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No books banned during May book committee review
Committee members discuss their assigned books during the Book Review Committee meeting on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Okatie Elementary School in Okatie. Delayna Earley/The Island News
By Delayna Earley The Island News OKATIE – Seven books will be returning to Beaufort County School District (BCSD) library shelves and one book, Identical by Ellen Hopkins, will be going back into the book review process due to a tie vote following the book review committee meeting on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at Okatie Elementary School. The committees reviewed eight
books in total on Thursday night – Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher, Fade by Lisa McMann, Fallout by Ellen Hopkins, Foul is Fair / Golden Boys Beware by Hanna Capin, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, Identical by Ellen Hopkins, Push by Sapphire and Tricks by Ellen Hopkins. Four books, Almost Perfect, Fade, Fallout and Tricks were previously available to students in Grades 6 through 12. Of those books, Fallout
by Ellen Hopkins will be returned to circulation without any additional restrictions, whereas the other three books will be returned to library circulation for Grades 9 through 12 only. Ryan Copeland, librarian at Battery Creek High School, participated in the committee tasked with reading and deciding on Tricks, and he said that there were differ-
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Bruner the woman to beat at River Swim Hilton Head Island senior looking for 5th straight win By Mike McCombs The Island News Some things have become common around Beaufort. A struggle to find a parking place downtown. A good burger at Beedo’s. And Skylar Bruner winning the women’s race in the Beaufort River Swim. While a fifth straight win is on the line in the 17th annual Beaufort River Swim set for Saturday morning, Bruner’s goals are personal. “This race is the most personal to me. I’ve watched my parents win this race since I was a kid, and now to take over is an honor,” Bruner said. “It is also my first open water race, where I found my love for this side of the sport. While I’m definitely aiming for a win, I’m just honored to get one last for sure race in with this community.” Bruner, a Hilton Head Island High School senior, finished third overall last year, winning the women’s race with a time of 53:17.16. She grew up watching her parents — Carlton and Heather Bruner — compete in this event. Both competitive swimmers, Carlton Bruner competed for the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Now, Bruner’s senior year in high school is coming to a close, and she has been able to put things in perspective. “This swim season has been my
A brightly painted sign along Highway 21 welcomes visitors to St. Helena Island as seen April 19, 2023. Tony Kukulich/The Post And Courier
What next for St. Helena? With golf course resort off table, future up in air for Pine Island, developer
By Tony Kukulich The Post And Courier BEAUFORT — Councilman Logan Cunningham may have peered into a crystal ball as Beaufort County Council prepared to vote on the final reading of revisions to the St. Helena Island Cultural Protection Overlay on May 8. Speaking before the vote, Cunningham predicted the motion would pass, 9-2. As it turned out, his prediction was spot on. The vote capped a months-long effort to strengthen the ordinance County Council originally adopted in
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1999 to protect the island’s Gullah/ Geechee culture. While the original overlay was barely a half page long, the revised ordinance stretches to more than two pages. Most of the additions are in the document’s “purpose”
section, which describes the history and culture of St. Helena Island in greater depth. The prohibitions against gated communities, resorts and golf courses remain; however, the definitions of gated communities and golf courses have been updated. The revised language also eliminates a previous exception that allowed golf courses with fewer than nine holes. “The cultural protective overlay’s clarifying language reinforces the overlay’s original purpose and intent, that St. Helena Island be preserved
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ARTS
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PRSF Maritime center hosting Gullah Geechee art exhibition.
TCL graduates more than 300 students in Downtown Beaufort ceremony.
BA girls win crosstown state-title tilt; BA, Holy Trinity boys fall in SCISA finals.
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Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–5 Business A6 Arts A6–7 Education A8 Faith B9
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