Hilton Head News

The Beaufort County Library system's board of trustees recently voted to keep its Hilton Head Island and Bluffton branches open 50 hours a week. In the spring, the library announced a lack of funding would result in hours being cut to 40 hours a week. Newly hired library director Ray McBride asked the board to postpone its vote so he could take a closer look at the budget.

Hilton Head Tanger Outlet Centers recently added eight electric vehicle charging stations to its two Bluffton locations. At Tanger 1, four EV stations are located in front of the Polo store. At Tanger 2, four EV stations have been placed near the Gap outlet store. All eight units run on the ChargePoint network, which is the nation’s largest and most open EV charging network. To use the stations, drivers need to sign up for a free ChargePoint membership and can initiate a charging session with their ChargePoint card, the ChargePoint mobile app or calling the phone number on the station.

It’s a little-known fact that Hilton Head Island is home to two of the three locked harbors on the East Coast of the United States.

Most visitors to the island have heard of a lock or canal system, like the Panama Canal, but aren’t sure how the systems work or what they are.

A lock system is a combination of gates and a chamber that allows a vessel to go from one water system at one level to another system a different level.

IF YOU’VE SPENT ENOUGH TIME ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND, YOU’VE HEARD THE SOUND.

If you’ve spent enough time on Hilton Head Island, you’ve heard the sound. The distant thump thump thump of rotors beating the air, a barely audible drum line just barely audible over the sound of the waves, cars and other rhythms of a Hilton Head summer.

You’ve most likely heard that thump grow louder and scanned the skies for its source, finding it when a bright orange H-65 Coast Guard Dolphin bursts from over the tree line and makes its way to the water.

As we celebrate the birth of our nation on Independence Day, it’s worth noting just how important the Lowcountry was in the fight for that independence. Two historic sites just down the road from one another were at the heart of the battle.

Today, the Old Sheldon Church ruins have become one of the most sought-after wedding locations in the South. But the Yemassee landmark was once at the center of a Revolutionary War battle.

It’s amazing how one simple phrase can have such a dramatically different impact on you as you age.

When you’re a kid, the arrival of summer means it’s time to dump all the random quizzes, notes and discarded M.A.S.H. games that line the bottom of your backpack, bid the schoolyard “goodbye” (because you’ve already forgotten everything they taught you in French class, including the word “adieu”), and embrace three months of luxuriating and living life at your own pace.

Bluffton golfer Richy Werenski defeated Savannah golfer Justin Martinson 2&1 in the championship match on the finale of Big Break The Palm Beaches, the 23rd season of Golf Channel’s reality competition franchise.

sams-clubThe Island Packet recently reported that Sam's Club is looking at a site in Bluffton to put one of its warehouse clubs. The location of the possible membership-only retail store is unknown but the Bluffton Gateway shopping center being constructed on U.S. 278 and S.C. 46 seems logical. Like other warehouse clubs, Sam's Club sells most of its merchandise in bulk and directly off pallets.

The Hilton Head Island- Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class recently announced its 2015 class project, “Follow the Fiddlers,” which will enhance the streetscape in Old Town Bluffton through a series of artistic installations. “Follow the Fiddlers” will include a series of 10 bronze fiddler crab sculptures, hand-crafted by commissioned artist Susie Chisholm.

0315-Vibe-JuniorHeritageBluffton's Bryson Nimmer and Mexico's Ana Paula Valdes were crowned champions of the 2015 Sea Pines Junior Heritage on Feb. 8 on Hilton Head Island. The prestigious two-day junior tournament was played at Harbour Town Golf Links and Heron Point golf courses in Sea Pines.

Bluffton contractor Jeff Ballard and his wife, Joye, are passionate about bringing hope to the lives of young children in need.

The Ballards have spent the past 10 years working to improve the lives of orphans in Russia’s Far East region, where government orphanages have a reputation for being stark and joyless.

Many people that visit picturesque Daufuskie Island do so to get away from the stress of daily life. That’s why many island residents were surprised to see their island with no bridge listed among the nation’s “most stressed out” ZIP codes.

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