6/20 NEWSBREAK: North Charleston group wants a Black mayor

Members of the newly created North Charleston Mayoral Committee said the city’s African American population should unite behind one Black leader who would become the city’s first Black mayor. All of the mayors in North Charleston’s history have been White since the city was founded in 1972.

“North Charleston is 52% African American and has never had an African American mayor and it is time,” committee co-chair Beverly Gadson-Birch told WCSC-TV.

The committee includes ministers, citizens, labor and community leaders who say they are working together to to focus on fundraising, voter education and registration, while backing the six Black mayoral candidates. They say they’ll eventually pick one to fundraise for ahead of the Nov. 7 election.

Meanwhile, retired Summary Court Judge Stephanie Ganaway-Pasley announced her mayoral bid to become the first African American woman to serve North Charleston June 19.

Other Black mayoral candidates include former police chief Reggie Burgess, county councilman Teddie Pryor, Brandon Trollinger, Jesse Williams and John Singletary. Other announced candidates are Rhonda Jerome, Russell Coletti and Todd Olds.

In other headlines:

Legislators worry state ethics law was thrown out window with ruling. A federal judge’s ruling in favor of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus gave South Carolina legislators a legal way to rake in unlimited amounts of cash and spend it however they want without disclosing a thing, according to House Ethics Committee members. It has some legislators worried.

WCSC celebrates its 70th anniversary. WCSC-TV, South Carolina’s oldest continuously operating television station, celebrated its 70th year on air on Monday. The station marked many firsts in the Lowcountry, including being the first to begin broadcasting in color and the first to broadcast live from the field during newscasts, the first Lowcountry station to use satellite technology to broadcast live, the first Lowcountry station to broadcast local news in high definition in 2008 and would launch the first system to provide mobile streaming of newscasts and remote broadcasts for users with smartphones and tablets.

Preservation group seeks to find oldest gravesites at Hillsborough Cemetery. The Hillsborough Cemetery is currently unmarked behind some brush and trees on Sycamore Avenue in West Ashley, which is on city-owned land that’s protected by an easement. The West Ashley Historians hope to find the oldest graves in the cemetery and preserve the history. Four graves from approximately the 1600s have already been found on the land.

Catholic bishop blesses new memorial at St. John Cemetery. The Catholic Diocese of Charleston held a dedication service at St. John Cemetery marking the completion of a yearslong renovation project, which includes a prominent granite cross at its center, walking paths, benches and newly planted Palmetto trees and shrubs.

Outer Banks casting company warns of scammers. The company responsible for casting the popular Netflix show, “Outer Banks,” is warning those who want to be extras in the show not to fall victim to scammers, who claim they work for the company or the show and message people who want to be extras.

Charleston caregiver explains the benefits of catching Alzheimer’s early. The groundbreaking Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi, is assumed to get full approval from the FDA as early as July and has proven to slow the progression of the devastating brain disorder for adults in the early stages of the disease by 27%.