The Beaufort County School District will temporarily adopt a full-virtual educational model when the school year begins Sept. 8. Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said the decision is in response to the rise in coronavirus cases. Rodriguez said he hopes to return to face-to-face instruction. “But before that can happen safely, conditions must be safer than they are today,” Rodriguez said in early August. The final day of classes is set for June 17. 

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster lifted coronavirus business restrictions for cinemas in July, and Park Plaza Cinema on Hilton Head was ready last month to welcome patrons to its theater. The theater initially reopened with private screenings of DVDs brought from home, but on Aug. 21 the theater debuted four new movies. McMaster’s order requires 50% occupancy and face masks or coverings for admission. 

With the November elections approaching, the Beaufort County election board is looking for 300 new poll workers. Workers would be paid $165 both for training and working the day. For more information, visit beaufortcountysc.gov/vote/. 

Arthur Anastopoulo of Pensacola Beach, Florida and Paul Pittman of Florence will be 2020 inductees into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame. Anastopoulo was one of the state’s best junior and college players during the 1970s. Pittman is a long-time volunteer who has been instrumental in the development of the Florence Community Tennis Association. 

St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church is in unincorporated Beaufort County, but it hopes to seek annexation into Bluffton. The property has a Bluffton address but is not in town limits. Church officials have made an annexation request to the Town of Bluffton. The property is located on U.S. 278 between the Buckwalter Parkway intersection and Bluffton Township Fire District Station 35. 

The Town of Hilton Head Island has relaxed temporary sign regulations through Sept. 7. Temporary signs will be allowed without a permit. Each business is permitted to have one sign per street frontage; each sign should be no larger than 18-by-24; and each sign must be located on the same site as the business. Banners (no larger than 24-by-48) are permitted to be located on buildings. 

The City of Beaufort was awarded a grant of $188,500 from the South Carolina Historic Preservation Office to restore windows at the Carnegie Library Building that were damaged by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. During the hurricanes, water intrusion damaged the building, including many of the 29 windows. 

The Town of Bluffton awarded a construction contract to Jordan Construction of Hilton Head, Inc., to install sanitary sewers on Pritchard Street. This first phase is comprised of installing 2,550 linear feet of main sewer lines and will service 25 properties with houses and four additional undeveloped lots. The $513,431 project is funded through stormwater utility fees of $225,930, a South Carolina Appropriation grant of $95,950 and a portion of the S.C. DHEC grant totaling $191,551 for this project.

In August, Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president at the Democratic National Convention. She is familiar with the Lowcountry. Last fall, as presidential candidates made their way through Beaufort County, Harris made a campaign stop at University of South Carolina Beaufort amid a standing-room-only crowd.