South Carolina is now officially the fastest-growing state in the nation. New U.S. Census Bureau estimates show the state grew 1.5% between July 2024 and July 2025, the highest rate in the country.

During that 12-month period, South Carolina added 79,958 residents, driven largely by net domestic migration of 66,622 people. That means more Americans moved to South Carolina from other states than anywhere else by percentage.

For Rock Hill and York County, the trend is familiar. Traffic congestion continues to worsen, emergency services face higher call volumes, and utilities are racing to keep up with demand as growth spreads south from Charlotte.

South Carolina’s growth rate edged down slightly from 1.8% in 2024, but it still outpaced fast-growing neighbors like North Carolina (1.3%) and Georgia (0.9%). Texas and Florida added more people overall, but South Carolina grew faster relative to its size.

Nationally, population growth slowed. The U.S. added 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, during the same period. Lower international migration was the main reason for the slowdown, even as domestic moves reshaped the Southeast.

Census officials say migration, not births, continues to fuel South Carolina’s rise. The state ranked fifth nationally in total numeric growth but finished first in percentage growth.

For Rock Hill, the numbers confirm what residents already see daily. Growth is no longer coming—it is already here, and the pressure is building.

An earthquake just rattled central South Carolina yesterday.

According to the US Geological Survey, the 2.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 15:32:42 UTC (about 10:32 a.m. ET), centered near the Lugoff area.

The quake struck at roughly 4.8 km depth, which can make small events feel sharper near the epicenter. Residents around Elgin and the Columbia region reported feeling a quick jolt and light shaking, and hundreds filed public “felt it” reports soon after.

Earthquakes have been increasing in frequency around the Charlotte region over the past few years. Last year, we experienced the largest earthquake in over 100 years when a 5.1 magnitude quake hit Sparta, NC, and since then, dozens of aftershocks have continued to rattle our state.

According to USGS.gov, “Moderately damaging earthquakes strike the inland Carolinas every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt about once each year or two.”

Have you felt any of the quakes?

A federal judge in South Carolina awarded Clover artist Todd Atkinson $158,400 after finding another artist painted over his landmark “Water Tank” mural and signed it as his own. The court said Atkinson created the original train-and-water-tank mural in 1982 on a downtown Clover building.

Court filings say artist Chan Shepherd later covered the mural with a near replica. However, Shepherd replaced Atkinson’s name with his own signature.

The judge awarded $150,000 in maximum statutory damages under the Visual Artists Rights Act for a willful violation.

The judge’s order specifically states:

“Atkinson requests $150,000, the maximum statutory penalty available. He argues that a significant statutory damages award is necessary to compensate him but also to deter willful violations, a critical goal of VARA. [ECF No. 62 at 15–16.] Atkinson argues the “case calls for strong deterrence of willful abuses of the VARA” as Shepherd “willfully destroyed a work of art authored by a fellow artist” and then “did not deign to appear and defend himself” in this action. Id. at 16. The court agrees. And the requested enhancement falls within the range upheld by courts in similar cases. See id. at 15 (citing Cohen v. G&M Realty L.P., 320 F. Supp. 3d 421, 447 (E.D.N.Y. 2018) (finding “the maximum award of statutory damages” warranted under VARA and awarding a total of $6,750,000 in damages, consisting of $150,000 for each work of art), affirmed by Castillo v. G&M Realty L.P., 950 F.3d 155 (2d Cir. 2020)). Cf. Martin v. City of 0:24-cv-01545-SAL Date Filed 01/06/26 Indianapolis, 192 F.3d 608, 614 (7th Cir. 1999) (finding that the plaintiff was not entitled to enhanced damages in what “appear[ed] to be a case of bureaucratic failure within the City government, not a willful violation of plaintiff’s VARA rights”). Accordingly, the court awards Atkinson $150,000 in enhanced damages under § 504(c).”

The court also awarded $8,400 in actual damages tied to the mural’s appraised replacement value.

The ruling turns a decades-old Clover mural into a fresh warning for property owners and artists. It also reinforces that courts can hit willful misattribution with the strongest penalties available.