From the WSAV

Beaufort County launched its first and only in-house compost initiative in the Lowcountry.

About 50% of what ends up in a landfill could be composted, so instead that waste can become nutrient-rich soil.

Beaufort County’s Environmental Education Coordinator Livvy Bergmann told WSAV that anything you can eat, you can compost.

“So you can even take things like cooked meat, If you have chicken, if you have steak, anything like that,” said Bergmann. “But also, all of our veggie scraps and bready units like food that is maybe more along chips or sandwiches or anything like that, pizza, all of that can go into our compost unit.”

The initiative was launched in January, and since then, they have produced thousands of pounds of compost. Leaders said composting has many benefits; one being reducing the use of chemical fertilizer.

Organizers want Beaufort County residents to know the resource is available to them. Which is why Mossy was created, a new mascot to raise awareness about the compost unit.

“The biggest component of the grant we applied for was that education and outreach, said Victoria Hoffman, Beaufort County’s solid waste and recycling program manager. “And so Mossy, she embodies the Gullah Geechee culture and the Lowcountry community from her hair that’s supposed to resemble Spanish moss; her shoes are braided sweet grass.”

There are currently four compost collection areas, and Beaufort County leaders said they hope to expand into Beaufort County Schools soon.

From NBC

Tuesday voters across the state came out for a special Republican primary, as the party seeks to elect a candidate to compete for the US Senate seat of the late Senator Lindsey Graham in this Fall’s General Election. The GOP will continue the search as two candidates will go to a runoff on August 25th. Darline Graham, the sister of Lindsay Graham, who is currently holding the seat, clinched a spot in the primary by receiving the most votes, with 109,633 statewide votes, which is 32.7% of the total. Ralph Norman finished second with 82,541, or 24.6%. Other candidates included Russell Fry, former Governor Mark Sanford, Mark Lynch, Danny Ford II, the son of legendary Clemson football coach Danny Ford, Duke Buckner, Glenda Parker, Samuel Shepherd, and Mark McBride. Darline Graham overwhelmingly won Beaufort County, with 5,982 votes or 46%. Mark Sanford finished second in the country with 2,544 votes, or 19.6%. And Ralph Norman finished third in Beaufort County with 2,077 votes, or 16%

From WSAV

Lowcountry Outreach began operations in 2023 to bring together key free services for those in need.

About 15 percent of Beaufort County residents lack reliable transportation which is one of the many gaps that Lowcountry Outreach is working to fill.

The nonprofit offers an Angel Rides program in partnership with Good Neighbor Medical Clinic to provide free transportation to medical appointments for patients who do not have reliable transportation.

Lisa Daly, Lowcountry Outreach director, told WSAV the program has already made an impact in the community.

“We provide free transportation to patients’ medical appointments,” said Daly. “It could be an appointment in Bluffton. We’ve gone to Walterboro. We’ve gone to Charleston with their patients. And we really would like to expand.”

Lowcountry Outreach also houses several nonprofits connecting residents with services ranging from legal assistance to support for older adults and their caregivers.