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Opinion & Letters
F-35Bs will be more than twice as loud
In the May 2010 draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) for the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, the key and crucial noise data for the F-35B was omitted in the 487 pages, substituting instead data assumptions based on the lighter, quieter Air Force F-35A: The Navy wanted the public to comment on the alternative proposals without this major environmental component. [ read article ... ]
Roy Flannagan rebuts former Chief Jeff Dowling
Since my testimony has been impeached by former Chief Dowling, I need to defend my reporting. [ read article ... ]
Former Beaufort chief challenges downtown crime concerns
I take issue with comments such as Roy Flannagan’s concerning the police being in “collusion” with drug dealers. To make a statement such as this without coming forward to report the officers that he thinks are in “collusion” indicates a fabricated story. [ read article ... ]
Does Billy K’s USCB re-branding make sense?
The mayor of Beaufort seemingly dropped a bombshell when he suggested that The University of South Carolina eliminate “Beaufort” from its designation of the two campuses in Beaufort County. Since he asked for input and feedback here goes: [ read article ... ]
Problems of petty theft, grand larceny and muggings
Picture this: not long ago, an elderly man in the Northwest Quadrant saw an adolescent take a bike from his front porch and start peddling down the street. The elderly gent, quite fit, gave chase. The kid on the bike had some trouble with the drive chain on the bike and had to stop to fix it. Meanwhile, three or four other kids came out of their houses to make fun of the spectacle of the older man running towards the thief as the thief tried to fix the chain. The thief gave up and started pushing the bike down the street under his own power. The other kids remained, mocking the older man chasing their friend. [ read article ... ]
Underneath beautiful facade Beaufort is full of crime, mayor promotes appearance over safety
I have made Beaufort my home for more than 35 years now. As a matter of fact it has been 38. I was born and raised here as the first child born in Beaufort in 1972. Over the years I have been more than proud to show off the town I call home. Much of this is due in part to the fact that for more than three decades Beaufort has been a serene, peaceful town on the beautiful Beaufort River. [ read article ... ]
While I disagree with Alton Aimar’s recollection of our meeting and the facts shared with him, I do applaud his interest in maintaining Beaufort’s tranquility. Having been a victim of property crimes myself in the past, I can empathize with the sting that he feels from having his car broken into. [ read article ... ]
A pattern of increasing criminal activity downtown
On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, I met with Mayor Keyserling and Police Chief Matt Clancy at Police Headquarters. We met to discuss the increased criminal activity occurring in the Core Commercial/Waterfront Park/Marina area in downtown Beaufort. [ read article ... ]
Frank Weil’s economic analysis is on the mark
I do not know Frank Weil, the author of “A Two Track Global Economy” which appeared on August 16 nor have I ever read any of his previous work. However, I want to commend you for publishing his even-handed and thoughtful commentary on how the “the economic world is behaving.” This is a sanity inducing piece at a time when our public discourse has become increasingly crazed and irresponsible. [ read article ... ]
Why are downtown crimes not being reported by local press?
Dear Editor,
I am trying to discover why the public is not more aware of the escalating crime occurring in downtown Beaufort.
Over the last several months we have seen an increase in not only the number of incidents occurring but also in the type of criminal activity occurring in the core commercial district, waterfront park and city marina. [ read article ... ]
Rash of muggings and a robbery in Bay Street commercial area of downtown Beaufort
Responding to an inquiry today, August 17, by The Beaufort Tribune, Chief Matthew Clancy of the Beaufort Police Department has disclosed that three nighttime muggings and a robbery have recently taken place in the Bay Street commercial area of downtown Beaufort. All four of these reported crimes have occurred in the 800 and 900 blocks of Bay Street, location of downtown bars and restaurants, the downtown marina, and the downtown waterfront park. [ read article ... ]
Terms like single scoop and double dip are normally only heard in ice cream shops. But, at the moment the economic and financial pages of news organizations the world over are using these types of terms to try to predict and explain what is going on “out there”. Indeed what is going on is unusual and defies categorization in conventional ways. [ read article ... ]
Support Air Station Alternative 3
The mayor, city council, politicians and chamber of commerce leadership in particular are taking a passive role in accepting and supporting the Navy’s recommendation of Alternative 1 for the Air Station expansion. [ read article ... ]
Is another Great Depression just around the corner?
Not too long ago the thought the world might have another Great Depression was almost unthinkable. The only kind of depression anybody under the age of 65 knew anything about was the kind cured by Prozac. [ read article ... ]
Reader hopes Democrat pollsters & advisers continue to misread electorate
Thank you for sharing the column by Pat Caddell on the recent South Carolina primary elections. Unfortunately, he misses the mark widely on the three elections he focused on. [ read article ... ]
Beaufort County’s Manatron tax software system wreaks havoc in Minnesota counties too [ read article ... ]
Two articles in The Beaufort Tribune today epitomize the chasm that separates civilized man from savage man in contemporary American society, indeed in contemporary Beaufort society. [ read article ... ]
Trailer thefts continue on St. Helena Island [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: F-35B puts out too much noise [ read article ... ]
Beaufort High School in crisis.

Rush to judgment on Joy Logan unseemly & unfair [ read article ... ]
It’s about time someone had the guts to speak up about our failed schools
It’s about time someone had the guts to speak up about the way our schools have been allowed to decay throughout the years. Our future community leaders deserve better than we are giving them. [ read article ... ]
School board members should be removed for malfeasance
I live in Beaufort only part of the year and have no children. I am glad to pay school taxes because really, a community is only as good as its schools. Beaufort, a town I love, is failing in that regard. [ read article ... ]
School board “hearing” on “proposed budget” failed to show budget and was not a hearing
On Thursday evening, May 6, the Beaufort County Board of Education held the second of its “public hearings” on its “proposed” FY 2010-1011 Beaufort County School District budget. The meeting was held at Robert Smalls Middle School in a room that the citizens had trouble finding due to absence of signage at the school’s front door directing the public to the meeting. No budget document was presented at the meeting. The chairman admitted in answer to a question that the school board had already passed the budget, meaning that this was not a proposed budget but an adopted budget as far as the school board is concerned and was not a hearing but a window dressing. [ read article ... ]
Our education system is a shame bordering on gross negligence
The education system in Beaufort County (and probably state wide) is a shame bordering on gross negligence. The “powers that be” solution is to throw money (taxpayer’s money) at the problem, usually by increasing their own compensation. [ read article ... ]
School board throws good money after bad
I am writing in support of Mike Sanz’s letter to the School Establishment. As the parent of a Beaufort County Public School child, I hear what goes on in the schools and am in utter amazement. [ read article ... ]
Students not only ones to blame for weakened school discipline
When I taught in Beaufort County schools the one point that central administration was missing is the number of tries a student needs to graduate. Just because it takes 24 credits does not mean the student needs teachers for 24 classes. [ read article ... ]
Quality education is falling apart here [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Let’s improve buffers along our waterways
I hope developers, lawn care companies, new home owners, etc., have stopped the practice of clearing away brush at a waterway’s edge. It is artificial looking and eliminates natural habitat for painted buntings and other wildlife. [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Parking meter for boat stuck in mud
Regarding the photo of the boat in the mud, either the tide went out and the boat got stuck or it was cheaper to park in the mud instead of at the downtown marina. [ read article ... ]
Other voices: South Carolinians need school choice
The report card issued late last week by the South Carolina Department of Education that Beaufort County’s public schools are below average and have fallen further behind begs for a solution to the problem of poor education in our county. Here is one proposal that is gaining increasing attention statewide– school choice–in an editorial by Philip Bowers, a member of the South Carolina Board of Education. [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Rash of utility trailer thefts on St. Helena Island
I live on Eddings Point Road on St. Helena Island. I have had two utility trailers stolen out of my front yard in the last two weeks. Deputy sheriffs have come to my house to investigate the crimes, but there has been no luck locating my belongings. [ read article ... ]
Letter to the editor: Thank you all
Editor’s note: The following is a letter from our staff reporter, Susan Woods, following her miraculous escape relatively unharmed last Thursday from her automobile, which overturned end over end on a rural road near her home in Hampton county while she was driving to work. We are happy to report she is back at work.
Dear Editor,
My family and I would like to thank all of the readers who wished me well during the days I was recuperating from a very wild ride. [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Local Tea Parties are alive and well [ read article ... ]
Editorial cartoon: What the heck could possibly go wrong?
Let me get this straight … we have a health care law written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president that also hasn’t read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke? [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Businesses are closing all over Beaufort
Dear Editor,
It amazes me how many small businesses have closed around Beaufort in the last year. It happens one shop at a time, little by little, such that it garners little attention, not to mention the fact if it’s not on Bay Street nobody pays any attention except the employers, the employees and their customers. [ read article ... ]
Robert Moore: Free press patriots are getting at the essence
Even as most of America’s urban print newspapers spiral into economic distress, some big paper columnists are writing better than ever. In journalism, as in many endeavors, difficult times can focus the mind and produce incisive, probing commentary. [ read article ... ]
Other voices: “The only way to restore trust is from the local community on up”
Editor’s comment: David Brooks of The New York Times has some good things to say. He said one such good thing yesterday: “The only way to restore trust is from the local community on up.” [ read article ... ]
Other voices: Is affirmative inaction the policy for school violence when race is involved? [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Parking garage needed
This is in regards to the proposed increased fees for parking in downtown Beaufort and the process by which to pay for them. [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: If the City keeps on, downtown’s going to be broken
I do not believe downtown is broken. Mr. Keyserling writes it “…is a little broken.” Why? Stores, shops, restaurants and other businesses are very active on Bay Street. [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Downtown parking increase is the last straw
I do not live within the city limits of Beaufort, but I do consider the city my hometown. I think everyone north of the Broad does. [ read article ... ]
Brit claims Americans gave Obama “an idiotic level of idolatry” and are regretting it
Here’s a look at the current U.S president from the point of view of a Brit: [ read article ... ]
Letter to editor: Beaufort Symphony Orchestra is great, needs support
WOW! How does a town of 17,000 people and surrounding communities deserve a performing arts enterprise the quality of the Beaufort Symphony Orchestra? This week’s sold out symphony performance with guest violinist Tamas Koecsis playing Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, was simply outstanding. [ read article ... ]
Other voices: Obama’s problem is Obama
Here’s the link to an article by Jack Kelly that points the finger at Barack Obama for the president’s current problems at governing: [ read article ... ]
Reader: School board members need close voter scrutiny
Dear Editor,
It appears to me that all of us, with or without children in school, should be paying much closer attention to who is being elected to the Beaufort County Board of Education. [ read article ... ]
Greece today, America tomorrow
Greece has reached almost the end of the road of welfare statism, according to the ineluctable laws of economics. Read on to see what’s in store for us in America as the same ineluctable laws play out here. [ read article ... ]
Riverview parents: We want an independent investigation of the school district
The Beaufort Tribune has obtained the following letter, which is being distributed by Riverview Charter School supporters to all Riverview parents to obtain their signatures on the attached letter to the school board:
Dear Riverview Parents:
Please take a moment to review the attached letter to the Beaufort County Board of Education. As we are now well-aware, there are serious questions surrounding the data released by the District to Riverview and the Office of Civil Rights regarding the actual diversity numbers of children in the County. [ read article ... ]
Reader: An open letter to the voters, hold school board members accountable
To the voters of Beaufort County:
With the current turmoil regarding the Beaufort County School District’s Board of Education and Riverview Charter School, it is relevant to point out 2010 is an election year where voters have the opportunity to hold particular board members accountable. [ read article ... ]