Mortgage Broker in Irmo, SC

IRMO, S.C. – (WIS) Irmo Mayor Barry Walker has campaign signs up all around his Harbison neighborhood, signs the homeowners association that oversees the area says are against the rules.

Walker is facing backlash from some in the community for the lawn signs in the midst of his re-election campaign.

He has lived in the Harbison area, which is governed by the Harbison Community Association (HCA), for years.

Just as he did the last time he ran for office, Walker said he handed out lawn signs to his supporters when the candidate filing period opened on August 16.

The issue is that these signs are now against HCA rules.

“Thank you for all this extra publicity, but the individual supporters of Barry Walker, including myself, my wife, they put up the signs because they felt it’s alright to do it,” Walker said in an interview Friday.

The HCA covenant, or bylaw, regarding political signage clearly states that lawn signs may not be displayed more than 30 days out from an election.

Violators could be fined up to $1000 dollars, according to the Harbison Community Association.

Benjie Friday, who lives in the neighborhood, said she believes Walker’s refusal to comply with the regulation speaks to his fitness for office.

“I think if he can’t follow the rules of our community, I don’t know that he can govern the town of Irmo,” she said.

Town council member Erik Sickinger said this shows a lack of respect for the voters, and other candidates who do not have signs up within Harbison’s limits, including Walker’s opponent, Bill Danielson.

“Then are we encouraging people, candidates for an elected position as a representative position, is it then the current mayor’s stance that they should ignore any rule that they don’t like, or that they feel is bad or wrong?”

Sickinger, who is also running for re-election, compared Walker’s defiance to residents suggesting that the speed limit should be 50 miles per hour in all areas of an HOA.

“And then a number of folks are trying to use the speed limit, I mean madness, mayhem, we have to follow the rules,” he said.

Not taking down the signs is also disrespectful to individuals within Harbison who have worked to create “an orderly, well-run HOA,” Sickinger said.

Walker argued that Sickinger does not have standing in this argument because he does not live in Harbison, and “needs some publicity.”

Sickinger denied that this was a political, personal fight, and said, “I don’t win by having someone else lose.”

“My goal is to make sure that residents understand the government’s responsibility in relationship to HOAs and ensure that we clarify and clear up this issue so that we can move forward,” he said.

Walker contends that this rule was not in place when he moved into the neighborhood, and the change, which was made in the last few years, was not made transparently.

“If it was that serious of a problem, that they should’ve notified every homeowner here with registered letters or called a public meeting and made it transparent that this was a problem and if they were changing it, and then give us updated copies for our covenant books, they didn’t do that,” he said.

The mayor showed WIS a copy of the covenant handbook from 2019, which did not include any language about political signage.

Both HCAs and HOAs have the ability to enforce various covenants and rules that residents must follow, as long as they do not violate state or federal law.

However, the conflict in this case is that Walker contends that HCAs cannot change its covenants without approval from homeowners.

“If they want to solve this, tell me what your lawyer says, and I’ll tell you what my lawyer says, and then they’ll get together and talk about it and come to a conclusion,” he said.

Walker noted that he advised his supporters that they may incur fines if they put up his lawn signs, and he did not put any up on his own aside from the ones on his property.

As for any potential fines, Walker says the enforcement of those is on hold as the HCA’s lawyer reviews the legality of the change to the covenant bylaws.

The election is one month from Saturday, which would make the signs within the boundary of the bylaw as of next week.

Walker said within the next few days, residents should expect to see more of his political signs around the area.

Sickinger said this could have been a “nonissue” if Walker had backed down.

“This could easily not have resulted in any additional work, drama, strain, stress, confusion if the mayor had followed the rules of Harbison or not fought them publicly or encouraged his supporters to do that as well,” he said.

Town council has called a special meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the issue.

Sickinger says its purpose is to create a separation between what the mayor has said, and the town’s position.

Walker calls it a “publicity stunt” for Sickinger.

At council’s last workshop, Walker said he tried to discuss the issue, but was told it would be better handled during the special meeting.

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IRMO — What started as a temporary closure at Alodia's Cucina Italiana, a neighborhood Italian eatery in Irmo, has become permanent following months of uncertainty and backlash for the restaurant's owners.

Owners of Alodia's in Irmo closed the restaurant's doors Nov. 25 after over 15 years in business, the eatery announced in a Facebook post.

"We want to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who have supported us through the years. Your loyalty and patronage have been the cornerstone of our success, and it has been a privilege to serve you," the post said.

The neighborhood Italian place has two locations in the Columbia area — the now-closed Irmo location and a downtown Lexington location, which became the center of online controversy in June when a waitress posted about not receiving pay for nearly two weeks.

'A cash flow issue, for sure'

When Zoe Spires, a former waitress at Alodia's in Lexington, took her paycheck to the bank in mid-June, it bounced.

Columbia Business

She didn't think much of it, at the time. In her nearly two years working at the restaurant, checks had bounced before. But, nearly two weeks later, when she still hadn't been paid, Spires grew concerned. As did her coworkers.

“One of the servers looked at me and she said ‘You need to find a new job, but you didn’t hear that from me,’” Spires told the Post and Courier in a previous interview.

On June 28, while staff said owner Adam Huneau was out of town on vacation, the waitstaff walked out and closed the restaurant over lack of pay. Following the decision, Spires made a Facebook post, which has since been deleted, asking for support and explaining the situation.

Huneau responded to that Facebook post.

WEST COLUMBIA — Compton's Kitchen, the Southern food restaurant that served well-loved breakfast and lunch options for nearly five decades, has closed.

"We are sorry to announce that the restaurant is closed," an announcement on the restaurant's website reads.

It's unclear when the longtime eatery, at 1118 B Ave. in West Columbia, officially shut its doors.

Owners for the restaurant did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Perry Compton, a South Carolina native, opened his home-cooking restaurant on D Avenue in West Columbia in 1977, according to the restaurant's website. He moved his restaurant twice during his time as owner, landing at its final location on B Avenue.

With a meat-and-three menu featuring Southern food classics like fried chicken, potato salad and collard greens, the restaurant established itself as a popular lunch spot with an impressive catering program.

Martha Cooke took over ownership of the eatery in 2000 after managing it for a decade. In late 2022, Asia Dove took over as owner of the restaurant.

Midlands restaurant week is here. What you should know

Restaurant Week, an annual program aimed at uplifting and spotlighting Midlands cuisine, is back for another week of specialty dishes, discounts and delectable eats.

Beginning Oct. 5, Restaurant Week Midlands includes eateries in Richland and Lexington Counties, including Bourbon, Lizard's Thicket, Village Idiot and Steel Hands Brewing and Smoked.

Specials include limited menus — Hampton Street Vineyard will offer a three-course meal for $38 — or discounts on customer favorites (Vella's in Cayce will offer up a free appetizer with lunch orders more than $15.)

Here's the list of participating restaurants, for the full list, visit restaurantweeksouthcarolina.com/city/midlands/

Food News & Features

Other Food News You Might've Missed:

Pumpkin spice up your life: Maybe coffee isn't your thing, but you feel really left out by the fact that pumpkin spice is here and you can't partake. Steel Hands Brewing has the solution for you — Pumpkin Spiced Lager. The Cayce brewery rolled out the 7% ABV lager, brewed with a variety of fall-flavored spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

Return of the ravioli: Alodia's Cucina Italiana restaurant, which closed its Irmo location earlier this year while owners addressed issues at the Lexington location, will reopen in Irmo Oct. 17, according to the restaurant's Instagram. Workers at the Lexington location walked off the job after going nearly two weeks without pay and the restaurant remained temporarily closed.

Coffee coming to the Vista: Bitty & Beau's, a national coffee chain that employees people with disabilities to work in their coffee shops, is coming to the Vista, our Columbia business reporter Josh Archote reported. The coffee shop will open in the former space of Marble Slab Creamery.

Party like it's... 1933: While it's been just about a century since prohibition, the nationwide ban on alcohol in the United States, ended, there's still plenty of bars that celebrate the impact the era had on our culture. Enter, popular speakeasy-adjacent Charleston-based bar Prohibition. The restaurant and bar has had plans for Main Street for quite a while and is finally nailing them down, with plans to finally open the location by the end of October, our business reporter Josh Archote writes.

WEST COLUMBIA — Compton's Kitchen, the Southern food restaurant that served well-loved breakfast and lunch options for nearly five decades, has closed.

"We are sorry to announce that the restaurant is closed," an announcement on the restaurant's website reads.

It's unclear when the longtime eatery, at 1118 B Ave. in West Columbia, officially shut its doors.

Owners for the restaurant did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Perry Compton, a South Carolina native, opened his home-cooking restaurant on D Avenue in West Columbia in 1977, according to the restaurant's website. He moved his restaurant twice during his time as owner, landing at its final location on B Avenue.

With a meat-and-three menu featuring Southern food classics like fried chicken, potato salad and collard greens, the restaurant established itself as a popular lunch spot with an impressive catering program.

Martha Cooke took over ownership of the eatery in 2000 after managing it for a decade. In late 2022, Asia Dove took over as owner of the restaurant.

IRMO — With less than a week until he is sworn in, Irmo's future mayor has his hands full.

In November, Irmo Councilman Bill Danielson, a business executive who was elected to the town council in 2020, beat out the town's current mayor, Barry Walker, in his bid for reelection. Since then, constituents have been calling nonstop, Danielson said.

"With change, people get nervous," Danielson said. "So, I'm trying to be very hands-on right now and be very responsive to our citizens."

With an eye on Irmo's town hall space, bolstering public safety and instilling unity on the council, Danielson said the transition between leaders has been smooth so far.

On Nov. 7, voters in Irmo, a 12,000 resident town that straddles Lexington and Richland counties, favored Danielson over Walker, the town's current leader, by a 4 percent margin.

Walker served as the town's mayor for one term, after being elected as Irmo's first Black mayor in 2019. Walker also sat on the council for several decades before that.

Also in the 2023 election, current Councilman Erik Sickinger was reelected, and Phyllis Coleman snagged an open seat. Because Danielson's council seat does not expire until 2025, the town will soon conduct a special election to fill his vacant seat.

With so much movement on the council, one of Danielson's top priorities is getting new members up to speed and ensuring that the new collection of council members works smoothly together.

"Coming into a town council role, it's drinking water through a firehose," he said. "And the plan (to unify the council) is simple. The plan is to make sure everybody is involved."

Additionally, when every seat has been filled, Danielson said he would like to have a meeting to gather the rest of council's ideas on where to take the town.

Another top issue when Danielson takes office is figuring out the future of Irmo's town hall building, he said. The town staff is bursting at the seams in its current home, and is in desperate need of an expansion. Though a property for a new facility has been identified, just down the street from the current town hall, funding for to build it is still up in the air, Danielson said.

Tim Whipple, the second-winningest basketball coach in South Carolina’s history, is retiring.

Whipple leaves the bench after 43 years on the job and ends his career with 848 wins and six state titles. He finished 95 wins short of John Smith’s 943, but it was never his intention to reach that number.

The coach’s career began and ended in Lexington County. He earned his first job as an assistant at Lexington High School. He then left Lexington to be the JV coach at Winnsboro High School before leaving for Irmo. There, he served two seasons as an assistant before transitioning to the head coaching role in the 1981-82 season.

Whipple’s success at Irmo spanned across multiple decades, building the program into a yearly contender. The Yellow Jackets made the playoffs in all but three of his years as the head coach. He won his first state title in 1991 and then proceeded to win two more in the ‘90s.

The program and Whipple stayed together during some struggles in the 2000s but eventually found their way back to the top, winning titles in the 2010s and 2020s.

The Yellow Jackets won their first title in 16 years after capturing the 2011 championship. Two years later, Whipple and Irmo got their fifth title.

The 2023 championship came a decade after No. 5 and was one of the most improbable runs Whipple had been a part of. The team advanced to the state championship behind stellar play from class 4A Player of the Year Brandon Crawford, who fought through injuries in the first half of the season.

“This might be the most special group I’ve ever had,” Whipple said after winning the 2023 title. “I’d never dream we’d make it to a state championship.”

Irmo’s past season was not as smooth as the 2023 championship one, but Whipple knew that before the games began, calling this season one of the biggest challenges he would have to face as a coach.

“It’s going to be difficult, but I think it’s going to end up being very gratifying to watch this group this year,” Whipple told the Chronicle in December.

Irmo had its fair share of highs and lows in 2024, finishing 5-21 and 2-8 in region play for fifth place. The Yellow Jackets did just enough to qualify for the playoffs but fell short of defending their title in the first round with a 53-42 loss to Wilson.

That game was Whipple’s last. He told his team of his decision early on the morning of May 7.

Irmo will now begin the process of finding a replacement for a legend to rebuild the program back into a local powerhouse.

Keywords

Irmo basketball, Tim Whipple