Charleston Currents – Andy Brack

Andy Brack

A voter waits in a past election to vote.

BRACK: 3 lawyers to challenge Charleston council incumbents

By Andy Brack | Just about all of the focus in Charleston politics of late has been on the November race for mayor as candidates vie to replace longtime incumbent Joe Riley, who is retiring after 40 years. But there are six other races that are important too — half of the seats on city council.

As best as we can tell, three attorneys are challenging three incumbents in city council races around town. Three other incumbents don’t seem to have candidates looming, but with filing not until the end of the summer, they’re not safe yet.

by Andy Brack · 04/06/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Andy Brack, Views

This gunk-covered bleach bottle washed ashore after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Photo by Andy Brack.

BRACK: Keep your mitts off of our coast

By Andy Brack | State Republicans, often obsessed with spanking Democrats for backing a “nanny state” to take care of the less fortunate, are blind to their own frightening vision, an Anita Bryant free-market dream where just about everything goes, except what you do in the bedroom.

This worldview would find guns everywhere. Developers and big companies would overrule the public’s interest in preserving South Carolina’s special places. Public money would pay for private schools. People would be at their own peril in finding good health care, sending tens of thousands routinely to emergency rooms for primary care. And oil wells — well, they would be just off the horizon of our coast, free to spew gunk whenever humans make errors.

by Andy Brack · 03/30/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: A vaccine that saves women’s lives

By Andy Brack | A pat on the back to the S.C. House for passing a bill last week that will save women’s lives. For seven long years, women’s advocates have been working to get the male-centric legislature to approve a bill that would allow the state to educate and vaccinate girls — with parental permission — to protect them against a virus that causes deadly cervical cancer, a disease that kills about 4,100 women in the U.S. annually. Every month, five South Carolina women die from cervical cancer.

by Andy Brack · 03/23/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Colorful nicknames becoming part of past

By Andy Brack | Spot. Goat. Boopa. Preacher. Peatsy. Red.

Nicknames, including those of political figures of all stripes, once were commonplace, perhaps a reflection of a society that spent more time talking with each other than emailing, blogging and staring at smartphones.

These days, with what South Carolina novelist Josephine Humphreys calls the “gentrification of South Carolina politics,” political nicknames run a comparatively narrow gamut with the occasional, bland Chips and Treys.

by Andy Brack · 03/16/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Two dumb ideas: Splitting the school district, offshore drilling

By Andy Brack | There are a lot of dumb ideas floating around these days, but we thought it was time to pick on two: breaking up the Charleston County School District and drilling for oil and gas off our shore.

by Andy Brack · 03/09/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

Brack: “Dum spiro spero” on S.C. public education

By Andy Brack | Twenty years from now, historians just might look back on the past week as the tipping point for state legislators finally “getting it” that public education, particularly in rural areas, needs a lot of attention, not episodic Band-aids.

The state House of Representatives finally seems to have a leader — a man who grew up in the Corridor of Shame’s Darlington County — who is walking the walk, not just talking the talk about public education.

by Andy Brack · 03/02/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

Brack: Mayor’s race is shaping up

Boy, this year’s race to replace Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, retiring in his 40th year at the top spot, is shaping up to be a doozy. First, just try to wrap your brain around the notion of whether anyone can replace Joe.

by Andy Brack · 02/23/2015 · Comments are Disabled · 2015 Mayor, Andy Brack, Views

Brack: More civics education is a good thing

The James B. Edwards Civics Education Initiative calls for high school students to take a 100-question U.S. Citizenship Civics Test as part of an existing half-year course in government. The proposal doesn’t mandate passage of the test as a requirement for graduation (although it should), but students who get a passing score of 60 or better will receive an achievement certificate.

by Andy Brack · 02/16/2015 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

The coverage area of the library's proposed station.

Brack: Library may offer local radio station

The Charleston County Public Library is looking into offering a new radio station to provide local educational and cultural programming now missing from the Lowcountry airwaves.

In November, the library system, which got overwhelming support from voters in a recent $108 million bond referendum, received approval from the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit for a low-power FM station based at the main library on Calhoun Street. If it becomes a reality, it would broadcast at 97.5 on the FM dial.

by Andy Brack · 02/09/2015 · 4 comments · Andy Brack, Views

Brack: S.C. is Squeaky Wheel State

If you haven’t yet learned, South Carolina’s culture places more emphasis in reacting to problems instead of planning to deal with issues before they become problems. That’s just the way we’ve rolled. We should be called the Squeaky Wheel State.

by Andy Brack · 02/02/2015 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views