Staff reports | Charleston Currents, a weekly publication that focuses on good news about the Lowcountry, is publishing its final issue today after more than 13 years and 650 weekly issues.
“It’s been a great run, but now that we also publish the Charleston City Paper, it’s time to focus efforts on continuing to improve its local news and feature story offerings,” said publisher Andy Brack. “Since purchase of the City Paper two years ago, many of the weekly sections in Charleston Currents have also been published in the the City Paper. Now it’s time to consolidate these efforts.”
For example, Brack’s weekly column is published every Friday in Statehouse Report and over the weekend in the City Paper. If you enjoy the Currents’ News Briefs section, you can find five stories every morning in the City Paper’s email newsletter of daily headlines. (Sign up for CP newsletters for free.)
One of the Currents’ most popular features, Mystery Photo, will continue online at the City Paper every Monday starting at the first of the year.
“Readers love the Mystery Photo. Not only do we offer interesting pictorial views of the Charleston area, but we frequently get reader submissions that try to stump fellow readers. If you have a submission starting January 1, send it to mystery@charlestoncitypaper.com.”
Brack said he appreciated the support through the years of underwriters who have made publication of the Currents possible.
“It’s been a great ride and we appreciate the help through the years of past editors Ann Thrash and Marcia Guerard as well as contributors Marjory Wentworth, Michael Kaynard, Kyra Morris, Rob Byko, Michael Kaynard, Fred Palm and others,” Brack said. “We’ll keep publishing good news in the City Paper to bring together people and foster a renewed sense of community. Join us online frequently – and pick up the paper every week in one of our hundreds of distribution locations.”
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
As former President Donald Trump’s enabler in the United Nations where she served as U.S. ambassador, Haley brings together 16 essays on domestic and foreign policy in “American Strength: Conservative Solutions Worth Fighting For.”
The new 160-page free book from her Stand for America advocacy group features short essays from conservative luminaries such as U.S. Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, as well as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Gen. H.R. McMaster.
But it is the four pages of Haley’s introduction to the nine essays on domestic policy that are chilling and filled with stolid, cliched word play that offers a narrow, unsettling view of America.
She repeats something that Trump supporters want to hear, but is blind to reality: “America is not a racist country,” she wrote.
Governor, you grew up in Bamberg County. Drive around a little today and you’ll see a continuing legacy of the racism that split the country apart in the Civil War and continued for 100 years with Jim Crow and segregationist policies. Get out a little and you’ll see how Black and brown America has more poverty, more health inequities, shorter lives and fewer economic opportunities due to a failing rural education system where school choice efforts siphon public dollars.
Haley
Walk into a restaurant in Mississippi or Indiana or Arizona and it won’t be long before you hear someone talking about “those people” – people who look different from white America but are just as American.
It sounds good when you say, “The moment we reject the principles at America’s heart and accept the lie that our country is racist and rotten to the core, we throw away any chance of national progress. Instead, we go in the wrong direction, toward no freedom, no equality and no rule of law.”
Hogwash. You are pandering to the conservative masses to make them feel like past discrimination wasn’t all that bad. We no longer live in the 1950s. By not accepting the inequities of the past and dealing with them in a positive way, we continue two Americas – one of privilege and another rooted in the plantation culture. By not accepting that racism drove the deaths in North Charleston of Walter Scott or in Charleston of nine worshippers at Emanuel AME Church, you are pushing nothing more than a political fairy tale just to be seen as more appealing by conservative voters in the off-chance that you run for president. .
And your solution: To trust you. “Take it from me, the first female governor of South Carolina and the first minority female governor in the United States, America is not a racist country.”
Yet paragraphs earlier, you don’t want your readers to trust the American government. You conveniently say, “On both sides, the argument can be boiled down to this: We can solve any problem by putting our trust in government. My response is ‘no thank you.’ I put my trust in the American people instead.”
Governor, the “government” is people – living people like Tim Scott, Pat Toomey, Dan Sullivan and Newt Gingrich, as well as convenient targets like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. All of them are members of a governing class who strive to lift up the nation, not make it devolve into a sinister America.
It’s sad that as a past government public servant that you don’t trust the very government in which you served. If you truly want to stand up for America, please stop dividing it with fear and platitudes. Rather, bring people together – not as conservatives, moderates and liberals – but as Americans seeking solutions to nagging problems.
Andy Brack is publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
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By Andy Brack | America is in the throes of the largest internal political war since its first, the American Civil War, began in Charleston 160 years ago. Then, as now, the nation was being pulled apart by injustice, inequity and white supremacy. Now, however, the battlefield is far different. The weapons aren’t rifles, cannon or a submarine. Rather, warriors often employ sophisticated technology, messaging, misinformation, disinformation, gerrymandering and fear to manipulate a sleeping electorate to question long-held values of decency, the common good, fairness and the American dream.
Is anybody really standing up and fighting these days for democracy? Meet the Lincoln Project. (First published in the Charleston City Paper.)
In other recent news:
Charleston area to be home to 100+ Afghan refugees. At least 100 adults and children fleeing regime change in Afghanistan are expected to settle in the Charleston area in the next six weeks. North Carolina-based Lutheran Services Carolinas will spend the next month or so preparing for the arrival of the Afghans and their families — and there are ways locals can help. Speaking at a dinner hosted downtown at Park & Grove Monday night, Bedrija Jazic, Lutheran Services director for refugee services, said the group is in the process of lining up accommodations and employment opportunities for the Charleston newcomers.
Charleston libraries extending hours. Ten Charleston County Public Library branches will expand evening and weekday operating hours beginning Jan. 3 in efforts to provide better access and more flexibility for patrons needing to visit the library after work or school. Click the link to see the changes.
Activists call on county for more affordable housing. Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) leaders during a press conference last week called on Charleston County Council to put $20 million of an $80 million federal-dollar gift toward an affordable housing trust, and $10 million toward making an immediate dent in the housing crisis.
State Senate has new leaders. Oconee County Republican Sen. Thomas Alexander became the new president of the state Senate following the resignation this week of Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, who took the powerful position of chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. While controlling the day-to-day business and debate of the state Senate is a key position, Peeler’s move to chair the budget-writing committee is actually a step up in power because of the way the position has its fingers in every part of funding state government. The position became open last month after the passing of longtime Finance Chair Hugh Leatherman of Florence.
S.C. experts say state could have sun, few clouds in economic forecast. Amid concerns that new COVID-19 variants could derail the national economy again, South Carolina’s economy is booming and has recovered almost all of its losses from the pandemic, according to state experts at the University of South Carolina’s annual economic conference. More: The Post and Courier.
New House, Senate districts approved. South Carolina state senators approved new districts for the Senate and House Tuesday, but legal challenges are almost certain before filing begins in March for the 2022 elections. Work is still underway to finish maps for the U.S. House districts. Efforts were delayed after Democrats appeared ready to put up a fight over efforts to split Charleston between the 1st and 6th districts. More: The State.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
At the beginning of the year, we’ll shift our weekly Mystery Photo to the Charleston City Paper and publish it every Monday in our morning newsletter. Every weekday, the City Paper publishes a roundup of recent news. Every afternoon, there’s a specialty newsletter on a range of issues from food (Tuesday) and music (Thursday) to arts (Monday) and opinion (weekends).
- Click here to sign up for City Paper newsletters to stay in touch with what’s happening around town.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Thanks to all mystery guessers through the years. You can still find a weekly mystery at Statehouse Report and we’ll start one at the City Paper on Jan. 1. Last week’s mystery, “Pointy,” showed the sharp security fence along the S.C. State Ports Authority Property on Washington and Charlotte streets.
Congratulations to those who figured it out or knew where it is: Bill Segars of Hartsville; Christel Newton of North Charleston; Kirk Zerangue and David Lupo, both of Mount Pleasant; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia, Jim McMahan and Craig Bennett, both of Charleston; and Kristina Wheeler of West Ashley.
Peel shared that the fence was called a “palisade” fence, “also called a ‘spear’ fence for its pencil-point shaped pales that ensures excellent surveillance visibility and are highly resistant to forced entry with scissor-jacks. It is a popular type of perimeter fencing when there is a need for higher security and vandal resistance. This particular design includes a curvature in the pales that point outward, making the fence all that more difficult to scale.”
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via Facebook.
Holy City Brewing in North Charleston will cohost its seventh annual Holy City Holiday Market in Park Circle from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. The brewery will also offer vendors at its brewing location down the street (1021 Aragon Ave.).
“We’ve partnered with several neighboring businesses to host this year’s event. Vendor markets will be happening all around Park Circle on December 18,” according to the event’s Facebook page. “The main hub opens at noon. Visit Holy City Brewing to check out the new venue space while you shop from up to 100 local vendors. Stardust Tattoo, Firefly Distillery, The Station, Roadside Blooms, Black Octopus Mercantile, and Ship’s Wheel Hard Cider will also be hosting pop-up vendors throughout the afternoon.”
- To keep up with Charleston-area events, check out the City Paper’s continually updated Events section.
Also on the calendar this week:
Elf the Musical returns: Through Dec. 19, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston. The popular musical, sold out in Charleston in 2019, returns for several holiday performances by actors at Charleston Stage. Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, the musical tells the story of Buddy the Elf who is transported from Santa’s Workshop to New York City. Click here for times and tickets, which range from $32 for students to $36 to $75 for adults.
Holiday Festival of Lights: 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m, through Dec. 31, James Island County Park.. Visitors can drive through the impressive three-mile light spectacle with more than 750 illuminated displays. The festival also includes other holiday activities like train rides, marshmallow roasting, a climbing wall and more. There also will be a Winter Wonderland, which features the area’s largest holiday sand sculpture made from more than 50 tons of sand. You and your family can also explore the shops, an enchanted walking trail and the amazing dancing light display. Tickets It is recommended that visitors purchase tickets in advance online.
Even When It’s Dark: Through Jan 22, Redux Contemporary Art Center, King Street, Charleston. This solo show by Greenwood artist Doug McAbee offers drawings on wood, steel sculptures, and murals. As viewers engage with the works of art they will connect with the absurdity, the liveliness, and the humor in the work. Whether for a few seconds or perhaps longer, the artist’s hope is that connection will create change. The exhibition can be viewed at the center, 1056 King St., Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More.
Winter Wonderland exhibit. Through March 27, 2022, Lowcountry Image Gallery, The Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St., Charleston. This exhibit showcases colorized photographs of remarkable snow days captured by residents of Charleston dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More on tickets and hours.
- For more events, see this calendar.
- ORDER NOW: Copies of our new book, 350 Facts About Charleston, are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
- Now available as an e-book!
FINAL ISSUE. Thank you for reading Charleston Currents through the years. Enjoy the kind of writing and community information we’ve been providing by reading the Charleston City Paper online every day.
FOCUS: Charleston Currents publishes final issue
COMMENTARY, Brack: Haley’s new book is craven plea for political relevance
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Clips
NEWS BRIEFS: Is the Lincoln Project the vanguard of democracy
MYSTERY PHOTO: Last week’s photo
CALENDAR: Holy City Holiday Market is Dec. 18
Charleston Currents publishes final issue
Staff reports | Charleston Currents, a weekly publication that focuses on good news about the Lowcountry, is publishing its final issue today after more than 13 years and 650 weekly issues.
“It’s been a great run, but now that we also publish the Charleston City Paper, it’s time to focus efforts on continuing to improve its local news and feature story offerings,” said publisher Andy Brack. “Since purchase of the City Paper two years ago, many of the weekly sections in Charleston Currents have also been published in the the City Paper. Now it’s time to consolidate these efforts.”
For example, Brack’s weekly column is published every Friday in Statehouse Report and over the weekend in the City Paper. If you enjoy the Currents’ News Briefs section, you can find five stories every morning in the City Paper’s email newsletter of daily headlines. (Sign up for CP newsletters for free.)
One of the Currents’ most popular features, Mystery Photo, will continue online at the City Paper every Monday starting at the first of the year.
“Readers love the Mystery Photo. Not only do we offer interesting pictorial views of the Charleston area, but we frequently get reader submissions that try to stump fellow readers. If you have a submission starting January 1, send it to mystery@charlestoncitypaper.com.”
Brack said he appreciated the support through the years of underwriters who have made publication of the Currents possible.
“It’s been a great ride and we appreciate the help through the years of past editors Ann Thrash and Marcia Guerard as well as contributors Marjory Wentworth, Michael Kaynard, Kyra Morris, Rob Byko, Michael Kaynard, Fred Palm and others,” Brack said. “We’ll keep publishing good news in the City Paper to bring together people and foster a renewed sense of community. Join us online frequently – and pick up the paper every week in one of our hundreds of distribution locations.”
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Haley’s new book is craven plea for political relevance
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley offers a craven mush of platitudes in a new policy book that is little more than a painful cry for political relevance.
As former President Donald Trump’s enabler in the United Nations where she served as U.S. ambassador, Haley brings together 16 essays on domestic and foreign policy in “American Strength: Conservative Solutions Worth Fighting For.”
The new 160-page free book from her Stand for America advocacy group features short essays from conservative luminaries such as U.S. Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, as well as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Gen. H.R. McMaster.
But it is the four pages of Haley’s introduction to the nine essays on domestic policy that are chilling and filled with stolid, cliched word play that offers a narrow, unsettling view of America.
She repeats something that Trump supporters want to hear, but is blind to reality: “America is not a racist country,” she wrote.
Governor, you grew up in Bamberg County. Drive around a little today and you’ll see a continuing legacy of the racism that split the country apart in the Civil War and continued for 100 years with Jim Crow and segregationist policies. Get out a little and you’ll see how Black and brown America has more poverty, more health inequities, shorter lives and fewer economic opportunities due to a failing rural education system where school choice efforts siphon public dollars.
Haley
Walk into a restaurant in Mississippi or Indiana or Arizona and it won’t be long before you hear someone talking about “those people” – people who look different from white America but are just as American.
It sounds good when you say, “The moment we reject the principles at America’s heart and accept the lie that our country is racist and rotten to the core, we throw away any chance of national progress. Instead, we go in the wrong direction, toward no freedom, no equality and no rule of law.”
Hogwash. You are pandering to the conservative masses to make them feel like past discrimination wasn’t all that bad. We no longer live in the 1950s. By not accepting the inequities of the past and dealing with them in a positive way, we continue two Americas – one of privilege and another rooted in the plantation culture. By not accepting that racism drove the deaths in North Charleston of Walter Scott or in Charleston of nine worshippers at Emanuel AME Church, you are pushing nothing more than a political fairy tale just to be seen as more appealing by conservative voters in the off-chance that you run for president. .
And your solution: To trust you. “Take it from me, the first female governor of South Carolina and the first minority female governor in the United States, America is not a racist country.”
Yet paragraphs earlier, you don’t want your readers to trust the American government. You conveniently say, “On both sides, the argument can be boiled down to this: We can solve any problem by putting our trust in government. My response is ‘no thank you.’ I put my trust in the American people instead.”
Governor, the “government” is people – living people like Tim Scott, Pat Toomey, Dan Sullivan and Newt Gingrich, as well as convenient targets like Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. All of them are members of a governing class who strive to lift up the nation, not make it devolve into a sinister America.
It’s sad that as a past government public servant that you don’t trust the very government in which you served. If you truly want to stand up for America, please stop dividing it with fear and platitudes. Rather, bring people together – not as conservatives, moderates and liberals – but as Americans seeking solutions to nagging problems.
Andy Brack is publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
SC Clips
If you want to keep up with news from across the state every business day, we encourage you to take a spin with SC Clips, an affordable, daily information digest. Subscribers receive a daily email news round-up before 10 a.m. that provides a link to each day’s edition of SC Clips.
Each issue (click for sample) provides a concise summary of dozens of the latest newspaper and television reports of news with statewide impact, politics, business and local stories. Readers also are linked to key opinions by South Carolina’s editorial writers.
- Learn more about this great news service that will save you time — which saves you money.
- Get a trial run at no cost.
Is Lincoln Project the vanguard of American democracy?
By Andy Brack | America is in the throes of the largest internal political war since its first, the American Civil War, began in Charleston 160 years ago. Then, as now, the nation was being pulled apart by injustice, inequity and white supremacy. Now, however, the battlefield is far different. The weapons aren’t rifles, cannon or a submarine. Rather, warriors often employ sophisticated technology, messaging, misinformation, disinformation, gerrymandering and fear to manipulate a sleeping electorate to question long-held values of decency, the common good, fairness and the American dream.
Is anybody really standing up and fighting these days for democracy? Meet the Lincoln Project. (First published in the Charleston City Paper.)
In other recent news:
Charleston area to be home to 100+ Afghan refugees. At least 100 adults and children fleeing regime change in Afghanistan are expected to settle in the Charleston area in the next six weeks. North Carolina-based Lutheran Services Carolinas will spend the next month or so preparing for the arrival of the Afghans and their families — and there are ways locals can help. Speaking at a dinner hosted downtown at Park & Grove Monday night, Bedrija Jazic, Lutheran Services director for refugee services, said the group is in the process of lining up accommodations and employment opportunities for the Charleston newcomers.
Charleston libraries extending hours. Ten Charleston County Public Library branches will expand evening and weekday operating hours beginning Jan. 3 in efforts to provide better access and more flexibility for patrons needing to visit the library after work or school. Click the link to see the changes.
Activists call on county for more affordable housing. Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) leaders during a press conference last week called on Charleston County Council to put $20 million of an $80 million federal-dollar gift toward an affordable housing trust, and $10 million toward making an immediate dent in the housing crisis.
State Senate has new leaders. Oconee County Republican Sen. Thomas Alexander became the new president of the state Senate following the resignation this week of Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, who took the powerful position of chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. While controlling the day-to-day business and debate of the state Senate is a key position, Peeler’s move to chair the budget-writing committee is actually a step up in power because of the way the position has its fingers in every part of funding state government. The position became open last month after the passing of longtime Finance Chair Hugh Leatherman of Florence.
S.C. experts say state could have sun, few clouds in economic forecast. Amid concerns that new COVID-19 variants could derail the national economy again, South Carolina’s economy is booming and has recovered almost all of its losses from the pandemic, according to state experts at the University of South Carolina’s annual economic conference. More: The Post and Courier.
New House, Senate districts approved. South Carolina state senators approved new districts for the Senate and House Tuesday, but legal challenges are almost certain before filing begins in March for the 2022 elections. Work is still underway to finish maps for the U.S. House districts. Efforts were delayed after Democrats appeared ready to put up a fight over efforts to split Charleston between the 1st and 6th districts. More: The State.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
Send us your thoughts by email
For the next few weeks, we’ll still get your emails and comments at: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. Starting Jan. 1, you can offer thoughts on issues of public importance via Statehouse Report or the Charleston City Paper.
Steer your browser to the City Paper for new mysteries
At the beginning of the year, we’ll shift our weekly Mystery Photo to the Charleston City Paper and publish it every Monday in our morning newsletter. Every weekday, the City Paper publishes a roundup of recent news. Every afternoon, there’s a specialty newsletter on a range of issues from food (Tuesday) and music (Thursday) to arts (Monday) and opinion (weekends).
- Click here to sign up for City Paper newsletters to stay in touch with what’s happening around town.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Thanks to all mystery guessers through the years. You can still find a weekly mystery at Statehouse Report and we’ll start one at the City Paper on Jan. 1. Last week’s mystery, “Pointy,” showed the sharp security fence along the S.C. State Ports Authority Property on Washington and Charlotte streets.
Congratulations to those who figured it out or knew where it is: Bill Segars of Hartsville; Christel Newton of North Charleston; Kirk Zerangue and David Lupo, both of Mount Pleasant; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia, Jim McMahan and Craig Bennett, both of Charleston; and Kristina Wheeler of West Ashley.
Peel shared that the fence was called a “palisade” fence, “also called a ‘spear’ fence for its pencil-point shaped pales that ensures excellent surveillance visibility and are highly resistant to forced entry with scissor-jacks. It is a popular type of perimeter fencing when there is a need for higher security and vandal resistance. This particular design includes a curvature in the pales that point outward, making the fence all that more difficult to scale.”
Holy City Holiday Market is Dec. 18
via Facebook.
Holy City Brewing in North Charleston will cohost its seventh annual Holy City Holiday Market in Park Circle from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. The brewery will also offer vendors at its brewing location down the street (1021 Aragon Ave.).
“We’ve partnered with several neighboring businesses to host this year’s event. Vendor markets will be happening all around Park Circle on December 18,” according to the event’s Facebook page. “The main hub opens at noon. Visit Holy City Brewing to check out the new venue space while you shop from up to 100 local vendors. Stardust Tattoo, Firefly Distillery, The Station, Roadside Blooms, Black Octopus Mercantile, and Ship’s Wheel Hard Cider will also be hosting pop-up vendors throughout the afternoon.”
- To keep up with Charleston-area events, check out the City Paper’s continually updated Events section.
Also on the calendar this week:
Elf the Musical returns: Through Dec. 19, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston. The popular musical, sold out in Charleston in 2019, returns for several holiday performances by actors at Charleston Stage. Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, the musical tells the story of Buddy the Elf who is transported from Santa’s Workshop to New York City. Click here for times and tickets, which range from $32 for students to $36 to $75 for adults.
Holiday Festival of Lights: 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m, through Dec. 31, James Island County Park.. Visitors can drive through the impressive three-mile light spectacle with more than 750 illuminated displays. The festival also includes other holiday activities like train rides, marshmallow roasting, a climbing wall and more. There also will be a Winter Wonderland, which features the area’s largest holiday sand sculpture made from more than 50 tons of sand. You and your family can also explore the shops, an enchanted walking trail and the amazing dancing light display. Tickets It is recommended that visitors purchase tickets in advance online.
Even When It’s Dark: Through Jan 22, Redux Contemporary Art Center, King Street, Charleston. This solo show by Greenwood artist Doug McAbee offers drawings on wood, steel sculptures, and murals. As viewers engage with the works of art they will connect with the absurdity, the liveliness, and the humor in the work. Whether for a few seconds or perhaps longer, the artist’s hope is that connection will create change. The exhibition can be viewed at the center, 1056 King St., Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More.
Winter Wonderland exhibit. Through March 27, 2022, Lowcountry Image Gallery, The Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St., Charleston. This exhibit showcases colorized photographs of remarkable snow days captured by residents of Charleston dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More on tickets and hours.
- For more events, see this calendar.
- ORDER NOW: Copies of our new book, 350 Facts About Charleston, are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
- Now available as an e-book!
OUR TEAM
Charleston Currents offers insightful community comment and good news on events each week. It cuts through the information clutter to offer the best of what’s happening locally.
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 21942, Charleston, SC 29413.
- Phone: 843.670.3996
Charleston Currents is provided to you weekly by:
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Contributing editor, common good, Fred Palm
- Contributing editor, money: Kyra Morris
- Contributing editor, Palmetto Poem: Marjory Wentworth
- Contributing photographer: Rob Byko
- Charleston Currents also uses content from the outstanding staff at the Charleston City Paper, a sister publication.
- © 2008-2021, City Paper Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Charleston Currents is published every Monday by City Paper Publishing LLC, P.O. Box 21942, Charleston, SC 29413.
Via Wikipedia.
By Skyler Baldwin | A Midlands state senator who is passionate about education policy warned during a Charleston panel discussion that voters would see a host of distractions from key issues in the coming legislative session.
Fanning
“You’re going to see some of the shell games this year,” said Sen. Mike Fanning, a Fairfield County Democrat, during a panel discussion with legislative colleagues at a meeting of the S.C. School Boards Association. “You’ve already heard some of it — sex books in Fort Mill libraries, critical race theory — you’ll hear every single thing thrown out the one year South Carolina has more revenue than we’ve ever had in the history of the state — the one year we’ll have more additional revenue than we will ever have in the next 100 years.”
“Don’t buy it,” he said.
South Carolina currently has a $3 billion budget surplus. About $2 billion of it is one-time funds that could be used for infrastructure projects. Saturday’s panel, moderated by Charleston City Paper publisher Andy Brack, sought answers on how much of the surplus would be dedicated to education, and where specifically it would go.
“You’ve been told for years, ‘We would love to fund base student cost, but we just don’t have the — ‘ what?” Fanning asked. “We got the money this year. You need to hold us accountable.”
Fanning said base student cost, the largest single source of state funds for public education according to state think tank Palmetto Promise Institute, hasn’t been fully funded in 13 years. “We are underfunding base student cost by $500 million,” he said.
Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, said while he agrees with Fanning that money is important, a base student cost model may not be a one-size-fits-all solution.
“It can also not be a strawman,” he said. “We have to make sure that we’re making sure that we’re doing the things that we can. Providing the flexibility to districts is the best way to get that done.”
“Send that out in bulk and then let the district decide where that money is best suited,” he said. “One district may need it for technology, one district may need it for teachers, one district may need it for physical buildings.”
Fanning rebutted, saying infighting over how to spend the money would be “taking the bait” and that there were only two things the state should spend money on regarding education — teacher salaries and base student cost.
“We can’t take our eyes off the ball,” he said. “”If teachers were promised to get to the national leverage [of pay] and we budgeted that, we need to follow through with that.”
Also during the 1.5 hour discussion, lawmakers talked about steering public education dollars to private schools, a proposal that detractors call vouchers and proponents frame as a scholarship program.
“Until you have put adequate funding into the classroom, into the base student cost, until we get our teachers where they need to be,” said state Sen. Karl Allen, D-Greenville. “Until the state of South Carolina fully funds education, let’s not talk about taking dollars and sending them somewhere else.”
The concept of so-called “school choice” has been a hot-button issue for education in South Carolina for years. Gov. Henry McMaster channeled federal emergency funds to private schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. But even Republican panelists at Saturday’s roundtable said the idea of school choice isn’t a priority.
“For parents who want choice out there, there is choice in public education right now,” said S.C. Rep. Rita Allison, R-Spartanburg. “We’ve got schools of innovation that can be put forward. We’ve got charter schools … I don’t care how many bills come forward concerning that — there will always be 90% of our children in true, traditional public education.”
Other panelists present were state Sens. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, and Rosalyn Henderson-Myers, D-Spartanburg.
- This story first appeared in the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Tear gas being deployed Jan. 6 as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Photo via Wikipedia (Tyler Merbler).
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | If we don’t want to lose our freedoms and democracy in America, we’re going to have to fight to protect it.
Almost a year after the attempted violent takeover at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by right-wing zealots, it’s surprising how few organized efforts there are to reassert the philosophical foundations of our form of government. It’s sad, but there doesn’t seem to be that much work being done in our marketplace of ideas to smash fascist forces that want a more authoritarian government that clashes with traditional American democratic ideals.
Yes, there’s daily drama in Congress as it attempts to police bad behavior on Capitol Hill, including that of divisive elected officials in love with microphones and former President Donald Trump’s anti-democratic messaging. The U.S. House’s January 6 Commission has issued subpoenas and talks a good game, but there’s not much actual building of democracy — just a continuing response to what happened.
Then there are the few groups that are active about promoting and protecting American democracy. Moderate former Republican politicos started the Lincoln Project to rail against Trump’s dangers. MoveOn.org has a long history of working to reinvigorate politics, including a current effort to expel sitting members of Congress who were complicit in what happened on Jan. 6. And then there’s the Black Lives Matter movement that erupted to protest un-American treatment of minorities and reform of democracy and its institutions.
While these efforts make headlines, they’re blips of the collective radar of most Americans, who seem to sit by idly as if democracy were a spectator sport. If we are to ensure the next decade is less polarizing with people working together, we might take some lessons from South Africa as it transitioned in the 1990s from apartheid and minority white control to more inclusive democracy.
Siimpkins
John L.S. Simpkins, a constitutional law scholar from Lexington who serves as president of the MDC think tank in North Carolina, was in South Africa for two years during its transition. A former Obama Administration official, he’s helped small African republics work to strengthen their democratic institutions and build equity. We recently asked what lessons could be learned from what he saw in South Africa while working there after graduating from Harvard 30 years ago:
“One of the key lessons was the critical role of a vibrant civil society,” Simpkins said. “During the waning years of apartheid, civil society organizations — legal aid centers, investigative journalists and community organizers — effectively operated as a ‘shadow government,’ exposing government misdeeds, responding to community concerns and developing the next generation of leaders.
“The erosion of the civil society sector in the United States deprives the nation of an important bulwark against anti-democratic forces.”
Now in America, we need to do more work to build democracy. Some suggestions:
Common goal on common good. Liberal, moderate and conservative think tanks, nonprofits, foundations, academics, doers and religious organizations need to unite to build the common good and promote democratic institutions. These groups need to invest in pro-democratic messaging to build on our freedoms. We need to turn down the rhetoric and build solutions to real problems. Let’s show what democracy can do and re-engage everyday citizens.
Civics education. Too many Americans don’t understand our democracy and what it can do. Schools need to offer more real civics education so Americans understand their proud heritage of freedom — and can make it work better.
Better watchdogs. The Twitterization of messaging — short, simple and dumbed-down — doesn’t help to promote understanding. There needs to be better communication from pro-democratic forces of the dangers of rising fascism and authoritarianism in America from enemies who are domestic (white nationalist groups) and foreign (Russian internet trolls). We also need to train Americans better on how to understand manipulative messages and how to counteract them.
There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s in our interest to work together to root out the rot that has been undermining our democracy. Get off the sidelines and fight for America now.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents, and publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
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From a 2011 Senate redistricting map.
Not competitive. The new maps generally aren’t competitive, meaning that it’s predictable who or what party will win before any election is held. “Safe” districts are mostly drawn for Republicans or Democrats, even in areas that could have districts configured so that a Republican, Democrat or third-party candidate could win.
The best congressional example is the proposed First District on the coast where a Democrat, Joe Cunningham, won in 2018, but lost in 2020 to now-U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican. The proposed district splits Charleston County and makes it a more Republican district, effectively insulating Mace from a Democratic challenge. “The maps are awful,” Cunningham told the Senate redistricting committee this week. “They make no sense, unless, of course, the sole purpose of these maps is to make it harder for a Republican to lose.” [See video.]
- Little elected input. When one senator asked how many congressmen offered input into the congressional map, a state Senate staffer said only U.S. Reps. Joe Wilson, a Republican, and Jim Clyburn, a Democrat, gave information before it was drafted. S.C. Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, complained she wasn’t consulted about the congressional map. According to The State, “No members of the S.C. Senate redistricting committee were apparently consulted” either.
- Harms turnout. Cunningham pointed to how the new maps denigrate democracy, instead of promoting it. In testimony, he said he understood why people thought it wasn’t worth voting these days because the results seemed largely predetermined due to the way the maps are drawn. “They have a damn good point,” he said, according to reporting by The State.
- Racial bias. The congressional map, in particular, was criticized for how it used race as a factor. According to The Post and Courier, “District 1 would represent the fewest Black residents of South Carolina’s seven seats, at 68 percent white and 17 percent Black, while the population of [Clyburn’s neighboring] District 6 would fall to just below 50 percent Black.”
- Meaningless “transparency.” While state House and Senate members traveled the state to get public input for mapmaking, Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina wondered whether the House’s outreach effort was just for show, noting, “if they actually listened to anything said, it wasn’t evident in the resulting map.”
In other recent news:
S.C. has 1,000+ vacant public school teaching positions. A new survey reveals an 88 percent increase in the number of vacant teaching positions across South Carolina. That’s more than 1,000 teacher vacancies that are impacting up to 20,000 students, one organization said. The survey also showed 6,900 educators from last year didn’t return to jobs in their districts, with 18 percent retiring, 34 percent leaving for “external reasons” and 27 percent for “personal reasons.” More: The Post and Courier | WIS TV.
Charleston special election to be Jan. 11. Absentee voting begins Dec. 13 to fill the vacant District 1 Charleston City Council seat vacated by Marie Delcioppo, who stepped down. Five candidates are currently running for the seat: Jen Gibson, Boyd Gregg, Shawn Pinkston, David Winkler and Tony Fogle. Read more.
S.C.’s Scott top vice presidential candidate, polls show. Since former President Donald Trump’s defeat in November 2020, speculation has been mounting about South Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s White House ambitions. More: The Post and Courier.
Greene feuds with S.C.’s Mace on Islamophobia, abortion. U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, are in a public and highly personal feud over abortion and religion, amid fallout from Islamophobic remarks by some GOP lawmakers. More: The Washington Post | Politico. Related: Mace’s chief of staff resigns.
Former S.C. gubernatorial candidate to pay $33k to end ethics case. Charleston Democrat Phil Noble has agreed to pay more than $30,000 in fines and refunds for violating state ethics laws during his failed bid for governor in 2018.
S.C. Libertarian Party calls another secession for S.C. ‘OK.’ It may not have worked out so well in 1861, but a group of anti-big government South Carolinians says it supports the right of the state and its citizens to secede from the Union in 2021, according to The Post and Courier.
- Want more headlines every business day that are like this? Visit our friends at SC Clips.
“The Moon’s Not That Far Away” 2021, Ink on wood, 18 x 20”
According to the center, “McAbee was taught the power of laughter and humor by his father and he seeks to channel that power into his creative work. With the understanding that art has the power to change how people think, McAbee has chosen to communicate positive and hopeful messages to his audience through his work.”
The drawings on wood, steel sculptures, and murals represented in “Even When It’s Dark” are approachable by viewers of all ages. As viewers engage with the works of art they will connect with the absurdity, the liveliness, and the humor in the work. Whether for a few seconds or perhaps longer, the artist’s hope is that connection will create change.
A Spartanburg native, McAbee holds a master’s degree in fine arts from Winthrop University and works as an associate professor of art at Lander University in Greenwood.
The exhibition can be viewed at the center, 1056 King St., Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More.
Also on the calendar:’
Holiday Festival of Lights: 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m, through Dec. 31, James Island County Park.. Visitors can drive through the impressive three-mile light spectacle with more than 750 illuminated displays. The festival also includes other holiday activities like train rides, marshmallow roasting, a climbing wall and more. There also will be a Winter Wonderland, which features the area’s largest holiday sand sculpture made from more than 50 tons of sand. You and your family can also explore the shops, an enchanted walking trail and the amazing dancing light display. Tickets It is recommended that visitors purchase tickets in advance online.
Elf the Musical returns: Through Dec. 19, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston. The popular musical, sold out in Charleston in 2019, returns for several holiday performances by actors at Charleston Stage. Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, the musical tells the story of Buddy the Elf who is transported from Santa’s Workshop to New York City. Click here for times and tickets, which range from $32 for students to $36 to $75 for adults..
Winter Wonderland exhibit. Through March 27, 2022, Lowcountry Image Gallery, The Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St., Charleston. This exhibit showcases colorized photographs of remarkable snow days captured by residents of Charleston dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. More on tickets and hours.
Birds of Prey flight demonstrations: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, Center for Birds of Prey, 4719 Highway 17. Awendaw. The center has reopened its doors to visitors after closing due to the COvID-19 pandemic, inviting people to once again come and explore the world of raptors through an outdoor program and flight demonstration. Tickets: . $20/adult; $15/children age 3-17.
Bird-watching at Caw Caw. Every Wednesday and Saturday — particularly through the end of February — you can see a plethora of birds at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel as they make their way through the Lowcountry. The two-hour regular walks, which start at 8:30 a.m., are through distinct habitats that allow participants to view and discuss a variety of birds, butterflies, and other organisms. Registration is not required. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars. A paid chaperone is required for participants ages 15 and under. Max. 10 participants. Fee: $9; free for Gold Pass holders. Open to all ages. More: Caw Caw Interpretive Center.
- For more events, see this calendar.
Farmers markets
Closing in December
Holy City Farmers Market: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Wednesday, Holy City Brewing, North Charleston. vendors rotate weekly to provide shoppers with a tiny but mighty shopping experience. vendors will be selling a range of products from specialty foods, home and body care to arts and crafts. More info. Closes Dec. 18 with holiday market.
Open year-round
West Ashley Farmers Market: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Wednesday, Ackerman Park, 55 Sycamore Avenue, Charleston. More.
Sunday Brunch Farmers Market: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., every Sunday, Charleston Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway, James Island. While the market is discouraging people from spending too much time hanging out during the market, everyone is invited to shop their local vendors. More info.
Sea Island Farmers Market: 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., every Saturday. Charleston Collegiate Campus, 2024 Academy Rd., Johns Island. More.
Goose Creek Farmers Market: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., every Saturday, 519 N. Goose Creek Blvd., Goose Creek. More.
- If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line. Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.
- ORDER NOW: Copies of our new book, 350 Facts About Charleston, are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
- Now available as an e-book!