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Gallien ousted

CCSD parts ways with suspended superintendent Eric Gallien

The Charleston County School Board part ways with suspended Superintendent Eric Gallien. Settlement is what he wanted, board members say. Terms have not been revealed. Read moreCCSD parts ways with suspended superintendent Eric Gallien

The short-story writer, poet, essayist and editor most known for his fictional horror-laced macabre tales, from “The Raven” to “The Masque of the Red Death” to “The Tell-Tale Heart,” is a particularly apt figure to surface in October, right around Halloween. And he has a Charleston connection.

Happy Halloweekend! There’s a ton of fun to get into, including a Lego fan convention, several Charleston Beer Week kickoff events and the ultimate “Rocky Horror” experience.

University of South Carolina workers say recent wage increases haven’t kept up with soaring cost of living rates in Columbia. Some say they have to choose between paying bills and buying groceries.

Georgetown County just placed tougher penalties on those who cut down protected trees in rural areas and in the Waccamaw Neck portion of the Hammock Coast.

Hogan: Time-traveling to 1960s Saigon with a famed author (oh, and Barbie, too)

A tell-tale presence: Edgar Allan Poe’s Charleston connection from fact to lore

The inside story of a man burned in a fire, his $30M bill and the enduring power of family

In its second year with new ride vendor Reithoffer Shows, the Coastal Carolina Fair will boast eight new rides, almost a dozen new food vendors and an amped-up agricultural program. Read moreYour guide to the 2023 Coastal Carolina Fair in Ladson

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Greenville

Worst-case scenarios: Clemson hosts ‘active threat’ training over fall break

Following hit to head, CCU’s Grayson McCall released from hospital; scans are ‘very positive’

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SPARTANBURG

Sapakoff: Gamecocks? World Series? Jordan Montgomery is ‘the same guy’

Hogan: Time-traveling to 1960s Saigon with a famed author (oh, and Barbie, too)

Environment

Crab Bank’s 2nd nesting season a ‘remarkable’ success for black skimmers, least terns

OPINION

Editorial: Move more municipal elections to odd-numbered Novembers

Explosion survivor returns to family’s loving embrace after nearly 80% of body was burned

MURDAUGH

Murdaugh’s former SC estate Moselle back on market. Will murders impact value?

‘Blood feud’: The history of one SC town’s long, winding fight for water and power

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Phone: 843-577-7111

When the newly renovated Greek Revival-style building at 207 Rutledge Ave. was stripped of its iconic 10-foot mural, Charleston appeared to be losing an important piece of its culinary history.

But Candice Hudnall, owner of Hamby Catering & Events, does not want people to forget about Hominy Grill, which garnered national acclaim before closing in 2019.

Known for its triangular shrimp- and chicken-salad tea sandwiches, Hamby has also become a household name in Charleston over the last four decades. The West Ashley-based company built on that legacy in September, opening The Rutledge Room where Hominy Grill served for over two decades.

When plans for Hamby Catering & Events’ new flagship venue were being drawn, Hudnall recalls walking inside the building for the first time in quite some time. Memories of standing in line for brunch at Hominy Grill came rushing back. She could taste the biscuits and shrimp and grits and hear the excited chatter erupting outside the famed Charleston restaurant.

Rutledge Room bites like a brown sugar pound cake with caramel drizzle — a replica of a Hominy Grill dessert Hamby’s pastry chef whipped up for The Rutledge Room’s opening event Sept. 13 — point to the past. Other dishes, like Hamby’s own shrimp and grits, will get a contemporary twist when served at The Rutledge Room.

Instead of the catering company’s traditional toppings of the Tasso gravy, bacon crumbles and cheddar, Hamby Executive Chef Dawn Sanders is serving stone-ground yellow grits with a tomato gravy and feta at the new venue. Lamb with chimichurri and vegetable spring rolls with edible flowers, herbs and vermicelli noodles are two other examples of new Hamby Catering dishes served exclusively at The Rutledge Room.

The number of remote workers who now call Charleston home has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chances are those individuals and others with a laptop in tow might want a break from their home office every once in a while.

These 20 Charleston coffee shops and cafes are where to go when searching for coffee, food and free Wi-Fi:

Babas on Meeting

804 Meeting St., downtown Charleston

Gourmet coffee, pastries and sandwiches served on buttery sliced bread are available at Babas on Meeting, where goat.sheep.cow.north and popular Cannon Street café Babas teamed up to reopen a space that was closed to dine-in customers for the better part of two years. Babas on Meeting has more seating, indoors and out, than its Cannon Street counterpart. While more people will be found chatting over a bottle of wine than crowded over their laptop, a few high-top tables and a bar serve as suitable seats for remote workers.

Bad Bunnies

116 Spring St., downtown Charleston

Bad Bunnies opened at the start of 2023 in the 116 Spring St. space previously occupied by Sunshine Hummus. The stunning interior has plenty of space for remote workers to settle in and stay awhile. Bad Bunnies sources its coffee from Second State and its pastries from EVO Craft Bakery.

Baguette Magic

792 Folly Road Unit A, James Island

Mathieu Richard started Baguette Magic in 2009 as a farmers market stand before opening the retail location on Folly Road in 2011. After purchasing the business in 2019 and freshening up its menu, sisters Paula and Sam Kramer have brought lines of locals to Baguette Magic for breakfast and lunch, where they serve everything from almond croissants and house-made pop tarts to avocado toast, brioche French toast and Italian sub sandwiches.

Baguette Magic offers free Wi-Fi and even has a few useable outlets if you need to plug in.

Bl?m

511 Meeting St., downtown Charleston

With ample seating, Bl?m serves Counter Culture Coffee that can be flavored with house-made syrups, pastries and ready-to-eat breakfast and lunch items in a fridge to the left of the coffee bar. Working late? Bl?m patrons have the option to switch from coffee to local craft beers from Charleston and Columbia breweries.

Bodega

23 Ann St., downtown Charleston

Bodega — which offers lunch sandwiches, house-made pastries, matcha lattes and free Wi-Fi — serves a daytime menu from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For breakfast, chef Alec Gropman’s signature sandwiches served on house-made Kaiser rolls are the star, with The Lowcountry (house-made breakfast sausage, egg, cheddar and sausage gravy) and Bodega Classic (egg and white American cheese with bacon, Taylor ham, sausage or vegan sausage) having already emerged as local favorites.

H? Long Café

281 Meeting St., downtown Charleston

The bubble tea component of H? Long Café is a franchise of Ding Tea, a Taiwan-based brand with dozens of locations worldwide. As a result, you’ll find nearly 100 drink options at H? Long, from Jasmine green tea lattes and lychee milk tea to passion fruit slushies, kumquat tea and aloe vera kiwi juice.

Highfalutin Coffee Roasters

27 Magnolia Road, West Ashley

989 Harbor View Road, James Island

Highfalutin’s West Ashley location is usually full of working individuals on their computers inside, and there is a gorgeous seating area outside with flowers galore. The coffee is good, and the space is beautiful.

The James Island location also has Wi-Fi and outdoor seating.

Interstate 95 Coffee

1300 Savannah Highway, West Ashley

Order a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with your coffee at this West Ashley café. The long table on the left can be a wonderful workspace, particularly if you snag a seat on the end near the power outlet.

Mercantile

701 East Bay St., downtown Charleston

One half of the Mercantile & Mash project by Indigo Road Hospitality Group, this café has ample seating, espresso drinks and gourmet lunch options. Housed in the Cigar Factory development, Mercantile even has butchers carving up steaks and pastry chefs crafting cakes in the back.

Metto Coffee & Tea

354 West Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant

After weeks of deliberation and debate that pitted real estate developers against preservationists, Charleston County Council on Oct. 24 decided against amending a law designed to protect historic settlement communities from suburban sprawl.

Three members voted in favor of the amendments, while five voted against. One member, Kylon Middleton, did not vote because he was out of town, though he joined the meeting online. Middleton expressed disappointment in the outcome.

The issue could get a third and final vote at the next council meeting on Nov. 14.

“It’s not over yet,” warned Councilman Henry Darby, who seeks to strengthen safeguards against unwanted development in historic areas.

Those voting in favor of changing the law were Brantley Moody, Joy Boykin and Jenny Costa Honeycutt. Those voting against the modifications were Darby, Larry Kobrovsky, Robert Wehrman, Teddie Pryor and Herbert Sass.

The ordinance, which established and empowered a Historic Preservation Commission, will remain unchanged for now, although many agree — including preservationists — that the law, and the methods used to protect historic neighborhoods, could be improved.

Since 2021, when the commission began operating, developers have been obliged to obtain a certificate of historic appropriateness before their subdivision designs could get final approval from the planning commission. Had the amendments to the law gone into effect, that certificate no longer would have been required as a prerequisite. The Historic Preservation Commission would have functioned only in an advisory capacity.

County staff and some members of the planning commission argued in favor of amending the ordinance because of an alleged conflict between the powers of the HPC and state law, though defenders of the ordinance’s protections rejected that claim.

Preservationists, residents of settlement communities and a few council members have insisted that the ordinance should not be altered without first creating other ways to protect the county’s 20 settlement communities.

Kobrovsky, noting the shift over the last few weeks among his colleagues, called the outcome “a big victory.” The settlement communities are an essential, unique and special part of the Lowcountry, he said. They are the result of “generations of blood, sweat and tears” and must be preserved.

Weakening the ordinance, and thus the powers of the HPC, would have meant the eventual demise of these neighborhoods, Kobrovsky said. Development pressure is increasing in rural areas as the population grows and, if controls are lacking, the whole stretch of land between Mount Pleasant and McClellanville will fill in with subdivisions, he added.

“This is the next frontier; much already has been built out,” he said, adding that development now is encroaching on the county’s settlement communities.

One development company, Crescent Homes, is suing the county because of what it alleges is unfair treatment after getting the necessary permits to build out three subdivisions in the 10 Mile Community near Awendaw.

The HPC denied Crescent Homes the certificate of historic appropriateness, inserting a monkey wrench in the works. The developer had already invested $9 million in projects that had received a green light from the planning commission, and now Crescent Homes is arguing that it has a right to continue with its plans.

The planning commission recently voted to issue final approval of Crescent Homes’ subdivision designs even without the HPC’s certification — an apparent breach of the law. But county staff argued that, due to a presumed conflict with state law, the approval was appropriate.

During the Oct. 24 council meeting, members voted in a 4-4 tie on a zoning change to reduce the density of new construction in the Ten Mile Community from four houses per acre to three. The tie would have meant no change to the zoning and an end to the question, a disappointment to neighborhood advocates. But when that outcome became evident, Darby changed his vote and joined a majority opposed to the new designation in order to keep the matter alive.

Features

Council members who vote in the majority have a right to revisit an issue at the next meeting. Darby’s move indicates that he’s holding out hope for a different outcome.

Justin Schwebler, properties manager for Historic Charleston Foundation, credited members of the Ten Mile Community and other settlement communities for speaking out. It’s because of them that council has been forced to take development in these neighborhoods seriously. He said the response has been encouraging.

“It’s clear that council is anxious about pulling the rug out from under these communities,” Schwebler said.

He endorsed an idea raised at the council meeting by Ten Mile resident Craig Ascue to organize workshops that foster improved engagement between residents and county representatives. That collaborative effort could lead to a thoughtful restructuring of the ordinance that limits the county’s legal liability, strengthens the HPC and clarifies the process for developers, he said.

“That all needs to be done through a good, open, public process,” Schwebler said. “I hope (county) staff doesn’t see this as a rejection. We just want a seat at the table.”

Many issues remain unresolved. The Crescent Homes developments are subject to legal disputes; the zoning change is still in play; and an effort to establish an overlay district is in the works.

In the meantime, the 10 Mile community is in need of infrastructure upgrades, said resident Jerome Vanderhorst. Some areas — especially along Seafood Road, where one of the Crescent Homes subdivisions is being built — are prone to severe flooding, and speed limits are not observed, making the roads unnecessarily dangerous.

He’s waiting to see what council will do about all of this.

“The ball is in their court right now,” Vanderhorst said.

I am a resident of South Carolina, and like many others, I aspire to lease a Tesla.

Regulations prevent us from doing so.

This is not just about personal preference; it’s about consumer rights and fair trade.

The inability to buy or lease a Tesla in our state is a restraint of trade that infringes on our freedom of choice as consumers.

Tesla vehicles are renowned for their innovative technology, eco-friendliness and safety features.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Tesla Model 3 has achieved the lowest probability of injury among all cars tested by the agency.

Yet we are denied access to these high-quality vehicles due to state law.

South Carolina prides itself on being business-friendly with its low corporate income taxes and incentives for job creation. But by preventing companies such as Tesla from selling or leasing cars directly within the state, we are undermining this claim.

We call upon our lawmakers in South Carolina to reconsider these restrictions that limit our choices as consumers while also hindering economic growth within our state.

Let’s allow innovation and free-market principles to guide us toward progress rather than restrict us.

MARK FAGAN

Greenville

In our role as Charleston County School Board members, we uphold the values and policies guiding our educational system, including board policy that emphasizes respecting diverse opinions and the principle of majority rule.

These principles must extend beyond board meetings to our community.

Accusations against board members during recent public meetings are troubling.

Attendees’ behavior was inappropriate for students to witness, raising concerns that such actions might be seen as acceptable. This reminds us to strive for improvement within our board and community.

Within our schools, we’ve worked to create a safe, inclusive environment, free from bullying.

We must maintain a zero-tolerance stance against bullying, both in schools and our community.

Disruptive behavior, especially when silencing opposing views, contradicts the values we instill in our students.

Allowing such behavior erodes trust and respect in our community. We must set an example, showing that bullying is unacceptable in any form.

Let’s unite as a community to combat bullying in all its forms, reinforcing our commitment to respect and empathy.

Our example should ensure our students uphold these values, including respecting differing opinions.

KEITH GRYBOWSKI

Mount Pleasant

Everyone loves parks. Everyone wants them. We can always have more. But they take money not only to acquire the land, but also to build, maintain and staff.

Charleston residents have an opportunity this November to vote “yes” in a referendum to allow the issuing of general obligation bonds to implement the Charleston Parks and Recreation Master Plan approved by City Council.

Whether you already have a favorite park or wish to have one near your home, please consider voting “yes” in the parks and recreation bonds referendum.

DONNA F. JACOBS

Charleston

Whether it is the responsibility of the city of Charleston, Charleston County or the S.C. Department of Transportation, dangerous roads in Charleston need to be fixed.

I was thrown recently from my moped at the intersection of Line Street and Hagood Avenue, and lost my two front teeth and suffered many scrapes and bruises. I had slowed down to about 20 mph, but was still thrown.

The worst part is that these terrible spots in the city are in the poorest parts of town.

How is that OK?

STEVEN MORSE

Charleston

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There’s not only something in our water — but it’s in our fish, too, according to recent data reported by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

The state agency from July 2022 to June 2023 collected tissue samples from blue crabs, oysters and freshwater fish in water bodies across South Carolina to test for PFAS, an acronym for “per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substance.” As reported by the Charleston City Paper in September, these chemicals are made to resist “grease, oil, water and heat.” And these properties also render PFAS nearly indestructible, hence their colloquial name, “forever chemicals.”

In the Ashley River and Goose Creek Reservoir — the two sites where DHEC tested freshwater fish in the tri-county area — PFOS, one of the most harmful types of PFAS, averaged approximately 14,910 parts per trillion (ppt) in tissue samples of fish fillets. Eating one eight-ounce serving of fish at this level is the same as drinking 40 liters of water per month with a level of 90 PFOS ppt, according to a 2023 National Library of Medicine paper. That’s more than 22 times the greatest amount that should be ingested per month, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water proposed PFOS maximum contaminant level.

The DHEC numbers, however, don’t mean all fish tissue has hazardous concentrations of these chemicals: The 2023 paper also said “international sampling of fish has reported significantly lower levels of PFAS in farmed fish,” or what is generally sold at the grocery store. Rather, the data speak to the magnitude of PFAS contamination in Lowcountry fish and how they might affect people who rely on sustenance fishing from local waterways.

DHEC tissue state data from each of the three species varied widely based on waterbody and time of collection, sometimes without any correlation to distance from potential PFAS point sources. But according to Charleston Waterkeeper Andrew Wunderley, “it shows these chemicals are incredibly persistent” in Charleston’s “very dynamic estuary environment.” In other words, they’re not easy to get rid of, and they’re contaminating the entire ecosystem persistently.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Patricia Fair and her research team in 2012 conducted a study of PFAS in Charleston-area sediment which did identify several PFAS-heavy hotspots. Because these chemicals were unregulated, Fair told the City Paper, it was hard to pinpoint where the contamination might have been coming from.

That was over 10 years ago, but Fair said current information surrounding forever chemicals is still “lacking specifics” and taking a slow-moving path towards more regulation.

Noted DHEC spokesperson Laura Renwick: “There are currently no standards for PFAS that can be enforced; there are no national standards for these chemicals.”

But according to Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) senior associate attorney Carl Brzorad, the problem isn’t with government standards or regulation.

“The Clean Water Act sets forth a very strong regulatory framework that applies to PFAS, just like it applies to any other toxic chemical,” he said. The issue, Brzorad added, is that government agencies like DHEC just aren’t enforcing it.

“DHEC continues to encourage all regulated entities to proactively monitor for PFAS but can’t require monitoring except through a permit,” Renwick said. “On a case-by-case basis, DHEC may require monitoring for a specific activity or site in a permit if identified as necessary based on data.”

Brzorad broke this concept down even further: For industries to discharge these contaminants into local waterways, such as land application sludge users and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit holders, “there’s got to be disclosure” and “treatment using existing technology” to remove them from the wastewater. But these facilities, Brzorad said, often are currently discharging PFAS directly into rivers without consequence, testing or regulation.

Additionally, U.S. Department of Defense sites, which tend also to be PFAS hotspots, have conducted groundwater testing, but the process of remediation is ongoing and for many, hasn’t even started, reported the Environmental Working Group this year.

“The adverse health effects from PFAS are non-specific,” said South Carolina Environmental Law Project attorney Ben Cunningham. They can include certain cancers, unhealthy birth weight and high cholesterol. And because these are often symptoms of other problems, PFAS contamination isn’t the first thing doctors are looking for, Cunningham added. What’s more, he said, no one is testing the concentration of PFAS in the bloodstream.

The absence of information about the detrimental effects of PFAS on human health is a part of what Wunderley called the United States’ “innocent until proven guilty” principle in which chemicals “can be developed and brought to market without any research about their health” or environmental impact. Fair added this approach created a widespread contamination crisis that was entirely preventable.

And unfortunately, the crisis, Cunningham said, “is going to be an issue for a while.”Companies like 3M and Dupont, which have reached $11 billion in court settlements over forever chemicals, have developed newer PFAS that they claim are safer to replace more harmful PFAS, but Wunderley said these chemicals are merely an attempt to tweak the chemistry while keeping the product. An Auburn University study found that the new, short-chain chemicals “may pose more risks” than known contaminants like PFOS. “It’s lucrative chemistry, and [these companies] fight hard to protect that,” Wunderley added.

“Once EPA establishes an MCL (maximum contaminant level) or other final criteria, DHEC will begin its process of incorporation of the MCL and/or final criteria into permits,” DHEC said in a statement. But the wait is crushing for many frustrated that the agency has been waiting for the EPA to set the stage on PFAS enforcement when a contamination problem is obvious.

Wunderley said DHEC has justified stalling because it doesn’t have the information to continue, but “there’s never a perfect dataset. … It’s just long beyond time to act.”

Accountability, Wunderley added, could include forcing “the cost of the contamination and pollution back upon the people that profited from it … supported by a strong regulatory program that protects against the contamination from happening in the first place.”

In the meantime, Cunningham advised Charlestonians to take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their families. For example, they could reduce sustenance fishing and follow the DHEC fish consumption advisory guidelines for mercury — DHEC does not have advisories yet for PFAS, only recommendations.

But Wunderly noted curbing fishing might not be feasible. He said it becomes an environmental justice issue when people need to fish to survive. He added that in the Lowcountry, some of the heaviest PFAS contamination is in water bodies in low-income areas. Wunderley also cautioned against asking what levels of PFAS humans can safely tolerate — this contamination, he said, should never have existed at all.

“There’s a chemical that 3M and DuPont manufactured and put into the consumer stream and is now in every single one of our bodies. I didn’t give Dupont or 3M permission to contaminate my body or the fish in my harbor or anything else. And so that’s where I think the analysis ought to start.”

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