Charleston Currents – Bill Herbkersman

This artfully-painted cow in Georgia apparently has a sense of humor. Photo provided.

BRACK: We’ll get through this, but it’s going to be hard

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | We’ll get through this coronavirus crisis. But, Lord have mercy, it’s going to be fraught with pain, suffering, fear and sadness.

Too many people are going to die as our unprepared nation grapples with a microbial invader that is devastating lives, jobs, routines and the stability of our social, political and economic institutions.

Doctors, nurses and health care workers are understandably frightened, worried they’ll bring the virus from soon-to-be-overloaded hospitals into their homes.

by Andy Brack · 04/06/2020 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

Herbkersman ferried more than a ton of supplies to Treasure Cay on Sunday.

HELPING: Bluffton legislator ferries supplies to decimated Bahamas

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Bill Herbkersman wanted to do something to make a difference after Hurricane Dorian. So he got some disaster relief supplies and flew them to Treasure Cay, part of the decimated Abaco Islands of the Bahamas.

A seasoned developer and Republican state representative from Bluffton, Herbkersman made two roundtrips Sunday, each leg of which is about 90 minutes. He plans to make three trips daily for most of the rest of the week. On each trip, his Cessna 182 single-engine plane, which he describes as a “Suburban with wings,” can haul about 1,100 pounds of whatever he can get — water, food, disinfectants, cleaning supplies and medical supplies, such as stethoscopes, gloves and medicine.

“They need every thing over there,” he said Sunday night from a staging base in Fort Pierce, Fla. “The people who are doing triage over there said they can really use baby powder and those bottles with bubbles in them for kids so they can keep the kids’ minds off of what happened. … Even a book club can get a case of baby powder.”

by Andy Brack · 09/09/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

BRACK: Let’s refocus state, nation on the “common good”

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | In today’s media-saturated culture that focuses on appealing to individuals through greed and ego, the notion of “common good” may seem as charming and antiquated as the horse and buggy.

It is, however, fundamental to our nation, as highlighted in preamble of the U.S. Constitution, which listed our values in forming a more perfect union: to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

“Welfare” in this case doesn’t mean handouts by the government to people who are down on their luck. It means people in towns and villages across the country working together to accomplish common goals, or goods, to make their areas better for all.

by Andy Brack · 07/24/2017 · 3 comments · Andy Brack, Views