Archive for March, 2015

FOCUS: Three-day conference offers chance for collaboration

FOCUS: Three-day conference offers chance for collaboration

By Todd Chas | Two local grassroots organizations, Building from the Block Up and CharlestonGOOD, are teaming up to host a free three-day series of workshops based on the understanding that collaboration is the key to increasing our positive impact on our community.

As event organizers point out, “There is no shortage of wonderful people, organizations and businesses working to make the Lowcountry a better place to live. As volunteers, consultants and entrepreneurs ourselves, we are inspired daily by the ‘good’ that surrounds us. But let’s face it, we all know there are obstacles to our best efforts and intentions: lack of knowledge, lack of resources, lack of ideas, lack of time, lack of connections, and lack of coordination in our efforts.”

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
This gunk-covered bleach bottle washed ashore after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.  Photo by Andy Brack.

BRACK: Keep your mitts off of our coast

By Andy Brack | State Republicans, often obsessed with spanking Democrats for backing a “nanny state” to take care of the less fortunate, are blind to their own frightening vision, an Anita Bryant free-market dream where just about everything goes, except what you do in the bedroom.

This worldview would find guns everywhere. Developers and big companies would overrule the public’s interest in preserving South Carolina’s special places. Public money would pay for private schools. People would be at their own peril in finding good health care, sending tens of thousands routinely to emergency rooms for primary care. And oil wells — well, they would be just off the horizon of our coast, free to spew gunk whenever humans make errors.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
GOOD NEWS: Google CS program from S.C. marks milestone

GOOD NEWS: Google CS program from S.C. marks milestone

Good news on Google CS reaching a milestone, Charles Fox winning award, new Citadel official, Eat Local Month, Le Creuset’s purple pots, photo contest

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs
CALENDAR: April+ — Silhouettes, Easter, hats, more

CALENDAR: April+ — Silhouettes, Easter, hats, more

Lots of events for Easter and the rest of April 2015.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · calendar
MYSTERY: Municipal garden

MYSTERY: Municipal garden

CLUE: Note the background to figure out where these flowers might be. Send your guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com for a chance to win a pair of tickets to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Make sure you include your contact info (name and hometown).

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos
HISTORY:  Mules

HISTORY: Mules

A mule is a hybrid animal that results from breeding a male donkey with a female horse. Although mules have gender (males are called “horse mules” and females “mare mules”), they are sterile and cannot reproduce.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, S.C. Encyclopedia
REVIEW: The Quiet Streets of Winslow

REVIEW: The Quiet Streets of Winslow

The Quiet Streets of Winslow is a starkly beautiful work of literary fiction masquerading as a murder mystery. The calm, lyric tone of Judy Troy’s prose takes her reader away to the sparse, open spaces of northern Arizona and into the hearts of her characters.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Reviews
POEM: Ten more reasons to come back as a pelican

POEM: Ten more reasons to come back as a pelican

By Laurel Blossom | Kafka said a book must be an axe for the frozen sea within us.

Because pelican means axe

Even if you don’t believe in it, wouldn’t you like to come back as something useful?

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem
SENIORS: The ABLE Act — a new, special tool

SENIORS: The ABLE Act — a new, special tool

By Catherine LaFond | At the end of 2014, President Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (hereinafter “ABLE Act” or “Act”). The law creates a new tool for a person with a disability to save money without losing needs-based public benefits such as SSI or Medicaid. An ABLE account provides the special needs community with another option, in addition to special needs trusts, to consider when creating a plan for persons with a disability.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Seniors, Views
PHOTO:  Dewees Sunset

PHOTO: Dewees Sunset

Today’s photo is a shot taken from a new real estate video touting the natural surroundings of Dewees Island, a barrier island at the end of 60 miles of protected parkland.

by · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Photos