Charleston Currents

Focus

FOCUS: Helping victims of the Great Flood of 2015

By Tim Ervolina, president, United Way Association of South Carolina | This flood has a thousand stories.

I could tell you about the disaster response volunteer from Danville, Virginia, who called in the midst of the deluge to offer tractor-trailers full of relief supplies, along with trained volunteers to pass them out.

I could tell you the community health worker who was looking for infant formula for a Hispanic mother of a fragile baby. When we got it to her, we found that the worker had been in a shelter since her own evacuation days ago.

I could tell you about the faith communities, the first responders, the medical staff, the animal shelter volunteers and the ordinary people who opened their hearts, their homes and their wallets to their neighbors and to total strangers.

by Charleston Currents · 10/12/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, photo essay: Rain, rain go away

Photo essay: Dale Poulnot of Charleston wanted to know what Charleston harbor looked like around high tide during Saturday’s deluge of rain. So she stepped outside, walked to the Battery and snapped this photo. “I thought it was scary spectacular!” she told us. “Wasn’t surprised since it was a strong east wind and high tide. Sure made me glad that Hugo came at low tide!” For getting out in the storm and taking a striking photo of something familiar, she’s top winner of our first (and we hope last) Rain Photo Contest. Her prize: A can of beef stew!

by Charleston Currents · 10/05/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Photos

FOCUS: Will put residents’ quality of life first as mayor

By John Tecklenburg, candidate for mayor of Charleston

SEPT. 28, 2015 | My comprehensive plan for Charleston, Our Quality of Life First, is not what anyone would call a slickly-packaged public relations document.

In fact, if you head over to our website and take a quick look at it, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that it’s light on pretty pictures and heavy on specifics. But that’s not the only way it differs from some other plans you may have seen.

by Charleston Currents · 09/28/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Will work to relieve traffic congestion as mayor

By Ginny Deerin, candidate for mayor of Charleston | Many days, it feels like we spend more time trying to get places than actually being there.

It should not be this hard to get around Charleston. As mayor, I will work day-and-night to relieve traffic congestion — and make it easier to get where we are going.

We can do better. We have studied our traffic problems to death. Now is the time for action. I have presented a bold and aggressive transportation action plan — a plan that includes clear and identifiable funding streams.

by Charleston Currents · 09/21/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Focus

FOCUS: In race to move Charleston forward, keep it together

By Leon Stavrinakis, candidate for mayor of Charleston | Forty years ago, Joe Riley left the legislature to become mayor of Charleston. We have all been witness to the kind of difference proven leadership can make as we watched him lead Charleston’s transformation into a diverse, economic powerhouse led by thriving hospitality, booming manufacturing, growing knowledge based, high-tech industries and the most unique quality of life anywhere.

As Mayor Riley steps away from the stage, it’s time to ask ourselves what we need for our city to continue to be the special place we all love.

by Charleston Currents · 09/14/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Focus

FOCUS: In race to be a voice for the voiceless

By Toby Smith, candidate for Charleston mayor | I’m 315 pages into Isabel Wilkerson’s masterpiece, The Warmth of Other Suns. This saga of the Great Migration should be required reading across the board. I see my great grandparents, grandparents and parents, and better understand the economic challenges that continue to be vexing, why the pursuit of education is so very critical for minority populations, and the suffocating impact of bias, discrimination and racism. Frankly, I see myself, my life and the challenges I’ve overcome.

by Charleston Currents · 09/07/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

MORRIS: Don’t panic about market’s fluctuations

By Kyra Morris | Ten days ago on Augst 21, the DOW fell more than 500 points. Then on Monday, August 24, the DOW fell again another 500 points. By Tuesday, August 25, it looked like the DOW was on an upswing, but then in the last hour of the day it fell and closed again down more than 200 points. Whoa! Then … here comes Wednesday and Thursday with a rebound that was one of the best two-day percentage gains in more than six years. What’s happening and what will be next?

Most financial professionals doubt that this will be a repeat of the 53 percent drop experienced from October 2007 until March 2009. Why – what’s the big difference? The lack of a real negative economic event like we had back then makes this different.

by Kyra Morris · 08/31/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Characters Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell have words in the movie adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

HAMILTON: Blacks not only victims of racial discrimination

By Kendra Hamilton | I enjoyed the Statehouse Report’s discussion of “the elephant in the room” on July 31. But I think a missing element is South Carolina’s legacy of violence against and coercion of … other whites. Two “integration stories” told by friends my age come to mind — stories that helped to shape my thinking, as an African American with deep South Carolina roots, on the dimensions of the problem facing us.

The first, I heard 20 years ago. A bosom friend from Gonzales, La., confided the terror and confusion that descended upon her childhood when she learned that her best friend’s father, a known Klan leader, was believed “by everyone” to have murdered another classmate’s father, a Jew who was active in civil rights.

by Charleston Currents · 08/17/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: The photo sleuth

By Elizabeth Halberstadt | Sunday, July 19, was a particularly hot and humid summer day in Charleston. I planned to browse in the extra-cold air conditioned Barnes & Noble, but instead found myself drawn to the estate sale signs on the road near the bookstore.

The estate sale was for multiple estates and I found a room with black and white photographs. Old photographs have always piqued my interest. I sat on the floor for an hour, sifting and admiring the images with imprints from studios around the country.

by Charleston Currents · 08/10/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Get facts straight on sex ed curriculum

By April L. Borkman, special to Charleston Currents | Almost 20 percent of South Carolina middle school students have had sexual intercourse, according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey This number only continues to increase as students enter and attend high school with 57 percent of high school students reporting being sexually experienced. While we have made abundant strides in reducing teen pregnancy rates in South Carolina over the past 20 years, South Carolina still ranks 11th for teen pregnancy nationally.

On Aug. 4, members of the Charleston County School Board’s Secondary Education Committee (SEC) will vote on a new sex education curriculum, which is called “Making Proud Choices” (MPC). It is an evidence-based, proven, effective and comprehensive sex education curriculum.

by Charleston Currents · 07/27/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news