Charleston Currents

Focus

FOCUS: Photo memories from the 1960s

By Chuck Boyd, special to Charleston Currents | In 1964, I had a picture pending to be on the full MISCELLANY page in LIFE Magazine, but I could not identify where it was taken!

I was in a helicopter, returning inland after taking photos of surfers for my newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune. I was a staff photographer for the paper, lugging a bulky 4×5 Speed Graphic camera. I quickly managed to grab two shots as we passed over an apple orchard with the word “QUIET” plowed in the field in huge letters.

Back at the paper, the editor passed on using it, but when I sent a copy to LIFE magazine, the editors immediately called to say they needed a caption with the facts! We photographers at the paper had submitted shots before and always received a polite stock rejection slip… but this time, they phoned me.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 05/13/2019 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news, Photo Essay

FOCUS: Piccolo Spoleto 2019 has something for everyone

Staff reports | Hold onto your hats for what may be the most memorable Piccolo Spoleto season ever when the city’s annual arts tribute opens May 24 for 17 days.

“The arts resound throughout Charleston year-round, but Piccolo Spoleto’s performances and exhibitions afford special license for the arts to be your guide as you discover landmark houses of worship, historic parks and celebrated public spaces, as well as lesser-known performance venues off the beaten path,” Mayor John Tecklenburg said in his annual welcome letter.

For the 2019 season, artists will be using two new venues — the Cannon Street Arts Center downtown and “The Pearl” at Charleston Stage’s new West Ashley Theater Center. Several shows will take place at the Cannon Street venue, including “Big Mama’s House” (May 24-26); “Butcher Stories” (May 29-30, June 2); “The Why” (June 7-8); “Too Much Memory” (May 29-June 1); “Reality is Overrated” (May 31-June 1); and “Vincent John Doe” (June 6-9). Other shows that caught our attention: …

by Charleston Currents · 05/06/2019 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Learn how to avoid enemies of change to realize success

By Anton Gunn, republished with permission | Recently, I have been focused on success. Particularly, I am focused on the changes you need to make to achieve success in your life.

Change is the operative word today. Change is a constant in our lives. Nothing in our lives stays the same. Everything changes. Some changes happen on their own. Other changes happen when we decide to make them happen.

I want you to be aware of the enemies of change. Yes, that’s right. I want you to be aware of the nemeses of the improvements you want to make in your life.

You must avoid them at all cost because they can stifle your success. You must learn how to defend and defeat them.

Here they are.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/29/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Charleston premiere of film about libraries, homeless is Friday

Staff reports | Two local organizations that support libraries have arranged for the Charleston premiere on Friday of a new movie that explores homelessness and public space. A panel discussion with area librarians about the issues in the film will follow.

by Andy Brack · 04/08/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: On disruptive companies and policy-makers impacting change

By Stanfield Gray, special to Charleston Currents | Whether crafting outreach for major brands or leading political campaigns for U.S. senators, Matt McKenna and Taylor Bennett have equally impressive backgrounds in communications and public affairs.

For over seven years, Matt served as spokesperson and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. He also ran communications for Uber North America and spearheaded several political campaigns for governors and senators around the country. Two years ago, Matt co-founded Greenbrier, a San Francisco-based consultancy that helps individuals and organizations avoid, navigate and recover from complex media, political and legal challenges.

Taylor spent the first half of his career at Edelman and Adfero, where he managed reputation campaigns for leading brands like Walmart and American Airlines. He later served as Communications Lead at Uber during its early expansion and as Head of Communications for global bikeshare leader of North America. …

by Special to Charleston Currents · 04/01/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Cantral: S.C., Charleston County need environmental leadership

By Laura Cantral | Trash. Trash has always been a problem, and now that problem is getting even bigger all over the world. Global and local circumstances now mandate that we get creative on how we reckon with waste, including in our own backyard.

The New York Times recently reported that recycling efforts across the country are collapsing. For cities and towns, costs to run their recycling programs have skyrocketed after a crash in the global market. Communities used to make money selling cardboard, bottles, and glass, but now they get little or nothing for the material. At times, they even have to pay processors to take it away.

Small towns in Florida have canceled entire curbside pick-up programs. Philadelphia now burns about half of its recyclables, while city residents grow more concerned about air quality. Every plastic bottle dropped in a blue bin at the Memphis airport is thrown away. And in Charleston County, a month of recycling now sits under a tarp at the Bees Ferry Landfill.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 03/25/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

16 Rutledge Ave., Charleston. Photo provided.

FOCUS: Symphony League’s Designer Showhouse to open March 27

Staff reports | An elegant 1903 high-style Queen Anne Victorian house on Rutledge Avenue near Colonial Lake will be featured March 27 to April 28 as the 42nd annual designer showhouse for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League.

“We are thrilled to present our 2019 Designer Showhouse, where the focus is on our beautiful city, its exceptional architecture and our talented and wonderful designers,” said Kitty Reid, president of the league. “Springtime is so special in Charleston, and this most cherished event welcomes thousands of visitors to Charleston each year. We’re so happy to be a part of presenting our city and all it has to offer to the world.”

by Charleston Currents · 03/18/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

The Navy commissioned the USS Charleston last week.

FOCUS: Ahoy! It’s Navy Week in Charleston

Staff reports | America’s Navy sets sail for Charleston starting today Saturday with a bevy of Navy Week activities through Saturday.

As part of Charleston Navy Week are two free performances by the U.S. Fleet Forces Band at the College of Charleston…

Navy Week is an opportunity for Charleston to embrace the rich naval heritage of the Lowcountry, which has long had a significant Navy presence, particularly prior to the closure of the Charleston Naval Base and Charleston Naval Shipyard in the mid-1990s. One of the local hosts for Navy Week is Navy Rear Adm. Daniel Fillion, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business in 1984 at the College of Charleston.

by Andy Brack · 03/11/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Adams: Headed out to hike the Appalachian Trail … again

By Jerry Adams, March 2, 2019 | Tonight I camp atop Springer Mountain in Georgia. Tomorrow, I begin the Long Walk to Maine, a 2,192-mile backpacking adventure. Again

Adams
The “why” of the whole thing has been rattling around in my 68-year-old brain since I decided three months ago that another backpacking trip from Georgia to Maine was absolutely the right thing to do. So it begins…

A schoolmarm friend wrote Tuesday asking me how her fifth-graders could follow me on the trail. They wanted to send me messages and hear about my travels. They wanted to know why I was doing this.

Great question. Yes, it’s about five million steps from Georgia to Maine, but that’s the attraction – a wonderful journey through winter, spring and summer, and across 14 states. It’s not the impossible dream.

by Charleston Currents · 03/04/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Palm: I-526 Extension is a huge boondoggle

By Fred Palm, contributing editor | The S.C. Joint Bond Review Committee last week sent Charleston County’s funding application to extend Interstate 526 to a four-person subcommittee to provide the due diligence of the facts of the financing. Why? Because years of skittish details about the project just do not fly.

Core issue: The basic problem that caused the delay by the Joint Bond Review Committee is found in the half-truths, equivocations, shell games, bait and switch, balderdash and peekaboo funding sources draped with inchoate statements about other displaced projects from the majority of Charleston County Council that backs the I-526 extension (I-526X). Through proposed no-see-em fiscal sleights of hand, the council’s Majority of Five offers to push through this incredibly expensive highway with zero contingency built off of a well-founded cost estimate because at its root, the extension is unjustifiable.