Ophthalmologist near Goose Creek, SC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Families with students on spring break might be looking for something to do. In this Lowcountry city, they can now go on a wild goose chase – literally.

Last year, the City of Goose Creek Recreation Department partnered with the Goose Creek Artists Guild to start the City’s “Adopt a Goose” Program. Since then, 21 different local businesses in Goose Creek have adopted their very own statues.

Each business got creative direction to work with members of the artist guild to design unique and individualized goose statues that will then make their nests with their owners.

To both push this initiative of supporting local artists and shine spotlights on local businesses, the City created a scavenger hunt to find these four-and-a-half-foot tall statues.

Starting Saturday, Goose Creek residents can grab a map and start snapping pictures with each goose statue and try to find them all. Officials say participants can share those pictures with the City by tagging them @cityofgoosecreek and @cityofgoosecreekrecreation on Instagram or at the City of Goose Creek and Goose Creek Recreation Facebook pages using the hashtags #FollowTheFlock and #GCGooseChase.

Here’s how to join in on the fun:

This isn’t all, though. Officials have prepared an additional incentive for students on spring break all week.

Starting Monday and going through Friday, three random goose statues will “lay” a golden egg. Inside are prizes such as gifts and coupons from local businesses.

The City has a full list of all goose statues, ranging from Sgt. McGoose at John McCants Veterans Park to Goosetavo over at E-Z Auto of Goose Creek, listed on its website. Make sure to check hours for some locations as certain geese are nested inside.

Businesses who are interested in acquiring their own goose statue can find more information here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC) - One Goose Creek barber college is making an impact on both hair and history.

Even at 82 years old, Howard Boyd is built for barbering. You could say it’s in his blood. Boyd’s father, a barber, was his first teacher.

“He used to cut hair on the porch—front porch and he was telling me how to cut his hair,” Boyd said. “So, I ended up cutting his hair and he turned the clippers over to me and said, ‘Hey, you need to—you can take it from here. You can have it.’”

Beyond that feeling of a fresh fade, it’s Boyd’s legacy that will live on. He’s the founder of the first Black-owned barber college in the state of South Carolina.

“It was just a three-bedroom building which we stayed. My family lived here. That was the kitchen. And right downstairs here, which is the garage carport, we were able to start the garage barbershop,” Boyd said.

Since its founding in 1986, Goose Creek Barber & Styling College, which is now Howard’s Barber & Styling College, has trained about one thousand students, according to Boyd.

“Just the work I’ve done speaks for me,” he said.

Former students like Jessie Washington, Kenyatta Grimmage and Jermaine Scott have all gone through the college and have made barbering an integral part of their own lives.

“In 1996, I was able to open the first female, African-American barbershop in Goose Creek, South Carolina,” Jessie Washington said. “I’d just like to thank Mr. Howard for having the vision to help others.”

“We give free haircuts at the College of Charleston, where you know, I’m the Associate Director of Admissions down there,” Grimmage said, who also happens to be Boyd’s son-in-law. “We do a program called Cuts and Conversations where we have conversations with young men.”

“It was like how can I step up my game and be like this guy whose name just rings bells throughout the whole community?” Scott said.

Washington, Grimmage and Scott are now instructors at Howard’s Barber & Styling College, working alongside Boyd to teach the next generation of hair artists and entrepreneurs.

“It’s work. Work. You have to continue to work. You have to have a passion for it. You know it’s nonstop, when it’s good or when it’s bad,” Boyd laughed. “But you still work. You keep the faith and it works out. Trust me.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCIV) — A much-needed addition on a road in Goose Creek has taken longer than expected, and the work is still not done.

The project would bring a traffic light to a very busy intersection of Myers Road and Saint James Avenue.

Goose Creek Mayor Gregory Habib said he’s wanted to see a light here for years to slow down drivers.

“Why it has taken 19 months to get a light up, I don’t know,” said Habib.

Read more: "White dust emitted into Goose Creek from Century Aluminum plant; officials respond."

A safety project from 2022 is still in the works.

“I know that we’ve asked for that light since 2018 when I became the mayor," Habib said. “The number of accidents at Myers Road and 176 is a significant amount. They tend to be often a very violent accident because of the speeds on 17g,” he added.

Habib said in spring 2022, the South Carolina Department of Transportation told the city that the traffic light would take 15 months to complete. Meaning it would be finished around July 2023.

But an updated timeline has the light turning on in early February of this year.

“I do not work for the Department of Transportation; I’m the mayor of the city of Goose Creek Mayor,” Habib said. “I don’t know why things take as long as they take."

Read more: "Goose Creek Library to celebrate Hawaiian culture with hula dance class."

But despite the slow movement with this project, Habib said the Department of Transporation has helped in other ways.

“They were very proactive with the median project in Saint James, recognizing the number of accidents that have been occurring there, and thankfully for that median project accidents on 176 in that area are less than half of what they were prior,” he said.

A number he hopes to see drop even more when the stoplights are up and helping direct drivers down the busy road.

News 4 reached out to the Department of Transportation to hear more about the status of the project but has yet to be connected with a representative.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is now investigating complaints about a white dust produced by an aluminum plant that has caused complaints and worries for Goose Creek residents.

Alumina dust is a gritty substance people who live near the Mount Holly Century Aluminum Plant say coats vehicles, plants, mailboxes and anything else outside in areas across Goose Creek. It is produced during the smelting process but is not supposed to leave the plant, a problem DHEC is now looking into.

The Mount Holly aluminum smelter has been operating for more than 40 years. But some neighbors say it is recent emissions from the plant that they’re not getting answers about, making them worry about their health.

“It looks like someone has taken baby powder and just shook it all over the cars,” Jackie Davis Pfister, who lives in Goose Creek, says. “It’s gritty. It’s baking into our cars.”

Davis Pfister says this entire process has just been a nightmare and says she’s not the only one who is frustrated. There are multiple posts on Facebook that have garnered hundreds of comments about the same thing.

“It needs to be more addressed than it has been,” Goose Creek resident Marilyn Leegette says. “I wish DHEC would send out some kind of hazard report so people can make themselves educated about what this can do to them.”

DHEC confirmed agents have been to the facility and in the community to gather information as part of their investigation. They say they are working closely with the facility to develop an immediate corrective action plan.

Jonathan Brown, Century Aluminum’s Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager, confirmed that Century believes the emissions may be caused by an unusual failure in the plant’s baghouse. The plant is not 100% sure of the reason for the failure, but are looking at two potential possibilities. One is that a recent change of suppliers for the filters in the baghouse took place, and Century knows that on three occasions a very small portion of the bags failed. The second possibility is recent episodes of high pressure in the bag house.

Brown says Century is working diligently to address these emission issues.

On Monday, Century confirmed they had four “events.” One happened on Sept. 3, two on Sept. 16 and another on Sept. 30. Century says the issue will be fixed by Oct. 17.

But those in the community are worried about their health with some people reporting problems like rashes and difficulty breathing.

“It’s very concerning for me,” Leegette says. “I believe honestly that if there are short-term effects that are showing, there has got to be long-term effects as well.”

“If we could just know what type of air we’re breathing: Is it dangerous to us? I think we just want to know the answer,” Davis Pfister says.

DHEC says alumina dust is not considered a hazardous substance. The particle size of the dust being seen in the community is large and therefore too big to enter human lungs; however, it can still irritate skin, eyes, and the nose, and can be a respiratory irritant after prolonged exposure.

DHEC has also deployed portable air sensors in the area to measure any smaller, breathable particulate matter, called “fine particulate matter.”

DHEC says it’s important to know that the data will represent all particulate matter in the area, not just from a single source or single facility. There can be many different sources of particulate matter emissions within an area. The data from these sensors will help the agency identify any air quality trends in the community.

After an inquiry into the issue, the city of Goose Creek set up a town hall meeting with Century Aluminum and DHEC representatives for Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Greg Habib will moderate this discussion, which will include questions from attendees. Experts in toxicology, air quality and public health from DHEC will join Century Aluminum leaders who will discuss the issue of excess emissions at the plant, and the plan to fix this problem.

Century says they have set up a website where residents should report their personal situation. They can also call a hotline number at 312-696-3131.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The food sold at multiple Brazilian markets in Goose Creek provide Brazilians with a taste of their home. Their meaning goes beyond the produce and butchered-to-order meats.

Establishments like Sky Market Brazilian Restaurant and Bakery, which opened in November 2022, serve as gathering places for South Carolina residents of Brazilian descent, many of whom speak their native Portuguese and not English. Markets are where Brazilians residing here start to build the friendships and community that will become key to their lives in the U.S.

This makes them a pillar of the local community, said Morgan Bezerra, one of two women behind Smart News, a Goose Creek-based online news outlet that has published stories about South Carolina's Brazilian community in Portuguese, Spanish and English since launching in January.

Markets are a place where Brazilians can gather and find the products they have been missing, said Bezerra, who moved to South Carolina from Brazil in 2001. Whether they have been gone for one month or more than two decades, like Bezerra, Brazilians will always crave the connection and camaraderie they have been able to find at Sky Market, she said.

Born in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sky Market co-owner Olinto Abrantes immigrated to the U.S. with his family during his childhood. In 2002, they settled in New Hampshire, home to a growing Brazilian population, much like the Boston area and town of Goose Creek.

Abrantes and longtime friend and business partner Felix Simonato eventually decided to move to South Carolina, where the climate felt more like home. They started a construction company, skills that came in handy when they found a vacant stand-alone building on South Goose Creek Boulevard. Once home to a derelict dive bar, the space required extensive renovations that took over 14 months.

Coming from the Northeast, Abrantes and Simonato were inspired by the quality Brazilian bakeries that dot the New England region.

“They have a bunch of bakeries up there. There’s a lot of Portuguese and Brazilian people — the community’s huge,” Abrantes said. “We came from there, so we see the opportunity to bring a good bakery down here.”

Though Sky Market's pastry chefs are churning out guava cookies (casadinho), sponge cakes named after well-known Brazilian beauty queen Marta Rocha and other treats, this approachable establishment is much more than a bakery; it's a full-service restaurant serving food from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Sky Market invites diners in for breakfast platters in the morning and fried beef jerky turnovers, sausage sandwiches and house-ground burgers on house-made buns later in the day. One emerging favorite on the lunch and dinner menu, Abrantes said, is the Rocket Burger, piled high with mozzarella, ham, bacon and a fried egg.

More than a business

Abrantes and Simonato aren’t the only Brazilian natives operating food and beverage establishments in Goose Creek.

Several Brazilian restaurants and businesses are concentrated in and around the Red Bank corridor, a section of the city that some believe could become the next Park Circle.

Mama’s Bakery & Restaurant opened in this now-vibrant part of Goose Creek in March 2022. Just over a mile away, Brazilian bakery and restaurant Delicias de Minas serves classic Brazilian dishes, savory stuffed pastries fried in wheat dough, sandwiches, sweet treats and an assortment of fresh juice such as graviola, known as soursop or the Brazilian paw paw. Heading southbound from Delicias de Minas, you’ll run into Brazilian steakhouse Chão Goiano.

When it comes to markets, Vitoria International Meat Market — which has locations in Lynn, Peabody, Revere and a handful of other Massachusetts towns — opened this year at 1230 Red Bank Road. Nearby, Brazilian Market operates at 225 Red Bank Road.

Brazilian Market owner Gislene Gontijo grew up in southeastern Brazil on a small farm, where her family kept chickens and pigs. Her mother started teaching her how to cook at age 7, and she has been interested in food ever since. After successfully selling everything from beans, rice and coffee to Brazilian hair products and cologne to customers who are “90 percent Brazilian," Gontijo plans to expand from the market's current 2,000-square-foot location to a new 20,000-square-foot space nearby in Goose Creek.

Boom & Balance

Sky Market is located across the railroad tracks from these destinations at 115 South Goose Creek Blvd. Those who enter the pristinely landscaped white brick building will find an assortment of beef that, like Sky Market’s burgers, is butchered in-house.

Guests can request their cut of meat or order one of the options displayed in a glass case, including wagyu and picanha, a popular Brazilian cut that has a texture similar to sirloin steak. Sausages — seasoned with garlic, olive oil and salt — are made to withstand the heat of the grill, and meatballs are formed into large rounds and sold in packs of 12 to 15.

Freezers are filled with more meat and whole fish like traira, a freshwater species found in the rivers of Brazil. A sweets refrigerator is stuffed to the brim with massive Nutella, coconut and peanut butter popsicles. All this is in addition to the many other Brazilian snacks and goods that line the market’s shelves. Patrons can even transfer money to Brazil at Sky Market.

Sky Market isn't just a business, Abrantes said, though it is a wonderful place to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This Goose Creek establishment was built around the idea of helping members of the Brazilian community acclimate to their new surroundings.

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