GOOD NEWS: Coates to speak Tuesday in race, social justice series

Staff reports  |  Author Ta-Nehisi Coates will speak 6:30 p.m. March 21 at the College of Charleston’s TD Arena as part of the college’s Race and Social Justice Initiative lecture series.  Doors open at 5 p.m. for Coates’s lecture, “A Deeper Black:  Race in America.”

Coates

The event, postponed due to a conflict earlier, currently has no available tickets due to tremendous interest, the college said.  A printed or electronic ticket from EventBrite is required for audience members to enter.

Coates is a national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics and social issues. He is the winner of a 2015 MacArthur Fellowship and is also a New York Times bestselling author of the books The Beautiful Struggle and Between the World and Me.

The Race and Social Justice Initiative is made possible by a major grant from Google and is led by the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, Addlestone Library, African American Studies, the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative (LDHI) at the College of Charleston in collaboration with multiple community partners, including South Carolina Humanities and the Charleston County Public Library.

In other Good News:

Wi-fi buses.  Hats off to Google, which today will unveil the state’s first “Rolling Study Hall” initiative by making some school buses in Berkeley County Wi-Fi accessible.  That means students on long bus rides can pursue academic pursuits during commutes.  A press conference is slated for 11:30 a.m. today in St. Stephen.

Wine Down Wednesdays.  This afternoon wine social returns March 22 to the not-open Old Town Creek County Park off Old Towne Road in West Ashley with the first of four events.  Other socials, which include music and wine for $15 for county residents, will be held April 5, April 19 and May 3.  Each event will have a food truck on hand.  More info here.

Colleges want money.  Area colleges are among dozens of state agencies trying to win millions of dollars in funding from state borrowing that likely will total about $425 million. Members of the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday will look at a $2.7 billion wish list of projects, the vast majority of which are for deferred maintenance following 17 years of no borrowing by the state to keep up with capital needs.  As outlined in this report by our sister publication, Statehouse Report, several Charleston-area schools are seeking funding:  College of Charleston, almost $600 million for construction and renovations; The Citadel, $67 million for renovations and maintenance; and MUSC, $168 million for “capital renewal for critical systems.”  The State Ports Authority is seeking $50 million in five projects, including increased container capacity and traffic improvements at Wando Welch terminal.