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5 arrested so far in connection with Beaufort County human trafficking ring Escaped Jasper County inmate linked to case By Mike McCombs and Delayna Earley The Island News Four men and a woman, so far, have been arrested in connection with a human trafficking operation in Beaufort County. South Carolina Law Enforce-
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
ment Division (SLED) has arrested Alban Bryan, 63, of St. Helena Island; Guy Frank Talley III, 27, of Okatie; and Bryan William James Youmans, 34, of Beaufort. SLED confirmed the arrests in a news release on Thursday, June 13. All three men were charged
with Trafficking In Persons, Victim Under 18 Years of Age, and all three remain confined at the Beaufort County Detention Talley III Center. Their preliminary hearing has been set for 9:30 a.m., Friday, June 28. A fourth man, 50-year-old Terrance Lamar Fields of Beaufort,
was arrested by the Hardeeville City Police on Tuesday, June 11, according to court documents, and has been charged Youmans with Trafficking in Persons, Victim Under 18 Years of Age — 1st offense, as well. Fields was not listed in SLED’s Thursday news release, but the
Hardeeville Police have confirmed his arrest is related to this same case. And the Hardeeville Police Department announced Friday afternoon, via a Facebook post, that Sylvia Ilaife Meredith, 20, has been charged with Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor in connection with this case.
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CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH
LOLITA HUCKABY
No news here: Seawall sinking; downtown projects stalled
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BEAUFORT re we surprised? It may have come as something of a shock to certain City Council members last week when they received a marine engineering report that our beloved Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park is slowly sinking. The shock value would have been multiplied if the diving company had been able to provide some cost estimates for the repair job. But “surprised?” Not really. Anyone who’s been around this salt water environment for very long know docks and other concrete structures are gonna corrode. And the waterfront park, built 50 years ago along the Beaufort River behind the Bay Street businesses, is no different. Built basically on something of an underwater shelf — called a relieving platform by the engineers — the park is supported by 570 concrete pilings. And those pilings are eroding. The situation, according to the report, has been made worse by the large cruise ships that have been allowed to tie up to the park
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Dancers from Dani’s Dance Dynamics go through part of their routine as they walk during the entire route of the fourth annual Juneteenth Unity Parade hosted by Project Freedom 326 on Sunday, June 16. Juneteenth, sometimes called Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or Cel-Liberation Day, is an American holiday celebrated on June 19, marking the date in 1865 that the Emancipation Proclamation — which had been issued on January 1, 1863 — was read to enslaved African Americans in Texas by Gordon Granger. Bob Sofaly/The Island News
Downtown Beaufort projects paused indefinitely
By Delayna Earley 70-room hotel The Island News and parking gaTwo controversial construcrage that were intion projects in downtown tended to be built Beaufort have been put on hold in the downtown indefinitely by the developer area have been 303 Associates. paused due to Dick According to Dick Stewart, Stewart years of litigation. chairman and founder of 303 “The lawsuits Associates, construction on the that were filed by Graham Trask
and [Historic Beaufort Foundation] (HBF) have put a cloud over the permits related to these projects and made it impossible for us to finance them at the rates that we had committed,” said Stewart. “That exposed us to an increase in interest costs and a significant increase in construction costs.” Stewart said that is why they
have filed the lawsuits against Beaufort developer Graham Trask and his father George Trask. The lawsuit filed in July 2023 is still in the discovery phase, but Stewart hopes to take it to trial sooner than later. Stewart said that they have
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NEWS
HEALTH
MILITARY
INSIDE
Marine rescue mission saves men on Father’s Day.
Health screenings that every woman needs.
VA Medical Center’s Singleton receives AUSA Award for Outstanding Service.
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