Making the Best of a Traffic Nightmare When a broken support cable forced the state Department of Transportation to close the westbound lanes of the James B. Edwards Bridge over the Wando River on May 14, the most obvious result was increasingly slow and unpleasantly heavy traffic leaving, entering and traveling in Mount Pleasant. Though cars and trucks were moving at an … [Read more...]
Highway 41 and the Phillips Community: ‘This Area Fits the People Who Live Here’
Richard Habersham’s family has been a fixture in the Phillips Community for nearly a century-and-a-half, when former slaves who had served their masters on at least three area plantations bought land along what is now Highway 41 and set out to make a life as free men and women. The 64-year-old has always lived on the land his ancestors purchased in the mid-1870s. And he’s … [Read more...]
Mount NOT Plastic? What the Ordinance Could Mean for Our Future
The Mount Pleasant Town Council has passed a law banning several plastic products used for the most part by grocery stores and restaurants, but, by the time the Environmentally Acceptable Packaging and Products Ordinance goes into effect in April 2019, it might look different than it did in April 2018. Or it might not look like anything at all. The fate of the ordinance, … [Read more...]
“Fires are the Same Everywhere” – Councilman Kevin Cunnane
As an attorney and a former firefighter and policeman, Kevin Cunnane thinks he will bring a new and important perspective to the Mount Pleasant Town Council. The 48-year-old Cunnane defeated John Mahoney in a Feb. 13 special election to claim the Council seat vacated when Councilman Will Haynie ran a successful mayoral campaign. The seat will be contested again in November … [Read more...]
Volcano Season Is Here: Are You Covered?
Scientists recently discovered that because the Charleston area lies on a major earthquake fault line, all land within a 50-mile radius of its epicenter is ripe for volcanoes, which could crop up at any time and with little warning. Is your house prepared to withstand thousands of cubic feet of molten lava flowing through it like a blazing river of fire? If volcano insurance … [Read more...]
Water Under the Bridge: Making Shem Creek Great Again
“Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Students of late 18th century English literature will recognize this quote from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” though if Samuel Taylor Coleridge were alive today, he might be saying the same thing about … [Read more...]
Seacoast Church: A Big Reach and a Big Heart
As the story goes, when the seeds to start Seacoast Church were first planted nearly 30 years ago, church founders consulted the book – the phone book, that is. They called every name listed in Mount Pleasant – about 17,000 – and asked people who didn’t already have a place of worship why they didn’t go to church. According to Lead Pastor Josh Surratt, the answers had … [Read more...]
Wake Up Carolina Brings Attention to the Opioid Crisis
On the surface, losing a child to a drug overdose is no different than losing a child to a sudden accident or sickness. A parent’s grief is undoubtedly just as deep and devastating. But beneath the surface, loss from addiction unfortunately comes with a horrible stigma. It often becomes a family secret that no one talks about and is quietly swept under the rug. One Mount … [Read more...]
How the Race Was Won: The Mount Pleasant Campaign Experience
“There are only two ways to run for office: unopposed or scared.” -Senator Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings I ran scared. Adhering to the wisdom of my fellow Citadel graduate who was one of South Carolina’s most successful politicians, it was the only way to run. I was a sitting Mount Pleasant town councilman and decided to challenge the incumbent mayor, so running unopposed … [Read more...]
8 Fun Resolutions for 2018. Treat Yourself, Don’t Browbeat Yourself!
The minute the confetti hits the floor on New Year’s Eve, folks start clamoring about what goals they want to crush and usually what pounds they want to shed. More often than not, those gym memberships dwindle after a couple of months, and that NutriBullet doesn’t blend up nearly as much green juice as it used to. Before ordering FitTea or dropping cash on airfare for a lavish … [Read more...]