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'He saved his own life': Community rallies behind motorcyclist seriously injured in crash. (Provided/GoFundMe)

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Matthew McManus didn't know a motorcycle ride would change his life forever.

After nearly a month of being in the hospital, loved ones said his faith hasn't wavered.

“His positivity and spirit has been feeding on us, he's incredible,” said Matthew's girlfriend, Marleigh Mitchum.

'He saved his own life': Community rallies behind motorcyclist seriously injured in crash. (WCIV)

After an accident, Matthew tied a tourniquet around his right leg with his shirt and shoelace. He suffered severe fractures to his arm and left leg while his right leg was later amputated.

“I spoke with the EMTs as well and they say that saved his life,” Mitchum said. "Even in the midst of when the accident happened, he still maintained high spirits.”

On Sunday, family and friends hosted a raffle and silent auction to raise funds for Matthew’s recovery.

Read More: Raffle being held for Charleston local's recovery after life-altering motorcycle crash

They said they are in shock at the outpour from the community.

His older sister, Kelly McManus said “we grew up in this neighborhood right behind Arts, so to see all these people is such a blessing and I know he feels it too.”

Diane Rogers organized the event; she said her son and Matthew are best friends.

“I’m good at organizing so I felt this was something I could do, and I’m blown away and humbled by the support,” she said.

Read More: Horry Co. Police K9 dies suddenly after serious medical emergency

Matthew is about to have his sixth surgery. He said his support system has helped with healing.

“Our parents send gratitude; we all send eternal gratitude, and we just want to thank the Charleston community,” his brother Joseph McManus Jr. said.

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The family has a GoFundMe created for Matthew; you can donate here.

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Once-vacant restaurant buildings in the Charleston area continue to see new life through new dining venues, including one coming soon to Mount Pleasant.

Alabama-based restaurant chain Big Bad Breakfast will open its second location in the Charleston area later this month in a space that once served morning meals.

The breakfast venue is taking over the spot vacated in January by Cabana Burgers & Shakes at 2664 Highway 17, near the recently opened Bohemian Bull restaurant. A soft opening is set for Aug. 26, with the grand opening on Aug. 29.

Before Cabana Burgers & Shakes’ eight-month run at the site, the property housed an Eggs Up Grill location that closed in 2021.

The restaurant will be open 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily, serving a full breakfast menu along with lunch items such as sandwiches, burgers and salads as well as alcoholic beverages that include mimosas, beer and wine.

The other Lowcountry location, at 456 Meeting St. in downtown Charleston, opened in 2019.

Big Bad Breakfast has 17 other locations across eight states in the Southeast, with three more in the works. They stretch as far west as Little Rock, Ark., where another one is planned, to as far north as Louisville, Ky.

Others are planned for Huntsville, Ala., and Durham, N.C., according to the company’s website.

Earlier this week, Lowcountry-based Free Reign Restaurants announced it will open a new fine dining venture call Honeysuckle Rose in the former Purlieu brasserie at Fishburne and President streets.

An Ohio-based developer with a presence on the Charleston peninsula plans to build a large multifamily complex of nearly 500 units off U.S. Highway 78 and Interstate 26.

3: Number of floors offering dining and entertainment at a new restaurant venue in downtown Charleston.

10.1: Millions of dollars paid for a 26,256-square-foot medical office building in North Charleston.

876,587: Square footage of new industrial building​​​​​​​ completed by Charleston-based construction company.

+ On the way: A new restaurant venture is coming to a 2,800-square-foot site in Mount Pleasant where two previous dining operations were located.

+ New coop: A chicken tender restaurant chain plans to take over a former chicken restaurant in Goose Creek.

+ Going dark: A newly two-decade-old Charleston peninsula business will close at the end of September.

A Charleston restaurant group plans to add two new dining venues on the peninsula to its existing three across the Lowcountry.

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After years of analysis, public feedback and planning, it’s time for the city of Charleston to take the next step in a state-led initiative to improve safety on King, Calhoun, St. Philip and Meeting streets, all of which rank among the most dangerous streets in South Carolina for people on bicycles and on foot.

The S.C. Department of Transportation has proposed a host of promising alterations that seem guaranteed to make several of downtown’s busiest streets safer places to travel for everyone — and the bulk of the recommended changes don’t appear controversial at all; we hope detailed design work can begin soon. There have been literally thousands of accidents on these streets, and while most involved vehicles scraping or bumping into each other with minimal or no injuries, more than 250 accidents have involved cyclists or pedestrians, who are far more vulnerable.

The need for improvement is clear, as are the vast majority of the recommended fixes, but there’s no doubt that changes to the narrowest portion of lower King Street, between Calhoun and Liberty streets, continue to loom as a major sticking point. That’s where the street is only 24 feet wide.

In fact, we’re not convinced that either of the two options on the table — a southbound bike lane with one southbound lane of traffic or one much wider (14 feet wide) southbound lane of traffic — is a particularly good option. We would like to see the city revive a recommendation from its Design Division’s August 2022 report: a northbound bike lane with a single southbound lane that cars and bikes could share.

What became most clear after hearing comments made Wednesday at City Council’s Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting is that a plan for a single, 14-foot-wide lane of traffic on lower King has the potential to make that section even more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians, who often crowd the street’s narrow eastern sidewalk to the point that people step off of it and onto the street. As cycling advocate and Citadel professor Don Sparks noted, no one at the meeting explained how a single 14-foot-wide traffic lane would improve safety. “I think you have to admit in the cold heart of the day that the wider the lane, the faster the speed, the faster the speed, the less safe.”

Understandably, some were concerned that a southbound-only bike lane on King would create a problem because it would offer nothing to cyclists heading the other way. We agree when Mayor John Tecklenburg says ideally the project would create a single lane of traffic and expand the width of the eastern sidewalk, but unfortunately that can’t happen without a significantly greater public expense, largely because it would involve costly underground work to relocate drainage lines and grates.

Establishing a robust, two-way cycle track on St. Philip Street below Calhoun, just one block west of King, might be the safest, best option for cyclists looking to navigate the several blocks below Calhoun Street, and we believe the city and state should try to find a way to proceed with that. But the question still remains about how to make King Street safer — and how to treat the extra space that would be created if its two narrow lanes of traffic are collapsed into a single lane.

Even if the city and state can’t come up with a St. Philip Street plan to replace the King Street bike lane, we urge them to move expeditiously with the numerous other safety upgrades, such as more visible crosswalk markings, some new midblock crossings and pedestrian “scrambles,” which would temporarily stop all motorized traffic so pedestrians can cross at Meeting and Market streets, Calhoun and King, and Calhoun and St. Philip.

This is new and important work. For too long, pedestrians and bicyclists have been an afterthought, if that, when it comes to our public streets. It’s past time to change that.

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NORTH CHARLESTON — A lot goes into putting on an outdoor concert, and one local expert on the matter is a distillery that first began hosting such shows during the pandemic.

Firefly Distillery on Spruill Avenue hosted a Safe Sounds series in 2020 that set the precedent for outdoor performances during COVID-19, with private pods and organized spacing.

Now, four years into hosting live outdoor shows, the venue has grown in so many ways, from creating an entire events team to revamping its layout to booking top-tier nationally touring acts. Recent upgrades to the space are, in part, thanks to Amber Spigner, Firefly’s director of events, who started in the position last fall.

Before working at Firefly, Spigner spent six and a half years at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center. She’s made connections across the music industry, from Live Nation to local organization Ear for Music, which both partner with the distillery for its concerts.

Since beginning her role, Spigner has made a variety of changes to the layout and concertgoing experience at Firefly. The patron and guest experience are always top of mind, she said.

Food trucks, a permanent beverage stand and a whiskey Airstream are now set up at the back of the field, creating more separation between the crowd and those lining up to get food and drinks. There are now more port-a-potties on-site, along with a new large water tank for staying hydrated during those hot summer months.

An outdoor box office trailer is available to assist guests, and an Americans with Disabilities Act area for those with wheelchairs is available to the right side of the stage and can be accessed directly from the sidewalk. Spigner has also worked on the logistics of getting people in and out of the venue in a timely manner.

One of the changes implemented is for safety reasons: chairs are no longer allowed, just blankets.

“It’s just safer for everyone and all the patrons that if we needed to be able to evacuate or get out quickly, we could,” explained Spigner.

“And just a better experience,” added Sara Scruggs, Firefly’s marketing representative. “Everyone can see the same thing, you know. You don’t have views blocked.”

There’s also a tin-roof barn shed that serves as a place to shelter during inclement weather at the rain-or-shine venue. They do have to stop the music for lightning strikes within a certain radius, so this is the place to camp out during those delays.

And VIP ticketholders can access their own indoor private bar and restrooms (and air conditioning) before and during concerts.

On the musician side of things, there’s now a three-stall shower trailer, an air-conditioned production trailer work station with Wi-Fi and a 10-by-20-foot merchandise shed with lighting. This is in addition to the venue’s indoor green room that comes with its own bar, catering, a dressing room, private bathrooms and a wall full of memorabilia, including show posters and signed guitars.

Spigner has also expanded the capacity to put the venue in a market with better possibilities for touring acts, bumping it up from 3,950 to 4,300. The ultimate goal is 5,000.

Willie Nelson is playing at Firefly Distillery this October, and Spigner hopes more bands of that caliber will be drawn to the revamped space.

It takes around 20 full-time staff members and several third-party companies to make it all happen, from bartenders to security to a shuttle service for off-site parking to a cleaning crew at the end of the night.

“It’s important for people to know that there’s a lot of different factors going into (a show). … There’s so much going on behind the scenes,” offered Scruggs.

Still, despite all this, not everything goes right all the time.

Incidents like mid-June’s last-minute postponement, and eventual cancellation, of the Noah Kahan concert frustrated fans who had turned up from out of town to catch the radio hitmaker.

Just a few hours before the singer-songwriter was set to take the stage for the sold-out show on June 18, the performance was called off, despite Kahan and the band being on the premises.

He ended up playing an acoustic set to those who had lined up early before doors opened.

That evening, Kahan posted this message to his social media accounts:

“The band and I got to Charleston today more than ready to put on our show for you but unfortunately tonight’s show at Firefly is being postponed. Complications that my team encountered upon arriving at the venue would have made it impossible to put on a safe show tonight.”

Firefly Distillery also posted, citing “unforeseen circumstances.”

Firefly’s team and Kahan’s management both declined to elaborate on those circumstances to The Post and Courier.

Kahan is now slated to play a show on Sept. 29 at the Credit One Stadium.

“What I can say is we work closely with all parties involved and so it’s obviously never an easy decision to make,” Scruggs said of cancellations. “We just want the best possible experience for everyone. … We’re looking forward to all the other concerts we have.”

One of those other concerts was My Morning Jacket, which played on the 2,300-square-foot stage June 16 — a stage that Firefly Distillery outsources the construction and disassembly of before shows in partnership with event promoters and producers.

The distillery’s ultimate goal is to have its own permanent stage, but that comes with a hefty price tag, permitting requirements and an architectural approval process, said Spigner.

Other than the occasional cancellation and summer lightning storms, things tend to run smoothly at Firefly. On a breezy evening when the moon is out, the stars are shining and live music is filling the field, it can be a magical place.

“I think we all have this big-picture idea of what this can become,” said Spigner. “And I think we’re still striving to get there, but we’re really making a lot of leeway and big steps to get there.”

With names like Willie Nelson set to grace the venue later this year, those strides have certainly been noticed.

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Over the past two centuries, the University of South Carolina has maintained its commitment to building the state’s future by educating new generations of leaders and by solving problems that improve the quality of life for our state and nation.

While USC has been an extraordinarily strong research and workforce development engine for our state, we believe that by working together with other universities, industry leaders and government agencies, we can more effectively create new opportunities and transform our state’s economy.

During the past nine months, the University of South Carolina has played a critical role in convening such a consortium.

Combining our initial vision and ideas with the leadership of state Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey and his staff, as well as contributions from numerous partners, has resulted in a strong South Carolina application with the U.S. Economic Development Administration for a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub focusing on one of the nation’s toughest challenges — sustainable energy.

Recognizing the need to improve how we power our state’s homes and industries in the decades to come, we are focusing our proposal on energy generation, distribution and storage. We intend to develop the technologies necessary to safely generate new power, deploy “smart” power grids that increase the reliability of power transmission and design new ways of storing energy at a large scale for use during peak periods.

Combined, this work will help secure South Carolina’s future as a global leader in the energy industry. These innovative technologies will also provide added energy resilience and protection from severe weather events or malicious attacks.

In addition to USC and the S.C. Department of Commerce, the leading partners in the hub, known as SC Nexus, are Clemson University, S.C. State University, the S.C. Technical College System, Savannah River National Laboratory and the S.C. Council on Competitiveness, as well as the state’s electric utilities and dozens of leading corporations operating in the state.

Our vision focuses on developing a community of innovators and entrepreneurs — highly skilled engineers, scientists and digital developers — that will not only keep more of our college graduates in South Carolina but also attract high-quality talent to our state.

The most successful innovation hubs in the country — Silicon Valley, Austin and Boston — have proved that this type of talent generates start-ups that can become breakthrough businesses with national and international impact and that can lure vital research and development work as well as corporate headquarters.

For the past three decades, South Carolina has been remarkably successful in building its reputation in manufacturing, with emphasis on the automotive and aerospace industries.

The proposed SC Nexus will help address the state’s energy challenges while maintaining its manufacturing success. The hub also will diversify our economy as robotics and artificial intelligence become more common in large-scale plants.

Furthermore, this initiative aligns directly with Gov. Henry McMaster’s strategy on improving the state’s energy infrastructure and industrial base, outlined in the Power SC executive order he issued in June.

South Carolina is in an advantageous position to win one of the tech hubs.

Last fall, the Washington-based think tank Economic Innovation Group researched metro areas across the country to determine which ones can supply high-qualified talent to fuel growth and have the highest need for technological economic investment. Both Greenville and Columbia were ranked among the top 12 potential candidates.

With a focus on sustainable energy generation, transmission and storage, the SC Nexus is linking the successful research and education track record of our state’s universities, the unique expertise in energy research and generation of the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, the innovative nuclear technology development of Westinghouse Electric near Columbia, and the growing battery manufacturing and recycling industry across the state.

In creating a team that spans educational, economic and cultural boundaries, the proposed sustainable energy tech hub is a project that reflects a core mission of higher education: building new futures that advance our knowledge and skills while enhancing the world around us.

Michael D. Amiridis is the president of the University of South Carolina.

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