NEWS BRIEFS: Free parking downtown after 6 p.m. 

Staff reports  |  Starting today and lasting through the end of the year, metered parking enforcement will cease in the city of Charleston after 6 p.m. Why? To support local businesses and help stimulate an economic recovery, according to a press release.

Officials said that in conjunction with the change, regular parking meter enforcement will resume between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Additionally, parking for food and beverage employees in CARTA’s park-and-ride HOP lot at 995 Morrison Drive will be free for the rest of the year.

“It’s critical that we continue to do everything we can to support our small and locally-owned businesses as they work to reopen safely,” said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.” These free parking initiatives are a small but important part of our larger effort to keep Charleston healthy and strong throughout this unprecedented time.” 

Also in the news:

Legislators want fixes for ailing juvenile justice agency:  A Feb. 5 federal report sought to make South Carolina’s child offender complex safer. But its director said it had the opposite effect as guards became wary to isolate unruly juveniles who, in turn, started intimidating and assaulting guards.  Now after several recent, violent incidents, state lawmakers again are looking at the agency’s leadership.  “I’m concerned about the people out there,”  said Lexington Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy. “I’m concerned kids aren’t getting what they need. We’re not rehabilitating a soul out there.”  Read more in Statehouse Report.

Keeping frose flowing.  Read this fun story in the Charleston City Paper about the Sullivan’s Island entrepreneur’s comedic attempts to keep frozen rose flowing during the pandemic.

Shrimp delight.  Yahoo!  Officials expect a health shrimp season locally.  Read more.

Jobless rate in S.C. hits record with half of hospitality jobs gone. The state’s unemployment rate was 12.1 percent in April — the highest in more than 40 years of reporting as the pandemic’s shutdowns wiped out nearly half of the state’s tourism and food-and-beverage jobs. Read more.

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