September 19 edition by The Island News

County Council votes to uphold CPO, says ‘no’ to Pine Island compromise

By Lolita Huckaby The Island News

By an 8-3 vote, Beaufort County Council on Monday night rejected a court mediator’s settlement proposal to resolve the Pine Island development argument, clearing the matter to continue in court.

The Council met behind closed doors for two-and-a-half hours to discuss the mediator’s proposal which came after a meeting last week between both parties – those who want to challenge the area’s zoning and develop the 500-acre parcel on St. Helena Island and those who want to see the county’s Cultural Preservation Ordinance (CPO) upheld.

Pine Island Land Holdings, LLC filed an appeal last August when the County Council, following the recommendation of the county Planning Committee, voted to deny the development company’s plans for three six-hole golf courses on the island. A civil legal action was also filed by the limited liability corporation challenging the legality of the county’s CPO and seeking damages.

As a follow to the court proceedings, Monday’s special meeting of the council was held to give all 11 members of Council an opportunity to receive legal advice on what was said during the mediation at which three council members

were in attendance.

It was two of those council members in attendance for the closed mediation, Logan Cunningham and Paula Brown, who voted against the successful motion Monday night to not accept the mediator’s proposal. A third council member, Tom Reitz, also voted against rejecting the mediation.

“We all ran on responsible growth and this doesn’t leave any option for us. It’s either one or none. This puts us in a tough spot and opens up St. Helena to

opment which is totally opposite from what the CPO is designed to

As part of an annual fundraising effort for the Water Mission International program, the 600-plus walkers raised more than $72,000, which will be used to construct and install water treatment facilities in communities around the globe for residents who struggle to provide clean water for their families. The non-profit Water Mission International, formed in 2002 by a Charleston couple who initially saw the need in Honduras, was adopted by several churches in the Beaufort area and the “walk SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A6 Water walk reminder of

to the Town Council and community during the Port

and

ix hundred-plus blue T-shirted walkers strolled the street of the town’s historic district Saturday, carrying buckets to demonstrate they were “walking for water.”

Council Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. He shared details about himself and emphasized the one word that describes him: “transparent.” Apparently, town officials liked his description as he has been chosen the next Town of Port Royal Chief of Police.

Port Royal hires new police chief

By Delayna Earley The Island News

Port Royal has a new police

chief.

Jeffery Meyers, who recently retired as Deputy Chief of Fort Myers Police Department in Florida, has been hired for the job left vacant when former chief Alan

Beach retired earlier this month.

Meyers worked for the Fort Myers Police Department from 2018 to 2023

Before that, he spent 24 years working with the South Euclid, Ohio, Police Department. He graduated from the FBI National Academy and Northwest-

ern University School of Police Staff and Command and holds a degree in Criminal Law from Bowling Green State University.

Town Manager Van Willis said that what Meyers offered was “exactly what we were looking for.”

SEE CHIEF PAGE A7

LOLITA HUCKABY

devel-

Monday’s Beaufort County Council meeting was packed with spectators, including both those in support of maintaining the Cultural Protection Overlay, as well as those in support of a golf course development on Pine Island. Lolita Huckaby/The Island News

Jeffrey Meyers, recently retired Deputy Chief of the Fort Myers, Fla., Police Department, one of three finalists chosen from a pool of 35 candidates for the Town of Port Royal Chief of Police position, spoke

Royal Meet

Greet at the Town

Amber Hewitt/The Island News

LOWCOUNTRY LIFE & NEWS

VETERAN OF THE WEEK HANK ZELLMAN

Beaufort’s Hank Zellman, 74, joined the United States Marine Corps in Philadelphia in 1967 After Boot Camp at Parris Island, he trained at Montfort Point, N.C. to be a disbursing clerk. He was then assigned to duty in Vietnam at both Da Nang and Red Beach. His follow-on tour was at Parris Island before being transferred to the Marine Corps Finance Canter in Kansas City. Zellman separated in 1974 having made Staff Sergeant during his first enlistment. He then went to work at the Navy Finance Center in Cleveland, then at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service at its formation, rising to be Director of Retired Pay for all

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A ‘disgusting display’

The August 26 Trump campaign stunt at Arlington National Cemetery was an outrageous and disgusting display of showmanship, dishonor and disrespect to veterans buried there, and to their families.

For members of the public unaware, Arlington National Cemetery conducts 27 to 30 burials per day. This event had the potential to disrupt the solemnity of those burials in progress for family members and visitors paying their last respects to those whose lives and sacrifice were being memorialized.

The ensuing physical altercation between an Arlington staffer trying to enforce the rules of decorum, and a Trump campaign official, truly reflects a new low in the sad saga of a movement attempting through apparently any means to to remain relevant.

I'll register my anger at the desecration of my parents' final resting place in Arlington in November, and encourage all

September 19

1975:

Americans to do the same.

– Susan M. Sorensen, Beaufort

Thank you for veterans content

I want to thank you, The Island News newspaper team, and your contributing writer, Larry Dandridge, for supporting our military members, veterans, and their family members by publishing informative and easy-to-understand articles each week on veterans’ benefits. Your article dated Sept. 3, 2024, titled "Things you need to know about Veteran Service Officers," includes excellent information about accredited VSOs, why veterans should use VSOs, how to verify accreditation, and much more. We struggle daily with individuals who fraudulently claim to be certified VA Claims Representatives when in fact they are not. Many fraudulent VA claims Representatives take advantage of Veteran clients and charge them outrageous fees.

This article not only explains the importance of seeking out an accredited VA Claims Representative, it gives the individual instructions on how to find and verify a VA Representative’s credentials. Your newspaper should be commended for strongly supporting our Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, Coast Guardsmen and women, and veterans with accurate and helpful information on federal and state veterans’ benefits and how to apply for those benefits.

– Melinda Woodhurst, Veterans Affairs Director, York County, S.C.

Please remember this simple pledge

"I will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do." This simple pledge is required for every incoming freshman at our nation's service academies. It establishes a minimum standard for honor and integrity.

The Republican presidential candidate has dedicated his en-

Scott Shipsey of the Lady’s Island Business and Professional Association (LIBPA) submitted this photo of Lady’s Island Middle School’s sign featuring the school’s name and logo attached to the Lady’s Island welcome sign located at the Chowan Creek Bridge. Spectrum Graphics created the sign for LIMS, which is sponsoring the landscaping around the sign. Those interested in helping to sponsor the landscaping of the site, please reach out to either LIBPA or Lady’s Island Middle School for details. 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.

the DoD services as he completed a 25-year career with DFAS. He moved to Beaufort County in 2012

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

tire life to lying and cheating. He cheated to avoid military service ("bone spurs"). He cheated on his taxes, using his shell companies to claim the same tax loss in multiple years. He cheated on his three wives, including an affair with an adult film actress while his current wife was in the hospital with his newborn son.

He is legendary for cheating his contractors in New York City. He has been convicted of fraud three times — his charity, his university, and his fraudulent business practices in NYC. He cheated in the 2016 election and he attempted to cheat in 2020 — fake electors, inciting a riot to prevent the certification of votes, and "Just find me 11 800 votes."

Not surprisingly, he even cheats at golf, a sport that is supposed to be a true measure of a person's integrity and honor.

"I will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do." Please remember this simple pledge when you vote this November.

– Peter Birschbach, Port Royal

South Pacific during World War II. – Compiled by Mike McCombs

This 5-year-old girl isgentle and delightfully playful. She loves adults, children, treats, toys, and snuggling. When you kneel down to pet Duchess, she leans into you gently as if to say, “I love you.” She is a calm, quiet lap dog in need of a loving home. She is spayed, up to date on vaccinations, and microchipped.

Cat Of The Week Cosmo is 1 1/2 years old, and he has been at Palmetto Animal League since kittenhood. He

is a sweet, calm, no drama boy who has slowly earned to trust people. He developed a special

bond with a black cat named Seymour, who snuggles him, giving him comfort and helping him gain confidence. Cosmo would love to go home with his best friend Seymour. They are neutered, up to date on vaccinations, and microchipped.

For more information on Ducess, Cosmo, or any of our other pets, call PAL at 843-645-1725 or email Info@ PalmettoAnimalLeague.org.

– Compiled by Lindsay Perry

Hank Zellman

Dog Of The Week

word sweet doesn’t even begin to describe Duchess

Girl dead, 2 minors injured following Burton shooting

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

A 17-year-old girl was killed in a shooting at a Burton apartment complex on Sunday, Sept. 15

She was one of three minors that was shot during an altercation in the parking lot, the other two were transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Ari’Anna Mulligan, 17, of Beaufort was pronounced dead on Monday just after midnight after she was airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina, according to the

NEWS BRIEFS

Gilliard endorses Moore

Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office responded to multiple reports of shots fired at Magnolia Park Apartments around 10 p.m. on Sunday. The complex is located off of Laurel Bay Road in Burton.

Law enforcement found three juveniles in the parking lot who

had been shot, but according to BCSO the incident is still under investigation.

Mulligan went into cardiac arrest during her flight to MUSC. She was first taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital before being transferred.

According to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen, as of Tuesday afternoon, there had been no arrests.

The apartment complex in question is about 10 miles away from another shooting that took place

about 6 hours after this one. A home in Dale was struck by bullets, but no one inside was injured. Anyone with information regarding these two incidents should call Master Sgt. Duncan at 843-2553418 or submit online at BSCO.net.

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.

Beaufort County Treasurer settles harassment lawsuit

By Delayna Earley

The Island News Beaufort County has settled with Beaufort County Treasurer Maria Walls in her lawsuit against the county and former Beaufort County Auditor James Beckert. The lawsuit was filed in August 2020 and alleged that Beckert spent years “harassing, bullying, defaming and threatening Walls.” In her suit, she alleged that Beaufort County failed to provide a safe and non-hostile work environment for her and other employees.

Democrat Michael B. Moore’s campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Republican Nancy Mace announced an endorsement from S.C. State Representative Wendell Gilliard.

“Michael B. Moore is a true champion for working people in this district, and his leadership is exactly what we need,” the Charleston Democrat said in a release.

Gilliard’s endorsement follows a string of recent endorsements from the state chapters of Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the AFL-CIO, as well as State Senator Margie Bright Matthews and Ronnie Sabb, among others.

Recovery walk Sept. 19

Nexus Care of Beaufort County (Beaufort County Alcohol and Drug Department) is hosting "Recovery is Worth the Walk" to raise aware-

ness and support for September as National Recovery Month.

The walk will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19, at Battery Creek High School at 1 Blue Dolphin Drive.

The event is free and open to the public. To walk as an individual or to register a team, click this link https://tinyurl.com/yupzdtms.

For questions and more information, contact Nexus Care of Beaufort County at 843-2556000

Nexus Care of Beaufort County offices closed Sept. 20

Nexus Care of Beaufort County offices in both Bluffton and Beaufort will be closed Friday, Sept. 20 for staff development. Both offices will resume normal hours Monday, Sept. 23, at 8 a.m.

Anyone experiencing a mental health emergency should call 988. Anyone experiencing a medical emergency should call 911. For more in-

formation, please call the Bluffton Office at 843255-6020 or Beaufort at 843-255-6000

County offering free secure shredding event Sept. 21

The Beaufort County Public Works Department of Solid Waste and Recycling has organized a secure document shredding event for County residents Saturday, Sept. 21. The event will be held from 9 a.m. until noon (or until truck containers are full) at 140 Shanklin Road in Beaufort. Individuals will be limited to disposing of no more than two boxes, containers or bags.

Only residential quantities will be accepted. No materials from commercial businesses will be accepted. No electronics will be collected at this event.

For more information, visit www.beaufortcountysc.gov/recycle or contact Solid Waste and Recycling at 843-255-2736

– Staff reports

On Sept. 4, S.C. Circuit Court Judge Robert Bonds rejected motions made by Beckert and Beaufort County to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Walls. Jury Selection began on Monday, Sept. 9 and the trial began on Sept. 10, but by Thursday the two parties had come to an agreement about a settlement, although papers have not been officially exchanged between the parties, according to Beaufort County spokesperson Hannah Nichols.

Curtis J. Elam, M.D., FACOG

Board-Certified

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Throughout his decades-long career, Dr. Elam has gathered expertise in general, routine and specialized OBGYN care for women at all stages of life, and has an extensive background in laparoscopic and robotic surgeries, including pelvic floor reconstruction and urogynecological treatment of stress urinary incontinence. He comes to Beaufort Memorial from Aiken, S.C., where he was staff physician and OBGYN department head at the Clyburn Center for Primary Care, as well as OBGYN staff physician at Aiken Regional Medical Center. Prior to embarking on a career in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Elam was active-duty U.S. Naval Reserve – serving as both a battalion and regimental surgeon with the Marines.

Doctor of Medicine

University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences

Residency

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Board-Certified Nurse Practitioner

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Family Nurse Practitioner

Medical University of South Carolina

An Ohio native, Mesenburg worked as a registered nurse for 14 years prior to becoming a family nurse practitioner. She credits her five years as a post-partum nurse in the Beaufort Memorial Collins Birthing Center for her love of women’s health, driving her decision to go back to school to earn her doctorate, with a research focus on improving women’s health through educational initiatives. Since receiving her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, Mesenburg has worked in the Beaufort area as a family nurse practitioner and was most recently the director of clinical operations at Friends of Caroline Hospice in Ridgeland, S.C.

Bachelor of Science

Nursing Mount Carmel College of Nursing

Ari’Anna Mulligan

Discount tickets on sale for

2024 SC State Fair

Staff reports

Discount admission and ride tickets are officially on sale for the 155th South Carolina State Fair, which will return to Columbia, S.C. Oct. 9 through Oct. 20 2024. Purchasing tickets in advance, now through Tuesday, Oct. 8, can save fairgoers up to 50% at a participating Circle K location or at SCStateFair.org.

“We’re thrilled to once again host the South Carolina State Fair, a beloved tradition for our state,” S.C. State Fair General Manager Nancy Smith said in a news release. “While our commitment to South Carolina is year-round, we’re especially excited to celebrate all that makes our state so special at this year’s fair.”

Discount admission tickets, now through Oct. 8, are $10 per person ($15-$20 during the fair) and discount ride vouchers are $32 per person ($40-$42 during the fair). Exchange a ride voucher for a Pay-One-Price (POP) wristband to enjoy unlimited rides or for 90 ride tickets on a reloadable card. The POP wristband or the tickets on the reloadable card are good for all rides any day of the fair, including weekends.

Bull Point named Community Wildlife Habitat

Staff reports Bull Point in northern Beaufort County recently became the South Carolina Wildlife Federation’s (SCWF) 12th certified Community Wildlife Habitat.

Members of the Bull Point Community’s Sustainability Committee hosted the Federation earlier this month at the Bull Point Clubhouse during which time the official certification as the organization’s 12th Certified Wildlife Habitat was presented. SCWF’s Habitat Education Manager, Savannah Jordan, spoke during the ceremony’s opening remarks and presented Jane Hearn of the Bull Point Sustainability Committee with the community’s framed certificate. Community Wildlife Habitat team leader, Ellen Morton recognized each resident in the community whose yard qualified as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

Bull Point’s first residents, Bob and Leigh

Members of the Bull Point Sustainability Committee – from left, Margaret Bahlmann, Susan James, Phil Morton, Jane Hearn, Savannah Jordan (SCWF), Ellen Morton, Margo Mentus, and Susan Shipman — celebrate the recent designation of their community as a South Carolina Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Community. Submitted photo

Wolfson, were also in attendance and spoke about his vision, as one of the initial developers, to “keep nature as it was.” This founding principle is what led the Bull Point Sustainability Committee to their goal of “keeping it wild.”

As a certified Community Wildlife Habitat, Bull Point joins more than 300 other communities across the nation making a differ-

ence for wildlife. The Na-

tional Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program was created to encourage communities to become more wildlife-friendly using native plants and sustainable land management.

This program partners with cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds to become healthier and sus-

tainable as well as wildlife friendly. Communities earn community-wide certification by certifying individual properties like homes, parks, schools, businesses, and others in their community as Certified Wildlife Habitats and by doing education and outreach in their community.

To earn eligibility as a Community Wildlife Habitat, the Bull Point Sustainability Committee worked systematically to create wildlife habitat by ensuring residential properties provide elements that all wildlife need to thrive and survive. The committee held educational wildlife demonstrations and workshops about South Carolina’s local wildlife and how to protect their habitat.

The community members also installed nesting boxes for Eastern bluebirds and wood ducks and other species including eastern screech owls and various songbirds.

The Sustainability Committee also has plans to enhance nature trails and bird sanctuaries by removing invasive species and installing educational signage.

Bull Point was originally a part of the historic Tomotley Barony land grant of 1698 and used as a hunting and fishing preserve for hundreds of years. In the 1990's, developer Bob Wolfson and his partner, Stan Kirkland designed a community on the tributaries of the Huspah Creek and located at the north end of the Port Royal Sound. Individuals or communities who are interested in learning more about certifying a space as wildlife habitat should visit https:// www.scwf.org/habitats. For more information on Community Wildlife Habitats, contact Savannah Jordan, Habitat Education Manager for the South Carolina Wildlife Federation at savannah@scwf.org.

Patriot Day at Waterfront Park

Community members along with

hold the

during the Patriot Day event to remember and honor all who served and died on 9/11. The event was sponsored by the City of Beaufort and The Exchange Club of Beaufort and held on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 at Henry Chambers Waterfront Park. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

FWDG announces winners of Season of Giving

Staff reports

Beaufort furniture and mattress store FWDG has announced the winners of its 2024 Giving Season, donating a total of $70,000 to 14 Beaufort and Jasper county nonprofit organizations during the month of September.

The top 14 non-profit organizations who received the most votes during a social media and in-store voting campaign were named winners. Each nonprofit is to be awarded $5,000 during a reception in their honor in our showroom on Robert Smalls Parkway.

Those to be presented checks include the Humane Association of the Lowcountry, Raskel’s Rescue, Coastal Cat Foundation, The Birdie Rose Foundation, Lovable Paws Rescue, Programs for Exceptional People, Caring Hearts of S.C., Biker’s Against Bullies USA Beaufort

S.C. Chapter, CAPA of Beaufort, Memory Matters, The Elf Mission, Volunteers in Medicine HHI, Hospice Care of the Lowcountry, and Military Hearts Matter. Erin Lawson with The Elf Mission posted the following statement on the nonprofit’s Facebook page: “I am incredibly humbled and honored that our little mission was chosen. I found out yesterday by email and it just so happened to be my late mother's birthday. It made me realize just exactly how much love there is in our Lowcountry.”

Beaufort’s Alison Chalmer sings the national anthem during the Patriot Day event to remember and honor all who served and died on 9/11. The event, sponsored by the City of Beaufort and The Exchange Club of Beaufort, was held on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 at Henry Chambers Waterfront Park. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Beaufort Water Search and Rescue helps rescue women

By Delayna Earley The Island News

The U.S. Coast Guard along with help from partner agencies rescued a woman and two dogs on Sunday, Sept. 15, after they became stranded on Bay Point Island. Coast Guard Sector Charleston watchstanders received a notification at 5:15 p.m. from a “good Samaritan” stating that he rescued a 60-year-old man wearing a lifejacket from the water, according to a release from the Coast Guard.

The rescued man stated that he

beached his vessel on Bay Point Island, but he tried to swim after it when it drifted away.

He said he was in the water for around seven hours while his wife and two dogs were stranded on the island with no way to communicate with anyone.

A Beaufort Water Search and Rescue crew responded in addition to a Coast Guard Station Tybee boat crew and a Coast Guard Air Station Savannah helicopter crew.

According to the release, the Beaufort rescue crew arrived on

scene, took aboard the woman and dogs and transported them to Port Royal boat ramp.

The Station Tybee boat crew, with assistance from the helicopter crew, located the adrift vessel and towed it to the boat ramp, according to the release. There were no injuries reported.

A Coast Guard Air Station Savannah helicopter crew searches for an adrift vessel during a search and rescue case near Bay Point Island, South Carolina, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. After a good Samaritan rescued the vessel's operator, a Coast Guard Station Tybee boat crew, with assistance from the helicopter crew, located the adrift vessel and towed it to a local boat ramp. Photos courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard

At the Beaufort County Walk for Water in Port Royal on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, Heather Fleming, the National Walk Program Specialist at Water Mission, demonstrated a water jug used by some individuals to access safe drinking water.

Shannon Erickson stripped

Amber Hewitt/The Island News

More than 600 people walked down Paris Avenue in Port Royal during the Beaufort County Walk for Water on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, raising $72,204 of their $100,000 goal for Water Mission. Amber Hewitt/ The Island News

Staff reports

Beaufort Black Chamber gets prestigious grant

The Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce (BCBCC) has announced that it has been awarded an $875,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation's Humanities in Place Program. This funding will support the Gullah Reclamation and Cultural Empowerment (GRACE) Initiative, a comprehensive three-year project aimed at preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Gullah/Geechee people in Beaufort County.

The GRACE Initiative will re-

grant funds to local coalitions focused on recovering and preserving land and properties purchased by the original Freedmen and women of Beaufort and surrounding counties. The initiative includes educational workshops on preservation and conservation, annual gatherings, and preservation planning, all designed to increase public awareness, provide legal and financial assistance, and promote sustainable land use among the Gullah community.

“This generous support from the

Mellon Foundation is a transformative opportunity for our community. It allows us to not only protect and celebrate the Gullah heritage but also empower property owners with the tools they need to secure their land and legacy,” BCBCC

Executive Director Marilyn Harris said in a news release. “We are deeply grateful and look forward to making a lasting impact.”

The GRACE Initiative includes several key components:

A regranting program to provide financial assistance to lo-

cal preservation projects. Educational workshops on estate planning, sustainable land use, and financial literacy.

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

The project will provide direct legal and financial assistance, educational resources, and advocacy to ensure that the Gullah/Geechee

community can preserve their cultural heritage and maintain ownership of their ancestral lands.

Beaufort County Councilor York Glover reflected on the impact this will have on the local community.

“This project is a lifeline for many Gullah families,” Glover said. “It offers not only legal and financial support but also the education necessary to ensure that future generations can continue to thrive on their ancestral lands. The BCBCC's work in this area is both visionary and essential.”

Moose Lodge Inaugural Carnival

ARTS BRIEFS

St. Helena’s Sterling giving free concert at Penn Center

Gary Sterling, an international entertainer originally from St. Helena Island who now lives in Australia, is returning home this weekend to perform a free concert from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 at Frissell Community Hall at Penn Center.

The event, held in partnership with Penn Center and the Beaufort Naha’i Community, is a Pre-Heritage Days Celebration Event. There will be entertainment for all ages and food trucks on site.

For more information, call 842-838-2432

An evening with Roger Jones

The Pat Conroy Literary Center will host

Lowdown from page A1

for water” campaign has grown in eight years and expanded to Bluffton, where the walk will be held on Sept. 21

The focus on providing clean water for those in more isolated areas was once a situation here in the Lowcountry. Residents in the more rural areas used to depend solely on well water for their drinking supplies.

While the municipalities and some communities had their own small water treatment facilities, it wasn’t until 1954 that the state Legislature created the non-profit Beaufort Water Authority to supply the growing demand for reliable water by building a treatment system using water from the Savannah River. The Authority, which expanded to include Jasper County in 1983, now provides 20 million gallons of treated water to customers and is struggling to meet the needs of hundreds who are still coming, future residents of those mushrooming apartment complexes and residential developments springing up around the region.

The BJWSA board of directors last month approved a $110 million capital investment plan which included significant rate increases for residential and com-

Roger Jones

an evening with novelist Roger Jones, author of “The Final Victory,” at 5 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Conroy Center at 601 Bladen Street. The event is free and open to the public.

Books will be available for sale and signing. However, seating is limited; please call 843-379-7025 in advance to reserve a spot.

“What is courage? In this notable debut, Roger Jones explores the strength, resilience, compassion, and willpower of a band of athletes who define courage and triumph over unspeakable odds. These twenty men and women overcome cancer to not merely win a national championship but to survive.

mercial water users as well as sewer treatment users who will help pay for the growth in demand.

There are still parts of the county where residents still rely on wells for their drinking, but those wells are being jeopardized, also by the growth, as big well users, such as those golf courses that pump untreated ground water to keep their links green. Hopefully there’s no one in Beaufort County carrying buckets of water for miles, on a daily basis.

Town Council gets tough on SSU’s, stays tough on trees

PORT ROYAL – Port Royal

Town Council set another precedent last week when the panel of four plus Mayor Kevin Phillips voted unanimously to stop any more personal self-storage unit businesses being built in certain zoning areas of their community.

The action came because of citizens who urged the elected officials to do something, arguing at least 40 businesses were already in existence within the town limits or a 10-mile radius. As more than one speaker told the council during public hearings preceding the vote, they feared becoming the “storage unit capital of the Lowcountry.” (For the record, the city of Beaufort has eight within its municipal limits.)

The restriction on new units includes property zoned along major thoroughfares such as Ri-

I laughed. I cried. I was inspired. ‘The Final Victory’ is an uplifting novel we all need to read,” wrote Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author.

Grammar workshop for writers

Katherine Tandy Brown and Carol Lucas will lead a Grammar For Writers Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Pat Conroy Literary Center at 601 Bladen Street in Beaufort.

The event is limited to 15 participants and costs $45 per person. Advance registration is required at https://bit.ly/3Xtp998

Have you been wondering where that grammar you learned in school has gone? Have daily slang and colloquialisms wrecked your stories and articles? This practical

baut Road, Parris Island Gateway and Savannah Highway.

One property owner who disagreed with the ban, Bennett McNeil who had hoped to build a storage business at the entrance of Wrights Point, contended the units are needed because more and more homes being built are smaller in size and have less storage space. He suggested stricter landscaping regulations could be imposed to make the structures more attractive.

Nationwide, reports claim one in every five Americans rents at least one personal storage unit.

The average price for such rentals is $120 per month for the most popular 10-feet-by-10-feet unit, but here in South Carolina, the average is only $108 per month.

Current statistics claim there is 1 9 billion square feet of personal storage space here in America.

The council meeting, which repeatedly draws some of the friendliest audiences at any government meeting, also included the first of two necessary votes on a revised tree ordinance which still imposes some of the stiffest fees for removal in the state. Town planners and tree lovers including the Coastal Conservation League have worked for the past year on revisions which they hope will help guide development on some pretty major projects coming down the pipeline (think Safe Harbor property or the heavily

workshop will take you back to Conjunction Junction and fill in all those “memory gaps.” You’ll be writing the king’s English in no time, and your editors will be grateful. Brown is a freelance travel writer, workshop leader and has been a writing coach for more than 30 years. She is writing a memoir, “Anne, Queen of the Wingchair,” and a novel, “Karma: An Equine Thriller.” She is also a columnist for Lowcountry Weekly and The Lane Report Lucas was a high school English teacher for 32 years and the coordinator of a Service Learning Program for 10 years. Author of “A Breath Away: One Woman's Journey through Widowhood,” she is a regular contributor to The Island News.

– Staff reports

wooded lot on Ribaut and Richmond Avenue that’s had a “for sale” sign on it for years.)

The revisions lighten the fees for single family homeowners but still sends the message that if you’re a developer, and you’re gonna cut a lot of trees to build something, it’s gonna cost you.

Gruber to take helm in Hardeeville

HARDEEVILLE – Kudos to our neighbors over in Hardeeville who have a new town manager but one with lots of knowledge about the Lowcountry.

Mayor Harry Williams announced recently the hiring of Hilton Head Town Deputy Manager Josh Gruber to lead the town administration. Gruber is known to many in county circles as the former Beaufort County attorney, then Deputy Administrator, then Interim County Administrator in 2017 when then-Administrator Gary Kubic resigned. He takes over from Michael Czymbor who announced his resignation this summer after nine years with the rapidly growing municipality. Williams, who had earlier this year said he wasn’t going to run again in November after nine years, is so pleased with the new team he opted to run for another four-year term and faces no opposition. Indeed, two of the council incumbents who are running again only face one opponent

indicating they must be doing something right on that side of the Jasper County line. For those who might think, “Hmmm, what do we care about Hardeeville’s comings and goings, we have our own local elections to keep us busy?” Consider, for a minute, about any trip you might take to Savannah or to the Savannah airport via S.C. 170/U.S. 278 and I-95. All those new apartments and service offices you see springing up there in what was once called “the Great Swamp,” plus the new expansions of Sun City Hilton Head? That’s Hardeeville. Those road problems we talk about south of the Broad River? We share them with Jasper County and Hardeeville, that’s why both county councils are pushing transportation sales tax referenda in November, to generate dollars to fix some of those problems. So, good luck to Gruber and Williams as they try to navigate what the Mayor has called “the Starship Hardeeville.”

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.

Everett Mendenhall, a 2 year old from Beaufort, holds a fish he caught playing one of the several games during the Moose Lodge Inaugural Carnival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Savannah Rogers, of Beaufort, plays a watergun game with Cater VanCamp, a 6 year old from Beaufort, during the Moose Lodge Inaugural Carnival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Shellfish harvesting season begins October 1

S.C. Department of Natural Resources Oyster lovers, get ready: The 2024-2025 season for recreational harvest of shellfish (clams and oysters) in South Carolina's coastal waters will open one-half hour before official sunrise on Tuesday, Oct. 1 2024. The recreational shellfish season will remain open through May 15 2025 unless conditions warrant extending or shortening the season.

In the event of another hurricane, major rain event, or pollution spill, shellfish beds may be temporarily closed by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES, formerly SCDHEC). It is important for harvesters to check with SCDES to verify whether any closures are in effect. This information is available at 1-800-285-1618 and can be viewed on an interactive map at the SCDES website (https://bit.ly/3RzoT76). SCDES will use these resources and your local newspaper throughout the year to announce temporary closures due to unusual

rain events or spills.

Recreational harvesting is permitted on all Public Shellfish Grounds and State Shellfish Grounds within areas of open/approved water quality as noted on shellfish maps. Twenty Public and seven State Shellfish Grounds are managed exclusively for recreational gathering. An additional 58 State Shellfish Grounds are managed for both recreational and commercial harvest.

Recreational harvesters should obtain updated Public or State Shellfish Ground maps at the beginning of each season, as areas open to harvest change from year to year. Maps of designated harvest areas may be downloaded from the SCDNR website (https://bit.

Lowcountry Legal Lowcountry Boil

Attendees enjoy Lowcountry Boil prepared by ShellRing Ale Works at the Lowcountry Legal Volunteers' 4th annual Lowcountry Boil Fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. The event, hosted at ShellRing Ale Works, supported the organization’s mission to provide free legal services to low-income families. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

ly/4diGffW) or accessed online through the Recreational Map Web Application (https://bit.ly/3MPpDkR).

Printed maps may also be obtained by calling (843) 953-9854 or writing the Shellfish Management Section, Attn: Andy Hollis, SCDNR, PO Box 12559, Charleston, S.C. 29422-2559. When requesting maps, please specify the general area where you wish to harvest. Maps for the 2024-25 season will be available prior to season opening on October 1, 2023

Recreational harvesters must have a Saltwater Recreational Fishing License, available from SCDNR, at many fishing supply stores, and online. The recreational limit is two U.S. bushels of oysters and one-half bushel

Chief from page A1

“He is obviously very professional and competent, his experiences were fairly broad – he basically was an expert in a lot of things we were seeking in a candidate in terms of recruitment and retention as well as having a knowledge of emergency management,” said Willis. Ultimately the decision of who to hire falls to Willis as town manager, but he

Council from page A1

do,” Cunningham said. Cunningham and Brown, from Bluffton, and Reitz, from Hilton Head, have consistently supported plans to change the CPO to accommodate the Pine Island development plans.

Monday’s meeting, which included no public comment period, was packed with spectators, many wearing “Support the CPO” buttons and signs. But supporters of the development plan were present, as well.

The two-hour waiting period was marked by a pizza “party” outside of the council chambers, compliments of some community members who have attended hours of meetings on the Pine Island proposal. It also included a powerful prayer by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation who urged the circle of

of clams in any one day, limited to two calendar days per seven-day period. One U.S. bushel is equal to eight gallons. There is a maximum possession of three personal limits per boat or vehicle. Clams must be at least one inch thick.

Additional rules and restrictions may be found in the SCDNR Rules and Regulations, available where licenses are purchased or online.

Commercial harvest of shellfish requires a commercial saltwater license, mandatory harvester training, and other licenses and permits depending on where the harvest will occur. Call the Marine Permitting Office at 843-953-9301 (Opt. 4) for additional information on commercial harvest-

said that the way that Meyers interacted with the public and council members during the meet and greet on Sept. 11 in Port Royal solidified to him that he had made the right decision.

“He was what we were looking for right now,” Willis said.

The other two candidates for the job, were Port Royal Capt. Andre Massey, who was the only internal candidate who was a finalist, and Kevin Pierce, retired Chief of Police for Borough of South Coatesville Police

ing requirements. All harvesters are encouraged to "cull in place," breaking off and leaving dead shell and smaller oysters on the shoreline -- and only taking clusters or singles of larger oysters -- where they will continue to grow and provide habitat for future generations of oysters. If you enjoy eating oysters, remember to recycle your shells! Check online or call 843-953-9397 to find locations near you where shell can be dropped off for recycling.

Please note that recycled shell in any SCDNR receptacle is South Carolina state property and is illegal to take. All shell collected by the SCDNR is used to restore shellfish grounds in coastal South Carolina.

Department in Coatesville, Pa.

“We would have been well served by any of the three,’ said Willis. “But right now, Jeff is a good fit for us.”

Willis said the goal is to have Meyers start in his new position on Oct. 14

supporters to pray for the elected officials to “do the right thing.”

Legality of the closeddoor meeting was initially questioned by attorneys for the various parties in the suit, including the S.C. Environmental Law Project and the Coastal Conservation League. But Council members agreed to the executive session after the motion was made, stating it was being held “for the receipt of legal advice where the legal advice relates to a pending, threatened or potential

claim or other matters covered by the attorney client privilege, settlement of legal claims, or the position of a public agency in other adversary situations …” Attorneys from both parties were allowed into the closed meeting, individually, to answer questions.

Prior to becoming a columnist for The Island News, Lolita

During the Lowcountry Legal Volunteers' 4th annual Lowcountry Boil Fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, Shawn Scott shared how the organization has positively impacted his life and provided him with valuable support and legal services. The event, held at ShellRing Ale Works, was dedicated to supporting the organization's mission of offering free legal services to low-income families. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Oyster grounds open to harvest change each season depending on water quality and harvest pressure. E. Weeks/SCDNR)

While the Beaufort County Council met in executive session on Monday night, Gullah Geechee Nation Chieftess Queen Quet led many community members in a powerful prayer for the elected officials to “do the right thing.” Lolita Huckaby/ The Island News

1st District candidate invokes family legacy

Former International African American Museum CEO seeks to flip the seat held by Mace

By Abraham Kenmore SCDailyGazette.com

On his 17th birthday, Michael B. Moore got a letter from his maternal grandfather, C.E. Boulware, reminding him that he was a year away from voting.

Boulware, a city council member in Durham, N.C., and civil rights activist, wanted to impress on his grandson the obligation of participating in civic life.

“It’s really exciting, isn’t it?” his grandfather wrote. “Soon you may decide, I hope you do, to be among those who offer themselves and their dedicated service as a public official.”

Now 62, Moore is looking to do exactly that.

He is running as a Democrat against incumbent U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican seeking a third term in the 1st Congressional District.

At his campaign launch, he read portions of his grandfather’s letter, including an invitation “to take up the mantle and carry it to much loftier heights than I’ve ever dreamed of.” Moore has an uphill battle to oust Mace.

The district was listed as potentially in play earlier this year by the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan political analysis publication. But over the summer, it went from “likely Republican” to “solid Republican” with a 7-percentage-point advantage for

the GOP. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that the district lines, which favor Republicans, should stay in place. Mace easily fended off a well-funded Republican primary challenger in June. Unlike in the spring, when Mace repeatedly sparred with her primary opponent Catherine Templeton, she has said relatively little about Moore.

Mace’s campaign did not answer a series of questions from the S.C. Daily Gazette for this article.

But Mace and Moore both have leaned into their personal stories as they make their appeal to voters.

Mace tends to focus on her unlikely rise to Congress.

When she spoke to the Republican National Convention this summer, she talked about her journey from high school dropout and Waffle House waitress to graduating from The Citadel — the first woman to do so. She spoke about her father, an Army general, and her mother, a school teacher. And she talked about being a survivor of rape and a single mother.

Moore frequently highlights that he would be the fourth member of his family in five generations to be elected to office. Among those predecessors

is Robert Smalls, his great-greatgrandfather, who escaped slavery on a stolen Confederate steamship and later represented the Lowcountry in Congress even after Reconstruction ended.

Moore has not held elected office previously, working as a businessman in the private sector, including leading Glory Foods. But the tradition of public service was something he grew up with, he said.

Moore heard his grandmother, Ariana Boulware, tell stories about her grandfather Robert Smalls.

“Some of my earliest memories are of hearing from her and her siblings about him and his service,” he said.

Smalls escaped slavery by stealing a Confederate steamship, the Planter, which he then piloted for the United States. He helped write the new South Carolina state constitution in 1868 and served in the state House and Senate before winning a seat in Congress in 1874, where he served five terms.

This year, the Legislature voted unanimously to memorialize Smalls on Statehouse grounds with a monument.

Samuel Jones Bampfield, Smalls’ son-in-law, also served in the General Assembly — another

elected official in Moore’s lineage.

Moore also got a first-hand look at what public service involved when his grandfather took him on constituent service calls around Durham.

Moore remembers visiting one house where the “front yard had completely caved in.” He doesn’t remember what the issue was — perhaps a water main break — but he does remember the feeling he got.

“(I felt) just extraordinarily proud of him and having a real sense for the good that can be done through service,” Moore said.

Although Moore’s family was from South Carolina on both sides, his parents met at the University of Pennsylvania. He was born in Philadelphia and raised in Massachusetts. But he came to South Carolina frequently to visit extended family.

Moore moved to South Carolina as the first CEO of the International African American Museum in Charleston. He said he always stayed engaged with politics — he thinks he was involved in student government at every school he attended after middle school.

But it was while leading the museum’s creation that Moore began to consider running for office. The museum is built on the wharf where many enslaved Africans, including Moore’s great-great-great grandmother, first stepped foot in America.

“The museum was an amazing project,” he said. “I really started to be able to see the potential to engage politically much more clearly.”

Moore held that role from 2016 to 2019 — ahead of the museum’s opening in June 2023 — and then returned briefly to the private sector before launching his bid for Congress.

“I had long been concerned about just how much more complex the world seemed to be for my kids coming of age than for me,” he said. “I felt like I needed to try and make a difference for them and for their generations.”

With Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket — Moore was among those who called for President Joe Biden to step aside as the nominee — he thinks there is a unique opportunity this cycle for him to represent the same part of the state that his ancestor, Smalls, did.

“It’s a historical and a personal frame that goes around this journey,” Moore said. “It just helps to make this an even more special experience than it otherwise would be.”

Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the S.C. Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith?

Our introductory sessions on the Catholic faith are now starting, and you are invited!

The gatherings are on Wednesday evenings in our social hall from 6:30 to 8:30, with free childcare.

Each evening begins with dinner, followed by a presentation by our pastor, who teaches in an creative and down-to-earth way.

70 Lady’s Island Dr, Beaufort Office: 843-522-9555

There is no commitment or expectation to become Catholic. We love Jesus and we just want to share about him to all who are interested!

Why not come to a session and see what it’s like?

For more details, please visit our webpage below or reach out to us, we are happy to help!

www.stpetersbeaufort.org/intro office@stpetersbeaufort.org

Michael B. Moore

Robert Smalls

Loving God with all that we are

In Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:30, we notice that both passages use a fourfold description to explain how we are to love God: Heart, soul, strength, and mind. In the Old Testament we find a similar command in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” It leaves out the word mind, but the Greek words for ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ translate the full spectrum of meaning in Hebrew for our inner sanctuary of devotion.

We realize as a follower of Christ, the constant battle to be an overcomer for Him begins with allowing ourselves to be distracted from His presence. When our attention is drawn away from our vows to walk with Him and listen to His voice, we lose focus of our responsibility to to keep Him as our highest priority. To obey our Lord we must know what He is saying. We cannot love Him or others the way He demands if our attention is centered on worldly desires. When we love ourselves more than we love God we are out of balance and living a lukewarm existence. When we spend more time dwelling on things that please us than we spend with God, we have drifted far from the shore. Do we really care?

A man wrote me the other day and asked how he can win the war against his addiction to porn. We serve whom we obey. The awareness of God’s presence includes thinking about Him while we are involved with everyday life. Whatever we are doing we can allow Him to be involved and this will help us resist the temptation to sin and make right decisions.

To love God with our heart includes loving Him with our emotions. Will we

have emotions in heaven?

We can base our speculations on the fact that God has emotions. Since we are made in God’s image, our feelings are like His except His expressions are always pure and righteous. We notice He displays responses such as anger, regret, sadness, grieving, sorrow, delight, happiness, gladness, kindness and compassion, and of course love.

Emotions are how we perceive, discern, and decide. Trusting God in our personal relationship with Him is how we know Him and love Him with all of our hearts -- all the time. Loving God with your soul includes knowing you were wondrously made by the Creator of all things. When you discipline yourself to be still and quiet, something deep inside of you just knows there is a God. When we look at all of the intricacies of the universe, our planet, and the human body, we realize only a divine designer can do that. Humans have a void within their souls that can only be filled by the one who made them. Once we accept this reality, we must go beyond knowledge and allow this truth to fill our soul with His joy and peace. Spiritual intimacy with God has no limitations except for our fear of becoming one with Him.

Loving God with all of our strength is combining works with our faith. It's not being afraid to step out of our comfort zone and caring so much that we are driven to help others. True faith is one of the most talked about subjects, but is rarely seen because it

“Let us humble ourselves and bow down in reverential fear of His holiness. He wants our lives to be all of Him and none of us, but we want to have some of Him and more of us.”

BILLY HOLLAND, on the challenge of fully loving

with heart, soul, strength, and mind.

requires love, strength, and courage.

How passionate are we about evangelism? I pray that I never become so cold and numb that I no longer care about the lost and those who are suffering. If we read the Bible and the words are not put into practice it’s just information. All of my strength? Really?

The lack of loving God with all of our heart, soul, and strength exposes even the most dedicated saint. Sermons and our worship songs say all the right things, but how much truth will we allow to change us? Loving God with our mind is our last word, and it includes crucifying our flesh daily so that we are mentally focused more on His plans instead of our own. If we are faithful, we will be fruitful.

Let us humble ourselves and bow down in reverential fear of His holiness. He wants our lives to be all of Him and none of us, but we want to have some of Him and more of us.

Billy Holland is a minister, chaplain, and author. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com.

Prayer gatherings organized

Staff reports

Several community prayer gatherings have been organized in the Beaufort area for the coming weeks. Participants will be praying for the community, county, state and nation. All churches, denominations, races, ages and genders are invited.

The first event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort.

There will be a sidewalk prayer from 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 12 on Sea Island Parkway, between Degullah Way and Eddings Point Road on St. Helena Island. And there will be another event that afternoon, from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12 at Whitehall Park on Lady’s Island.

For more information, contact Janet Rogers at 843-599-1010; Carrie Major at 843-812-4399; or Maxine Smalls at 843941-0609

BILLY HOLLAND

What should you do if you get a spider bite?

Spiders are found everywhere in the Lowcountry. But each kind of spider is unique. Some tend to live outdoors. Some are common inside the house. Either way, you may accidently bother a spider— and get bit.

The majority of spiders in the U.S. aren’t dangerous or poisonous. Most spiders won’t bite you if you don’t bother them. If you do get bit, your symptoms will vary, depending on what type of spider bit you. Generally, your skin may be raised, red, and itchy at the location of the bite. These symptoms may last several days, but typically go away on their own.

Most spider bites can be treated at home by following these steps: Wash the bite area with warm, soapy water. Apply an antibiotic cream (one brand name: Neosporin) to help prevent infection.

Put ice or a cool washcloth on the bite to help reduce swelling. Take an antihistamine (one brand name: Benadryl) to help with swelling and itching. Take ibuprofen (one brand name: Advil) or acetaminophen (one brand name: Tylenol) for pain.

If you were bit on your arm or leg, raise that area above your heart to help reduce swelling. However, some spider bites may be more severe. Contact your doctor right away if you have

any of the following after being bit:

• Pain in other parts of your body, including a headache or cramping in your belly

• Redness that spreads Fluid that leaks from the bite area

• The bite area looks like a bullseye or turns into an open sore Fever, chills, body aches

• Nausea and vomiting

• Pain that keeps getting worse 24 hours after you were bit

Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to kill an infection from the bite. They may give you a tetanus shot if you haven’t had one in the past 5 years. Seek emergency treatment right away if you have any of the following symptoms. They may mean you’re having a severe allergic reaction:

• Fast heart rate

Trouble breathing or swallowing

• Tightness in your chest

Swelling in your mouth or face

Young children and older adults are at higher risk of complications from spider bites. It is more likely they will need to be seen by their family doctor after a possible bite.

If you see the spider that bit you, take it with you to your doc-

tor. It’s okay if it’s dead. Taking it will let your doctor identify the spider and know how to best treat your bite.

The two poisonous spiders that live in the Lowcountry are the black widow and the brown recluse.

Black widow spiders are identifiable by their appearance. They have shiny black bodies with a red hourglass shape on their abdomen. Black widows live in dark, quiet places, such as closets, garages, and wood piles.

You may not even notice it if a black widow spider bites you. However, within an hour of the bite, the location of the bite will begin to hurt. You may develop stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. The pain may spread to your chest and back. You may sweat more than usual. As time passes, the bite mark will keep getting red and become swollen.

Brown recluse spiders like quiet, dark, indoor places like behind and under furniture, and in closets and basements. They can also be found outside under rocks and other undisturbed or dark places like inside your mailbox. These spiders are brown and have a violin shape on their back.

You may not feel it if you’re bit by a brown recluse spider. But after a few hours, you’ll begin to feel pain. You may notice a bullseye on your skin where the spider bit you. It may look like a white blister with a red ring around it. As time goes on, the skin in the bullseye may turn purple or blue. You may notice the skin around the bite begins to die. This can lead to an open sore, also called an ulcer. This sore can continue to get bigger for 10 days after the bite. You may have chills, a fever, and body aches.

Prevention is the key to avoiding spider bites. Remember, most spiders only bite when they feel threatened. Be aware of where spiders may live and be careful when in those areas.

Spray your clothes and shoes with insect repellent, such as

DEET, when you’re going to be outside.

Keep firewood and rock piles away from your house.

Inspect the outside of your house. Look for any cracks that may allow a spider to get in, then fill any cracks with caulk. Also make sure window screens fit well.

Always wear long sleeves, pants, socks, shoes, and gloves when working outside near wood piles or rocks. Also wear these when inside and moving items in a dark location that haven’t been moved for a long time. You may even want to tuck your pants into your socks so spiders can’t climb up the inside of your pant leg.

Shake out your shoes and clothes before putting them on in case a spider is hiding in them.

Don’t keep anything under your bed.

Don’t place your bed right up against the wall. Instead, keep a few inches between the headboard or mattress and the wall.

If you see a spider crawling on your skin, gently flick if off with your finger. If you’re in the house, watch where it lands, then remove it.

Sources: National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus: Spider Bites

How age impacts men's health concerns

A new Cleveland Clinic survey found 95% of men in the United States say that living a healthy lifestyle is a top priority. However, those numbers change when it comes to taking action.

It appears Gen X and Boomers are more likely than Gen Z and Millennials to go in for annual exams or recommended screenings. The same goes for having a primary care doctor.

“Men, regardless of your age, there are certain health issues that you may be at risk for based on things like family history,” said Petar Bajic, MD, urologist for Cleveland Clinic. “Even for

younger men who may not be as much at risk for some of the things that happen later in life, it’s important for

them to get routine health maintenance visits for things like blood pressure, cholesterol, etcetera.”

And while Gen Z and Millennials aren’t regularly getting things like physicals, six out of ten say they do take

care of their mental health.

The survey also shows most men, no matter the age, are scared of getting cancer, but rates of screenings and cancer awareness remain low.

“A lot of people assume there would be some symptom, but there’s not always a symptom, especially when it’s early on,” said Dr. Bajic. “Prostate cancer, for example, really doesn’t have any symptoms until it becomes very advanced.”

In addition, two-thirds of men admit if they experience a sexual performance issue, it makes them feel like less of a man.

Dr. Bajic said that shouldn’t be the case and is another reason why it’s important to address any health concerns. Some men out there might not know that cardiovascular disease is actually the most common cause for erectile dysfunction,” he said. “So, there’s a big tie between overall health issues and sexual health. They shouldn’t be ashamed if there’s a problem. They should think of this as a symptom that could be something more serious that’s going on.”

Source: ccnewsservice@ccf.org

or services provided. Tax receipts will be provided by the MUSC Foundation.

Single Tickets – Single players looking to join a team, please contact Megan Baker at 843-792-4143 or bakerme@musc.edu

Paying by Check – To register and pay by check, please contact Megan Baker at 843-792-4143 or bakerme@musc.edu and follow mailing instructions.

Paying by Credit Card Registration Form – Please complete your team(s) information to the best of your ability, including handicaps and t-shirt sizes if known. You may contact Megan Baker at a later date to update as needed.

If you’re looking for diet, exercise, or wellness guidance, you’ll find it on social media. But it’s not always easy to separate good advice from dangerously bad diet plans.

The 30-30-30 rule plan centers around three simple steps: Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking.

Eat 30 grams of protein at breakfast. Follow breakfast with 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise.

The 30-30-30 rule isn’t restrictive and doesn’t provide overall nutritional guidance. But it can inspire you to create healthy habits. When it comes to evaluating other diets and wellness plans trending on social media, Zhaoping Li, MD, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, suggests re-

How often should you pee during the day?

Learn what’s normal and what’s not from Cleveland

Q: Is there a certain number of times a healthy person should pee each day? Should it be every hour? Every two hours? Every three hours?

A: There isn’t just one answer regarding how often you should go #1

Some people might urinate 10 times a day—and that’s perfectly OK if it’s not bothersome. Others may hear nature’s call only four times over a 24-hour timeframe. That’s also fine and explainable. Ditto for every digit in between, too.

It’s not unusual to have low- or high-flow urine days. The average number of pee breaks from morning to night usually falls around seven, but your restroom trip count can vary widely based on: How much you drink in a given day. Consider this a case of volume in, volume out. What you drink during the day. Alcohol and caf-

Clinic Urologist Petar Bajic, MD

feinated drinks can have a diuretic effect, meaning they make you pee more. (Speaking of drinking alcohol, find out whether the notion of “breaking the seal” is fact or fiction.)

Also, what’s normal for one person regarding urination frequency may be quite different for someone else. For starters, the capacity of your bladder— which stores urine—could

range from 350 ml to 600 ml (1 5 cups to 2 5 cups).

Other factors that influence your expected visitation schedule include: Age. As you get older, you’re more prone to get-

ting up to pee in the middle of the night. This may be caused by prostate enlargement or decreased production of a hormone that helps concentrate urine so you can hold it until you wake up in the morning.

Pregnancy. Fluid levels in your body increase due to pregnancy, and that extra fluid eventually filters out. A baby in your belly can press on your bladder, too, making you go more.

Medications. Certain medications, particularly for high blood pressure, are diuretics.

Are changes in urination frequency a reason for concern?

While there is no definitive “normal” that fits all people when it comes to peeing, there probably is one for you. Drastic changes to your restroom routine — or a funky pee color or smell — may be a signal from your

body that something is off.

A sudden increase in urinating could be caused by:

Urinary tract infections.

Overactive bladder.

Abnormal calcium levels in your body (hypercalcemia or hypocalcemia).

Diabetes.

Kidney stones.

Sickle cell anemia.

A pronounced decrease in peeing, meanwhile, could be a sign of prostate problems or a ureteral obstruction.

Talk to your healthcare provider if you have questions or concerns about how often you’re urinating, particularly if an unusual and unexplained pattern develops and lasts more than a few days.

And if you end up at your doctor’s office, expect at least one of your day’s restroom stops to take place there as you’ll probably be asked to give a urine sample for analysis.

SPORTS&RECREATION

SEPTEMBER 19–25, 2024

Dolphins dominate, even record at 2-2

LowcoSports.com

It might not seem like a major thing to be sitting at the .500 mark a month into the season, but it’s a big deal for Battery Creek football.

The Dolphins dominated on both sides of the ball to roll to a 41-0 win at Bethune-Bowman on Friday, improving to 2-2 and marking the first time since 2013 they’ve won at least two of their first four games.

Success was scarce in coach Ed Susi’s first season at the helm, as the Dolphins saw several competitive games slip away early and

watching mounting injuries derail the remainder of a winless campaign, but Battery Creek broke the skid earlier this season against John Paul II and bounced back from a shutout loss at Keenan to maul the Mohawks.

Chase Olsen and Derrick Smalls Jr. connected for two touchdown passes, and Ty’juan Simmons scored a rushing touchdown and

was on the receiving end of Olsen’s other TD pass, as the Dolphins got back on track with a shutout on the road. Smalls also took a punt return to the house thanks to an incredible block from Kelvin Willis, while Eddie Heyward rushed for 108 yards on 13 carries, and Nigil Fripp added 75 yards and a touchdown on six carries for Battery Creek.

But it was the defensive effort that has the Dolphins feeling confident about competing in Region 6-3A.

“We know that our defense is what’s going to win us these games,” Smalls said on Monday’s LowcoSports Lowdown. “We’ve got to get to the ball, we’ve got to fly around and be who we are because we’re not going to be the biggest or the strongest, so we’ve got to fly around and rally to the ball.”

The Dolphins haven’t had a winning season since going 7-6

in 2012, and have lost 15 straight against rival Beaufort dating to 2003, but with the Eagles coming to Burton with an 0-4 record and a laundry list of injuries, the magnitude of a win Friday isn’t lost on Smalls and Battery Creek.

“Turn the tide, change the mindset, change the culture that’s built around Battery Creek athletics,” Smalls said. “We know this is the team that we need to beat because we’re trying to make history. We’re flipping things around, turning the tide.”

Banged-up Eagles limp to 0-4

carries to power HHCA to a 42-13 win. Justin Jarrett/LowcoSports

By Marcus Walsh For LowcoSports.com

If a short-handed Beaufort High team was going to overcome a rash of injuries to key players and break through for its first win of the season Friday against Goose Creek, the Eagles needed to get out of the gate fast.

But it was the Gators who showed their speed from the jump, and Beaufort couldn’t keep up without their stars, falling to 0-4 with a 27-12 home loss.

The Eagles pulled within a score midway through the third period but couldn’t contain dual-threat quarterback Kymani Clary down the stretch and complete the comeback.

Clary opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown and added a pair of passing TDs, and the Gators’ defense pitched a second-half shutout against a short-handed Beaufort offense that was without star quarterback Samari Bonds and electric receiver Amare Patterson due to injury. Both are hopeful to return Friday against Battery Creek. Beaufort couldn’t contain the Gators’ speed early, and it only took four plays for Goose Creek to get to paydirt, as Clary scrambled across the goal line for a 7-0 lead. An errant punt snap gave Goose Creek a short field and set up another score for a 13-0 advantage. Isaac Smalls forced a fumble that Aaron Da-

SEE EAGLES PAGE B3

John Paul II’s Carson Hurst (17) and Ben Solomons (10) combine to take down HHCA’s Kres Langhals after a short gain in the first quarter of Friday’s game at City Hall in Hardeeville. Hurst had a team-high 10 tackles, and Solomons added six for the Golden Warriors in a 42-13 defeat. Justin Jarrett/LowcoSports

Chase Olsen

Derrick Smalls Jr.

Beaufort’s Kiyell Moultrie and Goose Creek’s Janathian Warren grapple with each other during their game at Beaufort High School on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

By Delayna Earley

The Island News

Law enforcement presence raised amid threats to local schools

A slew of violent threats has plagued Beaufort County schools in the past week and has led to an increased police presence at most of the schools and one lockdown and closure.

Thankfully, all threats have been unfounded, but local law enforcement say it’s better to take precaution until they know there is no threat to students, faculty and staff.

On Monday, Sept. 16, rumors of potential threats toward Battery Creek High School began to circulate among parents and students on social media.

The threat claimed that a group of young people were overheard at a gas station talking about a “shoot out” at the high school.

According to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen, the Sheriff’s

Office investigated the threat and has not found any information to substantiate it, but out of abundance of caution there was an increased law enforcement presence at the school on Tuesday, Sept. 17

Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder shared the communication that was sent out to Battery Creek High School families, and in it, the BCSD asks that the community be “mindful of sharing unverified content on social media” and instead, report any concerning behavior or posts that they see to school officials or law enforcement.

A similar message regarding sharing unverified content on social media was sent to all families in the Beaufort County School District community after several schools increased law enforcement presence on campus following rumors of

potential threats on social media.

Beaufort Middle School, Hilton Head Island Middle School and H.E. McCracken Middle School all had increased law enforcement on campus due to rumors of threats.

Additionally, the Wardle Family YMCA in Port Royal made the decision to close on Friday morning after a threat was made to their preschool.

The facility went on lockdown, and members who were in the building were allowed to leave, but no one was allowed to enter the building “until it [was] safe to do so,” according to a post made on their Facebook page.

Parents of children who are enrolled in their preschool program were informed immediately and their afterschool program was also canceled for the day.

The YMCA said that they were contacted by the FBI about an unsubstantiated threat to their facility, which representatives from the YMCA said that they took very seriously.

“Out of caution, the Y took the threat seriously,” said the YMCA, “immediately going into an emergency lockdown to ensure the safety of their members and program participants.”

Bridges Preparatory School also had an increased police presence on Wednesday, Sept. 11, after a student had an emotional episode in the hallway saying, “What do I have to say, that I am going to shoot up a school to get your attention?” in response to a teacher confiscating his earbuds.

The student and the situation were both assessed using the school’s Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) and the school’s team concluded

that the outburst was a “cry for help” and not a threat against the school, according to a communication

Gary S. McCulloch, chief executive officer of the charter school, to students’ parents.

Master Sgt. Allen and Bruder agreed that it is not common for this number of threats, but that it is not uncommon for things like this to happen following a mass shooting event in a school much like the one that took place at Apalachee High School in Georgia that took place on Sept. 4

In a release, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) stated that they are aware of more than 60 threats targeting schools throughout 23 counties in South Carolina since the Sept. 4 shooting.

“These threats are extremely serious and will be treated as such,” the release states.

At this time, 21 juveniles

have been charged in connection to recent school threats in South Carolina.

“School threats are not a joke,” said SLED Chief Mark Keel in the release. “Law enforcement takes every threat seriously, and everyone needs to understand there are serious consequences.”

SLED’s Behavioral Science Unit is assisting with six different school threat investigations, each in a different county. It is unclear at this time if Beaufort is one of those counties, but the release states that upon discovery of the threats, law enforcement officials work diligently to secure the schools and find those who are responsible.

SC teachers say new ‘age-appropriate’ rule is causing confusion

Regulation

that took effect automatically over the summer bans ‘sexual conduct’ in education materials

By Abraham Kenmore SCDailyGazette.com

COLUMBIA — Uncertainty over new rules requiring age-appropriate materials in South Carolina’s public schools is raising some peculiar questions. For example: Does a book for primary grades referencing elephant poop count as banned “sexual conduct”?

That was a question Patrick Kelly with the Palmetto State Teachers Association got during a meeting with school employees in the last week of August.

Another question he recently received came in an email from a high school social studies teacher in Richland Two, where Kelly also works in suburban Columbia: Could he use a picture of Michelangelo’s famous nude statue of David when discussing Renaissance art?

Sexual conduct as defined in the state obscenity code includes a broad range of graphic examples. Also on the list are “excretory functions, or lewd exhibition … of the genitals.”

“I would argue that Michelangelo’s David is not a ‘lewd exhibition,’ but it is certainly an exhibition of genitalia,” Kelly said of the statue in Florence, Italy. “That’s a gray area for a teacher because now a teacher is having to define what does ‘lewd’ mean.”

An attorney with the state Department of Education called the regulation clear and straightforward.

But educators argue it’s the opposite. They say the vague language is making it harder for teachers and librarians to do their job.

During a state Board of Education meeting last month, Kelly asked during the public comment period for additional guidance.

The regulation bars books and other instructional materials that describe “sexual conduct” and creates a statewide system for parents to challenge books they think violate the rules, with an appeals process that gives the State Board of Education final say. Parents must have a child in the district to complain and must first talk with school- or district-level staff for a

potential resolution before escalating their concerns.

“Sexual conduct” is not defined in the regulation. Rather, it points to the portion of the state’s obscenity law that lists sexual activities. Books and other classroom materials that describe or depict what’s on that list are barred.

As the proposal moved through state House committees in the spring, Miles Coleman, an attorney contracted by the Department of Education, said any changes — for example, adding the word “explicit” — would make the regulation less clear.

“No, it is not clear at all, and the evidence for my answer lies in all of the confusion and chaos that’s happening right now,” Jamie Gregory, president of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, told the S.C. Daily Gazette last week.

Jason Raven, spokesman for the Department of Education, said the agency is answering questions as they come up from districts. But it’s not planning to release any more general guidance.

David O’Shields, chair of the state Board of Education, which adopted the regulation, told the S.C. Daily Gazette on Monday he’s personally open to providing clarification. He said it should be clear that the ban is on explicit or graphic sexual content, seemingly indicating he’s willing to add the words Kelly’s repeatedly suggested (so far) unsuccessfully.

“We just wanted it to be in its purest intention graphic sexuality,” said O’Shields, superintendent of Laurens County 56 (Clinton), stressing that he was speaking for himself, not the board as a whole.

The regulation is not the Legislature’s creation. By state law, textbook regulations are the board’s responsibility. Indeed, the rules took effect over the summer without the Legislature’s blessing.

After the Board of Education approved it in February, the regulation moved to the General Assembly for review. It advanced through a House committee, but that’s as far as it got. The rules never received a vote on the House floor, and sena-

tors never even had a hearing before the session ended.

Yet it took effect automatically, to the surprise of even some GOP leaders.

The result has been confusion.

Greenville, the largest school district in the state, grabbed headlines when it paused book fairs for the year, citing the regulation. That decision brought numerous complaints at last week’s Board of Education meeting.

Kelly said Greenville also required all teachers to list all the instructional materials they planned to use for the entire school year just a week after classes started.

He shared a quote from a Greenville teacher’s email with the Gazette, saying that teachers were told “every book, resource, DVD, magazine, PowerPoint …. that students ‘could’ possibly access in our classroom” had to be cataloged by Aug. 16.

In response, the state’s largest school district contends that is not the policy, and that teachers misunderstood.

Greenville requires teachers to keep track of all the materials they use but does not require a proactive list for the entire year, Tim Waller, district director of media relations, told the Gazette.

Keeping a list of materials is the district’s only new rule due to the regulation, he said, and no parents have asked to view those lists yet.

Kelly said he’s relieved Greenville is not requiring a full listing at the beginning of the year. But he also says that policy change was not communicated well to teachers.

As for the book fairs, Waller said the district is just pausing them for a review.

He said the initial concern came from library employees who worried they didn’t have time to review every book offered for sale ahead of time and did not want to accidentally violate the regulation.

“The concerns that led to us pausing our books fairs were to protect our employees,” Waller said.

In an Aug. 22 statement on the book fair pause, the Department of

Education commended the district “on its vigilance.”

Last week, its spokesman stressed to the Gazette that there’s nothing in the regulation to “prohibit or discourage” book fairs and no other district has done so. The agency is working with Greenville officials on future fairs, Raven said.

Waller said the district is trying to find a book vendor that can provide assurances the regulation is met, so librarians don’t have to try to read or scan every book being sold before the shelves open.

The Department of Education sent out two memos over the summer on the regulation — one listing the new obligations of districts, the other with a reminder of the obligations and a link to new forms. One is three pages long, the other is two pages.

“The Department has continued to field questions from school districts, board members and has provided guidance accordingly,” Raven wrote. “Our staff is dedicated to offering ongoing support and guidance as requested.”

No appeals on newly banned materials have reached the state, according to Raven.

But those memos don’t provide any clarity, educators and others say.

“Despite the repeated assurances this is logistically feasible, it seems like it has been chaotic across the state and every district seems to be interpreting and implementing it different,” said Josh Malkin, an attorney with the South Carolina American Civil Liberties Union, which opposed the regulation.

Gregory, the president of the school librarians’ association, said she understands why districts are passing restrictive policies to protect employees from being brought before the state Board of Education. Some districts are going overboard, though, she said — beyond anything the regulation requires.

“Let’s just deal with the regulation and not make it something that it isn’t, especially in light of the fact that there has been no

guidance whatsoever from the state,” she said.

Gregory, who is a librarian at a private school in Greenville, said she bought maybe 1,000 books last year. Reading all of them to confirm there is nothing that breaks the regulation would be impossible.

“If there’s even one word in the book that violates the regulation, it has to be taken out,” she said.

Although she did not want to name specific districts in order to keep member’s information private, Gregory said that some librarians are suspending buying any new books.

“When people tell you, ‘I’m afraid to order books for my school,’ that is a huge problem,” she said.

Gregory would like to see clear definitions of all the terms in the regulation and clearly defined consequences for failing to comply. She also wants an exception that allows for material that might include sexual material but have literary merit — especially for high school students, she said.

Kelly said he wants the regulation to specify it’s banning only explicit or graphic sexual content. It’s a request he made last spring as he told legislators the rule as written could apply to the Bible or plays written by William Shakespeare.

Both Gregory and Kelly said that if parents are concerned about what their children are using, they should start by talking to librarians and teachers. That, at least, is what the regulation says.

“Contact your school librarian if you have a question. We always build relationships with the parents and the teachers and the community members,” Gregory said. “We welcome that. It’s part of our job.”

S.C. Daily Gazette reporter Skylar Laird contributed to this report.

Abraham Kenmore is a

Beaufort High, Bluffton students named

National Merit semifinalists

Staff reports

Two Beaufort County School District (BCSD) students have been named semifinalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program and will advance to the next level of competition.

Beaufort High School’s Austin McGuire and Bluffton High School’s Ava Elizabeth Rios were selected as national semifinalists.

These students entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program competition by taking

the 2023 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. They are part of the nationwide pool of semifinalists that includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state, placing them in the top one percent of all U.S. high school seniors. As semifinalists, they will com-

pete with more than 16 000 national finalists for 6,870 college scholarships worth nearly $26 million.

“These students have achieved something truly remarkable,” BCSD Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a news release. “Their hard work, dedication, and academ-

ic excellence have placed them among the top scholars in the nation. We are incredibly proud of, and we look forward to seeing all they accomplish as they advance in this prestigious competition.” In order to become a finalist, each semifinalist and an official for their high school must submit a detailed application that provides information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment,

and honors and awards. In addition, each semifinalist must be endorsed and recommended by an official from their high school, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier score on the qualifying test.

The 2025 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced between April and July. Scholarship recipients will join nearly 382,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title since the program’s inception.

SC high court rejects GOP vouchers, says taxpayer dollars can’t pay private tuition

Parents already enrolled can still use their scholarship for tutoring, just not private tuition

By Seanna Adcox SCDailyGazette.com

COLUMBIA — The state Supreme Court has thrown out South Carolina’s fledgling K-12 voucher program as unconstitutional, leaving GOP leaders scrambling on what to tell parents who have already received money.

In a 3-2 split decision, the state’s high court ruled taxpayer dollars can’t be used to pay for private school tuition. For the nearly 3,000 students already enrolled, parents can no longer use their $6 000 for private tuition, though they can still spend it on tutoring, a spokesman for the state Education Department said Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 11, following a review of the ruling.

The program already in place for this school year violates the state constitution’s prohibition against public dollars directly benefiting private schools, writes Justice Garry Hill for the majority.

The decision represents a major — and shocking — upset for South Carolina’s ruling Republicans, who were confident the law two decades in the making would be upheld.

Hill’s opinion concludes by disputing the dissent authored by Chief Justice John Kittredge, whose recent promotion was seen as making the court that already traditionally agreed with the Legislature more conservative.

“The dissent claims our decision ‘pulls the rug out’ from under the feet of the General Assembly and ‘ultimately, the feet of the students the law was designed to serve,’” Hill writes. “Our duty is to serve the Constitu-

Eagles from page B1

ise recovered to give Beaufort life, and Caleb Stephan and Jai’vyon Fields connected for 25 yards before Elias

Johnson’s touchdown run pulled Beaufort within 13-6 It looked like the Eagles would get to halftime within one score, but Clary guided Goose Creek on another quick scoring drive ending with a touchdown pass to

tion, the supreme policy of our land. As such, our obligation is not to allow a rug to cover up well marked constitutional ground, no matter how inconvenient that ground may prove to be.

“The entire concept behind the Constitution and the rule of law is that the end cannot justify the means,” he continued.

Joining Hill are former Chief Justice Don Beatty, who retired this summer, and acting Justice James Lockemy, a retired judge who filled in on the case heard in March.

Their ruling agrees with attorneys for the South Carolina Education Association and NAACP.

“We are grateful that our court has confirmed that public funds are confined for public good,” said SCEA President Sherry East. “We have been anxiously awaiting this decision, and we are happy with the outcome.”

However, she added, “My next fear is that this comes up again in January.”

Patrick Kelly, lobbyist for the Palmetto State Teachers Association (which did not join the lawsuit), called it “a good day for the rule of law in South Carolina.”

However, he said, “We need to do right by those families” already allocated money.

“I don’t have an answer for what right looks like, but what wrong looks like is a child who has started the year at one school not being able to finish the year there,” Kelly said.

The law Republicans celebrated with much fanfare last year culminated an ef-

Alex Ravenel and the Gators took a 20-6 lead to the break. Smalls found the end zone in the third quarter to make it an eight-point game, but Clary answered with another air strike to make it 27-12, and that ended up being the final.

Beaufort had success on the ground, with Johnson racking up 103 yards on 18 carries, but the Eagles could not make the big play and were playing catch up all night. Smalls collected a team-high 14 tackles and

fort that began with then-Gov.

Mark Sanford in 2004 It provided $6,000 scholarships toward tuition, tutoring, and other K-12 school-related expenses. The law capped participation in the first year at 5 000 Medicaid-eligible students. Actual participation was lower: Of the more than 7,900 applicants for this school year, 2 880 K-12 students were eligible and approved.

Advocates thought they found a workaround to the constitution’s ban on tax dollars directly benefiting private education by putting the money into a “trust fund” for parents to allocate. The first $1 500 allotment has already been transferred to each student’s account.

But the majority opinion dismissed the state’s argument that the direct beneficiaries were students, not private schools.

“The tuition benefits directly subsidize the educational function of private schools,” Hill wrote. And “the size of the tuition benefit is significant.”

GOP leaders had no contingency plan for how to handle such a ruling. They developed one on the fly Wednesday.

After the ruling, the company contracted by the state Education Department to create and oversee the online portal that parents use to receive and designate their state aid was told to cease processing all payments for private tuition, said agency spokesman Jason Raven.

The agency is developing a response to parents to ex-

forced two fumbles to go along with a rushing touchdown.

Beaufort hopes to have Bonds and Patterson back when it takes on Battery Creek on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Dubbed the “Ribaut Road Bowl,” the game will air on WHHI-TV from Sunday-Saturday with airings at 4 p.m. on the weekend and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday as well as every night at midnight with Marcus Walsh and Chris Tremblay on the call.

plain the ruling’s impact and their options.

No reimbursements are needed for tuition payments already made. Quarterly allotments of $1,500 will continue as scheduled to parents’ accounts. But they must use it for expenses other than private school tuition, Raven said.

As of last week, the agency’s list of approved recipients of the state aid included 259 private schools, 92 tutors, 13 educational therapy services, and 22 public school districts. (The law allowed parents to use the aid to send their child to a public school outside the district where they live, which can charge tuition to cover unpaid local property taxes.) The agency did not immediately provide a breakdown of how many students were using the money to attend a public versus private school.

“Families cried tears of joy when the scholarship funds became available for their children, and today’s Supreme Court ruling brings those same families tears of devastation,” said state Superintendent Ellen Weaver, who before her 2022 election led the group that’s been pushing for the school choice legislation.

“The late timing of the initial filing and subsequent ruling on this case midway through the first quarter of the new school year wreaks havoc on the participating students and their families,” she said in a statement.

Her agency stressed later Wednesday that the ruling did not change student eligibility requirements, indicating parents will continue to be enrolled for future school years. Under the law, eligibility rises to 15,000 students in higher-income homes by

year three. GOP leaders in the House were so confident the ruling would be in their favor, they pushed legislation through that chamber earlier this year that would expand eligibility to all students, regardless of their parents’ income. That bill did not become law, however. Calling it premature, senators never took it up.

House Speaker Murrell Smith, a co-sponsor of the expansion bill, called the ruling disappointing.

The Sumter Republican noted there are similar scholarship programs for college students and poor 4-year-olds. Lottery-backed scholarships can be used at any college in the state, public or private. Similarly, students eligible for statepaid, full-day 4K can attend a public or approved private preschool. But those popular programs have never been challenged and are not part of the court’s decision.

“This ruling will not only strip choice from countless families across our state, hindering educational opportunity from many deserving children, but it also puts in jeopardy current programs that include higher education and preschool that are essential for South Carolinians,” Smith said in a statement.

Gov. Henry McMaster also pointed to those programs as one of the reasons his office will ask the state Supreme Court to quickly reconsider its ruling.

“The Supreme Court’s decision may have devastating consequences for thousands of low-income families who relied on these scholarships for their child’s enrollment in school last month,” he said in a statement, add-

ing he hopes they’ll reverse it “so that the children of low-income families may have the opportunity to attend the school that best suits their needs.”

Kelly, with the teachers’ advocacy group, said the ruling means if legislators want to use tax dollars for private K-12 tuition, they’ll ultimately need voters’ permission.

Last year, the House approved a resolution asking voters whether the state constitution’s ban on taxpayer money flowing directly to private schools should be repealed. The proposal never got a vote in the Senate. Kelly said legislators’ first step should be expanding students’ choice options in public schools.

“Before we reopen the (Education Scholarship Trust Fund) can of worms, let’s revisit what the Supreme Court is saying is allowed under the constitution,” he said. Allowing parents to enroll their children in the public school of their choice “would open meaningful opportunities to pathways that currently do not exist.”

A bill authorizing what’s considered the public-school version of school choice passed the House last year. That proposal also died with the end of session without a vote in the Senate.

S.C. Daily Gazette reporter Skylar Laird contributed to this report.

Seanna Adcox is a South Carolina native with three decades of reporting experience. She joined States Newsroom in September 2023 after covering the S.C. Legislature and state politics for 18 years. Her previous employers include The Post and Courier and The Associated Press. S.C. Daily Gazette is part

Beaufort’s Elias Johnson attempts to outrun Goose Creek defenders on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, at Beaufort High School. Amber Hewitt/The Island News

Austin McGuire

Ava Elizabeth Rios

VOICES

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

Sometimes, we just need to flip a switch

It is Tuesday, early, and I’m in Port Royal. This morning I have my coffee — Green Mountain Dark Magic — and The New Yorker Magazine. This issue (September 9) features a piece by David Sedaris that takes aim at Pope Francis and a recent meeting that included a group of standup comedians. Apparently the Pope wanted to discuss humor with these well-paid purveyors of laughter inviting them to the Vatican for a sit-down session where he could yuk it up with Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jim Gaffigan, and others.

Apparently the Pope received each of these people sitting in a kind of throne-like chair while they approached, each in turn, having to bow, genuflect, kiss the Pope’s ring or just shake hands. Somehow it didn’t sound like a set-up designed to encourage a

back and forth that would explain the fundamentals of humor or how to conjugate laughter.

It seems he might have offered the comedians a glass of wine — the Vatican having a ready supply of Chianti — but it doesn’t appear he provided any mixed drinks or Bagel Chips to elevate the mood.

His piece goes on to deal with decidedly serious, altogether unhappy topics like priest misconduct and homophobia that have come into focus lately, and explains why the Pope might be interested in bringing

some level of levity into his speaking engagements.

When I was growing up, almost every adult I knew had a stable of jokes that were trotted-out whenever one spoke; even when it was casual conversation or oneon-one around the “water cooler.”

When Susan and I arrived in Beaufort, we routinely played tennis with Dr. Herbert Keyserling. Before, during or after tennis we could expect jokes — usually involving men of the Jewish persuasion — doing something foolish and funny.

If the talk was ceremonial, the featured speaker would thank his hosts for the fabulous tuna fish casserole, and then tell a joke that might have some slight connection with the audience.

Sometimes these jokes were funny; but their purpose was to ease the audience into a sense of well-being and the notion that we were going

to have some fun along with our Baked Alaska.

If the speaker was experienced, this introductory story involved the speaker himself; and was self-deprecating in that the speaker was usually the buffoon — his or her cluelessness being the way that he or she connected with the audience.

On Tuesday night we had our first “debate” between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. As my wife and I watched, we knew that neither candidate was going to tell a joke — neither candidate would start off with “a rabbi, a priest and a Presbyterian were sitting in a bar, …”

But then Donald Trump revealed that illegal immigrants were eating pets across the country, especially in Ohio, and that revelation brought howls of laughter just when we thought this man was incapable of self-deprecating humor.

David Sedaris gives short shrift to the actual “Audience” with Pope Francis; but spends time talking about what happened after the meeting. Apparently he and Julia went out into Rome and found the Pope’s tailor, Gammarelli.

Sedaris says he has always admired the magnificent garments worn by the Catholic clergy; and those of us who read this man know that he likes to shop, especially with his sister, Amy.

“What I wanted was a black cassock. That’s the ankle-length robe Catholic priests wear. I wanted one because they are slimming, they’re classic and they’re beautifully made, at least at Gammarelli, …

“Next came the Roman collar. The outfit’s fine without it, I thought, until I added it and realized, Whoa, you really need the collar. Then came the fascia, and

I got two—the classic black and a scarlet model that a cardinal would wear.

“‘Is it against the law to dress like a priest?’ I whispered to Julia as I did the last of the thirty three buttons each of which symbolizes a year of Jesus’ life and leaves you wishing he’d been crucified at twelve, especially if, like me, you’re developing arthritis in your fingers.”

I know there is a premium these days on seriousness. Whether it’s a trial or a presidential debate. But I am thankful that there are people like Sedaris who understand that we are foolish — at least some of the time — and can flip a switch that floods us with the notion that this is normal and sometimes funny.

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

Celebrate our nation’s founding with Constitution Week

Sept. 17 marked 237th anniversary of document’s signing in Philadelphia

The Constitution of the United States is the foundation of our country as it establishes the basic structure of the government, guarantees the fundamental rights of its citizens, and protects individual liberty. It is a living document that has been adapted to meet the changing needs of the country over time, but its core principles remain the same.

The Constitution was finalized on Sept. 17, 1787, by delegates from the 13 original colonies. It was ratified by the states in 1788 and went into effect in 1789. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since then, but its basic principles have remained

the same.

South Carolina had four out of the 39 signers of this founding document including Pierce Butler, John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney and his second cousin, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

Each year, local chapters of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) celebrate and honor our nation’s most cherished document with the marking of Constitution Week.

The NSDAR led the charge for Congress to establish Constitution Week and the official desig-

nation was signed into public law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Aug. 2 1956

The NSDAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through improved education for children.

Membership is comprised of more than 190 000 current members who are a direct, blood descendant of a man or woman who served or provided assistance during the American Revolution (1775-1781).

The cause of liberty and freedom may have been birthed by the Revolutionary War, but the new nation created after the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781 needed structure.

The Constitution created the needed framework by establishing

a federal government, with power divided between the federal government and the states.

The federal government has certain powers that are exclusive to it, such as the power to declare war and regulate interstate commerce. The states have all other powers that are not specifically granted to the federal government.

The Constitution also established a system of checks and balances between the three branches of the federal government: The legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. This system is designed to prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.

Finally, the Constitution guarantees certain fundamental rights to all citizens, such as the right to freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to a fair trial. These rights are protected by the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.

The Columbia Chapter of NSDAR, South Carolina’s first DAR chapter founded in 1893 encourages the public to remember the Constitution during this week but also year-round as we continue together as a country to “form a more perfect Union” as described in the Constitution’s preamble.

Connelly-Anne Ragley is the Columbia chapter regent of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She traces her lineage through multiple Revolutionary War ancestors in South Carolina who fought in the Battle of Cowpens and Kings Mountain, as well as Patriots who fought in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Columbia Chapter, NSDAR, is South Carolina's oldest chapter and is home to a diverse membership of women from age 18 to 95 devoted to promoting patriotism, historic preservation and education through volunteer service. To learn more about the Columbia Chapter, NSDAR, please visit columbiachapterdar.org.

Protect SC consumers from data center costs

Utilities always paint a dire scenario to the Public Service Commission and Legislature about why they should get their way.

They must get the revenue increases, and thus rate hikes, they ask for so they can provide safe and reliable energy. Permission to build more energy generation must be given or the economy will be hurt. But this absolute need for big rate increases and much more energy generation seems to dissipate when those rate hikes are not allowed, and construction projects fail to be approved or just fail.

When utilities don’t get everything they ask for, both they and our economy go on just fine.

Several weeks ago, at a meeting of the Senate Special Committee on South Carolina’s Energy Future, the CEOs of Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, and Santee Cooper stated that they needed to build big

new power plants to supply the amounts of new energy they say the state needs.

When questioned about what is causing the need for the expensive new gas plants they propose, the response was enlightening. It wasn’t because of residential or industrial growth.

What is driving 65% to 70% of this future energy demand are the anticipated new artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the state.

AI data centers handle complex calculations and process large amounts of data for big tech companies. They require enormous amounts of electricity to operate.

Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, asked the utility executives if there was an economic advantage for South Carolina to have these data centers within our state borders.

The response offered was that industry needs AI data centers to be close to the end users to reduce latency, the time it takes for the user to send a command to the data center and receive a response.

Latency differences are measured in milliseconds. But while reducing latency might be good for some business needs, it is not necessary for most data center services.

So, what are the economic advantages to our state to have AI data centers within our borders and thus require the construction of large gas plants that all utility customers must pay for?

These data centers don’t create many jobs.

They don’t seem to be critical to our state’s

industrial recruitment. Despite our lack of these data centers, our Department of Commerce reports that South Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the top five states to do business in the nation.

AI data centers do contribute to local revenue through more property taxes.

Local governments are willing to give sweetheart incentives to close the deals. Dorchester County recently gave Google a fixed 4% property tax rate for 53 years to locate a new data center in the county. Also, during those 53 years there will be no reassessment of the value of the property. And the company will pay no property tax on vehicles, equipment, etc. as all other businesses must do.

The state layered on at least one of its own incentives. Dorchester County got an “economic development rider” from the Public Service Commission

cutting Google’s new data center’s electricity costs to only 6 cents per kilowatt hour, about 60% below what Dominion Energy residential customers pay. But while new AI data centers might provide some economic benefit to a few local governments, the costs are borne by all the utility’s ratepayers and all South Carolina taxpayers. Amazon, Google, Meta and the other giant tech companies want more AI data centers so they can sell more services and make higher profits. For example, Microsoft’s AI cloud computing business income generated $1 billion in revenue in just three months.

Our state’s investor-owned utilities want to build more energy generation for new data centers because building things is the way they make more profits in our regulated system.

Everybody makes a lot of money by building more AI data centers and energy

generation except the consumers who are forced to pay higher utility bills for new power plants and cover the government incentives with their taxes. That simply isn’t fair. The Legislature should protect taxpayers and ratepayers. Stop all state and local government incentives for AI data centers. Require data centers to self-produce a minimum of 50% of their energy needs with clean energy like solar and battery storage.

Instruct the Public Service Commission not to approve any provision to reduce electric rates for AI data centers or allow any socializing of AI data center related utility costs to other consumer groups. With that, AI data centers are welcome in South Carolina.

Frank

SCOTT GRABER

CONNELLY-ANNE RAGLEY

Knapp Jr. is the president, CEO and co-founder of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

FRANK KNAPP

SC Republicans pretty quiet on Trump at debate

Afunny thing happened on the way to a presidential election. South Carolina

Republicans, typically loud and brash in their support of former President Donald Trump, fell mostly silent after his abysmal debate performance against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

Perhaps the echo of silence was because they were just stunned how poorly the debate went for Trump. There was no onslaught of press releases, tweets or social media snippets spewing support for Trump. We didn’t hear from S.C. .Gov. Henry McMaster – the guy who has often bragged how he was the first state official to back Trump more than eight years ago. Most of the S.C. GOP delegation were titmouses, although U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, never one to bypass the opportunity to be in the press, did holler about

HPresident Joe Biden again. (Yes, the guy who isn’t a candidate.)

She said, “Joe Biden set the bar low enough to bunny hop over it and she still somehow managed to limbo underneath.”

About the only other Trump ally from South Carolina in sight was U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham who took to the post-debate spin room to bemoan how the former president missed opportunities in the debate.

“I told him: ‘Your closing was great. If you do another debate, just

effectively prosecute what you had and where we’re at,’” Graham said to Politico, referring to the country before and after Trump.

Activity was so timid in the spin room that even Trump showed up to try to bolster the perception that his lackluster performance was better than it was.

But all of America saw the former president for who he has become – little more than an angry, tired, orange marionette spitting robotic venom. Any charm he might have had in the past seemed to have evaporated in a cloud of 78-year-old vitriol.

So it’s no wonder there was little Republican glee. They’re still shellshocked about a party leader who is the butt of Internet memes after he falsely claimed that cats and dogs were being eaten by migrants in Ohio.

Meanwhile, Democrats bounced off the satellites, perhaps a bit too

gleefully, as they celebrated how Harris baited and goaded Trump time and again, knocking him off his game.

“Kamala Harris is the future and Donald Trump is the past," said Sam Skardon, chair of the Charleston County Democratic Party after the debate. "We got one step closer to the future tonight.”

Harris, called weak and stupid by the former president for weeks, showed she was anything but –righteously hammering the kinds of facts, numbers, proposals and details that are typical of political events.

And while the candidates danced back and forth about issues, what Americans really saw were two performances that couldn’t have been more different – Harris in control, effectively making point after point, and Trump veering wildly, becoming the caricature that he painted

Biden to be just weeks earlier.

For the next two months, Trump will continue to flail away at Harris but the Tuesday debate might have been his last big hurrah. By showing his true self to the American people, he may have unwittingly tipped the balance in the close election to Harris as his behavior ticked off too many voters, particularly those in swing states.

So when they hear the crazy political charges that are sure to come, they might just wonder whether there’s any basis in what he’s saying.

And then Fido or Kitty might walk by. And they’ll remember what Trump said about pets in Ohio.

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

MAGAs are the true RINOs

as it ever crossed your mind to question what the implications of RINO are?

I am sure that most of you know what the four letters mean in the political sense: Republicans in Name Only, a pejorative used to describe politicians of the Republican Party deemed insufficiently loyal to the party.

I take that to mean true to the conservative values.

So let’s look at what those values entail. In starting my research, I came upon the following:

“Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws to which it is claimed society should adhere.”

Following this was, “Traditionalist conservatives believe that human society is essentially hierarchical (i.e., it always involves various interdependent inequalities, degrees, and classes) and that political structures that recognize this fact prove the most just, thriving, and generally beneficial.”

As a middle-of-the-road Independent, I admit to being taken aback when

seeing the words hierarchical, inequalities, degrees, and classes. So this is what conservatives believe? How, I ask myself, is this any different than India’s caste system? So I went back to Wikipedia.

India's caste system is an example of a social hierarchy; it is a rigid social stratification system where people are divided into hierarchical groups based on their birth, with limited social mobility between castes. Note that it is hereditary and passed down through generations. I can hear the wails of righteous indignation already. How can I possibly think we have a caste system in our country where all men are created equal?

Pick yourself up from the floor, quit mopping your brow, and ask yourself what often happens in our country when there are those who strive to break out of their so-called “situation,” but are held back. Perhaps

this is by wanting a better education (how long did it take to desegregate our schools?); or by expecting their vote to really count (let’s not forget that gerrymandering is still alive and well). And currently, as I type, we have a concerted effort to confront those who have come into our country legally and are the target of far-right, so-called conservatives who encourage outrageous actions (mass deportation). They even perpetuate lies about these people, suggesting they are stealing and killing pets for food. Make no mistake. There are covert as well as overt ways that conservative dogma strives to keep those deemed “less than” in their place. The sad irony of this lies with the inability of so many middle class persons to see that the upper one percent of our society is slated to get the “lion’s share” of the bounty, whether through reduced taxation, or loopholes only they can access. A trickle-down economy comes to mind.

I found an article posted by Congressman Mike Johnson, who managed to become Speaker of the House after a months-long circus involving a quick entrance and equally quick exit of two other men.

Speaker Johnson posted a short summary of central beliefs entitled “The 7 Core Principles of Conservatism.” These 7 principles include individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity. Certainly all of these appeal to me as a moderate; how they have been manipulated, however, isn’t remotely appealing.

I wish I had the space to copy and paste what Johnson authored under each category. I strongly suggest you go online and read for yourself. In 2018 Congressman Johnson drafted this short summary of the central beliefs of American conservatives. Again, with a nod to space, I submit this portion under “individual freedom.” Johnson wrote, “In America we proclaim that all of us are created equal and granted by God the same inherent freedoms, such as the natural and unalienable rights to life, liberty, conscience, free speech, and the free exercise of religion, and the ability to pursue happiness, own property, build wealth, and defend ourselves and our family. The purpose of the government is to secure these rights …”

How eloquent and well-intentioned this sounds. I would like to think that when he wrote these words, he believed them. But you see, someone quite devious was already in the White House in 2018, making a mockery of this. That mockery continued and became vitriolic, indeed toxic. And along with this MAGA movement came the capitulation of the 2018 version of idealist Johnson. He, along with many others, forgot the Constitution, forgot unalienable rights, and abandoned his conscience.

That cataclysmic turnaround heralded the entrance of the “real” RINOs, Republicans in Name Only; those who would do away with the Constitution.

I humbly suggest that the real Republicans, indeed the REAL Conservatives, are those like Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, her father, Dick Cheney, the late John McCain -- the list has become endless. The latest is George Will, the Conservative’s Conservative. Be still my heart.

REAL Conservatives are putting country above party. They may not like much of what the Harris/Walz ticket represents, but they understand that to vote

otherwise is to doom the country to a status it may take decades to repair. Ask yourself this: can you remember any other time in recent history when a party has formed a coalition to vote against their candidate and for the candidate of the opposing party? People may have crossed party lines, but never in the numbers we are seeing today. And never did those high ranking officials openly implore others to join them, let alone appear at the opposition’s national convention. MAGAs choose to thumb their collective noses at those people who bravely step forward and express their conscience. Make no mistake, if you consider yourself to be true to conservative ideology, then you cannot be a MAGA as well. Furthermore, now is not the time to write in someone's name because you dislike Harris; this could well be a vote for Trump. It’s all about moral character, folks, or lack thereof. The choice should be clear.

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.”

ANDY BRACK

CAROL LUCAS

VOICES

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

Saving some candidates from themselves

Readers of this column may recall a piece I wrote here several years ago that described the various possible motives of individuals seeking to run for mayor of Beaufort. What are the good reasons to run? And what are the not-so-good reasons?

It went like this. Those who will derive the most satisfaction from serving the people of Beaufort are those who tell the voters what Beaufort needs and how they will go about bringing about that good thing for Beaufort.

If the voters agree, they will vote you in, and they will support you doing that good thing. And you then will have accomplished something that will forever bring you personal satisfaction.

Just below the “doers” on the satisfaction spectrum, I wrote, are the idealogues who have a point of view through which prism they

Isee all matters coming before the government. For example, they might believe all governments always spend the taxpayers’ money wastefully and thus they are forever on a jihad to limit government waste. Whether they succeed or fail, they will know they “fought the good fight,” and that will bring to them some personal satisfaction. Those who will find the job somewhat less satisfactory are those who possess a specific expertise that they believe the city needs, and they pledge to improve the city by lending to it their special expertise. Their experience may be

good. But they will likely also find the job before them frustrating because things probably won’t always go just their way.

Why? Because uniquely in government there are a host of committees through which matters must be passed, and other checks and balances that are unfamiliar and maddingly cumbersome to those who cut their teeth in the private sector. It is for this reason that successful business managers oftentimes find government service frustrating. It is those motivated in those three ways, I wrote, who will find at least some satisfaction giving of their time to the people.

Then, I wrote, there are three categories of office-seekers who will ultimately wish they had never stepped up. These are the ones who shouldn’t run, but who do. They may proclaim they are motivated by one of the above areas, but

those who know them best generally at least suspect the truth. Voters who listen carefully can often ferret out the truth too.

Some will run because they hope holding public office will enrich them. In the case of realtors, it may. But for every dollar they may make leveraging their government office, their reputation will suffer a corresponding withdrawal.

For others, it will be worse. And the dollars they will be forced to spend on lawyers to defend them will likely in the end be a sum greater than that which they sought to gain.

Then there are those who go into government seeking fame. If that is all there is, they will also wish they hadn’t bothered because if they don’t do anything for the people, if they are just “show horses,” the people who are looking to have their lives improved will soon cravenly ask, “Famous for what? Doing nothing!”

And, finally, at the bottom of the spectrum, are the office-seekers who come seeking the love their mothers or fathers neglected for whatever reason to give them.

Yes, there will be plenty of the obsequious who justifiably fear government, and who will tell the lonely one what he/she wants to hear. But not everyone in the constituency will be like that. There will be a few, there are always a few, who will vent upon you their frustrations, who will “tell it like it is.”

And the public official who came to be loved won’t be able to get those ugly words out of his/her mind. They will eclipse the thousand compliments. And they will haunt. The saints themselves don’t receive universal approbation when they are on the job.

Why do I bring all this up now?

Because as you, the voters, are making up your

minds about how you will vote in the upcoming local elections, you will each do well for yourselves and for your city to seek to assess the true motives of those who are running.

Do they have a reasonable plan to get something done that needs doing? Do they have special expertise that the city needs? Or are they really just looking to line their pockets, or to squeeze from the constituency the love they never got at home?

Asking these questions, and answering them honestly, will save some candidates from themselves. And doing so will definitely bring into the government the people who can best help move the city forward.

Bill Rauch was the Mayor of Beaufort from 1999 to 2008 and has twice won awards from the S.C. Press Association for his Island News columns. He can be reached at TheRauchReport@gmail.com.

There will always be another ‘other’

know the crassness and hatefulness of the Trump campaign are part of its appeal to its base.

I have written about my former coworker who idolized an office mate who “says what’s on his mind“ including inappropriate explosions of profanity.

I also know these people look at themselves as exemplars of what “real” Americans are supposed to be. They are the “patriots.” They are the only worthy defenders of a country whose tenets they undermine at every opportunity. This delusion is what allows them to support the horrible things they witness and replicate.

Like sharpshooters at a county fair, they need a shyster to come by every so often to prop up a new batch of targets, with the promise of they’ll win something.

Across hundreds of years, people like these “othered” the indigenous tribes they found here; the enslaved Africans they brought here; and now the “huddled masses yearning to be free” who came of their own volition.

But that was not enough.

This commentary was part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on September 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visitusdemocracyday.org.

September 15 was Democracy Day. We are approaching an election that people of all political persuasions agree is crucial for the future of our nation. Sadly, many qualified citizens choose not to participate in this most basic method of influencing how we are governed. However, there is a solution: When enough people understand that despite obstacles, our votes can be truly powerful. There are many reasons that people don’t vote. We are all busy in our everyday lives. And there

They attack members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans communities, painting them as perverts actively recruiting children. They pushed to deny them the privilege of marriage, saying it is a sacred institution exclusive to heterosexual unions. An institution these same devotees themselves abandon half of the time.

But that was not enough.

Now they target women who don’t or aren’t able to follow the “tradwife” lifestyle. These self-appointed champions of tradition mock women who go to work every day, who have to juggle the demands of work outside the home with the needs of the people inside their homes.

But that was not enough.

Now they attack the childless. Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance was quoted years ago saying the country was being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies, who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

At another event around the same time, Vance went after the head of the American Federation of Teachers: “If she wants to brainwash and destroy the mind of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone,” never mind that the "she" in question was a stepmother of two. When a clip of him making the comments drew criticism, Vance dug deeper. He told conservative talk show host Megyn Kelly, “This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child.”

I could go back and forth with him all day over which party really acts anti-family and anti-child, but I want to speak up as a member of multiple groups Vance and his

like have “othered.”

I am one of those childless Democrats he was talking about.

As many as 1 in 6 American adults have no biological children.

Does it matter why?

When I was younger I had opportunities to have children with women I was involved with, but I opted to wait until I got married. The same coworker who idolized the big talker he worked beside once asked me about it.

“You don’t have any kids?

That’s kinda unusual for y’all, ain’t it?”

I knew what he was saying. It didn’t fit his expectation of how a 30-year-old Black man would have answered that question.

But I replied, “If you were a 30-year-old single man, how many kids would you have?”

He stammered, “None, I guess.”

That ended that conversation.

Decades later, I find myself having been on both sides of marriages torn asunder by the desire for children. Both were emotionally devastating life occurrences. And they were no one’s business but ours. No one’s

hurt to carry but mine.

But that is not enough for Vance, Trump, and the people who support them.

They don’t think about the wounds they salt or the fears they stir. The lies they tell about people they accuse of eating pets or “grooming” children. They don’t think about the people who will pursue the unspoken bounty placed on the heads of the people they target.

No, if there’s an opportunity to score political points, to “own the libs,” they will seize it.

They will always find another “other” because if they didn't, their supporters might stop to contemplate the horrible things they have done for the horrible people who dispatched them. Meanwhile, those of us Vance said have "no stake" in the nation's future will keep on fighting for a tomorrow that benefits all, not only those who sprang from our loins.

Terry E. Manning is a Clemson graduate and worked for 20 years as a journalist. He can be reached at teemanning@gmail.com.

Exercise your power and vote

are practical obstacles for people who lack transportation or who have physical disabilities.

The most disturbing reason that many citizens choose not to vote is that they have become discouraged.

They believe claims that cast doubt on the integrity of our elections or find government unresponsive to their concerns or just believe their votes won’t matter. Most of the noise about election integrity is simply that, noise arising from misinformation or even intentional disinformation. For many years we have

heard that dead people are voting. Several investigations by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) have shown that this is not supported by the facts. Nationally, there have been cases of isolated individuals voting on behalf of a close relative, but with modern election management, this is simply not a workable way to rig an election.

More recently, we have been told thatnon-citizens are voting. A SLED investigation that was completed this year has shown that it isn’t happening in South Carolina. There has been no credible evidence that it is happening nationally.

The S.C. State Election Commission works closely with federal and state law enforcement, technical experts, and local election officials to ensure that those who vote are in fact eligible to do so and that our elections run as smoothly as can be hoped

I Voted stickers from 2023.

courtesy of Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections

from a human endeavor.

We can have confidence in the competent administration of our elections.

Citizens also become discouraged when the results in November seem to be predetermined, either because one party is genuinely dominant or because gerrymandering has distorted district boundaries to favor one party over another.

However, there are important ways that voters can counter this.

Every qualified voter should participate in every election, including primaries. Many South Carolina

races are decided in primaries. However, even when we get to November in a badly imbalanced district, voters can take charge, simply by turning out in very high numbers.

If every qualified individual in South Carolina voted in every election, our government would be very different than it is today.

Help to preserve our representative democracy. Make plans to vote in the upcoming election.

Begin by becoming informed.

Every year, thousands of voters find the League of Women Voters website at Vote411.org very helpful in preparing to vote. As we get closer to the election, there will be information on what is on the ballot in your area as well as responses to questions by candidates, unedited by the League so that statements provide an accurate and unbiased reflection of candidate positions.

Voters can also get information through Election Protection, maintained by a coalition of more than 300 respected voting rights groups. This information is available on-line at 866ourvote.org and through calls and texts to 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Our beloved democracy becomes better protected with every vote that is cast. Make a plan, inform yourself, and vote!

Lynn Shuler Teague was born in Orangeburg, grew up in Columbia, and moved to New Mexico in 1968

She is a professional archaeologist and was on the faculty of the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona for many years. She and her husband returned to South Carolina when they retired. Since 2012, she has served as a vice president of the League of Women Voters of SC and volunteer League lobbyist at the Statehouse, working especially on the voting and election issues central for the League. She has directed the League’s work on redistricting since 2017

BILL RAUCH

TERRY E. MANNING

LYNN TEAGUE

Photo

ART

Budding Artist

After-School Art Club

4 to 5 p.m., or 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., Mondays/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.

BOOKS

John Doriot book signing

10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 5, Marshview Mercantile, 2631 Boundary Street, Beaufort. John Doriot, an award-winning author and poet from Georgia, will be reading his poems and signing books. In addition to his latest book of poems, he will be signing his children's books about Oreo, an adventurous dog. The event is free and Doriot will donate $100 to CAPA for every 10 books sold.

CALENDAR

Beaufort County

Youth Conference

9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Technical College of The Lowcountry, 921 Ribaut Road, Beaufort. Free for all Beaufort County middle and high school students. Interactive break-out sessions, music, food, fun, door prizes, and T-shirts. Parent and adult wellness workshop. Register today at 843-812-4399 or 843-592-0013.

OktoPRfest

11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Paris Avenue, Port Royal. Free. No pets. Local chefs, restaurants, and food trucks will offer German-inspired dishes such as brats and pretzels, along with American festival food favorites. There will be a wide selection of craft, imported, and domestic beers. The opening ceremony will feature a special surprise honoring the Town’s 150th birthday. Live musical performances and entertainment; a craft market area; kids zone; and Lollipop the Clown (noon to 4 p.m.). For more, https://fb.me/e/1zQlnKh37.

All You Can Eat Shrimp Boil

3 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Fish Camp on 11th Street, Port Royal. Live music. Rain or shine. Adult tickets are $30 online, $35 at the door. Children 12 and younger are $12 online and $15 at the door. First 100 tickts sold receive a free gift. Proceeds benefit Help of Beaufort.

64th annual Saint Peter’s Catholic Church Fall Bazaar

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, Saint Peter’s Catholic Church campus, 70 Lady’s Island Drive, Beaufort. The Bazaar features international foods, craft fair with local artisans, a sweet shoppe, an in-person and online silent auction, wine and beer garden, plant sale, church tours, and Kids Zone with inflatables, games, and the Beaufort Barnyard Petting Zoo. The bazaar will benefit Lowcountry Outreach, a ministry of Saint Peter’s parish that provides office space for area non-profits, meeting rooms for support groups, and services such as a ride program for those with limited transportation.

39th annual Kiwanis Club of Hilton Head Island Chili Cook Off & Jeep Island

Noon to 3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, Lowcountry Celebration Park, 94 Pope Avenue, Hilton Head Island. Event raises funding for local youth charities. Chili cooks will face off to determine the best concoctions in Professional, Amateur, and People’s Choice categories. Winners will earn cash prize donations to the local youth charity of their choice. The Jeep Island expo is a stunning array of Jeeps from around the nation – a must-see for any Jeep enthusiast. Local favorites RetroRoxx, Hilton Head Island’s explosive ‘80s party cover band, will be performing live! To sign up online to cook, sponsor, and buy tickets, go to https:// hiltonheadkiwanis.com/chili-cookoff. For more information, email the Hilton Head Kiwanis Club at hiltonheadislandkiwanis@gmail.com.

Karaoke with Melissa

8 p.m. to midnight, Tuesdays, Highway 21 Bar, 3436 Trask Pkwy, Beaufort. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

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.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

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 Dr, 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 Ribaut 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 Rd, Bluffton. Enjoy food and drinks during Karaoke with Melissa.

DANCE

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

Stingray Scramble

9 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Ocean Creek Golf Course, Fripp Island. Team of 4, $650. Individual, $175. Benefits Riverview Charter School. Shotgun start. 4-man scramble. Registration 8 to 8:45 a.m. Registration includes golf, gift, lunch, awards. Register at https://bit.ly/4bUzWPh.

27th annual Habitat For Humanity of the Lowcountry tournament Monday, Sept. 30, Oldfield Club, Okatie. Register to play or sponsor at https://bit.ly/4cnr58E. Event proceeds go toward building the Larry Sanders House, named in honor of the longtime volunteer organizer of the tournament.

Boy Scouts of America LowCountry Classic

11 a.m., Monday, Oct. 28, The Cat Island Club. Hosted by the Boy Scouts of America Lowcountry District. $150 per golfer or $500 for foursome. 9 a.m. registration; 1 p.m. lunch; 5 p.m. cocktails/awards. Each player hits from the tee; team selects tee shot they wish to play from; each player may then place their ball within one club length, no nearer the hole and in the same condition (rough, bunker, etc.), and play his/her own ball from that point until holed; 2 lowest net scores will count towards teams total. Each player shall receive 75% of their published handicap; maximum handicap is 24. Proceeds benefit Scouting programs in the Lowcountry District of the Coastal Carolina Council, Boy Scouts of America. All the information for players and potential sponsors can be found at https:// birdease.com/BSACharityGolfEvent or contact Dave Soloman for more information at d.c.solomon@att.net.

HALLOWEEN

Kids, Cops, Cars, and Candy Trunk or Treat

3 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, Charles Lind Brown Center, Beaufort. Hosted by the Great Grand Family Foundation. A fun and safe afternoon filled with classic cars, police vehicles, and plenty of candy! It's a fantastic opportunity for children to have positive interactions with law enforcement, explore some amazing cars, and enjoy a memorable trick-or-treat experience in a safe environment. Support via donations of candy for the event are welcome and appreciated — reach out to Previs Walker at perviswalker17@gmail.com.

Port Royal’s Haunted Hallows

3 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, Naval Heritage Park, Port Royal. A free event featuring food trucks, a vendor market, aerialists, City of Beaufort/ Town of Port Royal Fire Department Touch A Truck, games, treats and spooky destinations to fill your passport!! Commemorative Festival T-shirts are available for purchase. Proceeds go to Help of Beaufort.

Trunk or Treat

3 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 25, Paris Avenue, between 9th and 12th streets, Downtown Port Royal. A safe trick-or-treating experience for all ages. Bring your vehicle and be part of the fun. Folks with vehicles and goodies to hand out or games for the kids are needed to make this fun for the kids. Sign up at lowcountryjaycees@gmail.com. No pets allowed.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

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.

BEMER Circulation Therapy

10 to 11 a.m., Fridays via Zoom. Already own a BEMER? Never heard of it but curious? Join to ask any questions about this leading-edge German technology that enhances blood flow 30% in 8 minutes. Sessions are designed to support those who have their own unit but everyone is welcome. Brought to you by BEMER Specialist -- Human & Equine, Elizabeth Bergmann. Text 410-212-1468 to get the Zoom link. Free.

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-of-the-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 Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 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

Basics of Canning and Preserving 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 24, Lobeco Branch Library, 1862 Trask Parkway. Presented by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension. Join us for a free workshop that will discuss the basic principles of canning and methods for preserving fruits, vegetables, meats, and more. Please call 843-255-6479 or stop by to register.

Wills Clinic and Information Session

11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, Lobeco Branch Library, 1862 Trask Parkway. Presented by Lowcountry Legal Volunteers. Free walk-in Wills Information Session from 10 to 11 a.m. No registration is required for the session. Following that, an appointment-based Will Preparation Clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To apply for an appointment and review eligibility, call 843-815-1570 or register online at https://lowcountrylegalvolunteers.org by September 13.

Native Plants of the Sea Islands

3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road, St. Helena Island. Maximum 50 participants, registration required at to attend. Call 843-255-6540. In this two-hour

workshop, participants learn about plants used by indigenous people of the Sea Islands. We’ll take a relaxing 30-minute walk around the library grounds, learning how to identify specific plants and learn about their properties and how they were used pre-colonization. Please wear comfortable shoes.

Gullah Art Adult Paint & Sip 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road, St. Helena Island. Ages 13 to adult. Space is limited, call 843-255-6487 to register. Help the library celebrate Gullah Geechee Awareness Month. Join local artis Lynn Schramm to learn acrylic painting tips and tricks and create your own art piece.

Plant Swap 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19, St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road, St. Helena Island. Take a plant – leave a plant. Bring your divided perennials, extra clippings, and plant propagations to share with others. Visit us at beaufortcountylibrary.org.

“Lego” With Lego 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., every Tuesday, St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road, St. Helena Island. Free and open to the public. Ages 5 and up. No registration required. Come see our new and improved Lego Club. Choose one of our new Lego kits and get going. Call 843-255-6540 for more information.

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 11 a.m., Wednesdays, Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort. Beginning September 18. The first session is for beginners new to the game, and following sessions will provide some instruction and we will learn as we play. 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 noon, 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

Indivisible Beaufort

11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, Beaufort Downtown Library at 311 Scott Street. Barbara Nash will be the discussion leader and Exploring Project 2025 will be the discussion topic. What’s in the document? What are the potential impacts if it’s implemented? Nash is an Indivisible member and a former candidate for the South Carolina House or Representatives. Her career as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, health care practice founder, and college educator makes her especially well informed and concerned about the health care and educational policies, as well as the other issues proposed by Project 2025. The event is free and open to the public.

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, Herban Marketplace, 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.

Rotary Club of the Lowcountry 7:30 a.m., Fridays, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, Sea Island Parkway, Lady’s Island. A light breakfast is provided before the program. For further information and upcoming speakers, please visit our website at www.lowcountryrotary.org or contact our President, Bob Bible at reconmc@aol.com or 843-252-8535.

MUSIC

Deas Guyz 7 p.m., Fridays, Sept. 27, Nov. 1, Nov. 29; Willie's Bar and Grill, 7 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Saint Helena Island. $35. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more information and tickets, visit www.GullahLove.com.

Habersham Third Fridays Music on Market 5 to 8 p.m., third Friday of the month, Habersham Marketplace. Street Music on Paris Avenue 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, between 9th and 10th Streets on Paris Avenue, Port Royal. Free. Bring your chairs or your dancing shoes. Schedule: September 21, Gabe Stillman.

OUTDOORS

The Beaufort Tree Walk Lady’s Island Garden Club invites you to take a meandering walk through the Historic “Old Point” and enjoy some unique and noteworthy trees. The “Walk” takes about an hour, is a little over a mile starting at the corner of Craven & Carteret streets in Morrall Park and concluding in Waterfront Park. Booklets with map and information about each tree are available free at the Visitors Center in the historic Arsenal on Craven Street. Tours of Hunting Island Every Tuesday, Hunting Island State Park, 2555 Sea Island Pkwy. Free, park entry fees apply. Sponsored by Friends of Hunting Island Keeper Ted and his team. For more information call the Hunting Island Nature Center at 843-838-7437. The next Tuesday is August 1.

RUNNING

4th annual Move Your Mind 5K 8 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 12, Providence Presbyterian Church on the south end of Hilton Head Island. 5K run and 1M walk on the beach. Free parking and a free pancake breakfast. During breakfast, race awards will be given, and prizes for Brain Trivia will be won. Register today at https://bit.ly/4dbP0IS.

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, crossstitch, 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

Inaugural Friends of Caroline Clay Shoot Friday, Oct. 4, Turkey Hill Plantation, Ridgeland. Details are being finalized. Presenting sponsorships available at $2,500 and $5,000. Station sponsors – up to 12 – start at $500. Sponsored 4-person teams $1,000. Contact Keriann for details or to reserve your spot at keriann@fochospice.org or 843525-6257. Proceeds benefit Friends of Caroline Hospice.

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

Bridge Club 11 a.m., Wednesdays, Beaufort Branch Library, beginning September 18. The first session is for beginners new to the game, and following sessions will provide some instruction and we will learn as we play. 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.

Comings and Goings

What VA Home Loan borrowers need to know – Part 2

Created by the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the VA-Guaranteed Home Loan program has helped generations of veterans, military members, and their families enjoy the dream of home ownership and the opportunity to retain their homes during temporary financial hardship.

If you have any questions about the VA Home Loan benefit or issues with your current home loan, contact the VA at 1-877-827-3702

To learn more about VA home loans, veterans, service members, and their survivors should read the information at:

VA “Home Loan Guaranty Buyer’s Guide” at https://bit.ly/3B2o0hm.

VA webpage “VA Housing Assistance”

https://bit.ly/4gqOWHI.

VA webpage “Buying a Home with a VA-Backed Loan (Step by step instructions)”

https://bit.ly/3MQzze5

VA webpage “VA-Backed Veterans Home Loans”

https://bit.ly/3fcQqKm. The VA webpage “Eligibility for VA Home Loan Programs”

https://bit.ly/3LCYrFw.

VA webpage “How to Request a VA Home Loan COE”

https://bit.ly/3LCYrFw.

VA webpage “Request a VA Home Loan Certificate of Eligibility (COE)”

https://bit.ly/3MOcfgU.

VA webpage “VA Home Loan Programs for Surviving Spouses”

https://bit.ly/3zmUToe.

VA webpage “VA Help to Avoid Foreclosure”

https://bit.ly/3XpJ60B.

VA News “VA and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Warn Against Home Loan Refinancing Offers that Sound too Good to be True”

https://bit.ly/3KbvgJO.

VA webpage “VA Funding Fee and Laon Closing Costs”

https://bit.ly/3CgHg8a.

VA webpage “VA Home Loan Limits”

https://bit.ly/3XrOZKK.

VA webpage titled “VA Home Loans Appraisers/Staff Appraisal Reviewer”

https://bit.ly/4ehgRrM.

VA webpage, titled “VA Home Loans Lenders Page,” https://bit.ly/4d3xfLn.

VA webpage titled “Real Estate Professionals VA Home Loan Tool Kit” https://bit.ly/4d3mvMS. • VA webpage “Servicers of VA Loans” https://bit.ly/3TqoeF7 VA News Story https://bit.ly/4gmG45E. VA webpage “VA Loans (Find VA Acquired Properties) – Property Management Service Contract” https://bit.ly/4dhnh9u. VA information for Veteran Borrowers, Mortgage Lenders, and Mortgage Servicers on “VA Guidance on Natural Disasters” https://bit.ly/3TvUAhZ.

How to get VA Housing Assistance, some things you need to know (Article 1 of 3), May 11 2022 https://bit.ly/3MXCwcc.

How to get VA Housing Assistance, some things you need to know (Article 2 of 3), May 18, 2022, https://bit.ly/3Tmu7mR.

How to get VA Housing Assistance, some things you need to know (Article 3 of 3), May 25 2022 https://bit.ly/3ZfUMFL.

The following information and question answers come from the VA Home Loan Guaranty Buyer’s Guide.

What is the VA Home Loan ‘Guaranty?’

The VA home loan guarantee is an agreement that the VA will reimburse a lender (such as banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, etc.) in the event of loss due to foreclosure. This guarantee takes the place of your down payment.

Who is eligible for a VA Home Loan?

Active duty servicemembers and veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, National Guard and Reserve service members and Veterans with an honorable discharge, certain eligible spouses, and other uniformed service personnel may be eligible for VA home loan guaranty benefits. The full listing is available online at https://bit.ly/3LCYrFw.

Is there a fee for using the VA Home Loan Guaranty?

Yes, but the funding fee can be waived. To keep the program viable, Congress instituted a program funding fee, which is a percentage of the total loan amount. This user fee varies based on whether the loan is a first-time or subsequent (second, third, etc.) use of the benefit. The funding fee may be paid in cash or included in the loan at closing. The seller, lender, or any other party on your behalf can also pay the funding fee. (See Chapter 8 of the Lenders Handbook for more information). The following individuals do not pay the VA funding fee:

Veterans receiving VA compensation for a service-connected disability.

Veterans entitled to receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability, but receive retirement pay or active service pay.

Un-remarried surviving spouses of Veterans who died in active service or from a service-connected disability.

Service member with a proposed or memorandum rating from VA, before loan closing, as eligible to receive compensation due to a pre-discharge claim.

Service member on active duty who provides evidence of having been awarded the Purple Heart on or before the date of loan closing.

Is there a limit to the size of a VA-backed mortgage?

No loan limits exist if one has full home loan benefits or full entitlement. If you are a first-time homebuyer or have sold your previous VA-backed home and paid your loan in full, you can enjoy VA [1] backing on a home loan regardless of home price and without needing a down payment. Of course, you must be able to afford the home, and the property must be appraised for at least the purchase price; otherwise, you may have to make a small down payment. For loans made before 2020 that exceeded the Freddie Mac conforming loan limit, lenders required borrowers to pay a down payment for the loan amount above the county loan limit.

What if a veteran, service member, or survivor wants to buy a home while still having another VA Home Loan?

While you can buy a home for any loan amount, you must either sell your previous home or understand VA rules on subsequent purchases and remaining entitlement. Those who purchase a subsequent home without

selling their previous VA-guaranteed home will continue to follow their county-conforming loan limit for the VA loan guaranty.

This may mean a down payment on any amount above the loan limit. You must be able to afford all your VA loans simultaneously, and the subsequent home must become your residence.

See Appendix D of the VA Home Loan Guaranty Buyer’s Guide for more information.

What do you need to know and do when buying a home with a VA Home Loan?

1 Verify your veteran or survivor VA Home Loan eligibility.

2 Learn about the basics of home buying “before” you shop.

3 Apply for a VA loan Certificate of Eligibility (COE) or through your lender.

4 Know the additional options for VA home loans.

5 Gather the required documents to provide them to your lender.

6 Learn about VA appraisal and VA Escape Clause.

7 Learn about things you need to know after you close your loan.

The VA Home Loan Guaranty Buyer’s Guide provides detailed answers to the above seven needto-know questions/actions.

Continued next week.

Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, disabled veteran, ex-Enlisted Infantryman, ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and retired Lt. Colonel. He is a past Veterans Service Officer, a Patient Adviser at the RHJ VA Hospital, the Fisher House Charleston Good Will Ambassador, and the VP for Veteran Affairs for the local Army Association Chapter. Larry is the author of the award-winning book

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith, 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, speaks with Col. Mark Bortnem, commanding officer, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, and Sgt. Maj. Bryan Alfaro, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, aboard MCAS Beaufort. Smith and the 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. Carlos A. Ruiz, landed on MCAS Beaufort and traveled to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island to speak with the Marines, sailors, and civilian personnel about leadership and the future of the Marine Corps. Lance Cpl. Nathan Saucier/USMC

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, speaks with a Marine on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, aboard Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, South Carolina, Aug. 19, 2024. The 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith and Ruiz landed on MCAS Beaufort and traveled to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island to speak with the Marines, sailors, and civilian personnel about leadership and the future of the Marine Corps. Lance Cpl. Nathan Saucier/USMC

ATTORNEY

Christopher J. Geier

Attorney at Law, LLC

Criminal Defense & Civil Litigation

SERVICE DIRECTORY

16 Professional Village Circle, Lady's Island Office: 843-986-9449 • Fax: 843-986-9450

chris@bftsclaw.com • www.geierlaw.com

AUDIOLOGY & HEARING

Beaufort Audiology & Hearing Care

Monica Wiser, M.A. CCC-A

Licensed Audiologist

38 Professional Village West, Lady's Island monica@beauforthearing.com www.beauforthearing.com | 843-521-3007

Hear the Beauty that Surrounds You

The Beaufort Sound Hearing and Balance Center

Dr. Larry Bridge, AU.D./CCC-A

206 Sea Island Parkway, Suite 31, Beaufort thebeaufortsound@gmail.com www.thebeaufortsound.com | 843-522-0655

E-Edition

CLASSIFIEDS & GAMES

THURSDAY’S CARTOON

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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YOUR AD HERE

Looking to advertise your business, announce a yard sale, or share other classifieds? Contact Amanda Hanna today at amanda@lcweekly.com to secure your spot and get your ad featured in our upcoming issue!