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POSTAL PATRON LOCAL
MARCH 16–22, 2023
WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
BOE again affirms book decisions By Mike McCombs The Island News In a Beaufort County Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, March 7, marked by an unruly speaker and an unruly audience, the school board once again “concurred” by a vote of 8-3 with its Book Review Committees on its decisions regarding nine books among the 97 books challenged for removal from Beaufort County Schools. The committees Nos. 17 through 26 which met Thursday, Feb. 16, at Okatie Elementary School, had rendered the following decisions on the following books: • Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – returned to grades 9 through 12 only • Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson – returned to grades 6 through 12 only • I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson– returned to grades 6 through 12 only • Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson – returned to grades 6 through 12 only • Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult – removed from circulation • Sold by Patricia McCormick – returned to grades 6 through 12 only • All the Things We Do In The Dark by Saundra Mitchell – returned to circulation without restrictions • City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare – returned to grades 6 through 12 only • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – returned to grades
The entrance to Pine Island Plantation on St. Helena Island as seen Saturday, March 11. The cheery sign that once marked the entrance is missing, an indication to local residents that the sale of the property to developer Elvio Tropeano had closed. Tony Kukulich/The Post And Courier
The end around
Developer buys Pine Island, plans for 3 separate 6-hole golf courses, gated community By Tony Kukulich The Post And Courier
T
BEAUFORT he cheery sign decorated with flowers no longer marks the entrance to the Pine Island Plantation on the north shore of St. Helena Island. Its absence was the first indication that something had changed. Since 1960, Pine Island Plantation has been owned by the Hanna family from Estill. The nearly 500-acre property went up for sale in 2021, with an asking price of $28.5 million, according to the website Land.com.
SEE BOOK PAGE A5
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Late that year, developer Elvio Tropeano executed a contract for an option to buy the property for $21 million. Since then, the property that has been at the center of an existential struggle for the soul of St. Helena
Island. Tropeano made clear his intentions to develop a gated, residential community with an 18-hole golf course, both of which are prohibited by a cultural protection overlay. Documents filed earlier this month with the Beaufort County Recorder of Deeds confirm that Pine Island Plantation was sold to a corporation known as Pine Island Property Holdings LLC for $18 million. The sale closed Feb. 14. Two weeks later, Beaufort County approved subdividing the property
SEE ISLAND PAGE A6
The Island News shines at SC Press awards
Newspaper wins 24 awards, wins coveted President’s Cup
From staff reports For the fourth year running, The Island News had its finest year ever in the South Carolina Press Association’s (SCPA) yearly newspaper awards. The newspaper won a total of 24 awards, besting its previous high of 20, set last year, and for the first time claimed the President’s Cup, given to the top performing publication in each circulation group. Among the newspaper’s 24 awards were 10 first-place nods, an-
The Island News was awarded The South Carolina Press Association’s President’s Cup For Excellence for 2022. Mike McCombs/The Island News
other new high for the publication. The awards were handed out at the SCPA’s annual Awards Luncheon on Thursday in Columbia. “Once again, I’m especially proud of the small group of hard-working and talented people that have made this possible. We are blessed,” Editor-In-Chief Mike McCombs said. “Our goal, given our resources, is to continue to be the best local newspaper we can be for our community.” In most categories, The Island News competed in the division for weekly newspapers with circulations higher than 6,500. The contest was judged by the Georgia Press Association.
Tony Kukulich, now with the The Post And Courier, led the way with eight awards, including four first-place honors. Longtime photo journalist Bob Sofaly added seven awards to his collection, including his first two writing/reporting awards, one a first-place nod. Sofaly has won 25 awards for The Island News since 2012. McCombs won five awards, including two first-place awards, while Sports Editor Justin Jarrett and video journalist Delayna Earley each won two first-place awards. Publisher Jeff Evans won a fistplace award, while Hope Falls and Cherimie Weatherford each brought home one award.
Kukulich, McCombs and Sofaly won first place in the Breaking News category for their reporting on former Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling’s near drowning after a spring boating accident in the Beaufort River. “Multiple eyewitness accounts of the events surrounding this accident gave me the feeling as a reader as if I were there,” the judges wrote. “The drama built as each person was interviewed.” Kukulich and McCombs together won second in the same category, as well, for their March coverage of a U.S. Marine Corps
SEE AWARDS PAGE A4
HEALTH
SPORTS
EDUCATION
INSIDE
CareTalk : Transitioning out of Winter funk as we Spring forward.
Beaufort’s Graeme Angus collects his reward.
Holy Trinity’s O’Neal named a Duckenfield Scholar at Clemson.
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