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MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Nine Central Michigan football players participated in a series of workouts and tests in front of 29 National Football League scouts at CMU's annual NFL Pro Day Wednesday at CMU's Indoor Athletic Complex.

Chippewas players taking part in the workout included wide receiver , wide receiver , defensive lineman , defensive back , offensive lineman , running back , offensive lineman , defensive lineman , and tight end . In addition, defensive back Devonni Reed, who played four years for CMU from 2017-21 and played his final year of eligibility at South Carolina, came back to join his former CMU teammates in the workout.

Organized by NFL personnel and CMU Director of Strength and Conditioning , the event began with weight room testing including a flex test, vertical jump, and bench press. Testing was followed by an open field session which included the broad jump, 40-yard dash, pro shuttle and L Drill. Players then went through position-specific drills and exercises.

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Sights and Sounds of 2023 NFL Pro Day

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Dixon, Nichols, and Wilson all are coming off injuries that hampered them during the 2022 season and it was an opportunity for Chippewas fans to see those players at 100 percent.

The national FBS leader in rushing in 2021, Nichols went through NFL Pro Day after battling through various injuries during the 2022 season.

"I'm excited to show the scouts what I can do, what I've been working on, and what I've been doing since I was a little kid," Nichols said. "I had my own personal success, but I couldn't have achieved what I did without my teammates. Central Michigan is a great place, a great team. I've learned so much from the great coaches and teammates I've played with. I just finished my education. It was a great place for me. The last four years here has been wonderful."

Wilson is another player who was injured late in the 2022 season and missed the last three games. Before the injury, he ranked No. 2 among national tight ends in receptions and receiving yards.

"I feel great," said Wilson. "It's been a long process coming off the injury. It was frustrating to get hurt. Today, I was out there running routes, I felt normal, I had a couple of slipups, but I feel good right now."

"I'm grateful to be surrounded by so many great people," Wilson said. "I've just been soaking up all the knowledge that I can, keeping my head down and working, and having the right mentality. If you have the right people around you, surrounded by great coaches and great people around here, great role models and great leaders on the team, you can do anything you put your mind to."

For Incoom, it was his third and final opportunity in front of NFL scouts as he played in the Reese's Senior Bowl and competed at the NFL Combine earlier this month.

"Those were both positive learning experiences," Incoom said. "I was blessed enough to have an invite to both situations and I feel like I made the best out of both of those experiences."

"To hear my name called in the NFL Draft would be a dream come true. I just need an opportunity to get in and show them what is all about and show them what kind of player Central Michigan produces."

Dixon missed the majority of the 2022 season with an injury. He was back to 100 percent on Wednesday.

"Coming off the injury with only two months of work, I put up great numbers today," Dixon said. "This is a blessing and a great opportunity to be here and compete in front of NFL scouts. I'm a hard worker and you're going to get an ambitious person."

Central Michigan's four-year starting center Kimbrough has worked hard for the last couple of months.

"I put a lot of work in for this one day," Kimbrough said. "I'm happy to be able to see my teammates and my coaches and put my best foot forward in front of the scouts. It was a great opportunity and a great experience. Every game here at Central Michigan was a blessing, I'm thankful and I wouldn't take anything back."

The 2023 NFL Draft is slated for April 27-29 in Kansas City, Mo.

Central Michigan opens spring practice for its 2023 football season on Sunday, March 19. The Chippewas will practice 15 times and hold several scrimmages between Sunday, March 19 and Friday, April 14. More information on spring ball will be announced later this week.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Charleston on Friday in celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day, which included a parade and Irish fare at a popular pub.

Spectators cheered on as the 26^th annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade marched through downtown streets on Friday morning, filled with Irish step dancers, bagpipers, floats, fire trucks, antique cars, and more.

Jim Downey and his wife, Mona, were on vacation in Charleston from the northeast and enjoyed the parade. “It’s great, it’s wonderful. It’s not like New York City; you know, what I mean is it’s a little bit different – a nice family event,” said Jim.

Lani Myron was also visiting Charleston from Michigan and said that she loved the parade. “It’s so silly. It’s a riot. It really is,” she said.

“Can’t miss a local parade. All the schools are here; great music, lots of people. Lots of fun, lots of kids. It’s an awesome parade,” said Marie Donnelly, who lives in Mount Pleasant.

And the luck of the Irish was celebrated throughout the peninsula. Horses were dancing in green water at the Charleston Place Hotel and more green was seen at the Marion Square fountain.

“I am part Irish,” said Denin Smith, who was celebrating her heritage. “Ansonborough house, where I live, is in the parade and I’m just celebrating my Irish heritage.”

When the parade was over, several people headed over to Tommy Condon’s to enjoy Irish fare, drinks, and entertainment.

The staff there spent much of the day Thursday preparing for what is expected to be a busy weekend.

“Three straight days of partying. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We’re going to get annihilated,” said Allan Vandall. “It’s happened once before since we took over. It was crazy, wild, madness – it’s planning, training. My staff is ready to go. We’re going to get hit hard; you can either push forward or fold.”

Everyone is encouraged to drink responsibly and find a safe ride home.

For the fourth time, the Charleston Board of Architectural Review has declined to approve the application of Victor Mills, CEO of Southeastern development company from Augusta, for an apartment building at 295 Calhoun St.

No real design changes have been made in the past two years since he first offered plans for more than 300 apartments and 16,300 square feet of retail space surrounding a seven-level garage. Mr. Mills seems to justify the large block brick building by insisting it is part of the Medical District.

More importantly, it is part of Harleston Village, which is largely a residential area with old and historic homes, lakes and small businesses.

His mockery of the BAR is hurtful to all of us who respect the years of work committee members have spent preserving the character of Charleston.

The location is an important gateway to the city and deserves a special building.

I urge Mr. Mills to waste no more time and money on the old plans. I want to see him make money on his investment.

But rather than continuing to fight the BAR, the city, preservation organizations and residents of Charleston (particularly the Harleston Village neighbors), please do what other developers are doing and add to the beauty and uniqueness that is Charleston.

JUDY BLEECKER

Charleston

Thank you for the editorial questioning the secrecy around the $1.3 billion incentives package to Scout Motors to build a $2 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant outside Columbia.

Wouldn’t that money be better spent on things such as state highway maintenance, new roads, bridges or even the Interstate 526 extension?

Shouldn’t state residents have a say as to where it is spent, maybe even consider returning it to the taxpayers?

To be sure, South Carolina is a perfect place for these large companies to build and produce big-ticket items like vehicles.

We are a right-to-work state with mostly good weather year round, a stable workforce, a large modern port, favorable tax incentives and plentiful workers.

Aren’t these enough reasons to lure businesses like the Volkswagen subsidiary to move here? And if not, maybe it’s better for the company to find somewhere else to build its vehicles.

We could avoid potentially reduced air quality, contaminated water, immense power requirements, heavy traffic and an industrial site in the natural area and gardens of the Midlands.

BOB PAYNE

Hollywood

The two recent bank failures have made it obvious that for large institutions controlled by monied interests and immense Washington lobbying power, the profitability of corporations is strictly for the benefit of their shareholders.

As Andrew Sorkin, author of “Too Big to Fail,” recently noted, “We socialize losses and privatize profits.”

Unlike the 2008 bailout, this time President Joe Biden has ruled that the shareholders of these two banks will not be reimbursed. Only the banks’ depositors needing their funds to cover payrolls and maintain ongoing businesses will partake.

This ruling happened after Silicon Valley Bank’s management paid employees bonuses the day before the government takeover.

The 1999 elimination of the Glass-Steagall Act, which forced commercial banks to refrain from investment banking activities in order to protect depositors from potential losses caused by bank speculation in stocks, could be considered a major factor in the 2008 crash.

The 2010 Dodd-Franks legislation to prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the 2008 financial crisis appeared to put a Band-Aid on banking abuses.

Then in 2018, the banking lobby pushed for and achieved the weakening of Dodd-Franks for regional banks, which led to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

RICH BENNETT

Mount Pleasant

The recent article about flying cars whisking people over traffic to attend important meetings was amusing.

The concept of flying cars began in the 1940s as the “car of the future,” and there were even a few working models displayed that required runways. Eighty years later, it is still the car of the future.

Vehicles go left or right, forward or backward and stop. Adding up or down to the equation requires more than a software program.

Unless someone invents an anti-gravity device, flying cars likely will still be cars of the future in 2123.

Of course, we already have helicopters, but they require heliports, good weather, tons of maintenance and won’t fit in most garages.

A.D. HEATHCOCK

Mount Pleasant

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An office and warehouse development encompassing nearly 500,000 square feet of new construction is in the works for northern Mount Pleasant.

Charlotte-based developer Cameron Property Co., an affiliate of Madison Capital Group, wants to build three buildings on about 60 acres northwest of the Faison Road and Park Avenue Boulevard intersection, according to plans presented to state environmental regulators.

The proposed structures, in the master-planned Carolina Park development, will serve as flexible space with offices in the front and storage or showrooms in the rear, according to Lance Ravenscraft with Madison Capital Group.

“Technically, everything is good to go,” he said. “It’s a great piece of real estate. The focus is on closing the land (purchase) right now.”

Plans show the largest building will be 187,100 square feet. A second structure will be 181,790 square feet while a third would be 113,400 square feet. More than 400 parking spaces also are planned with the project.

Site plans call for the structures to be up to 42 feet high, but Ravenscraft said the clearance will probably be about 10 feet less than that, with a height similar to the nearby Costco Wholesale store.

He foresees the business park as having tenants that need office and storage space such as biomedical companies or those that make items such as home building products.

“I can’t see it being a distribution site,” he said. “They all want to go up Interstate 26.”

Ravenscraft also pointed to tight credit markets and high construction costs as affecting the timing of future site development.

“I don’t foresee construction starting anytime soon,” he said.

Carolina Park spokesman Brian Keels confirmed the proposed development and said the land use has long been a part of the community’s master plan.

“That area has already been zoned for light industrial,” Keels said. “There just hasn’t been that much demand for things in the trade area in Carolina Park.”

The 1,700-acre Carolina Park development is mostly a residential neighborhood that also includes a hospital, other health care services, schools, fire station, library, churches, senior care facilities, apartments and commercial enterprises.

The wooded, undeveloped tract being eyed for flex development is owned by Chris Marino of Lerato LLC of Mount Pleasant. Marino did not respond for comment on the proposed project.

The land has not changed hands, Ravenscraft said.

The property sits between Charleston Ear, Nose, Throat & Allergy and Gerber Collision & Glass on Faison Road. A storage facility is planned just north of the Gerber site.

The property also abuts the southern portion of Mount Pleasant Regional Airport’s clear zone.

Elliott Summey, CEO of the Charleston County Aviation Authority, which owns the East Cooper airfield, said he doesn’t think the proposed development will interfere with aircraft operations since it’s not directly in line with the runway.

He also noted the residential development that has sprung up closer to the airfield in recent years as posing more of a threat to aircraft operations.

Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie was not familiar with the proposed business park and said the town is not involved in the project because it is part of the Carolina Park planned development agreement that has been in place for several years.

“If it fits the master plan and they don’t need any major changes, it just goes in,” the mayor said. “I just hope it’s not a storage facility.”

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - The Patriots Point Development Authority Board and Bennett Hospitality hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to mark the start of a five-phase, 15-year development project.

The Patriots Annex project is a $300 million development that will include three hotels, restaurants, entertainment, shops, three office buildings, parks and an amphitheater. Developers estimate initial construction and submitting of remaining plans will start in fall 2023.

The project was approved five years ago by state supervisors. After the initial approval, Michael Bennett of Bennett Hospitality and his team began planning the development.

“I’m born and raised in Charleston and when Patriots Point presented the opportunity for me to help develop this property, just as a personal Charlestonian, I was very, very excited to think I could do something that was beautiful, and also help Patriots Point,” Bennett said. “It was a very natural fit for me.”

The largest hotel, the Grand Patriot, will sit towards the back of the property at 250 rooms. The other two hotels will have 100 to 150 rooms.

Gov. Henry McMaster was also at the groundbreaking alongside other state and Lowcountry government officials.

“This project is going to be wonderful [at] the Patriots Point Naval and US Maritime Museum,” McMaster said. “We’re going up. Tourism is a $24 billion business in South Carolina. So that is why we’re thriving. And I promise you, we’re going to keep on thriving.”

Bennett and McMaster said the development will establish hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue. By using the land near the USS Yorktown, the money will help maintain the ships and aircraft located on Patriots Point.

“It is going to be a huge economic impact for not only Mount Pleasant, but for the entire Lowcountry in the state of South Carolina,” Bennett said. “There will be hundreds and hundreds of jobs that will afford local people to be able to work here and as well as welcomed visitors to come here.”

The first step in construction is to move the visitor parking lot due to much of the proposed development being built on that land. A new parking lot will be moved to accommodate visitors and tourists.

The project will take about 15 years with five phases to complete.

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