Charleston Currents

Archive for 2015

BRACK: Legislature needs more strategic, long-term thinking

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Parents routinely tell their children to be smart about how they act. The state needs to take the same advice.

Case in point: South Carolina’s energy policy. Since the early 1990s, the state of South Carolina has actually had a policy to set a comprehensive state energy plan. But it’s been pretty toothless — a plan in name only, with all sorts of nice-sounding 00_icon_brackgoals that don’t hold policymakers or anybody accountable.

by Andy Brack · 12/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

PALMETTO POEM: The Christmas Apron

By Marjory Wentworth, contributing editor

Unfolding my grandmother’s apron, tucked
deep in a box of Christmas decorations,
I rub my hands across the wrinkled
cream colored cloth as thin as gauze
and the bright red and blue boxes circling
the hem and see her standing at the stove
wearing her Christmas apron, stirring pots
on every burner, a turkey already roasting
in the oven, plates of gingerbread men
cooling on the counter.

by Palmetto Poem · 12/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

GOOD NEWS: Pinckney, Haley, Riley to be honored by Institute

Staff reports | The Riley Institute at Furman University in January will honor the late state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, the pastor slain in June with eight worshippers in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, with the David H. Wilkins Award for Excellence in Legislative Leadership, the Institute has announced.

Also to be recognized with the Wilkins Award for Excellence in Civic Leadership are S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and outgoing Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, both of whom will speak at the event and discuss their collaboration during the crisis involving the deaths the Emanuel Nine.

by Charleston Currents · 12/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

MYSTERY: Maritime pastoral

Boy, howdy — doesn’t this maritime scene feel peaceful as all get-out? But where is it? Give us a guess and we’ll take a drink of Christmas cheer on your behalf (for each correct guess?) Send your guess to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com– and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live.

by Charleston Currents · 12/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos

11/30: A school success; pandering; planning your holiday

In the Nov. 30 issue of Charleston Currents:
PHOTO: Parade of Boats coming soon
FOCUS, Kristin French: Palmetto Scholars Academy, a success story
BRACK: Pandering to fear isn’t American way
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: LaFond Law
MONEY, Kyra Morris: Have a financially-savvy holiday season
GOOD NEWS: Riley Waterfront Park, more
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters
CALENDAR, Nov. 30+: Revving it up for the holidays
MYSTERY: You might have seen this one
BROADUS: Big check for One80 Place
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Voorhees College

by Charleston Currents · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

HISTORY: Voorhees College

S.C. Encyclopedia | Located in Denmark, Voorhees College is a four-year liberal arts undergraduate institution. Founded in 1897 by Elizabeth Evelyn Wright and Jessie Dorsey, the school was first known as the Denmark Industrial School and was based on Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute. Wright was Washington’s protégée and had determined that she wanted to “be the same type of woman as Mr. Washington was of a man.” On graduation she set out for South Carolina to develop a second Tuskegee.

by Charleston Currents · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia

The new campus will open in January in Hunley Park.

Palmetto Scholars Academy is an education success story

By Kristen L. French | Palmetto Scholars Academy (PSA) was founded in 2009 with a mission to serve gifted students in the Lowcountry. Many schools are not equipped to meet the different learning needs of gifted children. This often leads to laziness, boredom, frustration, a loss of self-esteem and underachievement. PSA has developed a liberal arts environment which provides academic and artistic challenges while also serving the social and emotional needs of gifted students. PSA is open to all South Carolina students from 6th to 12th grades, resulting in a diverse student population that crosses economic and demographic lines.

Tolerance of each other’s differences seems to come naturally to the PSA community. The teachers and staff foster tolerance while maintaining a disciplined environment.

by Charleston Currents · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

BRACK: Pandering to fear isn’t the American way

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Recall Thanksgiving afternoon as you watched football and digested turkey after giving much thanks for your freedom, blessings and family.

Imagine hearing the doorbell as you’re dozing. At the door is a young brown woman, heavy with child. She’s wearing a scarf on her head. On the street, you see a beat-up car with a man inside.

by Andy Brack · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

MORRIS: Have a financially-savvy holiday season

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | As our bellies are now full from a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, it’s now time to consider emptying the wallet for the holidays. At least that is what retailers would like for you to do. The holiday season and shopping are often directly correlated. Instead of the joy of the season, we often experience the stress of the season.

by Kyra Morris · 11/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Money, Views