Charleston Currents

Focus

FOCUS: Plastic straws, bags, clamshells, more to go away in Charleston

Staff reports | New single-use plastic regulations that eliminate the use of single-use plastic carryout and merchandise bags, as well as some plastic carryout and food packaging items, start Jan. 1 in the city of Charleston.

The new requirements were enacted to maintain cleaner streets and waterways and preserve the beauty and livability of the Charleston area for generations to come, the city of Charleston said.

Among the items that no longer will be allowed are:

* Polystyrene (also known as plastic foam or StyrofoamTM) and other non-recyclable and non-compostable food service ware, carryout containers and food packaging materials such as bowls, boxes, clamshells, cups, plates, stirrers and straws.

* The selling or renting of polystyrene bowls, cups, plates, coolers, containers, ice chests, shipping boxes and packing material.

by Charleston Currents · 12/23/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Conservationist Charles Lane discusses 30 years of work to protect 300,000 acres of majestic Lowcountry lands and marshes. Photos by 'Andy Brack.

FOCUS: Conservationists celebrate protecting ACE Basin

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | More than 400 people Sunday celebrated the protection of 300,000 acres of majestic Lowcountry landscapes over the last 30 years on a balmy Sunday straight out of central casting.

The 30th anniversary of protecting the ACE Basin, the confluence of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers stretching from southern Charleston County through Beaufort County, attracted private landowners and the federal government as well as conservation organizations ranging from Ducks Unlimited to the Nature Conservancy.

“More ducks, fewer people” was the translation of a Latin phrase on commemorative glasses given to guests at the ceremony west of Adams Run on Yonge’s Island at historic Willtown Bluff Plantation, first settled in 1714. Now owned by the Lane family of Charleston and Savannah, it is an epicenter for collaborative conservation effort championed for three decades to safeguard the land and marshes of the Lowcountry. Thes areas often are considered the last wild places along the Eastern seaboard.

by Andy Brack · 12/09/2019 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

PHOTO FOCUS: “Lights of Magnolia” explodes with color, thrills, sounds

By Rob Byko, contributing photographer | Approaching Magnolia Plantation at night through the gates along a winding drive, you can tell you’re in for a treat. Over the treetops and through the underbrush, you see your first glimpse of the brilliant lights in colors too numerous to mention.

Entering the festival grounds, the evening explodes in color and sound. The lights’ reflections wash over joyful faces of patrons walking the garden paths. The light dances along ponds and through the eyes of children who seem lost in the fantasy.

An easy walking trail guides you first along a fairy tale of characters, followed by flowers and fauna taller than your head. Then you meet huge butterflies and ladybugs, pandas and peacocks. Turn a corner and you find a kaleidoscope from the animal kingdom featuring playful lions, stoic zebras and tigers so vivid they seem real.

Finally, the tour returns to fantasy, placing you face-to-face with a 200-foot-long dragon whose majestic head soars more than 45 feet in the air. …

by Rob Byko · 12/02/2019 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news, Photo Essay

FOCUS: #GivingTuesday is just around the corner

Staff reports | After the frenetic shopping and pace of Black Friday and CyberMonday, you might want to set aside a little something to give back to others on GivingTuesday, which is marked around the world as a day for generosity.

“GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good,” according to the organization’s website. “Over the past seven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

“Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to give.”

In Charleston County, more than 200 organizations are taking part in the global giving effort.

by Charleston Currents · 11/25/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Rice canals at Caw Caw. Photos provided.

FOCUS: McLeod Plantation, Caw Caw park win international honor

NOV. 18, 2019 | Two historic Charleston County parks are now internationally-recognized “Sites of Conscience” by a worldwide network of 230 sites in 55 countries.

According to a press release from the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel and McLeod Plantation Historic Site on James Island are now part of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience — places that confront the history of what happened at the site and lasting impacts.

“You have done great work already reimagining the historic plantation experience and we are eager to be a part of your continued journey,” International Coalition of Sites of Conscience Executive Director Elizabeth Silkes wrote in a letter to the parks commission.

According to release, “Sites of Conscience ‘face all aspects of history and also activate the historical perspective with dynamic public dialogue on related issues we face today and what we can do about them.’

by Charleston Currents · 11/18/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Lights of Magnolia to feature Chinese lanterns, dragons, more

By Herb Frazier, special to Charleston Currents | Chinese lanterns will glow for four months beginning Nov. 15 at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, illuminating America’s oldest garden at night for the first time in its 343-year history.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens has partnered with the Zigong Lantern Group in China to present “Lights of Magnolia: Reflections of a Cultural Exchange.” The lantern festival includes custom-designed installations of large-scale thematically unified lanterns, a fusion of historic Chinese cultural symbols and images that represent the flora and fauna of Magnolia.

The lantern festival, the first ever at a public garden in North America for Zigong, places Magnolia in a position to play a prominent role in supporting Charleston’s tourism traffic, said Tom Johnson, the garden’s executive director. “We are expecting record-breaking attendance for this visually stimulating display of stunning Chinese art that will glow in the night,” he said.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/11/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Citadel military band to represent U.S. at Edinburgh Tattoo

Staff reports | The Citadel Regimental Band and Pipes will represent the United States next year as the country’s designated military band at the at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.

The overseas honor will be the band’s fourth time performing in what is considered the world’s most famous military music festival. Over the three-week event, millions of people will watch the band, which is the only U.S. military college band to have been invited to perform on behalf of the United States, according to a press release.

“It would be an honour to welcome the Citadel cadets back to the Tattoo,” Brigadier David Alfrey, chief executive and producer of the Tattoo wrote in his invitation. “The band performed with us to huge plaudits and it would be wonderful to present their talents to the Tattoo audience once more.”

by Charleston Currents · 11/04/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Something a little different — jazz from Oscar Peterson

By Elliott Brack, special to Charleston Currents | How about a little something different today?

Let me introduce you to a 6.53 minute video with some of the most soothing music I have ever heard. The work comes from the late jazz virtuoso Oscar Peterson, and it is a composition of his own, which he entitled, “Ode To Freedom.”

by Special to Charleston Currents · 10/28/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Rickey Watson, left, received a scholarship check from Board Chair Lee Deas and CEO Bob Smith. Watson now will now be able to attend a welding certification course offered as part of Palmetto Goodwill’s Career Credentialing Program. (Photo provided.)

FOCUS: Palmetto Goodwill plans for another 40 years of impact

Staff reports | October 16 was a special day for Palmetto Goodwill as it celebrated 40 years of service to coastal South Carolina. When the organization opened its doors in 1979 with six employees and a $90,000 budget, few envisioned the impact it would have four decades later through training, employment and community services to more than 400,000 people. During the span, Palmetto Goodwill placed 19,157 into new jobs., according to a press release.

“I want to thank every person who has ever donated to Palmetto Goodwill, supported our events, shopped in our stores, partnered with us or volunteered their time,” Palmetto Goodwill President and CEO Robert Smith said. “The Goodwill model only works with a supportive and engaged community and we are lucky to have had that these past 40 years.”

Donations and revenues have grown through the years allowing to provide an annual impact of over 41,000 services to more than 15,000 individuals. It also assists placing more than 3,000 people into new jobs. The organization’s unsold donations received each year also result in over 16 million pounds of waste and e-waste being diverted from area landfills.

by Charleston Currents · 10/21/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: As local governments ban plastics, port grows plastics business

By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | Plastic is a growing export business in South Carolina, but the tiny plastic pellets could also be a big environmental hazard — and the next battle in the so-called War on Plastic.

State Ports Authority CEO Jim Newsome last week called plastic transportation “a significant part” of the port’s growth strategy.

But downstream from the port’s headquarters on the Cooper River, Sullivans Island Mayor Pat O’Neil said he’s worried. The town’s single-use plastic ban appeared to curb litter. Then in July, a spill of plastic pellets (also known as nurdles) from Frontier Logistics at the port traveled to its beaches. Despite cleanup efforts, pellets remain in the sand, the mayor said. The pellets are used in the production of plastic homegoods.

“Industry is important (and) economic growth is important but we need to be selective and prudent in the types of industries we encourage,” O’Neil said.

by Charleston Currents · 10/14/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus