Charleston Currents

GOOD NEWS: Giving Day set for May 5

Dozens of charities around town are looking forward to Lowcountry Giving Day on May 5, a day in which nonprofits in local communities join to try to raise as much money as possible in 24 hours as part of a national challenge across the country.

Last year, 7,166 people gave more than $4 million to 93 participating nonprofits in a 24-hour period, according to the Coastal Community Foundation, which coordinates and host the event. This year, more than 180 nonprofit organizations are participating.

by Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

CALENDAR: April 28+ — Swedish ship, street party, more

For the next week, some cool things: A Swedish tall ship in town; a great Gibbes street party, more.

by Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · calendar

Redcliffe Plantation, now a state historic site.

HISTORY: Redcliffe

Constructed between 1857 and 1859, Redcliffe was the homeplace of South Carolina Governor James Henry Hammond and three generations of his descendants. Located in western Aiken County near Beech Island, Redcliffe served as an architectural and horticultural showplace, as well as the center of domestic life for the Hammond family. By 1860 it functioned primarily as a headquarters for Hammond’s extensive cotton plantations, which were sustained by more than three hundred slaves.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

REVIEW: The Martian

The Martian: A novel by Andy Weir. Mark Watney is pretty much the perfect man: a problem-solver with a wry sense of humor, he thinks on his feet and is cool under pressure. Unfortunately, he’s an astronaut stranded on Mars and left for dead with literally the entire Universe working against him. Fortunately, he’s Spaceman MacGyver and can build a new spaceship out of canvas, duct tape and potatoes. Ok, I exaggerate, but not by much.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews

PHOTO ESSAY: Bountiful colors

You might not believe the bountiful color found in gardens open at the Giverny, France, home where Impressionist Claude Monet painted many of his most famous paintings.

This tulip, flanked by tiny violet forget-me-nots, is just one of hundreds of flowering species at the gardens, about 50 kilometers northwest of Paris. Click on this link to see other photos taken April 21 in Monet’s gardens. Photos by Andy Brack.

by Charleston Currents · 04/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Photos

Barrack, a junior at left, and Caroway, a freshman, attend the College of Charleston

FOCUS: CofC student painters look to summer

Student Painters gives college students the tools and training to successfully run a painting business during the spring and summer. Students get this position through a series of interviews with the hopes of becoming a branch manager, each of whom are responsible for the marketing, sales, hiring and production of their own business.

The company offers a variety of services, focusing mainly on exterior painting, pressure washing and deck staining.

Although this experience looks good on a resume and can be financially rewarding, those are not the only two reasons that we decided to embark on this once in a lifetime journey.

by Charleston Currents · 04/13/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

#BlackLivesMatter: A few memorials lay Wednesday in the field near where Walter Scott was murdered in North Charleston, S.C. Photo by Andy Brack.

BRACK: What was done right and what needs work still

By Andy Brack | North Charleston, the state’s third largest city, has never been an easy place in which to live. With large pockets of poverty and schools that face inner-city conflicts not found in suburbs, daily life — even today — can be a struggle.

Back in the late 1980s as a police reporter, I headed to North Charleston often to find out what was happening. The police culture was insular, tough and tight-lipped. There was a particular way of doing things in North Charleston and often, it seemed, it involved knocking heads.

In 2006 and 2007, a total of 54 people were murdered or killed in North Charleston, which led to the city being named one of the nation’s most dangerous.

by Andy Brack · 04/13/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views