POSTAL PATRON LOCAL
FEBRUARY 16–22, 2023
WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
VALENTINE’S DAY
S E V E N T E E N T H
17TH A N N U A L
BEAUFORT
LIZ FARRELL
‘He loved them so he couldn’t have’
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
FILM FESTIVAL F E B R U A R Y
2 0 2 3
BIFF is back Beaufort International Film Festival marks Big Chill’s 40th birthday
M
WALTERBORO aggie Murdaugh’s death was a painful one. She not only suffered physically as her killer circled, shooting again and again until she was gone, her last breath was taken knowing her 22-year-old son — one half of her world — had been killed too. Paul Murdaugh was shot with his arms down by his sides. He didn’t raise them defensively before being pegged in the chest with a shotgun — possibly his own. The final shot to his shoulder, which left through his head, sent him to the ground, gone before he got there. Neither Maggie nor Paul would have been at Moselle the night of their murders were it not for the insistence of Alex Murdaugh. When Maggie’s sister, Marian Proctor, later asked Alex who could have done this to them, his response was, “Whoever did it had been planning it for a long time.” It is important to know that. It’s important to think about it. We are now in Week Four of the Alex Murdaugh trial in Colleton County. The prosecution expects to finish in the next day or so. Then we’ll hear from Alex Murdaugh’s team. So far their defense has been, “But he loved them.” For a surprising number of people that argument alone seems to be enough. He loved them. So he couldn’t have …
Sylvia Bushey, owner/operator of Carolina Floral Design, puts the finishing touches on a floral arrangement using some of the 2,250 roses she’ll use for the St. Valentine’s Day celebration. “And that’s just the roses” she said. She said that retail business is getting back to normal after many people stopped buying flowers due to the COVID pandemic.
By Mark Shaffer Lowcountry Weekly Each year for the past 17 years, Ron and Rebecca Tucker manage to pull off the minor miracle that is the Beaufort International Film Festival. And each year after the last award’s been handed out, the applause fades into the night and the curtain comes down on another BIFF, they ask each other the INSIDE same question: Complete schedule for Why go on? the 17th annual “Once we Beaufort start planning it International and put out the Film Festival, Page A6 call for submissions, it’s kind of a snowball effect and we are absolutely spent during the process,” Ron Tucker said. “But it is kind of addictive, though every year it gets a little harder for a lot of different reasons.” COVID posed a unique challenge, albeit one that affected the festival only minimally. The 2020 festival was already in the books by the time the world went into lockdown, and though scaled down, the 2021 festival was conducted under strict protocols. Competition, however, doesn’t come with protocols.
Lee Petrolawicz, left, hands Sylvia Bushey, right, an arrangement to be adjusted for a customer Tuesday afternoon. Denise Berbigler, center, raises a question from another customer. Bushey said her drivers have made nearly 70 deliveries a day for the last couple days and expected to run out of flowers before the end of the day. Photos by Bob Sofaly/The Island News
SEE FARRELL PAGE A5
10 more book review committees set to meet
By Mike McCombs The Island News Ten more Beaufort County School District (BCSD) book review committees are set to meet Thursday, Feb. 16 at 5:45 p.m. at Okatie Elementary School to decide the fate of books removed this past fall from BCSD classrooms and school libraries. The 10 books set to be reviewed
2 1 - 2 6 ,
BEAUFORTFILMFESTIVAL.COM
are a part of a total of 97 books challenged by two Beaufort County citizens – Ivie Szalai and Mike Covert – in the fall of 2022. The next books under review include: • Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell • Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson • I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson • Monday’s Not Coming by
Tiffany D. Jackson • Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult • Sold by Patricia McCormick • All the Things We Do In The Dark by Saundra Mitchell • City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez • Me and Earl and the Dying
Girl by Jesse Andrews Of the 16 books reviewed by committees so far, all but one – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – have been returned to the shelves in some fashion. Each time the committees’ decisions have been appealed by Szalai or Covert, the Board of Education has reaffirmed the committees’ decision.
SEE REVIEW PAGE A4
SEE FILM PAGE A6 BIFF TICKETS Tickets are available for the 17th annual Beaufort International Film Festival hosted by the Beaufort Film Society (BFS). The event runs from February 21 through February 26, with all film screenings held at the USC Beaufort Center for the Arts at 805 Carteret Street in Beaufort. All blocks are $15 each, while a Daily Film Pass is $50 for BFS members and $60 for non members each day. An All Events Pass is $270 for BFS members and $325 for non members. Tickets can be purchased online at www.beaufortfilmfestival.com or patrons can pay at the door for screenings only. Tickets are also available at the Beaufort/Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau Visitors Center at 713 Craven Street in Beaufort.
NEWS
SPORTS
MILITARY
INSIDE
New display highlights Fort Fremont’s role in the defense of Port Royal Sound.
JPII’s Peter Torinese captures 2nd state title.
With help from his brother, Beaufort’s Witter sets flight plan in Army.
PAGE A4
PAGE B1
PAGE B4
Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–5 Arts A6–7 Health A8–9 Voices A10–11 Faith A11
Commercial & Residential Landscape Design-Build Landscape Installs Lawn MAintenance Plants & Landscape Supply Hardscape Installs Irrigation
Come visit us at our garden center! 1 Marina Blvd | Beaufort, SC 843.521.7747 lowcogardeners@gmail.com www.lowcogardeners.com
Sports B1–2 Local Events B3 Military B4–5 Directory B6 Classifieds B7 Legals A2, L1–16