Charleston Currents

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FOCUS: Lowcountry Local First makes big differences in 10th year

By Jamee Haley, special to Charleston Currents | 2017 was a great year for Lowcountry Local First as we celebrated our first decade of loving our local business community. It was a year full of gratitude, and time spent listening to ensure that your input and priorities guide our work in the decade to come. We’re not slowing down!

1. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a community-wide art installation known as “Love a Local,” a proclamationby the Mayor of the City of Charleston, and by honoring 10 Local Luminaries who’ve supported the local business community in major ways.

2. We really listened. We put a lot of energy into gathering feedback from you to help guide the next decade of our work …

by Charleston Currents · 01/01/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: The 12 Days of January: Charleston Restaurant Week returns

Staff reports | For 12 days in January – from Jan. 10 to Jan 21 – Charleston diners will be able to enjoy special food and drinks from renowned chefs at dozens of local eateries. It will be the latest installment of Charleston Restaurant Week, the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, Inc. announced.

“What better way to kick off 2018 than with Charleston Restaurant Week?” said Greater Charleston Restaurant Association President Randall Goldman. “It’s the perfect time of year for both locals and visitors to explore Charleston’s ever-evolving culinary scene and we are so excited to be offering new restaurants and new menus for diners to experience in January.”

More than 100 restaurants participated in Charleston Restaurant Week in September . Newcomers joining the roster this January include Grace & Grit, Ink N Ivy and Pearlz Oyster Bar.

by Charleston Currents · 12/18/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg (center) unveils the memorial outside the Dart Library with two students. (CCPLphotos)

FOCUS: Dart Library celebrates 90th anniversary with new plaque

Staff reports | More than 60 people gathered Saturday to unveil a new historical marker to commemorate the formation of the Dart Hall Library 90 years ago in the northern part of Charleston. Today, the library is located on upper King Street in a building constructed in the late 1960s.

Onlookers clapped as Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and two students unveiled the marker, which was sponsored by the Charleston County Public Library. The anniversary event also featured special presentations including unveiling of a portrait of the first librarian, a poetry reading by artist Fouche Sheppard and an excerpt of a documentary showcasing the evolution of Dart Hall Library and the Dart Library of today.

by Charleston Currents · 12/11/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Sunset at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Stadium in Charleston.

FOCUS: Magazine names RiverDogs as top Class A baseball operation

Staff reports | After a record-setting season at the turnstiles and a promotional calendar that continued to turn heads, the Charleston RiverDogs have been honored as the Class-A recipient of the Bob Freitas Award, which recognizes the top overall operation at each level of the minor leagues by Baseball America magazine.

“The Freitas Award is one of the most sought-after honors in all of minor league baseball (MiLB), recognizing an organization’s overall accomplishments and commitment to their community,” said. said Jeff Goldklang, president of the Goldklang Group which owns the team. “Ownership takes tremendous pride in the first-rate operation that Dave [Echols] and his staff have built, establishing the RiverDogs as cutting-edge leaders in one of the country’s greatest markets. We’re honored and humbled to receive this recognition from Baseball America.”

by Charleston Currents · 12/04/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: 3 life lessons from trip to Berlin

By Ben Fanning, contributing columnist | I recently returned from a trip to Berlin, Germany, and learned several life lessons you can apply to your next trip.

ONE: You can do a lot in the freezing rain

We visited Berlin during the off-season to take advantage of the low rates for airfare and hotels. Also, many of the sites were less crowded than usual. Of course, this meant we faced freezing rain and wind every day, but we came prepared with heavy jackets and multiple layers.

I had an old band director who repeatedly said, “never wait on rain;” While freezing rain in Berlin might be a deterrent to some, it didn’t slow us down one bit.

by Ben Fanning · 11/27/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Careers, Focus, Good news

Photo courtesy of Charleston International Airport.

FOCUS: Plan ahead, arrive early if you’re flying over holiday weekend

Staff reports | As many as 100,000 people are expected to fly into or out of Charleston International Airport over the Thanksgiving holiday making it the busiest time of the year for the facility.

Last year, just over 95,000 passengers came through the airport during Thanksgiving. And so far this year, passenger counts are up over last year, which airport Executive Director and CEO Paul G. Campbell Jr. said he expected to continue through the end of the year.

“We are having a great year and we will reach, and possibly top, 4 million passengers in 2017,” Campbell said in a press release. “This next week we expect to be very busy with Thanksgiving travelers so we encourage everyone to plan ahead and arrive at the airport early.”

by Charleston Currents · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: S.C. gun safety advocacy group seeks middle ground to curb tragedies

By Lindsay Street, via StatehouseReport.com | A gun safety lobbying group founded in 2015 after South Carolina’s mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston is still struggling to get lawmakers to listen. On Tuesday in Charleston, they’ll explain what they’re working on to get lawmakers’ attention.

Arm-in-Arm, a South Carolina grassroots group, said it is having trouble despite 2015 and 2016 polls showing more than 80 percent of South Carolinians favor stricter background checks on gun purchases.

“It’s reckless and irresponsible for South Carolina to not have reasonable laws that prevent people from getting guns if they should not have them in the first place,” spokesman Meghan Trezies said. “The biggest battle is to be heard.

by Charleston Currents · 11/13/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Holiday Festival of Lights starts this week

Staff reports | It’s already that time of the year again – time to enjoy the dazzling annual display at the Holiday Festival of Lights at James island County Park.

The 28th edition of the annual attraction opens Friday, Nov. 10, and will feature more than 700 bright, beautiful light displays of all shapes and sizes every night through Jan. 1, 2018. And starting Nov. 13, you can get $5 off the price of admission if you visit in the evenings from Mondays through Thursdays with a can of food for the Lowcountry Food Bank.

by Charleston Currents · 11/06/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

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

Rev. Joseph A. De Laine Sr., center, sits next to Eleanor Roosevelt (in white) at a New York civil rights rally in 1955. Photo from the University

FOCUS, Elliott: Time to recognize De Laine with a monument

By Carl Elliott, republished with permission of the author | If you look closely at Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 school desegregation decision, you’ll see that Brown wasn’t a single case. It was five cases consolidated into one. Briggs v. Elliott, the first of them, took place in my home state, South Carolina.

Briggs came about after the Rev. Joseph De Laine organized a group of black parents in Clarendon County to petition for equal educational facilities. The man who stood fast against that request — the Elliott of Briggs v. Elliott — was the chairman of the school board, Roderick Miles Elliott. Or as he was known in my family, Uncle Roddy.

by Charleston Currents · 10/23/2017 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news