Defense Contractor Attorney Near Summerville, SC

Jean Wolbert, of Summerville, has been named the 2024 South Carolina Queen by TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a nonprofit weight-loss support organization. Wolbert earned the title after losing 82.5 pounds and reaching her goal weight. She was recognized April 24-26 at the South Carolina TOPS recognition event at the StayBridge Suites in Florence.

TOPS annually honors its top male and female members in each state who achieve the most significant weight loss from their highest recorded weight while maintaining their weight loss goal. The organization, founded in 1948, offers group support, education, and motivation to individuals seeking improved health and weight management.

“All of us affiliated with TOPS are extremely proud of our members’ weight-loss accomplishments,” said Rick Danforth, TOPS President. “Through their TOPS membership, these individuals can commemorate their life-changing successes, other members and those who have preceded them. By continuing their faithfulness to lifestyle alterations, a characteristic of TOPS’ successful formula, TOPS members employ the methods they’re offered and the support of their peers to achieve their weight loss objectives.”

In 2024, TOPS members across South Carolina lost a combined 3,130 pounds. The state currently faces an adult obesity rate of 36%.

Wolbert described her journey in personal terms.

“We all experience ‘life happens’ moments, with ups and downs throughout our lifetime,” she said. “Life is like riding a rollercoaster. One day, you’re going up, then ‘boom,’ you are going straight down, unable to stop.”

She credited TOPS with providing emotional support and practical tools for long-term success.

“When you join TOPS, you make a lifetime decision to lead a healthier life. You learn to take control of your body and mind with the help of your chapter,” she said. “They are there to help you. You are never alone in this journey.”

A longtime Mexican restaurant has closed the doors to its Mount Pleasant eatery after more than 20 years.

Señor Tequila shuttered its Moultrie Plaza location earlier this month after the landlord opted not to renew the lease, said Marcio Campos, manager and assistant to owner Poncho Flores.

The shopping center’s owner, Columbia-based Edens, confirmed that the lease had expired and that the business moved out. The company declined to comment on whether another tenant is lined up for the space or if it is currently available for lease.

The closure leaves another vacancy in the busy Coleman Boulevard retail center, where a corner space — previously occupied by Farm Haus and Carolina Butcher & Beer Garden since late 2023 — also has gone vacant.

No announcements have been made regarding future tenants for either space. Señor Tequila continues to operate two other locations, in West Ashley and Summerville.

Summerville stage is set

The Town of Summerville is moving forward with plans to enhance its historic downtown by transforming Short Central Street into a more vibrant pedestrian shopping corridor — complete with a new outdoor performance stage, expanded landscaping, improved lighting and more prominent crosswalks.

The project, led by local nonprofit Summerville DREAM, has been in the works for two years and involved the town council voting to accept ownership of W. 2nd South St. to make improvements.

Conceptual renderings for the initial phase, which comes with an estimated price tag of $500,000, show a large, modern, semi-circle stage facing Short Central at the corner of W. 2nd South St., a prominent new entrance sign and colorful landscaping filling out the triangular corner.

The diagonal street is currently lined with restaurants and shops.

The project will be funded through a grant acquired through the town’s parks and recreation department as well as grants and private donations channeled through Summerville DREAM, said Steve Doniger, executive director of the nonprofit.

“The performance area is one of the marquee things being brought in,” Doniger said.

The town recently closed the bidding process for the first phase layout and civil engineering services. The town did not immediately respond to an inquiry asking how many bids were submitted.

Doniger said construction of the stage on Short Central would be expected after the town’s busy fall event season, which includes the popular Sweet Tea Festival in September, holiday tree lighting and downtown shopping days along and near the corridor.

Once complete, the space will be managed by the town, with permits required for event use depending on the size and scope of the request, Doniger said. It’s the same process as the use of the stage at nearby Hutchinson Square.

The project is part of a broader Historic District Resiliency initiative by the town that also includes sidewalk and infrastructure improvements along West Richardson Avenue and on North Main Street from train tracks near Hutchinson Square to Hwy 78.

“A lot of new businesses have come over the past few years and this is the next natural evolution of downtown,” Doniger said.

From Down Under

A Charleston-born baby and toddler clothing brand has arrived on the shelves in South Carolina — even as its founder now calls Australia home.

Samantha Gold started Motette in March, just as she and her family made a sudden move to Sydney for her husband’s job. Despite the relocation, Gold continued to grow the Southern-inspired brand remotely, leveraging her local connections and entrepreneurial network.

Motette’s line of bamboo pajamas, as seen in Forbes, is now stocked at five children’s boutiques across South Carolina, including Pitt Street Kids in Mount Pleasant.

Cannonborough shopping spree

A collection of more than 10 locally owned shops in Charleston’s Cannonborough Elliotborough neighborhood are once again holding a mid-week shopping event, this time on July 10 with discounts, sips and a range of promotions.

Deals can be found at Taxidermy, The Paper Canopy and MOLA Body Piercing & Fine Jewelry. Bookstore Philosophers & Fools will have its biggest sale of the year with a selection of book and non-book items discounted between 20 and 50 percent off. Down the street, Charleston Candle Co. and Havens are offering 20 percent off.

In addition to discounts, The Tiny Tassel's after-party includes special pop-ups like tropical mocktails and a photo booth while Hermosa will host The Sparkle Bar Fairy Hair and complimentary drinks.

Some in-store deals continue through July 13 and July 14.

Coffee talk

Mount Pleasant residents have another coffee spot to fuel their day with the recent opening of Just Love Coffee at 1909 Highway 17 in the Sweetgrass Corner Shopping Center.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The Town of Summerville is considering an annexation and zoning request from developers that would allow new apartments to be built.

Developers want 4.26 acres to be annexed and zoned multi-family residential despite neighborhood concerns.

“I haven’t talked to a single homeowner that’s in favor of a multi-family being built behind us,” Edward Mullis II, of Summerville, said.

Luden Drive and King Charles Circle are where developers are requesting to annex the property. They have another larger piece of land that’s about 27 acres, which is already in town and zoned for residential, directly adjacent to their request.

The goal is to cluster 180 apartment units mostly on the highland acreage of the property, which includes the property that’s already in town and zoned for multifamily and the additional acres they’re looking to annex. But neighbors think it will cause a multitude of issues.

“I think it will kill all of our property values that we have built up. I think it will cause a lot of traffic problems. We already have overcrowded schools here, and we don’t need any more kids to go to these schools; they’re already full. It’s just there are so many different problems with building a multi-family development right in the middle of Newington,” Mullis said.

“The adjacent property is already zoned multi-family residential, so they can technically build without this property, but they wanted this property to further limit the impact that they had on the wetlands and the flood plain,” Town of Summerville Director of Planning Jessi Shuler said.

Flooding is a major concern for neighbors like Mullis. He has lived on the next street over for almost 20 years. He said recent developments have made flooding worse.

“We have a drainage problem in the cul-de-sac, and I’ve called several times to have it fixed, and they came out to clean it, but still, when it rains hard, water builds up; It never did that before they built that Berlin G Meyers thing,” Mullis said.

Shuler said the town has restrictions that require developers to plan for flooding mitigation.

Much of the neighbors’ concerns have been echoed by the planning commission with a unanimous vote to deny the request for annexation; on the other hand, Summerville town staff have recommended approval. Shuler said that decision is based on the comprehensive plan and planning principles.

“Most of Luden Drive is zoned multi-family residential, so it’s not like it’s spot zoning or anything of that sort,” Shuler said.

One of the largest concerns from a recent public hearing is traffic. Citing cut through traffic from phase three of the Berlin G Myers project already impacting that area.

“You have enough people coming through Summerville, just this neighborhood and the schools, there is plenty of traffic already, so you’re just going to add more to it,” George Edwards Cammerer III, of Summerville, said.

“Our comprehensive plan also speaks to the need for more housing in the area and particularly more different types of housing. To be able to, one, help with affordability and also just provide additional housing for all the people moving to Summerville,” Shuler said.

Mullis said he’d rather have more individual homes there if anything, but ideally not in his neighborhood.

“There are so many other places that you could build something; why do you have to build it right in the middle of Newington?” Mullis said.

On Monday night, the request will go before the planning committee, and on Thursday, the first reading before the full council. Shuler added that a traffic study will also be needed to move forward with the project.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — Two bodies were recovered aboard a 30-foot fishing boat June 11 that went missing and sunk off the coast of Massachusetts, but it was a South Carolina resident who helped kick off the search to find them.

Sam Miller, owner of Aquatic Analytics in Summerville, was vacationing near Cape Cod two days earlier when she took a carefree walk along the beach with her dad.

“I saw something floating in the water and thought it was a game cam because of its shape and size,” she said. “I went to pick it up and realized it was actually a GPS from a boat.”

Finding it odd that such an important navigation piece would wash ashore, Miller took the instrument back to her parent’s cabin and did some sleuthing.

The Furuno-model GPS, which provides boaters a number of offshore navigational tools, had a slip of tape with an old work order on it labeled “F|V Sea Horse.”

That meant she had a starting point.

But after hours of futile searching, Miller and her dad, Tim Brown, drove back to Rock Harbor and asked one of the captains if they knew of a fishing vessel named Seahorse.

The owner — later identified by the Coast Guard as 64-year-old Shawn Arsenault — hadn’t returned, the captain told Miller, but his truck was still parked at the landing. He had gone to sea that day with his girlfriend Felicity Daley.

“We left a note under his windshield wipers," Miller said. "But as we we walked away that same guy we asked came back and said, ‘You know, I was just talking to somebody and we actually think that boat’s overdue.' "

The father-daughter pair at first simply thought the device had just fallen overboard by accident, especially since there was no other debris.

"That’s when we were like, 'Oh, holy cow. We hadn’t thought that,' " she said.

Miller exchanged numbers with the captain, who notified the Coast Guard, and agreed to hold onto the GPS.

"We were hoping he was OK, but we couldn't make all of the facts work," Miller said. "A GPS unit like that had to be plugged in to be working. If there was a shipwreck it didn’t seem like something that would fall off."

A three-day search begins

The 30-foot white hulled fishing boat took off June 8, one day prior, around 8:30 a.m. Other boaters confirmed seeing the vessel at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. dragging for quahog clams, according to a story from Cape Cod Times.

Arsenault’s brother, Paul, was contacted June 9 after the boat was unusually overdue, but thought maybe his sibling was just staying out until he met his quota, the publication further reported.

An urgent marine information broadcast was sent out to the public June 10 for help finding the Seahorse, but a major storm hindered efforts. Coast Guard pings later that night found the boat to be about eight hours from where it took off, with harbormaster Nate Sears noting it was off from Arsenault's typical path.

By June 11, a multi-agency search was underway led by the Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England. Come the afternoon, a recreational fisherman found the Seahorse after its net snagged on the submerged vessel.

The Seahorse was on the sea bottom in 25 feet of water on a shoal within Cape Cod Bay, a Coast Guard news release said.

Arsenault and Daley were both found dead inside the boat, according to multiple reports.

The story has gained national attention, with People magazine and United Kingdom-based Daily Mail covering the tragedy.

Miller has since been in touch with Arsenault's daughter after connecting on Facebook through a Coast Guard post.

When Richard "Rick" and Phyllis Riccio first visited Summerville in the spring of 2024, they had no concrete plans of opening a restaurant. After decades in the corporate world and running multiple restaurants in New Jersey and New York, Rick had envisioned retirement a little differently.

While waiting for their house to be built, the couple started to think about what they were going to do to fill their time once they moved to the Lowcountry. With their extensive backgrounds in business and food service, they quickly noticed a gap in Summerville’s growing Italian food scene — particularly in fast, high-quality takeout options. After their move in December 2024, the space they operate out of now — once occupied by another restaurant called Eva’s on Main — was placed on their radar. Rick said he knew it was the right fit as soon as he saw the commercial kitchen.

Because of the confidential nature of the transaction, a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, was signed they were required to keep until the final sale. No one knew about their plans to open a restaurant until this past March. After closing on the property, they met with Eva’s staff and offered positions to everyone. Some stayed, including longtime local general manager Tina Howard and cook Miss Beanie.

Nonna’s Olde World Italian Deli and Specialties, named in honor of Rick’s mother, Angela, 83, opened just two days after Easter. Open at 10 a.m. Monday-Saturday, the Riccios intentionally close the shop at 6 p.m., allowing customers to support other local eateries offering dinner service.

“There are great sit-down spots like La Rustica and Laura’s,” Rick said. But Nonna’s fills a different need — restaurant-quality Italian food made fresh, but designed for takeout.

Food has always been central to Rick’s life. His great-grandfather immigrated from Italy in 1922 and opened an Italian bakery in Jersey City, New Jersey. The family expanded into bakeries, butcher shops and delis across the decades. Rick started cooking at 8 years old, but he initially pursued a different path, working his way up to vice president of facilities at a university in New York City. He left that position during the COVID-19 pandemic, turning his attention fully to the food business.

It was around that time he met Phyllis, who spent 30 years working as a medical assistant. Together, they ran a café, deli and pizzeria before retiring and exploring new places to live. After first visiting Summerville in 2024, they returned that December with Rick’s mother, who now lives with them.

Everything at Nonna’s is made fresh. Rick acknowledges some concerns about long wait times but says quality takes time.

“When you order a chicken Parmesan sandwich, that chicken is being [prepared] right then,” he said.

Even deli meats are sliced to order, and Rick makes the mozzarella fresh every morning. Marinara and other sauces are prepared in-house in large batches. Produce is sourced locally and delivered twice a week. Bread and some desserts are brought in from a bakery in New York, a nod to their Northeastern roots. One standout item — the meatball Parmesan sandwich — is made with meatballs hand-rolled by Nonna, who comes in three times a week.

The shop also honors Phyllis’ Polish heritage with handmade pierogi, a popular custom request. Her grandmother once owned a bakery in Massachusetts, and the tradition lives on through Phyllis.

Phyllis manages the bakery side of the business, preparing pies and pastries, while Rick runs the kitchen. Tina oversees operations and front-of-house.

“We’re a quintessential New York/New Jersey-style deli and specialty shop,” Rick said. “We’re not a restaurant, even though we serve restaurant-quality food. We’re not here to compete — we just want to share what we do.”

They had originally planned to sell Italian ice cream, but decided against it to support the neighboring business.

“Everybody has their niche,” he said.

Some menu items are named after their grown children, including The Alexis and The Nicole sandwiches. The couple also offers catering, which has taken off quickly. With a strong reception from the community, Rick said they’ve already been approached about opening a second location.

“We’re not saying yes to that right now,” he said.

The original vision was to have something small to keep busy and to help pay the bills. The Riccios are open to having that conversation in the future.

The Riccios said they’ve been embraced by the Summerville community, including fellow business owners at La Rustica, Laura’s and Cuppa Manna. During a recent power outage, customers and neighbors reached out to offer help.

Even with the challenges of launching a new business, Rick and Phyllis say the rewards far outweigh the difficulties.

“We’re very humbled and pleased,” Rick said. “We’ve already got regulars who come in two or three times a week.”

Nonna’s is located in downtown Summerville at 129 S. Main St.