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FOCUS: Hundreds march to support reproductive freedom

FOCUS: Hundreds march to support reproductive freedom

By Andy Brack  |  More than 600 people, many of them shouting “My body, my choice,” marched midday Saturday from Charleston City Hall to the U.S. Custom House to support reproductive rights.

Across the state, hundreds more were expected at similar rallies in Columbia, Greenville and Myrtle Beach  to send a strong message against a restrictive abortion measure, known as the “fetal heartbeat” law, that state legislators passed in February.

Organizer Erica Cokley, left, rallies the marchers at the U.S. Custom House.

“The marches this weekend continue to highlight the still heinous attitudes toward women in South Carolina,” said Charleston women’s right’s advocate Jennet Robinson Alterman   “Consider that women did not serve on juries until 1969. We have among the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality in the U.S. 

“Women’s reproductive rights are practically nonexistent. Women are still paid significantly less than men to name just a few of the reasons we march and march and march.”

by · 10/04/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News
Arianne King Comer was the artist-in-residence at the Gibbes Art Museum earlier this year, and created this batik featured in the MOJA poster | Credit: City of Office of Cultural Affairs

NEWS BRIEFS: MOJA Arts Festival continues this week

Staff reports  |  The MOJA Arts Festival, Charleston’s annual celebration of African-American and Caribbean culture with music, arts, spoken word and other events, continues through Oct. 10 k with events that might be happening in your neighborhood.

by · 10/04/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs
FOCUS: Champs! RiverDogs win first minor league title in 99 years

FOCUS: Champs! RiverDogs win first minor league title in 99 years

By Samantha Connors  |  The Charleston RiverDogs defeated North Carolina’s Down East Wood Ducks and secured the Low-A East Championship Series Sunday night at The Joe. It’s a franchise first for the RiverDogs and the city’s first minor league baseball title in nearly a century.

After winning the first two games and dropping the next two in the best-of-five series, the RiverDogs knocked the deciding fifth game of the series out of the park with a 9-2 win.

The RiverDogs led for the first eight innings, jumping out to a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning. The Wood Ducks were able to add two to avoid a shutout in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.

And Sunday’s victory was no small feat. This is the first time a Charleston minor league team has taken home a minor league championship since 1922 when the Charleston Pals secured the South Atlantic League title.

by · 09/27/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
Steve Aycock Photography.

NEWS BRIEFS: Thousands take part in Saturday’s  Cooper River Bridge Run

Staff reports  |  An estimated 12,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair participants ran over the Ravenel Bridge from Mount Pleasant to Charleston in the 44th annual Cooper River Bridge Run, an event postponed from spring by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The event, which traditionally attracts 40,000 entrants, this year was limited.

by · 09/27/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs
FOCUS: Pride Week offers plenty of events to celebrate diversity

FOCUS: Pride Week offers plenty of events to celebrate diversity

Staff reports  |  There’s plenty you can do to take part in highlighting the diversity and  uniqueness of the Charleston LGBTQ community during Charleston Pride week starting Sept. 25, even though the annual Charleston Pride Festival on Oct. 3 was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.

Kicking off the week, Closet Case Thrift Store will host the inaugural Rainbow Market, a day-long event full of treasure hunting, tasty bites,and thrifty finds from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25 at its store’s parking lot at 1801 Reynolds Ave. in North Charleston. Mask-wearing requested.  There also will be a contest for best mask.

The event will feature more than 20 curated vendors Grease Kelly Vintage, Embellished Premium Apparel, Butter Fruit Frog Jewelry, Bitty Chip Cookies, and other community-based businesses offering clothing, accessories, records and home decor …

by · 09/20/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
An ancient actual milestone near Stonehenge. Photo via Unsplash.

NEWS BRIEFS: State sets pandemic milestones on vaccinations, deaths

Staff reports  |  The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control  (DHEC) announced Thursday that the state reached a 50 percent vaccination rate among eligible residents. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster says the milestone was important, but there was still work to do. Some 59 percent of South Carolinians have had at least one vaccination shot.

by · 09/20/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs
The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project rates the Charleston-area disease impact as “severe.” MUSC image.

FOCUS: State’s COVID-19 rate now s 4nd highest in U.S.

Staff reports  |  South Carolina has the fourth highest rate of COVID-19 with 88 cases per 100,000 people, according to Sept. 13 data from The New York Times. At one point last week, the state ranked highest in the country, but rates in Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia are higher now, according to media reports. 

Over the last two weeks, the virus has shown few signs of abating as hospitals are filled with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, schools struggle to stay open and hospitalizations are increasing for children.  

On Sept. 8, new data from MUSC showed the rate of breakthrough infections from COVID-19 in the area appeared to be rising slowly. But only two cases among MUSC employees and students led to hospitalization.

by · 09/13/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
Photo via Unsplash

NEWS BRIEFS: Charleston remains top designation on magazine list

Staff reports  |  For the ninth year in a row, Charleston was named the top U.S. destination for Travel + Leisure readers and the only place in the country at the top of the magazine’s worldwide destination list. Charleston edged out Santa Fe, New Mexico and Savannah for the top U.S. spot. Stuck between Jaipur, India and Tokyo, Japan, Charleston snagged No. 19 in the magazine’s top world city destinations.

by · 09/13/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs
FOCUS: Best ways to beat COVID-19: Get vaccinated, wear masks

FOCUS: Best ways to beat COVID-19: Get vaccinated, wear masks

Staff reports  |  The current surge being driven by the delta variant of COVID-19 could be nearing its end — depending on community action, said Dr. David Zaas, CEO of MUSC Health, on Friday.

“Our hope is that we have seen a significant spike that is still rising in many areas of our state,” he said at a briefing. “But it seems to have plateaued over the last few days, and my eternal optimism is that we will be on the other side of this surge in the coming weeks. That’s going to be impacted by how we as a community step up.”

State health officials reported 6,032 total cases of COVID-19 on Friday, with 4,685 confirmed. A total of 38 new deaths, with 31 confirmed, were reported Friday. With 46,627 tests reported, 12.6 percent were confirmed positive.  Meanwhile, six Charleston County schools are operating virtually due to rising virus numbers.

by · 09/06/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
RiverDogs photo.

NEWS BRIEFS: RiverDogs head to championship playoffs

Staff reports  |  The Charleston RiverDogs, minor league baseball’s dominating team (77-31) with 11 more wins than any other Low-A team this season, is headed to the season playoffs, team officials announced Sunday.

The team, which is the first from Charleston to play for a championship since 1988, clinched the playoff berth after a 7-6 Sunday win over the Columbia Fireflies that went 10 innings. The team also has a 10-game winning streak.

by · 09/06/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs