August 7 edition

Judge: Protect Beaufort has standing to sue City over marina

ST. HELENA ISLAND

t seems like a slow news season for the proposed Pine Island development, but things may soon pick up with the County Council agreeing last week to hire an outside attorney to review the development agreement the developers hope the elected officials will endorse. It was in May that the County Planning Commission rejected the latest plans from developers of the 400-acre island on the grounds they still violated principles in the Cultural Protection Overlay, or CPO, district which calls for the land to remain rural.

The plans, which have been under discussion for the past three years, are described by the developers as “down zoned” because of a reduction in the number of homes from 149 to 49

Safe Harbor joins lawsuit as co-defendant

By Mike McCombs The Island News

On Monday, July 28, two motions were ruled on in the lawsuit filed by Protect Beaufort Inc. against the City of Beaufort in December 2024 in the 14th Circuit Court of Common Pleas regarding the legality of the City’s lease of the Downtown Marina to be operated by Safe Harbor.

In the first, filed March 7 and heard July 17, the City argued Protect Beaufort did not have legal

standing in the case and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

Circuit Court Judge S. Bryan Doby denied the City’s motion.

In the second, also filed March 7 and heard July 17, Safe Harbor Marina Beaufort LLC petitioned to intervene in the case.

Doby granted this motion, and Safe Harbor will become a party to the case as a defendant.

Protect Beaufort Inc. is a nonprofit founded in 2024 by George Trask. Its stated goals are:

1 To protect and enhance the unique public community and environmental qualities that exist in Beaufort, S.C.

2 To oppose and reverse the privatization and commercialization of property owned by governmental entities in the city and the county.

3 To promote the adoption and enforcement of laws and contracts of the city, the county, the state, and the nation for the purposes stated in paragraphs 1 and 2 Graham Trask, son of founder George Trask and a Protect Beaufort board member, was not surprised the City had been quiet

Sea Sea’s says ‘thank

Owner of Port Royal bait shop throwing anniversary party

By Mike McCombs The Island News

PORT

ROYAL

“Ithink food brings people together and makes people happy, which, in turn, makes me happy.” It really is that simple for Isis Nunez. The 36-year-old owner of Sea Sea’s Honey Hole Bait & Tackle in Port Royal is celebrating the third anniversary of the opening of

her shop with what else? A fish fry.

The Miami-born Nunez might not have seen a bait and tackle shop in her future. She joined the U.S. Army at 21, served five years as a military police officer and was deployed to Afghanistan. She separated in 2016, and a job interview brought her to MCAS Beaufort, where she worked several years as a civilian military police officer.

She came to the Lowcountry for employment, but Beaufort is where Nunez discovered she had fishing in her blood.

“I learned how to fish locally here in South Carolina and became really intrigued by it,” she said. “I enjoyed it very much and would fish about every weekend.”

SEE PARTY PAGE A8

The Beaufort Downtown Marina on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Amber Hewitt/ The Island News SEE MARINA PAGE A7

Isis Nunez swings outside Sea Sea’s Honey Hole on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. Amber Hewitt/ The Island News

LOWCOUNTRY LIFE & NEWS

submitted this

to announce the completion of a

thanks to generous donor James Quarforth. Additionally, thanks to the City of Beaufort for the fantastic maintenance

which designed and installed the swing and structure. To submit a Lowcountry Life photo, you must be the photographer or have permission to submit the photo to be published in The Island News. Please submit high-resolution photos and include a description and/or names of the people in the picture and the name of the photographer. Email your photos to theislandnews@gmail.com.

VETERAN OF THE WEEK KATHLEEN YOUNG

American Legion Beaufort Post 207 brings you Kathleen Young, 77, who joined the U.S. Navy in Narrowsburge, N.Y. in 1966. After Boot Camp and Hospital Corpsman School at Great Lakes, Ill., she reported to Naval Hospital St. Albans (Queens), N.Y., where she received wounded from Vietnam. She then served at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where she trained for laboratory work and worked in a ward. At the end of her enlistment, she separated and began a multi-year period as a Sister of the Order of Saint Francis. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Nursing and

Kathleen Young

worked in Catholic hospitals in Florida.

In 1980 she rejoined the Navy as a commissioned nurse, again assigned to the hospital in Bethesda working in neurosurgery and the ICU. From 1983 to 1986 she was assigned

ON THIS DATE

August 9

2021: The City of Beaufort Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) grants developer Dick Stewart and 303 Associates a code variance to allow the building of a three-story apartment building at the corner of Charles and Port Republic streets.

2021: Interim coach Cory Cottrell is promoted to permanent head coach for the USC Beaufort men’s and women’s golf teams.

August 11

1940: A Category 2 hurricane makes landfall at Beaufort. Winds of 104 mph strike Parris Island, destroying barracks and doing $1 5 million in damage to the Marine Recruit Depot. Recruit training continued at Quantico, Va., until repairs could be made. There were no serious injuries. Near the point of landfall, a total of 10 84 inches

PAL PETS OF THE WEEK

Dog of the Week

Rosie lives life in the slow lane.

She's a laid-back girl with a gentle spirit. At 8 years young, she appreciates the simple things in life like peaceful strolls, lounging, and sunbathing. She’s the definition of an “old soul,” with a wise gaze and a soft demeanor that draws people in. Rosie is wonderful on leash, making walks an easy and enjoyable experience. If this happy, mellow, affectionate girl sounds just your speed, come meet her at Palmetto Animal League. She is spayed, up to date on vaccinations, and microchipped.

to Charleston Naval Hospital as a coronary critical care nurse and earned a Master Degree in Health Care Administration. She next served at Naval Hospital Philippines, where she worked in labor and delivery, nursery, OBGYN and pediatrics. Her next assignment was at Naval Air Station Alameda, Calif., as senior nurse. She followed that assignment by earning another Masters Degree, this time in Community Health Nursing. Staying in California, she was assigned to Oakland Naval Hospital in surgery. Then she transferred first to MCAS Beaufort

and then as Director of Operational Medicine at Parris Island. While there, the Crucible was established requiring special medical attention. Following the Marines, she then served at MCAS Iwakuni as senior nurse. Her final assignment was back at Charleston Naval Hospital from which she retired in 2003 as a Commander, Nurse Corps with 28 years of service.

– Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207 For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.

of rainfall fell at Beaufort within a 24-hour period.

2019: For a record fourth time, Rob Simmons wins the Beaufort City Championship golf tournament at Fripp Island by 11 strokes.

August 13

1940: The Marine post on Parris Island is re-designated Recruit Depot, Marine Barracks, Parris Island.

2019: Beaufort Academy names Bobby Smith its head boys basketball coach.

2021: Tim Ogden is sworn in as the Chief of the City of BeaufortTown of Port Royal Fire Department, replacing Reece Bertholf, who was named the Deputy City Manager for the City of Beaufort. – Compiled by Mike McCombs

Cat of the Week To put it simply, Buddha thinks he's a dog. He's as friendly as they come, and he'll follow you

from room to room, always eager to be part of your day. Call his name and he’ll be right by your side! At 8 years young, Buddha has perfected the art of companionship. He’s a true lap cat whose charming chatter is sure to keep you entertained. He is neutered, up to date on vaccinations, and microchipped.

For more info on Rosie, Buddha or any of our other pets, call PAL at 843-645-1725 or email Info@ PalmettoAnimalLeague.org.

– Compiled by Lindsay Perry

Do you value your free hometown newspaper – made by locals, for locals? Free news isn’t cheap. Please help support The Island News!

Donations gratefully accepted at www.yourislandnews.com or The Island News, PO Box 550, Beaufort, SC 29901

Paul Butare, Chairman of the Friends of Whitehall Park,

photo

beautiful swing at Whitehall Park,

team headed by Nate Farrow,

BCBCC awards grants to Gullah groups

Awards founded by Mellon Foundation’s Humanities In Place program

By Mike McCombs The Island News

Backed by an $875,000 award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities In Place program, the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce (BCBCC) in July awarded Gullah Reclamation and Cultural Empowerment (GRACE) grants to 10 recipients.

The BCBCC, on Tuesday, June 29, hosted a reception to present checks to the recipients of the three-year grants aimed at preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of the Gullah/Geechee people in and around Beaufort County.

GRACE is a regranting program — the Chamber regrants a grant it received — established to ensure the stories, traditions and contributions of the Gullah people continue to thrive.

Outside of the Chamber’s participation in the South Carolina Housing Repair Program, these are the first grants the Black Chamber has issued since Marilyn Harris took the reins as Executive Director in the summer of 2023

Harris is relieved to reach this milestone. She said the Mellon Foundation approached the Chamber in October of 2024, and quite frankly, things were not in good order. Membership was down and many of the allegations involving the Black Chamber were centered around financial mismanagement.

“For the Mellon Foundation to take the time to come and sit with me and listen to the vision for the

Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marilyn Harris presents a check for a GRACE Initiative grant, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities In Place program, to a representative of the Black Veterans Village on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at the BCBCC building in Beaufort. Photo courtesy of Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce

Chamber moving forward and understand that we had a new Board of Directors and a new Executive Director and essentially a whole new team,” Harris said, “they were willing to give us an opportunity to demonstrate that I was the most competent for the position and the board was right-sized.

her, making sure every detail was correct. And she said the name of the Chamber’s grant program –GRACE – is appropriate because that’s what the Mellon Foundation showed.

“I wanted to be able to demonstrate, not just to Mellon, but to the community, that we are operating with integrity, that we are fiscally responsible, that we are brand new,” she said. “We’ve been given the opportunity to do that.”

these recipients before year’s end. A five-person evaluation team of community leaders with expertise in finance and Gullah heritage interviewed the applicants and based its final list of recipients on cultural impact, community impact and feasibility.

The recipients receive direct legal and financial assistance, educational resources and advocacy “to ensure that the Gullah/ Geechee community can preserve their cultural heriatge and maintain ownership of their ancestral lands.

According to a release from the BCBCC, the GRACE Initiative includes several key components: A regranting program to provide financial assistance to local preservation projects; Education workshops on estate planning, sustainable land use and financial literacy;

• Annual gatherings to raise awareness, provide resources and promote policy advocacy; and Preservation planning to ensure the longevity of Gullah/ Geechee cultural sites.

T

“I’m grateful that I have a supportive board and people in the community who are supportive of my ability to turn things around. When they listened to me and heard what my process involved, they decided to give us this opportunity to prove ourselves. … We had to prove to them that we were worth the risk.”

The 2025 GRACE Initiative recipients include: Beaufort-Jasper E.O.C., $7,000 Black Moses Freedom Festival, $1,200 Black Veterans Village, $2 500 De Gullah SHIPP, $5,000 Gullah Geechee Futures, $15 000 Lowcountry Gullah Foundation, $7 000 Mae Legacy, dba Earth People Farms, $5,000 Marshview Community Organic Farms, $7 000 Responsible ARTistry, $14 000 Love House Learning Academy, $2,500

The recipients were given checks for 80% of the of their grant July 29 with the remaining 20% to come in December.

Harris said at every step she asked the Mellon Foundation to walk through the process with

A total of $125,000 Mellon Foundation grant monies are to be given out in 2025. The remainer of that total after these initial grants are likely to be distributed among

Not long after the Mellon Foundation grant, the Coastal Community Foundation followed up with a $1 65 million capacity grant — “to help us rebuild.” That grant is to fund operational expenses.

Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

Spenser Staub, M . D. to Beaufort Memorial Pulmonary Specialists

o further meet the need for pulmonary care in the Lowcountry, Beaufort Memorial has added board-certified and fellowship-trained pulmonologist Dr. Spenser Staub to its Pulmonary Specialists practice.

Dr. Staub joins the practice from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and will be diagnosing and treating patients with various pulmonary conditions, including COPD, asthma and other acute and chronic lung diseases, as well as managing care for patients admitted to the Beaufort Memorial Hospital intensive care unit (ICU).

Growing up in Charleston, many of Dr. Staub’s role models were physicians, which guided him to a career in the medical field. He has used his medical expertise in clinics around the globe, including in a medical command unit in the U.S. Army National Guard, where he has been a member since 2019.

During residency and fellowship training, Dr. Staub presented research at various national medical conferences and had several medical journal articles published. He was also recognized as an outstanding educator two years in a row by medical students at MUSC.

Fellowship

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Medical University of South Carolina

Residency

Internal Medicine

Medical University of South Carolina

Doctor of Medicine

Medical University of South Carolina

Bachelor of Science

Spanish Language and International Health (Departmental Honors in Biochemistry)

Medical University of South Carolina

Dr. Staub joins board-certified pulmonologist Andrew Stevens, M.D., board-certified nurse practitioners Risa Linford, AGACNP and Shawna Nievierowski, FNP-BC, as well as board-certified pulmonologist John Krcmarik, M.D. at the practice.

Freedman Arts District offering legal class

Workshop will focus on heirs’ property issues, more

Staff reports The Freedman Arts District, in proud partnership with Lowcountry Legal Volunteers, is excited to announce a free public class designed to empower residents with the legal knowledge they need to navigate issues such as heirs' property, estate planning, and fundamental legal rights.

The event will take place at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 14 at 1401 Duke Street in Beaufort.

This workshop is part of Lowcountry Legal Volun-

teers’ Justice Navigator initiative, a community-based legal education series designed to help individuals better understand and access civil legal systems. This class is specifically designed to benefit communities where property rights and generational wealth are often at risk due to a lack of accessible legal support.

“As the Executive Director of the Freedman Arts District, I am honored to host this important event,”

Cherimie Weatherford said. “Our mission is to preserve and uplift the rich cultural and historical legacy of our district. One way we can do that is by helping our residents understand how to protect what they’ve worked so hard to build, especially their homes and land. Through this partnership with Lowcountry Legal Volunteers, we’re offering real tools to empower our community.”

This free class will include:

An overview of heirs’ property issues and how they affect generational wealth; Information on wills, estate planning, and how to avoid common legal pitfalls; Resources for connecting with legal help in Beaufort County; and Guidance from trained Justice Navigators on how to advocate for yourself and others. The program will also

provide details on how to become a Justice Navigator and support others in the community who face similar challenges. Space is limited, and attendees are encouraged to arrive early. To learn more about the Justice Navigator program or Lowcountry Legal Volunteers, please visit www.lowcountrylegalvolunteers.org.

To RSVP, contact Weatherford at Director@FreedmanArtsDistrict.org.

1 trapped, 2 injured in crash in which pickup strikes building

Staff reports

Late Friday afternoon, Aug. 1, the Burton Fire District, the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department, Beaufort County EMS, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, and the Port Royal Police Department responded to a vehicle collision on Savannah Highway which re-

sulted in injuries and a trapped occupant being rescued.

According to a media release from the Burton Fire District, just past 5 p.m., emergency crews responded to a reported two-vehicle collision on Savannah Highway in Burton with reports of a vehicle striking a building and

LEGAL NOTICES

one driver appearing slumped over the wheel.

Firefighters arrived on scene to a two-vehicle collision between a passenger vehicle and a pickup truck, with the pickup truck subsequently colliding with a building and the driver of the passenger vehicle trapped inside.

Firefighters rescued the trapped driver who was stabilized on scene by Beaufort County EMS and transported with potentially critical injuries.

The driver of the pickup truck was also transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital. A worker inside the building, who was only

feet from where the pickup truck struck the building, sustained minor injuries but was not transported.

Traffic on Savannah Highway was delayed for more than an hour while emergency crews assisted the trapped and injured, and removed roadway hazards.

THE SALE OF YOUR TIMESHARE ESTATE THROUGH THE NONJUDICIAL FORECLOSURE PROCEDURE AND REQUIRE FORECLOSURE OF YOUR TIMESHARE INTEREST TO PROCEED THROUGH THE JUDICIAL PROCESS. AN OBJECTION MUST BE MADE

FOR THE COSTS AND ATTORNEY’S FEES INCURRED BY THE LIENHOLDER IN THE JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING IF THE COURT FINDS THAT THERE IS COMPLETE ABSENCE OF A JUSTIFIABLE ISSUE OF EITHER

ACCRUED INTEREST, LATE FEES, TAXES, AND ALL FEES AND COSTS INCURRED BY THE LIENHOLDER AND TRUSTEE, INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS, IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEFAULT. Any response or inquiry should be made in writing to King Cunningham, LLC, Attn: Jeffrey W. King, Esq. who is serving as Trustee in this matter, at the following address: 1000 2nd Ave S, Ste 325, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582. EXHIBIT “A” Owner(s), Address, TS Interest, Interval Control No. (Unit, Week, OEB), Deed BK/PG, MTG BK/PG, Default Amount, Costs, Attorney Fee, Total Amount Due, Per Diem; SALINA RILEY&BARBARA J. GREENLEE, 45403 BENTEONI AVE, EL PASO, TX 79904-4213, 0.014772322082%, U1202-W50B, 3620/632, 3620/637, $7,728.15, $49.56, $450, $7,877.71, $3.3.; ARTHUR TOLIVER ROUSE III , 8353 BRICKLE LN, HUNTERSVILLE, NC 28078-4841, 0.0147723220820258, 0.0147723220820258%, U2504-29B, U2309-23B, 3955/2866, 3955/2872, $53,252.87, $49.56, $450, $53,402.43, $14.31.; ARTHUR TOLIVER ROUSE III , 8353 BRICKLE LN, HUNTERSVILLE, NC 28078-4841, 0.0147723220820258%, U1505W24B, 4257/2187, 4257/2192, $33,108.27, $49.56, $450, $33,257.83, $11.72.; VIRGINIA C. DASILVA-WEILER , 3 AMHERST RD, ASHEVILLE, NC 28803-3007, 0.014772322082%, U1509W51B, 4290/1964, 4290/1969, $48,610.01, $49.56, $450, $48,759.57, $24.15.; ALEXANDRIA PAIGE HUDSON&ERIC OAKLEY MORTIMER, 4973 STONEBROOKE DR, VALDOSTA, GA 31605, 0.0147723220820258%, U1206-W1O, 4167/693, 4167/698, $15,423.58, $49.56, $450, $15,573.14, $7.18. STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BEAUFORT IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CASE NO.: 2023-CP-07-01344 (Non-Jury) DATAW ISLAND OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiff, vs. TAWAIN WATTS;

Reconstructing Fort Fremont

US Military Academy cadets using technology to fill in the gaps

By Mike McCombs

The Island News

PORT ROYAL

– Imagine

one day being able to look at a three-dimensional graphic of what Fort Fremont looked like when it was still in operation on the shore of St. Helena Island. Or better yet, imagine being able to see what it looked like when soldiers at the 19th-century fort loaded and fired its big guns.

Those things will likely soon be possible thanks to the Fort Fremont Digital History Project at the West Point Digital History Center.

On Sunday, Aug. 3, a group of faculty and cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point gave a presentation at Port Royal’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to members of the Friends of Fort Fremont, as well as other members of the public, almost 90 people in all.

Joining Barney Forsyth, the President of Friends of Fort Fremont, were the West Point Digital History Center Co-Director, Col. Sean Sculley, Ph. D.; Capt. Travis Salley; cartographer Jeffrey Goldberg; USC Beaufort Prof. James Shinn; Cadet 2nd Class Andrew Bebbington; Cadet 3rd Class Ian Smith; and Cadet 2nd Class Thomas Siry.

In this case, the goal of the Fort Fremont Digital History Project is to develop a digital simulation of some sort of the construction and operation of Fort Fremont.

Col. Sculley said in general, there were two ways digital history was advanta-

geous.

One was to utilize technology to better present history, usually presented in books and journals, usually in print.

“Digital technology aids in presenting history in more exciting ways,” he said, “For instance, the use of gaming software to produce videos or 3D models that can be manipulated and accessible.”

The second way is the use of digital technology to do a better job in research and teaching history. For example, using Artificial Intelligence to create digital archives of historical manuscripts and helping to search that information.

Prior to coming to Beaufort, Sculley said the cadets spent 20 hours researching coastal fortifications, getting training on archival documents.

Once in Beaufort, Gold-

berg began using a drone to map the fort.

“Usually, flying a mission for this type of project is easy,” he said. “The problem here is live oaks and Spanish Moss do a really great job of hiding everything.”

Goldberg said the drone was used to take more than 2 000 pictures of the fort itself.

“Like mowing the lawn, the drone goes back and forth and back and forth over the target,” he said. “Later, the computer takes the points and makes a model.”

The cadets were to have one more day to study the construction of the fort.

According to Goldberg, the next steps are to compile all the data the group has collected and work on a 3D model.

“Further down the line, a software developer with construct what the fort looked

New app helps report illegal outdoor activity

S.C. Department of Natural Resources

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Law Enforcement Division has partnered with the Hunt Regs App to offer a free and effective way for citizens to report illegal hunting, fishing, and boating activities across the state.

The app directly connects users to the Operation Game Thief Program, alerting local game wardens and supervisors in real time. Reports can

Lowdown from page A1

qualify for cash rewards, depending on the nature of the violation.

Users can submit violation with just a few taps on their mobile devices and your reports can be completely anonymous. The app improves public engagement in conversation efforts and supports DNR’s enforcement goals. The app is free to use for reporting violations and offers optional premium features such as journaling and real time weather updates to assist hunters,

But that controversial 18-hole golf course is still included. The request to remove the property from the CPO zoning district was scheduled to go from the Planning Commission to the County Council Natural Resources Committee, as a prelude to a full County Council review. But that process was put on hold for the summer.

In the meantime, the council voted last week to hire some more attorneys -- John Dubose of Smith, Robinson, Holler and Dubose in Sumter – to study the proposed agreement and give some direction.

While developers, planners, lawyers and those concerned about the future scratch their hands and try to work out com-

anglers, and boaters.

SCDNR encourages citizens to download the Hunt Regs App and help protect South Carolina’s natural resources. Working together, we can preserve our wildlife for future generations.

You may also reach out to the toll-free Operation Game Thief number 1-800922-5431, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to report hunting, fishing, boating, and litter violations.

Visit https://bit. ly/4ookxOa to get started.

promises for the multi-million dollar homes that could be build behind gates on Pine Island, residents at the other southern end of St. Helena are worried about the less expensive housing options quietly popping up in their neighborhood.

Small road signs have been appearing along Sea Island Parkway asking islanders to ban together to stop the increasing number of rental recreational vehicles and tent camping sites.

The problem has become a become a particular point of friction in the Lands End community where residents have witnessed for the past year, wooded lots being clearing to accommodate RV’s and mobile homes which are being rented out on a monthly basis.

According to county officials, including Councilman York Glover, there’s not a lot the county

track and target ships, just like modern day artillery, but with no computer or even the help of a calculator. He was also interested in the fact the beach in front of the fort was significantly larger – 300 feet -- at the time the fort was in use.

Bebbington, majoring in Defense Strategies and Studies, emphasized that the purpose is to tell the story of Fort Fremont. Originally, the vision was to have re-enactments or a re-creation of the fort alone.

But Bebbington wonders what the soldiers’ daily lives were like?

Also, Bebbington pointed out the changes in artillery.

like in 1888, 1889 when it was first constructed,” Goldberg said. “With the actual artillery pieces on there, the actual guns. That is our actual goal, that’s not going to be next week, that’s going to be over the course of months.”

While Sculley, Salley and Goldberg will see the project through to its completion, the cadets have just three more days on the project for class credit, though further research can be done as part of classes later.

Everyone involved in the project had their own points of interest.

Siry, a history major, had visited Beaufort numerous times before, but somehow he never knew about the fortification.

Smith, a math major, was interested in the new technology to build the fort, as well as the advanced calculus soldiers used by hand to

Only since the close of the Civil War, the guns had improved so that any point in the mouth of the Port Royal Sound was within range, and shells could weigh a fourth as much and still be just as destructive. Of course, in another 25 years, America’s coastal defenses would be revolutionized, yet again, with the advent of airplanes.

Salley found it notable that the installation, in the deep south, was named not after a Confederate officer, but instead after John C. Fremont, a Union general and abolitionist.

And Sculley is interested in seeing the master rolls, the list of all the soldiers assigned to the base, their comings and goings, and who they were and where they were from. (It appears these rolls may have been found recently in the National Archives.)

NEWS BRIEFS

City issues RFP for Real Estate Brokerage Services

The City of Beaufort is seeking proposals from qualified commercial real estate agents to provide brokerage services for the purchase and sale of City-owned properties. The City intends to award one contract for a term of one year on an “as needed” basis.

The non-mandatory pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7 in the Planning Department Conference Room on the first floor of City Hall.

Questions are due by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13. Answers will be posted by 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 15

Bids submissions are due on or before 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21. A public bid opening will be held in the City Hall Finance Department, Executive Conference Room 2 at that time.

The RFP and additional documents may be accessed on the City’s website under Bid Opportunities at https://bit.ly/4lZXLdH or by contacting Procurement Administrator Jay Phillips at 843-525-7071 or by email to procurement@cityofbeaufort.org.

can do to stop individuals from bringing RV’s or pitching tents on their own individual property.

It’s a situation that’s happening not just on St. Helena, but other parts of the county where affordable housing is at a premium and folks with a little cash are looking for a “nice, quiet” place to retire.

The southern tip of St. Helena already has the Tuck in the Wood Campground, with 80-someodd camping spots, in operation for more than 30 years. County development approval has already been given to a 28-acre RV park to accommodate 113 camping sites on Sea Island Parkway and Yard Farm Road. And to accommodate all the folks moving to the islands PLUS increase economic opportunities, the county’s Economic Development Corporation has been working on plans for a multi-million dollar community and cultural

“They are trying to get people interested in Fort Fremont, he said. “They are trying to get people to see Fort Fremont as another one of Beaufort’s historical tourism locations.”

And he said Fremont’s history was important despite the fact it never saw action and was only here briefly.

“The significance of the fort is less about what did or didn’t happen at the fort … it’s more about how it represents an important event in the history of America, in coastal defense. And also American involvement of the world,” Shinn said. “It’s built to protect a really important Naval station on Parris Island. That Naval station is important because it’s supporting the first 1st Class battleships of the U.S. Navy that are starting to come out in the 1880s. The layout of the fort, the construction of the fort, the armaments of the fort … these are all cutting-edge technologies in the 1880s and 1890s. It’s more about what it typifies of represents in the history of technology and of American coastal defense than it didn’t actually see action.”

As for the Friends of Fort Fremont, Forsyth was happy with how well the event went.

“I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

USC Beaufort’s Prof. Shinn said event helped the Friends of Fort Fremont in their goal of raising their profile.

ShellRing hosting Secrets of the Salt Marsh by FOHI

The Friends of Hunting Island present the Secrets of the Salt Marsh at 2 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 17 at ShellRing Ale Works in Port Royal. Erin Rogers, Coastal Manager of the South Carolina Audubon Society, will give a conservation talk during which she will reveal the complex ecology and secretive creatures of the Carolina Salt Marsh. The event is free and open to the public. Pleas email FOHIConservationOutreach@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

Poll workers needed

The Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County will be holding 10 new poll worker training classes. All of the classes will be held at the main office, located at 15 John Galt Road, Beaufort, S.C. 29906. The classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the following dates: Wednesday, Aug. 20; and Wednesday, Sept. 17

To sign up for a class, visit https://beaufortsc.easypollworker.com/home.

– Staff reports

center for St. Helena.

Councilman Glover held a community meeting last week to discuss on-going plans for the project. According to a marketing analysis done in 2023 and presented to the County Council in September 2024, the center could generate as much as $4 7 million in revenues.

The estimates are based on a 10-year growth plan but would include full-time jobs for individuals employed to run the center and meeting space.

All indications of the change facing this once-rural area of the county, indeed the entire county, South Carolina and the East Coast. People want to move here.

Hooray for Pigeon Point Park; Now to the others

BEAUFORT -- City officials celebrated the completion of the Pigeon Point playground renova-

tions last week, a favored recreational spot for families looking for some outdoor fun.

Officials hope to complete the Washington Street Park, also under renovation, within the coming months, leaving them time to turn their focus on what to do with the next phase of the Southside Park and then … the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, which is obviously going to be a much bigger project with a much larger budget.

FYI: City is still waiting on cost estimates for this big one.

Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.

Barney Forsyth, the President of Friends of Fort Fremont, speaks as community members fill St.

Mark’s Episcopal Church during the West Point Digital History Center’s presentation of Digitizing History of Fort Fremont on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

SCHP looking for blue pickup

Truck involved in hit-and-run with bicycle

By Mike McCombs

The Island News

The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) is asking the public to be on the lookout for a blue Ford F-150 it believes was involved in a Sunday, July 6 hit-and-run collision with a bicyclist on U.S. Hwy. 21 near Bruce K. Smalls Drive that left a 50-year-old Beaufort man dead.

The SCHP is searching for a blue 2002 Ford F-150 extended-cab pickup truck with tag No. 634BXZ. The truck may have damage on its front passenger side or may be in the process of be-

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about the judge’s decisions.

“They release what they want to release, they don’t release what they don’t want to,” he said. “If [they] were transparent and not about propaganda, they’d release this.

ing repaired.

The public is asked to please call the Highway Patrol with any pertinent information at 843-953-6010 1-800-768-1501 or by dialing *47 (*HP) on a mobile device.

The deceased, 50-year-old Vick Smalls of Beaufort, was declared dead on the scene at 2780 Trask Parkway (Hwy. 21) by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. The exact time of the incident is as of yet undetermined.

According to Sgt. Tyler Tidwell of the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP), there were two units in-

They are one-sided under the guise of transparency.

Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall said the City had little to say on the decisions.

“It’s not because we’re trying to be secret,” he said. “It’s just because it’s pending litigation.”

As far as Safe Harbor joining the lawsuit, Marshall did

volved in the incident.

The first unit, an unknown motor vehicle now believed to be the blue pickup, and the second unit, the bicyclist, were both headed south on U.S. 21 when the vehicle struck the bicyclist. The vehicle then left the scene.

Smalls was declared dead of “blunt force injuries sustained in an automobile versus bicycle collision.”

The incident remains under investigation by the SCHP.

Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

admit it might have been unexpected.

“I don’t think it was what was expected, but we’re co-defendents on the same side of the bench and I’m not going to say anything contrary to that,” he said.

Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.

Heroes of Faith

The Saints

What is a saint?

“Saint” comes from the biblical word meaning “holy.” A saint is someone who is holy, someone who is closely united with Jesus in love. Everyone in heaven is a saint, and so we should all hope to be saints one day. But each of us is also called to be a saint right now in our daily lives, becoming holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).

If we give ourselves wholeheartedly to Jesus in love, he can slowly transform us into the saints we are meant to be, intimately united with Jesus in this life and in eternal life.

Why are some people named saints, like Francis of Assisi?

These are Christians who lived such heroic lives of holiness that the Catholic Church holds them up as examples of faith to inspire the rest of us. Thousands of people have been officially recognized as saints in this way over the centuries, such as Saint Francis. We believe that they are with Jesus, and we want to follow their example and eventually join them in heaven, rejoicing in God’s presence.

Do Catholics worship the saints?

No, Catholics do not worship the saints. Catholics only worship the blessed Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We see the saints as our brothers and sisters in Christ, much like our brothers and sisters in faith here on earth. We honor the saints and seek to follow their example of holiness, just as Jesus and the apostles would have honored Moses and other heroes of Scripture.

Why not focus only on Jesus?

The saints do not distract us from Jesus, but rather the opposite. They are ordinary people whose lives were transformed in amazing ways as they gave their hearts entirely to Jesus. Much as a young athlete might be inspired by a sports hero, the saints are our spiritual heroes who inspire us to give our hearts entirely to Jesus. Just as a beautiful mountain does not detract our focus from God, but leads us to praise his grandeur and power, the beautiful workings of divine grace in the saints move us to more heartfelt praise of God.

Do the saints in heaven care about us here on earth?

Of course they do! They are not dead; they are actually more alive than we are, and closer to God. Christians have always believed that those in heaven are aware of what is going on here on earth, and that we can still talk to them as our brothers and sisters in Christ. For example, recall how Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:30), or his words about the rejoicing in heaven when a soul repents (Luke 15:7), or how those in heaven are depicted lifting up prayers to God on our behalf (Rev. 5:8, 8:4).

Why do Catholics talk to saints?

We feel very comfortable asking them to pray for us, just as we ask each other here on earth to intercede on our behalf. For example, if your father is sick, you might ask a friend from church to pray for him. You are not worshipping your friend, but asking for her to pray to God on your father’s behalf. To Catholics, it makes perfect sense that we would similarly ask those in heaven to pray for us, too, before God.

Coosa Elementary educator named Teacher of the Year finalist

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

The 2025-2026 Beaufort Coun-

ty District Teacher of the Year finalists have been announced, and Coosa Elementary School’s Amy Turner was as the only finalist of the five from a northern Beaufort County school.

Turner, who is a fourth-grade teacher at Coosa, said this is not the first year she has been nominated for the honor, so she was very surprised when her name was called during the district-wide meeting at Bluffton High School this year.

As an educator, Turner spends every day trying to make learning fun and accessible for all of her students.

When asked about her favorite subject to teach, she responded that it was math, which oddly enough was not one that she enjoyed when she was a student in school.

“I didn’t understand it,” Turner said about the subject. “I really do understand when they’re struggling, and I love to give them like, ‘OK, I don’t care what strategy you use, but here’s a bunch of ways. Let’s go through all these different ways we can solve these problems, and you can find the way that’s going to work for you, and you use it.’”

Amy Turner, a fourth-grade teacher at Coosa Elementary School, has been selected as one of five finalists for this year’s Beaufort County School District Teacher of the Year award. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

She said that seeing that “light bulb goes off in their brain when they realize that the world isn’t black and white” and there is more than one way to arrive at an answer, is one of the best feelings associated with being an educator.

While Turner’s dedication to helping her students learn in the way that best suits them is one of the things that makes her an exceptional educator in the classroom, she said that the community of teachers and staff at Coosa Ele-

mentary are what allow her to feel empowered to do what she does and enjoy coming to work every day.

“I feel like I’m repeating myself a little bit here, but it’s a family,” Turner said about Coosa Elementary School. “Coosa is such a family. I felt very welcomed as soon as I joined. We get together and we do things outside of school as well. I don’t just see these people here in the building Monday through Friday, you know, from 7:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.”

One of Turner’s favorite things that she does with the other teachers and staff at the school is a caroling event that the school started a few years ago.

“I love Christmas to begin with and so the fact that there’s a whole group of us that want to get together one night during the week and go sing Christmas carols, like you don’t get that everywhere,” Turner said. “That feeling of togetherness and such, that is the part that makes Coosa stand apart from other places because we do have that family feeling here.”

As for next step, now that Turner is one of the five final candidates, she must sit through an interview with a panel in August and the

winner of this year’s Teacher of the Year award will be announced at an event in the Fall.

The other candidates that are also competing for the honor are Allison Gallagher, a science teacher from H.E. McCracken Middle School; Elizabeth Herring, a dance teacher at Bluffton High School; Audrey Kaney, a fifthgrade teacher at Red Cedar Elementary School; and Alison Lopes, a special education teacher at Hilton Head Island Early Childhood Center.

“Each of our Teacher of the Year finalists represents the very best of what it means to be an educator—passionate, dedicated, and relentlessly committed to the success of every student,” said Superintendent Frank Rodriguez. “These five exceptional teachers inspire not only their classrooms but our entire district community. We are proud to celebrate their excellence and the profound impact they make every day.”

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

St. Helena charter school closes after contract revoked

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

State funding for Sea Island Heritage Academy, a St. Helena Island charter school, ended in June, less than a year after the school opened in hopes of providing an alternative schooling opportunity to students in the Gullah-Geechee community.

The funding was pulled after the South Caroli-

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na Public Charter School Board of Trustees voted 8-0 in June to revoke its charter contract with the school.

The South Carolina Public Charter School District is the state agency that funds and authorizes K-12 schools that are tuition free and op-

She didn’t know at the time that fishing, in a different way, would soon dominate her weekdays, as well.

The building at 901 8th Street in Port Royal had previously housed another bait and tackle store before 2022, when Nunez saw the building was for sale. She knew it was the perfect opportunity.

“I immediately made a move,” Nunez said. “I know how valuable fishing is here in Beaufort and I really believed this was a great opportunity. Fishing is good all year long here. My goal was to become the best bait and tackle shop, locally, and I've done a pretty good job at it so far.”

While things are going great right now, a three-year-anniversary party for Sea Sea’s was not always a foregone conclusion.

Right off the bat, several neighbors opposed Nunez’ on-premise beer license. Their objections cost her thousands of dollars in legal fees and months of delays for a hearing. Beer sales during the shop’s first year were a big loss for Nunez.

Then issues with a rival business gave Nunez problems for several more months. And then there was the first winter.

“The winter time is very hard for me though, still, as the fishing slows down drastically,” she

WANT TO GO?

erating independently of the local school districts.

Poor attendance at school board meetings and low enrollment numbers were two contributing reasons that were listed as reasons to close the school effective the end of June.

The closure of the school, which was operating in temporary modular facilities on Lady’s Island, has left the roughly 80 students

Who: Sea Sea’s Honey Hole Bait & Tackle

What: 3rd Anniversary Party/ Fish Fry

When: 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9

Where: Sea Sea’s Honey Hole Bait & Tackle, 901 8th Street, Port Royal More info: Plates cost $20 for adults, $13 for kids. Reserve a plate by calling Sea Sea’s Honey Hole at 843-379-2018 or sponsor Cast Away Charters at 843-592-1062 or by emailing tim@castawaycharter.com. Live music provided by Campfire Tyler.

said, which is strange to me, too, because the fishing is so good during this time. I think people are just not interested in being cold.”

Hurricane Helene wasn’t kind to Sea Sea’s either.

“There was a time after Hurricane Helene when the Sands Boat Ramp and fishing pier was closed due to damage,” Nunez said. “This closure really affected my business because a lot of fishermen use that boat ramp.

The severe cold winter prior to that hurricane also caused a dent into the business. I didn't think I was going to get through those months honestly.”

But even through the tough times at Sea Sea’s, there’s been one constant during the first three years – the food.

When she was younger, Nunez learned to cook from her abuelita (grandmother), her Cuban

who were enrolled for the 2025-2026 school year to find alternative arrangements for schooling.

Sea Island Heritage Academy opened last year and was to be the first charter school on St. Helena Island. It was approved by the state in April 2023 and was expected to provide access to a quality education that also celebrated the Gullah-Geechee heritage.

father’s mother. Before Sea Sea’s opened, Nunez knew she wanted to incorporate her love of food and installed a small kitchen in the bait shop.

“My food has become a very popular thing around here, and I am pretty proud of myself,” she said.

Very popular, indeed.

In addition to the live minnows, shrimp, mullet and fiddlers the shop sells each day for bait, Nunez prepares burritos for breakfast and tacos for lunch, as well as sandwiches, and you have to follow the shop on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/seaseashoneyhole) to get the day’s menu. But you better get there on time, because they don’t last long.

She has been featured twice on the Savannah foodie show

“Eat It & Like It.” Her Cuban sandwich has been featured in a local magazine. Local troubadour Campfire Tyler, who will of course be performing at the fish fry, even has a video about Sea Sea’s.

And the customers keep coming back.

“My food has made so many people happy,” she said. “I have regulars that come in every single Friday and Saturday, which to me feels like an honor. I've learned their names, their families’ names, what they do, where they are from. These regulars in a sense have become my friends and part of the bait shop.”

And with the shop on firm footing, Nunez said she feels she’s making an impact on the com-

When the school opened in August 2024 for Grades 6 through 8, instead of the 150 students that school founders that had hoped for, only 40 students enrolled.

That said, the school was set to double enrollment to 80 students for the upcoming school year and with that in mind, Alana Jenkins Marchel, the executive director of Sea Island Heri-

“My food has made so many people happy. I have regulars that come in every single Friday and Saturday, which to me feels like an honor. I've learned their names, their families’ names, what they do, where they are from. These regulars in a sense have become my friends and part of the bait shop.”

ISIS NUNEZ, owner of Sea Sea’s Honey Hole Bait & Tackle

munity by building relationships, and for her, that’s rewarding.

“I love making close relationships with customers both locally and from out of town,” she said.

“With the help of [YouTubers BeaufortSCFishing and High Adventure Videos], my business name has reached hundreds of thousands of people across the country. I will have many customers come visit the shop from many states up North and on

tage Academy, is lobbying for the charter school to be put on probation instead of a revocation as low enrollment is not uncommon for new charter schools.

Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.

the West coast. Having a charter captain – Capt. Tim Deckard with Castaway Charters -- as one of my closest friends has also helped me reach many local fishermen in the community.”

If Nunez has learned a lesson from her first three years running Sea Sea’s Honey Hole, it’s an old standard – hard work pays off. But you have to keep doing it.

“The biggest thing I have learned is that you have to be better today than you were yesterday,” she said. “There will be many mistakes made along the way, but you have to overcome these mistakes and move on. You have to always give 100% in everything you do and you can't be lazy about your business.”

The fish fry — Nunez throws an anniversary party every year — starts at 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, and runs until 8 p.m. Plates are $20 for adults, $13 for kids. Campfire Tyler will provide the musical entertainment.

“I have always been known to throw parties for almost any event. I like making small achievements a big deal and I love making food,” she said. “As I stated earlier, it's a good opportunity to bring people together and help me celebrate my business. This is always a way to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who has helped me along the way.”

Rep. Nancy Mace officially enters SC governor’s race

By Jessica Holdman and David Wren SCDailyGazette.com

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina’s coastal 1st Congressional District became the fifth GOP candidate to enter the 2026 governor’s race Monday, saying she’s running “to hold the line.”

Mace, the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel, officially launched her campaign during an early morning event at her alma mater. She has been teasing an impending bid for months on social media and talking to voters across the state to prepare for an announcement.

“They said stay quiet. I spoke up. They said sit down. I stood up. They said play nice, and I fought back,” Mace told about 100 supporters gathered in the courtyard of Capers Hall at the state’s military college.

“I’m running for governor because South Carolina doesn’t need another empty suit,” she continued. “It needs a governor who will fight for you and your values.”

She pointed to her years at The Citadel as giving her “the courage and discipline I’d need to take on life’s toughest battles,” noting she entered the Corps of Cadets after dropping out of high school at age 17 and initially going to work at Waffle House. She graduated in 1999, three years after The Citadel changed its male-only admission policy for cadets.

“That’s where I learned what it means to hold the line — no matter the pressure, no matter the odds,” she said.

Mace joins an already crowded field for the primary. Republicans who have already announced bids over the last month are Attorney General Alan Wilson, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Spartanburg County, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, and most recently, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman of Rock Hill.

Attacks and accusations

While the 47-year-old single mother only just made it official, she has been sniping at the competition, both on social media and in front of voters.

Mace has taken shots at Evette as a “glorified ribbon cutter” who only smiles and waves.

“She’s a nice lady,” Mace wrote on social media in June. “No edge. No guts. No shot.”

But Wilson, who’s in his fourth term as South Carolina’s top prosecutor, has been the primary focus of Mace’s criticism. At the start of the year she began calling Wilson a “do-nothing attorney general.”

Then in February, Mace took to the House floor and accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of “some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable” during a nearly hour-long prepared speech.

The congresswoman said she discovered thousands of photos taken with hidden cameras as well as recordings the “predators” made of themselves sexually assaulting women over years. She was among the victims.

The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed after her speech that it was investigating at least one of the men for assault, harassment and voyeurism. The investigation started Dec. 14 2023, after SLED was contacted by U.S. Capitol Police.

Mace also accused Wilson of not addressing the crimes against her and other women.

All four men accused have denied the accusations and one has sued for libel and defamation.

Wilson said neither he nor anyone in his office had any knowledge of the accusations until her speech. It also is not the attorney general’s job to start a police investigation, his office said in a statement.

Since then, Mace has sued one of the other men for defamation. And a woman, identified as Jane Doe, who says she was a victim of three of the men has filed her own civil suit.

All of those lawsuits are ongoing.

Mace’s political career

Mace unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2014

She placed fifth in that seven-way GOP primary, which Graham won without needing a runoff.

In January 2018, she won a special election to the South Carolina House representing parts of Charleston and Berkeley counties.

She replaced a GOP legislator who resigned amid a yearslong Statehouse corruption investigation.

In 2020, Mace ousted one-term Democrat Joe Cunningham for the 1st congressional seat, flipping the district back into Republican control. The district was then redrawn as part of the Legislature’s redistricting process following the 2020 census to favor a Republican and Mace easily won re-election with more than 58% of the vote.

Mace won her last GOP primary with the endorsement of President Donald Trump. But during her early days in Congress, the two had a rocky relationship.

Mace condemned Trump fol-

lowing the Jan. 6 2021, riot at the Capitol and was among House Republicans who voted to impeach him in the aftermath. In her first re-election bid, Trump backed her GOP challenger, though Mace ultimately won that primary.

She’s since become one of Trump’s most fervent allies.

“I think that anyone that wants to run statewide or any election, really, in 2026 or 2028 beyond, will need the President’s support,” Mace previously told reporters.

A firebrand

Her first campaign ad touts her “firebrand” reputation and includes Trump calling her “a fighter.” On Monday morning, she didn’t directly talk about Trump, but her fiery speech focused on his policies, including immigration.

She promised to fine businesses that hire immigrants living in the U.S. illegally $1 000 a day and work closely with federal immigration officers to round up “illegals who are flooding our state.

“Anyone who is here illegally will get deported immediately,” Mace said.

She promised to sign a “bathroom bill” into law, saying “mentally ill men don’t belong in women’s spaces.” She didn’t give specifics. But South Carolina already has such a law for K-12 public schools, which remains in place pending a final ruling on a challenge in federal court.

She also promised to rid libraries of what she termed “pornography” and ban the use of pronouns in classrooms.

“I want kids coming home with A’s and B’s not they and them,” she said.

State law already restricts children’s access to sexual books in public libraries, as per a state budget directive proposed by Kimbrell, one of her GOP primary opponents. A separate state regulation in effect since June 2024 bars books with sexual conduct from public school libraries and classrooms. The latest decisions by the State Board of Education

brought to 21 the total number of books librarians have been required to remove from shelves. Her message resonated with supporters at the 7:30 a.m. event, many of them waving “Hold the Line” signs or wearing “Get Maced” stickers.

“I’m a sixth-generation Charlestonian and I’d like to see a woman in the governor’s office,” said Francis Beylotte. “Men in South Carolina have messed it up forever. … I think she has the character and experience now. She’s paid her dues, and it’s justified.”

In 2010, then state Rep. Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, became South Carolina’s first female and first minority governor. Her departure in 2017 to become Trump’s first United Nations ambassador put then-Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster in the governor’s office. Having won two full terms since, McMaster is South Carolina longest-serving elected governor. He can’t seek a third.

“We need change in South Carolina,” added Jenson Estey of Daniel Island. “Kind of like President Trump — change up the norms.”

Mace was introduced by Kaitlyn Czuar, whose 10-year-old son Tanner was one of three people hit by a car during a May 1 hit-and-run on Sullivan’s Island. Mace awarded Tanner the Congressional Patriot Award for his courage in the wake of the incident.

Kaitlin Czuar said Mace is “someone who understands that protecting families and defending children isn’t political – it’s a priority.”

Czuar said Mace “notices people. She hears them and she stands with them. She’s a trailblazer and a servant leader who puts South Carolina families first.”

More controversy

Mace has made headlines for her conflicts with multiple transgender people.

It began with the election last November of Delaware’s Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress.

Mace introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from using women’s restrooms in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings, later seeking to expand that to all federal property.

She was then criticized for using a slur to the LGBTQ community during a House Oversight Committee hearing in February.

In April, Mace got in a conflict with a transgender student at the University of South Carolina when the student asked Mace to apologize for using the word “tranny” during an April event hosted by USC’s chapter of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that advocates for conservative viewpoints on high school and college campuses across the country.

Following that exchange, an Upstate transgender woman threatened on social media to kill Mace. The woman was arrested and charged with threatening the life of a public official. That case is still pending.

Town hall series announced

Ahead of officially launching her campaign, Mace also announced a statewide series of speaking engagements that her team is calling “the Mother of All Town Halls,” scheduled to start in Myrtle Beach on Wednesday.

“No questions off limits, no topics too tough,” Mace’s spokeswoman Sydney Long said in a statement to NBC affiliate WCBD News 2. “She’ll be traveling across South Carolina to speak directly with residents.”

Mace has previously been criticized for not holding in-person town halls, including a profanity-laden conflict with a man in an Ulta Beauty store who questioned her for her lack of events.

Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the SC Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

David Wren has been a business, government and investigative reporter for more than 40

By Skylar Laird

digital services and provide better experiences for visitors,” Baker said. Visitors can access free Wi-Fi at 15 of the state’s 48 parks. First on the docket for upgrades is Lake Greenwood State Park in Greenwood County. The parks department plans to pay internet

company Upcountry Fiber nearly $100 000 to install high-speed internet at the park, according to a recent public notice. Free Wi-Fi is already available at the 914-acre park’s office area and Drummond Center event space, according to its website. A list of other parks that might get faster Wi-Fi was not available. Neither was a timeline for installation,

Baker said.

Department staff are still evaluating which parks may or may not need upgrades, she said. The need for faster internet has grown with increases in park attendance in recent years, department officials wrote in a request for state funding.

Wi-Fi at state parks helps staff stay connected, including during natural

disasters and other emergencies, and also allows visitors to “have quick access to the information they need to make travel plans and decisions,” according to the agency budget request. The Legislature set aside $200 000 to help improve information technology systems at park department-owned properties in the 2024-2025 budget, but no money was specifically designated for technology upgrades in the current fiscal year budget.

Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The

is part of

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace officially launches her 2026 bid for governor on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. David Wren/ Special to the S.C. Daily Gazette

Key trends affecting healthcare in the Lowcountry

Earlier in the spring, the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted a “State of the Community” presentation that highlighted key trends in this area: escalating supply costs, an aging population and a struggling workforce.

Beaufort Memorial is working to adapt to those trends, as well as combat some of the challenges that the healthcare industry is facing with innovative, smart solutions.

Looking at regional demographic data, economic highlights, the state of community service in the county, healthcare, housing and local government, a pattern has emerged across all these sectors: Beaufort County is growing rapidly, and the county’s population is aging.

What does that have to do with healthcare?

These factors have a material impact on the healthcare industry because as we age, we need more healthcare, and we need more people to join the workforce.

Right now, at the national level, it’s an extremely busy and uncertain time in healthcare.

Healthcare accounts for almost 19% of the nation’s GDP, and that number continues to grow. At the

federal level, proposed cuts to funding affecting national healthcare agencies could pose some real challenges for the industry, trickling down to the state and local levels.

Other changes at the federal level include the uncertainty of physician payment cuts and insurance adjustments, and tariffs that have the potential to alter the healthcare landscape.

Beaufort Memorial sources many supplies from other countries, and tariffs have the potential to increase our supply cost by as much as 15-20%

So, how is Beaufort Memorial working at a local level to tackle some of the industry’s challenges?

Workforce development

Locally, Beaufort Memorial has recognized for years that the population of the Lowcountry is grow-

ing, and that increased demand for high-quality, patient-first care means recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce.

Statistically, South Carolina is one of the worst states when it comes to population-to-physician ratio; based on our studies, our county is approximately 40 primary care providers short and approximately 70 specialists and surgeons short today.

The industry is also feeling a nursing shortage, as well as a shortage in support positions. The PATH program (People Achieving Their Highest) has an array of internal pathways for career advancement and has graduated 83 individuals since 2022. The program has also recently unveiled a collaboration with the Beaufort County School District and offers youth volunteer opportunities –all ways to strengthen the pipeline in career development for healthcare in the Lowcountry.

Beaufort Memorial has a workforce development plan that targets some of the big challenges to recruitment that the Lowcountry faces: childcare and affordable housing.

Beaufort Memorial cut the ribbon in November on its new on-campus location of the Learn-

‘Pack it light, wear it right’

Help

your child manage their backpack load

Special to The Island News

Heavy backpacks can be a real pain in the neck.

For students who tote backpacks throughout the day, heavy loads including textbooks, gym shoes, school supplies, lunchboxes and binders can create back, neck and shoulder pain. And it’s not just backpacks — the same goes for purses, briefcases and luggage as well.

While National School Backpack Awareness Day isn’t until the middle of September, the start of school in Beaufort County and the surrounding areas is a good reminder to “pack it light, wear it right.”

Consider these school backpack stats:

More than 79 million students in the United States carry school backpacks.

From 2019 to 2021

an estimated annual average of 1,200 kids younger than 19 years old were treated in emergency rooms for backpack-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A backpack should weigh no more than 10 percent of a child’s body weight. When in doubt, set the full backpack on a bathroom scale or ask your physician’s office to weigh it.

There are a few things to consider when choosing a backpack, such as size. The bigger the backpack, the more room for supplies. Make sure that your child’s backpack fits their needs and is proportional to their height.

Consider backpacks with padded straps and backs (not one-shoulder sling

bags that cause uneven distribution of weight). Waist belts or chest straps are also a feature to help with balance and even weight distribution, alleviating back and neck pain for students.

Backpacks shouldn’t weigh more than 15% of your child’s body weight. A child weighing 100 pounds shouldn’t have a backpack that weighs more than 15 pounds.

Now that you know the ABCs, let’s study the 123s of basic backpack safety. Pack it. Utilize different compartments and pockets to distribute weight, with lighter items in front. Adjust and carry. Always use both shoulder straps to prevent injury, and adjust the sternum strap and hip belt to improve balance. When fitted properly, the backpack should rest snugly against the back and

ing Center, employer-subsidized childcare facility that offers an accessible, affordable and convenient option for staff members and their families.

In Bluffton, the hospital system is also nearing the groundbreaking of its first workforce housing development in partnership with Woda Cooper Companies, LiveWell Terrace by BMH. The project will include 120 residential units and be available to the public for rental.

Expanding access and our next steps

In May, Beaufort Memorial celebrated the groundbreaking of the Bluffton Community Hospital, a 28-bed, $103 million facility that will feature a full-service emergency department, imaging and laboratory services and a surgery center. This addition of a second hospital will allow Bluffton patients to receive care closer to home, and for patients who live north of the Broad River, this shift will increase the availability of critical healthcare services at the hospital in Beaufort.

In addition to the Bluffton hospital, Beaufort Memorial has several other expansion projects

underway or in their planning phases, including: Surgical Pavilion renovation and expansion; Addition of a Crisis Stabilization Unit within the Beaufort ER; Angiography suite renovation; May River Crossing Primary Care site (planned 5,000 square-foot medical office building, adding four primary care providers and 20 jobs to the May River community); Lady’s Island Internal Medicine renovation and Lowcountry Medical Group expansion; and Beaufort Memorial Emergency & Urgent Care on Hilton Head Island.

In embracing the growth of the area and taking action to expand critical healthcare access into convenient locations for all Beaufort Memorial patients, this organization is committed to transforming the way healthcare is delivered in the region.

and

fall slightly above the waist.

• Put it on. To prevent back injury, teach children (and grown-ups!) to pick up the backpack by bending and lifting at the knees instead of the waist.

• Smart storage. Encourage your child to clean out their backpack weekly and remove unnecessary items that may be adding to the weight. Store books and other supplies in school lockers if possible to reduce the load.

“If your child carries a full backpack every day, be sure to weigh it and adjust the load and fit appropriately,” says Josh Harless, occupational therapist at Beaufort Memorial HealthLink for Children. “Tingling in the arms and shoulders and a stooped or slanting posture are sure signs that the load is too heavy.”

Special to The Island News

Summer has been rushing by, and it won’t be long till kids are back in the classroom.

How can you help ensure your children are ready for the school year and support their overall health? One important way is to schedule an annual check-up with their physician.

There are plenty of reasons to see a physician when your child is healthy, including: Preventive screenings. In addition to monitoring heart and blood pressure and testing for diabetes, pediatricians can use this annual visit with your child to discuss diet and exercise options, screen vision and test for cholesterol and anemia.

• Monitor progress and development over time. Regular physical exams build a health history and give your child’s doctor an awareness of his or her progress and development over time. This is especially helpful if there are any emotional, developmental or social concerns. Doctor visits are also a great time to answer questions and address the adolescent issues of drinking, smoking, drugs, sexual activity and depression.

School paperwork and state-required vaccinations. Your child’s pediatrician keeps accurate records of immunizations and will let you know when they are due. He or she is also a good resource if you have questions about potential side effects and safety.

• Sports participation. Young athletes have additional sports-specific issues that can be addressed during a wellchild visit, including nutrition, injury prevention and over-training.

Knowing what to expect and preparing any questions or concerns about your child’s health or development will help maximize your time in the pediatrician’s office. In addition to organizing your questions, be sure to bring a record of current medications, and any changes in health and family medical history.

At younger ages, preparations for your child’s doctor visit fall on you.

Learn what milestones you should see your baby reach.

As a toddler, their advancements will shift to more intellectual, social and emotional growth.

Understand typical growth and development in the preschool years.

As your children become adolescents, they may have their own questions to ask the doctor and will be ready to answer more questions during the exam. It is common for older teens to have private discussions with their physician. Talking with your child ahead of time will help them know what to expect and make them more comfortable during the visit. Although young adults may still see a pediatrician, parental involvement is much more limited. Encourage your children to prepare for their visit to increase their engagement and provide them with the opportunity to obtain health history information from you.

Beaufort Memorial is offering $20 youth physicals through Sept. 30 for sports, camp and school at all three Express Care locations in Port Royal, Okatie and Bluffton. For more information about Express Care services and hours, visit BeaufortMemorial.org/ExpressCare.

Russell Baxley, MHA, is the President & CEO of Beaufort Memorial, leading the organization in expanding access to

improving the quality of care in the Lowcountry since 2016.

RUSSELL BAXLEY

Lunch smarter

Healthy, creative school meals improve physical, academic performance

By Roxanne Davis

Special to The Island News

Your child is heading back to school, and you, like many parents, are likely looking for new ideas to avoid a lunchtime rut. Cafeteria lunches offer convenience and nutrition, but they aren’t always popular with choosy children or kids with food allergies or restrictions. Rest assured, with a little planning and creativity, you can figure out a game plan for lunch.

When packing lunch for children, it is important to have a variety of different foods to meet their nutrient needs for learning, while also appealing to their taste preferences. Combining fruits, vegetables, whole grains and proteins with meals helps achieve a nutrient-dense meal.

Well balanced meals play a critical role in children’s health and school performance. If children skip protein and fiber at mealtimes, their energy for learning and movement is likely to be used up quickly, making it more difficult to perform well academically and physically during the day.

Research has found that eating healthier lunches may improve academic performance — which makes sense, considering that around 20% of daily calories are used to fuel cognitive activities. Healthy meals can also boost mental health and provide stamina for sports and other after-school activities.

Make healthy look good

Most of us eat with our eyes first, and kids are no exception. Getting creative with your presentation can make meals as visually appealing as they are healthy.

Creativity doesn’t have to require a lot of extra effort. For example, you can: Create fruit kabobs by putting berries and melon on toothpicks.

Make meals holiday-focused, such as serving only green food items on St. Patrick’s Day.

Plan daily themes, such as Mexican Monday with build-your-own taco salads or Wacky Wednesday with banana “hot dogs” and peanut butter “mustard.”

Use cookie cutters, such as stars, to cut fruits, vegetables and sandwiches into fun shapes.

Finally, pack it all up in a fun lunch box featuring your child’s favorite characters. Or use a bento box with sections sized for kid-friendly, eye-catching portions. Be sure to include hand sanitizer or wipes if your child isn’t great at handwashing.

Healthy lunch box essentials

Your child’s lunch should have a variety of foods to ensure a balanced meal. Include a mix of:

• Dairy products. Choose low-fat or fatfree cheese, yogurt or milk. Fruits. Apple slices, bananas, berries, grapes, melons and orange wedges are all great bite-sized options.

• Lean protein sources. You can serve chicken, hard-boiled eggs, tuna and low-fat deli meat, such as turkey. Vegetarian options, such as beans, hummus and peanut butter, also count.

• Vegetables. Raw veggies, including broccoli, baby carrots, zucchini and cherry tomatoes, add color and nutrients to any lunchbox.

Whole grains. Use whole-grain bread or tortillas for sandwiches or wraps. Older kids may enjoy grain bowls made with brown rice, farro and quinoa.

You can combine more than one food group into meal planning — think pasta salad with veggies and chicken or peanut butter-banana sandwiches. Getting your kids involved with grocery shopping and meal planning can also make healthy lunches more exciting.

It can be frustrating for a parent when they pack a healthy lunch for their child, and it goes uneaten. Getting kids involved in planning and packing their lunches increases the chances of them actually eating it.

More back-to-school health tips

In addition to nutritious lunches, there are other things you can do as the school year starts to help ensure a healthy semester for your kids.

To start:

Don’t let screen time get in the way of healthy habits and good-quality sleep.

Schedule device-free family time every day and ensure your child gets the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

Keep devices out of their bedrooms and make powering down at least an hour before bedtime part of a consistent bedtime routine.

Encouraging healthy habits — and healthy meals — for the whole family is a proven way to improve your household’s overall health. When parents are on board, kids are more likely to be, too.

Roxanne Davis, MPH, RD, LD, CNSC, is a certified nutrition support clinician with Beaufort Memorial who works with patients in the “Healthy Weight” program.

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Roxanne Davis

ART

Budding Artist After-School

Art Club

4 to 5 p.m., or 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., Mon-

days/Wednesdays or Tuesday/Thursdays, Happy Art Studio, 10 Sam’s Point Way, Beaufort. Ages 8 to 13. Painting, drawing, clay or crafts. Visit www.happyartstudio.net.

CALENDAR

Sea Sea’s Honey Hole

3rd Anniversary Party/Fish Fry

4 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, Sea

Sea’s Honey Hole, 901 8th Street, Port Royal. Fish fry $15 per plate, $8 per plate for kids. Live music by Campfire Tyler. Reserve a plate by calling Sea Sea’s Honey Hole at 843-379-2018 or Tim at Cast Away Charters at 843-5921062 or tim@beaufortcastawaycharter. com.

STEAM Festival

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 16, Port Royal Sound Foundation, 310 Okatie Hwy, Okatie. Free. Our 9th annual STEAM Festival will provide hands-on, innovative and super-cool activities for families to enjoy. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), is an important initiative for educating and preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s jobs. The festival will showcase demonstrations, simulations, experiments and hands-on activities by area businesses, organizations and schools that are using STEAM to succeed. Stay for lunch! Food trucks will be on-site.

Yemassee Shrimp Festival Friday, Sept. 19 & Saturday, Sept. 20, 101 Town Circle Yemassee. Live music includes the East Coast Party Band (8 p.m., Friday), sponsored by Comcast; and Funk Factory 5 (8 p.m. Saturday). Ore details to come.

2025 Beaufort County Youth Conference

9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, USC Beaufort Center For The Arts, 801 Carteret Street, Beaufort. The event aims to bring rising middle school and high school together from all over to address and tackle pressing challenges. For more information, call Lynn at 843-476-1888; Brandon at 843-3210373; or Carrie at 843-812-4399 for more information.

Gather & Give: A Family Promise Barn Bash

6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3, The Barn at Hampton Lake, 7457 Hampton Lake Drive, Bluffton. $150 per ticket. Join us for an unforgettable evening of music, good food, good company, and giving back — all in support of Family Promise of Beaufort County. Beer & wine included. Live music and more. To purchase tickets, visit https://bit. ly/45gHNpF.

Karaoke with Melissa

7:30 p.m. to midnight, Mondays, Tomfoolery, 3436 17 Market, Habersham, Beaufort. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

Karaoke with Ali

9 p.m. to midnight, Tuesdays, Luther’s Rare and Well Done, 910 Bay Street, downtown Beaufort. With DJ Ali.

Karaoke with Melissa

7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Wednesdays, Beaufort Moose Lodge, 350 Broad River Blvd, Beaufort. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew

9:30 p.m., Wednesdays, Rosie O’Grady’s, 2127 Boundary Street, Suite 2, Beaufort. Free. Enjoy karaoke with either Parker or Eric.

Trivia with Tom – Bricks On Boundary

7 p.m., Every Thursday, Bricks on Boundary, 1422 Boundary St, Beaufort. Free. Team trivia event, win house cash and Beer Bucket prizes! For more information, visit https://rb.gy/o9nhwe.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew

7 p.m., Thursdays, Amvets Post 70, 1831 Ribaut Road, Port Royal. Free. Public is welcome. Enjoy Karaoke. Dinner will be available.

Karaoke at Willie’s

8 p.m., Thursdays, Willie's Bar and Grill, 7 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Saint Helena Island. Come and showcase your singing talents or just enjoy the performances. For more information, visit www.GullahLove.com.

Bluffton Night Bazaar –a Lowcountry Made Market

5 to 8 p.m., first Thursday of each month, Burnt Church Distillery, 120 Bluffton Road. A highly curated selection of accessories, clothing, home goods, custom gifts and more by local artists and makers.

Habersham Farmers Market

3 to 6 p.m., Fridays, Habersham Marketplace. Vendor roster includes B&E Farm, Cottonwood Soap, Flower Power Treats, Hardee Greens, Megs Sweet Treats, Vitamin Bee, Lady’s Island Oyster Company, Pet Wants.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew

9 p.m., Fridays, Highway 21 Bar, 3436 Trask Pkwy, Beaufort. Free. Enjoy Karaoke with Lt. Dan.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew

9:30 p.m., Fridays, Rosie O’Grady’s, 2127 Boundary Street, Suite 2, Beaufort. Free. Enjoy Karaoke with Parker.

Karaoke with Melissa

7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., Fridays, R Bar & Grill, 70 Pennington Drive, Bluffton. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

Port Royal Farmers Market

9 a.m. to noon, Saturdays, year round, Naval Heritage Park, 1615 Rib-

WHAT’S HAPPENING

aut Road, Port Royal. Rain or shine. You will find fresh, local, seasonal produce, shrimp, oysters, poultry, beef, pork, eggs, bread and cheese, as well as plants, ferns, camellias, azaleas, citrus trees and beautiful, fresh cut flower bouquets. There are prepared food vendors serving barbecue, dumplings, she crab soup, crab cakes, paella, coffee, baked goods, bagels and breakfast sandwiches. No pets allowed. For more information, visit http://www. portroyalfarmersmarket.com/, visit @ portroyalfarmersmarket on Facebook or call 843-295-0058.

Slip and Splash Saturdays 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturdays, Battery Creek Pool, 1 Blue Dolphin Drive, Beaufort, and Bluffton Pool, 55 Pritchard Street, Bluffton. $5 per person. Stay busy for hours climbing on our inflatable challenge track.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew 7 p.m., Saturdays, The Beaufort Moose Lodge, 350 Broad River Blvd., Beaufort. Free. Enjoy karaoke with Lt. Dan. Come early at 6 p.m. for Steak Night.

Eric’s Karaoke Krew 9:30 p.m., Saturdays, Rosie O’Grady’s, 2127 Boundary Street, Suite 2, Beaufort. Free. Enjoy karaoke with Eric.

Teddy Bear Picnic Read-Aloud 9 a.m. to noon, 1st Saturday each month, Port Royal Farmer’s Market, Corner of Ribaut Road & Pinckney Blvd, Port Royal. Free. DAYLO Students and other volunteers will read to young children, who are encouraged to bring their favorite stuffed animals.

Karaoke with Melissa 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month, Peaceful Henry’s Cigar Bar, 181 Bluffton Road, Bluffton. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

CLASS REUNION Beaufort High School Class of 1975 Oct. 17 through Oct. 19, 2025, Beaufort. 50th Class Reunion Celebration. Request that graduates of this class contact the class Community Outreach Representative Barbara Gardner Hunter at 347-497-9326 or email gardnerbarbara991@gmail.com to provide current contact information.

DANCE Lowcountry Shaggers

6 to 9 p.m., Mondays, Holiday Inn, 2225 Boundary Street. Shag lessons with Tommy & Sheri O’Brien and others. Occasional ballroom and oncea-monh line dancing. Biginner, intermediate and advanced lessons. Open dancing after lessons. Visit www.lowcountryshaggers.com of email lowcountryshaggers@aol.com.

The Beaufort Shag Club

6:30 to 9 p.m., Wednesdays, AmVets Club, 1831 Ribaut Road, Port Royal. Free lessons for members from 6 to 6:30 p.m. We also host a dance the second Saturday of each month from 7 to 10 p.m. Lessons will run September through May only. Visit our FaceBook page (beaufortshagclub) for current events.

GOLF

4th annual Stingray Scramble Saturday, Sept. 20, Ocean Creek Golf Course, Fripp Island. Proceeds benefit Riverview Charter School.

Early bird pricing is $650 for team of four through July 1. After July 1, $700 for team of four. Register online at https://bit.ly/4kTF4br. Visit https:// bit.ly/4mWQ7ls for sponsorship opportunities.

Habitat for Humanity of the Lowcountry's 28th annual Golf Tournament

9 a.m., Monday, Sept. 29, Oldfield Club, 130 Oldfield Way, Okatie. Tickets and sponsorships start at $200. Through this event and the auction, Habitat aims to raise funds to build a Habitat home for a local family. With funding from the past several years’ tournaments, Habitat is currently constructing the “Larry Sanders House” in Ridgeland. That house is named in honor of Larry Sanders, who has been the tournament organizer for many years. Sanders continues to be involved by recruiting players and sponsors for the event. To register to play in the tournament or to become a sponsor, please visit www.lowcountryhabitat.org/2025golftournament.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

BEMER Longevity Technology 9 a.m., Wednesdays via Zoom. Seen the buzz on “life span VS health span?” Want to grow better, not older? Haven’t heard of BEMER yet?

Come for Q&A about how this longevity-enhancing medical device can enhance your health, fitness and overall well-being in just 8 minutes, 2 times a day. Offered by BEMER SpecialistHuman & Equine, Elizabeth Bergmann. Text 410-212-1468 to get the Zoom link. Free.

Rooted Beaufort Yoga classes

5:30 to 6:45 p.m., Thursdays, Cypress Wetlands, Port Royal; 9 to 10:15 a.m., Whitehall Park or Pigeon Point Park. Rooted Beaufort is a collective of local Yoga teachers who host outdoor yoga classes and donation-based events with proceeds being donated locally on a rotating basis.

HISTORY Beaufort History Museum at the Arsenal 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays, 713 Craven St, Beaufort. General Admission for Adults $8, Seniors $7, Active Duty Military and College Students with ID $5. Children/Teens younger

than 18 Free. Explore and experience more than 500 years of Beaufort History with knowledgeable docent guided tours.

The Historic Port Royal Museum 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or upon request, Thursdays through Sundays, The Historic Port Royal Museum, 1634 Paris Ave. The museum features the turn-ofthe-century businesses and industries of Port Royal: Shrimping, crabbing, oystering, the railroad, the school and the mercantile. Great gifts featuring local artists are available. For more information. visit www.portroyalhistory. org, email historicportroyalfoundation@gmail.com or call 843-524-4333.

Tour Historic Fort Fremont Dawn to dusk, Monday through Sunday, The Fort Fremont Preserve, 1124 Land’s End Road, St. Helena Island. Free and open to the public. The History Center is open Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m., Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Visitors can learn about the fort’s history during the Spanish-American War through interpretive signs, self-guided walking tours with a smart phone, exhibits in the history center, and docent-led tours. For more information visit www.fortfremont.org or contact Passive Parks Manager Stefanie Nagid at snagid@bcgov.net.

LIBRARY ACTIVITIES

Up Here: Hunting Island Lighthouse

2 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 7, Beaufort District Collection at St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, St. Helena Island. Free. Open seating. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Celebrate National Lighthouse Day with guest speaker and local author Ted Panayotoff, who will share the fascinating history of the Hunting Island Lighthouse from his book “Up Here …” Come learn about the structure and the people who kept the light on in the darkness through all the weather.

“Hidden Gems” Book Club

3 p.m., third Monday of each month, St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, St. Helena Island. Free. So many books, so little time. St. Helena staff have uncovered some great titles to get you started on your “hidden gem” journey. Join us for lively discussions and coffee or tea. No registration required.

Career Navigator

11 a.m. to 1 p.m., every Tuesday, Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Free one-on-one resume writing and job application assistance with a Career Navigator from Palmetto Goodwill. No appointments necessary. For more information call 843-255-6458.

Bridge Club

10 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays, Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Join us if you want to learn a new game, practice your skills, or need more players. Call the Beaufort Branch Library at 843-255-6458 for more information.

Mahjong Club

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays, Beaufort Library, 311 Scott Street. All levels of players are welcome. Feel free to bring your own mahjong sets. Plan to meet every week. For more information, call the Beaufort Branch Library at 843-255-6458.

MEETINGS

Beaufort Lions Club

6 p.m., first and third Monday of every month, St John's Lutheran Church, 157 Lady's Island Drive, Beaufort. For more information, visit thebeaufortlionsclub@gmail.com or follow on Facebook/Instagram/Nextdoor.

PFLAG Savannah –Beaufort Peer Group

6:30 p.m., first Tuesday of every month, Fellowship Hall, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort (UUFB), 178 Sams Point Road, Beaufort. Free. The group will be moderated by Rick Hamilton and Kay Carr. The provides advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, family, peers, and allies in the Lowcountry. The peer group provides a safe and strictly confidential environment for LGBTQ+ individuals, their families, friends, and allies to discuss the challenges faced in coming out or being out in neighborhoods, the workplace, school, or church. The organization offers resources for counseling, educating, and advocating to achieve an equitable, inclusive community where every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved. Minors under the age of 18 are required to come with an adult parent, guardian, or mentor. Additional information about peer groups, membership, donations, and volunteering is on the website www.PFLAGSavannah.org and on Facebook.

Beaufort Chapter of America’s Boating Club

6 p.m., 2nd Tuesday of most months, at various Beaufort/Port Royal venues. Regular meetings begin with a Social, followed by Dinner and often include an exciting Guest Speaker from the Lowcountry. For Meeting Information or Educational Opportunities, please contact Paul Gorsuch, Administrative Officer at admino@beaufortboatingclub.com . Boat ownership is not required, however a passion for safe responsible boating is mandatory.

Zonta Club of Beaufort 6 p.m., 4th Tuesday of each month, Smokehouse, Port Royal.

Rotary Club of Sea Island lunch meeting 12:15 p.m., 2nd and 4th Tuesday of

each month, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, 81 Lady’s Island Drive, Lady’s Island. Social gathering every 3rd Tuesday at 5:30 pm, locations vary and posted on our website. For more information, visit www.seaislandrotary.org.

Rotary Club of Sea Island social gathering 5:30 p.m., 3rd Tuesday of each month, locations vary and posted on our website. For more information, visit www.seaislandrotary.org.

Beaufort Rotary Club Noon, Wednesdays, Sea Island Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 81 Lady’s Island Drive, Lady’s Island. Catered buffet lunch, followed by a guest speaker. Prospective members welcome. For further information and upcoming speakers, please visit website www.beaufortrotaryclub.org.

The Beaufort Trailblazers –A Volunteer Group 8 a.m., first Thursday each month, University Bikes, Beaufort. Anyone interested in supporting or building off-road/dirt/wilderness mountain biking/jogging/walking trails near is encouraged to attend. For more information, call 843-575-0021 or email universitybicycles@hotmail.com.

Emotions Anonymous International local group meeting 4 p.m, Thursdays, via Zoom. Emotions Anonymous International, (EAI), is a nonprofit program designed to help people with emotional difficulties. It has a chapter in the Lowcountry and members want others who feel the need to know they are welcome to participate. There is no charge to participate. They are based on the 12 steps and 12 traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous and follow a specific format designed to provide the support and tools for navigating life’s painful difficulties. All are welcome. Anyone interested in participating may contact the group via email at EALowcountry@ gmail.com or call or text Laurie at 252- 917-7082. For more information on EAI visit www.emotionsanonymous.org.

Al-Anon Beaufort County 7:30 p.m., Thursday, 80 Lady’s Island Drive in Beaufort. “Do you worry about how much someone drinks? Is it affecting your life? You are not alone. Al-Anon Beaufort Serenity Group offers help and hope. Join the group in Beaufort, or visit the Lowcountry page at https://bit.ly/3HvksaF for more times and locations.

Rotary Club of the Lowcountry 7:30 a.m., Fridays, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, 81 Lady's Island Dr., Ladys' Island. Catered breakfast from local chef. Speakers weekly. Occasional social events replace Friday mornings, but will be announced on our website, www.rotaryclubofthelowcountrybeaufort.org.

MUSIC

Stuck In Time 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 8, GG’s Restaurant & Bar, 1003 Paris Avenue, Port Royal.

Trashy Annie 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 8. Fillin’ Station, Lady’s Island. High energy, award-winning rock and roll straight out of Austin, Annie Davis and her motley band rock The Fillin' Station stage once again.

Corey Tate 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 15, GG’s Restaurant & Bar, 1003 Paris Avenue, Port Royal.

Rick Rudd 4 to 9 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 24, GG’s Restaurant & Bar, 1003 Paris Avenue, Port Royal. Celebrating the establishment’s first anniversary.

Ed Walter 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Aug. 29, GG’s Restaurant & Bar, 1003 Paris Avenue, Port Royal.

Distant Sounds

6 to 9 p.m., Fridays, Aug. 29, Sept. 12, Seaside Bar & Grill, St. Helena Island. Something for everyone, from the 60s to the 10s. David Ayres on guitar & vocals, Richard Knieriem on drums & vocals, Eric Roberts on bass, Paul Butare on guitar & vocals.

Distant Sounds 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3, Another Slice Pizza, Harbor Island. Something for everyone, from the 60s to the 10s. David Ayres on guitar & vocals, Richard Knieriem on drums & vocals, Eric Roberts on bass, Paul Butare on guitar & vocals.

Warsaw Island Boys

6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 10, ShellRing Ale Works, Port Royal.

Campfire Tyler 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sundays, The Fillin’ Station, Lady’s Island.

Live entertainment 7 to 11 p.m., Wednesdays, Luther’s Rare and Well Done, 910 Bay Street, downtown Beaufort.

Chris Jones 7 to 11 p.m., Thursdays, Luther’s Rare and Well Done, 910 Bay Street, downtown Beaufort.

Habersham Third Fridays Music on Market 5 to 8 p.m., third Friday of the month, Habersham Marketplace.

Live entertainment 9 p.m. to midnight, Fridays & Saturdays, Luther’s Rare and Well Done, 910 Bay Street, downtown Beaufort.

OUTDOORS/NATURE

America's Boating Club

Basic Boating Course 6:15 to 8:30 p.m., Thursdays, from Aug. 7 to Sept. 4, First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort Education Building, 1201 North Street, Beaufort. $50 for the first family member, $15 for each additional member. For more information, contact education@Beaufortboatingclub.com.

Free boating inspections Get a free vessel safety check by local members of the America's Boating Club of Beaufort. If your boat passes, you will receive a VSC decal to mount on your boat that

pete over the Woods Memorial

with our

Take your

Gump impersonator at the Start/Finish line. First-, Second-, and Third-Place runners will

the

Run Forrest Run 5K medals both for

of each

and

placers. Bring your favorite characters from the Forrest Gump movie to life as you race towards shrimp glory. We encourage participants to get groovy with themed costumes and unique outfits. Those donning a Forrest Gump getup can race to the finish line in hopes of claiming the Fastest Forrest Award. Register now and RUN, FORREST, RUN! For more information and to sign up, visit https:// shorturl.at/YoyHx.

SEWING/QUILTING

American Needlepoint Guild Meeting 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1st Tuesday each month. The Hilton Head Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild welcomes anyone, beginner or experienced stitcher, who is interested in needlepoint to join us for stitching, learning and fellowship. For more information, please contact us at hiltonheadislandchapter@needlepoint.org. Embroidery Guild of America Meeting Second Tuesday of every month, Palmetto Electric Community Room, Hardeeville. The Lowcountry Chapter of the Embroidery Guild of America welcomes anyone, beginner or experienced stitcher, who is interested in any type of embroidery including needlepoint, cross-stitch, surface and beaded embroidery, hardanger, bargello, sashiko, etc., to join us for stitching, learning and fellowship. For more information, please contact us at lowcountrychapter@egacarolinas.org.

SPORTS/GAMES

Beaufort Brawl 6: Summer Showdown

6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30, The Foundry, 2127 Boundary Street, Suite 18-B, Beaufort. Doors open at 5 p.m. A full fight card showcasing top amateur fighters from Beaufort, the Southeast, and beyond and featuring high-impact amateur MMA, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and kickboxing bouts. Affordable VIP access and general admission tickets — perfect for fans, families, and fight-fitness enthusiasts. Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/4eWJ6NI.

ACBL Duplicate Bridge Club 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., Tuesdays, Carteret Street. Events will be held weekly. Contact Director and Club Manager Susan DeFoe at 843-5972541 for location.

Bridge Club

10 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays, Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Join us if you want to learn a new game, practice your skills, or need more players. Call the Beaufort Branch Library at 843-255-6458 for more information.

Beaufort Masters Swim Team

6 to 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, Wardle Family Port Royal YMCA. Coached practices. Ages 18 & older, all skill & speed levels, no prior swim team experience needed. Visit lowcountryswimming.com for more information.

Abandonment of all subtlety

Last week I made the conscious decision not to write about the Epstein atrocity, although I did briefly comment on the fact that we all should be sufficiently appalled to verbalize our disgust. That said, this week became a whole different ball game.

If you are one of the few conservative readers of my articles, you may find yourself in disbelief of what I am about to say.

You certainly know that I have absolutely no time or respect for No. 47. My refusal to utter his name is sufficient proof. That said, I chose to take the position of “innocent until proven guilty.” By that I meant his guilt in “actively” helping his best friend traffic underage girls for the purpose of sex.

Did I think he may have turned a blind eye? Yes. After all, the braggadocio of where to “grab them” as well as the conviction of rape charges, the disgusting comment regarding dating his own daughter (what father says that?) all point to a total lack of morality. But even I was willing to think, “does he really

Wsanction pedophilia?”

I will get to my realization later, but first I want to take a good hard look at the Epstein travesty and delve into the many ways this tears away the veil of cover up by and for 47. This is not a digression but rather a straight path into what can only be called a cesspool!

Reams of documentation have come to light since the Epstein affair resurfaced a few weeks ago. In my research, I found that the files are estimated to be 300 gigabytes of data, paper, audio and video. The question of what is in those files, and whether or not they will ever become public, remains to be seen.

Pam Bondi initially said the DOJ would release case documents. Having a change of mind (no reason given), the Justice Depart-

e’ve all heard the phrase “Responsible Development” for years now, and it certainly sounds wonderful.

But then we drive by Lowe’s. There are only 14 000 residents in Beaufort, yet we have more than 3,000 high-density rental units in the pipeline, plus tens of thousands more planned for the County. This is an insane amount of added density, and many residents are rightly livid that it’s been allowed to happen here.

First, let’s be clear: these concerned residents aren’t “anti-development,” or NIMBYs (insults meant to silence legitimate concerns). We simply love it here, and want what was promised us: responsible development that respects Beaufort’s unique geography, history, and charm. But what we’re getting is the exact polar opposite of “responsible.” And if this madness is not halted and reversed, right now, it will ruin Beaufort forever.

Hyperbole? Nope. We are not Austin. Beaufort has a distinct, tightly constrained geography. We are a limited network of islands, peninsulas, and choke points. As the joke goes, we only have “two roads.” There are no

ment is now trying to tamp down the public outcry from some of Trump’s ardent supporters along with some Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill who believe the administration has fallen short of its transparency pledge. Really?

Epstein’s death by suicide, which many don’t believe, if for no other reason than the missing video of his cell for the few moments preceding the discovery of his body, launched conspiracy theories and deprived many of his accusers a public airing of his conduct.

Ghislaine Maxwell, his partner and fellow pedophile, was later convicted of sex trafficking minors following a four-week trial in 2021. And now there is this.

On July 8, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche initially reported that the DOJ had done an extensive review and had determined “no evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

Fast forward to the end of July when Blanche met with Maxwell at her prison,

ways around traffic jams. And Lord help us when we have to evacuate. Beaufort can hardly handle the numbers we have, much less what’s coming down the pike.

It’s extra frustrating for many of us who moved here to escape exactly these kinds of mistakes. We’ve lived in places that were once great, but developed themselves into annoying, expensive messes (with the best of intentions, of course). We’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.

How did this happen here, despite decades of cautionary evidence? A big driver seems to be the ol‘ chestnut “all growth is good growth,” and that the only way to achieve a healthy local economy is to keep throwing warm bodies at it. But that’s just lazy economics, dressed up in glossy Power Points and a false patina of inevitability.

a highly questionable act. He stated, “If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”

And the icing on the cake? Maxwell has now been moved to a minimum security “camp.” But according to the bureau's designation policy, Maxwell appears ineligible to be housed at a minimum-security prison camp because she is a convicted sex offender.

White House response? Crickets.

But back to my realization that, sadly, pedophilia isn’t a game changer for the person who occupies the United States presidency. My revelation to that came with his appointment of former New York Giants football star Lawrence Taylor. This past Friday, 47 invited him to the White House, stood beside this convicted sex offender and gushed, “there’s nobody like him.” He even handed him the microphone to speak. Let me put this into very clear language. In

The fact is that growth is not always good. And high density has major downsides that are not being taken into account. Even in “blank slates” like Houston, or naturally compressed cities like New York City, hyper density negatively affects quality of life. It increases traffic, crime, crowding and competition for limited resources, which negatively impacts safety, schools, police, fire, medical response and especially our environment. These massive projects also hurt our local builders, who tend to have a better sense of what’s possible and what’s preferable. Instead, we’re getting this onslaught of low-end, market-rate rentals, and the question nobody’s asking is: who’s actually going to fill all these units? The answer is that many probably won’t be filled. And if the market is allowed to function (no bailouts), prices will come down naturally, which will go a long way toward addressing whatever affordable housing needs we actually have. On top of that, several “affordable” developments are also currently underway, so the constant push for “more, more, more” housing needs to pause until these thousands of units have a chance to settle in.

2010, Lawrence Taylor was convicted of rape and prostitution, having sex with a 16-year-old girl, thus putting him on file as a sex offender. His sentence was six years probation. In 2021 he failed to report a change of address as required, and was charged accordingly. Again in 2024, the same charge was made.

Either the president is so inherently stupid to appoint this man, or he doesn’t give a damn, and will blatantly dismiss any form of subtlety, which, in my mind, certainly underscores his own position on the subject. So much for ‘innocent till proven guilty.’

Make no mistake. This is a multi-layered scandal, plain and simple, and it remains to be seen just how the Democrats will handle it. Those of us who believe that no one is above the law lean toward picking up the ball and running with it toward the goalposts as fast as we can run. Will there be tackles?

You betcha,’ to quote a famous Republican. What we need to avoid at all costs, however, is an interception.

“...what we’re getting is the exact polar opposite of ‘responsible.’ And if this madness is not halted and reversed, right now, it will ruin Beaufort forever.”

Another reason we’re in this mess is because of a misguided focus on potential future residents (and theoretical future tax revenue) at the expense of the existing citizenry. What’s more, these massive rental developments almost never deliver on their grandiose economic promises, and end up being a net drain on local services and infrastructure.

Overdevelopment is a slamdunk 90-10 local political issue here, but our leaders are reluctant to publicly speak out and stick up for Beaufort. Why? Some say they secretly support what’s happen-

One layer of this scandal is that of Republican protection of the elite at all costs. While this is a topic that requires an in-depth microscopic view, and more verbiage than is permitted here, it remains important. Note that I didn’t say MAGA protection because, amazingly, this seems to be emerging as the proverbial straw for them. Might I add that I also see it as the crux of 47’s conundrum. Savvy Democrats get this, and my advice, for what little it may be worth, is take this public fascination with Epstein as well as the administration’s fumbling of the ball, and run like hell! As for those who continue to grovel at the feet of what I now accept as a supporter of pedophilia, I might suggest taking to heart a Sir Walter Scott quote: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"

ing. But even if we take them at their word, that they merely don’t want to “discourage” out of state developers from coming here, why is that a bad thing? Beaufort has been voted “Best Small City in the U.S.” multiple times, and for good reason. This is a special place to live, but we need to act like it. When it comes to managing incoming development we are in the catbird seat. The belle of the ball. We have the power to pick and choose who we dance with, so why are we acting like we have no say in the matter?

As stewards of Beaufort, we not only have a right, but a responsibility to protect what makes this place so special. And to do that, our local leaders must come clean on what “responsible development” actually means to them. And if they truly agree with the public, they must develop the courage to say “no.” Make sure the code changes put “quality of life” ahead of "quantity of units”. Support a temporary moratorium. Speak up. Give a speech. Publish an op-ed. Do something to help save Beaufort.

In other words: be responsible.

Erich Hartmann is a creative director, brand strategist, and writer. He lives in Beaufort with his wife and two sons.

Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away:

One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”

CAROL LUCAS

ERICH HARTMANN

VOICES

Editor’s Note: The opinions of our columnists in the Voices section are not necessarily the opinions of The Island

South Carolina may get

2 new members of Congress

Looks like the Palmetto State will get at least two new members of Congress in 2026 as two existing ones seem headed toward a Republican gubernatorial battle next June.

On July 27, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, announced he was running for the GOP nomination to replace term-limited Gov. Henry McMaster in Columbia. That frees up Norman’s congressional seat, which already has two candidates in the hunt – Republican state Sen. Wes Climer, who announced Thursday, and Democratic lawyer Alex Harper.

But the 1st Congressional District race is now getting attention with word that the incumbent, GOP U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace has announced her bid for governor. Democrats and Republicans are

ANDY BRACK

likely to have crowded fields of relatively unknown candidates who will try to win party nominations for the seat, which tilts Republican due to recent gerrymandering that wasn’t found illegal by a federal court.

“Both sides seem to have a shallow bench,” Winthrop University pollster Scott Huffmon said. Of course, all bets are off among primary candidates if each party’s best-known name in the 1st District runs. For Republicans, that would be former Gov. Nikki

Haley, who ran for president in 2024. But the Kiawah Island resident surely would keep her powder dry now for a bigger prize – a possible presidential bid in 2028

For Democrats, the most popular potential candidate may be former Congressman Joe Cunningham, who narrowly lost to Mace in 2020 and lost a gubernatorial bid two years later.

“All options are on the table,” Cunningham said Thursday, July 31. “I’ve been committed to serving the Lowcountry. Now, I’m fortunate to do that through my law practice. However, I have not shut the door on reentering public life as my passion lies with helping people.”

That’s probably not great news for two Democrats who say they want the seat – Mac Deford, a Mount

Pleasant lawyer, and Mayra Rivera Vazquez of Beaufort County, the state Democratic Party’s second vice chair.

Deford said the 1st District race would be one of the most closely watched contests in the country if Mace leaves as expected.

“A Democrat can win here with the right message, the right coalition, and a campaign focused on solving real problems — not chasing headlines,” he said this week in a statement.

“Voters are tired of political drama. They want competence and service. That’s why this race is going to surprise people.”

But there is a slew of Republicans who likely will run for the nomination, which could set off a political bloodletting that could make television stations richer.

Three-term GOP S.C.

Rep. Mark Smith of Daniel

Island confirmed this week that he would run – if Mace steps away.

“I’m 100% in if she’s out and stay tuned for details, coming very soon,” Smith said by phone.

Popular Charleston County Council member

Jenny Honeycutt of James Island is seriously looking at running, too – if Mace runs for governor.

“I believe the Lowcountry deserves a proven conservative leader and committed public servant,” she said in an interview. “My family and I are praying about and considering a potential run. It’s on the table. We’ll just have to see how things shake out.”

Other GOP candidates could include Charleston Mayor William Cogswell, who wouldn’t have to give up his seat to run, and Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb.

On a demographic note, 72% of district voters live in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. Just over a quarter live in Beaufort County. Some 55% of voters are women and 79% are white. About 31% are 65 or older. The psychological center of the district seems to stretch from Goose Creek through North Charleston to Daniel Island. But geographically, the district runs from Daufuskie Island in Beaufort County in the south and squiggles to Summerville, heads to St. Stephen in the north and then turns east to McClellanville at the Charleston County line.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.

Bridge collapse should be warning to fix SC’s roads

In these contentious times, perhaps we can all agree on at least one thing: Bridges are not supposed to fall down.

I mention this fact because we should not underestimate the significance of the recent partial bridge collapse in Pickens County. It’s the canary in the coal mine, a warning.

The photos are disturbing. Take a good look at them.

We should keep them in mind. Experts have warned us for years about the poor quality of South Carolina’s roads and bridges, hinting perhaps that something like the partial bridge collapse could happen.

And it happened. Luckily, no one was injured or killed.

It would be a mistake to dismiss this as a freak occurrence rather than recognizing it as a symptom of legislative neglect.

The state Highway 133 (Crowe Creek Road) bridge was 57 years old and slated to be replaced later this year. Because of its age and condition, it was load restricted, meaning trucks and other heavy vehicles were not supposed to use it, as the S.C. Daily Gazette’s Skylar Laird reported.

But a truck weighing more than the posted 15-ton limit crossed it anyway and apparently caused the collapse.

We can blame an irresponsible driver, but we should not overlook the fact that about a third of the 8 400 state-maintained bridges are, like the Highway 133 bridge, near or past their intended lifespan. About 500 bridges date back at least 90 years. That’s cause for deep concern. For decades, state lawmakers have failed to adequately fund road and bridge maintenance and replacement.

LETTER

Our South Carolina roads and bridges are often ranked among the worst in the nation. Likewise, the poor quality of our roads contributes to a high motorist fatality rate.

Fixing state roads and bridges is not just about saving wear and tear on our cars. It’s about saving lives. And it’s a fundamental responsibility of state government to make sure our roads and bridges are safe. It’s not liberal or conservative. It’s just good government.

Most South Carolinians keenly understand our road and bridge problems.

It’s a common complaint, heard everywhere: “We have lousy roads.”

We drive on those roads. We know what we’re talking about.

Decades of underfunding

Too many of us accept it as a fact of life that South Carolina has always had bad roads and bridges and always will have bad roads and bridges — as if it’s fate or the will of a malign deity.

Sure, we grumble about the roads, but not loudly enough. Our expectations of state leaders are much too low.

We need to realize that bridge collapses like the one in Pickens County actually are rare in the United States, especially considering that there are more than 600,000 bridges across the country.

TO THE EDITOR

The numbers don’t add up

Set aside the abject cruelty, immorality, and oftentimes illegality of the Trump administration’s immigration and deportation policy, and let’s look at the numbers. Many countries around the world are concerned with declining population. Some even offer incentives for couples to have more children or for younger professionals to relocate to open a business. In contrast, Trump, often separating them from their families, deports thousands of adults whose only crime is not yet having citizenship.

Most bridges are regularly inspected and maintained according to strict federal and state guidelines. (We should remember this next time a politician uses “cutting regulations” as an applause line.)

But a 2021 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave South Carolina a D+ for infrastructure overall — more specifically, a D for roads and a C for bridges.

That report identified almost 11% of South Carolina bridges as structurally deficient, higher than the national average of 7 5%

Another study put the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state at 745. A 2022 survey ranked South Carolina near the top, No. 9, for the worst roads in the nation.

Legislators have made some progress on improving our roads and bridges in recent years, but it’s not enough to make up for decades of underfunding.

A bold new plan called Momentum 2050 offers great hope for upgrading our roads. But it carries a price tag of $1 billion additional

yearly, and there’s no plan to fund it, as S.C. Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox pointed out in a detailed commentary tracing the history of our road woes.

Redoubling efforts

State leaders must redouble their efforts to protect South Carolinians on the roads.

New revenues may be needed. One thing state leaders shouldn’t do is cut taxes by $1 billion, as they have in recent years, when our infrastructure is in terrible shape. They shouldn’t prioritize tax cuts over public safety.

In addition, state lawmakers should consider raising the gas tax again. That would require considerable political will, particularly in an election year. Yet, hope springs eternal.

South Carolina’s gas tax is still fairly modest. As of January 2024, it ranked 29th in the nation at 28 75 cents per gallon, compared to neighboring Georgia’s 33 05 cents per gallon and North Carolina’s 40 65 cents.

The time is ripe for these discussions. With an election year

How does it help our declining population [growth] to deport hard-working people who contribute to the tax coffers and economy — yes, they contribute to Social Security and buy many things — but receive no federal benefits? These are the people who perform jobs most Americans won’t do — harvest our food, clean our houses, hotel rooms, and office buildings, work low wage jobs in restaurants, do construction and landscaping work, care for our children and seniors.

In their absence, who fills these roles and at what cost? Any willing workers will demand higher wages resulting in higher prices. Yes, they will contribute to the coffers,

approaching, politicking has already begun with five Republican candidates running for governor so far.

Roads and bridges should be a central part of the debate. Strongwilled leadership is needed in Columbia.

In the rush of news, we should all be concerned that this partial bridge collapse might be quickly forgotten.

Instead, it should become the poster child that spurs bridge and road improvement in South Carolina.

It’ll be up to South Carolinians to keep roads and bridges front and center on the state’s agenda.

Paul Hyde is a longtime journalist and teacher in the Upstate. He worked 18 years for the Greenville News as a columnist, editorial writer, education reporter and arts writer. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clemson and Harvard universities. He has written for the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and USA Today, among other publications. He currently is a regular contributor to the Greenville Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Classical Voice North America.

but also collect the benefits, and fewer tax dollars will be available to support our aging population. That sounds like inflation.

Can’t we find a middle ground wherein convicted illegal immigrants are deported and others whose only crime is escaping brutality in their homeland and trying to build a better life in “the land of opportunity” are given a path to citizenship? That sounds like a better path to increasing our population, providing services to our people, and restoring our reputation as a just and caring nation.

– Carter Hoyt, Lady’s Island

PAUL HYDE

A Pickens County bridge collapsed Monday, July 21, 2025. Photo courtesy of S.C. Department of Transportation

VOICES

Editor’s Note: The opinions of our columnists in the Voices section are not necessarily the opinions of The Island News

The red-haired girl set the stage for the Empire

It is Sunday, early, and I am marking time until the 10 o’clock service at St. Mark’s. When the bell rings at 9:50, I’ll take a brisk, three-minute walk to the repurposed, Appleton-built sanctuary.

This morning my mind is on those who decide to make the military a career. I’m also thinking about my Citadel classmates who went to war in 1967, survived their tour of duty, then stuck around for another 20 or 30 years. It is believed that advancement depends, in large measure, on where a Second Lieutenant lands in the first couple of assignments. In the Army and Marine Corps a rifle platoon is a very good place to land. However, there are those who understand that finding a senior officer on his way up the ladder is as important as surviving incoming fire.

Finding a sponsor who will look after you is not easy because every other young officer is seeking such a person; or a staff position where one will get noticed.

All of which brings me to Thomas Cromwell and Henry

GRABER

VIII.

Thomas Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith, hitched himself and his future to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1515. In 1534 he transferred his loyalty and his exceptional skills to King Henry VIII first focusing these considerable skills on finding the King a fertile wife who would produce an heir — specifically a boy child.

Recently Masterpiece Theatre did its second series on Cromwell featuring the actor, Mark Rylance. I’m not sure how many saw these episodes — alternatively fascinated and horrified at the betrayal, beheadings, burningsat-the-stake, disembowelments while-still-alive. All of which were acceptable, entirely permissible variations on “capital

punishment.” Cromwell being the enabler for these popular, well-attended executions.

In fact, Cromwell, orchestrated the death — usually burning to death atop a stack of straw and fat-lighter — of hundreds of Catholics who did not buy into the notion that Henry had effectively replaced and retired the Pope; and that Henry was now the head of the Church of England.

The problem with this series is that Rylance comes off as a sympathetic character. Yes, he does a lot of soul searching when remembering his departure from Cardinal Wolsey’s service. But, strangely, I found Rylance an attractive, magnetic personality even though he said very little — his eyes, mouth and his body projecting wisdom, insight and regret at what was to come.

But King Henry was also broke — and worried about Scotland and France — and so Cromwell turned his attention to the relatively wealthy monasteries. Cromwell sent his “visitors” to these places looking for idolatry, bogus relics, sexual deviance and loot — rounding up the monks and confiscat-

ing their altar art and their real estate.

This, in a way, reminds one of Elon Musk and his “visitors” who moved on the Department of Education, HHS and USAID closing down programs and firing half of the work force.

Musk was theoretically looking for woke-related sinners but, actually, he was also searching for money—money that would give his boss the ability to balance out a forthcoming tax cut.

Elon had to convince the American people that these places were bloated, entirely inefficient, and staffed by infidels — all of which proved to be a lighter lift than trying to sell Henry VIII as a substitute Pope.

Cromwell’s ship finally ran aground when he tried to talk Henry into a marriage with Anne of Cleves. Still desperate for a son, Henry was shown a portrait done by Hans Holbein that depicted an attractive, but less than beautiful woman. When Henry saw Anne in the flesh he said, “I like her not!”

Incredibly Henry went forward with a marriage ceremony anyway.

But Anne of Cleves proved to be the end of the line for Cromwell; Henry sending him to the Tower and orchestrating a trial that ended with his beheading in 1540 — his head put on a spike at London Bridge.

It is interesting that Masterpiece Theatre softened and humanized one of history’s all-time monsters. But what is equally interesting is Henry’s daughter — the disappointing daughter he conceived with Ann Boleyn — eventually became Queen Elizabeth I.

Among other things, it was Elizabeth who defeated the Spanish Armada. But her great, long-lasting gift (to the British) was a compromise between the Catholics and the Protestants that “established an English Church that helped shape a national identity and remains in place today” (Wikipedia).

Henry’s red-haired daughter — not Cromwell — set the stage for the Empire.

Scott Graber is a lawyer, novelist, veteran columnist and longtime resident of Port Royal. He can be reached at cscottgraber@gmail.com.

By Mark Huguley

Anglers know you can often catch a big fish with a smaller fish. The world of law enforcement uses the same tool through the practice of granting legal immunity to shield some people from criminal charges based on how they help further the cause of justice.

When I was an investigator with the state, I learned to think about legal immunity from criminal prosecution as something granted by a prosecutor to a witness in exchange for testimony to advance the criminal prosecution of a “bigger” offender in some cases. Organized crime figure John Gotti was convicted, in part, this way.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision granting absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts by presidents,

I became disturbed by the possibility that this immunity might encourage malfeasance. What I soon discovered was that immunity is a broad and complex concept that should be considered with the concept of privilege, which guarantees specific rights that include the right to keep certain information secret. Complementary concepts, they’re essential for a just government if properly understood. But it isn’t all that easy. The unchecked power of absolute immunity would pose a serious threat in the United States. It is both a threat to rights and the source of rights. It’s a tricky balance to get right, and the U.S. Supreme Court might have tipped the scales by blocking the prosecution of crime by presidents, both past and present. This sort of protection is extraordinary because privilege already

guards against self-incrimination and now immunity prevents prosecution, too. In our country, immunity and privilege are acknowledged in federal and state laws because of the fundamental rights that flow from the Immunity and Privileges Clause found in Article IV, Section 2, of the United States Constitution. So, the real challenge lies in how these laws are interpreted and applied. It’s a bit like driving on a roundabout where the direction of travel changes as you continue. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proved it can be confusing when she testified, “Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” according to reporting by NPR. She’s wrong. It isn’t. Everyone likes to have advantages, and consti-

tutional immunity and privileges provide them. They were instituted for the common good and to ensure an independent and functioning government. Whether and when they provide their intended benefit depends on the specific circumstances. They work together in our democracy to block an action, such as when immunity prevents arrest or prosecution, or to grant privileges, like habeas corpus to determine if someone’s detention is lawful.

Deeply connected to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, immunity and privilege were priorities on the minds of delegates, including South Carolina’s four participating repre-

sentatives, during deliberations. They reflect the importance of the broad and lasting rights established by immunity and privilege, even though these liberties were for white men with property, notably excluding enslaved people. This is due partly to the influence of S.C. delegate Charles Pinckney.

The police might never detain you in another state, but if they do, that state would be restrained from treating you differently as a non-resident because of the Immunity and Privileges Clause.

In addition to protections granted to citizens, the U.S. Constitution offers immunity to certain officials. Federal and state constitutions grant legislative immunity through what are known as Speech or Debate clauses In total, 43 states have identical or similar language in their constitutions.

Recently, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) reportedly relied on this privilege on the floor of the U.S. House to make allegations of sexual abuse. There is, however, no explicit mention of presidential immunity to be found in the Constitution, unlike the protection afforded to members of Congress.

So against this background, some argue presidential immunity is neither a necessary nor an appropriate alternative to criminal prosecution. Where is the deterrence if official malfeasance goes unprosecuted?

Unofficial acts are not immune, but the distinction offers no difference when it comes to corruption.

Mark Huguley, retired from a 36-year law enforcement career as a SLED agent and FBI intelligence analyst, resides in Arcadia

SCOTT

Lakes. He is a law enforcement historian.

EDITOR’S NOTE This op-ed was first published by the Charleston City Paper.

Charlie Company EGA Ceremony

Veterans' chronic (ongoing) pain care

As a Vietnam War wounded warrior and 100% service-connected and combat disabled veteran with a list too long of old wounds, injuries, and health conditions that cause me continuous pain; as a past VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer, as a Patient and Family Centered Care Instructor, and VA Patient Adviser for 22 years, I believe that I can talk about “Chronic Pain.”

The bad news

Having been drenched in Agent Orange in Vietnam, flying Huey helicopters dispensing deadly herbicides, and having flown Huey Gunships covering those Agent Orange spraying helicopters, I now suffer from stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal and pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots by arthritic bone and hardening tissues), peripheral neuropathy (pain numbness, tingling, and burning in my lower legs and feet), migraines, bursitis, ischemic heart disease, hearing loss in both ears, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, AFIB, PTSD, severe Coronary Artery Disease, and my other disabling conditions.

I was wounded in Vietnam in helicopter crashes and shootdowns. I had my back broken, ankles shattered, right hand broken, left mandible broken, neck severely whiplashed, forearms burned, a deep and near-fatal throat laceration, dozens of Plexiglass shards in my face, two Traumatic Brain Injuries, and knees sprained in combat.

Those crashes also destroyed 84 percent of my L1 vertebra, which has caused scoliosis, shortened my left leg an inch, caused stenosis of my spinal canal, and wrecked my hips, SI joint, and knees. This fracture of my L1 has also caused accelerated osteoarthritis in my spine, hips, sacroiliac joint, knees, and ankles.

Add to those injuries my daily migraine headaches from my 12 military TBIs and the fact that

I was in 11 car wrecks (one with injuries) in Iran, driven by an Iranian. I also boxed in the Army, played too much football with and without a helmet, tennis, basketball, and softball, and I ran thousands of miles in old Army issue boots and less than proper shoes. Thus, today I am a walking menagerie (collection) of pain and discomfort.

The good news

As a service-connected 100 percent disabled veteran and a retired soldier, I get the world’s best (and free) healthcare from the VA. If I need it, I can also use Medicare and Tricare for life. Over the past 58 years, I have received terrific health care from the U.S. military, the VA, and some civilian providers.

I am fortunate to have received healthcare from two of the best VA Medical Centers in the VA, the five-star-rated Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, and the Durham VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Those two outstanding VA medical centers have treated my chronic pain with limited oral medications, including Tylenol, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Diclofenac/Voltaren, Tramadol, and Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression surgery. I have also had hundreds of hours of physical therapy, acupuncture, traction, a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (using a TENS unit), an epidural injection, chiropractic care, Lidocaine Patches, a back brace, and massages. These interventions have helped, but they do not ever eliminate my pain. The only time

I was given opioids was the first week after I was wounded in 1969 I am in mild to moderate, and occasionally severe, pain 24 hours per day and seven days per week, but my VA doctors, physical therapists, and I have worked together to control my pain most of the time.

The Veterans Health Library (more good news)

There is a comprehensive online Veterans Health Library at https://bit.ly/46CcKWB. At this site, veterans can research topics like:

• Chronic Pain, which includes Understanding Chronic (ongoing) Pain, The Cycle of Chronic Pain, Treating Chronic Pain, Managing Chronic Pain/Activity, Taking Opioids, Buprenorphine Buccal, Chronic Prostatitis/ Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS), Managing Chronic Pain (Therapies for Mind and Body), An Effective Way to Cope with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Understanding Low Back Pain.

Healthy Living, which covers being involved in your health care, physically active, safe, and tobacco free, and eating wisely, getting recommended screening tests/immunizations, limiting alcohol, managing stress, sleeping well, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Diseases and Conditions, which include aging veterans' health, infectious diseases, women’s and men’s health, cancer, and blood, bone-jointmuscle, brain and nervous system, chronic pain, dental health, diabetes, digestive problems, ear-nose-throat, heart-blood vessel, hormone, immune system, kidney, lung, mental health, sleep, and urinary problems.

• Tests and Treatments, which include aging veterans’ health, chronic pain, cancer,

women’s and men’s health, diabetes, infectious diseases, dental health, general surgery, and blood, bone-jointmuscle, brain and nervous system, and digestive, ENT, eye, heart and blood vessel, immune system, kidney, lung, mental health, skin, sleep, and urinary problems.

• Medications, which include a comprehensive drug reference and answers to medication questions for prescriptions, over-the-counter products, and nutraceuticals.

• Rehabilitation, which includes after spinal cord injury, after TBI, coping with chronic pain, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and speech therapy. Mental health, which includes depression, PTSD, schizophrenia, substance abuse, suicide prevention, and mental health recovery.

Living with aging veterans' health, ALS, Asthma, back and neck pain, coronary artery disease, COPD, Diabetes, Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Insomnia, Low Blood Pressure, Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder, Stroke, and TBI. Videos and Guides, including decision aid tools, essential guides for chronic conditions, online health guides, VA navigation tools, and video library.

Chronic pain

According to the Veterans Health Library “Understanding Chronic Pain” webpage at https:// bit.ly/45yVJeN, “chronic” means ongoing. Pain is called chronic when it lasts over a long period, at least three months. This includes pain that you feel regularly, even if it comes and goes.

Chronic stimulus

With this type of pain, both the pain and the underlying causal condition must be treated.

Chronic Pain Syndrome

In some cases, no cause can be found for a person's chronic pain. Some people with chronic pain develop chronic pain syndrome. In addition to the pain, this can include: Anxiety. Depression. Anger. Changed lifestyle.

It's important to talk with your health care team about these secondary conditions. You will need treatment for these problems in addition to treatment for pain.

The bottom line

Thanks to good Army and VA doctors, I am still highly functioning, working, and enjoying life. Veterans should sign up for VA healthcare and follow the directions of their doctors and other medical professionals. Pain and discomfort can be controlled and lived with.

Larry

Chronic pain may be due to continuing injury or disease. Or it may be due to problems with the body’s pain-control system. An example of this is fibromyalgia. Chronic pain may be from the ongoing arousal of the body's pain system. The cause may be an untreated injury or health problem. Common examples of these are: Joint degeneration (arthritis). Back injury. Nervous system damage (neuropathic pain). Headaches.

LARRY DANDRIDGE

The nation's newest U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, receive their Eagle, Globe and Anchor on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. The presentation of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, marks the successful transformation from recruit to United States Marine. Cpl. Dakota Dodd/USMC

LOCAL MILITARY

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, 8 August 2025

Recruit Training Regiment • Commanding Officer, Colonel A. P. Bariletti 3rd Recruit Training Battalion • Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel B. L. Tye Commander of Troops, Captain J. A. Richardson • Parade Adjutant, Captain S. A. Carrol Company “K”, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion • Captain J. A. Richardson Drill Master • Gunnery Sergeant J. J. Merriweather, Staff Sergeant Y. R. Castellon Rivera

PLATOON 3056

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt H. T. Haffly

PFC Aguilera, Ethan A.

PFC Armstrong, Devin M.

Pvt Bautista, Johan S.

PFC Brown, Tyler D.

Pvt Brunson, Andrew C.

Pvt Campechanoresendiz, Alexandro

Pvt Castello, Ethan A.

PFC Cook, Charles S.

PFC Cornelius, Daniel J.

Pvt Craeton, Jacob C.

Pvt Cruz, Anthony C.

Pvt Evanssmith, Ryan J.

Pvt Farley, Benjamin K.

Pvt Free, Tanner D.

Pvt Garciabonilla, Jason A.

Pvt Garrison, Logan D.

Pvt Gosier, Nickalain A.

PFC Hatfield, Japreme L.

PFC Johnson, Philip R.

Pvt Keenan, Kahne S.

Pvt Knisley Jr, Brian S.

Pvt Lane, Charles J.

Pvt Mendozaechanique, Paul V.

PFC Miller, Damion L.

Pvt Mitchell, Austin L.

Pvt Osoriohernandez, Esdras E.

PFC Pacilli, Robert G.*

PFC Parrish II, Maliek A.

Pvt Pendleton, Truett W.

Pvt Perez III, Joseph A.

Pvt Perezrocha, Omar

Pvt Ramirezescobar, Jason D

Pvt Riggins Jr, Barry D.

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PFC Scott, Davin K.*

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Pvt Sutton, Dorian T.

Pvt Terry, Khamel

PFC Texterscott, Johnathan N. *

Pvt Waldrep, Nathan R.

Pvt Wilson, Reid C.

PFC Woulard III, Felton M.

PLATOON 3057

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt E. R. Armstrong

Pvt Aguilar Portillo, Yeni

Pvt Allen, Jerissa A.

Pvt Azmera, Djemila B.

PFC Bailey, Anna E.

PFC Barron, Keira C.

PFC Bolanoz, Alison

Pvt Brinson, Roniyah P.

PFC Burton, Unique D.

Pvt Busbey, Jennifer

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PFC Cajigas Rivera, Zaydith L.

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Pvt Faldetta, Gracie F.

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PFC Garcia Reyes, Karen

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Pvt Hamrick, Makayla L.

PFC Hebert, Grace E.

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PFC Padua Ross, Carrina S.

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Pvt Savage, Shannon A.

PFC Sharpe, Nyjah N.

Pvt Sosa Fernandez, Lorimar

PFC Steven, Varicia L.

Pvt Stone, Piper B.

Pvt Taylor, Emily G.

PFC Velasquez Ortiz, Nalleli Y.

PFC Young, Kawiona L.

PLATOON 3058

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt B.D Harris

Pvt Andrews, Kodyray

PFC Anderson, Case M.

Pvt Basinger, Ryder C.

Pvt Celis, Xavier A.

Pvt Cisneroscortez, Yordan G.

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PFC Lee, Dorian R.*

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PFC Lopez, Aaron M.

Pvt Martinez, Christian

PFC May, Daniel W.

Pvt Mendez, Isaiah O.

Pvt Myles, Rasheed O.

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PFC Paul, Ryan R.

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PF Rivas, Matthew J.

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PFC Strock, Jack F.*

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Pvt Tompkins, Liam E.

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PLATOON 3060

Senior Drill Instructor SSgt J. M. Furlough

Pvt Anderson, Caleb B.

Pvt Beniquebarriodemen, Rodney

Pvt Brown II, Christopher R.

Pvt Cameron, Patrick J.

PFC Carrasco, Carlos J.

Pvt Casaus, Brentyn N.

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Pvt Levien, Alex A.

Pvt Lundy, Wyatt A.

Pvt Moore III, Edward P.

Pvt Orozcorodriguez, Emanuel

PFC Osorno, Brandon G.

PFC Patterson, Derrick J.

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PFC Pritchett Jr, Mark A.

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Pvt Richardscott, Quinton J.

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PLATOON 3061

Senior Drill Instructor SSgt J. A. Boutwell

Pvt Allen, Andrew A.

PFC Borders, Irasen R.

Pvt Boudreaux, Payton J.

Pvt Brumfield, John P.

PFC Busier, Aidan M.

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Living & Growing the Jesus Way

Sunday Morning Worship at 8:30 & 10:30

81 Lady’s Island Drive

Pastor Steve Keeler • (843) 525-0696 seaislandpresbyterian.org

PLATOON 3062

Senior Drill Instructor

SSgt E. S. Freeman

PFC Alvarengamunoz, Bryan A.

Pvt Amazan, Fredny A.

PFC Aranasalan, Kevin S.

Pvt Begemann, Owen M.

Pvt Bermudez, Jesus

Pvt Bertrand, Hunter J.

Pvt Bivins, Jaivon J.

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Pvt Roth, Brandon

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Pvt Zarzaortega, Ryan

*Denotes Meritorious Promotion

SERVICE DIRECTORY

ATTORNEY

Christopher J. Geier

Attorney at Law, LLC

Criminal Defense & Civil Litigation

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chris@bftsclaw.com • www.geierlaw.com

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Established in 1999

St. Helena Islands’ Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) zoning was created by and for the people.

Continue Advocating for the CPO.

We need the continued county council and citizen support to uphold the CPO zoning district rules on St. Helena Island.

This special zoning has prevented more golf courses, gated communities and incompatible development. In 2023: the CPO was strengthened to further safeguard our part of the historical Gullah/Geechee corridor.

In 2023: the CPO was strengthened to further safeguard our part of the historical Gullah/Geechee corridor.

We need the continued county council and citizen support to uphold the CPO zoning district rules on St. Helena Island.

St. Helena Islands’ Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO) zoning was created by and for the people. This special zoning has prevented more golf courses, gated communities and incompatible development.

Continue Advocating for the CPO. Stay informed, attend meetings, write letters. The Pine Island developers’ efforts are still ongoing. More related meetings upcoming!