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68 Beaufort Water Festival starts Friday th
By Delayna Earley The Island News The heat of summer has settled in, Independence Day has come and gone – in Beaufort this means it is almost Water Festival time. The 68th Beaufort Water Festival will kick off with an opening ceremony and fireworks display on Friday, July 12, at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. “Anyone who has worked for
the festival will tell you that the opening ceremony is their favorite event,” said Dusty Vickers, the marketing and public relations coordinator. “We have been working very hard on this festival all year, so when the opening ceremony happens, we can all take a deep breath.” Josh Schott, the commodore for this year’s festival, agreed and said that the opening ceremony
is one event he looks forward to each year. The 10-day festival, which originated in 1956 to celebrate Beaufort’s coastal culture, will feature nightly entertainment and sporting events both on land and in the water. Vickers said that the festival, which is put on by a team of
The annual Beaufort Water Festival will bring more than 50,000 visitors to Beaufort’s Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park over the course of the 10SEE FESTIVAL PAGE A4 day event. Delanya Earley/File/The Island News
Independence Day
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
Port Royal celebrates July 4
LOLITA HUCKABY
New County chief off to good start with Daufuskie residents
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BEAUFORT eaufort County’s new administrator has checked in and from the initial looks of it, he’s off to an aggressive start. One of the first public actions of Michael Moore was the announcement last week county attorneys would be serving official notice to operators of the Daufuskie Island ferry the county is not pleased with their service and considers the company in non-compliance with its contract. Well, it’s about time, say observers of County Council meetings who for the past six months have heard Daufuskie Island residents complain about how lousy the current service is. As background, the interim county administrator entered a contract with the Lowcountry Ferry in January after working with Haig Point Community Association for the past seven years. Lowcountry was the low bidder at $365,000 for the job compared to
SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A6
Spectators enjoy fireworks during the Port Royal Fourth of July Celebration at Sands Beach on Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Port Royal. Delayna Earley/The Island News. See page A3 for more photos.
Port Royal man who escaped from Jasper County jail arrested in Florida Source: Jaquan Duvall Barnes connected with Beaufort County sex trafficking operation
to be connected to a sex trafficking operation in Beaufort County, has been arrested and is in custody in Florida pending extradition back to South Carolina. By Mike McCombs Jaquan Duvall and Delayna Earley Barnes, 29, of Port Barnes The Island News A Port Royal man who escaped Royal, was arrestJune 10 from the Jasper County ed Sunday evening, July 7, by Detention Center and is believed Jacksonville, Fla., Sheriff’s dep-
uties and is currently detained at the John E. Goode Pre-Trial Detention Facility. News of his arrest was shared Monday morning on the Facebook page of the Hardeeville Police Department. The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), in charge of the investigation into Barnes’ escape, has not responded to inquiries from The Island News.
Barnes was being held at the detention center following a March 5 arrest when he reportedly ran from police during a traffic stop. He was initially stopped in a car with an underage girl who had been reported missing from Beaufort County. The 28-year-old Port Royal resident was charged with Trafficking
SEE ARREST PAGE A7
NEWS
HEALTH
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INSIDE
Beaufort Lions Club holding annual Water Festival Breakfast.
Board-certified PA Toulson joins Beaufort Memorial Surgical Specialists.
Gov. McMaster vetoes $2.3M in local projects sponsored by legislators.
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