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APRIL 23–29, 2020 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
Parris Island gets shipment of new recruits By Mike McCombs For the first time since admitting there were more than 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus on base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, according to sources, accepted a shipment of recruits on Monday.
The Marine Corps announced changes to MCRD Parris Island’s training process on March 30 on its Facebook page. Included in those changes was a halt to shipments of recruits to Parris Island until the situation had stabilized. Several media outlets had
reported that Monday, April 13 was the goal for reintroducing new shipments of recruits to Parris Island. But that didn’t happen. At the time, Capt. Bryan McDonnell, Director of Communcation Strategy and Operations for Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris
Island explained, “New recruit arrivals to Parris Island remain conditions-based. We are continuing to refine our staging process and setting conditions for the resumption of shipping.”
SEE RECRUITS PAGE A3
BEHIND THE SCENES
Tori Johnson of Hunting Island State Park cuts up limbs from a diseased tree at Hunting Island State Park’s campground. A total of 57 trees will have been removed by the time the popular park is back open. Photos by Bob Sofaly.
Despite shutdown, Hunting Island a busy place
Ranger J.W. Weatherford, Hunting Island State Park manager, said at least 60,000 individual sea oat plants will be planted on the new sand dunes. A few had already been planted by volunteers with the Friends of Hunting Island but the bulk of the project will be “contracted out.”
By Mike McCombs Hunting Island State Park, like all of South Carolina’s state parks, has been closed since the end of the day on Friday, March 27 on the order of Governor Henry McMaster as part of the state’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. It would be a mistake to presume, however, that nothing has been going on on Hunting Island. Hunting Island State Park Manager J.W. Weatherford said having the park without visitors or campers has created the perfect opportunity to get some things done. First of all, Weatherford said rangers are getting in a lot of chainsaw work, pruning up the campground. “Our campground stays so full, it’s
hard for us to cut big oaks and tall pines with the campground full of campers,” Weatherford said. “With it empty, we’ve been able to get to a lot of trees that campers have left their mark on. We go through the campground and look for those marks where campers have put dings on them to let us know the trees are damaged, or too close to campsites. That’s the main thing we’re doing is going through the campground and taking out hazard trees.” Weatherford said that during the Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, the park contracted for about 2,000 trees to be removed in the park and campground. The contractor took them
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COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
City of Beaufort under ‘financial strain’ due to loss of revenue By Mindy Lucas The City of Beaufort will be under a considerable financial strain for the next six to nine months after the recent loss of tax revenue and other sources of funding and will have to tighten its belt for the remainder of the year, officials said recently. Bill At Beau- Prokop fort’s most recent city council meeting held Tuesday, April 14, City Manager Bill Prokop estimated the lost revenue would be between $1.8 million to $2 million for the fiscal year ending June 30. The lost revenue comes from business license taxes, accommodations taxes, hospitality taxes, personal property permits and various other sources, Prokop said at the meeting. Some sources such as accommodations and hospitality taxes that “pass through”
to the city when visitors stay or purchase goods in Beaufort are permanently lost now that many of those businesses are closed, while others such business license taxes or personal property permits will come in at a lower rate or slower as some are deferred. The city is also entering what would normally be its “lean months” in terms of revenue collection, or July through December, said Prokop. “Cash is going to be very tight for us,” he said, at the meeting. As a result, the city has taken steps to curtail spending starting with a hiring freeze which will affect such open positions as police officers. The city will fill two positions it just hired for, Prokop said by phone recently, but will have to freeze five more it was trying to fill. In addition, the city will cut back on operating costs, put capital projects on hold, with
SEE STRAIN PAGE A3
Pandemic wreaking havoc on Beaufort’s tourism-based economy By Mindy Lucas
W
hen Teresa Bruce and Gary Geboy bought their home in Pigeon Point more than 20 years ago, they hadn’t planned on ever leaving it. But when a job opportunity came up in Washington, D.C., they realized they could take the job and keep their home by renting it out to visitors. Beaufort, after all, was increasingly becoming known as a tourism destination and homes were being listed and rented out easily enough on websites like Vacation Rentals By Owner, or VRBO. Now, four years later, the couple has found themselves in the middle of a pandemic and renting their Lowcountry home is no longer so easy.
In fact, for the foreseeable future, it isn’t even an option. As of April 6, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive order suspended rentals to coronavirus hotspots across the country. The order included hotels, short-term rentals, vacation homes, B&Bs, timeshares and similar properties. For Bruce and Geboy, though, the executive order didn’t much matter. Reservations had already stopped coming in long before that. “It was around St. Paddy’s Day when they stopped,” Geboy said. And while both Bruce and Geboy said they are in a “little better situation” than some who have bought
SEE TOURISM PAGE A3
The other side of the pillow Beaufort company known for making pillows shifts gears to make masks
Fran Glass sews surgical-grade cloth masks at Harris Pillow Supply in Beaufort. Submitted photo. $18,960 later... Following up on a story published April 9 about online auctions to benefit specific Lowcountry food and beverage industry workers. A2
HECKUVA GIFT
By Mike McCombs According to John Harris, Harris Pillow Supply has been operating in Beaufort for more than 40 years. 40 years. Typically, on a given day, the company’s 30-plus employees produce between 2,500 and 3,500 pillows. Many of the pillows are produced for cruise lines and hotels and many others are sold online. The company also produces pillow inserts, specialty pillows and cushions for furniture.
THE DIRTY DOZEN
Anonymous donors ‘gift’ Oak Island to Dataw Island Owners Association.
As you go about your disinfecting routine, don’t forget these germy items.
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But roughly three weeks ago, Harris made a change. The company known for making pillows stopped. And started making surgical-grade cloth masks to help account for a shortage during the current COVID 19 coronavirus crisis. Currently, the Beaufort facility is producing somewhere between 1,100 and 1,250 masks a day. When asked what the biggest challenge there was in the shift, Harris laughed. “Apples and oranges,”
he said. “It’s just a different animal, and we had to get some different equipment,” Harris said. “Our people are accustomed to sewing in a straight line, a rectangular pillow case. And these, there are some curves, elastic, just a different animal. We needed to find the right steps and the right people to do those steps.” Harris has a friend in Cincinnati
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