By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | British thinker and science writer Matt Ridley has a reminder for anyone looking for a quick fix for coronavirus: Innovation takes time.
In what may be the most impactful and important non-fiction book of the year, Ridley’s “How Innovation Works” says we’ll eventually figure out how to deal with the deadly virus, but it won’t happen overnight.
IN THIS ISSUE
TODAY’S FOCUS: Staff craftsmen to fix Magnolia’s iconic white bridge
COMMENTARY, Brack: Beware of an October surprise from pandemic
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
PALMETTO POEM, Mungin: Jim Crow
NEWS BRIEFS: Trident Literacy Association gets major grant
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Some kind of construction going on
CALENDAR: Hendrix to talk about new book on 6 p.m. Thursday Zoom call
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Charles Townes with an “s”
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The horrible surge in coronavirus cases being experienced in South Carolina has one root cause: a liberal impatience by conservatives who reopened the state too early. As a result, too many people have the disease. Too many will die as exhausted medical workers are at their breaking point.
If there’s ever a textbook example that policy matters, it’s in South Carolina’s immature response to dealing with the silent terror of the pandemic. And now, officials trying to play catch up with mask ordinances and other measures that should have been in place long ago.
Just compare what happened in South Carolina, where Gov. Henry McMaster lightly shut down businesses for a few short weeks to states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where governors locked things down tightly for much longer. Those places have flattened the curve — albeit with big economic hits. But the virus there is now manageable — as long as people are careful. Here, it’s out of control.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | You wouldn’t walk barefoot and bare-chested into a shop, especially if it had a sign on a door that said, “No shoes. No shirt. No service.” To do so would be gross and rude.
So why in the world are people getting all bent out of shape when “No mask” becomes the same kind of societal no-no? At a time when more than 1,000 people in our state are picking up coronavirus every day, not wearing a mask in public is about as smart as walking barefoot on sun-baked pavement on a 100-degree day.
Staff reports | Close to one-third of state lawmakers say they are for repealing the Heritage Act, according to an organization pushing its repeal. Repeal the Heritage Act said 49 lawmakers have expressed public support for the law’s repeal. It requires two-thirds of the General Assembly’s two chambers to agree to any changes or removals of war and heritage monuments on public property, including those commemorating the Confederacy and African American heritage.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Sullivan’s Island celebrates a different kind of Carolina Day
COMMENTARY, Brack: McMaster needs to issue statewide mask order now
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Titan Termite & Pest Control
PHOTO ESSAY: Calhoun statue comes down
NEWS BRIEFS: Calls to repeal Heritage Act gain ground
FEEDBACK: Got something to say? Let us know by mail or email
MYSTERY PHOTO: Marine scene
CALENDAR: Singleton to release 4th solo album July 3
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Savannah River Site
4/5ths of current lawmakers haven’t voted on Heritage Act. Only 30 of the state’s current 170 legislators cast votes 20 years ago on whether the state should protect monuments from removal.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Council vote may bring down Calhoun statue this week
COMMENTARY, Brack: Repeal the Heritage Act this week
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston Gaillard Center
NEWS BRIEFS: On the Heritage Act, Fresh Future Farm and coronavirus
FEEDBACK: State fortunate to have Elmore as future doctor
MYSTERY PHOTO: Pretty gazebo begs question, “Where am I?”
CALENDAR: Redux exhibit now open
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Denmark Vesey
Staff reports | Just under a quarter of the state’s new coronavirus cases have been reported in the last seven days, according to figures released by state health officials, who are strongly urging residents to wear face masks to stop the spread of the disease.
As of Sunday, 4,520 new positive cases have been reported since June 8. All totaled, the state has reported 18,795 cases and 600 deaths from the virus since early March.
Meanwhile, the state has not taken steps to require the wearing of masks in public. Several organizations, however, issued a joint statement last week to “strongly urge” people to use social distancing and wear masks to stop the spread of the virus.
“There is rapidly growing medical evidence that the use of face masks along with social distancing can greatly reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in public spaces and places where people at higher risk of severe illness and death from this virus are likely to be present,” according to the statement by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, the S.C. Hospital Association, the S.C. Medical Association and the S.C. Office of Rural Health.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Thousands of new COVID-19 cases reported in last week
COMMENTARY, Brack: South Carolina needs to get on the right side of history no
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Morris Financial Concepts, Inc.
MY TURN, Elmore: Failure on Medicaid expansion shows lawmakers don’t value black lives
NEWS BRIEFS: New amenities open at Folly Beach County Park
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Mysterious statue
CALENDAR: Charleston Symphony to present Concert for Equality
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Voting Rights Act
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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