Roaring Eagles All Articles

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Clover has become the first municipality in York County to declare Stage 2 water restrictions as an ongoing drought continues to strain the region’s water supply. What’s Happening? The drought — the worst to hit the region in more than a decade — has pushed Lake Wylie water levels 15 to 17 inches below average, exposing submerged obstacles that many boaters don’t realize are closer to the surface than usual. The lower levels have triggered a spike in rescue calls and boat repairs as temperatures rise. Forecasters have not issued any significant rainfall outlook for the coming weeks, raising concerns that conditions will worsen heading into summer. As reported on WBTV, Catawba Riverkeeper Brandon Jones explained boat rescue calls have increased 40% since the drought began. Jones said water flow into Lake Wylie has dropped from more than 500 liters per day to about 150 liters as of April 20. He added that current water levels are the lowest the lake has seen in 80 years, with docks now sitting above the waterline. Without significant rainfall, levels may continue to drop. Effects of the Drought TowBoatUS reports a surge in calls as shallow water conditions create hazards across the lake. “We’ve had a huge influx of groundings and low water-related incidents here on the lakes as the water has been low,” said Logan Thomas, a captain with TowBoatUS. Boaters attempting to dock must now wade through shallow water on foot. Motorboat Mechanics on Lake Wylie has repaired dozens of damaged propellers in the past two weeks alone as exposed rocks, trees, stumps, and other debris increasingly cause hull and propeller damage. Repairs to damaged propellers and lower units can cost boat owners hundreds to thousands of dollars, and mechanics warn that repair timelines are growing as demand rises. The drought’s severity has forced officials to close boat ramps, including those at Allison Creek, as of early May. For now, the boat ramp at Buster Boyd Bridge remains open. The Lake Wylie Marine Commission is closely monitoring conditions and may take additional action if water levels continue to fall. Current Solutions Experts are currently encouraging boaters to plan careful routes, stay within marked channels, and consider towing coverage. TowBoatUS also has four boats out across the lake 24/7 and encourages calling them anytime anyone is on the lake boating. A big solution that York County Utilities has come up with is encouraging residents to reduce water usage. Although not mandatory and not restricting it, it is recommended that residents in York County volunteer to reduce water usage. This includes limiting watering to no more than two days per week, reducing washing down of sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking lots, tennis courts, and other hard-surfaced areas, reducing washing down of buildings for purposes other than immediate fire protection, and reducing residential washing of vehicles. Use car washes that use recycled water instead of washing vehicles at home. This solution is made to protect the local water supply and limit the future use of other mandatory restrictions. The Catawba Wateree Drought Water Management Group plans meetings on May 16th. As of May 1st, water restrictions have been placed in Clover and York, and as of May 5th, Fort Mill has implemented water restrictions. Residents in Clover and Fort Mill will follow a fixed water schedule. Properties north of Highway 55 are only allowed to water on Wednesday and Sunday nights, while those south of the highway can water on Tuesday and Saturday nights. They are responsible for conserving water and meeting the goal of decreasing water usage by 15% of normal use. Only using the water for necessary usage, public safety, or maintaining regulatory compliance. While Fort Mill doesn’t follow a fixed schedule, they are encouraged to limit irrigation and watering during peak daytime hours. York and Clover's declaration of stage 2 to limit water will mean that residents will voluntarily limit their water use in their household, using only 300 gallons a day, as they enter stage 2 of the drought as of May 6th.

Men's and Women's Lacrosse End of Season

Clover S.C.-Six Flock traffic cameras have recently been installed in the Clover area. These cameras have raised questions about people’s fourth amendment right to privacy and what data is really being collected. This controversial topic has brought up many benefits and concerns. After much research, the cameras have been found to not violate the fourth amendment. They are owned by a private company and placed on private property not owned by the government. Since they are not implemented by the government they are therefore not violating any laws or amendments. According to Brittany Farr, a previous town council member, “Well, that may be true, but I also shouldn’t have to forfeit all my privacy just to go out in public.” She later explains “...I would argue on that, that if the government is seeking to have those…public, private partnerships, that is where it would be a violation of the Fourth Amendment because the government is supposed to protect that. So if they’re outsourcing to a private company, that in and of itself would violate us.” According to eyesonflock.com, data is deleted after thirty days. Information about what organizations the data is shared with is not provided because it is not shared publicly from the Flock company. According to https://transparency.flocksafety.com/clover-sc-pd, the policies between Flock and the Clover PD are shared. These policies include that the cameras detect license plates and vehicles, not facial recognition, gender, or race. The Acceptable Use Policy states that data is not shared with third parties and is only used by the Clover PD for law enforcement. The cameras are not used for traffic and immigration enforcement, or intimidation. All data that is stored requires valid reasoning. Farr describes more about the cameras by saying, “...it’s a huge, huge network, and these things are able to, through AI, essentially, do pattern recognition, predictive policing, you know, it recognizes, makes, models, color, and any anomaly on a vehicle, even roof racks. So if it’s only looking at license plates, how can it differentiate a roof rack?” After September eleventh the government implemented the Patriot Act. This act caused Americans to give up some of their privacy for safety overall. Now with new technology there seems to be no boundaries. Farr explains “...that’s what I keep coming back to, is that there’s…no framework in place. We’ve just implemented something and not had any oversight in place whatsoever.” She describes how representatives of the people push things though because it sounds like a good idea or it’s considered “safe” and helps with our safety. Farr continues by saying “I just want to see it balance, because anything that can be used for good can be used for bad and anything that can be used for bad can also be used for good, I’m not naive to that fact, but there had to be some sort of framework that protects everyone involved and allows for accountability when things are misused.” After attempting to reach out to the Clover Police Department with no response, Farr recounts “There is some incentivization for officers to speak with other people in the community, like businesses, churches, neighborhoods, to expand this network of cameras, and they are planning to request six more in this coming budget.” The dates for this upcoming budget public hearing have not been planned yet, but they will be posted on the Town of Clover website when determined. Other states, like Colorado, have proposed bills creating stricter access to Flock cameras for law enforcement officers according to https://kdvr.com. As of right now there are no passed laws in regards to the Town of Clover, but two bills have been proposed in the last legislative session in 2025 according to Farr. She points out House Bill 4675 which has the most points to it but is still weak in language. She says “I do have some friends that work with their local GOPs that are looking into that legislation and trying to see how it can be strengthened…” Farr dives into the philosophy around representative government by describing, “...if we don’t pay attention to what the people we voted for are doing, lots can happen and that can happen fast and not in our favor.”

CLOVER, S.C.-Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now a near-universal digital utility in businesses and everyday life. With the rapid growing usage of AI, more databases, housed in data centers, are needed. The government plans to invest around $500 billion in the Stargate project. This initiative is a part of the Trump Administration’s private deal to “revolutionize” infrastructure for the leading AI corporations such as: Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank. QTS Data Centers are one of the largest and fastest growing hubs for large-scale AI, cloud computing and high-performance computing workloads. QTS currently has 14 new data centers in construction in addition to their near two dozen running locations. In 2023, QTS bought land in Lake Wylie and recently expanded that land to around 143 acres. The data center will cover this land, spanning across Handsmill Highway and Paraham Road. According to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), larger data centers can consume 5 million gallons of water daily, which is about equivalent to a town with a population of 30,000. To add, data centers must use fresh water, which is already scarce with only 3% of all water being fresh. For data centers to function without overwhelming their computers, they must use hefty amounts of water to cool their systems. Data centers in dryer locations pose a threat to the local water supply. However, QTS states their water will come from York County Water & Sewer, which is Lake Wylie/Catawba River water that is treated and filtered, then purchased from the City of Rock Hill. Unlike traditional data centers, QTS uses a closed loop system, which means water is recycled over and over through the system. This means that water is a one-time fill for the initial start of operations. After operations begin, the system “does not withdraw, consume, or discharge water” says Karen Cohen, the QTS Senior Public Relations Manager. QTS says after that they only use another 20,000 gallons a month for appliances like toilets and sinks. QTS data centers guarantee around 5 gigawatts of power to their privately signed customers. To put this into perspective, 4.8 gigawatts could power around 3.25 million homes struggling to pay electricity bills. QTS keeps the specific power needs of each data center confidential for security purposes. Global warming is not a “new” topic whatsoever, but what is new is the exponential rate at which it is happening. 2024 and 2025 have been recorded as the most dramatic and warmest years for climate change. 2024 was also one of the “big boom” years for generative AI. Since then, there have been thousands of data centers built, with plans for more. It can be predicted, and expected, that climate change will continue to be affected negatively. According to their website, QTS is trying their best to not contribute to carbon emissions and global warming. They work to become carbon neutral and minimize environmental impacts. QTS promised full transparency with Clover to maintain mutual trust, keeping our community up to date with the data center construction. Many believe QTS has not earned the trust of the Clover community due to suspicion that our County Council is not being forthcoming. York County Council Member Andy Litten has talked and posted about this topic on Facebook, for those looking for more information. On an economic scale, QTS should benefit Clover. Their website states a study “found that between 2017 and 2023 the industry’s total fiscal support to federal, state and local governments increased from $66.2 billion to $162.7 billion”. In spite of this, some are concerned about QTS paying a set fee in lieu of taxes. This means they will pay a set fee instead of normal property taxes for a contracted amount of time. However, Cohen says that the data center is “expected to boost regional growth and advancements”. QTS is also working to disrupt the community as little as possible. There are many projects in development in the Clover and Lake Wylie area, making many concerned about having yet another construction site. The base development is predicted to be complete in 2027. As development is speeding up, QTS says they will minimize impacts regarding dust, roads, cleaning, and traffic. QTS is only a small part of South Carolina’s electricity cooperatives plan to up the rate of data center projects, according to the SC Data Center Development Act. Every data center company operates differently with different regulations and precautions. Countless centers pump dangerous chemicals into the air and waste water, but some take the other side and work to be as environmentally friendly as possible. From the information shared, QTS positions itself as the second type of data center. With everything said, the future is uncertain, but the Clover community should go into this new era with an open mind. QTS seems to be working to set a new standard to oppose the current stigma and backlash on data centers.

A new bill has been passed and is awaiting Governor McMaster’s approval, and it could change how minors use social media and screen time overall. The South Carolina Social Media Regulation Act passed the General Assembly and was ratified by the State Senate. Aimed to protect minors and set restrictions on large tech companies, the goal would require those companies to provide tools to limit addictive features. If passed, this would allow parents to restrict their child's access to social media platforms mostly during the later hours, from 10 P.M. to 6 A.M. Another goal of the bill is to limit social media during school hours. This bill was passed by lawmakers to make companies give more power to parents. The goal is more parental control and to protect minors from harmful or explicit content when they are online. This also limits how much data social media companies can collect on minors and limits platforms that earn more than 25 Million dollars from doing so. This won’t be the lawmakers' only move as they plan to further push to make tighter protection for minors. The bill raised concerns for places such as small-owned businesses that rely on social media to promote products. An additional concern is reaching customers through social media. It would be addressed as only targeting for one demographic and would not damage any small businesses. Under the new proposed law, social media companies would be charged for handling minors' data, such as collecting and sharing. If improperly reported data comes the social company is charged. They would need to make reports from third-party auditors detailing features and the minors' activity. Failure to do so cost them. Governor McMaster will review the bill being passed once it hits his desk, and if signed, the new law will take effect. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was sent to the Governor on February 4, 2026, but it will take effect as soon as Governor McMaster signs it off.