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BCSD’s Rodriguez receives big honor
A yellowed-bellied slider turtle with paint on its shell as seen at the Cypress Wetlands and Rookery in Port Royal on April 30, 2024. Photo courtesy of Jenn Clementoni
Rodriguez named the 2025 Superintendent of the Year in S.C.
Turtle vandalized at Cypress Wetlands
By Delayna Earley The Island News Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Frank Rodriguez received a big honor on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Rodriguez was named the 2025 South Carolina Superintendent of the Year by the S.C. Association of School Administrators (SCASA). “Dr. Rodriguez is so deserving of this honor. I have seen firsthand what a hardworking, personable and excellent leader he is,” Frank Rodriguez Beaufort County Board of Education Chair Christina Gwozdz said. “His ability to connect with the community and district employees is amazing. And no matter what, he always strives to ensure our students are challenged scholastically so they can meet success in their academic careers and life. It’s been an honor to work with him in my role as Board Chair as we moved very important initiatives forward that benefit our entire county, such as two overwhelmingly successful referendums and increasing our teacher pay to top in the state.” Rodriguez told The Island News, on Monday, May 6, that he is deeply honored to receive the award,
Local group seeks help in finding who painted the shell of a turtle at the Port Royal wetlands By Delayna Earley The Island News The Cypress Wetlands and Rookery is full of beautiful wildlife, but while on a walk through the wetlands to enjoy the natural beauty, one local woman saw something that should not have been there. On Thursday, May 2, Jenn Clementoni, made a post using the Friends of the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands Facebook page seeking information from the public about a turtle that appears to have been removed from its habitat and the number “24” painted on its shell. Clementoni, who is the vice president of the nonprofit organization that supports and promotes the wetlands, said that she was walking through the wet-
Members of the Fripp Island Loggerhead Patrol stand with the first sea turtle nest found in Beaufort County on the south end of Fripp Island on Sunday, May 5, 2024. Photo courtesy of Fripp Island Loggerhead Patrol
No. 1 for 2024 First sea turtle nest found in Beaufort County this season
By Delayna Earley The Island News While many were celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Sunday, members of the Fripp Island Loggerhead Patrol were celebrating for a
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different reason. The first sea turtle nest of the season in Beaufort County and the second in the state was found on Fripp Island’s beach on Sunday, May 5. The sea turtle nesting
season began on May 1, and Karen Natoli, project leader for Fripp Island Loggerhead Patrol, said that this is the earliest that she can remem-
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Remembering the man who fed Beaufort
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standing room only crowd of about 500 gathered along the shores of the Beaufort River last Sunday to celebrate the life of one of Beaufort’s greats. Steve Brown passed away peacefully two weeks ago, and his wife, Jean, and their four children Stephanie, Kelsey, Mitchell, and Wade jointly hosted the celebratory event. Steve Brown ran restaurants and a catering service in Beaufort in the 1980’s and 90’s and 00’s and 10’s until his health began to slip away from him. He also, as a volunteer, ran the Baptist Church
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of Beaufort’s formidable kitchen during those years, which was an enormous gift to his church. But that’s just the beginning. As readers will soon see, there was a great deal more to the man.
Beaufort Mayor pro-tem Mike McFee and City Councilman Neil Lipsitz were there last Sunday, as was W.R. “Skeet” Von Harten, twice Beaufort County’s Council Chairman and the perennial chairman of its all-important “Save the Bases” committees. So was Modern Jewelers’ Kevin Cuppia, godfather of Beaufort’s Bay Street merchants. “Steve had the light” Cuppia said at the cookies, crabs and lemonade reception after the formal ceremony, “and we need to keep that light burning in Beaufort.” Longtime Port Royal Municipal
Court Judge Jim Grimsley was there, too, with his wife, Josette. Some years back, the Grimsleys were moving out of a Waddell Gardens cul-de-sac just as the Browns were moving in. “And reflective of his remarkable generosity,” Judge Grimsley recalled, “Steve brought us dinner that night!” Ed Duryea, a pillar of Steve’s beloved Baptist Church of Beaufort, was there, too, with his wife Cindy. Duryea, Beaufort Mayor Henry Chambers’ most effective
Steve Brown ran restaurants and a catering service in Beaufort for many years until his health began to slip away from him. Photo courtesy of the SEE RAUCH PAGE B5 Brown family
ARTS
SPORTS
EDUCATION
INSIDE
Clover Choraliers returning to Beaufort.
Beaufort High baseball team advances to Lower State.
Beaufort High’s Thompson wins Conroy Center’s Scholarship.
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