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Hearings set for sex trafficking defendants By Mike McCombs and Delayna Earley The Island News On Friday, July 19, two of the men arrested June 11 for sex trafficking in Beaufort County will begin having their preliminary hearings at the Beaufort County Detention Center. Guy Frank Talley III, 27, of Okatie, and William James Youmans, 34, of Beaufort, are scheduled to
appear for their preliminary hearings at 9:30 a.m., before Magistrate Judge LaShonda Green Scott, according to court Talley III documents. The third man arrested in Beaufort, Alban Bryan, 63, of St. Helena Island, does not currently have a preliminary hearing date posted to
his judicial records as of Tuesday, June 25. Bryan is being represented by Public Defender Colin J. Hamil- Youmans ton, but the other two men do not have documented representation, according to court records. Hunter Swanson with the 14th
Circuit Solicitor’s Office is listed as the prosecutor in all three cases. The preliminary hearings for Talley and Youmans were originally scheduled for Friday, June 28, but Swanson asked for a continuance, moving the date back. While there have not been any official updates from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) regarding the sex trafficking enterprise in Beaufort
and Jasper Counties, there are a few new details that have emerged. A man and a woman were arrested by Hardeeville City Police and while Chief Sam Woodward has told The Island News that the arrests are connected to the sex trafficking enterprise, as of Tuesday, June 25, a spokesperson from SLED had not been able to con-
SEE HEARINGS PAGE A7
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
LOLITA HUCKABY
Update on tree protections
T
PORT ROYAL he Port Royal Town Council did a nice thing two weeks ago. The council of four elected members and a mayor actually do a lot of nice things for their citizens, although some actions are more appreciated by the public than others. Two weeks ago they unanimously agreed to table the first reading of proposed changes to the town’s tree ordinance, a document passed last year and touted as one of the strictest, in terms of tree protection, in the state. When they passed the ordinance update, they promised they’d revisit the results of the new regulation. It was from that revisit that the proposals for change have come. The proposed rewrite was presented to the Town Council at their June 5 workshop and, to the surprise of some, the first reading of the ordinance changes was on the June 12 agenda. Thanks to an alert from the S.C.
Paddlers compete in the Beaufort River near Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park for Dragonboat Race Day 2022. Photo courtesy of Steve Tate/file
DragonBoat Beaufort’s race day set for Saturday
SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A4
By Delayna Earley The Island News Paddlers will once again descend on downtown Beaufort on Saturday for the 11th annual Dragonboat Race Day. The event, which is hosted by DragonBoat Beaufort, a nonprofit organization that assists cancer patients who live, work or receive treatment in Beaufort County, will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 29, at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park and will end around 3 or 4 p.m., according to the event’s co-director Chris Jones. Jones said that each of the 30 teams will race three times and the event will culminate with an awards ceremony at the pavilion in Waterfront Park. Participants in the race should
Debut novelist brings DragonBoat book to Beaufort’s race day
plan to arrive early to prepare for the start of races and opening ceremony and Drummers Parade, which will both begin at 7:10 a.m. “We provide help with things like rent, utilities and other things that families and individuals who are struggling with cancer wouldn’t get help with otherwise,” Jones said. “Individuals with cancer sometimes cannot work or have little left after paying for medical bills so covering everyday expenses can be hard.” Of the 30 teams, 20 of them are local teams and 10 are from out of town. Each team consists of 20 paddlers with two recommended alternates and one drummer. The teams are divided up into four
By Marly Rusoff Special to The Island News Come see the exciting power of team-building Saturday, June 29 at the dramatically beautiful Beaufort DragonBoat Race Day in downtown Beaufort where the Henry C. Chambers Water- Roger front Park becomes Jones the site of the largest and most colorful event created to
SEE RACE PAGE A6
SEE NOVELIST PAGE A6
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Celebrate July 4 with these area events.
BYSC hosts 57th Annual Lowcountry Regatta.
Sculptor of monument on SC Statehouse grounds reflects on his view from space.
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