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Rev. Kenneth Hodges of the Tabernacle Baptist Church died April 22, 2025. He was 73.
Hodges’ death leaves Beaufort with a hole to fill
Nancy Mace speaks with the media on the balcony of the Dataw Clubhouse ahead of a Town Hall meeting at Dataw Island on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. Amber Hewitt/The Island News
Mace brings fireworks to Dataw
By Mike McCombs The Island News Rev. Kenneth Hodges was the pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church for nearly 30 years and the owner of LyBensons’ Gallery on St. Helena Island. He was also the former State Representative for House District 121 from 2005 to 2016. He was all of this things, but he was so much more. Hodges died Tuesday, April 22, at 73 years old after just over a week in Beaufort Memorial Hospital. And members of the community are taking stock of just how much he meant to Beaufort. “I admired that I kind of saw him as a Renaissance man, you know,” former Beaufort Mayor Stephen Murray said, “and that he was, you know, he was an artist. He
Congresswoman accuses media of wanting to ‘see something bad happen,’ calls Beaufort resident an ‘agitator’
By Mike McCombs, Delayna Earley and Amber Hewitt The Island News Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s Beaufort County constituents have been clamoring for some time for the Charleston Republican to hold a Town Hall meeting at this end of South Carolina’s 1st
Congressional District. While a members-only Town Hall event in the gated Dataw Island community might not have been the ideal solution, her constituents, both supporters and opponents got some of the answers they wanted. However, what Mace had to say
before and after the Wednesday, April 23, Town Hall is still being talked about as much as anything that may have been said during the meeting. Mace, who drove past protesters at the intersection of Sea Is-
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MCAS Beaufort gets new commanding officer
By Mike McCombs The Island News According to a release from the MCAS Beaufort Communication Strategy and Operations Office, Col. Trevor J. Felter assumed command of Marine Corps Air
Station Beaufort at 8 a.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Col. Felter, a native of Tiffin, Ohio, brings more than 30 years of serCol. Trevor vice in the UnitJ. Felter ed States Marine Corps, with extensive operational and leadership experience across the aviation community. He most recently served as the Assistant
Chief of Staff, G-7 at Marine Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. MCAS Beaufort, home to Marine Aircraft Group 31 and the F-35B Lightning II, plays a critical role in supporting Marine Corps aviation and ensuring the readiness of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Col. Mark D. Bortnem was relieved of his command of MCAS Beaufort on Tuesday morning, April 15, 2025, due to a “loss of trust and confidence” in his abil-
ity to command. Bortnem had been the Commanding Officer of MCAS Beaufort for nearly two years since he took command from Col. Karl Arbogast on July 14, 2023. Lt. Col. Michael R. Eubanks served as acting commander in the two weeks before Felter assumed command. Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 3, 2025, at Tabernacle Baptist Church at 907 Craven Street in Beaufort. Burial will follow at the Samaritan Baptist Church Cemetery in Bennett's Point, S.C.. Wake Services/Public Viewing will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2025, at Tabernacle Baptist Church. Reflections can be made during this time. There will be no viewing after the eulogy. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Harriet Tubman Monument Fund c/o Tabernacle Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1564, Beaufort, S.C. 29901.
NEWS
BUSINESS
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INSIDE
Proposed Jasper County overlay district on shaky ground.
Tax season surprise? Take steps to reshape your strategies.
Justin Jarrett: “State House should leave SCHSL alone.”
Beaufort Board of Education schedules community public forums on budget.
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The Port Royal Sound watershed is 1,500 square miles across 4 counties Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, & Allendale.
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The Reverend Kenneth F. Hodges 73, of Burton, husband of Patricia Hodges, died Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.
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Col. Trevor J. Felter assumed command Tuesday
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