Charleston Currents

Focus

FOCUS: The dilemma over carriage horses and the need for reform

By Joe Elmore, Charleston Animal Society | For over 142 years, Charleston Animal Society’s mission of preventing cruelty to animals has not changed. The organization was established by leading Charlestonians to be the protective voice for equines and other animals.

Today in downtown Charleston where the Animal Society was established as the first animal organization in South Carolina and one of the oldest in the nation, equines do not fare better due to an outdated and ineffective system of regulations governing what is commonly known as the carriage horse industry.

by Charleston Currents · 08/08/2016 · 2 comments · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Edisto Beach and its tales of mystery

By C. Hope Clark, special to Charleston Currents | A beach with no franchises where the loggerhead turtles take priority over the tourists. A beach where the locals preserve history, embrace their Southernism, and refuse to allow motels. A beach where you go to do what beaches were meant for. . . get away and bask in no responsibility and the sun, the rollers in the background lulling you to sleep.

by Charleston Currents · 08/01/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Let’s start fixing a broken system

By Michael Kaynard, contributing photographer | Over my 65 years, I have seen a lot of change in our communities. I came from a Georgia town with water fountains and bathrooms marked “coloreds.” I still see black and white and it shames me to admit it. I don’t understand why, but it is there. For us to move forward, we have to stop seeing in black and white.

I used to see the police as more brutish than now. I now see them trying to do the best they can with not a lot of support from their communities. I know they are there to protect us, but I also know some should never be police. To be honest, the overdeveloped muscles and generally-uniform shaved heads are intimidating. I think they could do something to soften their image. If we had more officers, they could spend more time becoming a part of the community and not just enforcers.

It is said that a high tide lifts all. Has it? One of the greatest problems I see is economic inequality. I met a woman who works at Lowe’s part-time because her 15-year position in hotel reservations downtown doesn’t pay enough. Many people have to work two to three jobs to keep afloat. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

by Charleston Currents · 07/25/2016 · 3 comments · Focus, Good news

Davies picked to be library’s new executive director

Nicolle Davies, a nationally-recognized library leader who was named Library Journal magazine’s 2016 Librarian of the Year, will be Charleston County Public Library’s new executive director, the library’s Board of Trustees announced today.

“Charleston is blessed to have a library leader of Nicolle’s stature to steer our system in the transformational years ahead of us,” said Andy Brack, chair of the library’s Board of Trustees. “A world-class city attracts world-class talent. With energy, drive and vision, Nicolle will help guide our professional staff through exciting changes with new buildings and programs that will truly make our libraries become lifelong learning centers.”

by Andy Brack · 07/19/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: One Region targets infrastructure, education, housing

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | The Charleston area is our home. This area includes Charleston County, Berkeley County and Dorchester County. It’s changing, and it’s happening quickly. The passive approach is to sit back and simply marvel, or perhaps we can complain at the increase in traffic with poor road conditions, the high cost of housing and the quality of our educational system. The active approach is to get involved.

The Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA) and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce (CMCC) joined together to form a collaborative initiative. The purpose is to create a multi-fibered think tank representing the public sector, private sector, nonprofit and educational organizations within our region to further enhance and sustain our economy while maintaining the quality of life we all cherish. They call this initiative One Region: A Global Competitive Strategy.

by Kyra Morris · 07/04/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news, Money

FOCUS: 8 S.C. facts to know for Carolina Day

By Jeff Quinton | June 28 is Carolina Day in South Carolina. The Battle of Sullivan’s Island took place on June 28, 1776. Troops in the South Carolina Militia successfully repelled an attack from the Royal Navy on Charleston Harbor. The S.C. troops occupied an unfinished fort (Fort Sullivan, later renamed Fort Moultrie after the militia commander) made of logs from palmetto trees and the spongy nature of the wood helped repel the British cannonade. The 2nd South Carolina Regiment and the 4th South Carolina Artillery occupied the fort that day.

by Charleston Currents · 06/20/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

WENTWORTH: New Charleston book grew after “my heart was broken”

By Marjory Wentworth, contributing editor | In our very first television interview about our book We Are Charleston, Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel, the reporter thrust the microphone in my face and asked “Why would a white woman want to write this book?”

I was standing between my African American co-writers, Herb Frazier and Dr. Bernard Powers, at the time, and the question took me by surprise, but it shouldn’t have. I wanted to respond that if he had done his research, the reporter might have asked the opposite question; how could I not write this book?

by Charleston Currents · 06/13/2016 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Music of doves ascending

A poem by Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina:

Yellow crime tape tied to the rod iron fence
weaves through bouquets of flowers
and wreaths made of white ribbons,
like rivers of bright pain flowing through the hours.

Weaving through bouquets of flowers,
lines of strangers bearing offerings
like rivers of bright pain flowing through the hours.
One week later; the funeral bells ring;

lines of strangers still bring offerings.
Nine doves tossed toward the sun.
One week later; the funeral bells ring,
while churches in small towns are burning.

Nine doves tossed toward the sun.
Because there are no words to sing,
while churches in small towns are burning,
a blur of white wings, ascends like music.

by Palmetto Poem · 06/06/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news, Palmetto Poem

FOCUS: RiverDogs to add $3 million event space by next year

Staff reports | Almost as soon as the last batter is called out to end the 2016 season of the Charleston RiverDogs, the team’s owners will start a $3 million project to add an event space for “The Joe,” the ballpark that opened in 1997 and was named after former Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr.

The space, which will overlook the marsh on the Ashley River, will modernize the park for games and allow it to accommodate events throughout the year.

“It will be fully utilized during games for an upgraded experience for fans as it will be exclusive area with upscale menu,” said President and General Manager Dave Echols. “But it will also be heavily used on non-game days for corporate and social events.

by Charleston Currents · 05/30/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

This photo shows the scaffolding that was put into place to allow artisans to restore the dome of the Gibbes Museum of Art during a two-year renovation. The museum reopens this week capping a full week of arts in the Charleston area, as outlined in our Focus piece in the new issue. (Photo provided.)

FOCUS: It’s the season for the arts

Staff reports | If there ever were a week for the arts in Charleston, it’s this week, which marks the May 28 reopening of the Gibbes Museum of Art after a two-year renovation and the start of the annual 17-day festival season featuring Spoleto Festival USA and the 2016 Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

Four new shows opening May 28 (of course they’re new … the museum has been closed for two years!) include:

* The Things We Carry: Contemporary Art in the South (Gallery 8), which features paintings, sculpture, photos and mixed media by a diverse group of artists who address the South’s troubled history, including responses to the 2015 Emanuel AME Church tragedy.

* Beyond Catfish Row: The Art of Porgy and Bess (Gallery 9) celebrates the George Gershwin opera as interpreted by visual artists. …

by Charleston Currents · 05/23/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news