Articles by: Andy Brack

BRACK: State should provide flexibility with local tourism taxes

BRACK: State should provide flexibility with local tourism taxes

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |   South Carolina’s legislators need to provide more flexibility to city and county governments in how they can use some of the tax money they collect as the state works to take away more of their revenue.

For years, local governments have received state subsidies to comply with requirements that cities and counties provide some state-mandated services, such as maintaining ditches along state roads or providing offices for courts and some agencies.  By law, the state is supposed to pay 4.5 percent of the previous year’s general fund to help counties with the cost of these required state services.  But since 2010, the state has been shorting local governments with the gap now at just under $100 million a year.

by · 12/11/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views
Pamela Evette, flanked by Gov. Henry McMaster.  Source:  McMaster campaign video.

BRACK:  Time will tell if governor’s running mate gamble pays off

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Gov. Henry McMaster made a strategic political decision this week.  Whether it’s good or bad remains to be seen, but it certainly surprised the establishment in Columbia.

McMaster announced a political neophyte, Ohio native Pamela Evette – a Travelers Rest business executive who moved to South Carolina in 2005 – would be his running mate in next year’s gubernatorial race.

That is, if he wins the GOP party nomination.  Three other political animals – Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant of Anderson, former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill of Kingstree and former agency head Catherine Templeton of Mount Pleasant (who also has never held elected office) – want to be the Republican standard bearer at the top of the 2018 ticket.

by · 12/04/2017 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views
The S.C. Supreme Court building in Columbia, S.C.

BRACK: High court lets legislature off the education hook

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Shame on a majority of the legislatively-elected S.C. Supreme Court for letting the General Assembly off the hook on funding poor, rural schools.  State leaders haven’t yet spent enough money or done enough work to upgrade these neglected schools so that they’re on par with urban and suburban public schools.

On Nov. 17, the court ruled 3-2 to dismiss the 24-year-old Abbeville v. State of South Carolina school equity funding lawsuit.  The order, however, is premature because state legislators only started moving these schools toward parity after a 2014 order by the court.  Now without the court’s oversight, there’s no pressure on the General Assembly to make good on its promises.

With gazillions of dollars of state funding needs, do you really trust legislators not to continue a legacy of inattention in the so-called “Corridor of Shame” area where a multitude of challenges persist?

by · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Let’s be thankful for one of our own, Septima Clark

BRACK: Let’s be thankful for one of our own, Septima Clark

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  All South Carolinians – white, black, brown, newcomer and native – can stand to learn more about a real homegrown patriot, the late Septima Poinsette Clark.

The mere mention of her name today invokes reverence in the black community.  But white Southerners seem to forget that she was so respected for her work in the civil rights movement that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked her to accompany him to Oslo, Norway, in 1964 when he accepted the Nobel Peace prize.

“In a sort of casual way, he would say, ‘Anything I can’t answer, ask Mrs. Clark,’”  she recalled in a 1986 memoir.

From 1916 when she was 18 until she was fired 40 years later with 41 others in Charleston County for being a member of the NAACP, Clark was a teacher, first on John’s Island and then in Charleston, McClellanville, North Carolina, Columbia and again in Charleston.

by · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Push back on dumbing down of American citizenship

BRACK: Push back on dumbing down of American citizenship

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  If you periodically read commentaries like this one about public policy, you are probably considered a pretty good citizen – somebody who cares about how our society operates and is governed.  You probably vote, fret about tax rates, get roused by bureaucratic incompetence and care about issues of public importance.

But what about people across our state and nation who don’t read much, pay little attention to what’s going on in neighborhoods and towns – people who tune out, not tune in?   What about other people, liberals and conservatives, who have perverted American principles for their own ends to make America less than what it has been?

by · 11/13/2017 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views
Charleston sunset, by Missy Hanahan.

GOOD NEWS:  Great sunset plus accolades for restaurants, groundskeeper, more

Staff reports  |  Here’s one of the best Lowcountry sunset photos we’ve seen in a while.  Taken last week by Missy Hanahan of Charleston, it’s hard to tell whether the sky or reflection is at the top of the picture of a still pond near Ashley River Road.  (Answer: Sky is at the top.)  Thanks, Missy, for the photo.

Also in Good News: Bertha’s, The Grocery:  Hats off to these two Charleston area eateries for making Eater’s annual list of America’s Essential Restaurants.  They’re two of 38 restaurants across the U.S. that made the list.  On Bertha’s in North Charleston, the site noted, “Albertha Grant founded the restaurant in the early 1980s, and many of her specialties — meaty okra stew, tomato-stained red rice, creamy lima beans, and turkey prioleau (a sustaining rice dish available only on Tuesdays) — originate from the culinary traditions of the Gullah, former slaves who established themselves in Lowcountry hamlets and the nearby islands.”  On The Grocery, Eater says, “he Grocery has steadily bloomed into one of the city’s most remarkable and welcoming restaurants. This is the circa-right-now modern American menu, Lowcountry edition: delicata squash with pomegranate and herbed tahini-yogurt sauce; smoked mackerel flanked by crackers with everything-bagel seasoning; triggerfish over cornbread puree, bacon, and pickled mushrooms.”

by · 11/13/2017 · 1 comment · Good news, News briefs
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Old South Carolina church

MYSTERY PHOTO:  Old South Carolina church

Here’s an old church somewhere in South Carolina sent in by a reader.  Tell us where and, for bonus points, what its significance is.  Send your best guess to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com – and please make sure to include your name and hometown.  In the subject line, write: “Mystery Photo guess.”

We thought that with last week’s Photo Essay of Sapelo Island, Ga., more readers would figure out that the mystery was probably close by.  We snapped a sunset photo of shrimp boats along Darien Creek, which is part of the Altamaha River estuary. 

by · 11/13/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos
View from atop the lighthouse -- a great reward for those who climb a wooden, 77-step circular staircase.

COMMENTARY, Brack: Visit to Sapelo Island is familiar, special

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  A weekend visit to Sapelo Island, one of Georgia’s sea islands proved it to be special, a place only accessible by ferry or boat.  But Sapelo is also familiar – a coastal haven that feels much like Bull’s Island in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near Awendaw.

Like Bull’s Island, Sapelo island is protected from development.  Almost all of the 16,500-acre island, other than a 440-acre Geechee community called Hogg Hammock, is owned by the state of Georgia.  Much of it is used by University of Georgia researchers to study the coastal ecosystem of the barrier island.

by · 11/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Photo Essay, Photos, Views
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Shrimp boat

MYSTERY PHOTO:  Shrimp boat

Here’s a shrimp boat and a bridge.  Could be anywhere, but where is it actually located?  Send your best guess to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com – and please make sure to include your name and hometown.  In the subject line, write: “Mystery Photo guess.”

Last week’s photo, offered by the good folks at DiscoverSouthCarolina.com, pictured the captivating view from Caesars Head State Park near Cleveland, S.C. 

by · 11/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos
FOCUS:  County library system unveils new, dynamic website today

FOCUS:  County library system unveils new, dynamic website today

Staff reports  |  It’s been a long time coming, but the Charleston County Public Library today is unveiling a spiffy, new website that’s much, much easier to use.

It offers dynamic content, easy-to-use links to multiple platforms of downloadable content, and an interface that’s pleasant, modern and relevant.

“With changing web technologies, growing information needs of our patrons, and the introduction of new library services, it was time for a comprehensive redesign of our digital branch,” said CCPL Executive Director Nicolle Davies.

by · 10/30/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news