Tag Archive

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Monday, March 8, 2010

By Steve Shanafelt

Footage from the Spartanburg City Council meeting on Monday, March 8, 2010. The meeting included applications by several local non-profit groups for CDBG/HOME Funds, as well as the approval of a $21,000 grant to HubCulture, Inc., which is redeveloping the retail level of the Masonic Temple in downtown Spartanburg as a bookstore, cafe and... »

Podcast Uprising! HubCast Pops Onto The Spartanburg Scene

By Steve Shanafelt

Local blogger and occasional Spark contributor David Smith recently decided to start a new online media project, tentatively titled HubCast. Smith has been talking about the idea of putting together a local podcast for at least several months, and it’s fantastic to see him finally start the ball rolling on it without having to... »

Sparkle City Headlines: JournalWatchdog.com Gets A Makeover

By Steve Shanafelt

Several months ago, I reached out to Community Journals, the regional publisher behind the Spartanburg Journal, offering to help them turn their then-terrible website into something people might actually want to visit on a regular basis. Initially, there was some interest in the possible collaboration, but after I sent a list of simple, common-sense... »

HammockCast: Bridging The Local Digital Divide

By Christopher George

This week I’m all ears…no really. I’m looking for your ideas on how we can bring some of Spartanburg’s less technologically savvy residents into our little community here at the Spark. In a world that’s becoming increasingly dependent on computers and the Internet, and knowing how that the two-way conversation of new... »

Let The Fun Begin: Google Street View Expands Spartanburg Coverage

By Steve Shanafelt

Over the last year, we’ve been covering the achingly slow addition of Spartanburg’s roadways to Google Street View. If you’re not familiar with the service, the basic idea is that a car with a special camera mounted on top drives around getting street-level, panoramic images which allow people to take a virtual tour of... »

Sparkle City Headlines: SH-J Gets Optimistic About Downtown

By Steve Shanafelt

When the Spartanburg Herald-Journal published their story on the “new vibrancy” of downtown yesterday, my interest was definitely piqued. Downtown’s revitalization is a major topic here on the Spark, but the main reason I was interested in reading the story had to do with who the local newspaper felt was deserving of the credit... »

Google Street View Adds New Spartanburg Images

By Steve Shanafelt

I’m not exactly sure when Google’s Street View updated their Spartanburg section of the map, but it must have been in the last few weeks, since I check it regularly. As I’ve noted before, Spartanburg has been mysteriously left out of the project while smaller neighboring towns like Gaffney are already fully mapped. Street... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Local Church Doesn’t Like Gays, Abortion Rights, President

By Steve Shanafelt

In a move that doesn’t really surprise me, a local church gets a free pass to talk trash about gay rights and abortion rights, and the Spartanburg Herald-Journal doesn’t bother to get so much as a quote from the opposing side. Writers Gary Glancy & Kim Kimzey also don’t bother to mention things like... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Wellford Mayor Sallie Peake Makes Me Happy I Don’t Live in Wellford

By Christopher George

The title of this one says it all.  While being interviewed by News Channel 7’s Chris Cato, Wellford Mayor Sallie Peake goes absolutely crazypants when questioned about her new directive to Wellford City Police instructing them not to engage in foot pursuits of suspects. Her rationale for this policy:  The foot chases lead to officer... »

Big Idea: Spartanburg Spark’s Second Year

By Steve Shanafelt

Now that the Spark has managed to survive a whole year without much in the way of calamity, and appears to be actually serving some kind of need in the community with our admittedly humble efforts, it’s probably time to start thinking about how to grow the project in a sensible, organic way. While... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Two Takes On DeMint’s Town Hall

By Steve Shanafelt

So, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) held a town hall meeting at the Beacon yesterday, and if you only read the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, you’d think the whole thing went just dandy … U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he doesn’t want the same people who botched the response to Hurricane Katrina to get into the health... »

Want To Know Where The Stimulus Money Went In Spartanburg?

By Steve Shanafelt

ProPublica’s “Recovery Tracker” has a handy outline of where the Federal cash went in Spartanburg County. And it was a big chunk of change, too — $36,816,116 — specifically dedicated to Spartanburg County. Some interesting highlights … Spartanburg School District 7 landed a $1,551,321 grant from the Department of Education. School District 3 merited a mere... »

Blog Report: The Finest Fake News Feed In Spartanburg

By Steve Shanafelt

If there is one local blog you need to read this week, it’s Spartanburg Parody Paper Press News, a tongue-in-cheek project started by occasional Spark contributor Bryan “chAng” Teague. If you like reading The Onion and enjoy local news, chances are you’ll get a kick out of this new blog. There’s something of a... »

Flying Oskar: The News Channel 7 Challenge

By Christopher George

Last Monday, I began my week with a mission. As much time as has been spent on the Spark criticizing local media coverage, our local television news on WSPA News Channel 7 has gotten precious little attention. At first it seemed odd to me that that would be the case, and I... »

You Must Visit theDiscust.com

By Steve Shanafelt

My very first thought when I read the headline Jenny Sanford: “Gay marriage wrecked my family” was “Great, our state’s news has finally become as absurd as The Onion’s content.” Of course the gays would get blamed by the right-wingers, somehow. I’d just woken up, and the coffee hadn’t hit yet, so it took... »