Charleston Currents

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FANNING: Five lessons from coaching kids’ soccer

By Ben Fanning, contributing editor | Ever thought you were going to “teach” someone something new, but then you quickly discover that you’re the one who is really the student?

Well that’s exactly what happened to me in two seasons of coaching ages 5-6 girls’ soccer. Turns out you can pick up a lot of lessons while coaching a sport, and they have practical application in your everyday work and life. Here are five life lessons I learned from coaching kids’ soccer:

by Ben Fanning · 06/06/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Careers

BRACK: “Conservative” doesn’t mean much anymore

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | You don’t see political yard signs in South Carolina that say, “Vote John Smith, liberal.” All over the state, however, it is common for candidates to tout they are “conservative.”

In today’s media-saturated world of buzzwords, does the word “conservative” actually mean anything? Hasn’t the word lost its meaning, just like the words “liberal” or “progressive” are relatively simplistic frames of reference that do little to outline a candidate’s full perspective?

by Andy Brack · 05/30/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

MORRIS: Spoleto is at home here — and part of our edge

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | 1977 – the beginning of Charleston’s emergence as a world destination city– was also the first year of Spoleto Festival USA. Is this a coincidence, or is there a correlation?

Gian Carlo Menotti, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer, sought to establish a sister festival to the Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto, Italy. After a comprehensive search for the right place, he chose Charleston. It met his expectations for old world charm, historical architecture, and abundance of theatres and other performance spaces, including the variety of beautifully-maintained churches that reminded him of those in Italy.

by Kyra Morris · 05/30/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Money, Views

BRACK: Legislative turtles enough to make some run for office

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | There’s so much frustration with politics as usual that maybe this is the year for grassroots candidates who are trying to win without big piles of money.

Anybody with a lick of common sense has got to be more than a little annoyed by what’s been going on in the Statehouse. Just look at the recent week as GOP lawmakers, knowing a primary is just three weeks away, trotted out the always divisive abortion issue to throw a little red meat to voters and prove their “conservative credentials.” At issue is a ban on abortions after 19 weeks, a measure that opponents are shouting is unconstitutional and scary because it will harm women (not to mention that men again are making decisions about women’s bodies).

by Andy Brack · 05/23/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Fix squishy campaign residency laws

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | You, like most people, probably figure that candidates who run for state House and Senate are required to live in the district in which they run.

You’d be pretty much right. But there’s a big loophole: You only have to live in the district on election days and on the day you file for the office.

by Andy Brack · 05/16/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

REAL ESTATE: Charleston continues to rocket forward

By Doug Holmes, contributing editor | The Charleston real estate market continues to outperform. We are well into the busy spring season and it’s been the busiest year ever so far.

by Doug Holmes · 05/16/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Real estate, Views

BRACK: Why you should take a vacation in November

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | This may be the only political prediction that will become true by the time we head to the polls in November: The weirdest presidential election in American history will get weirder.

In a rational world, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s bloviated reality show of a campaign that scares world leaders because they can’t predict him would get so tangled in misinformation, negativity and hyperbole that he wouldn’t be taken seriously by November.

by Andy Brack · 05/09/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Trip brings thoughts on Confederate monuments, museum

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | It was uncomfortable to feel the piercing gaze of a stone Confederate soldier in the town square in Tuskegee, Ala., as African American residents set up tents to sell T-shirts, bracelets, food, candles, shea butter, books and bric-a-brac at an annual festival celebrating inventor George Washington Carver.

by Andy Brack · 05/02/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: The problem with big money in S.C. politics

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The amount of money spent in politics these days is obscene.

But even we were flabbergasted — and kind of sickened — when one New Jersey man gave $250,000 on March 31 to Gov. Nikki Haley’s new political advocacy organization known as A Great Day SC. But he wasn’t alone. The new group collected only six donations, five from out of state, for a grand total of $515,000.

by Andy Brack · 04/25/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Views

BRACK: Incumbents have big advantages in June primary races

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | After a fantastic couple of months away from yard signs and blaring television advertising, campaigning is upon us again. Just look out your car windows as you are driving on any major thoroughfare.

Two months from now, voters — mostly those who vote in Republican primaries — will head to the polls to pick candidates for state and federal offices. In many cases, thanks to gerrymandering of political districts, the primary will be the real election as those who win will face little or token opposition in the fall.

by Andy Brack · 04/18/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views