By Carol Peters, special to Charleston Currents
brings an instant gush of
happiness, this measure of wanting
to live, feeling joy surge at the sight of
a steel bridge, not a shape of nature
like a heron launching into flight
or a pelican sinking like a hull into a wave —
By Elliott Brack | The first thing that hits you when stepping into Rodney Scott’s Barbecue at 1011 King Street here is how very clean the place is. It pristinely sparkles and shines with neatness, everything in place, while the floor appears clean enough to eat on. It’s a far cry from most barbecue joints, often in rundown shacks with sawdust on the floor. Even his outdoor seating area, if you don’t mind the Charleston humidity, is clean and neat, with wood for the cooking in half-cord stacks of oak, pecan and hickory.
His headliner, the barbecue, itself is beautifully pulled, just as neat and clean itself, with no untidy pieces of scrap meat or fat, included. Sprinkle of Rodney’s various sauces, and start to salivate in anticipation!
Everything at Rodney Scott’s is simple and direct, from the menu to the counter. His menu also includes several vegetables including collards, and a mac and cheese. People rave about his cornbread. And each staff greets you easily with a smile and without an attitude.
By Elliott Brack, special to Charleston Currents | Gerrymandering is nothing less than a majority government being unfair to the minority of its citizens in a particular area.
It is also an obvious case of bullying by the majority government. If it happened on the playground, people would yell, holler and stop it.
Yet it’s happened repeatedly in our halls of government, and no major challenge has risen to outlaw this practice. Why can’t our legislators understand this unfairness, and move to outlaw it?
S.C. Encyclopedia | South Carolina’s 180-mile coastline is replete with bays, inlets, and harbors. To assist shipping and aid navigation, lighthouses and beacons have dotted the South Carolina coast for centuries. The earliest warning lights were probably bonfires lit to aid ships entering the harbor at Charleston. South Carolina’s first lighthouse, built in 1767, stood on Middle Bay Island (now a part of Morris Island) in the Charleston harbor.
By Fred Palm, special to Charleston Currents | The driver of future flooding or its prevention lies in Charleston County’s comprehensive land use and the county’s zoning code that is now undergoing review.
Charleston County’s Comprehensive Plan does NOT have water height, e.g., FLOODING, in the plan. Imagine doing a county plan without having looked at an inundation map, let alone defining a land use plan that will accommodate future floods. To continue to muddle through is other than the top-tier governance that we need now.
The next meeting of the countywide planning commission is October 9, 2017, 2 p.m. There, Charleston County can take immediate action in addressing flooding by crafting the comprehensive plan land use and zoning code to address the water issues.
By Allison Savicz, special to Charleston Currents | Celebrating five years, the Colour of Music Festival offers a musical kaleidoscope showcasing the impact and historical significance of black classical composers and performers on American and world culture October 18-22, 2017 at various venues in historic Charleston, South Carolina.
The largest black-presenting classical organization in the world, the Colour of Music Festival brings leading black artists from France, Britain, Colombia, the Caribbean, and the United States performing orchestral and choral works, chamber, piano, organ, vocal recitals, and opportunities for community education with over 15 performances.
By Heather Walker, special to Charleston Currents | Cyber-attacks are on the rise. The most recent cyber-attack impacted 143 million American’s personal information. There is no better time for industry leaders to convene to discuss hot topics involving cyber security, cyber intelligence, and cyber warfare at the CDCA Defense Summit one of the largest in the Southeast.
Walker
Most people don’t know that aside from Charleston’s idyllic beaches and laid back lifestyle, there is a burgeoning, defense tech community. The 2017 economic report for South Carolina states that defense contributes more than $24.1 billion to the annual budget. The dramatic growth of this community involves some of the most innovative offerings surrounding the defense industry.
By Asia Batey, special to Charleston Currents | Preserve the Gullah has been a three-year effort which all started when three North Charleston locals were introduced to the Sol Legare area, and with the help of their mentor, discovered the wealth of knowledge and history within this small, hidden community.
In 2015 in the midst of statewide flooding and the subsequent damage to the cookie-cutter subdivisions and businesses throughout Charleston, Willie Heyward, Asia Batey and Milton Tyus witnessed homes built many decades ago — by hand, mind you — barely chip a single bit.
Within the first week of moving to the area, they met families who still gardened and ate from the land. They were taught how to dig up dandelion root and learned of its health benefits, and they discovered that lemon and lavender are perfectly functioning natural mosquito repellents.
By Fred Palm, special to Charleston Currents | The Union of Concerned Scientists study headlined in in the July 12, 2017, edition of The Post and Courier points to a need to act on factoring sea level rise into the county’s long-range capital plan and beyond its present horizon.
Palm
The foundation of Charleston’s present and future economy and the elements identified in the Charleston County Comprehensive Plan rests on water as many of the county’s other challenges — traffic, housing affordability, balancing a thriving tourism industry with a high quality of life, economic development etc. — is directly and indirectly affected by flooding, storm surge and in our future, varying estimates of sea level rise.
By Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, republished with permission | We’ve been conducting interviews for an alarmingly long time and the last 25 years of have been largely devoted to talking with state, county and city officials. Based exclusively on personal experience, we’ve developed a solid sense of the things that our interviewees can do that will optimize their chances of communicating their message well.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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