Personal Injury Attorney in Chester, SC

White Knoll’s football program accomplished a lot in the past five seasons.

Now, Victor Floyd hopes to continue that momentum and take the Timberwolves one step further with a state championship.

Floyd, the Chester High coach, was officially introduced as the new head coach at White Knoll on Friday.

“We already have the season theme as the next step,” Floyd said. “I look at this program and the great job coach (Nick) Pelham did and the position it is in right now. That is the only thing is the next step.”

Floyd was thought to have been WK’s top choice to replace Nick Pelham, who left last month to be the first head coach at the new Lake Wylie High School in Clover. Pelham led the Timberwolves to a Region 4-5A title and the program’s first trip to the Class 5A championship in 2023.

White Knoll’s 29 wins over the past three years are the most in a three-year span in school history.

Floyd said the program will be built on his five core principles, called “The Wolf Way.” They include commitment, discipline, sacrifice, toughness and unity.

“Those are the pillars I have used in 20-some-odd years (of being a head coach),” Floyd said. “Young men have taken them right into the world and used them as men. It is a value system that will be successful.”

Floyd has been at Chester for two different stints, from 2004-07, then returning in 2015 after seven seasons at Brunswick High in Georgia. He said that leaving the Cyclone program was tough but couldn’t pass up the chance to coach on the Class 5A level.

Floyd called returning to the Midlands, where he began his head coaching career at Columbia’s CA Johnson High School in 1998, a “full circle moment.”

Floyd led Chester to two state title game appearances in 2007 and 2018. The 2018 squad went 15-0 and won the Class 3A championship. It was Chester’s first state championship since schools were integrated in the 1970s.

“I have been coaching 33 years and 15 have been in Chester,” he said. “It was tough to leave but like I told the young men when I talked to them, we prepare them for opportunities and have to do the same for ourselves.”

Floyd has won 146 games and four region titles in his coaching career, which also included Dudley (N.C.) from 2001-03 and C.A. Johnson. He saw a C.A. Johnson program that went from winless in his first year to five victories two seasons later.

White Knoll went 8-4 last season and made it to the third round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs. The Timberwolves will be in Class 5A next year, with the classification not splitting divisions, and in the same region with Dutch Fork, Chapin, River Bluff and Lexington.

Dutch Fork has won nine state championships in the last 10 seasons.

“There is a huge mountain that everyone talks about that is called Dutch Fork,” Floyd said. “You got to have the mentality or the belief you can get over the hump to take the next step.”

The Timberwolves have several key pieces returning next season, including starting quarterback Jhais McKiever. Floyd referenced McKiever during his interview Friday and the strong nucleus on defense, which lost starting safety James Smith, who transferred to Dutch Fork.

Floyd said his first day at White Knoll likely will be Feb. 12 and he is in process of putting together a coaching staff. He said he plans on bringing some coaches from Chester with him.

With White Knoll’s hire, there are two openings in the Midlands, at A.C. Flora and Pelion.

SC Football Coaching Openings

School — Former Coach — New Coach

AC Flora — Ken Floyd — TBA

Belton-Honea Path — Russell Blackston — TBA

Chapin — Ryan Cole — Cory Helms

Chester — Victor Floyd — TBA

Clover — Perry Woolright — TBA

Colleton County — Adam Kinloch — Bradley Adams

Conway — Josh Pierce — Jody Jenerette

Goose Creek — Jason Winstead — TBA

Green Sea Floyds — Patrick Martin — TBA

Lake Wylie — (School opens in 2026) — N/A — Nick Pelham

Liberty — Paul Sutherland — Bobby Ruff

McCormick — Leroy Collier — TBA

Marion — Brian Hennecy — TBA

May River — Richard Bonneville — TBA

Ninety-Six — Matthew Bennett — Austin Sargent

North Myrtle Beach — Greg Hill — Perry Woolbright

Pelion — Cory Helms — TBA

St. James — Tommy Norwood — Stephen Cagle

Sumter — Mark Barnes — TBA

Union County — Quinnon Isom — Bryan Robinson

Wagener-Salley — Blaze Gillespie — TBA

Whale Branch — Willie White (interim) — TBA

White Knoll — Nick Pelham — Victor Floyd

A winter storm that crashed through the Carolinas over the weekend hit the Rock Hill area Sunday, icing roads, closing schools on Monday, and leaving more than 1,700 customers without power.

Yet officials warned treacherous road conditions will remain as part of a National Weather Service ice storm warning that continues through midday Monday.

Sunday night: Power outages in York, Chester

As of 6 p.m. Sunday there were more than 1,800 ustomer power outages in York, Chester, and Lancaster counties, according to the three main utilities serving the area.

Duke Energy had more than 1,700 of those outages in York County areas south of Rock Hill into eastern Chester County, and more in the city of York, according to Duke’s outage map.

The city of Rock Hill Utilities showed no customers without service, its map showed.

York Electric Cooperative had fewer than 20 customers without power, the utility’s map showed.

People are advised to check outage maps for updated outage locations where service has been disrupted, and potential times of restoration. Duke Energy’s outage map did not show an estimated time for restoration of service to affected customers.

The utilities said before the storm stated they had crews on stand-by to restore power, with expected assistance from crews that came from unaffected states.

Roads: Icy, and Monday, too

Roads in York, Lancaster and Chester counties had a covering of frozen precipitation Sunday, said Master Trooper Hannah Davidson of the S.C. Highway Patrol.

“We expect it to get worse,” Davidson told The Herald.

Troop 4- just a glimpse of the roadway conditions. Please stay home unless you’re an essential worker, the conditions are not ideal to be driving around in. ????:SC5 in Cherokee Co and SC5/SC161 in York. pic.twitter.com/rbz5y7Ig2M

— SCHP Troop 4 (@SCHP_Troop4) January 25, 2026

Emergency officials reported I-77 remained open Sunday with light traffic, according to officials and S.C. Department of Transportation cameras along the interstate.

Anyone who does not have to drive should stay home if possible, Davidson said.

Forecast: Worse before it gets better

Ice accumulations are expected to increase through the afternoon into Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said in its forecast. Conditions will linger “through at least Monday,” according to the weather service.

“Ice covered roadways will become treacherous and impassable,” a Sunday afternoon statement from the NWS said.

An ice storm warning from Winter Storm Fern issued by the NWS remains in effect until Monday afternoon.

The NWS also warned that “significant ice accumulation on power lines and tree limbs may cause widespread and long-lasting power outages.”

Cold temperatures after the storm passes through are forecast for most of the week ahead, the NWS said.

Shelters in York, Chester

York County opened two shelters Saturday night for people in need. One is in Rock Hill at Northside Recreation Center, 900 Annafrel St. and one is in York at 21 White Rose Lane.

People are asked to bring any medications needed and use caution if traveling to the shelters.

Chester County government announced it has opened shelters at Chester Middle School, 1014 McCandless Road, Chester; and the Great Falls War memorial Building, 401 Dearborn St., Great Falls.

Schools, parks, government

All four York County school districts and those in neighborng Lancaster and Chester counties have already closed campuses for Monday and changed to e-learning because of the possibility of frozen roads.

York County officials decided Sunday afternoon to close its offices and facilities on Monday, citing treacherous road conditions.

Rock Hill has closed all city parks, trails and recreation campuses until further notice, city spokesperson Katie Quinn said. The city has also cancelled a “Parade of Champions” planned for Monday to honor state championship athletic teams, and cancelled municipal court for Monday.

The Front Porch Program, which launched 2 years ago, has 42 participating visitors’ centers across the state

COLUMBIA — When people visit Chester County, they often don’t realize everything it has to offer, said Keianna Benson, the local tourism director.

Benson hoped becoming part of the state’s Front Porch Program, a network of local welcome centers that get help from the state in promoting local attractions, will remedy that. In November, Chester County joined 41 other cities and counties in the 2-year-old program, which offers training and resources to every part of the state.

Located about halfway between Columbia and Charlotte, the county of 30,000 has two state parks, a skydiving center and plenty of local places to eat and shop, Benson said. The visitors’ center promotes all of those activities to anyone who stops by, whether they live out of town or locally, she said.

“I want us to be an all-inclusive tourist hub,” Benson said.

The idea is similar to that of the state’s nine major welcome centers, which offer brochures, maps and staff who can help plan an itinerary for any visit to the state, said Heather Harley, who oversees the program. Along with suggesting the state’s large cities, employees at the welcome centers often direct some of the 5 million visitors they see each year to what they consider undiscovered gems in smaller, less-traveled parts of the state.

“If we can get just a portion of that into these smaller towns, then we’ve done our jobs,” Harley said.

Having visitors’ centers in those locations, however, gives a local’s perspective the welcome centers can’t offer. The people running the local visitors’ centers typically know the area better than anyone, and they can help a visitor find more out-of-the-way destinations or curate a more specific plan, Harley said.

“We named it the Front Porch Program to emulate what we strive to be, which is that front porch of South Carolina, that happy smile, that welcoming, ‘Come on, have a seat, sit a spell’ feeling that you get when you visit somebody’s home,” Harley said.

For cities and counties, joining the Front Porch Program means easier access to resources and more promotion from the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, Harley said.

After applicants submit the $75 fee, a state-level staff member will tour what they have to offer, evaluating how many brochures advertise local activities, whether public bathrooms are available and the friendliness of staff.

If a location passes muster, the state agency will give it a plaque officially designating it the visitors’ center for the area and add it to the map of statewide spots to visit.

“Really, this is just more visibility,” Benson said.

The visitors’ center’s staff can join special training opportunities usually reserved for state agency employees, which can help them run the centers and come up with more ideas to drive tourism, Harley said.

For the smaller towns the program targets, such as Chester (with a population of about 5,300), more tourism can mean big economic benefits, Benson said. Making sure everyone who comes through has a good experience, including knowing where to go and meeting friendly people, they could become a repeat customer, Benson said.

“It’s very important for us to leave Chester in the back of their head as a place they want to visit another time,” Benson said.

The network of visitors’ centers in so many different places became an asset when Tropical Storm Helene struck in late September 2024, knocking out power for more than 1.2 million homes and businesses and killing 49 people in South Carolina.

Visitors’ centers that still had power turned into hubs where locals could charge their phones or come seeking non-emergency help, and the centers’ employees reached out to each other to ask for ways they could help, Harley said.

“The day-to-day things are amazing, but when you can really have that ability to lift each other up, I think that’s really when it changes how you feel about a program,” she said.