Charleston City Paper 09/12/2025 - 29.7

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Explosion of kratom worries Lowcountry experts, leaders

Charleston’s vape shops aren’t just selling flavored nicotine cartridges anymore. Kratom, a plant that historically has been used as a homeremedy painkiller, has exploded in popularity among smoke shops and other dens as a marketable, legal substitute for opium.

“Kratom is sinister,” said one Lowcountry professional who wished to remain unnamed to protect his family’s privacy. “I went on a personal crusade to announce to everybody that this is wrong.”

The plant contains several psychoactive compounds, including 7-OH, a powerful opioid that can be synthesized or concentrated. This compound is then often mixed into cocktails at local kava bars and smoke shops or added to gummies and sold at gas stations and convenience stores.

While 7-OH products offer a cheap and powerful opioid-like high, other low-dose extracts are less potent and safer, according to local smoke shop Airavata owner Kyle Domazalski.

“We know that being in this counter-culture industry, once people start messing with it, stupid things happen,” Domazalski told the Charleston City Paper. “All the manufacturing, distribution, abuse — we didn’t want any part of that. We’ve never sold

concentrated 7-OH products, and we turn people away all the time who are looking specifically for it.”

But the way more powerful kratom products are marketed is particularly problematic, many say. Signs and posters blaze “KRATOM” in big, bright letters at stores from Mount Pleasant to Summerville. This emphatic marketing, the source said, combined with a lack of general knowledge from the community, poses a real threat.

“I spoke to four Mount Pleasant police officers and asked them about kratom,” he said. “None of them were aware of what it was.”

First-hand experiences

Donna Brunetti, a licensed mental health counselor who works with patients struggling with addiction, said 7-OH can be just as harmful as any opiate when abused. And its availability makes abuse very easy, she said.

“I work with a lot of people who have alcohol abuse problems, and one of the biggest challenges in their mind is that alcohol is

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Kratom sales restricted this year by new S.C. law

Americans are spending about $1.5 billion a year on highly-concentrated kratom-infused products like energy drinks and gummies at vape shops and in convenience stores all across South Carolina and the nation — products that a growing number of industry critics are calling “gas station heroin.” And public health officials are starting to sound the alarm — particularly with regard to products containing 7-OH, a powerful

opioid compound that can be synthesized or concentrated from the plant.

“7-OH is an opioid that can be more potent than morphine,” U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary said July 29. “We need regulation and public education to prevent another wave of the opioid epidemic.”

Currently, kratom and its derivatives are lightly regulated under a patchwork of state laws. Here in S.C., for instance, kratom sales were restricted to adults 21 and older

Taco Boy dropped from fatal DUI lawsuit

Taco Boy restaurant has been removed from a civil lawsuit filed in connection with a fatal crash in which a newlywed bride died hours after her wedding. Three others, including her husband, were hurt in the April 2023 accident that involved a golf cart.

Taco Boy co-founder and CEO Karalee Fallert, said this week that the matter was resolved and “the facts have exonerated Taco Boy and our team.”

The driver involved, Jamie Komoroski, was charged with one count of reckless homicide resulting in death and three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death.

A civil lawsuit, filed by groom Aric Hutchinson, alleged that Komoroski, a Taco Boy employee, was pressured to participate in a work function earlier in the evening of the crash in which there was excessive drinking. Taco Boy, however, argued Komoroski did not step foot into the business that day.

According to media reports, court documents filed Tuesday dismissed Taco Boy and others but did not end the rest of the case. — City Paper staff

3

Number of cases of measles confirmed in South Carolina by state officials since July. Across the nation, more than 1,400 people this year have contracted the disease, which was previously eliminated thanks to vaccinations, according to reports. Source: S.C. Department of Public Health

CP GROCERY TRACKER

under a law that went into effect on July 11 of this year.

Meanwhile in response to a July FDA request, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is studying whether to classify 7-OH — or 7-hydroxymitragynine as it’s formally known — as a Schedule I drug like LSD or heroin, which would essentially make products containing the compound illegal under federal law.

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Numbers are based on weekly average costs nationwide.

Milk (half-gallon): $2.45 ( $0.14) Cheese (8-ounce block): $2.88 (

FDA; Getty Images
Local experts and community leaders say the intense marketing of kratom products is a threat to public health

S.C. Senate to take up bill to completely ban abortion

Victims of rape and incest would no longer have access to abortion in South Carolina if a bill set for discussion in the S.C. Senate Medical Affairs Committee on Oct. 1 ever becomes law.

Sponsored by Anderson County GOP Sen. Richard Cash with cosponsors Sens. Rex Rice, R-Pickens, and Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood, the so-called Unborn Child Protection Act would replace the state’s six-week abortion ban with a complete ban at conception.

The proposal also would classify abortion as a felony on a par with homicide, meaning that anyone convicted of violating the proposed law could face the death penalty. Additionally, current exceptions for rape, incest and fetal anomalies would be eliminated.

Under the proposal, people also could face 30 years in prison for a variety of related violations, from performing an abortion or helping a person to get an abortion to taking a minor out of state to get the procedure.

The bill, however, has somewhat unclear language related to the fate of South Carolina adult women who receive abortions — in or out of the state. But in a Sept. 4 press release, the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina suggested that it would, in fact, “allow imprisonment up to 30 years for a person having an abortion.”

Also in the proposed bill: the possible criminalization of several popular forms of birth control — including many IUDs and emergency “Plan B” contraceptives — as well as restrictions on residents’ right to share information regarding abortion access.

Specifically, the bill would make it a felony to knowingly provide information that could facilitate an abortion. That would include telling a pregnant woman

about abortion services over the phone, maintaining a website with abortionrelated instructions or making referrals to abortion providers.

In a Sept. 9 interview, League of Women Voters of S.C. Vice President Lynn Teague called those provisions “unconstitutional.”

“The League strongly opposes this bill on many grounds, including the unreasonable restraints on speech, which are clearly a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” Teague said.

Cash introduced the bill in February, telling his colleagues that “human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection.” He later added, “I don’t see how any of us could be satisfied with having a law on the books that does not actually protect human life beginning with the biological beginnings of human life, which is fertilization.”

But ACLU-SC Advocacy Director Courtney Thomas called the legislation “unconstitutional and deadly.”

“This bill would criminalize medical care, invade our privacy, and place unconstitutional restrictions on speech, travel and association,” Thomas said in a release. Any lawmaker who cares about the health and safety of South Carolinians should be fighting tooth and nail to stop this bill.”

South Carolina’s current six-week ban is already one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the industrialized world, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Alternatives for S.C. women seeking reproductive health care

While a proposed bill in the S.C. Senate would totally ban abortions in South Carolina without exception, it also seeks potentially unconstitutional restrictions on speech, contraceptive access and in vitro fertilization.

Senate Bill 323, sponsored by Anderson County GOP Sen. Richard Cash, would replace the state’s existing and already controversial and restrictive six-week abortion ban. According to health care experts, many women do not realize they are pregnant before six weeks.

The so-called Unborn Child Protection

Act, which would make any abortion a felony, also proposes to make it unlawful to provide information about abortion, including via a website or phone call. In light of the threat to free speech, here is information for South Carolina women seeking reproductive care:

• Talk to your health care provider about contraceptive options to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Contraceptive options include, but are not limited

Iconic Angel Oak poised for top honor

When an 18-year-old Septima P. Clark graduated from Avery Normal Institute in 1916, she landed a teaching job on Johns Island that was so isolated that it was only accessible by boat at high tide.

During recreation breaks during school days, Clark and another teacher at the Promised Land School loaded their pupils into ox-drawn carts for a short trip along Bohicket Road to the historic Angel Oak.

The tree was a quiet oasis in a racially segregated Charleston County, Clark recalled in a 1980 recorded interview with Ruth Miller and Linda Felkel, authors of The Angel Oak Story

“Segregation was at its height, but the tree was not segregated. It was open to everybody,” said Clark, a civil rights hero to many. At the tree, the children played after they lunched on grits and oysters.

Today, the mammoth live oak, believed to be at least 500 years old, remains popular among children and adults who gaze at its high, arching limbs and low boughs that kiss the ground.

New recognition

In recent years, the Angel Oak has been tagged with honors to raise awareness of it to foster more public support for its preservation. The Angel Oak could soon receive another recognition — inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Lowcountry Land Trust and the S.C. Department of Archives and History are preparing an application to the U.S. Park Service to add the tree to the national registry.

If the Angel Oak is selected, it would become the first stand-alone tree in South Carolina and one of a few in the country to be included in the prestigious list, said Virginia Harness, an architectural historian at S.C.a Department of Archives and History.

In awe of the tree

Yvonne Clark-Rhines visited the Angel Oak with her grandmother, Septima Clark, who became a legendary educator and civil rights activist who hosted the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at her President Street home. King called Clark “the mother of the movement.”

If her grandmother’s civil rights activities didn’t take her away from Charleston, Clark-Rhines recalled that she would be part of the family’s Sunday outings to the Angel Oak. Her family, she said, “was in awe of the tree.”

The Angel Oak on Johns Island could soon be added to the National Register of Historic Places. If it is placed on the prestigious list, it will be the only tree in South Carolina with the national honor.

If the tree is added to the National Register, Clark-Rhines said her grandmother “would be very proud of South Carolina for bestowing this honor on the tree because it meant so much to her.”

Clark-Rhines, who lives near Atlanta, is co-author of the children’s book Teaching for Change: How Septima Clark Led the Civil Rights Movement to Voting Justice The book is scheduled to be released in January 2026.

Feel the energy

Samantha Siegel, Angel Oak Preserve director at Lowcountry Land Trust, also has a love affair with the tree since she first saw it in 2008. Siegel modestly said it was her idea to seek the national registry nomination.

The national honor, she said, could help in the Land Trust’s efforts to raise $13 million to create a preserve around the still-growing tree to protect it and to tell its history. So far, the nonprofit organization is halfway through its goal.

“I was shocked at how little people know of the tree’s history,” Siegle lamented. “There is no cultural interpretation at the site.” Each year, more than 400,000 people visit the tree, but few of them know it stands on the site of the former Angel Plantation, she said.

Architectural historian Brittany Tulla, owner of BVL Historic Preservation Research in Charleston, prepared the nomi-

Blotter of the Week

nation application for the tree.

“I wanted to know whose footsteps have been around it,” Siegel said with curiosity. “You can just feel the energy there.”

Ecology meets culture

The land trust is finalizing an agreement with the city of Charleston to determine how each will care for the tree, which sits in a two-acre park owned by the city, Siegel said. The city is the custodian of the tree, and the trust owns 35 acres that surround the park.

The city’s park and tree administrator David Grant and Bartlett Tree Experts will take care of the tree, she explained. The Land Trust will oversee public programs at the tree, which is in good shape in spite of its age, she added.

Plans to protect the tree could include closing Angel Oak Road in 2026 because the tree’s roots have extended to it. “We need a pervious parking lot within a fiveminute walk to the tree instead of driving up to it,” she said.

Other grand trees and freshwater wetlands in the preserve provide clues to why the Angel Oak has lived so long, she said. “This tree is not living alone,” Siegel said. “The tree is a unique place where ecology and culture meet.”

A half-century after Clark took her students to the Angel Oak in ox-drawn carts, legendary civil rights leader Esau Jenkins drove students and visitors to Johns Island in his buses.

Jenkins was amazed at the tree’s size, its age and that it was still growing, said Jenkins’s daughter, Elaine Jenkins. “He viewed it as a wonder of nature.”

A West Ashley couple on Sept. 2 reportedly attempted to steal a bag full of clothing from a Walmart in West Ashley but decided to stop for McDonald’s on the way out. The quick bite gave security enough time to review the store’s video footage, confirm shoplifting and contact Charleston police, who later charged them with shoplifting.

And another thing!

Two North Charleston kids on Sept. 6 reportedly entered a Commander Road man’s front year, kicked his bicycle and then ran off. But just a little later, the kids returned, stole the bicycle — and another one — and then fled again, this time on wheels. North Charleston police are still investigating.

Geez, kid

Mount Pleasant police on Sept. 1 stopped a truck for speeding on Coleman Boulevard. When speaking to the driver, however, police found more than 30 sealed cans of alcoholic beverages as well as one open container. All of the occupants admitted to being under 21, but one passenger claimed all of the drinks were his and he had been drinking in the truck the night before. He was ticketed for possessing alcohol, and the driver was cited for speeding.

by

The Blotter is taken from reports filed with area police departments between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6.

Go online for more even more Blotter

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legal. ‘I’m not doing anything bad,’ they say. ‘I’m not doing anything illegal.’ And this is the same principle.

“Knowing what people have gone through to break these addictions and knowing that this works in the same way as opiates do — it is so, so dangerous,” she said.

The unnamed source said his two children went from using electronic cigarettes — vaping — to drinking kratom cocktails at local smoke shops. After a falling out with his daughter, he decided he wanted to see for himself how the drug works.

“I went four times to the vaping shop,” he said. “I met some people who were surely regulars and got to know one of the bartenders real well. The first time I did it, I had a double shot with a particular cocktail mix that sounded real nice.

“The effects lasted about two hours,” he continued. “It relieves you of all pain, but the next day, the pain is worse. It messes with your sleep horribly. And it’s damn expensive.”

The source said his two kids spend hundreds of dollars per month on kratom alone. His son spends $350 per month, he said; his daughter wouldn’t tell him the number.

Local leaders sound alarm

Berkeley County Coroner Darnell D. Hartwell shared a public awareness warning on Facebook last month, telling people to “stay safe” after observing 7-OH in multiple cases at the coroner’s office.

According to officials, the office has investigated two overdose cases and one motor vehicle accident with 7-OH involvement.

The Charleston County Coroner’s Office has recorded 28 cases where kratom was identified since 2023. Of those, 19 cases classified as “mixed-drug toxicity” specifically listed kratom as contributory in the cause of death.

“It’s ridiculous that it’s legal, and it’s in every gas station in Moncks Corner,” said Allison Bilton, a community outreach coordinator at the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office. “Legislation put an age limit on purchasing it, but that’s not good enough. We have to get it out of our stores completely.”

Bilton said South Carolina is known as the “gas-station heroin capital” of the nation, largely because the states surrounding South Carolina have all banned 7-OH. People cross the state border to pick up gummies, tablets and other products at gas stations, she said.

Domazalski said he supports a 7-OH ban, but outlawing kratom entirely would be a difficult sell.

“We were disappointed to see that the 7-OH got lobbied out of the last bill,” he said. “We’re fine with standard, understood regulations of any product. I don’t think kratom is going anywhere, but as far as 7-OH, we want it gone.

“The fact that we have liquor on the shelf doesn’t leave a lot of legs for anything else on the planet other than whatever the government deems as a drug.”

Jack O’Toole contributed to this story.

S.C.’s new law

University of Florida researcher Christopher McCurdy, who’s studied kratom for more than 20 years, told Statehouse Report that highly concentrated 7-OH-infused products amount to unregulated opioids.

“It’s essentially legal morphine,” he said. To understand why, he said it helps to know a little more about kratom and its primary active agent, mitragynine.

Mitragynine is what chemists call an alkaloid, meaning that it’s an organic compound that has pronounced effects on the human body. At low doses, it acts as a mild stimulant. At higher doses, it becomes a sedative with pain-relieving qualities. It achieves those effects by binding lightly with opioid and serotonin receptors in the brain.

By contrast, 7-OH, an alkaloid that’s only found in trace amounts in dried kratom, binds tightly with opioid receptors, making it 10 to 20 times more potent than morphine, according to some animal studies.

“That molecule is one we’ve been very concerned about for many years now,” McCurdy said. “It’s very different from the whole leaf kratom.”

to, birth control pills, patches and intrauterine devices (commonly referred to as IUDs). Be aware that S.B. 323 would further restrict the use of birth control by amending the definition of a legal “contraceptive” to exclude anything that prevents ovulation or implantation of a fertilized ovum.

• Be careful with emergency contraceptives such as Plan B. There is a misconception that Plan B, sometimes known as the “morningafter pill” is abortion medication. This is not true. Plan B is an emergency contraceptive intended to prevent pregnancy — not end it — that can be taken up to five days after sex. Health experts say you should only take Plan B if you have had unprotected sex or there was a lapse in contraceptive intake (for example, missing a birth control pill).

S.B. 323, however, criminalizes the possession of any drug or substance that can be used for abortion.

S.C. Sen. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, said he wasn’t familiar with kratom before receiving a call from a constituent a few years ago. But what he heard from that concerned family member kicked off a research project that eventually led him to introduce a bill to ban kratom products from S.C. store shelves.

“That didn’t go anywhere,” he told Statehouse Report this month. “It just wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”

So this year, he said, he came back with a narrower bill that took aim at what he saw as the industry’s worst practices — unrestricted sales to minors, poor labeling regarding ingredients and potency, and synthesized products like 7-OH.

Ott’s legislation passed in May — after a furious lobbying effort by the 7-OH industry that got the provision banning its products removed.

“It was still a heavy lift,” he said. “But I put as many guardrails around it as I possibly could.”

Beyond that, he said he’s pleased that the federal government is considering tougher action, because “for me, it’s not over.”

“I’ve made it clear to everybody that if I get an opportunity to vote on a bill to ban kratom, I probably will,” he said.

• Medications. Visit plancpills.org to learn about receiving abortion medications from other U.S. states or online international pharmacies. These medications can be used in selfmanaged abortions (abortions without a medical professional involved), though it is illegal in some states. Check state laws before ordering medication via the internet. Under S.B. 323, these medications would be illegal to possess in South Carolina.

• Contact Planned Parenthood South Atlantic or another verified reproductive health care provider now to learn about your options. Planned Parenthood can also help patients make an out-of-state appointment, or use abortionfinder. org to locate verified providers in your state or surrounding states. With S.B. 323 potentially criminalizing informative phone calls with health care professionals, it is important to get this information sooner rather than later and make plans for the future. For now, you can also contact Carolina Abortion Fund for help with financial costs or travel logistics.

Florida’s sweeping abortion ban in May 2024 leaves North Carolina as the nearest option for S.C. women seeking out-of-state abortions. According to reproductiverights.org, abortion in North Carolina is restricted to 12 weeks, and patients must make two trips — one for an in-person counseling session and another at least 72 hours later for the abortion procedure.

Bohemian Bull

Charleston Beer Works

Halls Chophouse

The Nexton Steakhouse

Holy City Brewing

John King Grill & Bar Joyland

Moe’s Crosstown

Prohibition Charleston

Sesame Burgers and Beer

Smash City Burgers

Smashley’s Burger Bar

Moe’s Crosstown Smashley’s Burger Bar

Draconian abortion bill is totally nuts

Aterrible trio of Upstate male state senators is at it again seeking to trample on South Carolina women, reproductive rights, freedom and free speech.

They now want to criminalize abortions so South Carolina women who receive the procedure, even apparently in another state, could face a felony charge that could lead to 30 years in prison — or potentially even the death penalty.

Using the logic of these guys, maybe South Carolina’s women senators should propose a law to send South Carolina men to jail if they get medical treatment for testicular and prostate cancer.

Yes, both scenarios are nuts. Literally.

But that hasn’t stopped ultra-conservative S.C. Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, and two minions — S.C. Sens. Rex Rice, R-Pickens, and Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood — from stirring the abortion pot in a poorly written bill to try to make South Carolina’s already extreme six-week abortion ban even more extreme. They want to make it illegal to abort any fetus — even in the case of rape or incest.

Here’s what else these so-called public servants want in a bill that unfortunately is getting a subcommittee hearing on Oct. 1. Their bill seeks to make it illegal in South Carolina to:

• Prescribe, sell, conspire, give, aid or abet use of any drug to a woman or use equipment to induce abortion.

• “Recruit, harbor or transport” a pregnant minor to another state for an abortion.

• Provide information to a pregnant woman or someone on behalf of a pregnant woman on how to self-administer

abortions or get an abortion. Also proposed to be illegal: abortion doula services, referrals to abortion providers and compensation for referrals.

• Host or maintain a website with information directed at helping South Carolina women to get an abortion.

Three years ago, Cash, Rice and Sen. Danny Verdin, the Laurens Republican who chairs the committee where the strict bill now resides, poked a free speech bear in an abortion proposal to criminalize the news process and people’s ability to share information. And like three years ago, sponsors of the new bill still want to keep information about women’s reproductive health alternatives, including out-of-state options, off of the internet.

In 2022, Rice said, “Obviously that is an extreme position that myself as a cosponsor of the bill would like to address. We don’t want that information provided.” He admitted back then that the 2022 sponsors were not attorneys (Garrett is, however), and added, “I think there’s some stuff that obviously the [Senate] attorneys will say you can’t do that, and we’re going to have to listen to those concerns.”

But that’s not stopping this proposed unconstitutional infringement on the rights of women and free speech in 2025. State senators should throw out this crazy proposal and keep it from moving forward because this new effort just sounds like old fascism in new clothing. Let’s keep Texas politics out of South Carolina.

Visit the City Paper ’s website to learn how to acquire women’s reproductive health services outside of the state.

CHARLESTON CHECKLIST of community objectives

We encourage community leaders to act on these audacious priorities:

1. Deal with the water. Build a strong resiliency plan to harden infrastructure and make smart climate change decisions about development, roads and quality of life.

2. Fix roads, traffic. Repair and improve roads and reduce traffic. Speed up alternatives, including more public transportation.

3. Be smarter about education. Inject new energy into the broken Charleston County school board by focusing on kids, not national mantras.

4. Conduct public business in public. Be transparent in public business. Stop the secrecy.

5. Invest in quality of life. Build more parks. Have more festivals. Invest in infrastructure that promotes a broad sense of community.

6. Engage in real racial conciliation. If we embark on more conversations and actions on racial reconciliation, our community will strengthen and grow.

7. Develop fewer hotels, more affordable housing. Make Charleston a more affordable place to live for everyone.

8. Develop Union Pier at scale. Let’s not put ship-sized buildings on the coveted Union Pier property downtown. Instead, make what comes appropriate.

9. Build and follow a 50-year plan. Plan for the county’s long-term future and follow the plan.

10. Pay people more. Pay a living wage. Push South Carolina lawmakers to set a real minimum wage.

Game On! Get Your

LINGERIE

British poem celebrates hope in tough times

Another death. Another funeral.

Another friend taken too early by that cruel, smarmy bastard — cancer. Another person whose throaty laugh and shining glint in the eyes are gone.

As we age, we encounter death more often, too often. Making sense of it, dealing with it and grieving about it is part of grappling with the lives we lead.

For many, funerals help the living. For others like me, they’re often dour occasions to be endured and gotten through as tributes to lives. They’re a way to pay respect to families, friends and the living.

Without hope
— especially in South Carolina

This week’s funeral, however, offered something different in the familiar format — a poem that touched something deep inside. Poems, psalms, hymns and other biblical readings are standard parts of services. But this time, the short stanzas of one poem got through. Maybe these words will help you as you increasingly encounter deaths as you age. They’re from a short work called “Remember Me,” or sometimes listed in funeral programs as “She is Gone” (or “He is Gone” if the pronouns are changed):

— we can’t breathe and live fully.

Vaccines are keys to healthy communities

Talk to anyone who lived through the 1950s and they’ll remember when schools shut down for polio outbreaks and families lived in fear of measles, mumps, and diphtheria sweeping through neighborhoods. During evening prayers, they asked for protection for their family.

This wasn’t hysteria. It was reality:

• Before the polio vaccine was licensed in 1955, tens of thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands of people had some sort of permanent paralysis.

• The United States suffered a German measles (rubella) outbreak between 1964 and 1965 and while not a death sentence, more than 12.5 million people got Rubella. In fact, some 11,000 pregnant women suffered miscarriages, more than 2,000 newborn babies died and there were a reported 20,000 babies born with cataracts, heart complications or mental disabilities directly because of rubella.

You can shed tears that she is gone; or you can smile because she has.

You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back; or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her; or you can be full of the love that you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday; or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she is gone; or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back; or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

Simple. Sad. Powerful. Calming. Majestic.

What is uplifting is how these few words can lead one to a conclusion that celebrating a friend’s life may be a stronger alternative than succumbing to grief and pain. The words offer a path toward moving forward.

The poem’s backstory adds more interest. It apparently became a popular piece for funerals after Queen Elizabeth II picked it to be part of her mother’s funeral in 2002. At that point, the author was attributed as anonymous.

But it wasn’t too long before news stories circulated that the author had been a bakery worker and aspiring artist in Carlisle, England, who wrote a slightly different version in 1981 as a poem of unrequited love, not as a funereal tribute. According to Wikipedia and other sources, he sent the piece to publishers for a while, but didn’t have any luck. He later stopped writing, but through the years, the poem, with some slightly changed words from the original, started circulating on the internet, later gaining renewed life at the Queen Mother’s service.

This week’s commentary obviously isn’t on the normal back-and-forth about politics and policy. But in these days in which there’s so much friction and division, reread the words and think about the times in which we live. Things might seem frustrating, sad or bad now — just as when someone dies — but there’s likely a way to look at things with fresh vigor, have hope and press onward to preserve our democracy. Because without hope — especially in South Carolina — we can’t breathe and live fully.

Dum spiro spero. And goodbye, old friend.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@ charleston citypaper.com.

Now? According to the CDC, cases of polio or rubella complications in the U.S. are virtually zero and the ones that do occur are in those who are unvaccinated.

That’s not magic. That’s science. Herd immunity works.

And yet our collective memory is as short as a goldfish’s. We just lived through a Covid-19 pandemic that killed more than 1.1 million Americans (CDC, 2025) with countless others still struggling with physical and mental complications. It wrecked our economy and social behaviors changed forever. So why are these things — polio, rubella and Covid — less of a threat today? Vaccines. Again, this is not mysticism but science.

I grew up seeing the inoculation scars on the arms of my mother and her siblings. They remembered the threat, which is why they were among the first to line up for the Covid vaccine. They knew their own parents would have done anything for a shot that could protect their babies. Refusing vaccines today is a slap in the face to generations of Americans who understood vaccination as a social contract — a way of protecting not just their families, but their neighbors as well as those who are immunocompromised and can’t physically get vaccines. Are we really so selfish?

In the end, it’s children who pay the price for the decisions adults make.

What’s at stake now is nothing less than decades of scientific progress. Childhood infectious diseases nearly disappeared, but they’re now creeping back, fueled by anti-vaccine rhetoric and the high visibility but low scientific credibility of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

I understand the argument that vaccination is a personal choice. But public health is what allows all of us to live fruitful, safe lives. The truth is simple: When people opt out, diseases we eradicated come roaring back.

Florida is a flashpoint right now with proposals to end school vaccine mandates (Miami Herald, 2025). I’d think twice about moving there or taking my kids to Disney. In the end, it’s children who pay the price for the decisions adults make. What would you tell your children if you refused to vaccinate them and they ended up sick or worse? That you hoped everyone else around them would take responsibility? That supplements or prayer alone would be enough?

The truth is vaccines are safe and effective with very minimal side effects. They are the reasons that most reading this article have most likely not have had any preventable disease like measles, mumps, rubella or polio.

So what now? What will South Carolina do? What will you do? If the decision is left to individuals, how will you protect not just yourself, but your community?

Toni Reale is the owner of Roadside Blooms, a unique flower, crystal and plant shop at 4491 Durant Ave., North Charleston. Online at roadsideblooms.com.

What To Do

THROUGH SUNDAY

1

MELT Mural Festival

Drop by Charleston’s first-ever Mural Festival where artists and organizers will be celebrating and promoting the tradition of street art and highlighting the area’s vibrant heritage. Saturday will be a free event, featuring vendors, live painting, food trucks and more. Visit meltcharleston.com for a full list of times and events. Through Sept. 14. Event times vary. Free. 1809 Reynolds Ave. North Charleston. meltcharleston.com

2

THIS WEEKEND

Johnnie-O second anniversary

M. Dumas and Sons will celebrate the second anniversary of its brand partner store, Johnnie-O by M. Dumas and Sons, located in the Charleston Place. Stop by to enter a $500 gift card raffle, enjoy a gift with purchase and sip complimentary wine from Boutique Beverage Company while browsing the shop new arrivals and the best brands in men’s fashion.

Sept. 12 through Sept. 13. Store hours vary. Free to attend. Johnnie-O. 132 Market St. Downtown. johnnie-o.com

SATURDAYS

3

Charleston Farmers Market

Browse through a bounty of seasonal fruits and vegetables, handcrafted goods and prepared foods as you explore the charming stalls inside Marion Square. From farm-fresh produce to food truck favorites, there’s something for everyone at the Charleston Farmers Market. Bring the whole family and enjoy live music, special events and activities for all ages in the heart of downtown.

Saturdays. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free to attend. Marion Square. 329 Meeting St. Downtown. charlestonfarmersmarket.com

WEDNESDAYS

4

The Sound of Charleston

Now in its 16th season, the Sound of Charleston presents the music of Charleston’s rich history in live 75-minute concerts at the historic Circular Congregational Church. From gospel spirituals to the music of George Gershwin, jazz, light classics and Civil War campsongs, you will relive Charleston’s past through her music.

Wednesdays. Shows start at 7 p.m. $28/adult; free/children 7 and under. Circular Congregational Church. 150 Meeting St. Downtown. soundofcharleston.com

THURSDAY

5

Sunset on the Stono

Join the Charleston Museum for a new event at the Dill Sanctuary. Take advantage of this opportunity to take in this breathtaking view and wildlife property not open to public visitation outside of special events. Guests are invited to join the museum’s chief curator, Jennifer McCormick, for a guided tour of the earthen Confederate fortification, Battery Pringle, before settling in to watch the sunset.

Sept. 18. 6 p.m. $20/members; $35/nonmembers. Dill Sanctuary. 1163 Riverland Drive. James Island. charlestonmuseum.org

Courtesy Girls Who Paint Murals

Lovett to sparkle

Sept. 24 in Charleston

Texas singer and songwriter

Lyle Lovett is hilarious.

Yes, he’s capable of writing songs that will make your blood run cold, but he’s also a master at working humor into his writing. Sometimes, it’s upbeat. Sometimes, it’s pitch black. Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes it’s in a hokey one-liner. But boy, the man can make you laugh out loud.

Take “Since The Last Time” from his 1992 album, Joshua Judges Ruth, for example.

“I went to a funeral,” Lovett sings in his sly wink of a voice, “Oh, and it made me happy/Seeing all those people that I ain’t seen/Since the last time somebody died.”

Or if you’re looking for surreal, head to “Here I Am,” a brassy tune from 1989.

“Hello,” Lovett says in a monologue that opens the song, “I’m the guy who sits next to you and reads the newspaper over your shoulder. Wait. Don’t turn the page. I’m not finished. Life is so uncertain.”

And he’s not just funny in song. It’s in conversation, as well. In a recent interview, we mentioned listening to as much of Lovett’s music as possible before the conversation.

“I’m sorry,” he shot back immediately. Imagine the deadpan look on his face when he said it, a crooked smile just on the other side of the phone line.

In short, whether it’s self-deprecating, hokey or razor-sharp, Lyle Lovett can make you laugh.

“It’s more a reflection of my personality,” Lovett said of his humor. “I just look at something in a humorous way, as opposed to being completely literal or straightforward about it. I think that trying to find humor in every situation is part of my everyday life. I just think it helps your day in general.”

“I don’t sit down and think, ‘I have to write something funny here,’ ” he added. “I was brought up with that sense of humor. In Texas, you look at things in a more lighthearted way and make jokes with your friends.”

A Renaissance man comes to town

The long tall Texan is coming to the Charleston Gaillard Center on Sept. 24, and it is, to put it mildly, one hell of an opportunity.

It’s an opportunity to see one of the greatest songwriters around, a four-time Grammy-award winning legend who’s spent 35 years writing classics that are dark (“L.A. County”), funny (“Don’t Touch My Hat”), dark AND funny, (“She’s No Lady”) and lovably eccentric (the surrealist, halfmonologued “Here I Am”).

It’s an opportunity to see him deliver those songs with wry wit and incisive imagery, backed by some of the best musicians in the world. Typically, Lovett tours with an outfit called His Large Band, a 14to 16-piece behemoth that can handle the jazz, pop, country, Americana and gospel tunes Lovett throws around in every show.

But this time out, you will have the opportunity to see Lovett with a smaller ensemble called His Acoustic Group featuring longtime collaborators Leland Sklar (bass), Jim Cox (keyboards) and Russ Kunkel (drums).

“Every show is a privilege, really,” Lovett told the Charleston City Paper. “To get to stand onstage with Russ and Lee (Sklar) and Jim is something I consider an honor. They’re a delight for me to listen to. The way they improvise every night, I can listen to them think, and it’s fun.”

On this tour, Lovett and His Acoustic Group (slightly misnamed, since there is one electric guitar), have been taking a long stroll through his catalog. Favorites like “She’s Already Made Up Her Mind” and “If I Had A Boat” pop up frequently, as do lesser known gems like the gospelfueled “Church.”

The set is a tribute to one of the most stylistically diverse writers ever to be mislabeled as “country.” Lovett can slip easily from honky tonk weepers to alluring experiments like the comic soft samba “Her First Mistake” from the 1996 album The Road to Ensenada.

Lovett’s genre-hopping isn’t especially unusual these days, but back in the day when he was getting started, he was marketed as straight ahead country, which he never really was. In fact, he was never supposed to be a “country singer” at all.

“I went to Nashville because I had a pile of songs,” he said. “Not necessarily country songs, but I went to Nashville because in 1984 it was, and still is, a place that was really interested in songs. I went with the idea of getting recording artists interested in my songs. Then a year later, I ended up getting a record deal.”

A huge talent

The world was introduced to his singular songwriting talent (and skyscraping hairdo) on Lovett’s self-titled 1986 album. It didn’t take long for fans and other songwriters to take notice.

“I think that trying to find humor in every situation is part of my everyday life. I just think it helps your day in general.”

In addition to the four Grammy awards and six gold albums, Lovett has been praised by Robert Earl Keen, John Hiatt, Guy Clark, and Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith and more.

Despite that tidal wave of praise from other songwriters, critics and fans, Lovett sounded more thankful for one accomplishment than any other.

“You’re talking about awards and all that, but this past summer in Austin, a restaurant named a sandwich after me,” he said. “So if you’re ever at the Swedish Hill Bakery in Austin, ask for ‘Lyle’s Italian.’ Everything really came together on that one.”

See? Funny.

And he’s having a lot more funny moments in his life. The 67-year-old Lovett and his wife are raising 8-year-old twins, one a boy and another a girl. He says fatherhood has changed his perspective on writing considerably, adding that the kids have been listening to a lot of K-pop and Bangles tunes lately.

“Fatherhood has given me songs,” he said. “It’s inspired me in ways that I could never imagine. My children are a constant inspiration to me, all the time. We’re even doing a song in the show that I made up with them. We go around and each contribute a line to whatever we’re making up, and we sing it all the way through with each new line.”

—Lyle Lovett

Cuisine

Allora, latest Italian restaurant in downtown Charleston, to open Oct. 1

Husband and wife restaurateurs Ryan and Kelleanne Jones of Free Reign Restaurants have been busy. The two opened Southbound and Honeysuckle Rose two years ago.

On Oct. 1, they are set to open Allora which will have a menu that leans heavily on housemade pastas, simple, clean ingredients and coastal Italian favorites.

When the couple first walked into the Spring Street space, they say they were struck by its European feel.

“The character of its raw space had this rustic kind of European feel to it,” Ryan said. “As soon as we walked in, we were like, ‘all right, this has to be Italian,’ ” Ryan said. With the Joneses, it always begins with the space, which then spurs the concept. The restaurant occupies a recently rehabilitated building with three distinct areas: a dining room, rooftop and a brickand-concrete bar.

Kelleanne described the bar area as a “cozy, tavernous” space. Upstairs will be a casual, rooftop piazza and the entrance will serve fresh gelato, espresso and items like cannolis and housemade boozy popsicles. The decor is a combination of pinks and

greens playing off the existing brick and limewash. Portions of the wall are lined with strips of eucalyptus wood, and wood tables sit on terrazzo tiles for a coastal Italian vibe.

A journey through the menu

The menu features coastal Italian fare and includes a section of pastas, all made fresh in the restaurant.

“When you’re in Italy, you start your meal with pasta, and then you keep eating, as opposed to when you’re in the States [where] the pasta is your entree, and you just fill up on it. So it’s kind of different,” Ryan said.

In addition to pastas, the menu also offers crudi (raw), antipasti (appetizers), pesce (fish) and carne (meat) along with daily specials that will lean towards traditional Italian-American dishes. Mondays will have an eggplant lasagne, Wednesdays will offer a chicken piccata and Friday’s special is a veal scaloppine.

On the antipasti side, a veal bone marrow dish hits a decadent note. The marrow is roasted under the broiler until buttery then spread on crusty bread. It’s finished with garlic olive oil, gremolata and pickled veg-

etables for a contrast against the marrow’s rich and robust flavors. An eggplant caponata is served with tomato, basil, onion, olives and fennel crackers.

What’s new

Fleet Landing restaurant has a new cookbook that highlights its signature drinks and tasty dishes found at the classic Cooper River waterfront restaurant. Recipe highlights include caprese oysters, seafood pasta and pecan pie. The cookbook costs $38 and can be purchased at Fleet Landing and through its online shop. More: Online at the City Paper website and fleetlanding.net

The Wedge , a New York-style deli, will open its brick-and-mortar on Oct. 4. Located at 2487 Ashley River Road, its starting hours will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Its food truck will still run several evenings a week. More: thewedgechs.com

What’s happening

Frannie and the Fox has launched Friends of the Fox, a one-night-only collaboration featuring Executive Chef Daniel Dalton and acclaimed chefs from across the country. The series kicks off on Sept. 17 with guest Chef Nicole Cabrera Mills of New Orleans’ Pêche. On Oct. 15 will be Chef Shannon Bingham of Junebug, also in New Orleans. More: Resy

The next installment of Kultura’s Sama Sama series is on Sept. 17 with Chef Pete Amadhanirundr of Puma Yu’s, the celebrated restaurant in Athens, Ga. Yu is known for dishes that carry the essence of Thai and Southeast Asian traditions reimagined with local ingredients. Paired with Kultura’s soulful Filipino touch, the collaborative dinner will be both comforting and adventurous. More: Resy

Celebrate peak tomato season with a tasting menu at Wild Common on Sept. 18 and 19. This multi-course menu includes wine pairings and seasonal tomato cocktails. Choose the dining room ($125 per person) for a traditional tasting or the chef’s counter ($195 per person) for an elevated menu with interactive chef engagement. More: Resy —Becky Lacey

Photos by Ashley Stanol
Spaghetti all’Astice, lobster spaghetti with tomato, basil and lobster butter, is the star of the show at Allora
Ryan Jones, chef and co-owner of Allora

De Gullah Farmers Market

set for Sept. 18–20 in East Cooper

Acclaimed Gullah chefs Charlotte and Kesha Jenkins will have the second installment of their new De Gullah Farmers Market Sept. 18–20 on a plot of family land in the historic Ten Mile community between Mount Pleasant and Awendaw. The mother-daughter duo started the market last month.

Offering fresh produce, florals, snacks and seasoning blends, the market began as a way to bring the Gullah community closer together and to share an awareness of Gullah foodways, culture and communities with the public.

Settled on a few acres of land passed down through generations, the Ten Mile community is small, but tightly knit and full of history. Across from the market lies the marsh of Copahee Sound. The Atlantic Ocean is only a few miles down the road.

There’s always a salty, cool breeze that blows through the area. Homes shared by family — aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, grandchildren and close friends — are closely clustered. Members of these families run most of the stands at the market held on property that has been in the Ascue, Jenkins and related families for more than 150 years.

“My grandmother’s (Julia Ascue) house is more than a century old,” Kesha said. “We’ve fought to have this area recognized as Gullah ancestral land so that developers can’t come in and take it away. This land is part of who we are.”

A lifelong cultivation of the land

Charlotte and Kesha have always grown their own fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables, even before Charlotte’s restaurant Gullah Cuisine opened in 1997.

Renowned as one of Charleston’s favorite authentic Gullah Geechee restaurants, the now-closed Gullah Cuisine focused on using local and fresh ingredients straight from the Jenkin’s garden and from local farmers. Dish standouts at the restaurant included handpicked deviled crabs, Gullah rice and okra soup.

Now retired from the restaurant business but offering private event and catering services, Charlotte and Kesha decided they wanted to continue to share that same locally sourced experience. They also wanted a way to support Gullah farmers and communities.

“It’s very farm-to-table, very fresh and full of surprises,” said Kesha. “A lot of what we do isn’t written down in books. You have to be here to see it, to taste it, to understand it.”

The idea for the market grew from the family garden, especially as Kesha began experimenting with fresh herbs and seasonal crops for her business, Gullah Tings. It sells seasoning blends for traditional Lowcountry dishes like seafood boil and shrimp and grits, along with snacks like okra chips and green bean crisps made from seasonal produce. This venture led to a larger vision: a farmers market that celebrates not only Gullah foodways, but also the broader cultural traditions tied to them.

In partnership with the market, Kesha and Charlotte say they hope one day to have a Gullah culinary and cultural school, a place where fresh food meets education, storytelling, art and cultural pride. Currently, produce comes from Kesha’s and Charlotte’s gardens as well as Joseph Fields Farm on Johns Island. Partnerships are in development with other local farmers, such as Johns Island’s Rose Friedman. Fall crops including collards,

Kevin Bennett, Kesha Jenkins’ son, mans one of the tables at De Gullah Farmers Market

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Inspiration behind the restaurant

The two found inspiration on a summertime trip to the Italian coast. As a result, the pasta section skews towards simple ingredients that are primarily seafoodand vegetable-driven.

Fried zucchini pasta, a staple in the Italian village of Nerano, is featured. The dish reduces fried zucchini to a sauce and adds pepper and pecorino for a creamy finish.

“Lobster spaghetti made the menu because when we were there back in July, I think that’s what Kelleanne and I ate every night,” Ryan said.

Half of a lobster is broiled, and the other half is cooked with tomatoes, basil and garlic. It is then finished with butter and tossed in with spaghetti.

In the carne section, the pork secreto is a thinly cut piece of marbled pork that is tender and rich. Its cooking method is similar to that of steak, prepared quickly on high heat. A swordfish Fagioli is served with white beans, escarole Castelvetrano olives and garlic.

The team also paid close attention to existing beverage trends. The espresso martini is having a comeback and Allora offers a spin on it. The restaurant’s version has the option to make it La Via Del Re style, which tops the cocktail with honey pistachio foam and dark chocolate giving it a hint of sweetness and a toasty finish.

The piccolo ribelle cocktail infuses Astral tequila with Calabrian chilis before mellowing it out with lime and grapefruit cello (think limoncello, but with grapefruit) and raising the stakes once more with amaro nonino.

Gullah

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

cabbage, sweet potatoes, beans, squash and pumpkins will be central offerings. And once licensing is finalized, there are plans to include preserved vegetables, jams and Gullah dishes like okra soup.

The market looks forward

As the market gears up for its September weekend, there are plans for a grand opening in November. Kesha said she envisions it as a celebration with food, music, dance and demonstrations of Gullah culture. Local artisans and potential sponsors are being invited to join, not only to showcase their work but to help the market grow.

“We want it to be a party, something that’s fun and inviting,” Kesha said. “That way, future vendors can see the energy and decide if this is a space they want to be part of.”

The grand opening will also serve as a

The Hugo Spritz (above) combines elderflower liqueur, Prosecco, sage and saline, and the pork secreto (below) is served with potato, fennel and pickled pepper

launching point for expanding the market’s reach. The plan isn’t to keep it stationary, but to move across different Gullah communities in the Lowcountry — from Lincolnville to Six Mile and beyond.

“Some of these areas don’t have a farmers market at all,” Kesha explained. “Why not collaborate and create celebrations across our communities, maybe once a month, so everyone can experience it?”

De Gullah Farmers Market’s vision is clear: to be a celebration of culture, a support system for local farmers and a beacon of heritage for the next generation.

“This is just the beginning,” Kesha said. “We want the market to be anywhere and everywhere in our communities. It’s about keeping our traditions alive, together.”

De Gullah Farmers Market will take place from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 18 and Sept. 19 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 20. The market is at 4116 Highway 17 North in Awendaw. More: degullahfarmersmarket.com

Allora
Photos by Ashley Stanol

Culture

Message from the Beast: Soften up, dude

Ah, the Beast.

No, not the one that is a certain world leader’s preferred mode of ground transportation.

This Beast is one of a flesh-and-blood variety with plenty of gnarled hair and messy emotions to prove it. He is the onceand-future prince trapped in an outsize, lurching form, raging around a castle chock full of staffers trapped in inanimate objects like teapots and timepieces.

And he is half of the oddball duo that is Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s animatedfilm-turned-Broadway musical that is heading soon toward North Charleston Performing Arts Center. Part of the Best of Broadway series, the production is set for eight shows there from Sept.16 through Sept. 21.

Ahead of the run, Charleston City Paper talked to the Beast himself, Fergie L. Philippe, who shared just how meaningful and multi-layered that making the Beast has been for him.

“Anybody who knows me knows that this is kind of destiny in a lot of ways. I’m a major, major Disney fan,” he said.

Becoming the Beast

For Philippe, going savage was more than just an average gig.

“It’s a dream role,” said the New York City-based actor, who is also a director,

the one that … I understand.”

Philippe said he campaigned tirelessly to fill those cloven-shaped shoes. And at 6 feet 3 inches tall, the actor can certainly represent, but it took persistent appeals for an audition for the casting folks to demonstrate the nuances he could bring to the character that would resonate with audiences.

Raised in Miami, he was a repeat visitor at Disney World growing up. Since then, the performer has been artistically inspired by the kind of stories Disney writes.

He first encountered the onstage Beast when he was a musical theater undergrad at Elon University. During his interview with City Paper, he was back in that formative terrain remembering a Best of Broadway’s stop in North Carolina.

Big Beast energy

For Philippe, the Beast looms the largest of all the Disney characters.

Arts+Music

Summerville to hold artful block party

Summerville’s Public Works Art Center is bringing back its annual block party, the center’s primary fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m Sept. 13. In a blocked-off area of downtown’s West Richardson Avenue, it will offer a vibrant, art-filled celebration for all ages with old-fashioned carnival energy and an artistic twist. Expect art-themed games, live mural painting, face-painting, colorful treats and performers of all kinds. More: bit.ly/pwacblockparty

CLASSICAL

• Sept. 19 and 20, 7:30 p.m.: Charleston Symphony ’s season opener Masterworks concert spotlights two of classical music’s most beloved composers, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, and features principal cellist Benjamin Mekinulov and artistic director/concertmaster Yuriy Bekker. More: charlestonsymphony.org.

ON THE HORIZON

• Charleston Literary Festival has announced the full lineup for its 2025 program, which takes place Nov. 7–16 at the Dock Street Theatre. Highlights include top talent from The New Yorker in Adam Gopnik and Deborah Treisman; Pulitzer Prize-winner Edda L. Fields-Black; novelists Michael Cunningham and Joyce Carol Oates; CNN anchor Jake Tapper; and other luminaries. More: charlestonliteraryfestival.com

• Legendary Monty Python funnyman John Cleese is heading to Charleston Music Hall on Oct. 2 for Not Dead Yet! John Cleese and The Holy Grail at 50, a night of absurdity, laughter and legendary comedy. More: charlestonmusichall.com

playwright and puppeteer, and who has some serious stage and screen notches on his artistic belt. These include Broadway credits, as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in Hamilton, and Sir Sagramore in Camelot. He was also tapped for two episodes of The Gilded Age, the television series known for its Broadway-friendly casting.

“In the pantheon of musicals that Disney has decided to transfer to the stage, Beauty and the Beast was always

“The pathos is so grand. You feel it. We are able to connect to the character of the Beast in such a way because he’s so human,” he said, noting in particular the character’s struggles with communicating his true feelings.

The actor said he has poured all of this into the role, focused on bringing to the beast emotionality, his comedy, his lightheartedness that may not have been emphasized as much previously.

MUSIC

• Sept. 13 , 8 p.m.: Leon Bridges, Credit One Stadium

• Sept. 14 , 7 p.m.: Michael Franti, Firefly Distillery

• Sept. 14 , 7 p.m.: Superheaven w/ Cloud Nothings, Music Farm

• Sept. 15, 6 p.m.: Lowcountry Voices presents CONNECTIONS , Park Circle Community Building

Photo by Matthew Murphy/Disney
Fergie L. Philippe (right) and Kyra Belle Johnson star in the animatedfilm-turned-Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast

1739 MAYBANK HWY, JAMES ISLAND PHOSAIGONSC.COM • (843) 974-4732

Cray to bring 50 years of blues to Music Hall stage

Musician Robert Cray will walk onto the stage Sept. 16 at the Charleston Music Hall and let 50 years of the blues flow through his guitar. For five decades, Cray and his namesake band have been crisscrossing the globe, carrying on the tradition of the blues while adding modern rock ’n’ soul touches.

That sound, along with Cray’s soaring solos and blues-drenched vocals, has kept the Robert Cray Band in the public conversation since 1974 and garnered it five Grammy awards, a few gold and platinum albums, and two songs that have entered the blues canon: The hit singles “Smoking Gun” and “Right Next Door (Because Of Me).”

You’ll get a dose of all of that when the band arrives on its Out Driving Around tour. It’s called that because, well, that’s basically what a tour is, right? A lot of driving around.

“It’s always been a joke with us over the years, so we finally named a tour after it,” Cray said in a recent interview with the Charleston City Paper.

On this tour, the setlist is constantly evolving, meaning favorites like “Right Next Door (Because Of Me)” will show up, but there will be plenty of surprises. The band can cherry-pick from more than 20 albums.

“There are always a few of the favorites, but after that it changes nightly,” Cray said. “After all the years we’ve been around, and with what this particular band knows, we have quite a few songs we can pick and choose from. And then there’s always time to call for something out of the blue, as well.”

It’s interesting that Cray referenced “what this particular band knows,” because the current Robert Cray Band lineup features bassist Richard Cousins, keyboard player Dover Weinberg and drummer Les Falconer. All three are former band mem-

bers who have returned to the fold.

“Richard Cousins and I started the band in ’74,” Cray said. “Dover Weinberg was with us in the late ’70s, and Les Falconer has been in and out of the band over the last 20 years.”

With all that shared time together, Cray said this version of the band has a special connection.

“It’s a great rapport, and it’s like family,” he said. “We’re all brothers. One breathes in and the other exhales; it’s that kind of relationship with everybody. And that’s very important because you’re in close quarters with everybody 24 hours a day, cruising together on the coach.”

“There’s no fighting over the TV stations or what music is being played in the front or the back lounge,” he added with a laugh. “It’s great.”

No matter who’s backing him though, Cray’s trademark soloing style rides high above the band, stinging like a bee, wailing like a human voice, and fiery as hell. And always concise. Cray can fly all over the fretboard with the best of them, but he’s a remarkably tasteful player.

“It makes the most sense,” he said of his approach. “There’s no point in playing something that doesn’t relate to the song. The music is the vehicle to carry that lyric, and the solo is part of that as well. That’s the way I’ve always looked at it.”

Cray recently turned 72, but he said this tour won’t be the last you’ll see of him. He’s enjoying himself too much to stop now.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I enjoy playing. I enjoy the camaraderie with the guys, the different food, the different people. It’s my life. I’m really fortunate to be able to do something that I enjoy as much as I do.”

IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 7 p.m., Sept. 16, Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., Charleston. Tickets range from $62-$179: charlestonmusichall.com

And that’s particularly meaningful when it comes to men.

For Philippe, the tortured man inside the monster — doomed as a teenager and thus in a perennial state of arrested development — personifies the male experience in many ways.

And based on the many who flock to him after performances, it seems the Beast is resonating with men today, who are drawn to the character’s plight of being illequipped to grapple with his own emotions.

“My number one demographic of people I’m excited to see the show is men,” he said. “Men often come up to me and are like, ‘God, you were so funny, and you were so frustrated, but you were so scared and so confused, and I have felt that my whole life.’ ”

Among those presumed he-men was Dave Bautista, the outsize WWE wrestler-turned-actor known for his portrayal of Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. When Philippe met him after the performance, he was struck to discover a softspoken, warm fan who had seen the show six times clearly felt seen.

It takes two

Even with this complex man-beast in the spotlight, Philippe flags that in this show, it takes two to grow: both his character and his love interest Belle, aka the Beauty, portrayed in the North American tour by New York Ciy-based actor Kyra Belle Johnson.

“What I love about it is that it requires both of them to influence each other into transformation. It’s not somebody [who] needs to kiss somebody in order for somebody to come back to life. Two people find each other, and based on the thing they need or the thing they want, that is how they transform,” Philippe said.

So, yes, audience members will be lavished with Disney-grade grandeur including anthropomorphic candlesticks, talking teacups and fretting French armoires — not to mention beloved tunes like “Be Our Guest” and the title song “Beauty and the Beast,” with its recognizable lyrics “a tale as old as time.”

But with its singular spotlight on the modern-day male plight, in addition to being rich fodder for the entire family, the production is prime terrain for a daddy outing. Either way, Philippe encourages all to visit the stage door after the show to connect with cast members and share their impressions — and meet the man behind the Beast.

IF YOU WANT TO GO: Eight performances run from Sept. 16 through Sept. 21 at North Charleston Performing Arts Center, 5001 Coliseum Dr., North Charleston. More: northcharlestoncoliseumpac.com

Courtesy Turner Cray Inc.
Grammy award-winning Robert Cray will play at Charleston Music Hall Sept. 16

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Goose Creek

4

HEART OF GOOSE CREEK

2.5

kitchen

carpet and

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Cats

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Employment

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Financial

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West Ashley

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ERIN

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Notices

ADVERTISE YOUR AUCTION

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ESTATE AUCTION

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STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH CIRCUITDOCKET NO. 2025-DR- 08-1243

SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS NICOLE RUSSELL

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2025.

TO DEFENDANT: NICOLE RUSSELL

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for Berkeley County on June 30, 2025, 3:09 PM. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Berkeley County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Jason D. Pockrus Legal Department of the Berkeley County Department of Social Services, 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 29461 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Jason D. Pockrus, SC Bar # 101333 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-1080.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No.: 2025-CP-08-01473

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTEREST

OF: MINOR CHILDREN BORN

2007, 2018, 2016, 2021, 2018, 2020, 2011, 2017, and 2013.

TO DEFENDANT: Akeem R. Grant

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Amended and Supplemental Complaint adding grounds for Termination of Parental Rights and Petition for Permanency Planning Hearing, the original of which was filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Berkeley County 300-B California Avenue Moncks Corner, SC 29461, on the 18 th day of June, 2025, at 10:06 a.m., a copy of which will be delivered to you upon request; and to serve a copy of your Answer to the complaint upon the undersigned attorney for the Plaintiff at 3685 Rivers Avenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, SC 29405 within thirty (30) days following the date of service upon you, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the complaint within the time stated, the plaintiff will apply for judgment by default against the Defendant for the relief demanded in the complaint.

Sally C. Dey, SC Bar# 67778, 3685 Rivers Avenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, SC 29405. 843-697-7560.

CHARLESTON

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

CASE NO.: 2025-DR-10-1216

Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the said Complaint upon the Plaintiff’s attorney, Tyla N. Bowman, Esquire within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons upon you, not counting the day of service, If you fail to submit your Answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

TYLA N. BOWMAN, ESQUIRE Attorney for the Plaintiff P.O. Box 63384

North Charleston, SC 29419-2252 T: (843) 300-0373 F: (843) 273-8481 E tyla@bowman-law.net

June 9, 2025

North Charleston, SC

scheduled and will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 10:00 a.m., at the Charleston County Courthouse, Courtroom 2A, 100 Broad Street, Charleston, South Carolina.

BRUSH LAW FIRM, P.A. s/ Thomas H. Brush

Thomas H. Brush tbrush@brushlawfirm.com

J. Chris Lanning clanning@brushlawfirm.com

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

12 Carriage Lane, Suite A Charleston, SC 29407 (843) 766-5576 - Phone (843) 766-9152 - Fax

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO.: 2025-CP-10-04084

JOHN NICHOLAS HAYES and MARGARET P. HAYES, Trustees, or their successors in trust, under the HAYES LIVING TRUST, dated November 16th, 2022, Plaintiffs, v. JOEL C. CAMPBLE a/k/a JOEL C. CAMPBELL, and if he be deceased, his heirs, distributees, personal representatives, successors and assigns and spouses, if any they have and all other persons with any right, title or interest in and to the real estate described in the Complaint, commonly known as:

0 Glifton Ave. Charleston County, South Carolina TMS Number: 229-13-00-048

FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that R. David Chard, Esquire of 2050 Spaulding Drive, North Charleston, SC 29406 has been designated as Guardian ad Litem for all Defendants who may be incompetent, under age, or under any other disability or in the Service of the Military by Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Charleston County, dated July 25th, 2025 and the said appointment shall become absolute 30 days after the final publication of this Notice, unless such Defendants, or anyone in their behalf shall procure a proper person to be appointed Guardian ad Litem of them within 30 days after the final publication of this Notice.

THE PURPOSE of this action is to clear the title to the subject real property described as follows: All that certain piece, parcel or lot of land, situate, lying and being in the County of Charleston, State of South Carolina, known and designated as Lot Number One Hundred Forty-One (141), as more particularly shown on a plat of Palmetto Terrace Subdivision made by C.P. Collette, RLS, No. 1709, dated January 26, 1961 and recorded in the RMC Office for Charleston County Office in Plat Book N, at Page 30.

TMS # 229-13-00-048

September 2nd, 2025

s/Carl B. Hubbard

Carl B. Hubbard Attorney at Law 2201 Middle Street, Box 15 Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina 29482 (843) 814-3481 chublaw@comcast.net

08-1275

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS WILONA MATTHEWS, TERRENCE SMALLS, SONJA JAMES, NAKIA JAMES DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF:MINOR CHILD BORN 2008.

TO DEFENDANT: TERRENCE SMALLS

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for Berkeley County on July 7, 2025, 1:38 PM. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Berkeley County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, John McCormick Legal Department of the Berkeley County Department of Social Services, 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 29461 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

John McCormick, SC Bar # 100176 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-1007.

Felecia Kimbel Wilcox, Plaintiff, vs. Tricia Poole Madison and Alfrieda Deas-Potts Defendants

SUMMONS (Jury Trial Demanded) TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the subscriber at her office, 1075-A East Montague Avenue, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the Complaint within that time, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

THE TED LAW FIRM

s/ Laura W. Robinson By: Laura W. Robinson (SC BAR#: 66582) 1075-A East Montague Avenue N. Charleston, SC 29405

T: 877-833-5297 laura@tedlaw.com

Attorney for the Plaintiff

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR08-890/2024-DR-08-319/2024DR-08-132

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS Christina Gathers, Dominque Middleton, Jeronica Frazier, Jr., Akeem R. Grant, Malik Mitchell, Sr., Jarod A. Cleveland, Abraham Medley, and John Middleton,

SHATONIA M. MORTON, Plaintiff, Vs. MITCHELL C. MORTON, SR., Defendants.

SUMMONS

TO: THE DEFENDANT ABOVE NAMED YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to Answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the said Complaint upon the Plaintiff’s attorney, Tyla N. Bowman, Esquire within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons upon you, not counting the day of service, If you fail to submit your Answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

TYLA N. BOWMAN, ESQUIRE

Attorney for the Plaintiff P.O. Box 63384

North Charleston, SC 29419-2252

T: (843) 300-0373 F: (843) 273-8481 E tyla@bowman-law.net

May 2, 2025 North Charleston, SC

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO.: 2025-DR-10-1601

MARCUS T. WASHNGTON, SR., Plaintiff, vs. TANOVA ROBINSON WASHINGTON, Defendants.

SUMMONS

TO: THE DEFENDANT ABOVE NAMED

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to Answer the

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS IN THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NUMBER: 2025-CP-1001924

James Blake, Jr., Virginia ChinaYarborough, Bonita Blake, Renard Blake a/k/a Reynard J. Blake, Kenneth M. Murray, Jr., Keniqua B. Murray, Latoya Murray Turner Blake and Dana M. Blake a/k/a Dana M. Carr, Plaintiffs, -versusAngie Wilder, Hattie Barnwell, Joseph Ladson, Edward Ladson, Remus Ladson, Wesley Ladson, Daphne Ladson, Heirs of Lillie Mae Latson, a/k/a Lillie Mae Ladson, collectively designated as JOHN DOE, and any such persons who are Minors or other disability, or members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, as contemplated by the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Relief Act, 1940, as Amended collectively designated as RICHARD ROE, and all persons entitled to claim under or through, and any or all other persons or legal entities, known and unknown, claiming any right, title, interest or estate in or lien upon the parcel of real estate described in the Lis Pendens and Complaint herein filed, Defendants.

TMS # 340-01-00-014

NOTICE OF HEARING

It appearing that this matter has been referred to the Honorable Mikell R. Scarborough, Master In Equity for Charleston County, South Carolina, to make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law with authority to enter a final judgment;

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a hearing in this matter has been

and also any unknown adults and those persons as who may be in the Military Service of the United States of America, all of them being a class designated as John Doe; and any unknown minors or persons under a disability being a class designated as Richard Roe and N.R.L.L., East, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, Defendants.

SUMMONS & NOTICE

To the Defendants above-named:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer upon the undersigned at his office at: 2201 Middle Street, Box 15, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, within thirty (30) days, after service hereof upon you, exclusive of the day of such service, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive if the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to answer the foregoing summons, the Plaintiff will move for a general Order of Reference of this cause to the Master-in-Equity or Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53(e) of the South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity or Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case.

NOTICE OF FILING

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Notice, Complaint and Lis Pendens were filed on July 22nd, 2025, the Order Appointing Guardian ad Litem was filed on July 25th, 2025 and the Order of Publication was filed on August 27th, 2025 in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County, State of South Carolina.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM

Attorney for the Plaintiff

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO.: 2025-CP-10-04134

THE WOODLANDS OF JOHNS ISLAND, LLC, Plaintiff, v. RAY CHARLES CAPERS, and if he be deceased, his heirs, distributees, personal representatives, successors and assigns and spouses, if any they have and all other persons with any right, title or interest in and to the real estate described in the Complaint, commonly known as:

1.55-acres on Fickling Hill Road Charleston County, South Carolina TMS Number: 280-00-00-111 and also any unknown adults and those persons as who may be in the Military Service of the United States of America, all of them being a class designated as John Doe; and any unknown minors or persons under a disability being a class designated as Richard Roe, Defendants.

SUMMONS & NOTICE

To the Defendants above-named: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer upon the undersigned at his office at: 2201 Middle Street, Box 15, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, within thirty (30) days, after service hereof upon you, exclusive of the day of such service, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive if the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to answer the foregoing summons, the Plaintiff will move for a general Order of Reference of this cause to the Master-in-Equity or Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53(e) of the South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity or Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case.

NOTICE OF FILING

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Notice, Complaint and Lis Pendens were filed on July 24th, 2025, the Order Appointing Guardian ad Litem was filed on July 29th, 2025 and the Order of Publication was filed on August 27th, 2025 in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County, State of South Carolina.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM

FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that R. David Chard, Esquire of 2050 Spaulding Drive, North Charleston, SC 29406 has been designated as Guardian ad Litem for all Defendants who may be incompetent, under age, or under any other disability or in the Service of the Military by Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Charleston County, dated July 29th, 2025 and the said appointment shall become absolute 30 days after the final publication of this Notice, unless such Defendants, or anyone in their behalf shall procure a proper person to be appointed Guardian ad Litem of them within 30 days after the final publication of this Notice.

THE PURPOSE of this action is to clear the title to the subject real property described as follows:

ALL THAT CERTAIN PIECE, parcel or lot of land, situate, lying and being off Fickling Hill Road, on Johns Island, County of Charleston, State of South Carolina, and measuring and containing one and fifty-five hundredths (155) acres, more or less, and being shown and designated as Lot Five (5) on a plat entitled “A Division of the Lands of Rosa Capers on Johns Island,” said plat was recorded in the RMC Office for Charleston County on March 20, 1979 in Plat Book R at Page 100 (now Cabinet N at Slide 25), reference being made to said plat for a more complete description thereof.

TMS # 280-00-00-111

September 2nd, 2025

s/Carl B. Hubbard

Carl B. Hubbard

Attorney at Law

2201 Middle Street, Box 15 Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina 29482 (843) 814-3481 chublaw@comcast.net

Attorney for the Plaintiff

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

CASE NO.: 2025-CP-10-04087

THE WOODLANDS OF JOHNS ISLAND, LLC, Plaintiff,

v. ROSA CAPERS and JAMES NATHANIEL CAPERS, and if they be deceased, their heirs, distributees, personal representatives, successors and assigns and spouses, if any they have and all other persons with any right, title or interest in and to the real estate described in the Complaint, commonly known as:

1.64-acres on Fickling Hill Road Charleston County, South Carolina

and also any unknown adults and those persons as who may be in the Military Service of the United States of America, all of them being a class designated as John Doe; and any unknown minors or persons under a disability being a class designated as Richard Roe, Defendants.

SUMMONS & NOTICE

To the Defendants above-named:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer upon the undersigned at his office at: 2201 Middle Street, Box 15, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, within thirty (30) days, after service hereof upon you, exclusive of the day of such service, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive if the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to answer the foregoing summons, the Plaintiff will move for a general Order of Reference of this cause to the Master-in-Equity or Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53(e) of the South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity or Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case.

NOTICE OF FILING

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Notice, Complaint and Lis Pendens were filed on July 22nd, 2025, the Order Appointing Guardian ad Litem was filed on July 31st, 2025 and the Order of Publication was filed on August 26th, 2025 in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County, State of South Carolina.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM

FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that R. David Chard, Esquire of 2050 Spaulding Drive, North Charleston, SC 29406 has been designated as Guardian ad Litem for all Defendants who may be incompetent, under age, or under any other disability or in the Service of the Military by Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Charleston County, dated July 31st, 2025 and the said appointment shall become absolute 30 days after the final publication of this Notice, unless such Defendants, or anyone in their behalf shall procure a proper person to be appointed Guardian ad Litem of them within 30 days after the final publication of this Notice.

THE PURPOSE of this action is to clear the title to the subject real property described as follows: All that lot, piece and parcel of land lying, situate and being on Johns Island in Charleston County, South Carolina, shown and designated as Lot 4 on a plat of Robert L Frank, R.L.S., dated June 14, 1978, entitled “A Division of lands of Rosa Capers on Johns Island” and recorded in the R.M.C. Office for Charleston County in Plat Book R, Page 100, on March 20, 1979, and having such size, shape, buttings and boundings as are shown on said plat, reference to which is craved for a more specific description

TMS # 280-00-00-110 September 2nd, 2025

s/Carl B. Hubbard

Carl B. Hubbard Attorney at Law 2201 Middle Street, Box 15 Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina 29482

(843) 814-3481

chublaw@comcast.net

Attorney for the Plaintiff

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO.: 2025-CP-10-04228

VERNON KELLER STAUBES, JR., as Personal Representative of the Estate of Vernon Staubes, Plaintiff, v. JAMES M. FREEMAN, LEONARD RILEY, JR., AISHA JONES, and if they be deceased, their heirs, distributees, personal representatives, successors and assigns and spouses, if any they have and all other persons with any right, title or interest in and to the real estate described in the Complaint, commonly known as:

3.95-acres on Kent Street Charleston County, South Carolina TMS Number: 535-04-00-055

and also any unknown adults and those persons as who may be in the Military Service of the United States of America, all of them being a class designated as John Doe; and any unknown minors or persons under a disability being a class designated as Richard Roe, Defendants.

SUMMONS & NOTICE

To the Defendants above-named:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer upon the undersigned at his office at: 2201 Middle Street, Box 15, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482, within thirty (30) days, after service hereof upon you, exclusive of the day of such service, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive if the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to answer the foregoing summons, the Plaintiff will move for a general Order of Reference of this cause to the Master-in-Equity or Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53(e) of the South Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity or Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case.

NOTICE OF FILING

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Summons and Notice, Complaint and Lis Pendens were filed on July 29th, 2025, the Order Appointing Guardian ad Litem was filed on July 31st, 2025 and the Order of Publication was filed on August 26th, 2025 in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County, State of South Carolina.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM

FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that R. David Chard, Esquire of 2050 Spaulding Drive, North Charleston, SC 29406 has been designated as Guardian ad Litem for all Defendants who may be incompetent, under age, or under any other disability or in the Service of the Military by Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Charleston County, dated July 31st, 2025 and the said appointment shall become absolute 30 days after the final publication of this Notice, unless such Defendants, or anyone in their behalf shall procure

a proper person to be appointed Guardian ad Litem of them within 30 days after the final publication of this Notice.

THE PURPOSE of this action is to clear the title to the subject real property described as follows:

ALL THAT CERTAIN PIECE, parcel or lot of land, situate, lying and being in the County of Charleston, State of South Carolina located in Mt. Pleasant Tax District Number 21 measuring and containing onefourth (.25) of an acre of high land and three and seven-tenths (3.7) acres of marsh lands, more or less as shown on plat recorded in the RMC Office for Charleston County in Plat Book L at page 108.

TMS # 535-04-00-055

September 2nd, 2025

s/Carl B. Hubbard

Carl B. Hubbard

Attorney at Law 2201 Middle Street, Box 15 Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina 29482 (843) 814-3481 chublaw@comcast.net

Attorney for the Plaintiff

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-1707

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS JUSTIN BRIGHT, HEATHER LECLAIR

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2008

TO DEFENDANT: HEATHER LECLAIR

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for CHARLESTON County on June 27, 2025, at 2:49 pm. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Sally R. Young, Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Sally R. Young, SC Bar # 4686, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714, (843) 953-9625.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-1899

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL

SERVICES

VERSUS ASHLEY WHITE, SHAINE GARY, BRYAN JAMISON, GWENDOLYN WHITE, MIRIAM HALL.

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILDREN BORN 2013, 2016

TO DEFENDANTS: ASHLEY WHITE, SHAINE GARY, BRYAN JAMISON

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the

Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for CHARLESTON County on July 21, 2025, at 3:05 pm. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Sally R. Young, Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service.

If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Sally R. Young, SC Bar # 4686, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714, (843) 953-9625.

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of: MICHAEL JOSEPH ARSENAULT 2025-ES-10-1284

DOD: 7/3/25

Pers. Rep: STEVEN JOSEPH ARSENAULT 5858 SENN ST., THE VILLAGES, FL 32163 ***********

Estate of: JOSEPH W. HALL 2025-ES-10-1314

DOD: 6/7/25

Pers. Rep: JEFFREY R. HALL 686 W. MOUNTAIN VIEW RD., LEHI, UT 84043

***********

Estate of: MARGERY ADA HASBROUCK 2025-ES-10-1347

DOD: 6/28/25

Pers. Rep: TROY HASBROUCK 1600 ERINDALE CT., MONROE, NC 28110

Atty: MORGAN M. INSLEY, ESQ. 1501 BELLE ISLE AVE., #110, #064, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

***********

Estate of: BARBARA ANN JOHNSON 2025-ES-10-1349

DOD: 7/16/25

Pers. Rep: PEARCE L. VENNING 121 WHISPER DR., SUMMERVILLE, SC 29485

***********

Estate of: BENNIE C. CHAMPION 2025-ES-10-1356

DOD: 5/29/25

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-0862

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS Katelyn Doran, Brian Cole,Jeanne Doran and James Doran DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILDREN BORN 2014, 2016, & 2019

TO DEFENDANT: Katelyn Doran

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with theClerk of Court for Charleston County on March 27, 2025. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 RiversAvenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, S.C. 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Charleston County Department of Social Services, Legal Office, 3685 Rivers Avenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, S.C. 29405, (843) 953-9625.

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of:

CHARLES WAYNE MOORE 2025-ES-10-1417

DOD: 7/11/25

Pers. Rep: ELISE SHARP MOORE 959 PITT ST., MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Atty: ANDREW W. CHANDLER, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of: ELLEN J. MASSEY

2025-ES-10-1390

DOD: 6/17/25

Pers. Rep: WILLIAM L. CANDLER 11601 PARKSBURG CT., GLEN ALLEN, PA 23059

Pers. Rep: FRANCES H. CHAMPION 2422 HANSCOMBE POINT RD., JOHNS ISLAND, SC 29455

Atty: LISA WOLFF HERBERT, ESQ. 864 LOWCOUNTRY BLVD., #C, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

***********

Estate of: BENJAMIN R. SCHOOLS 2025-ES-10-1360

DOD: 6/16/25

Pers. Rep: DAVID R. SCHOOLS 771 NAVIGATORS RUN, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Pers. Rep: NELLA B. SCHOOLS 771 NAVIGATORS RUN, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Atty: M. JEAN LEE, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

***********

Estate of: FRANK B. PETERS, JR. 2025-ES-10-1365

DOD: 7/16/25

Pers. Rep: MEREDITH P. DUNNAN 64 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

Atty: DAVID H. KUNES, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

after service hereof, exclusive of the date of such service, and, if you fail to Answer the Complaint for Forfeiture within the time aforesaid, judgment by default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint and Forfeiture of the subject property will be ordered.

/s/ Steven Ruemelin, Esq. Charleston Police Department 180 Lockwood Blvd. Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 720-3787 Attorney for Plaintiff

Charleston, South Carolina August 18, 2025

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF DORCHESTER IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR- 18-0680

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS Nicole Miller and Joseph Moffett, DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTEREST OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2014.

Atty: DAVID H. KUNES, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT CASE NO.: 2025-CP-10-03408

SOLICITOR, NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, Plaintiff, vs. 4.95 grams of Cocaine in 9 separate bags, 1 DU of MDMA, one Apple iphone, Nine Hundred Sixty-Three Dollars Zero Cents ($963.00) in US Currency, Defendant

NOTICE

TO: ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE ABOVE CAPTIONED PROPERTY

TAKE NOTICE that the original Summons and Complaint for Forfeiture in the above entitled action were filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County on June 12th, 2025, the subject and prayer of which is to obtain civil forfeiture of property named above.

AMENDED SUMMONS

To: Gerald T. Chisolm 5109 Westview ST North Charleston, SC 29418

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint for Forfeiture in this proceeding, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint for Forfeiture on the undersigned attorney at 180 Lockwood Blvd., Charleston, South Carolina within thirty (30) days

TO DEFENDANT Nicole Miller YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the complaint for termination of your parental rights in and to the minor child in this action, the original of which has been filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Dorchester County 212 Deming Way, SC 29483, on the 17th day of June, 2025, at 1:56 PM., a copy of which will be delivered to you upon request; and to serve a copy of your answer to the complaint upon the undersigned attorney for the Plaintiff at 1452 Boone Hill Road., Ste C, Summerville, SC 29483 within thirty (30) days following the date of service upon you, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the complaint within the time stated, the plaintiff will apply for judgment by default against the defendant for the relief demanded in the complaint.

Dawn M. Berry, SC Bar # 101675, 1452 Boone Hill Road., Ste C, Summerville, SC 29483, (843) 486-1861.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

HSBC Bank USA, National Association as Trustee for Renaissance Home Equity Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2007-3, PLAINTIFF, vs. Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis AND IF Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis be deceased then any child and heir at law to the Estates of Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis distributees and devisees at law to the Estates of Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis and if any of the same be dead any and all persons entitled to claim under or through them also all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, interest or lien upon the real estate described in the complaint herein; Any unknown adults, any unknown infants or persons under a disability being a class designated as John Doe, and any persons in the military service of the United States of America being a class designated as Richard Roe; Fred Lewis, III; Telvonne De Antre Lewis, Sr; Tiffany Tiara Lewis; E T, a minor; A Y, a minor; Midland Funding LLC; Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC; Charleston County Clerk of Court; South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; Walmart, Inc.; South Carolina Federal Credit Union,

SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT

(NON-JURY MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE)

C/A NO: 2025-CP-10-03550

DEFICIENCY WAIVED

TO THE DEFENDANTS, ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint herein, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, or otherwise appear and defend, and to serve a copy of your Answer to said Complaint upon the subscriber at his office, Hutchens Law Firm LLP, P.O. Box 8237, Columbia, SC 29202, within thirty (30) days after service hereof, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive of the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, or otherwise appear and defend, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded therein, and judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to Answer the foregoing Summons, the Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference of this case to the Master-in-Equity/Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity/Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case with appeal only to the South Carolina Court of Appeals pursuant to Rule 203(d)(1) of the SCACR, effective June 1, 1999.

TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY:

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by the Plaintiff immediately and separately and such application will be deemed absolute and total in the absence of your application for such an appointment within thirty (30) days after the service of the Summons and Complaint upon you.

NOTICE OF FILING OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED: YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the foregoing Summons, along with the Complaint, were filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court on June 20, 2025 and the Amended Summons and Complaint were filed on August 5, 2025.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT(S) IN MILITARY SERVICE

TO UNKNOWN OR KNOWN DEFENDANTS THAT MAY BE IN THE MILITARY SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ALL BEING A CLASS DESIGNATED AS RICHARD ROE: YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED that Plaintiff’s attorney has applied for the appointment of an attorney to represent you. If you fail to apply for the appointment of an attorney to represent you within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you Plaintiff’s appointment will be made absolute with no further action from Plaintiff.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR.

IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED

BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

s/ Gregory T. Whitley

August 21, 2025

John S. Kay (S.C. Bar No. 7914)

Ashley Z. Stanley (S.C. Bar No. 74854)

Alan M. Stewart (S.C. Bar No. 15576)

Sarah O. Leonard (S.C. Bar No. 80165)

Gregory Wooten (S.C. Bar No. 73586)

Gregory T. Whitley (S.C. Bar No. 100792)

Attorneys for Plaintiff Hutchens Law Firm LLP P.O. Box 8237 Columbia, SC 29202 (803) 726-2700 john.kay@hutchenslawfirm.com ashley.stanley@hutchenslawfirm. com alan.stewart@hutchenslawfirm. com sarah.leonard@hutchenslawfirm. com k.gregory.wooten@ hutchenslawfirm.com gregory.whitley@hutchenslawfirm. com Firm Case No: 26497 - 134942

all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, interest or lien upon the real estate described in the complaint herein; Any unknown adults, any unknown infants or persons under a disability being a class designated as John Doe, and any persons in the military service of the United States of America being a class designated as Richard Roe; Trevor Andre McNeil, Jr, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Trevor McNeil a/k/a Trevor A McNeil, a/k/a Trevor Andre McNeil; Antonio Odell McNeil; Paolo Vecchione, DEFENDANT(S)

SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT (NON-JURY MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE)

C/A NO: 2025-CP-10-04130 DEFICIENCY WAIVED

TO THE DEFENDANTS, ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint herein, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, or otherwise appear and defend, and to serve a copy of your Answer to said Complaint upon the subscriber at his office, Hutchens Law Firm LLP, P.O. Box 8237, Columbia, SC 29202, within thirty (30) days after service hereof, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive of the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, or otherwise appear and defend, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded therein, and judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to Answer the foregoing Summons, the Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference of this case to the Master-in-Equity/Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity/Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case with appeal only to the South Carolina Court of Appeals pursuant to Rule 203(d)(1) of the SCACR, effective June 1, 1999.

TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY:

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by the Plaintiff immediately and separately and such application will be deemed absolute and total in the absence of your application for such an appointment within thirty (30) days after the service of the Summons and Complaint upon you.

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED that Plaintiff’s attorney has applied for the appointment of an attorney to represent you. If you fail to apply for the appointment of an attorney to represent you within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you Plaintiff’s appointment will be made absolute with no further action from Plaintiff.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

s/ Gregory T. Whitley

August 18, 2025

John S. Kay (S.C. Bar No. 7914)

Ashley Z. Stanley (S.C. Bar No. 74854)

Alan M. Stewart (S.C. Bar No. 15576)

Sarah O. Leonard (S.C. Bar No. 80165)

Gregory Wooten (S.C. Bar No. 73586)

Gregory T. Whitley (S.C. Bar No. 100792)

Attorneys for Plaintiff Hutchens Law Firm LLP P.O. Box 8237 Columbia, SC 29202 (803) 726-2700

john.kay@hutchenslawfirm.com ashley.stanley@hutchenslawfirm. com alan.stewart@hutchenslawfirm. com sarah.leonard@hutchenslawfirm. com k.gregory.wooten@ hutchenslawfirm.com gregory.whitley@hutchenslawfirm. com Firm Case No.: 26782-136177

Master’s Sale Case No. 2023-CP-10-00573

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, COUNTY OF CHARLESTON: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

Heritage Village Horizontal Property Regime, Inc., Plaintiff v. Darcy Thompson and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Defendants.

Upon authority of a Decree dated the 3rd day of February, 2025, I will offer for sale to the highest bidder for cash, at public auction, the premises fully described below, in the County Council Chambers, Public Services Building (PSB) 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston, South Carolina, on the 4th day of November, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. or shortly thereafter.

ALL that certain Condominium or Apartment Unit, situate, lying and being in the Town of Mount Pleasant, County of Charleston, State of South Carolina known and designated as Apartment Unit Number 3, Building C, in Heritage Village Horizontal Property Regime, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, a horizontal property regime established by Mount Pleasant Investments (A Partnership) pursuant to the South Carolina Horizontal Property Act, Section 57494, et seq., South Carolina Code of Laws, as amended, and submitted by Master Deed dated March 5, 1974, recorded on March 8, 1974 in the RMC Office for Charleston County in Book X-103 at Page 234, which Apartment Unit is shown on a Plat of said Regime, recorded in the RMC Office for Charleston County in Plat Book AC at Page 154. Said Apartment/Condominium conveyed together with an undivided percentage interest in and to the common elements and facilities and easement(s) and is subject to those conditions all as stated in Deed recorded in Book X173, at Page 122.

SUBJECT to all easements, restrictions, and rights of way record.

Being the same property conveyed to Scott A. Shank by deed of C. Denise Pfaff, dated January 14, 2005 and recorded on January 19, 2005 in the Office of the RMC for Charleston County in Book W522 at Page 593.

TMS# 535-05-00-061

Property Address: 305 Lakeside Drive, Unit C Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

No personal or deficiency judgment being demanded, the bidding will not remain open after the date of sale, but compliance with the bid may be made immediately.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS C/A No.: 2025-CP-10-03708

First National Bank of America, Plaintiff, vs Pamela Tonette Delullo; Nick Delullo a/k/a Nicholas Angelo Delullo, Jr.; UMB Bank, NA; Patrick Butler, Defendant(s).

SUMMONS AND NOTICES (NonJury) FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE

TO THE DEFENDANT(S) ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear and defend by answering the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices at 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference or the Court may issue a general Order of Reference of this action to a Master-inEquity/Special Referee, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY: YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by Attorney for the Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the original Complaint, Lis Pendens, and Certificate of Exemption from ADR in the above entitled action was filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County on June 30, 2025.

J. Martin Page, Esq. (SC Bar: 100200)

and any unknown infants, persons under disability, or person in the Military Service of the United States of America whose true names are unknown, being a class designated as Richard Roe; The United States of America, acting by and through its agent, the Federal Housing Commissioner, Defendant(s).

SUMMONS AND NOTICES (Non-Jury)

FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE

TO THE DEFENDANT(S) ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear and defend by answering the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices at 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference or the Court may issue a general Order of Reference of this action to a Master-inEquity/Special Referee, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.

TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY:

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by Attorney for the Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the original Complaint, Lis Pendens, and Certificate of Exemption from ADR in the above entitled action was filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Horry County on July 15, 2025.

OF PUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Beverly T. Craven Council Chambers, Lonnie Hamilton, III Public Services Building, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston, SC, regarding an ordinance amending Chapter 3, Article I, Animals and Fowl, of the Charleston County Code of Ordinances, Number 1702, as amended Public comments, written and oral, are invited. Those wishing to provide written public comments for the public hearing should email comments to public-comments@ charlestoncounty.org by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC, PLAINTIFF, vs. Trevor McNeil a/k/a Trevor A McNeil, a/k/a Trevor Andre McNeil and Tre’Von Andre McNeil AND IF Trevor McNeil a/k/a Trevor A McNeil, a/k/a Trevor Andre McNeil and Tre’Von Andre McNeil be deceased then any child and heir at law to the Estates of Trevor McNeil a/k/a Trevor A McNeil, a/k/a Trevor Andre McNeil and Tre’Von Andre McNeil distributees and devisees at law to the Estates of Trevor McNeil a/k/a Trevor A McNeil, a/k/a Trevor Andre McNeil and Tre’Von Andre McNeil and if any of the same be dead any and all persons entitled to claim under or through them also

NOTICE OF FILING OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the foregoing Summons, along with the Complaint, were filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court on July 24, 2025.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT(S) IN MILITARY SERVICE

TO UNKNOWN OR KNOWN

DEFENDANTS THAT MAY BE IN THE MILITARY SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ALL BEING A CLASS DESIGNATED AS RICHARD ROE:

The property shall be sold for cash to the highest bidder. The highest bidder, other than the Plaintiff, will be required to deposit with the Master, at the conclusion of the bidding, cash or certified check in the amount of five (5%) per cent of the bid: the said deposit to be applied to the purchase price.

Should the highest bidder fail to comply with the bid within thirty days from the date of sale, the Master will resell the property at the risk and expense of the defaulting bidder upon the same terms as above set out. The Sheriff of Charleston County may be authorized to put the purchaser into possession of the premises if requested by the purchaser.

PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY

Paul R. Rahn

Robertson Hollingsworth Manos & Rahn, LLC

40 Calhoun St., Suite 330 Charleston, SC 29401 Telephone: 843-723-6470

Morgan Ames, Esq. (SC Bar: 106058) Bell Carrington Price & Gregg, LLC 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor Columbia, SC 29201 Phone (803) 509-5078

BCP No.: 25-42766 7200

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS C/A No.: 2025-CP-10-03959

PHH Mortgage Corporation, Plaintiff, vs The Estate of Phyllis Grant, and John Doe and Richard Roe, as Representatives of all heirs and devisees of Phyllis Grant, deceased, and all persons entitled to claim under or through them; also, all other persons, corporations or entities unknown claiming any right, title interest in or lien upon the subject real estate described herein, any unknown adults, whose true names are unknown, being a class designated as John Doe,

J. Martin Page, Esq. (SC Bar: 100200) Morgan Ames, Esq. (SC Bar: 106058) Bell Carrington Price & Gregg, LLC 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor Columbia, SC 29201 Phone (803) 509-5078

BCP No.: 25-42977 7203

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the Beverly T. Craven Council Chambers, Lonnie Hamilton, III Public Services Building, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston, SC, regarding an ordinance to amend the portion of Charleston County Code of Ordinances Section 2-137 dealing with Sheriff’s Office fees and to add a provision clarifying Animal Services Fees. Public comments, written and oral, are invited. Those wishing to provide written public comments for the public hearing should email comments to publiccomments@charlestoncounty.

Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I can’t speak the Quechua language, which is Indigenous to the Andes Mountains. But I have lifted one of their words to use for our purposes here: munay. It refers to an intensely practical and visionary love that includes far more than sweet feelings and affection. When we practice munay, we offer discerning respect and detailed appreciation to those we adore. We are generously eager to help our allies live their best lives. It takes discipline! And focus! And ingenuity! To be a rigorous and vigorous source of munay, we must cultivate it as a daily practice. In the coming weeks, Aries, I hope you will go a bit wild in your expression of this tender force of nature. Imagine yourself as a gentle whirlwind of love that spreads interesting beauty and bestows useful blessings. Be a relentless dispenser of catalytic gifts.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The medieval Persian polymath Avicenna believed the soul entered the fetus not with the first heartbeat, but with the first dream. I offer this idea for your poetic consideration, dear Taurus. Let’s imagine that the next beautiful thing you create will not arise from your forceful intention. Rather, it will emerge because you give yourself permission to fantasize, to wander freely in wonder and to meander with curiosity on the frontiers. Your assignment is not to hustle, but to incubate; not to push forward, but to dwell expectantly in the mystery.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The bowerbird constructs elaborate ground-based shrines not as nests but as seduction lures. The enticer might gather blue bottle caps, yellow flowers, and shiny stones so as to create a scene that piques the attention of a potential mate. These objets d’art are not merely decorative. They are displays that demonstrate discernment, skill, and aesthetic intelligence. I authorize you to be like a bowerbird, Gemini. What collection of symbols, words, gestures, and curiosities will magnetize the people or opportunities you long to engage with? It’s not about flashiness; it’s about alignment. What you draw into your sphere will reflect the vibes you emanate.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The pearl doesn’t begin as treasure. In its earliest form, it’s an irritation: a grain of sand that’s really a wound inside the oyster. Over time, the creature coats it with layers of nacre, turning discomfort into luminescence. Let’s use that as a metaphor for you, Cancerian. In my view, your task right now is not to escape or shed what’s bugging you, but to expedite the coating process. What is that gritty thing? A memory, injustice, or unmet yearning? It’s crucial you don’t reject it and don’t let it fester. I think it’s best to turn it, layer by layer, into a luminous asset, even a treasure. Prediction: The pearl you form will long outlast the wound.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Olive trees can thrive in rugged environments, including rocky and nutrientpoor soils. Their root systems are wide, deep and resilient. They are well-adapted to full sun, high temperatures, and low water availability. In comparing you to an olive tree, Leo, I’m not implying you will always have to be as hardy as they are. But in the coming weeks, you will be wise to be equally plucky and persevering. Here’s another fact about the olive tree you can and should emulate: Its fruit is valuable and in demand.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Basenji is a dog breed that doesn’t bark. Instead, it produces an eerie, melodic yodel called a baroo. This oddity isn’t a flaw or drawback; it’s an interesting uniqueness. In the coming weeks, Virgo, I invite you to express your personal versions of the baroo — your idiosyncratic offerings and singular gifts. Playfully resist the pressure to be more conventional or “on brand.” Be faithful to what yearns to come out of you, which may be raw, radiant and a little weird. Let your authenticity be exactly what it is: a beacon, not a liability.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Scientists discovered that some caterpillars, while dissolving inside their cocoons, retain memories of their caterpillar

lives even after becoming butterflies. In my view, that’s equivalent to us humans remembering details of our previous incarnations: having an all-new body but being able to draw on what our past body learned. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you will be able to draw on this amazing capacity in the coming weeks. The person you used to be will have key revelations and inspirations for the future you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to Celtic mythology, Cerridwen is the goddess of inspiration. In her cauldron, she brews magical elixirs that bestow the powers of wisdom, creativity and transformation. The humans most likely to earn her blessings are those who are patient and willing to be changed. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Scorpios are now at the top of the eligibility list for gifts like these. And the next three weeks will be the most favorable time for you to ask for and receive such blessings. Here’s a clue that will help you get all you deserve: Believe in magic.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In ancient Chinese philosophy, ziran means naturalness, spontaneity. It might refer to the way a mountain is purely a mountain, and a wave is a wave without trying to be a wave. I think you Sagittarians are due for an extended engagement with this wild ease and elegant freedom. After weeks of inner labor, your soul wants to breathe in ziran. Your assignment is to let yourself be as natural and unconstrained as you dare — not correct or careful or “optimized.” So I advise you to head in the direction of what’s simple and real and good. Emphasize smoothness over effort. Choose your rhythm, not theirs. You aren’t required to prove your healing. You just have to live it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Serendipity” is an English term that refers to beautiful accidents, fortunate interruptions, unexpected opportunities, and surprisingly wonderful discoveries (The French equivalent is sérendipité; Italian: serendipità; Japanese: serendipiti.) The word didn’t exist until 1754, when author Horace Walpole coined it. Lovely outbreaks of good luck and uncanny blessings had been happening from time immemorial, of course, even though there wasn’t this precise word for them. Here’s a key point: They are more likely to occur if you believe they’re possible and make yourself alert for their arrival. That’s good advice for you right now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The placenta is the only organ that the human body creates from scratch and then discards. Let’s pause for a moment to register how remarkable this is: to grow a temporary life-support system and then jettison it once its purpose is fulfilled. Inspired by this miracle, I speculate that you may soon undertake a metaphorical version of it. A situation or experience that has nurtured you is reaching the end of its mission. Though it has served you well, the wise move might be to outgrow it and move on to a new phase of your evolution. At the very least, it’s time to embark on a search for new forms of nourishment.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Balinese gamelan music, there’s a technique called kotekan. Two instrumentalists play distinct musical parts that together create a seamless, intricately melodic and rhythmic texture. Let’s make this your metaphor to live by in the coming weeks, Pisces. In my astrological opinion, you are not meant to work solo. Your greatest success and most fun will come by generating harmony through collaborative improvisation and shared timing. A small warning: Someone else’s input may at first feel like interference, but it’s actually the missing part of the song. Let yourself blend, bounce, echo and respond. Genius will be born in the spaces between.

“TIME FOR AN UPGRADE” —to a higher status.

Across

1. Red ink

6. One way to be taken

11. Basic skateboarding trick

12. Oil business boss

13. Recycling container

16. Bracelet fastener

17. “Crazy” singer Green

18. Mentalist Geller

19. French fry, elsewhere

21. Seafood selection named for the color of its meat

23. North American deer

25. Shapiro of “All Things Considered” (until September 2025)

27. Supposes

28. England’s westernmost cape

31. PepsiCo beverage brand with a two-lizard logo

32. Country near the Strait of Hormuz

33. Minn. college named for a Norwegian king

35. Airport near OAK

38. Skater Lipinski

39. Where BTS originated

40. Saucy

41. “Exit full screen” key

42. “Walk This Way” rap trio

43. It’s light, but not a saber

44. “Happy Birthday” writer

46. One who agrees

48. Subject of a neighborhood flier

51. “Scratch that,” in texts

52. “If you think you can’t remember the prefix for three, just ___”

53. Submitted, as completed homework

55. A head

57. “Despicable Me” supervillain

58. Protective gear

60. Actor Christopher

63. Wise one?

64. Adult Swim fare, for short

Beach house feature

Jack of nursery rhymes

Online administrator

G.P., e.g.

6. Basic beginning

7. Main squeezes

8. Concert setting

9. Title location for an “Adventure,” per a 1976 interactive text computer game

10. Is familiar with

13. Snakes native to Southeast Asia but considered an invasive species in Florida

14. “Dies ___” (Requiem movement)

15. Bits of roasted cocoa beans

20. Barometric indicator of upcoming rain, maybe 22. Ursine baby

23. Mexican street corn

24. “Falcon Crest” star Lorenzo

26. UB40’s “One ___”

29. Strand stuff

30. Surname of an early TV marionette

34. Unit of light brightness

36. Having more leeway

37. “SNL” alum Cheri

40. Pot pie veggie

42. Echoes

45. Dollar divs.

47. “You’re killing me, ___” (“The Sandlot” quote)

48. Nelly Korda’s org.

49. Rowing equipment

50. East ___ (U.N. member since 2002)

54. Hendryx of the “Lady Marmalade” trio Labelle

56. Modeling medium

59. Q-U connector

61. 7’6” NBA star ___ Ming

62. Party food

1947 film set in India with Deborah Kerr

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