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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg meets with leaders of Latino community
Graves’ family, authorities still looking for answers
By Mindy Lucas Democratic Presidential candidate and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg made a campaign stop in the Lowcountry on Tuesday, Dec. 3, for a Latino Community Roundtable. The invitation-only event was held at Las Palmas Bar & Grill in Okatie and attended
Beaufort teen’s body was found Nov. 1; Remembrance planned for Dec. 20 It’s been more than a month since the body of Beaufort teenager Marcus Graves was found at the Grays Hill Boat Landing, and answers seem just as elusive as they did that day. As a result, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Graves’ mother, Shantay Odom, are asking for help from the public. “Every time I think about how scared my son might have been, it makes me cry,� Odom told WSAV-TV, adding, “I don’t care if you didn’t like my son or whatever. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. And if you know something come forward.� For the immediate future, in an effort to make something positive out of tragedy, Graves’ family is hosting a remembrance for the 16-yearold at 5 p.m. Dec. 20 at the same landing where his body was found. Graves’ family invites the community to come out and keep his name in the light at the event, “Light Up.� According to event fliers, in memory of Marcus, his family will be collecting donations for Christmas to help support Hopeful Horizons, a children’s advocacy, domestic violence and rape crisis center. The family is asking for donations of new, unwrapped toys for both girls and boys, infant and toddler items, baby blankets, snacks, juices, etc. Donations can be dropped of at 12 Thoroughbred Circle, Beaufort, S.C. 29906. There will also be a drop box for donations at the vigil. “Justice for Marcus� T-shirts will be available for purchase. Graves was found at Grays Hill Landing, at 8:50 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department. He had last been seen around 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, and had been reported by his family as a runaway. The Battery Creek junior was pronounced dead by EMS
by various members of the Latino community including business owners, lawyers, publishers, healthcare workers, former members of the military and recipients of DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The visit was one of a number of campaign stops
on a scheduled tour of the South, following criticism that the South Bend, Ind. mayor needs to do more to win over minorities if he expects to win the presidency. The campaign also just spent $2 million on ads in the Palmetto State, according to The (Columbia) State newspaper, ostensibly as part of
the effort to reach these voters. Over the course of about 30 minutes, the group raised such issues as immigration reform, easing the pathway to citizenship and defeating President Trump in 2020. Eric Esquivel publisher of
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Beaufort’s new affordable housing task force meets
Saturday, Dec. 14. Beaufort’s American Legion Post 9, a sponsoring group for Wreaths Across America,� processed 209 orders for wreaths. The public is invited to come out and help lay wreaths. At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a motorcycle escort and Pepsi trucks filled with wreaths will assemble at the Circle
By Mindy Lucas At the first meeting of Beaufort’s newly formed Affordable Housing Task Force, City Manager Bill Prokop urged members to avoid the pitfall of forever studying the issue. “We have, today, an affordable housing problem in Beaufort,� he said. To underscore the urgency of the situation, Prokop told members at the Dec. 4 meeting he recently had to pass on the hiring of four police officers because the potential recruits couldn’t find affordable housing in Beaufort. The task force’s nine member group will now take up the issue of how the city can provide more affordable housing in an area where demand is quickly outstripping supply. The group has four to six months to address the issue and come up with specific recommendations for city council, but discussing the issue could take longer, said task force chair Phil Cromer. “The issue is pretty complex and wide spread, so we’re going to look at a wide range of needs,� he said. According to those who took a community survey earlier in the year, affordable housing is the most pressing issue that the city faces now and in the future, he told the group. Among the many issues the task force hopes to address will be how to balance the rising cost of building and construction in the area
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The Beaufort County Alliance of Therapy Dogs makes its way down Boundary Street during Sunday’s annual Christmas Parade. Seated are packed leader Rebecca Bass and husband Frank Vandergrift. Photos by Bob Sofaly.
By Bob Sofaly Thousands of people lined Boundary and Carteret streets as the annual Christmas Parade wound its way through Beaufort on a clear, cool Sunday. There were floats with scouts on them, church
and civic groups, at least one monster truck and a special visit by Santa Claus himself bringing up the rear on a Port Royal fire truck. INSIDE Christmas coverage of events around Beaufort, A5
Children from the First African Baptist Church in Port Royal
Wreaths Across America comes to Beaufort
Representing the U.S. Marine Corps at last year’s wreath laying ceremony were Col. Tim Miller, commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Sgt. Austin Fletcher and Lance Cpl. Jade Martin. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
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WE NEED MORE TREES
Each December, Wreaths Across America carries it its mission to “Remember, Honor and Teach� by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 1,600 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. Beaufort National Cemetery is among those locations, and National Wreaths Across America Day takes place at noon
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND
Palmettos planted in honor of Arbor Day in downtown Beaufort.
Beaufort Memorial nurses honored with DAISY Award.
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