Charleston Currents

Archive for 2015

FOCUS: Will work to relieve traffic congestion as mayor

By Ginny Deerin, candidate for mayor of Charleston | Many days, it feels like we spend more time trying to get places than actually being there.

It should not be this hard to get around Charleston. As mayor, I will work day-and-night to relieve traffic congestion — and make it easier to get where we are going.

We can do better. We have studied our traffic problems to death. Now is the time for action. I have presented a bold and aggressive transportation action plan — a plan that includes clear and identifiable funding streams.

by Charleston Currents · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Focus

BRACK: Mr. Fixit strikes in Charleston

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Years back when my father was a boy, he knew his father could fix just about anything. He marveled at his father’s skills, not understanding how he would ever be able to build shelves, craft furniture, fix electrical outlets or repair motors.

by Andy Brack · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

HOLMES: Understanding the cyclical nature of our market

By Doug Holmes, contributing editor | I had several people come up to me last week and ask me about a recent article they had read about local real estate activity in the local newspaper. They were concerned that the market here might be losing steam. The article in the local paper had done a great job at misleading them.

by Doug Holmes · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Real estate, Views

GOOD NEWS: On poverty, Gibbes’ prize, Conservancy

Staff reports | The South isn’t as mired in poverty as it once was, according to a new report, and South Carolina is no exception. But in many places in the Palmetto State, things still aren’t that great.

Before President Lyndon Johnson launched his War on Poverty campaign, the South was home to 49 percent of the nation’s poor, according to Pew Research. Today, the region is home to 41 percent of the nation’s poor. But what’s striking is how poverty overall is far different throughout the South.

by Charleston Currents · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

One of Havana's iconic lions along the Prado in central Havana. In the left background, you can see the National Assembly building modeled after the U.S. Capitol.

PHOTO ESSAY: The buildings of Cuba

Editor and publisher Andy Brack offers 14 photos of the buildings of Cuba, particularly the way things look in central Havana to visitors.

It’s clear there’s a lot of renovation going on these days, in part because of preparations for an onslaught of tourists as U.S.-Cuba relations continue to thaw. But there’s a lot of work to get done.

by Andy Brack · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Photos

9/14: Stavrinakis, energy options, Palmetto Poem

In the Sept. 14, 2015, issue of Charleston Currents:
PHOTO: Bird of paradise
FOCUS, Leon Stavrinakis: Running to move Charleston forward, keep it together
BRACK: More energy options are a good deal for consumers
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Titan Termite & Pest Control
PALMETTO POEM: Music of doves ascending
GOOD NEWS: Aquarium lectures, no-drilling rally
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters
CALENDAR, Sept. 14+: Green Fair, author visit, more
REVIEW: Inside the O’Briens
MYSTERY: Through the looking glass
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Civilian Conservation Corps

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

CALENDAR, Sept. 14+: Green Fair, author visit, more

Week of Sept. 14+: Green Fair, Moonlight Mixer, Lee Robinson, Workplace diversity, Chase After a Cure, Oktoberfest 5K Run-Walk, more

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · calendar

HISTORY: Civilian Conservation Corps

S.C. Encyclopedia | President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a New Deal federal initiative that put millions of unemployed men to work on conservation projects. Initially known as the Emergency Conservation Work program, the CCC represented an unprecedented effort to combine social welfare with conservation on public and private lands. Between 1933 and 1942 South Carolina’s CCC camps employed more than 49,000 workers, many between the ages of 18 and 25. In countless hours of backbreaking and often tedious work, CCC workers fought soil erosion and wildfires, created a state parks system, built roads and trails, erected fire towers, and carried out extensive reforestation projects. Wages sent home by CCC workers helped many families weather the Great Depression.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: Inside the O’Briens

Inside the O’Briens: I recently read the new book by Lisa Genova, called Inside the O’Briens. I loved her first book, Still Alice, as well. Genova is a neuroscientist, and although she writes fiction, her books explore various neurological issues, and it’s obvious that she knows what she’s talking about.

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

FOCUS: In race to move Charleston forward, keep it together

By Leon Stavrinakis, candidate for mayor of Charleston | Forty years ago, Joe Riley left the legislature to become mayor of Charleston. We have all been witness to the kind of difference proven leadership can make as we watched him lead Charleston’s transformation into a diverse, economic powerhouse led by thriving hospitality, booming manufacturing, growing knowledge based, high-tech industries and the most unique quality of life anywhere.

As Mayor Riley steps away from the stage, it’s time to ask ourselves what we need for our city to continue to be the special place we all love.

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Focus