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COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
Beaufort still just a bit short Wreaths Across America Beaufort several thousand wreaths away from covering all graves at Beaufort National Cemetery By Mike McCombs The Island News With just a few days before Saturday’s Wreaths Across America Day, Beaufort Coordinator David Edwards confirmed Monday, Dec. 9, that his organization is still several thousand remembrance wreaths short of being able to cover the headstones of all the 28,000 veteran heroes interred at Beaufort
National Cemetery, a feat Edwards and many volunteers have made happen several years running. If it seems like you’ve heard this response from Edwards before, you have. “It’s not too late,” he said. “It’s not too late until they close the doors on the trucks on Saturday.” Edwards habitually shies away from talking about specific num-
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
bers any more than he has to. He also acknowledges this has been a tough year for a lot of people between inflation, hurricanes and unease about what November’s election might mean for the economy. “Still, …” he said. “I just want every one of our veteran heroes to be remembered. You know, if everybody in Beaufort just bought one
wreath, we wouldn’t need any big purchases and we wouldn’t need any outside help. We’d get it done.” To sponsor a Remembrance Wreath, which costs $17, click on the QR code on Wreaths Across America Beaufort’s Facebook page or visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/GA0175P. That code at the
SEE SHORT PAGE A5
’TIS THE SEASON
LOLITA HUCKABY
County officials working on ‘What’s next’ for US 278
W
BEAUFORT hile the State Infrastructure Bank at its meeting last month agreed to give Beaufort County Council until the end of March to come up with an alternate funding plan for the U.S. 278 Corridor Improvement Plan, talks are already underway. Because the one percent sales tax referendum went down in defeat — 55 to 45 percent — the county no longer has the $190 million promised as a matching fund to the State Infrastructure Bank for the U.S. 278 Corridor Improvement plan, which includes a replacement bridge to Hilton Head Island. The SIB had pledged $120 million to Beaufort County for a portion of the project. But because Beaufort County voters didn’t buy the idea of another penny sales tax, well, that state money might go elsewhere.
SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A4
Four-year-old Adeline Robinson of Beaufort reaches out to feel the snow as it falls during the Night on the Town Christmas tree lighting at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. Amber Hewitt/The Island News
Blue Angels make sneak preview stop Nos. 7 and 8 visit MCAS Beaufort, gone as quickly as they arrive
Blue Angel No. 7, a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, lands and makes it way around the flight deck at MCAS Beaufort on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The 2025 MCAS Beaufort Airshow, featuring the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration team, will be held on Saturday, April 12, and Sunday, April 13. General admission is free. Amber Hewitt/The Island News
By Mike McCombs The Island News One of the Blue Angels’ familiar blue and gold Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets touched down at 8:55 a.m. Friday, Dec. 6 at MCAS Beaufort in advance of the Airshow set for Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13. High-ranking MCAS Beaufort officers, members of the media
and several area Marines ROTC outfits were on hand to greet Blue Angel No. 7, USMC Maj. Scott Laux, and Blue Angel No. 8, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Lilly Montana, who made the 55-minute or so flight — at .95 MACH (658 mph over the ground) — from Punta Gorda, Fla. “We went about as fast as we could and it still took about an hour,” Laux said. According to Montana, the two of them will visit each of the 32 show sites between now and the beginning of the 2025 season.
SEE ANGELS PAGE A3
NEWS
FAITH
STATE NEWS
INSIDE
PAL hosting Holiday Open House this Saturday.
Holy Trinity’s ‘A Light for the Nations’ set for Dec. 17.
State high court schedules hearing on case that challenges timing of SC’s abortion ban.
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