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Black chamber fire under investigation by feds The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Response Team (NRT) has begun a joint investigation into the fire that destroyed the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce early Nov. 12. The three-story building at Bladen and Duke streets was under construction and was nearing completion but wasn’t occupied. No one was injured in the fire. The total loss of the building is estimated at more than $2 million. Federal and state investigators are working with local fire teams to determine the cause of the fire and where it started, said Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Chief Reece Bertholf. The first alarm came in around 1:40 a.m. It took about three hours for firefighters to contain the blaze with help from several surrounding fire departments and fire dis-
tricts, including MCAS Beaufort. By mid-morning on Nov. 12, the fire was out, but firefighters continued to extinguish hot spots during the day. While the building was heavily damaged, Bertholf said containing the fire to the one location kept it from spreading to nearby homes and businesses. “We are fortunate to have highly-trained firefighters on our department and with the departments that provided us much-needed assistance,” Bertholf said. “Any time there is a fire like this in a dense urban area, we worry about controlling the fire and keeping it away from other structures.” Helping put down the fire were six pumper trucks and three ladder aerial truckers and more than 40 firefighters – both on-duty and
Agents from SLED and the ATF were busy Nov. 14 investigating the cause of a fire that gutted the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce building in Beaufort. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
See FIRE, page A9
Vets saluted at parade, special ceremony
Marine Corp veterans salute during the playing of the National Anthem during the Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11 at the Beaufort National Cemetery. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
Thousands of people turned out to honor veterans of the armed forces at the Beaufort Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11 that included a ceremony at the Beaufort National Cemetery. More events are on the way. Veterans will be honored by the Lowcountry Community Concert Band (LCCB), sponsored by the University of South Carolina-Beaufort’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), which will present a concert entitled Americans We: A Salute to America's Veterans at 3 p.m. Saturday, at Lord of Life Lu-
theran Church in Bluffton, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at Hilton Head Island Presbyterian Church. Conducted by Benny Ferguson and David Hershey, the program will feature music to honor all veterans, including a medley of “Anchors Away,” “The Caisson Song,” “Semper Paratus,” the “Marines' Hymn” and "The U.S. Air Force." Several stirring marches will be performed including “Americans We” by Henry Fillmore, “The Washington Post” by John Philip Sousa and “National Emblem” by E. E. Bagley.
Patriotic anthems will include “American Salute” by Morton Gould, “God of Our Fathers” and “Eternal Father Strong to Save” arranged by Claude T. Smith and “America the Beautiful” arranged by Carmen Dragon. In the tradition of the famous Sousa bands, percussionist Dana Scaglione will perform “Galop” by Dmitri Kabalevsky – a fast and lively xylophone solo accompanied by the band. There will be several musical surprises programmed as well. For more information, visit www.ollilccb.com.
Local voter turnout higher than national numbers The Island News goes to press early Tuesday nights, therefore, we did not have election results available. However, here are the results: • Voter turnout in Beaufort County was about 61 percent, which was higher than the national turnout of about 52 percent. The national voter turnout was the lowest in over 20 years. • In Beaufort County, Hillary Clinton won 40.93 percent in the presidential race,
with Donald Trump taking in 54.66 percent of the vote. • The sales tax referendums – one for countywide capital improvements such as road repairs and the other for the school district – both failed. • Incumber Republican Tim Scott won the U.S. Senate vote handily, with 63 percent, compared to Thomas Dixon with about 33 percent. • In U.S. House of Representative District
1, Republican Mark Sanford held onto his seat with about 61 percent of the vote, while Dimitri Cherney took about 24 percent. • In SC House elections, the incumbent held on in District 118, with Republican Bill Herbkersman getting about 89 percent. His challenger, Alfred North, won about 11 percent of the vote. Michael Rivers took about 67 percent of the vote for District 121. • Republican Shannon Erickson handily won SC House District 124 with 66 per-
cent of the vote, beating out challenger Bobby Green with about 34 percent. • In Beaufort County School District board races, Patricia Felton-Montgomery won the District 6 seat; Christina Gwozdz won the District 9 seat. • In the Fripp Island Public Service District, the four members who won were Richard Combes, John Derrick, Rick Keup and See RESULTS, page A9 We are. Accreditation
GOLDEN CHILD 4-year-old Rhyleigh Conley made a very special donation to some very special children. PAGE B1
FIND YOUR INNER ELF The Beaufort Children’s Theatre will perform the fun, family show, "Elf The Musical Jr." on Nov. 12-14. PAGE B2
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