rise, and storm surge and development, when the old Crab Bank went away, it really was hard for our other seabirds to find a place to go that they could be safe and to nest, so having this new Crab Bank here is going to be really, really important for our seabirds and shorebirds," Morrison said.

While it might be tempting, it is important to not land on the island. Make sure to observe from a distance.

"These birds really do need their space. They get disturbed really easily, so making sure that we don't land on Crab Bank between March 15 to October 15 will allow for those birds to rest and to protect their young without any disturbances."

What is a safe distance?

"We always say never make a bird fly if you can," said Morrison. "If you're on your boat or if you're kayaking and you are wanting to observe the birds, just make sure that you're a respectful space away from Crab Bank. Use your binoculars to see them closer up; don't get off on the island during that time of the year."

Watching this restoration project brought Katie Morrison joy to watch the birds return.

"Being able to come back out and see the birds out there having a safe place to nest and to rest has been an amazing experience so far."

A Mount Pleasant business that’s received millions of dollars from investors to develop a tabletop dishwasher has been placed into receivership by a South Carolina judge.

Heatworks Technologies agreed to the move — an alternative to bankruptcy in which a third-party custodian could take over the finances — as part of a lawsuit filed by an affiliate of Charleston-based IAG Capital Partners that said it loaned the manufacturer nearly $10.5 million.

IAG Fund 1 LLC sued Heatworks in April, alleging the company inflated sales projections and abruptly halted production of its products — a tankless water heater and a tabletop dishwasher called Tetra. Heatworks agreed in a consent order filed this month to allow a receiver take over the business.

Judge Mikell Scarborough, master-in-equity for Charleston County, appointed Atlanta-based restructuring firm Aurora Management Partners as receiver. David Baker, Aurora’s managing partner, did not respond to a request for comment.

Heatworks founder Jerry Callahan said his company and IAG “have agreed to work on a restructuring plan” but declined to comment further.

Under terms of the court order, the receiver must file a financial report that includes Heatworks’ most recent bank statement within 30 days of taking over the company and every quarter afterward.

Heatworks has spent more than a decade trying to bring its products to market. While the dishwasher has earned praise at consumer electronics shows, it has not moved beyond the preliminary stages of production.

IAG said in court documents that it grew suspicious of Heatworks’ financial dealings late last year when the company filed a business plan that showed projected sales of 30,222 dishwashers and water heaters and revenue topping $18.7 million. After the fund questioned the figures, Heatworks came back three months later with “significantly revised” projections of 10,396 sales and $7 million in revenue.

The Meeting Street-based investment group said it also learned that Heatworks stopped funding production of the Tetra and had laid off six of its 14 employees in February, including production, sales and management positions. The job cuts were attributed to “insufficient revenue” and the company’s inability “to obtain an additional capital infusion or other funding,” according to the complaint.

The revised financial projections, layoffs and halted production violated a funding agreement, IAG Fund said, adding that if management changes weren’t made “there is an imminent danger” that Heatworks “will soon become insolvent — if it has not done so already.”

Among the other investors in the appliance maker is SC Launch, the investment arm of the state-chartered South Carolina Research Authority, which provides money and loans to companies to support growth within the technology industry. Bob Quinn, SCRA’s executive director, said no public money was given to Heatworks. Instead, the company received $450,000 from a fund made up of private contributions.

Callahan told The Post and Courier in December 2020 that Heatworks had 25,000 customers signed up to buy a Tetra, and he said production delays were caused by problems finding the right detergent mix to work in the scaled-down appliance. At the time, the company had just announced a deal with German chemical firm BASF to produce recyclable detergent cartridges for the product.

BASF reaffirmed that partnership in January, saying it had “completed development of the detergent self-dosing cartridge system.”

Tetra was intended for use in small living spaces like apartments and dorm rooms — its size is similar to a toaster oven — and for singles or couples who don’t use many dishes and don’t want a full-size appliance. The price point has been marketed at $399.

The dishwasher would not need to be hooked up to a water source. Instead, consumers would pour about three quarts of water into the machine, which would empty the liquid into a discharge container at the end of the wash and rinse cycles. The water would be heated with electrical charges similar to the tankless water heater the company developed.