Mediation was scheduled for Friday, April 19 in the appeal by Pine Island Property Holdings, LLC – the Pine Island property owner – of the Beaufort County Planning Department’s denial of their plans for an 18-hole golf course on Pine Island. But the “best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” poet Robert Burns once penned. The Pine Island attorney, Ellis Lesemann, on Wednesday afternoon, April 17, filed an emergency motion with the Court of Common Pleas of the 14th Judicial Circuit asking for a hearing, requesting the court compel Beaufort County to have County Council members available ..read more

By Amber Hewitt The Island News One of the Lowcountry’s favorite events, the 19th annual Soft Shell Crab Festival, hosted by the Old Village Association of Port Royal, filled Paris Avenue on Saturday, April 20. As the festival season gets into full swing in the Lowcountry, the Soft Shell Crab Festival offered a fun day for the family and an opportunity to savor a beloved Lowcountry delicacies. The chance to enjoy soft shell crab is rare here, occurring just once a year. Vendors offered a variety of soft shell crab dishes as food trucks, artists, and crafters lined both sides ..read more

Future of USCB books sparks concerns By Lolita Huckaby BEAUFORT Banning of books in public school libraries was a hot issue last year; it looks like the possibility of getting rid of books in libraries, particularly the ones at USC Beaufort, may be a topic of discussion this year. As part of renovation projects at both university campus libraries, relocation of print materials was part of the plan. But rumors of permanent removal, in favor of digital materials, has generated concern. A small but dedicated group of students voiced their opposition to the action at a meeting of the Student ..read more

Charlene Adams of Lady’s Island took this photo of the setting sun through the iconic South Carolina state logo while taking an evening stroll across the Woods Memorial Bridge. To submit a Lowcountry Life photo, you must be the photographer or have permission to submit the photo to be published in The Island News. Please submit high-resolution photos and include a description and/or names of the people in the picture and the name of the photographer. Email your photos to theislandnews@gmail.com ..read more

Beaufort’s Daniel Moore Jr. graduated from Battery Creek High School in 1990 and joined the United States Marine Corps in 1992. After Boot Camp at Parris Island and training as a radio operator and jump qualifications, he was assigned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., from which he deployed as liaison to NATO countries and twice to the Mediterranean with further duty in Somalia and Bosnia. He returned to recruiting duty in Greenville, S.C., before returning to Lejeune with further deployments to Iraq just after 9-11.  He next served again in recruiting, this time in North Charleston. He next served ..read more

Soft Shell Crab Festival returns to Port Royal From staff reports Wait no longer! The 19th annual Soft Shell Crab Festival, hosted by The Old Village Association of Port Royal, will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 20, on Paris Avenue in Port Royal. Local chefs will serve soft shell crab prepared in various delicious ways, alongside a diverse selection of both traditional and festival foods. Attendees can enjoy browsing craft vendors, live entertainment, and a kid zone, ensuring an enjoyable experience for visitors of all ages.  The musical talents of Groove Town Assault, T ..read more

First-time father makes good on campaign promises By Lolita Huckaby PORT ROYAL Kevin Phillips, only four months into his first term as mayor of this town of 14,000-plus, is making good on his campaign talk. When running in November against incumbent Joe DeVito, Phillips suggested the town council should consider a building moratorium to slow down the rapid development being experienced not just by Port Royal but by the rest of the county, the Lowcountry, much of the East Coast coastal communities. After all, next door in Jasper County, the county elected officials imposed a moratorium on all c ..read more

By Delayna Earley The Island News Port Royal has decided to hit pause on short-term rentals and further apartment developments because they want to make sure that the infrastructure in place for the town can handle the explosive growth.. During the Port Royal Town Council meeting on April 10, council members unanimously voted to approve a moratorium on short-term rentals for seven months and multi-family developments for one year. The multi-family developments and short-term rentals that have already been permitted or have begun the process will be allowed to continue, but any further submissi ..read more

Habersham’s Ron Callari snapped this picture of Dino the Dinosaur this spring. He was located on the beach by the “Wednesday Turtle Volunteer Patrol” in 2020. Since then, he returns annually to capture notable aspects that make the beach unique, from its flora and fauna to its famed and reportedly haunted lighthouse. Here, he brings attention to one of beach’s five zones. To submit a Lowcountry Life photo, you must be the photographer or have permission to submit the photo to be published in The Island News. Please submit high-resolution photos and include a description and/or names of the peo ..read more

By Oran Smith As the South Carolina House of Representatives was debating (and overwhelmingly passing) an expansion of the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) program, it became clear that some basic facts about the concept of “school choice” and how the ESTF program in particular is designed to work were lacking. Here are a few facts and observations from a point of view in support of public and private school choice. According to the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, 2023 was the high-water mark for private-school choice. Seventeen states passed legislatio ..read more