Spartanburg City News

Latest Episodes:

Arts Roundup Podcast: Local musicians cover Rolling Stones classics at Hub-Bub, November 15 Oct 31, 2013

Show notes

What's going on with our friends at Hub-Bub in November? Today on the podcast, we sit down with Executive Director Cate Ryba and Showroom Director Stephen Long to find out. On November 15, there might be a little "Sympathy for the Devil" at The Showroom, or maybe even a "Street Fighting Man" and a "Honky Tonk Woman" riding around on a pair of "Wild Horses." We can't say for sure, because the set list for the upcoming "A Stones Throw" event, featuring local musicians covering songs by The Rolling Stones, is top secret. What we can say for sure is that this is the best chance you'll have all month to see some of Spartanburg's greatest musicians all in one place. Later in the month, Hub-Bub is hosting the 14th edition of one of Spartanburg's best recurring events, Talk20. Always one the most illuminating night's in town, Talk20 features 10 presenters distilling their ideas and passions down to 20 slides...with just 20 seconds to talk about each one. The results being often hilarious, often heartwarming, and always illuminating. Throw in Holiday Handmade Hoopla at the end of the month (on Small Business Saturday) to put a dent in that holiday shopping list, and you've got a trifecta of November events you don't want want to miss.

City News Podcast: Breaking Down the New Downtown Streetscaping Plan Oct 30, 2013

Show notes

Big changes are in the works for some of Downtown Spartanburg's most important streets. At their most recent meeting, City Council gave approval to a $2.3 million streetscaping plan that eight projects to be completed over the next two years. Among the plans highlights are extending the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail into Downtown, providing a curb-protected bike lane for Converse Street, and a adding pedestrian-only traffic signal and crosswalk across St. John Street in front of the Chapman Cultural Center and USC-Upstate George Dean Johnson Jr. School of business. The plan also calls for the chicanes along E. Main Street downtown to be straightened, and for sidewalk and other improvements along portions of N. Church Street and Daniel Morgan Ave. Today on the podcast, we sit down with Assistant City Manager Chris Story to talk get the details on the new plan, both the nuts and bolts and the larger view of its importance to the future of Downtown Spartanburg.

Arts Roundup Podcast: 'Hub for the Holidays' book signing to be held Nov. 3 Oct 29, 2013

Show notes

Next month is a busy one for our friends over at the Hub City Writers Project, with multiple great events to add to your literary event calendar every week. Though a 10-minute podcast isn't nearly enough time to get to all of that, we sat down with HCWP Executive Director, Betsy Tetor to talk about the biggest events coming next month, including the release and signing for a new book of Christmas stories by Spartanburg writers called Hub for the Holidays to be held at the Chapman Cultural Center on November 3, from 2-4 p.m, and a chance later in the month to meet Spartanburg's on canine celebrity, Chaser, a Border Collie who's remarkable ability to distinguish over 1,000 different objects has gotten her on The Today Show, PBS, and the front page of The New York Times. Listen and enjoy!

Arts Roundup Podcast: Chapman Cultural Center to host arts festival October 26 Oct 24, 2013

Show notes

No matter what time of year it is, there's always something going on at the Chapman Cultural Center. Today we're sitting down with Chapman's President and CEO, Jennifer Evins to talk about some of the great offerings coming up this month. From a Cultural Arts Festival on October 26, to a performance of Dial "M" for Murder by the Spartanburg Little Theatre running from November 8-17, to a wonderful exhibit of work by artists from Switzerland, the schedule at Chapman is truly packed. So check out the podcast below, and for more details about their upcoming events, visit the Chapman Cultural Center's calendar page.

City News Podcast: Talking Land Conservation with SPACE Executive Director, Andrew Waters Oct 22, 2013

Show notes

You may have never heard of the Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), but you've almost certainly heard of their work. Dedicated to preserving natural habitat and greenspace throughout Spartanburg County, the organization owns and maintains The Cottonwood Trail, a 115-acre urban preserve and trail system on our city's east side, as well as other preserves in Spartanburg County such as the Chinquapin Greenway and Glendale Shoals Preserve. Since its founding in 1989, SPACE has protected thousands of acres in our area through private land conservation efforts. Today on the podcast, we sit down with SPACE Executive Director Andrew Waters to talk about the organization's work in Spartanburg. Along the way we get a better understanding of what terms like "conservation easement" mean, and talk for a bit about the organization's annual fundraiser, "Shuck & Stomp," which is being held at Hub-Bub's Showroom on November 7.

City News Podcast: Council member Sterling Anderson on City's $2.5 million parks plan (Part Two) Oct 16, 2013

Show notes

As you may have already heard, at their meeting on Monday, City Council gave approval to a plan that calls for $2.58 million in new parks and recreation investment throughout the city. Plans include improving and up to a number of City facilities such as an overflow parking lot and athletic field for the CC Woodson Community Center, a new activity center for Stewart Park, and a new neighborhood park on the westside. Other items include $750,000 for bicycle and pedestrian trails, and a slew of neighborhood park improvements. Today on the podcast, we have part two of our conversation with Council member Sterling Anderson, and we're talking more about this exciting new parks and recreation plan, discussing the $750,000 in the plan allocated for bicycle and pedestrian trails, and touching a bit on the City's overall vision for these kinds of amenities in our community. Listen below and enjoy.

City News Podcast: Council member Sterling Anderson on City's $2.5 million parks plan (Part One) Oct 15, 2013

Show notes

As you may have already heard, last night's City Council meeting was an importantant one, as Council gave approval to a plan that calls for $2.58 million in new parks and recreation investment throughout the city. Plans include improving and up to a number of City facilities such as an overflow parking lot and athletic field for the CC Woodson Community Center, a new activity center for Stewart Park, and a new neighborhood park on the westside. Other items include $750,000 for bicycle and pedestrian trails, and a slew of neighborhood park improvements. Today on the podcast, we have the first of a two-part conversation with Council member Sterling Anderson to talk about this historic quality of life investment by the City, focusing on the first ever neighborhood park to be built in his westside district, and some of the tough, fiscally responsible decisions that allowed Council to move forward with this bold new step in improving our community's parks and recreation facilities. So give a listen, and be sure to look for part two of the conversation tomorrow.

City News Podcast: Spartanburg Community College Downtown Campus exceeds enrollment expectations Oct 10, 2013

Show notes

It has been a while since we had Assistant City Manager Chris Story on the podcast, and this week we rectify that situation. On the agenda is news that Spartanburg Community College recently opened their downtown campus and has already exceeded its expected enrollment with around 750 new students taking classes in their freshly renovated historic location. What does it mean to have hundreds of new college students in Downtown Spartanburg? How does that expand on Spartanburg's position as a "college town," with institutions of higher learning seeminly around every corner of our city? Along the way we talk about the groundswell of recent small business investment in the downtown area, with unique new businesses like Olive and Then Some opening their doors and winners of the Main Street Challenge getting their spaces ready to go. What does that new small business investment bring to our community, and how might it help set the table for further growth? Listen to the podcast as we try to sort it out.

City News Podcast: 'City Walks' to highlight active living opportunities in neighborhoods Oct 03, 2013

Show notes

A new series of six community walks, led by City Council members and planned for various neighborhoods throughout the City, will kick off on Tuesday, October 15. The series of walks, which have been organized by the City of Spartanburg’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, are open to all citizens. The walks, which will take place in each of the six City Council districts, will start from various locations and will cover between 1 and 3 miles. The walks will include landmarks such as the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, Hatcher Garden, and Duncan Park. Three of the six planned walks have been set: District 1 (represented by Councilmember W. Sterling Anderson II) Tuesday, October 15, 6 p.m. Meet at Hatcher Garden, 820 John B. White Sr. Blvd. District 4 (represented by Councilmember Cate Brandt Ryba) Saturday, October 19, 9 a.m. Meet at Bull Hawg’s BBQ, 840 South Pine St. District 3 (represented by Councilmember Robert Reeder) Saturday, November 9, 10 a.m. Meet at Henry Street trailhead of the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail Details for the other three walks will be announced soon. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission was seated by Spartanburg City Council in 2011 to assist the City in making improvements to the transportation infrastructure intended to make it easier and safer to bike and walk. The Commission hosts events, promotes the use of the City’s existing trails, and develops ways to measure rates of biking and walking. The City contracts with local non-profit Partners for Active Living to staff the commission and provide expertise. This week on the podcast, we sit down with Ned Barrett, Partnership Coordinator with Partners for Active Living, to talk about the upcoming walks, For more information, contact him at (864) 598-9638 or nbarrett@active-living.org, or Randy Cooksey, chair of the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, at (864) 621-2662.

City News Podcast: Converse College President Betsy Fleming on school's tuition reduction Sep 24, 2013

Show notes

A couple of weeks ago, Converse College announced that it would slash tuition by 43 percent starting in the fall of 2014, making huge waves in the education community. On this week's podcast, we sit down with Converse President Betsy Fleming to get an in-depth look at what prompted the decision to cut tuiton and how Converse plans to maintain its celebrated high education standards while positioning itself as an even more attractive option for prospective students.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected