Charleston Currents

Good news

FOCUS: Flagship-Bridge incubator opens with 20 tech businesses

Staff reports | The Charleston Digital Corridor has opened the Flagship-Bridge, a tech-focused business incubator that is housing 20 tech companies. The development of the facility in downtown Charleston at 385 Meeting Street was necessitated due to the redevelopment of the property that formerly housed the Flagship and Flagship2, according to a press release

The Flagship-Bridge office is approximately 14,000 square feet on a single floor and contains 22 offices of various size configurations, two conference rooms and a sprinkling of open areas for co-working and team collaboration.

Some of the new business services now being offered by the Charleston Digital Corridor at the Flagship-Bridge include monthly co-working memberships, virtual offices and mail handling services exclusively for tech companies.

by Charleston Currents · 01/28/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

GOOD NEWS: Feb. 8 symposium to focus on 2nd Amendment, gun policy

Staff reports | Two Duke University law school professors will kick off a Feb.8 symposium that examines the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a new and positive light. The conference at the Charleston Music Hall, which includes other law professors, attorneys and a state representative, is hosted by the Charleston Law Review of the Charleston School of Law and the Riley Institute at Furman University.

by Charleston Currents · 01/28/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering a speech.

FOCUS: Remembering Dr. King and 6 principles that guided his work

By Elliott Brack, special to Charleston Currents | As we observe Martin Luther King Day, it’s fitting to review the King Philosophy. Dr. King viewed three evils, that of poverty, racism and militarism that he said formed a vicious cycle. He felt these were intertwined and were barriers for reaching his nirvana, what he called the “Beloved Community.”

Let’s look at his thoughts in this area, this taken from his view as recorded at The King Center in Atlanta and available on the Internet.

Fundamental tenets of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence are described in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. The six principles include: …

by Special to Charleston Currents · 01/21/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

GOOD NEWS: Food bank distributing food to furloughed federal workers

Staff reports | The Lowcountry Food Bank is is making food distributions for federal employees who are furloughed or who are working as essential employees but not getting currently paid and in need of food.

by Charleston Currents · 01/21/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

FOCUS: King Day events in Charleston to continue Jan. 17

Staff reports | While area churches held services commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy on Sunday, community events and celebrations get started in earnest Thursday, Jan. 17, with the MLK Racial Equity Institute.

The nationally-recognized sessions will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 at the College of Charleston’s North Charleston campus, 3800 Paramount Drive, just off Interstate 526. Leaders and others who attend will work to understand institutional racism and will ““come away with dramatically changed worldviews,” according to YWCA Greater Charleston.

Click the headline above to learn about more events.

by Charleston Currents · 01/14/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

GOOD NEWS: Chamber offers six priority areas for state legislature

Staff reports | The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce recently unveiled its 2019 legislative agenda with six priority issue areas ranging from taxes and education to workforce housing and the state’s fiscal health.

by Charleston Currents · 01/14/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

FOCUS: Neighborhoods should benefit from Lowcountry Rapid Transit

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | Lowcountry Rapid Transit (LRT), a proposed dedicated bus system between Summerville and Charleston, should not be just a metro system for transportation. It should also be the focal point for comprehensive community redevelopment, especially for stations along Rivers Avenue in North Charleston.

Now is the time for the planning and fund-raising. All of the benefits and barriers should be considered. We need to seize this opportunity for all of the Tri-county community and create neighborhoods where there are green spaces, safe areas for pedestrians and cyclists, creative mixed use environments for housing and businesses, and social networking centers.

A lot of research has been done showing that improving the environment often provides the nudge for individuals to lead healthier more productive lives. A lot of research also has been done showing that the Charleston area needs to mitigate sprawl and develop blueprints that show desirable urban in-fill.

by Kyra Morris · 01/07/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Pictured above is a hand-colored 1863 image (Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper) of the Emancipation Day celebration on Jan. 1, 1863, under a grove of oaks outside Camp Saxton along the Beaufort River. Columbia filmmaker and Charleston native Bud Ferillo, who provided the engraved image, tells us that celebration of the first Emancipation Day was the largest in the South of freedmen when sine 3,000 people attended. Today, the location is home to Naval Hospital Beaufort.

FOCUS: Morris Brown AME to host special Watch Night today at noon

By Herb Frazier | Today at noon, the Charleston community will gather at Morris Brown AME Church to celebrate a moment in history when enslaved people anticipated freedom.

This special event at Morris Brown will be an homage to services first held on Dec. 31, 1862. At that time, the enslaved met in praise houses and churches to await the end of slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.

Those first freedom’s eve services in 1862 have become an annual celebration called Watch Night held on New Year’s Eve in black churches across America. While many congregations, like Morris Brown, have held this service its original purpose had been lost in time. Last year, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission began an effort to preserve and sustain this cherished tradition.

by Andy Brack · 12/31/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

GOOD NEWS: USS Charleston to be commissioned March 2

Staff reports | The Columbus Street Terminal in Charleston will host a March 2 commissioning of the new USS Charleston (LCS 18), an Independence-class littoral combat ship built in Mobile, Ala.

The $440 million ship is a state-of-the-art trimaran designed to go into shallow waters that other ships can’t. Awarded in December 2010, the ship was named by then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in January 2015 with Charlotte Riley, wife of former Mayor Joe Riley, serving as the ship’s sponsor. Launched in September 2017, the 418-foot ship with a speed of 44 knots (50.6 mph) was delivered in August 2018. It will be homeported in San Diego, Calif.

by Charleston Currents · 12/31/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs