By LOLITA HUCKABY
BEAUFORT TODAY

Beaufort County public school parents will have another month to give their two-cents of opinion on whether the school board should impose a mandatory uniform policy on all students in the district.

Board Chairman Fred Washington agreed Tuesday night to delay a decision on the uniform policy until the second meeting in August. Washington had initially stated he hoped the board would reach consensus by the last meeting in July.

A half dozen citizens addressed the board at this week’s meeting about the policy, some in favor, some opposing.

Former senator made reconciliation his life’s work.

By SCOTT GRABER
BEAUFORT TODAY

There’s a mural hanging in the Daniel Library at The Citadel that shows Civil War Gen. Wade Hampton on horseback. The bearded general is leading a company of Citadel cadets as they charge an unseen Union position at Trevilian Station in northern Virginia. Hampton is waving his pistol and one can almost hear the yelling and smell the fear.

By EVAN R. THOMPSON
HISTORIC BEAUFORT FOUNDATION

New construction proposed for four downtown locations will be addressed this month by the city’s Historic District Review Board at its monthly meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, in the Beaufort Arsenal.

Historic Beaufort Foundation has one representative on this board of five volunteer citizens appointed by the City Council. People often confuse the review board and Historic Beaufort Foundation. HBF does not review or approve projects; we are advocates for preservation, but not the final decision-makers.

Plans will be submitted to state Aug. 5.

By LOLITA HUCKABY
BEAUFORT TODAY

For the past year, a group of parents, largely from the Habersham neighborhood, has been working on plans for what they hope will be Beaufort County’s first charter school.

Riverview Charter School logoOn Aug. 5, the plan will be presented to the state Charter School Advisory Committee for approval and after that, the local school board will have 30 days to accept or reject the proposal.

By LANIER LANEY
BEAUFORT TODAY

Is Beaufort being discovered by the International Glitterati? Last weekend Marci Klein, daughter of famed designer Calvin Klein, spent the weekend on Lantz and Jen Price’s rustic “fish camp” near Fripp Island.

Marci Klein with Paul McCartneyMarci could afford to go anywhere in the world (she owns the entire top two loft floors of a prime Soho building) but chose it to spend in Beaufort with her husband Scott Murphy, who is an old surfing and fishing buddy of Lantz.

We complain too much. But then, it’s part of who we are as Americans. It’s in our genetic memory. We are a nation of whiners.

Perhaps that’s why we so cherish the Declaration of Independence, signed this date 232 years ago, as an enumeration of grievances against the dastardly British crown. It is a laundry list of complaints. And in that respect, it’s the all-American document.

By BILL HERBKERSMAN
STATE REPRESENTATIVE

It was a good week for Beaufort County as far as state business is concerned. We worked through the last of the governor’s vetoes and took care of some caucus details. The column this week will speak to two areas of great import to me: education and roads.

Fordham building now home to a different sort of stuff.

By LOLITA HUCKABY
BEAUFORT TODAY

You still can sit on a decorative bench at the corner of Bay and Carteret Streets in downtown Beaufort and watch the traffic go by. You can still buy a rice steamer or get a house key cut inside at what was once Fordham Hardware.

But it’s Fordham Market now and, boy, has the merchandise changed.

It was four years ago this month that the former hardware store reopened its doors as a vendors’ market and property owner Duncan Fordham said recently he’s pleased with the results.

Critics say the low number of inmates show that the courts aren’t working.

By SARITA CHOUREY
MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

COLUMBIA -- When 20-year-old Juan Rodriguez, a suspected illegal Mexican immigrant, hit 17-year-old Josh George as the teen drove home from prom last month, emotions boiled in Beaufort County.

The Bluffton High School junior died of his injuries days later. Rodriguez was charged with driving without a license, operating a vehicle while uninsured, disregarding a traffic signal, felony DUI and leaving the scene of an accident when a death occurs.

By SARITA CHOUREY
MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

COLUMBIA -- As South Carolina education officials work to replace the 10-year-old Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests, they say they anticipate none of the pitfalls that educators in Georgia encountered when they revamped their state exam.

“In Georgia, I believe some of the difficulties are due to the fact that they increased the rigor of their performance standards,” said Teri Siskind, Deputy Superintendent for the S.C. Department of Education.