January 20 edition

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JANUARY 20–26, 2022 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM

LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN

LOLITA HUCKABY

COVID in the classroom; Can’t we all just get our shots?

PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902

COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY

Beaufort Oyster Festival returns for Year 2 By Mike McCombs It doesn’t matter how you like your oysters— steamed, roasted, fried or on the half shell— Beaufort’s Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park is the place to be this weekend as Beaufort Restaurant Week concludes with the two-day Beaufort Oyster Festival on Friday and Saturday.

The event, conceived and hosted by the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association, is in its second year. It was conceived, not just to feed oysters to the masses, but to educate those masses about the oyster’s importance, past and present, in the Lowcountry. “The oyster is such a critical part

of the ecosystem here in the Lowcountry,” Beaufort Area Hospitality Association Executive Director Ashlee Houck said Tuesday. “Of course it’s a delicacy. But it’s also very important, not only to the waters here, but to everything that lives in and around the water. Our goal is to educate people about the oyster. We want to incorporate that, as well as

WANT TO GO? What: Beaufort Oyster Festival When: 3 to 9 p.m., Friday, Jan. 21 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 22 Where: Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park Cost: Admission is free. Food and beverages will be purchased with tickets, which are being sold for $1 apiece. Trays of oysters are roughly $12 to $15 each, depending on the vendor.

SEE OYSTER PAGE A5

HONORING MLK

O

BEAUFORT ne year ago, Beaufort County public school students bravely went back into the classrooms with masks and a prayer as COVID cases continued to rise following the Christmas holidays. This year, the students returned, some with masks, some without, no school district mandate but yet prayers for the best as the Omicron virus drove infected numbers up, breaking new records for daily infections. In the first week of classes, 200-plus cases were reported with 500 quarantined in Beaufort County schools. Jasper County public schools, like several other districts in South Carolina, opted to go back to remote classes until later this month, largely due to staff shortages related to the virus. Reports have surfaced of classes being conducted without certified teachers due to district-wide shortages. One Beaufort County teacher filed a lawsuit against the district contending paychecks did not reflect the hours spent in the additional work associated with online instruction. This year, there’s been no substantial talk at the local level of emergency mask mandates as was the case last year, when meetings of elected officials where the topic of masks appeared on the agenda were disrupted by angry parents and citizens on both side of the issue. There have been waiting lines filled by individuals wishing to be tested, not so much for vaccinations, as was the case last year. And after all the hype, only 56.4 percent of the county’s residents are vaccinated. Changes at USC in Columbia may be felt in the Lowcountry COLUMBIA – Following up on the old saying “hang onto your hats, they’re back in session” it can certainly apply to more than the state Legislature.

SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A4

W

illie Terrell was the keynote speaker Sunday during the “Celebrating Life and Legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” at Penn Center. Terrell, a motivational speaker and current Vice President of the Gullah Geechee Initiative Foundation, said King’s message is getting lost with today’s youth. “Everybody with the wrong message

is willing to talk.” He noted the violent rhetoric in today’s music and other social media is part of the cause of some of today’s social issues. “Kids don’t know they are being programmed by the music they listen to.” He also blamed the militarization of the some groups and pointed to the Jan. 6 riots in Washington, D.C., as an example.” Photo by Bob Sofaly.

Man wanted for sexual assault in custody after standoff

From staff reports Early Saturday morning, Jan. 15, following a standoff with Sheriff’s Office deputies at a residence on Brotherhood Road in Beaufort, Donald Veitch II — wanted for a sexual assault that occurred on Hilton Head Island — was taken into

custody. When Sheriff’s Office personnel went to the Brotherhood Road residence Friday evening to arrest Veitch, he advised he was armed and refused to come out. Sheriff’s Office SWAT personnel responded and established a perim-

eter, while communication with Veitch continued via telephone. Following several hours of conversation with Veitch, it was clear he was not going to surrender. Sometime after 2 a.m., Saturday, SWAT members entered the residence, disarmed Veitch and safely

NEWS

BUSINESS

INSIDE

Lowcountry Lifetime Achievement Awards presented at Tabby Place.

Hobby Lobby, Old Navy to ‘anchor’ Beaufort Station

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Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–6 Business A7 Legal Notice A7 Health A8–9 Education A10

Arts Outdoors Voices Faith Sports Military

took him into custody. Veitch was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital (BMH), where he was to undergo an evaluation. Upon his release from BMH, Veitch was to be transported to the

A10 A11 A12 A13 A14–15 A16–17

SEE ASSAULT PAGE A4


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