Criminal Defense Lawyer in Beaufort, SC

Every Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m., a group of men gather for breakfast at Blackstone’s Cafe on Scott Street in Beaufort, South Carolina. They range in age—Steve Lanier just entered his eighties, while Ray Stocks is 100 years old. Many of the men have served in the military; the group spans all wars from World War II to present. Combined, they have 980 years of life experience.

And those are stories worth sharing.

That’s the heart behind “Breakfast in Beaufort: Journeys Through Life,” a new short documentary film produced and directed by Raymond Smith of Modos Media alongside his son, Andrew, the film’s editor and Director of Photography.

“Breakfast in Beaufort: Journeys Through Life” opens with the group of men enjoying company together each week—a continuation of small-town tradition, Robert DeLoach, 98, shares on camera, where men used to gather and talk over a cup of coffee. Their breakfast club covers all kinds of topics, providing a bit of “a history lesson” from the elders to the younger men in the group.

“We share a culture of respect, of learning—you can share who you are and help them grow, but much more importantly, you grow yourself by listening to them,” Lanier, 80, shares in the film.

Eleven men are featured in “Breakfast in Beaufort: Journeys Through Life,” each with their own words of wisdom as interviewed in their homes: W.R. “Skeet” von Harten, Pat Garrett, Guy McSweeney, Steve Lanier, Mike Keyserling, Merle Mulvaney, Ray Stocks, Carter Swenson, Robert DeLoach, Daryl Fergusen, and Tom Mikell. They speak on themes and life lessons they remember from their own parents, including advocacy, kindness, responsibility, and hard work.

The film is airing at the 19th annual Beaufort International Film Festival, which runs through February 23, 2025 at the University of South Carolina Beaufort Center for the Arts. With its local connection and timely message of turning a listening ear to elders, the film’s screening—happening Saturday, February 22—is already sold out.

“This film is about elders, not a phrase often used in our society—some see older people as past their ‘sell-by date’ or irrelevant,” Smith shared with Southern Living. “In this film, we see a combined 980 years of experience, learning, and wisdom of a group of older men who join each other each week to share breakfast and their stories and thoughts. We see their energy, humor and care for us all.”

As reported by The Island Packet, Smith clarified that while the documentary features many veterans, it is not just focused on wartime experiences. The idea was first brought to Smith by the film’s executive producer, Richard Sribnick—a doctor who lives part-time just northeast of Beaufort on Lady’s Island.

After coming across the men at Blackstone’s one Wednesday, Sribnick approached Raymond and Andrew with the original idea to share stories of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. To Smith, there was a greater opportunity to unearth wisdom from around the breakfast table.

“[Our elders] encourage us to be better toward each other and show that small gestures can bring about surprising impact, sometimes even on a global scale,” Smith told SL. “So next time you see an older person sitting alone, just say hello and you may be surprised by what you will learn.”

This ties into one key lesson that the men themselves share in the film. “Pay attention,” says 92-year-old W.R. “Skeet” von Harten on screen. “Enjoy what you’ve got. Be kind to others. Be kind to yourself. If you get tired, sit down and rest. If you want to go, go…Be happy, be kind, be productive, and don’t complain. That’s what this 92-year-old says.”

The director is also working on sharing the short documentary film on SCETV, the state’s public educational broadcast network.

It's a good reminder—whether you're able to catch the screening or not—to cherish the words and memories that are so quickly lost from generation to generation, with thoughtful questions and intentional listening. You may want to digitize some of your old family photos to go along with Nana and Grandpa's stories, as well.

With South Carolina quickly becoming one of the top spots for moving and Beaufort County ranked in the top five best counties to raise a family, it’s important to know some of the basics of living in a new place.

Although not the most exciting aspect of moving, waste collection is a critical function for any city.

Here’s everything you need to know about trash pick-up, convenience centers and trash burn laws for areas within Beaufort County.

For the City of Beaufort, Capital Waste Services provides residents with weekly household trash collection.

They also provide once per week yard waste collection, every other week mixed recyclables collection and bulk item collection by appointment, which you can schedule by phone or online.

For the unincorporated areas of Beaufort County and contracted curbside locations, the following companies provide trash pick-up:

For Beaufort County residents of apartments and condominiums, your complex may provide bulk pick-up from a complex dumpster, but recycling collection may not be offered.

Beaufort County offers convenience centers for residents to dispose of their residential trash. Four of these locations offer recycling options.

To use the Beaufort County convenience centers, you must have a recycling decal and solid waste pass. You can register for one or both online here.

All nine centers are open 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., but different centers are open on different days:

When it comes to burning trash, the state of South Carolina bans burning residential and household trash items.

Open burning can pose environmental and safety risks, according to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. In addition to causing brush, residential and forest fires, open burning can release toxic pollutants into the air and produce ash containing toxic metals.

These toxic materials can then be inhaled, ingested by children in contaminated soil or absorbed by produce through soil, resulting in potential health risks.

In South Carolina, it’s illegal to burn:

However, Beaufort County does permit residents to burn certain items.

According to the City of Beaufort Fire Department, these items include natural vegetation, yard debris, limbs, leaves and other natural items.

It is recommended that before you burn any natural vegetation items, you request a permit by calling the burn request line at 843-525-7032 on each day on which burning will be conducted.

For first-time burns, the permit holder must have their property and burn area inspected by a fire official before the permit is issued.

Beaufort County states that all burning must be done before 3 p.m. and that there must be a nearby water source.

However, certain requirements, contact numbers and burn ordinances vary by municipality, so it’s important to check with your nearest fire department for those protocols.

For additional information about burn permits and requirements in Beaufort County, refer to the burn ordinances or contact the City of Beaufort Fire Marshal’s office at 843-525-7055.

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

BEAUFORT — It's been nearly two days since several inches of frozen precipitation started to fall across Beaufort County. With daytime temperatures hovering in the 30s over the intervening days, the hard-packed snow and ice remains stubbornly in place on the region's roads, prompting schools, businesses and government offices to announce their intentions to remain closed Jan. 24.

"After consultation with Emergency Management regarding current and expected road conditions impacted by ice, frozen sleet, and snow, there will be no school or E-learning tomorrow, Friday, January 24, 2025, and district buildings will be closed," wrote Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder in an email, adding that all extracurricular activities planned through Jan. 26 will be rescheduled.

Classes are expected to resume Jan. 27.

Across the border in Jasper County, schools will have an e-learning day Jan. 24 and all evening activities will be rescheduled.

Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head and Port Royal municipal offices will all be closed, as will county government offices.

"After consultation with Emergency Management regarding tonight's forecast and road conditions, county offices will remain closed on Friday, January 24, 2025. This includes the convenience centers," wrote Beaufort County spokesperson Hannah Nichols in an email to The Post and Courier.

Ferry service to Daufuskie Island is expected to resume Jan. 24, though that could change depending up weather conditions. Due to accumulations of ice, both Hilton Head Island Airport and Beaufort Executive Airport remain closed, and travelers are encouraged to check with their respective carriers for more information.

Hours for warming shelters in Beaufort County have been extended as a result of the unusually long cold spell.

In Beaufort, Sea Island Presbyterian Church, located at 81 Lady’s Island Drive, opened its cold weather shelter at 5 p.m. Jan. 19. The shelter will operate from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. through the morning of Jan. 25. Service animals are allowed, but pets are not permitted.

On Hilton Head Island, Christ Lutheran Church, 829 William Hilton Parkway, opened a cold weather shelter Jan. 20. It will remain open through the morning of Jan. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Service animal are allowed, but pets are not permitted.

The National Weather Service reported that 2 to 4 inches of snow and sleet fell over the county overnight Jan. 21 into the early morning Jan. 22. Temperatures rose above freezing Jan. 22, but plummeted with nightfall, leaving new layers of dangerous ice on county roads.

Any number of public safety agencies have issued warnings about the potential for the formation of black ice as melting ice refreezes when overnight temperatures drop. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office issued a statement Jan. 23 requesting that drivers stay off the roads unless travel cannot be avoided. Travel on primary roads like U.S. 278 and S.C. 170, the advisory said, is improving, but some hazards remain. However, travel on secondary, rural and private roads remains hazardous.

"Please keep in mind, that regardless of conditions improving on certain roads, shaded areas could potentially still be frozen," read the advisory in part.

Up to this point, residents appear to be heeding the warnings and staying off the roads. The Bluffton Township Fire District reported that it had only received a single call for an auto accident since the winter storm set in during then evening of Jan. 21. North of the Broad River, the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Depart responded to a single multivehicle accident with injuries and two noninjury auto accidents.

"Thankfully, residents are listening to public safety officials and staying off the road," said Stephen Combs, public information officer for the Bluffton Township Fire District.

The National Weather Service has advised that the cold weather that has gripped the area in recent days will likely continue through the weekend, though daytime highs will begin to creep up. The warming trend is expected to continue into next week, when highs in the 60s are forecast.

Ready to kick-start college or maybe make your degree a little cheaper?

This year, the Beaufort County School District and Technical College of the Lowcountry are opening applications for their 2025-2026 free dual enrollment program for high school students.

This program, called BCSD Tides, is the first semester this opportunity is open to students, allowing qualified rising ninth-grade students to enroll in a full-time dual enrollment cohort.

This program has been in the works for a while now, with BCSD and TCL working together to fit this program to the students’ needs.

Now, Beaufort County students can kick-start their higher education and have the chance to leave high school with two associate’s degrees and up to three technical certificates.

“The BCSD Tides dual enrollment model is the result of both learning institutions’ commitment to elevating student learning experiences through technology and teaching,” said Dr. Mary Stratos, chief instructional services officer for the district.

Like traditional dual enrollment courses, students will earn both high school and college credit for completing classes taught by TCL instructors.

Accepted students will complete the program as a cohort beginning in ninth grade and can continue through high school graduation.

According to program administrators, there will be 50 students per cohort year, divided up into groups of 25 students at each TCL location.

Students can choose one of two associate degree pathways as a ‘major’ for their ninth and 10th grade years and then can declare an associate degree minor that comes with a technical program emphasis for their junior and senior years.

Dual enrollment classes are free to Beaufort County district students. In addition, the Beaufort County School District has a Memorandum of Agreement that incurs all costs, including textbooks and meals.

Students attending the following high schools are eligible for this cohort:

Rising ninth-grade students who are interested in BCSD Tides and are currently enrolled in private, charter or homeschool organizations are also encouraged to apply.

Eligibility is based on the following criteria:

This free dual enrollment program is intended to provide more than just college credit, it provides students with critical soft skills, time management and other necessary skills to excel in higher education and the workforce.

“The BCSD Tides program reflects a deepened partnership between BCSD and TCL in providing district students with more innovative and unique opportunities to excel while in high school as well as advance their academic and professional futures,” said BCSD Superintendent Dr. Frank Rodriguez.

This program is unique in its design, as BCSD Tides students can complete the program with two associate degrees and a technical certificate from TCL.

This dual enrollment program offers a variety of majors and minors that students can apply and benefit from in their future studies. These programs include:

Majors (Associate Degrees):

Minors (Certificate Degrees):

The option to declare a minor with a technical certificate is an added option for upper-grade high school students who want to continue specializing their education and earn class credit.

Certificate degrees are useful because they are focused on their objective and are related to a specific job or career niche, setting students apart in college applications or the workforce.

“What I enjoy most about teaching in the BCSD Tides program is how the students challenge me as an instructor,” said Daniel Herrin, an English instructor at the TCL. “They are bright and curious, always looking beyond the standard boundaries and approaches, which constantly challenges me to re-think how I teach.”

Students interested in this program who do not attend a Beaufort County high school are still encouraged to apply. This includes private, charter and homeschool students.

The MOA for this program permits students within a 50-mile radius to be eligible.

Some private and charter schools may already have a dual enrollment agreement set in place, so check with your school to see if that applies.

For homeschool students, you must register as a student through the Beaufort County School District. Visit the BCSD registration page to contact the correct school.

If a student is above the ninth-grade level and is interested in this program, they can still apply but may not reap the same benefits, such as earning an associate’s degree in time for high school graduation. Their acceptance depends on available cohort space.

The BCSD and TCL are looking to keep “pure cohorts” to preserve the uniqueness of the program and allow participants to experience all these classes have to offer.

Eligible students can apply to BCSD Tides starting March 1 through April 11, 2025.

To apply, visit https://www.beaufortschools.net/families/school-choiceprograms.

Program advisors state that applicants should be notified by mid-May of their acceptance. They also state that there will be an appeals process at the end of May for those who wish to do so.

Classes are divided between TCL’s New River Campus and Beaufort Mather Campus.

Bluffton, Hilton Head Island and May River High Schools will be located at the New River Campus in Bluffton.

Whale Branch Early College, Beaufort and Battery Creek High Schools will be located at the Beaufort Mather Campus in Beaufort.

Both BCSD and TCL program representatives state that before all else, students involved in this dual enrollment program are students of their zoned high schools first.

Meaning that continued participation in sports, clubs and other extracurriculars through their zoned high school is encouraged.

For more information on the program and how to apply, BCSD and TCL are hosting the following sessions:

Virtual Information Session: Wednesday, March 5

Northern Beaufort County: Monday, March 17

Southern Beaufort County: Wednesday, March 19

If you are interested in a tour, you can visit the TCL’s New River Campus in Bluffton. You can schedule a tour by clicking here or visiting https://www.tcl.edu/bcsd-tides-program.

If you’re wondering if dual enrollment is the right path for you, your school counselor can help.

Battery Creek High School: Kirsten Nash

Contact: Kirsten.Nash@beaufort.k12.sc.us or (843) 322-5658

Beaufort High School: David Favata

Contact: David.Favata@beaufort.k12.sc.us or (843) 322-2025

Bluffton High School: Katie Cox

Contact: Olivia.Cox@beaufort.k12.sc.us or (843) 706-8947

Hilton Head Island High School: Julie Markle

Contact: Julie.markle@beaufort.k12.sc.us or (843) 689-4918

May River High School: Keisha Glover

Contact: Keisha.Glover@beaufort.k12.sc.us or (843 )836-4870

Whale Branch Early College High School: Giovanni Glover

Contact: gglover@tcl.edu or (843) 466-2771

The Island Packet

(843) 626-0211

Anna Claire Miller is the Service Journalism Reporter for The Island Packet. Originally from Georgia, she has experience in magazine writing, non-profit communications and city government. Anna Claire has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, legal studies and English from High Point University.

Editor’s note: The Island Packet was provided incorrect information by a Five Below spokesperson and press release, which initially stated that Five Below had opened in the county. The story has since been updated to reflect the latest information. The Island Packet regrets the error.

Looking for a place to shop all the newest trends and hottest deals without breaking the bank?

Then Bluffton’s newest addition of a Five Below is the spot for you.

Five Below will officially open its newest store in Bluffton at 1460 Fording Island Road, tucked in the Old Navy, Marshall’s and Ulta Beauty shopping center.

This location promises to bring a whole new level of value, fun and trendiness for shoppers of all ages.

To mark the grand opening, the store is set to host a festive weekend full of music, activities, special deals and trivia prizes.

They even promise to award the first 100 customers on opening day with a free drawstring bag.

According to Ranya Russo, spokesperson for the Five Below company, the official opening date is now set for March 21.

Sticking true to its name, Five Below is known for its “extreme value” offerings, where most product prices range from $1 to $5. However, they have additional finds in their new section named “Five Beyond,” where items are priced beyond $5 but still cheaper than other competing outlets.

Whether you’re looking for candy, beauty products, tech gadgets, room décor, t-shirts or the latest trendy items, Five Below has it all.

The new store in Bluffton features a wide range of fun, high-quality products across several retail sectors, including style, room, sports, tech, create, party, candy and new & now. All of these sections and their offerings can be viewed online.

Plus, the Bluffton store has a dedicated party shop, complete with a variety of helium balloons, décor, and party favors to make any event extra special.

This new location in Bluffton will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is also open on Sundays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Five Below has other neighboring locations in Beaufort, Walterboro, Savannah and Pooler.

Five Below was founded in 2002, with its first store opening in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It is now headquartered in Philadelphia.

Five Below is a leading value retailer offering a wide selection of trending and high-quality products for tweens, teens and beyond. With more than 1,800 stores nationwide, Five Below is known for providing unique items for incredibly low prices.

For more information, visit www.fivebelow.com or stay updated through social media by following @FiveBelow on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM.

The Island Packet

(843) 626-0211

Anna Claire Miller is the Service Journalism Reporter for The Island Packet. Originally from Georgia, she has experience in magazine writing, non-profit communications and city government. Anna Claire has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, legal studies and English from High Point University.