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COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Battery Creek coaching legend Day dies
Nathan Day, who won six state championships as the Battery Creek wrestling coach, died Friday after a battle with COVID-19. Photo courtesy of Ron Lanham.
By Mike McCombs “Dad always said, ‘If you’re going to do something, be the best you can,’” Ryan Day said Sunday. It’s unlikely anyone can argue Nathan Day didn’t live up to his own credo. Nathan Day, the longtime and highly successful Battery Creek High School wrestling coach, died Friday, Aug. 27, after a battle with COVID-19, leaving two communities in mourning – a third if you count the South Carolina wrestling community. He was 57, three days
shy of his 58th birthday. Ryan Day said his father became ill about three weeks ago before taking a turn for the worse just a few days ago. “The last three days were rough,” he said. Nathan Day had most recently been the head wrestling coach at Liberty High School in the Upstate since 2017. He was a Physical Education teacher and the Athletic Director at Liberty Middle School, as well. “It is with deep sadness that we inform you that we lost Coach
Nate Day this afternoon,” Liberty Middle School posted on its Facebook page. “We have lost a teacher, coach, friend, valued colleague, husband, father of two, and grandfather. Our grief and confusion at this time are little compared to what the Day family must be feeling. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.” Nathan Day is survived by his wife, Kim Day, his two adult children – daughter Morgan and son Ryan – two grandchildren and a brother and a sister.
Becoming a legend It was at Battery Creek where Nathan Day cemented his legacy as one of the state’s best wrestling coaches. He won six state championships at Battery Creek High School (1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2014, 2015) and coached Dolphins wrestlers to 30 individual state championships in his 16-year tenure at the school. “He was one of the best wrestling coaches in the state of South Caro-
SEE LEGEND PAGE A6
HONORING THE FALLEN
S
arah Chaplin of Fish Camp on 11th Street pours the last of the 13 beers in an area reserved in memoriam for the 13 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen killed during the Thursday suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Each place setting has flatware wrapped in a linen napkin on a plate with a
glass of beer. Angel Vaigneur, manager of the popular restaurant in Port Royal, said they did it first on Friday simply out of respect for the fallen. “It was so well received,” Vaigneur said. “We were taken aback by the positive response. People took photos of it,” while others quietly began to tear up.. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
School board needs to follow all of the law
T
he Murdaugh murders and the rampant spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant have dominated local news coverage over the past several months. Other stories that might normally garner attention have been squeezed off news pages, forced to take a back seat. The Charleston Post and Courier has answered with a concerted, investigative effort aimed primarily at governmental entities and their compliance with Sunshine Laws (aka the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA). Our local news outlets’ coverage of government open meeting transgressions has waned over
JOANN ORISCHAK
time due to a variety of factors. Without the constant watchful eye of our news media, however, more and more government discussions are occurring behind closed doors unchecked. By law, many of these discussions should rightfully play
out for the public’s consumption. For this example, let’s talk about the issue du jour: how Beaufort County’s second largest employer — the school district — is communicating with the public regarding COVID-19. At the board’s August 17 meeting, the following motion passed 9-2: “I move to postpone voting on this motion (school district masking mandate) pending legal and public health advice.” As promised, the legal and public health advice was presented a few
SEE ORISCHAK PAGE A5
COVID numbers continue to rise in Beaufort Co. schools SC Supreme Court hears two ‘mask mandate’ cases Tuesday By Mike McCombs The Beaufort County School District reported 208 new positive cases of COVID-19 among students and 26 new cases among faculty and staff, for the week of Aug. 23 to 29. And roughly 11 percent of the students in the district are in quarantine. That brings the total number
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Large crowd shows support for the Audit the S.C. Vote Rally on Monday evening.
Thomas Heyward leaves no doubt vs. Battery Creek.
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of positive cases for the first two weeks of the school year to 388 students and 46 faculty and staff members. The number of quarantining students is now up to 2,566, nearly double the total of 1,316 after the first week of school. There are 66 members of faculty and staff quarantining. Meanwhile, as the Beaufort County Board of Education prepared to meet on Tuesday eve-
SEE COVID PAGE A5