Tire Shop in North Charleston, SC

A former area youth group leader stood stock still, staring straight ahead while a teenager he admitted to inappropriately touching told a packed courtroom how his actions have affected her life.

The girl, now 16, said she was "forever changed" when Vernon Tyrell Willis — someone she used to trust — touched her buttocks without her consent when she was 13.

She said during Willis' Jan. 30 plea hearing that she's spent the past years changing her hair and dress in an attempt to be "less seen" because she is ashamed of what happened to her.

She struggles to be in public places and feels panicked at the thought of going back to Seacoast Church's North Charleston Dream Center, a placed that used to make her feel at home.

"I wish I could go back and change so many things," said the minor teen. "I want (him) to know what he did to me was wrong."

She said she plans on succeeding in life in spite of the pain her former youth pastor put her through. A number of other parents and children also attended the hearing, filling two rows of pews on the solicitor's side of the courtroom.

About 10 people also attended in support of Willis. The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and battery and seven counts of third-degree assault and battery. Several additional charges were dismissed because, the prosecutor said, the victims haven't been cooperative.

The charges stem from numerous occasions that occurred before, during or after church events from 2020 to 2022. Willis inappropriately touched the clothed buttocks of numerous girls between the ages of 13 and 16 on several occasions, records show. The extent of touching went further to other private body areas with one victim at least once, according to court records.

At the prosecution's recommendation, 9th Circuit Judge Roger Young sentenced Willis to three years of probation, allowing him to avoid prison time. Willis is required to attend boundary counseling. He will get credit for 28 days he previously served in jail before being released with an ankle monitor.

Boundary counseling attempts to teach people who are "unaware of what appropriate boundaries are" consensual ways to show affection, prosecutor Lauren Mulkey Frierson said during the hearing.

Defense attorney Edward Phipps, who is a longtime family friend of the Willis family, described charges as resulting from confusion about boundaries during hugs at Seacoast.

"The difficulty is he lingered in his hug a little too long," Phipps said. "It's unfortunate that it's gotten to this point. ... He's not a threat."

He and co-counsel Mark Huber said Willis, who was born and raised in the area and has no prior record, had a shaky relationship with his biological parents and was homeless several times in his life. A Seacoast pastor took him in, and that community became his family.

"He's had speedbumps in his life, and this is probably the largest one," Huber said, adding that Willis used it as a learning experience and wants to "do better in life."

Willis took a long pause and a deep breath before he apologized to those in the courtroom.

"I can assure you, your honor, that with every fiber and bone in my body that i will do my best to grow, to be more aware, to become more boundary-prone in my actions," he said. "I understand your trust has been broken, I understand that a lot of hearts have been lost in my actions, and I will do all that I can to become a better person."

One mother who addressed the court on behalf of her daughter called him a predator.

“We trusted you with one of the most precious things on this Earth, our daughter," the mother said. "You manipulated us and all of these other parents, you groomed these girls."

Aa a Christian, she added, she believes his final judgment will come with God.

Before announcing the sentence, the judge took a moment to address the victims present in the courtroom.

He assured each teenager that while this was a life-changing event, it is not one that has to define the remainder of their lives.

"Time heals all wounds, it really does. It doesn't mean you forget it, but it does mean you don't have to think about it every day after a while," Young said. "That hopefully will bring peace of mind."

This story has been corrected to state right years Vernon Willis worked at the Seacoast Church.

Before North Charleston's major redevelopment project can move ahead, S.C. lawmakers need to take a small but important step to ensure the new mixed-use neighborhood along the Cooper River includes housing attainable by workers whose income falls on the lower end of the scale.

Battery Park, the new name for the largely barren area with a few big warehouses just north of Noisette Creek, can be considered this city's Union Pier project. Like Charleston's Union Pier, North Charleston's Battery Park includes more than 50 acres and an extensive amount of land along the riverfront. Both cities envision turning these former industrial sites into mixed-use communities with residences, parks, shops and more.

Unlike Union Pier, however, Battery Park's redevelopment is more limited under state law because it is a former military base. Union Pier's redevelopment is being supported by a tax increment financing district, which Charleston Mayor William Cogswell got the city, county and Charleston County School District to approve. All three governments agreed to forgo a portion of their future property tax revenues to support public infrastructure such as new parks, roads, drainage lines and affordable housing.

But if a similar tax increment financing district were created for Battery Park, it could not generate income for affordable housing. That's because its redevelopment won't fall under the state's regular law governing such districts but instead under a 1994 state law for former military installations. And that 1994 law, known as the Federal Defense Facilities Redevelopment Law, doesn't mention affordable housing among potential public improvements.

That's a problem, as the growing scarcity of affordable places to buy and rent is one of the largest challenges facing our region. And the city's 2023 agreement calls for 1,400 residential units at Battery Park, at least 17% of which would be designated as affordable housing. That means at least 238 units would be priced at a level that people could afford if they made only 80% of the region's median income.

Fortunately, H.3333 would expand the 1994 law to make it clear that tax increment financing projects may "support publicly and privately owned affordable housing in the district"; it's a straightforward change lawmakers should make as soon as possible. A similar bill drew bipartisan support last year but ultimately didn't pass after it was weighed down with unrelated amendments. Erica Wright of the Municipal Association of South Carolina told The Post and Courier's Kenna Coe that Gov. Henry McMaster previously supported a similar change and the association hopes to see it pass this year.

City Council approved the Battery Park contract in late 2023 but little happened last year, partly because the affordable housing bill didn't pass. In the fall, the city extended the contract's due diligence period until July 15, 2026, or 30 days after H.3333 is ratified, whichever comes first.

Meanwhile, the bill also would help with another aspect of the redevelopment — specifically enabling two additional pieces of federal property in the middle of the site to become part of the redevelopment. The proposed change would allow tax increment financing revenue to be spent off the site — for example, spending it on relocating a federal installation from that site to a different home — if that expenditure benefited the site. And it would extend the timetable for borrowing against the district's revenues from 15 years to 35 years. Both changes are reasonable.

Battery Park, like Union Pier, is as promising as it is complicated; both hold the potential not only for new park space and waterfront access but also for new and in some cases relatively affordable places to live. Lawmakers can and should help North Charleston take an important step forward with its important project this year.

Charleston and Isle of Palms agreed to settle a lawsuit against a number of short-term rental companies, including Airbnb and VRBO, in an attempt to recoup some taxes and fees that the business owes.

Both city and town councils approved a settlement agreement at their respective meetings on Jan. 28. But neither government publicly disclosed how money they'll receive from the businesses that have been operating for years without paying local accommodation taxes or business license fees, according to the complaint.

Attorney Jesse Kirchner, who along with two other lawyers, represents 14 South Carolina cities, towns and counties that joined the suit. He told The Post and Courier after Charleston's vote that the deal isn't final until all municipalities sign off. Once all agree, Kirchner said details of the settlement will be released.

Earlier this month, Mount Pleasant Town Council accepted a payout of nearly $500,000 in the same suit. Mayor Will Haynie, the lone vote against the settlement, disclosed the figure that Mount Pleasant would get saying it was not enough to "make up for what it's going to do to this town."

Haynie said he's worried about state legislation that could remove the town's cap on short-term rental permits and essentially open the floodgates to these companies that collect from tourists taxes and fees that never make it to the localities they're visiting.

The municipalities that initiated the lawsuit are some of South Carolina's biggest tourism destinations, including Charleston, Columbia, North Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Folly Beach, Isle of Palms, North Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island. Mount Pleasant later joined the suit, as did Beaufort County, Edisto Beach, Port Royal and Greenville.

The complaint alleges the companies failed to pay municipalities' local accommodations taxes, and in some cases, business licenses, despite collecting the fees from rental operators and vacationers who use their sites.

Annual license fees are based on a businesses' gross income, according to the city of Charleston's website. This year, the city expects to collect $52 million from the licenses — the city's second highest revenue generator behind only property taxes, according to figures from a November budget workshop. The money flows into the city's general fund paying for its day-to-day operation.

Municipalities across the state levy accommodations taxes of up to 3 percent on hotels and other rented lodgings within their jurisdictions. In Charleston, the tax is set at 2 percent. The fee is paid by the renter, collected by the hotel or business renting the space, and paid to the municipality.

This year, the city expects nearly $12 million in local "a-tax," as its commonly called, which helps pay for upkeep of popular tourism spots. At Charleston’s historic battery, the tax funded a 6-year and nearly $75 million restoration of the crumbling 100-year-old sea wall.

Short-term rentals, and how to manage them, have been a sticking point for many communities. Charleston and Folly Beach are among a handful of municipalities that have instituted regulations or caps on short-term rentals. North Charleston, another plaintiff in the case, recently considered the same.

Bravo dropped its teaser video for Top Chef season 22 this afternoon, and a familiar face stood out among the cheftestants — chef Shuai Wang of North Charleston’s Jackrabbit Filly and King BBQ appears in the test kitchen lineup.

In 2014, Wang, along with his wife Corrie, moved to the Lowcountry from Brooklyn, with the promise of jobs from a friend opening a new restaurant. When that opportunity fell through, the couple started the “untraditional Japanese” food truck Short Grain. It was almost an instant hit. Wang later told Eater, “Our food was a little strange — there was nothing like it around here, but we just had to find our people to love us for who we are.”

With the success of Short Grain, the couple opened Chinese American restaurant Jackrabbit Filly in 2019 and recently upgraded to a larger space on East Montague Avenue. The Wangs also opened King BBQ in 2023 with chef/pitmaster Brandon Olson to offer Chinese-meets-Southern barbecue.

On this season of Top Chef, the crew of contestants, along with host Kristen Kish and judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, head to Canada to explore the cuisines of Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, and Prince Edward Island.

Season 22 starts on Thursday, March 13, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Watch party at King BBQ, anyone?

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King BBQ

2029 Carver Avenue, , SC 29405 Visit Website

Map data ©2025

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Jackrabbit Filly

4628 Spruill Ave #101, North Charleston, SC 29405 Visit Website

President Joe Biden shares gratitude and hope as he celebrated MLK day early during his final full day in office in Charleston.

As President Joe Biden and the first lady carefully descended the stairs of Air Force One, on a slick, overcast day at Joint Base Charleston Sunday, there was a familiarity about the visit, a kind of homecoming if you will.

The first family has vacationed on Kiawah Island. They’ve grieved with the families of the Mother Emanuel massacre, unexpectedly finding solace in the loss of their own son Beau. President Bien has debated, campaigned, and even received a key endorsement in Charleston.

But this trip to the Lowcountry is how the outgoing president decided to spend his final, full day in office; showing gratitude for the state that paved the road to the White House and celebrating the message of one of his childhood heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We know the struggle toward redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing,” President Biden told worshippers at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston.

“The distance is short between peril and possibility,” he said.

“But faith teaches us the America of our dreams is always closer than we think.”

It was a family affair at the historic church as the president was flanked in the first pew by not only his wife, but his son Hunter Biden as well as longtime colleague and friend Congressman Jim Clyburn. Behind them, sat a who’s who of dignitaries including the recently elected and first Black mayor of North Charleston, Reggie Burgess.

But of all the dignitaries in attendance, it was Clyburn’s endorsement in 2020 that made Biden’s presidency possible.

“I would not be standing here in this pulpit if it were not for Jim Clyburn,” Biden said.

After more than an hour of joyful, soul lifting song and a sermon about the gifts of struggle, the president’s heavily guarded motorcade whisked him away to a site in Charleston where historians estimate nearly half of all Africans enslaved in this country were brought ashore in shackles, Gadsden’s Wharf.

The hallowed land is now home to the city’s new International African American Museum. The President and first lady, Jill Biden, toured two of the museum’s galleries, paying tribute to people who persevered despite being kidnapped, sold and stripped of their identities.

Former longtime Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who dreamed of sharing the untold stories of African Americans and made the museum possible, held his wife’s hand as he proudly looked on.

“You should have a statue of Joe in here,” President Biden remarked.

Outside, beneath the lofted museum, people gathered to hear from the president on his final day. A large banner hung above the stage reading, "President Biden, Soul of the Nation.”

Among those waiting in the crowd is Charles Brave who shared his concerns about the days ahead, with the inauguration of a new president, Donald Trump.

“The Democratic process has taken place whether we like it or not,” Brave said. “We got what we got now. We've got to figure our way through.”

The sun came out and a chilly wind whipped through the waterfront stage, as Congressman Clyburn took the stage. He touted the president’s numerous accomplishments, especially for women and African Americans.

“Joe looks beyond our zip codes and addresses our needs,” Clyburn said. “He is the most compassionate public servant that I’ve ever worked with.”

Then, Clyburn invited the president on stage and gifted him with handwoven sweetgrass basked adorned with Carolina Maplewood in its center. The gift is symbolic as the wood comes from land where enslaved Africans once labored and sweetgrass fanner baskets have long been used by Africans for winnowing rice, that is separating the chaff from the hull.

The gift’s sentiment wasn’t lost on President Biden.

“There has been a long line of Black patriots who have helped make the promise of America real for all Americans, who have helped us become the nation we say we are and want to be.”

As Biden wrapped up his final, official trip as president and headed back to Joint Base Charleston, people lined downtown streets, waving and holding signs. Some read, “We love Joe”.