Charleston Currents #13.22 | April 12, 2021
PEACEFUL. Here’s a dock that you can find at a corner of the Penn Center in St. Helena Island in Beaufort County. It’s so peaceful. Nearby is a small cabin built for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But he never saw it because of his assassination in 1968, some 53 years ago. See something you think our readers would enjoy? Snap a shot and send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. Photo by Andy Brack.
FOCUS: Group plans to plant 3.3 million trees on Earth Day
COMMENTARY, Brack: Redistricting delay is a public shame
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Ports Authority
FEEDBACK: Special funds being hijacked for regular responsibilities
MYSTERY PHOTO: In the distance
CALENDAR: Marsalis, septet to bring jazz to Gaillard April 23, 24
Group plans to plant 3.3 million trees on Earth Day
By Skyler Baldwin | PowerPlantSC is prepping for what may be a record-setting loblolly pine tree planting event across South Carolina. The group estimates more than 3.3 million trees will be planted throughout the Palmetto State on Earth Day, April 22.
Several state groups have signed on to the event, conceived and directed by global expedition leader and S.C. Floodwater Commission Chairman Tom Mullikin of Camden. PowerPlantSC will involve the Boy Scouts, 4-H Club members, Future Farmers of America, schools and other key partners in the state’s 46 counties.
State leaders including Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will participate in the statewide effort as well. “We are not only planting and growing trees, but this is about growing our economy and growing our state,” Evette said in a press release. “Through PowerPlantSC, we are now educating our children as to how important our environment is.”
All six of the Palmetto State’s Boy Scout councils will be planting trees, as will Gov. Henry McMaster, who will host a tree-planting event at the Governor’s Mansion the morning of Earth Day.
The tree-planting effort is to serve as a future natural defense against the increasing threat of disastrous floodwater events, according to a press release.
“Trees, vegetation and soils are components of pervious surface cover that help absorb stormwater and reduce the harmful effects of flooding, erosion and runoff,” said Douglas E. Wood, director of communications with the S.C. Forestry Commission. “Expanding tree cover through this project — and especially through successive, ongoing satellite-spin-off events and initiatives — will allow for offsetting of stormwater naturally and aid in infiltration.”
The tree seeds come in packs of 60 and are donated by the Forestry Commission.
Skyler Baldwin is a staff writer with the Charleston City Paper, where this story first appeared.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Redistricting delay is a public shame
From a 2011 Senate redistricting map.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Every 10 years in spring like clockwork, the General Assembly is mired in the minutia of redrawing election lines as required by the U.S. Constitution.
Except this year because of a double-whammy that has delayed everything for months.
First came an assault on the Census process by the Trump Administration. While the Constitution requires every person living in the United States to be counted every decade, Trump and his cronies wanted to change the rules in an obvious effort to marginalize the count of non-citizen residents. Officials tried to do this by asking people about their immigration status, which states and activists said would chill legal immigrants from participating in the 10-year count because they would be afraid of what would happen if they gave information to the almighty government. By 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the administration’s insistence on an immigraton question was “arbitrary and capricious,” causing the feds to drop the question after a whole lot of drama.
The second part of the whammy was the pandemic, which made collection of results difficult. In fact, the Commerce Department extended the deadline for data collection by three months last year to the end of October, although the Trump Administration again fiddled with the process to end the extension early, which the courts approved.
Bottom line: The annual Census, normally as regular as rain, has been a chaotic mess because of natural and Trump-made disasters. And that’s thrown off the whole process.
On one hand, it’s not terrible news, as observed by Clemson professor Matthew Saltzman, who works on redistricting as a member of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.
Saltzman
“The delay gives those of us that want to participate and to engage the public in the process more time to get our processes and our outreach efforts up to speed,” he says.
But remember redrawing voting lines is done by House members and senators in a kind of fox-guarding-the-henhouse manner. And so far, they haven’t even gotten started. No leaders of the process have even been appointed. The Census data isn’t expected until the end of September, which will cause all sorts of rushing around. And that will give advantages to the people drawing the lines because citizens watching will have less time to come up with alternatives that may be fairer than what the foxes develop.
“When legislators are left to draw lines on their own, behind closed doors, they are able to bring a significant amount of control to the outcome of district elections,” Saltzman said. “They can protect incumbents — an actual requirement in Statehouse guidelines in 2011 — or assign voters to districts in ways that bias the outcomes strongly toward one party or the other.”
He pointed out South Carolina voters faced uncontested general elections in more than half of House seats in 2020 and a third of Senate seats.
“That lack of competition means that legislators are beholden to their primary voters and special interests and much less so to their constituents as a whole.”
With a compressed timetable, South Carolina legislators likely may get new lines before the March primaries as many expect a special fall session to hammer out details. But if they’re delayed for one reason or another, primaries could be delayed.
Meanwhile, municipalities with elections this year have two options — to hold elections using current lines or delay municipal elections to have new districts that apportion voters fairly.
Whatever happens, the lack of action by this point in time is a pure shame. This year’s reapportionment is a result of partisan chaos intentionally caused by a former administration to create distrust in a process that should be as routine as the sun rising daily.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents, and publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
South Carolina Ports Authority
Founded in 1942, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) owns and operates public marine terminals at two port facilities, the Port of Charleston and the Port of Georgetown, in addition to inland ports in Greer and Dillon, S.C. These facilities are owner-operated terminals, meaning the SCPA owns the terminals, operates all container cranes, manages and operates all container storage yards and leads all customer service functions in both the yard and the lanes.
SCPA promotes, develops and facilitates waterborne commerce to meet the current and future needs of its customers, and for the economic benefit of the citizens and businesses of South Carolina. In fact, SCPA facilities in Charleston, Dillon, Georgetown and Greer drive $63.4 billion in annual statewide economic impact and 1 in every 10 S.C. jobs is attributed to the port.
- For more information, visit www.scspa.com.
- To meet all of our underwriters, click here.
Special funds being hijacked for regular responsibilities
To the editor:
The project before the Greenbelt Board and later the Charleston County Council is the proposed Howls Avenue Park on James Island. What a nice idea consistent with the Dutch Dialogues recommendations: Store the flood water in parkland before releasing the excess.
It is becoming difficult to distinguish parks and stormwater responsibilities of our local governmental bodies found in the Greenbelt projects. What is happening here is the capital and general funds are not funding what should be funded — parks and stormwater.
These annual budget decisions are subject to the voter’s will and part of why we select our representatives. We like or do not like the budget priorities. Last year’s Charleston County Greenbelt policy change permits this funding. Permission is not the point. The difference between can and should is the point here.
The larger issue is the hijacking of the special purpose sales tax funds used for current government responsibilities that are to be funded from the sales tax revenue sources. The same question is found in the Charleston County Council’s hijacking of the unspoken for sales tax fund to build the I-526 Extension on James Island.
Just as the drug addict seeks more, the legislature is asked to provide the fix. H.3948 allows a county that has already implemented a one percent sales tax (Greenbelt) to enact an additional one percent sales tax. More of this tax diversion is in the name of apparently lower taxes for many of us is facilitated. The deception permits the snookering of the voter, the home seller and the bond raters.
Sales tax funding disproportionally sucks more income, and maybe some years, out of the lower income households, given the death rate. The poor pay more and die sooner in S.C. is the fact pattern. If equity is the current question, then we need to look at S.C. tax policy to achieve fairness and advances of the common good.
— Fred Palm, Edisto Island, S.C.
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In the distance
You may know generically what is pictured in the distance, but where is it specifically and why is it significant? Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Last week’s mystery, “Epic fail,” showed an old, seemingly abandoned church along U.S. Highway 17 in Jacksonboro, S.C. Nearby was a billboard that said “Epic fail,” which seems like what’s happened to the church.
Elizabeth Jones of Columbia described the church as “beautiful and sad” and said she would like to know more about it. Which Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, provided in his answer:
“Today’s mystery photo is of the Wesley CME Church in Jacksonboro, S.C. Located at the intersection of Ace Basin Parkway (U.S. Highway 17) and Hope Plantation Lane. The church was named after the 18th-century Methodist founder, John Wesley (1703-1791), an English cleric, theologian and evangelist, who was the founder of the Methodist Revival Movement within the Church of England.
“Churches like the Wesley CME were bulwarks against segregation and discrimination across the South for over 100 years, providing witness to the value of human lives – lives that Jim Crow tried to throw away. As with many other Protestant denominational churches, it is evident that the Wesley CME Church was designed and built around simple lines and functionality, devoid of elaborate marble and gilded cornices that make up so many other places of worship. A door, two windows, and a modest steeple make up the face of this church; any more decorative elements would have been considered superfluous and wasteful.
“According to the property tax records for this property here, the church is 1,152 square feet in size and sits on a 0.2-acre lot. As of Dec. 31, 2019, it had a market valuation of $33,300. It was last sold (granted) by Fraser W. Whaley to the Wesley CME Church on Jan 8, 1983, for $3.00 (yes … you read that correctly … 3 bucks!). Clearly Whaley was a very generous man! Interestingly, the property tax records also show a sale date of July 4, 1776!”
Also identifying the photo correctly were George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia; Craig Bennett of Charleston’ Cami Hepler of Hickory, N.C.; and Tanya Givens of North Charleston, who shared she went to the church as a child.
Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Marsalis, septet to bring jazz to Gaillard April 23, 24
Jazz at Lincoln Center Septet, photo by Justin Bias.
Staff reports | The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet will perform socially distanced shows at 7:30 p.m. April 23 and 24 at the Gaillard Auditorium under the musical direction of master trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
In a recent interview with 105.5 The Bridge radio host Richard Todd, Marsalis described how jazz is the American music:
“It’s a music that comes directly out of the American experience and the search and need for freedom. Cultures and groups of a people don’t just get unlimited art. If you’re a culture and you are blessed with an art form and an ability to express it in art, it had to be studied to be understood. It can last across centuries and across time if it is tended to. We have a tendency to turn everything into a commercial venture. There are some parts of our civic life that are not about turning a profit but are about investing in our identity. And jazz is one of those things.” Hear the full interview on Todd’s podcast next week.
At the Gaillard, the septet will perform from its vast repertoire with rare historic compositions to Jazz at Lincoln Center‐commissioned works, including compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus and others. The weekend performances will showcase the musicians in a rare small group configuration that will leave audiences inspired and uplifted with the full vigor, vision and depth of America’s music.
- Concert seating is in blocks of two and four. To attend in person, you must purchase the block. Tickets start at $65. If you don’t want to attend in person, you can buy a livestream ticket of the April 24 event for $20. Learn more.
Also on the calendar:
Roots of Racism in Policing: 7 p.m. April 13; Virtual at: Jewish Federation of Charleston. Simon Balto, author of Occupied Territory: Policing Black Chicago from Red Summer to Black Power, discusses the link between racism and police brutality as well as what defunding the police might really mean, how to address racist policies and what the Jewish community can do to be better allies. This free event is part of the ongoing Jewish Film Series.
Safe Sounds: Series starts April 17, Firefly Distillery, North Charleston. Here’s a list of some of the shows at the beginning of the 15-concert series:
- Saturday, April 17 – 20 Ride
- Saturday, April 24 – Randall Fowler with special guest
- Sunday, April 25 – The Allman Betts Band
- Thursday, April 29 – Sam Bush
- Saturday, May 1 – On the Border – “The ultimate Eagles tribute Band”
- Head over to citypapertickets.com to secure a spot. Tickets are available now. (Editor’s note: City Paper Tickets, which is run by sister publication Charleston City Paper, is operating ticketing for Safe Sounds.)
Ongoing
Holy City Farmers Market: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Wednesday, Holy City Brewing, North Charleston. Vendors rotate weekly to provide shoppers with a tiny but mighty shopping experience. Vendors will be selling a range of products from specialty foods, home and body care to arts and crafts. More info.
Birds of Prey flight demonstrations: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, Center for Birds of Prey, 4719 Highway 17. Awendaw. The center has reopened its doors to visitors after closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inviting people to once again come and explore the world of raptors through an outdoor program and flight demonstration. Tickets: . $20/adult; $15/children age 3-17.
Like A Girl: Dare to Dream: Through May 2, City Gallery, Prioleau St., Charleston. Featuring portraits of more than 35 South Carolinian women, Like a Girl is a new exhibition by artist Fer Caggiano that brings attention to women who have excelled, each with unique and inspiring stories. In them, girls and other women will see on canvas their potential: they can be strong, smart and beautiful, and ready to make their mark on the world. Learn more.
Quiet Edge: Through May 22, Redux Contemporary Art Center, 1056 King St., Charleston. This new show brings together the works of two artists who address rectangular forms that ebb and flow between depiction and abstraction: Suzanne Dittenber of Ashevlle, N.C., with the form of the book and Benny Fountain of Waco, Texas, with the window and room. Hours are Monday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday Brunch Farmers Market: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., every Sunday, Charleston Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway, James Island. While the market is discouraging people from spending too much time hanging out during the market, everyone is invited to shop their local vendors.
Bird-watching at Caw Caw. Every Wednesday and Saturday — particularly through the end of February — you can see a plethora of birds at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel as they make their way through the Lowcountry. The two-hour regular walks, which start at 8:30 a.m., are through distinct habitats that allow participants to view and discuss a variety of birds, butterflies, and other organisms. Registration is not required. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars. A paid chaperone is required for participants ages 15 and under. Max. 10 participants. Fee: $9; free for Gold Pass holders. Open to all ages. More: Caw Caw Interpretive Center.
- If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line. Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.
- ORDER NOW: Copies of our new book, 350 Facts About Charleston, are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
As more people stay home to deal with the coronavirus crisis, people are looking for things to do. You can find some fun things to do online in our calendar section below, but let us also encourage you to FORWARD your issue of Charleston Currents to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. It’s got a great price, as you know: Free! We hope they’ll enjoy our coverage.
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