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Police catch a break in downtown Beaufort break-ins
BPD has a person of interest in recent cases
Lt. Col. Stephenie Price, Deputy Chief of the Beaufort Police Department, addresses a meeting of downtown business owners about how to protect their businesses from recent “smash-and-grab” burglaries during a meeting hosted by the Beaufort Downtown Merchants’ Association on Tuesday at Thibault Gallery on Bay Street. Beaufort has experienced an uptick in such crimes. Lt. Col. Price said none of the crimes have been occurring on Bay Street. Bob Sofaly/The Island News
By Mike McCombs The Island News The City of Beaufort Police Department (BPD) has a person of interest in two break-ins that occurred June 27 and 28 in downtown Beaufort. “We’re just waiting on some lab work to come back,” said Lt. Col. Stephenie Price, Deputy Chief and spokesperson for the Beaufort Police Department.
Price was speaking to about 20 business owners at a Tuesday morning meeting of the Downtown Beaufort Merchants’ Association at the Thibault Gallery on Bay Street. Early Tuesday morning, June 27, someone broke into Bathe, a local business which sells soaps, lotions and rubber duckies at 210 Scott Street by breaking the bottom of the glass door with the jack from a car and squeezing inside. The thief yanked the cash drawer out of the register and then left through the hole they
came in through, making off with around $450. Then again, the next morning, the same thing happened to NeverMore Books at 910 Port Republic Street. Only this time, the thief had trouble getting in the door thanks to the safety glass and a tinted film on the door. Then once on the inside, there was no cash for the thief to make off with. Adding insult to injury, according to NeverMore owners Dave and Lorrie Anderson, the
SEE POLICE PAGE A4
Pine Island developer takes legal action vs. County
A performance by the Gatorland Water Ski Show Team was one of the day’s highlights during the 66th annual Beaufort Water Festival in Beaufort, South Carolina, Sunday, July 17, 2022. File photo
‘Tides of lasting memories’
Beaufort’s Water Festival returns for its 67th edition By Delayna Earley The Island News The 67th annual Beaufort Water Festival will begin with a bang on Friday, July 14, at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort. The Water Festival is one of the largest volunteer-run outdoor festivals in
the South according to the Beaufort Water Festival website and more than 400 volunteers work hard to put on the festival every year. The first festival was held in July 1956, and many of the events that are enjoyed during the festival now have not changed much since that first year.
The festival will continue for 10 days and will include nightly entertainment, daytime activities and sporting events, as well as artisans selling their goods in the Festival Arts and Crafts Market.
By Mike McCombs The Island News It was destined to end up in court all along. The owner of the roughly 500acre St. Helena Island property known as Pine Island took legal action last week against Beaufort County, continuing efforts to build a golf resort on the property. Pine Island Property Holdings (PIPH) and Pine Island Golf Club (PIGC) on Wednesday, July 5 filed an appeal of the County Planning Commission’s denial of plans to build three six-hole golf courses. This plan was submitted before the strengthening of the Cultural Protection Overlay (CPO), which initially prohibited golf courses with nine holes or more. The same two entities filed a civil suit on Friday claiming the CPO “is invalid as to the Property owned by Plaintiffs and that the intended development plan is allowable.” It questions the legality of a ban on golf courses, gated communities and resorts, claims “the zoning map amendment request to be removed from the CPO Ordinance was improperly denied and must be approved,” asks the court to enter a judgment for monetary damages and attorney’s fees against the County and “all other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.” The appeal and civil suit will be heard in the Beaufort County Court
SEE FESTIVAL PAGE A8
SEE ACTION PAGE A6
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Board of Education will not ban Cook, will send him a letter.
Beaufort High’s Livesay named National Merit Scholarship winner.
MCAS Beaufort executes Change of Command.
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67th Annual Scan or Buy your tickets at bftwaterfestival.com