Andy Brack

BRACK: On the dumbing down of American political discourse

BRACK: On the dumbing down of American political discourse

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Maybe it’s smartphones. Or television and the 10-second soundbite.  Maybe it’s all of that instant access to information.

But any way you look at it, the people who get microphones stuck in front of their faces these days just don’t seem as smart or pithy as they did a few decades — or centuries — ago.

by · 04/26/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Now is the time to thank a South Carolina teacher

BRACK: Now is the time to thank a South Carolina teacher

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  The letter from my daughter’s longtime piano teacher gave a start.  

“After being in the classroom for 31 years and working with children and youth for another nine-plus years, I have decided to retire at the end of this year,” wrote Debra Benson, who teaches at Charleston County School of the Arts (SOA).  “As one of my colleagues said, ‘I have never worked as hard as I do at SOA’ but every minute has been rewarding because of the students we serve.”

For six years, Mrs. Benson has been a steady influence, a reassuring fixture in our family’s life.  It’s hard to imagine her not being at SOA during my daughter’s senior year.  

by · 04/19/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
From a 2011 Senate redistricting map.

BRACK: Redistricting delay is a public shame

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Every 10 years in spring like clockwork, the General Assembly is mired in the minutia of redrawing election lines as required by the U.S. Constitution. 

Except this year because of a double-whammy that has delayed everything for months.

by · 04/12/2021 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Get the vaccine to promote the common good

BRACK: Get the vaccine to promote the common good

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Getting immunized with a COVID-19 vaccine is a huge act of kindness to your community. 

While being vaccinated will give one a high level of personal protection against the highly infectious disease, it also helps to dampen its spread around the state.  

by · 04/05/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Vaccinations dampening virus, but pandemic ain’t over yet

BRACK: Vaccinations dampening virus, but pandemic ain’t over yet

By Andy Brack | Normalcy is slowly approaching after the lost year of COVID-19.  As of Thursday, the state had received 2.5 million doses of vaccine. Medical professionals so far have administered 1.8 million doses, which means the state has used 72 percent of the on-hand supply that is continuing to come into the Palmetto State. 

by · 03/29/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
Statue in Malmo, Sweden, via Unsplash.

BRACK: Don’t buy specious logic on unsafe gun proposal

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Different day, same story: Man buys a handgun and goes on a same-day rampage, killing several people.   Everyday citizens say they’re shocked, but how can they be?  This is the umpteenth time this narrative has played out.

by · 03/22/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Why budget reporting matters

BRACK: Why budget reporting matters

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Media have gotten so streamlined that only one newspaper wrote a story earlier this month when the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee approved a $9.8 billion budget.

That’s billion with a “B.”  And that “B” means that it matters.  But without reporters meticulously covering what’s going on with your state tax dollars throughout the whole process — and not just at the end when all of the deals have been cut — then there’s a better likelihood that someone will stick a pet project or two in the budget.

by · 03/15/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
Via Unsplash

BRACK: State doing better than you might think, feel

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Our roadways are busy.  Traffic is back. If you walk on downtown streets, there are more people than in a long time.  Tourists are returning.  Restaurants are opening.  Airports are picking up steam.

by · 03/08/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
Lake Keowee, via Unsplash.

BRACK: Scratch your itch to travel in South Carolina

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  If you’re feeling stir crazy because of months of pandemic-related confinement to your home or hometown, there will be a day soon when travel will feel safe and comfortable again. 

For most of us, it can’t come soon enough. For many, it may not matter exactly where the destination is.  It’s just important that it not be at home.

by · 03/01/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Bald power grab could frazzle election process

BRACK: Bald power grab could frazzle election process

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  The S.C. Election Commission is facing the possibility of a governing board that’s more partisan and beholden to the legislature after its director suggested pandemic changes to expand access to absentee voting in the November election.

by · 02/22/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views