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Dear Editor,Summerville D.R.E.A.M. (Downtown Restoration, Enhancement and Management) started off 2010 with a resolution theme. When the New Year rolled around and everyone was motivated to find ways to improve themselves, Summerville D.R.E.A.M ... full story
All this month and particularly on the 17th, the wearin’ o the green – especially Kelly or Irish green – is definitely in! Even those with but a wee drop of the blood of Eire celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. I personally can’t believe it’s not a g ... full story
Ten years ago, my brother T-Bob married a Russian woman. Five short years later, two babies joined the crew.Today the tykes—Alexander and Anastasia, better known as Sasha and Ana--are 6 years old. Their favorite activity is screaming. In Russian.T-Bo ... full story
Budget debate: Few sacred cows, many sacrificial lambsWe had a busy week last week in the General Assembly in an effort to clear the calendar in preparation for next week’s budget debate. The House passed two major pieces of legislation designed to improve the business climate in South Carolina in an ef ... full story
...in another word – “Suspense,” i.e., the old-time radio drama. I grew up loving having the daylights scared out of me by such shows. I’d get into bed at night; turn the lights out and the radio on. Wide-eyed and clutching the sheets, I’d get absorb ... full story
Guest Editorial: Medical care still needed in HaitiEditor’s note: Dr. Ed West is a Summerville resident and doctor, affiliated with both Summerville Medical Center and Trident Medical Center. “I returned yesterday evening from an eight-day journey to Port-au-Prince where I served as a physician ... full story
Virginia Woolf said it was money and a room of one’s own (i.e., a sanctuary in which to work or dream.)Gloria Steinem—‘memba her?--said the key to happiness is a sense of purpose.Marabel Morgan—I KNOW you ‘memba her—said making our husbands happy wou ... full story
It seems author Robert Fulghum might have really started something when he wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” My sister Cynthia, who stays on the lookout for column ideas for yours truly recently passed on an “All I Really N ... full story
Smith Says 2/24I woke up last week with my throat feeling like I’d swallowed broken glass. Then I coughed up what appeared to be a chunk of lung, sneezed and cracked a rib.Yes, the funk done fell upon me. Like the wag once said, first I was afraid I’d die. Then I w ... full story
House tackles full agendaLast week, the South Carolina House of Representatives returned from a furlough week with a full calendar of bills to be heard. We approved a sweeping reform of the Employment Security Commission just three weeks after an audit revealed widespread mi ... full story
It was much more than just flurries, of course. It was the second largest snow in two decades and it blanketed our Flower Town. By Saturday morning the recent snowfall edged Summerville into Winterville at its most charming. Cameras clicked, makeshif ... full story
Smith SaysThis morning I had black coffee and tomato paste for breakfast. I’m not crazy yet, but it’s coming.What I’m trying to do is follow the latest recommendations for healthy eating. Let’s see if I’m up to date:* Tomato products can help prevent ... full story
Secrecy shrouds EMSIf you want to find out how long it takes for a publicly funded Emergency Medical Services crew to respond to a call in South Carolina, forget it. It’s secret.An obscure state law, passed some years ago at the request of DHEC, casts a blanket o ... full story
Haiti patients still in need, grateful for medical care(Editor’s note: The following is a first person account by Summerville resident and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dave Jaskwhich of his mission to a field hospital to help the earthquake survivors in Haiti.)“We have been quite busy since arriving in country ... full story
Kids do say the darndest things . . . and in Sunday School tooI have an anonymous friend. Oh I know who he is. This prominent person just doesn’t want others to know he shoots me emails which I sometimes use as the basis for columns. He’s a great res ... full story
Smith Says: A hair-raising taleHair is supposed to be a woman’s crowning glory. Mine’s more like a cross to bear.I hate going to the beauty parlor. (Excuse me, hair salon.) But I also get sick of single-handedly beating my hair into submission. Sometimes I need a little help.Now, ... full story
There’s something telling about a person who watches the Super Bowl largely for the commercials rather than the game. It’s probably not very flattering, though, so I’m not going to admit to that right here.Nonetheless, it is astounding how one sixty- ... full story
Some four decades ago, a pair of fraternal twins was born locally. The boy was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The girl was not afflicted. The parents took both children home and raised them together in their family for nine years. The boy was so profo ... full story
South Carolinians' generosity evident in Haiti responseSouth Carolina is more than a thousand miles away from the island of Haiti, but we, too, were shaken by its disaster.In the wake of the earthquake that destroyed most of Haiti’s capital and left the country in crisis, South Carolinians displayed thei ... full story
Smith Says: The writing’s on the wallHave you ever laughed at someone’s misfortune and then hated yourself?I had a spell of self-hatred last week. Widdle and I were eating almonds on the sofa when he mentioned that a man he’d known for years had broken up with his wife.“That’s too bad,” ... full story
Making liquor the way it used to beWe Americans have been making and drinking liquor since, and before, we were a United States. Lots of liquor was made legally and quite a measure more illegally.Growing up in the late 1930s and 40s, by the time I was 12 years of age, I was aware of a ... full story
I heard Jim pick up the phone the other day. “Hello,” he repeated calmly several times. This wasn’t like him. If the phone rings and someone doesn’t immediately speak, Jim figures it’s an electronic message, selling or soliciting something and after ... full story
“You’re odd,” my husband said last night.I froze with my fingers in the mustard jar.“Me, odd?” I spluttered. “YOU’RE odd, pal.”He stopped sniffing the silverware. “No, I’m interesting,” he huffed. “You’re strange. Sorry, darling.”I walked backwards t ... full story
Jobs, states rights on agenda for 2010My first year as a Legislator was extraordinary to say the least. Serving on the ad hoc impeachment sub-committee was one of the most challenging tasks I have undertaken thus far as your representative. I am especially proud that we as a state ... full story
To some it’s a pocketbook, to others a handbag, to many a clutch, and to those in the Victorian, Regency and Edwardian eras, it was a reticule. To me, they’re all a pain in the nether regions. I have a thing for them, whatever they’re called. It’s no ... full story
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Columnists
Priest's Confessions
I am married to a lifelong educator. From the time he graduated with his doctorate, he has spent his ...
Watts Line
Apparently the old adage, “The customer is always right,” skipped a generation.My sister was in town ...
Smith Says
Ten years ago, my brother T-Bob married a Russian woman. Five short years later, two babies joined t ...
PJ's Healthcare 101
Although your customers {patients} won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will.&nb ...
Inklings
All this month and particularly on the 17th, the wearin’ o the green – especially Kelly or Irish gre ...
- Berkeley Ind.
- The Gazette
- Moultrie News
- Heart attack warning ad helps save radio listener
- SC legislators to use bailout cash to fix budget
- Coast Guard rescues 4 from boat off SC
- Timberland High student dies
- New facility could bring hundreds of jobs
- SC prisons department breaks ground on new chapel
- 2 Marine fighter pilots rescued; SC crash probed
- SC court orders review of nuclear landfill license
- SC legislators to discuss driver vision tests
- Panel: Firefighting equipment at SRS is too old
- Heart attack warning ad helps save radio listener
- SC legislators to use bailout cash to fix budget
- Coast Guard rescues 4 from boat off SC
- Former Knight Wieters on cover of SI
- New facility could bring hundreds of jobs
- SC prisons department breaks ground on new chapel
- 2 Marine fighter pilots rescued; SC crash probed
- SC court orders review of nuclear landfill license
- Welch propels Lady Gators to first title
- Environmental grants total over $4,000 for teachers
- Crafty Ladies to sell their goods at Church Tea Room
- Deadly shooting in Mount Pleasant
- The Red Carpet Goes Down For The Fourth Annual Charleston Fashion Week March 16-20th!
- Deadly shooting in Mount Pleasant
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- Celebrate St. Patricks day