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Debby provides good practice
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Scallate files to run for Beaufort mayor
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
LOLITA HUCKABY
PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902
City councilman offers alternative to incumbent Cromer By Delayna Earley The Island News The race for mayor is heating up as incumbent Phil Cromer now has some competition. Beaufort City Councilman Josh Scallate put his name into the race when he filed on Friday afternoon, Aug. 9, to run for the top elected office in the city. Cromer, who has held the office since January, won a special elec-
tion against opponent Mike Sutton after the previous mayor, Stephen Murray resigned in September 2023. Josh After Scallate Scallate filed to run for mayor, Cromer told The Island News that he applauds the councilman for offering himself for
mayor as “a community always benefits when there is a choice.” Scallete agreed with Cromer about the importance of the community having a choice. “One of the main reasons I decided to run for mayor is because I have learned a lot about how important local government is while on City Council and [I] believe that our community deserves to have a choice when deciding who
will represent them,” Scallate said. Scallate has served as a City Council member since December 2022. Four people have filed to run for City Council member seats as well, including incumbents Mitch Mitchell and Neil Lipsitz, as well as Josh Gibson and Julie Crenshaw.
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BEAUFORT kay, Tropical Storm Debby can be considered a trial run. The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season is one-third over (June 1 through Nov. 30), and Debby, which brought a reported 10 to 12 inches of rain to the Beaufort area, was a good test of the county and municipality’s readiness. From all reports, we faired pretty well. Some trees came down and some roads were blocked, but let’s face it, this is the Lowcountry. And the pooling water that came from the sky more so than high tides threatened homes which were, unfortunately, built in low-lying areas. Trees that were probably gonna fall naturally, like those beautiful oaks we try to protect, did come down and so did the pines, especially along Sams Point Road where the county’s only verified tornado touched down, according to the National Weather Service. We were lucky. Seven people did lose their lives, none in South Carolina, luckily, that have been reported, but three in Florida because of fatal car wrecks and two as a result of falling trees. But we didn’t get the 18 to 24 inches that the forecasters had predicted with adjectives like “catastrophic” or “historic.” According to various reports, the City of Beaufort Public Works crews working with the S.C. Department of Transportation teams did a good job of clearing ditches and storm drains even before Debby came knocking. The $8 million Mossy Oaks drainage project seemed to do its job keeping what rain did fall out of houses in the 550-acre drainage area it was designed to protect. The Mossy Oaks project was a collaborative effort by Beaufort County, the City of Beaufort and
Students arrive at Beaufort Elementary School on the first day of school on Friday, August 9, 2024. Photos courtesy of Beaufort County School District
They’re back at last Beaufort County students start school following Tropical Storm Debby
By Delayna Earley The Island News School is back for the Beaufort County School District (BCSD), but it was not without some Debby related delays at the beginning. Students who attend BCSD public schools were supposed to start school on Wednesday, Aug. 7, nearly two weeks before they would typically have gone back
to school, but due to expected weather from Tropical Storm Debby the first day of school had to be pushed back two days to Friday, Aug. 9. Because the missed school days took place before students were issued devices, they were not able to have e-learning days and as a result they must make up the days that were missed.
“School districts have three make-up days that are put into the calendar every year and then we also are allowed to use five e-learning days, so in essence, we can make-up these two days during our make-up days and use our e-learning days to do that or we can have face-to-face days,”
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NEWS
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National Weather Service confirms tornado on Lady’s Island.
Tips to ensure student athletes have a positive experience on and off the field.
Fall season of Street Music kicks off in Port Royal.
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