Auto body shopin Ladson, SC

Let's get to it:

ZACHARY BENDER FROM BEDFORD, PA: How do you think the addition of Patrick Peterson will complement a Pittsburgh defense that already has T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick? ANSWER: With regards to specific schematics, it's all a guess now as to how the Steelers are going to deploy Patrick Peterson, how his addition to the secondary might impact the usage of different coverage schemes, and how his specific skill-set will mesh with the other 10 players on the field. Peterson is a proven NFL starting cornerback, and based on everything he has said since the contract agreement became public indicates he's excited about joining the Steelers. Adding talented, proven players who are committed "volunteers and not hostages" can be nothing but a good thing.

NICK MOSES FROM SIMI VALLEY, CA: So, we lost a good cornerback who was 28, and signed a once great cornerback who is now 32. Did we win or lose in that exchange of cornerbacks? ANSWER: From the tone of your question, I sense you already have made up your mind. You got the respective ages of Cam Sutton (28) and Patrick Peterson (32) correct, but it's not always about a battle of the birth certificates.

In his last 3 seasons, Peterson has 9 interceptions, and in his 6-year career, Sutton has 8. In his last 3 seasons, Peterson has 28 passes defensed, and in his 6-year career, Sutton has 38. And maybe Peterson is 32, but in his entire 12-year career he has never played fewer than 92 percent of his team's defensive snaps over the course of a season, and in his last 5 years, he has played in 99, 97, 99, 98, and 95 percent, respectively. Clearly, he is reliable and available. Also, Peterson's 2-year contract is paying out less total money and less guaranteed money than Sutton's 3-year deal with the Lions. I like Sutton as a player and always have, but Peterson has a better pedigree and still is playing at a high level. I'd label it a good deal for all involved.

THOMAS WARD FROM LADSON, SC: You quoted Dan Rooney as saying something along the lines of, the object is to win Super Bowls and not the draft. But doesn't it make sense that winning drafts will help you win Super Bowls? Would you say that the 1974 draft and the drafts from 1969 up to 1974 were draft wins that led to 4 Super Bowl wins? ANSWER: You completely misconstrued what Dan Rooney meant. "Winning the draft" doesn't refer to the process of evaluating the prospects fairly and accurately and then picking the best players regardless of position to build a contending team. "Winning the draft" is the effort to do the popular thing, to make the attention-grabbing moves, such as making multiple trades up or down in rounds, or picking players based more on Combine workouts than game video. When a team tries to "win the draft," that means it's attempting to curry favor with the analysts who hand out instant grades for a job that cannot be evaluated correctly for some years into the future. You mentioned the 1974 draft class, well here is one instant analysis of the team's performance on the first day, which included rounds 1-through-5 and brought the team Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, Jimmy Allen, and Mike Webster: "The Steelers seem to have come out of the first five rounds of the draft appreciably strengthened at wide receiver but nowhere else. They didn't get a tight end, and the ones remaining are more suspect than prospect. They didn't get a punter, although none of the nation's best collegiate punters went in the first five rounds. They didn't get an offensive tackle who might've shored up what could well become a weakness. What they did get was Swann, who seems to be a sure-pop to help; Lambert, who figures to be the No. 5 linebacker if he pans out; and three question marks." In that critic's assessment, the Steelers failed miserably to "win the draft," even though history now proves that it was the biggest victory in the history of the exercise. Maybe he would've been happier if they had picked a punter.

RON WILLIAMS FROM ASTORIA, NY: The Steelers in my opinion have always had a very smart business outlook when it comes to choosing players, as well as coaches. You have been with the organization for a very long time and have seen a lot of changes throughout the years. My question for you is, do you have a favorite player and who do you think was the best coach? ANSWER: It surprises me to believe these questions even need to be asked, because of the obviousness of the answers. The best coach is Chuck Noll, and the favorite player is Joe Greene.

JEFFREY DIETZ FROM DANVILLE, PA: With the pending signing of Patrick Peterson in free agency, who was the last veteran signee who turned into a major contributor/Pro Bowl-caliber addition? The only one that I can think of was Kevin Greene. ANSWER: Since the Steelers never have used free agency as a preferred mechanism to add top-of-the-depth talent to their roster, there aren't a lot of examples of the team adding unrestricted free agents who then go on to make Pro Bowl-caliber contributions. The most recent player who comes to mind is Joe Haden, who was signed before the preseason finale in 2017. But even though Haden played a lot of good football for the Steelers as a starting cornerback and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2019, he signed with the Steelers after being released by the Browns, and so he wasn't technically classified as an unrestricted free agent. Jeff Hartings, signed in 2001, and James Farrior, signed in 2002, both were voted first-team All-Pro after coming to the Steelers.

TAD TUCKER FROM SPRINGFIELD, IL: I'm expecting a left tackle to be drafted with our picks in the first or second rounds, so do you think Dan Moore Jr. can play right tackle or maybe move to left guard? ANSWER: I see the Steelers using the upcoming draft to add a player capable of playing tackle in the NFL, but I'm not certain in what round that might happen, nor am I sure the rookie will be starting for the regular season opener. It's not realistic to assume/expect 2022's starting tackles – Dan Moore Jr. and Chuks Okorafor – to play 100 percent of the offensive snaps as they did last season, and so having more than two is required. Don't get ahead of yourself. There's a lot of on-field work between today and the 2023 regular season opener. Let the competition unfold, and the starters will reveal themselves.

FRANCIS SURAGE FROM TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA: I read the Bears could possibly try to trade Chase Claypool to another team. My son and I loved Claypool from the moment the Steelers drafted him in 2020, and I was wondering if the team would have any interest in possibly trading to bring him back. ANSWER: Judging it from afar and as a general rule, I imagine trading a player and then bringing him back via another trade so soon afterward would be of little interest to either side.

TOM RENWICK FROM MONROE, MI: What are the advantages of college players having Pro Days, other than more exposure? ANSWER: A Pro Day is a workout for the player on his home turf, and there certainly is a level of comfort there. There also are fewer players participating during a college pro day than at the Combine, which allows for a better opportunity for them to shine on the field and get a better chance to make a positive impression on the NFL representatives attending.

WILL JAHN FROM TRAVERSE CITY, MI: I may be missing something, but why is there such interest in mock drafts? ANSWER: If you are actually trying to tell me you have no interest in a months-long guessing game, all I can say is: Me neither

JAQUAVE VUN FROM ERIE, PA: With the Steelers having the 17th overall pick in the first round and the draft assets to move up, do you think they may move up for a quarterback such as Anthony Richardson, who can learn behind Kenny Pickett? ANSWER: My first reaction was to assume this was some kind of hoax or prank. But if it's not, and you're actually serious about using premium picks in the upcoming draft to trade up in the first round and select a quarterback one year after using a first-round pick on a quarterback so that one of them could learn behind the other, all I have for you is: Please look both ways before crossing the street.

LADSON, S.C. (WCSC) - A free closet is helping young girls in the community find their inner and outer beauty ahead of this year’s prom season.

Tiana’s Closet started in 2018 and creates a shopping experience for girls who may not have the opportunity to get the dress of their dreams.

The closet is made possible by donations of dresses, shoes, jewelry and purses.

Director of Tiana’s Closet Andrea Hampton Mills says every girl deserves a night to remember, and they hope that shopping at Tiana’s Closet can give them that experience.

“Our ultimate goal is for these young ladies to leave with a smile on their faces,” Mills says. “When they walk in the door, they need to feel love, and when they walk out they need to. That’s really what we’re all about is making these girls know that they’re worthy and they are deserving.”

They dressed over 30 girls Saturday from head to toe but also included affirmations for them to remember their self-worth regardless of their appearance. Some of the positive affirmations include self-worth, being resilient, body image and planning for the future.

“It means the world to me,” Tiana’s Closet volunteer Kayla Lofton-Black says. “I remember at that time, I’ve always been a chunky baby, so being able to help young ladies find dresses that fit their body and that makes them feel confident and beautiful; it’s just everything to me. I’m really glad that I got to be a part of this today.”

Tiana’s Closet takes donations all year long to prepare for the event and clean anything that may be dirty before giving it to the girls. They have locations in Ladson, Summerville, Moncks Corner and Holly Hill.

“Just knowing how many girls deserve a night to remember, but sometimes it’s difficult, we want to bridge that gap,” Mills says.

The event was from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, but if you are in need of a prom dress this spring, girls can still shop the closet.

Contact Tiana’s Closet on Facebook or call 762-529-4183 to schedule a shopping appointment between March 5 and 19.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

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Ladson, SC – Two years before Bryan Thrift won the first professional bass tournament of his career on an Original ChatterBait® bladed jig, he had already been quietly testing the lure that would eventually help him ascend to exalted angler status—just as it would soon ignite epic bass bites for thousands of anglers across America. Now, well into the era of catch-weigh-release competition, Thrift has won perhaps the biggest game of the season, adding another $300k to his bankroll— thanks largely to the same category of “off the wall” lure he slung under the radar, all those years ago.

Practicing for the 2023 Major League Fishing REDCREST (aka Bass Pro Tour Championship) at Lake Norman, North Carolina, Thrift had located a sizeable pocket of bass in an obscure ditch well up a creek arm. “That last day of practice, I ran way up the river, found that ditch, and quickly got 7 or 8 bites on a Big Blade™ ChatterBait®,” recalls the Shelby, North Carolina based Z-Man pro.

“Instinctively, I felt this was an area I’d come back to later in the tournament—a place I could catch a quick limit of bass, if necessary,” said Thrift, referring to his eventual game-winning location. Late in the fourth day, while struggling to elicit bites on a swimbait, Thrift returned to his “back pocket” bass hole, only to discover fast-changing conditions.

Matching lure to conditions, Thrift switched to a ½-ounce, Spot Remover-pattern Z-Man ChatterBait® JackHammer™. “Within 25 minutes, I’d caught 13 pounds on the JackHammer. I started thinking, ok, I might have a real chance to win this thing.”

On the fifth and final day, Thrift returned to his river spot, employing the same shad-emulating ChatterBait and a split-tail trailer. “At around 1-o’clock, I ran right to the same ditch and in 20 minutes of slow-crawling the JackHammer, had six bass and another 13 pounds in the boat.” Out-weighing Alton Jones Jr. by over four pounds, Thrift would soon hoist his second major championship trophy (he won the FLW Cup in 2019), winning REDCREST with a total of 46-pounds 12-ounces.

Early in the tourney on his home lake, Thrift struggled and barely made the Knockout Round, placing 19th after the first two days of fishing. As he narrowed the focus on his ChatterBait pattern, Thrift’s lead began to materialize. He led the Knockout Rounds (days 3 and 4) before finishing strong with a masterful bladed jig performance.

Exhibiting impressive versatility with the JackHammer, Thrift plied 6- to 10-foot ditch ledges lined with rocks and stumps. “It was kind of the opposite of burning a ChatterBait through shallow cover,” he noted. “The water up there was pretty cold, down in the low to mid 50s. So, I was really crawling the lure slow, creeping and grinding it along bottom just fast enough to keep that hex-blade thumping and churning, creating that powerful, proven ChatterBait vibration.

“I don’t know if people realize it, but there’s so much more you can do with all the different Z-Man ChatterBaits, because from the beginning, they’ve been so smartly designed and so well balanced. Ron Davis (ChatterBait inventor) passed his knowledge on to Z-Man, who has really taken the bladed jig game to whole other levels. You’ve got that precise sound and vibration that’s unlike any other lure out there. Every component—from blade to connection points to jighead to hooks and skirts—work together to max out the attraction factor. It’s a super precise collection of moving parts that result in special little bass-catching tricks: The blade collides with the head, adding a secondary clacking sound that’s never been duplicated. And depending on trailer selection, you can make a ChatterBait juke and hunt left-right-left—an almost magical fish-catching move.

“To really bring out that natural erratic action,” Thrift adds, “I’ll go with a soft jerkbait style trailer. No extra drag from a broad tail helps activate the blade movement, triggering its natural hunting tendencies. On the retrieve, you can initiate this action simply by using a constant fast retrieve. Or, as I did at REDCREST, begin with a slow-roll and then quickly add two or three fast turns of the reel handle. This action provides a burst of speed that triggers those cool little left- or right-hand turns in lure direction. Then, immediately slow back down to really emphasize the lure’s random, evasive maneuvers.

“While all these subtle tricks are possible with the JackHammer and under-the-radar ChatterBaits like the Project Z™, the king-size Big Blade ChatterBait is the real stand-out in terms of juking action. The oversized hex-blade deflects more water and results in some crazy, random lure action. It’s the bladed jig I usually throw early in the season—especially in dirtier water or if I need to really dial up the thump-factor.”

Having recently won a cool $300k and, as Thrift estimates, over a million dollars total on ChatterBait bladed jigs and counting, you’d be tempted to imagine the Z-Man pro might be ready for a break. “Actually, I’m rigging rods right now, already getting ready for Stage Two of the Bass Pro Tour, just days away.”

Reflecting on what’s become a legendary career of bigtime tournament wins and volumes of bass attached to ChatterBait bladed jigs, Thrift’s thoughts drift back to 2006 and a place called Okeechobee.

“Amazing to recall the way anglers once viewed these lures. Imagine, a ChatterBait being regarded as an off the wall gimmick no one wanted to buy,” Thrift laughs. “At Okeechobee in those early years, I was the only angler throwing an Original ChatterBait. I gave my partner one, too, and we proceeded to catch probably 40 bass, including some giants. Pretty cool that all these seasons later, the same concept—and that same captivating vibration, profile and unique action—still gets eaten by just as many big bass as it did when Ron Davis put one of the first ChatterBaits in my hands.”

A dynamic Charleston, South Carolina based company, Z-Man Fishing Products has melded leading edge fishing tackle with technology for nearly three decades. Z-Man has long been among the industry’s largest suppliers of silicone skirt material used in jigs, spinnerbaits and other lures. Creator of the Original ChatterBait®, Z-Man is also the renowned innovators of 10X Tough ElaZtech softbaits, fast becoming the most coveted baits in fresh- and saltwater. Z-Man is one of the fastest-growing lure brands worldwide.

The Auto Care Association announced the latest recipients of the World Class Technician Award in partnership with the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). The two organizations provide this annual recognition to professional technicians who have attained ASE certification in 22 specific areas during the previous calendar year.

ASE says there are an estimated 887,000 technicians in the United States, with approximately 250,000 holding ASE certification. As of now, there are 2,224 technicians who have earned the respected status of “World Class Technician” since its inception more than 30 years ago, according to ASE.

The class of 2023 World Class Technicians is:

Anthony H. Caputa – Arnold, Mo. Arlen Parker Hart – Athens, Ga. Bobby Leatherman – Stony Point, N.C. Bradley Kilwy – Plano, Texas Brian Ward – Denton, N.C. Bryan Jensen – Apple Valley, Calif. Craig Wilkins – Fillmore, Calif. Dale Collins – Orange Park, Fla. Daniel Hammond – Indianapolis, Ind. Daniel Indovina – Centennial, Conn. David Yentema – Macedon, N.Y. Don Verville – Cape Coral, Fla. Gordon Marr – Yorba Linda, Calif. Gregg Brinlee – Detroit, Mich. Gregory Pheasant – Sparks, Nev. James Moody – Heber Springs, Ark. Jarod Johnson – Lubbock, Texas Jason Kirby – Groveland, Fla. Jeff Autery – St. Louis, Mo. Joel A. Pritchard – Warren, Mich. John Lewins – Nashville, Tenn. John Vaccarello – Detroit, Mich. Jon Ewing –Detroit, Mich. Jorden Ellis – Corpus Christi, Texas Luke Plant – Edmond, Okl. Marcus Buchholz – Detroit, Mich. Mario Monsivais – Houston, Texas Matt York – Canton, Ga. Michael Gavrielides – Winterville, Ga. Nathaniel A. Dillard – Brookwood, Ala. Paul Bostel – Apple Valley, Minn. Paul French – Dallas, Pa. Robert Bridges – Omaha, Neb. Rodney Prince – Henderson, Nev. Roger Abbey – Rochester, N.Y. Russell Andrew Ringling – Warrenton, Va. Ryan Woods – Old Bridge, N.J. Sam Mott – Moncks Corner, S.C. Shawn Williams – Ladson, S.C. Thomas Kepler – Curtice, Ohio Tyler Grahl – Newport, Tenn. Victor Hasstedt – Hollister, Calif. William P. Link –Virginia Beach, Va. William Pickham – Bensonville, Ill.

For more information about the Auto Care Association’s World Class Technician certification qualifications, timing and recognition, visit the association’s World Class Technician webpage.

For more information about ASE and service professional certification, visit ase.com.

Consulates from up to six countries will be at the Exchange Park in Ladson to provide services to their citizens.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Consulates from up to six countries will be at the Exchange Park in Ladson to provide services to their citizens.

Charleston’s first International Consulate Day will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. Consulates will be coming from Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and possibly Argentina and Ecuador to offer services for their citizens.

The Latin Exchange Club of Charleston and the Exchange Club of Charleston say this event is the first time consulates from this many countries have come together in the city.

Organizers say they have been reaching out to different consulates for over a year now trying to get all the countries to come to Charleston at the same time to make it one big fair. They say they expect a turnout of a couple of thousand people.

According to the Latin Exchange Club President Enrique Grace, consulates will provide help for their citizens including passport and birth certificate services, ID card renewals and more. Grace said each consulate is different in what they ask their citizens to bring but any form of identification from your country for proof of identity should be presented.

He said the process should not take longer than 30 minutes and hopes people are able to do walk-ups at their consulate. He says for the Dominican Republic and El Salvador walk-ups are welcome.

The Latin Exchange Club is part of the National Exchange Club which has been around for nearly 115 years. The Latin Exchange Club in Charleston is the first Latin club in its history and they help the Hispanic community due to the language barrier.

Grace said the Hispanic community is growing rapidly in Charleston and in the state of South Carolina and hopes this event creates inclusivity within the Charleston community for all immigrants.

“Part of the idea is to show that Charleston is a welcoming city for foreigners,” Grace said. “Whether it’s Hispanic or other people that are immigrating from other countries. This one is a Hispanic event we hope to bring consulates from other countries as well.”

A free health fair from participating organizations such as Shifa Clinic, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Medical University of South Carolina, Palmetto CAP, and others is open to anyone and will be happening at the same time where the public can receive vaccines, testing, and other resources for people who may need other medical attention.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.