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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Henry McMaster, Lieutenant Governor Pamela S. Evette, and First Lady Peggy McMaster's schedules for the week of October 3 will include the following:

Monday, October 3 at 10:30 AM: Gov. McMaster held a press conference with Congressman Jim Clyburn and the Office of Regulatory Staff to provide an update on broadband deployment, State House, 1100 Gervais Street, Columbia, S.C.

Tuesday, October 4 at 11:00 AM: Gov. McMaster will attend the groundbreaking ceremony of DC BLOX, Myrtle Beach Cable Landing Station, Myrtle Beach International Technology & Aerospace Park (iTAP), 1401 Howard Avenue, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Wednesday, October 5 at 10:30 AM: Gov. McMaster will be the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking for the new Life and Health Sciences building at Greenville Technical College, Barton Campus, 506 South Pleasantburg, Greenville, S.C.

Wednesday, October 5 at 1:00 PM: Gov. McMaster will attend a Manufacturing Industry Showcase at the Anderson Civic Center, 3027 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, Anderson, S.C.

Thursday, October 6 at 11:45 AM: Lt. Gov. Evette will attend the Western Upstate Association of REALTORS lunch, Association Conference Center, 600 McGee Road, Anderson, S.C.

Thursday, October 6 at 2:30 PM: Gov. McMaster will attend the expansion ribbon cutting of Nutramax Laboratories, Nutramax Laboratories, 946 Quality Drive, Lancaster, S.C.

Friday, October 7 at 9:30 AM: Gov. McMaster will attend the grand opening of the BMW Training Center and recognize Manufacturing Day, BMW Amphitheater, 1400 SC-101, Greer, S.C.

Friday, October 7 at 3:00 PM: Gov. McMaster will attend the ribbon cutting of the E & J Gallo’s Warehouse, 5948 Lancaster Highway, Fort Lawn, S.C

Gov. Henry McMaster’s Weekly Schedule: September 26, 2022

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Gov. Henry McMaster’s schedule for the week of September 26, 2022, included:

Monday, September 26

1:30 PM: Call with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

2:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian.

Gov. McMaster was in the Office of the Governor for office hours, State House, first floor, Columbia, S.C.

4:00 PM: Constituent meeting.

Tuesday, September 27

2:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

4:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

Wednesday, September 28

Gov. McMaster was in the Office of the Governor for office hours, State House, 1100 Gervais Street, Columbia, S.C.

1:00 PM: Gov. McMaster spoke to the Outdoor Advertisers Association of South Carolina’s Annual Meeting, Palmetto Club, 1231 Sumter Street, Columbia, S.C.

2:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

3:30 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

Thursday, September 29

10:30 AM: Call with Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

11:00 AM: Gov. McMaster attended the expansion ribbon cutting of American SpiralWeld Pipe, 2061 American Italian Way, Columbia, S.C.

12:17 PM: Call with Congresswoman Nancy Mace.

12:26 PM: Call with United States Senator Tim Scott.

12:30 PM: Call with Mike Callahan, S.C. President, Duke Energy.

1:42 PM: Call with United States Senator Lindsey Graham.

1:45 PM: Call with Rear Admiral Brendan McPherson, Commander for the U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District.

1:52 PM: Call with North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley.

1:55 PM: Call with Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe.

1:56 PM: Call with North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.

2:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

3:05 PM: Call with Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune.

3:06 PM: Call with Edisto Beach Mayor Crawford Moore.

3:08 PM: Call with Sullivan's Island Mayor Pat O'Neil.

3:09 PM: Call with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey.

3:12 PM: Call with Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin.

3:14 PM: Call with Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann.

3:16 PM: Call with Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy.

3:19 PM: Call with Kiawah Island Mayor John Labriola.

3:23 PM: Call with Pawleys Island Mayor Brian Henry.

3:37 PM: Call with Mt. Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie.

4:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

8:25 PM: Call with United States Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

8:35 PM: Call with Awendaw Mayor Miriam Green.

Friday, September 30

8:02 AM: Call with Congressman Tom Rice.

9:21 AM: Call with Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune.

10:54 AM: Call with United States President Joe Biden.

11:00 AM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

11:53 AM: Call with North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley.

11:57 AM: Call with Pawleys Island Mayor Brian Henry.

12:08 PM: Call with Sullivan's Island Mayor Pat O'Neil.

12:11 PM: Call with Surfside Beach Mayor Bob Hellyer.

12:26 PM: Call with Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.

12:30 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

5:09 PM: Call with United States Senator Tim Scott.

6:07 PM: Call with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Saturday, October 1

10:30 AM: Call with Gail McGovern, National President, American Red Cross.

11:00 AM: Gov. McMaster held an executive conference call regarding Hurricane Ian, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

12:15 PM: Meeting with Congressman Joe Wilson.

12:30 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

1:15: PM: Visited with members of the S.C. National Guard's Joint Operations Center.

3:30 PM: Meeting with Grand Strand state and local officials.

4:00 PM: Gov. McMaster held a media availability, South Carolina Emergency Management Division, 2779 Fish Hatchery Road, West Columbia, S.C.

5:15 PM: Gov. McMaster toured Pawleys Island damage and recovery operations.

7:35 PM: Call with North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley.

Amanda Edwards/WireImage, Ina Garten/Instagram

Ina Garten's kitchen got a major refresh.

On Tuesday, the Barefoot Contessa star gave fans a glimpse into the newly-renovated kitchen in her East Hampton, N.Y. home. Garten admitted this was the first renovation the room has undergone in over two decades.

"During the Pandemic, I gave myself a project of renovating my kitchen, which I actually hadn't done in 25 years!!" she wrote in the caption. "I built my dream pantry and bought my favorite Lacanche stove plus lots of food photographs and a great view of the garden."

While the kitchen in her barn is where she shoots her Food Network shows, her home kitchen on the same property is what underwent some major upgrades.

Garten's post included a photo of white shelves filled with classic white tart pans, chic plates and wicker baskets.

The stunning black stove from Lacanche she mentioned, which can cost upwards of $10,000, is complete with golden fixtures and two ovens, one gas and one electric. Above it she hangs silver and copper pans so everything is within arm's reach.

The Food Network star also gave her followers a look at the white marble countertops and modern gray cabinets in a baking corner decorated with her many cookbooks. In the comments, she specified that the marble is Calacatta Gold marble.

With large windows overlooking her manicured lawn, the upgraded space is one that Garten is excited to cook in.

"It's so much fun testing recipes in my new kitchen! ❤️❤️," she closed off her caption.

Back in 2020, Garten gave a tour of her barn kitchen in a video posted on the New York Times' YouTube channel.

"This barn is actually a great luxury for me," Garten said at the start of the video. "I used to work and film in my house — that was crazy."

Last March, Garten opened up about what lockdown life was like for her and her husband, Jeffrey.

For most of their 54-year marriage, they spent weekdays away from each other and weekends together. Jeffrey would commute to Connecticut to teach at Yale and Ina would stay at their home in East Hampton writing her cookbooks and shooting her TV shows.

More than 115 years have passed since two dams were built on the Catawba River in the sleepy town of Great Falls to power three textile mills.

The mills in this Chester County town closed decades ago.

Residents still live in the mill villages. Historic store fronts along the town's main roads have been shuttered for years.

Residents have one grocery store, the Great Falls IGA, once a Piggly Wiggly. One of the town's remaining restaurants, The Flopeye Diner, has a sign on the porch with the word "hope."

Now, town and state leaders are hoping restaurants, shops, hotels and tourism-based companies will flood the town and wash away its economically-depressed status with the completion of Duke Energy's wide-scale project on the Catawba River.

Duke officials said the Great Falls-Dearborn project, which will create new recreational channels along the river for kayaking, is about 70% complete.

The project was scheduled to open this summer, but additional work was needed, said Michael Brissie, manager of generation project engineering for Duke. Brissie said the facilities will open in spring of 2023.

The project has many components — public to access channels on the river, a state park with hiking trails, an historic visitor's center, a pedestrian bridge, a 3,000-foot hiking trail on an island, parking and restrooms — all within three miles.

"This is a game-changer, obviously for Great Falls," state Sen. Mike Fanning said.

Duke started construction on the project at the Great Falls Reservoir more than a year ago. As part of a new license for the Catawba-Wateree Project in 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requires Duke to provide recreation, enhancement to water quality and quantity, fish and wildlife habitat protection and land conservation along the river.

The main focus of this project is to bring water back to two channels, or bypasses, that were cut off more than a hundred years ago. Those channels made up the 50-foot Great Falls of the Catawba, the town's namesake.

One channel will be the long bypass, a 2.25 mile stretch for leisure kayaking and canoeing. The long bypass will have Class II and III rapids, which are appropriate for families and individuals wanting a leisurely trip down the river, said Duke spokesman Ben Williamson. The short bypass will have faster water flowing over three-quarters of a mile that will have Class III and IV rapids and is geared more to experienced kayakers, said Christy Churchill, recreation planner for Duke.

Duke can control how much water it releases into the channels. Tourists will be able to check the flow schedules online, or through an app, when planning trips.

To date, Duke has built the Nitrolee Access Area with restrooms and parking for 100 vehicles. Nitrolee will be the primary public hub for access the Great Falls Reservoir and the long bypass. Adjacent to the parking lot on property owned by the Catawba Valley Land Trust is the Arc Building that was part of the Nitrolee plant in the early 1900s. The historic building will become the visitor's center.

Within a year of the project's completion, the site will be connected to the Carolina Thread Trail, a regional network of "connected greenways, trails and blueways that reaches 15 counties," according to the trail's website.

Another component of the project will be a state park on Dearborn Island. Duke is providing money to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to help the state develop a park on the 600-acre island with trails, Churchill said. Construction on the park, which will have a campground area, will begin once the lease with Duke and SCPRT is finalized, she said.

Duke also will build a pedestrian bridge from a kayak launch to provide access to the island.

Fanning said ideas are floating to offer a unique camping experience, including "glamping," or glamorous camping, where campers stay in modern-day yurts. He said Dearborn Island will be the third state park in Chester County, which is rare in South Carolina.

"We have plenty of regular camping and so this island is going to be a way for you to spend time on a campground and have a different form of camping," Fanning said.

Duke also will create a trail, roughly half a mile, on Mountain Island at the Cedar Creek Reservoir that will allow kayakers to hike back and put their kayaks back in the water.

Churchill said the Dearborn project is unique.

"I would bet in the country, it's pretty one-of-a-kind," Churchill said. "It's like an engineered system to enhance the natural experience."

Glinda Price Coleman, executive director of the Great Falls Town Home Association, said the return of the water is a "game changer" since the mills closed in the 1980s.

"And since then, there's been several attempts to do something to punch up the economic structure here in town," she said.

The Great Falls Home Town Association is a community and economic development nonprofit that has rallied to have nature-based tourism brought to Great Falls and the surrounding community since 2000, Coleman said.

Coleman said developers and businesses are looking into the area, but could not elaborate on specific plans. The plan now is to bring opportunities for local entrepreneurship and attract businesses to set up shop, Coleman said.

Coleman said an array of business would "be another layer of what will bring people here, not only the natural beauty that we have in the area and outdoor recreation opportunities that we have with the trails and the whitewater and the state park."

Data produced by the nonprofit, American Whitewater, estimates that whitewater activities alone will bring $3.1-$4.6 million to Great Falls annually. Coleman has said it will likely exceed that.

"I think it's providing (Great Falls) a catalyst to begin work from their perspective and from their point-of-view building back their town," Churchill said. "We're building the recreation and then from there, hopefully they can build up interest in the general public and tourism to come down to this area and go rafting, go to the park on the trails, and hopefully bring some economic benefit to the area."

Fanning said Chester County has been "looking for that next big thing and the timing is perfect."

He pointed to California-based wine giant E&J Gallo, which is building its first East Coast facility in Fort Lawn, a small town in Chester County.

Fanning said the Dearborn project "will be the single largest development, economic development, dollar amount that we've seen in a project that was not a business in the history of Chester County."

Fanning said 53 business leaders, residents and town officials from Chester, Lancaster, York and Fairfield counties meet every month to discuss the project.

"I don't want it just to have water that comes down at a high speed," Fanning said. "We're looking to promote this as a destination for people to come and spend their time and just take advantage of spending time outdoors."

Fanning said community members have met with investors to promote the area. The discussions have centered around Great Falls but Fanning is touting Eastern Chester County as the "outdoor recreational capital of the Southeast."

He said the experience will be "phenomenal." "You think about the fact that people have been doing indoor whitewater rafting in Charlotte forever," Fanning said. "Meaning we know there's a demand, we know that we're going to have people coming from all over and it's going to be spectacular."

Kayakers can visit the U.S. National Whitewater Center in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina, but the Great Falls project is not an event venue or center, Churchill said.

"They are totally different animals," Churchill said.

The Great Falls whitewater experience comes from a free-flowing channel.

"Obviously the structures that we're building to help manage the flow is man-made," Churchill said. "However, the channel itself and all the features, the scenery, it's all nature."

Fanning said a year ago, locals were "rolling their eyes and saying here's another promise that will never come to pass." But now you can drive ... and you can see the work, he added.

"This is going to happen," Fanning said. "It will happen within the next year and it will be phenomenal."

The Charlotte Business Journal's editorial staff has compiled a list of the region's top 25 stories of 2022. We're counting down those stories here.

In June 2021, E. & J. Gallo Winery announced plans for an ambitious project in the tiny South Carolina town of Fort Lawn. In October, the first piece of the Chester County operations for the nation’s largest winemaker opened, and construction is charging ahead for other elements of the company’s East Coast hub.

Gallo’s regional distribution center was the first piece of its Chester County operations to open. The distribution element takes up just a portion of a 1.5 million-square-foot building that is under construction on Gallo’s site. Production lines for Gallo’s products are expected to begin opening up next year.

Gallo has pledged a $423 million investment and the creation of nearly 500 jobs for just the first phase of its East Coast hub in Fort Lawn. The first phase is expected to include the regional distribution center, a production facility, warehousing, bottling, canning and an import and export hub. The winemaker has obtained well over 600 acres at the intersection of S.C. Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 21 for the operations, and the site is rail-served. The first phase is taking up around 300 acres.

In total, the site could have as many as five major phases, Gallo leaders have said previously. Upon full buildout, Gallo's investment in Chester County is expected to surpass $1 billion and create over 1,000 jobs over several decades.

The Gallo project is seen as a game-changing economic development win for Chester County, Fort Lawn and the Interstate 77 corridor between Charlotte and Columbia. State leaders have repeatedly compared its potential long-term impacts to that of BMW’s on the Interstate 85 corridor between Charlotte and Greenville.

Gallo’s operations in Chester County are being led by Erich Kaepp, the company’s vice president of eastern operations. The Fort Lawn site is expected to accommodate much of Gallo’s future expansion efforts, as company leaders have said Gallo is out of room to expand at its home base in Modesto, California.

Look ahead: The manufacturing element of Gallo’s Fort Lawn operations is expected to ramp up in 2023. Gallo has expressed plans to open its first production line there in February for its High Noon brand, and has eyed May and August for the second and third production-line openings.

FORT LAWN, S.C. -- The largest winemaker in the world has chosen South Carolina as the location for its new bottling and distribution plant. E&J Gallo Winery has announced that its upcoming facility located in Chester County will be the company’s primary distribution hub east of the Mississippi.

If you haven’t heard of the E&J Gallo Winery project, you may know it by its other name: Project Magma. The name Magma was chosen by Gallo as a reference to the molten hot lava that serves as the primary ingredient in bottle making. The $400-million investment, which first required a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory permit, will create more than 500 jobs with a potential for even more jobs in the future as expansions are planned.

Regulatory began working with the applicant on the 630-acre site in November 2020 and finished in early July of this year. While the permitting process went fairly quickly for a project of this size, USACE regulators needed to ensure that everything was in order just as it would be for any other regulatory permit application. Richard Darden, the regulatory project manager, said the level of preparation in the winemaker’s application had a huge impact on the timeline.

“What was different about their project was their level of preparation,” Darden said. “I would say their efficiency, attention to detail and constant communication kept the back-and-forth process moving. It’s always a continuing dialogue when working a large application such as this.”

The location of the plant came with its own set of challenges. Located in the upstate, the site had aquatic resources commonly found in that area. That location includes wetlands and tributaries that flow into the Catawba River, therefore requiring a USACE permit under the Clean Water Act.

Multiple streams and associated wetlands that feed directly into the Catawba River were found on the site. “No net loss” of aquatic resources is a goal of the regulatory program. This goal includes incorporating as much avoidance and minimization of impacts to streams and wetlands into the project design, while achieving the project’s purpose. After identifying the alternative with the least wetland and stream impacts, compensatory mitigation is typically required to offset the unavoidable losses.

The mitigation work by Gallo will take place on the Lancaster County side of the Catawba River where existing wetland and stream systems will be enhanced by improving the flow pathway of water through the system. The 500-acre mitigation area will ultimately become part of Landsford Canal State Park.

In speaking with Darden, it was clear that mitigating the effects of the development was not only Regulatory’s top priority, but also Gallo’s.

“We felt like their project was an important one in terms of the number of jobs it could bring to this rural area since Fort Lawn is home to less than 900 residents,” Darden said. “They had a very responsible design that minimized aquatic resource impacts and had a very satisfactory mitigation plan.”

The new plant will include the facilities needed for production, bottling, containerization and distribution of E&J Gallo wine and spirits. The range of products made at the new plant will be sold throughout the east coast, as well as exported overseas using the port of Charleston.

A twenty-minute drive to nearby Interstate 77 and with a rail line passing through town, Gallo found an ideal site for its new location. They have added railroad track spurs that go directly into the plant to allow for the loading and unloading of rail cars, therefore requiring fewer trucks for distribution.

“We see some projects where the analysis of alternative options is not thoroughly explored, but this was not one of those,” Darden said. “They really worked with us and their savviness to the process and knowing how we were going to interact made a huge difference in the timeliness of our permit decision. They just asked what they needed to do and did it.”

By choosing South Carolina as the location for its new plant, Gallo is following a growing trend of many other corporations such as Volvo and Walmart. With the district’s ongoing dredging of Charleston Harbor, Gallo says it plans to double, or even triple, its current operations as the Charleston Harbor becomes the deepest port on the east coast.

As the district celebrates 150 years of service to South Carolina and the nation, Project Magma is just one in a long line of other important regulatory permits the district has helped facilitate, while staying committed to the protection of our most precious resource, the environment. We are proud to play a critical role in the growth and prosperity of South Carolina.