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Today's Packet Editorial

Don't let session end without cigarette tax hike

The S.C. General Assembly should not let another year go by without increasing the state's lowest in the country cigarette tax. (full story)

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Janet Smith
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Earlier Editorials

Don't let session end without cigarette tax hike

The S.C. General Assembly should not let another year go by without increasing the state's lowest in the country cigarette tax. (full story)

Buffer replanting a start, but fines in order, too

Bluffton officials and developer University Investments finally have a replanting plan to repair a buffer between the company's property and Rose Hill Plantation. (full story)

Make sure projects lure high-paying jobs to county

Beaufort County Council's vote to designate Buckwalter Place a multicounty industrial park sets up the framework officials hope to use to attract higher-paying jobs to Beaufort County. (full story)

Settlement offers county little at Pinckney Point

Beaufort County Council's decision not to settle a Pinckney Point road dispute and instead let the courts decide the issue was a good one. (full story)

With election behind it, district's real work starts

The Beaufort County School District squeaked by with a razor thin margin of victory for its $163 million building plan, and they should treat it as the close call it was. (full story)

Let's first look to nature for water quality solutions

Local officials grappling with the issue of how to protect water quality in our creeks and rivers should keep this central tenet in mind: Mother Nature knows best. (full story)

House runs off road on driver cell phone use

So much for discouraging young and inexperienced drivers from talking on cell phones or texting their friends while driving. (full story)

Ethics Commission uses tortured logic in decision

Let's set aside whether or not Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch sought support from a former political opponent in exchange for Rauch's vote to annex the 1,000-acre McLeod Farm tract into the city of Beaufort. (full story)

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Your Elected Officials

U.S. Congress
State Government
  • Gov. Mark Sanford (R)
    Governor’s Office, State House, P.O. Box 12267, Columbia, S.C. 29211
    Office: (803) 734-2100 Fax: (803) 734-5167
  • Sen. Catherine Ceips (R-District 46)
    608 Gressette Building, Columbia, S.C. 29202
    Office: (803) 202-6032
    Home: (843) 524-2020
    1207 Bay St., Beaufort, S.C. 29902
  • Rep. Richard Chalk (R-District 123)
    326C Blatt Building, Columbia, S.C. 29211-1867
    Office: (803) 734-3067; Home: (843) 842-5985
    15 Goldfinch Lane, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29928
  • Rep. Bill Herbkersman (R-District 118)
    P.O. Box 11867, Columbia, S.C. 29211
    Office: (803) 734-3063; Home: (843) 757-5424
    151 Gascoigne Bluff, Bluffton, S.C. 29910
Beaufort County
  • Rick Caporale (R-District 1)
    17 Salt Wind Way, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926
    Office: 680-9999; fax: 681-6700
  • Steven Baer (R-District 2)
    10 Heather Lane, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926
    Office: 689-3570; fax: 689-3569
  • Stu Rodman (R-District 3)
    27 Baynard Park, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29928
    Office: 363-470; fax: 363-6472
  • Weston J. Newton chairman (R-District 4)
    P.O. Drawer 7049, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29938
    Office: 842-6111; fax: 706-9981
  • Jerry Stewart (R-District 10)
    11 Teaberry Lane, Bluffton, S.C. 29909
    Office: 705-4753; fax: 705-4723
Beaufort County School District
  • District Office: 1300 King St., P.O. Drawer 309, Beaufort, SC 29902
    Office: 322-2300; fax: 322-2371
    Hilton Head Island office, 689-4635; fax: 689-4617
  • Southern Beaufort County Board of Education members:
    • Joan Deery (District 1)
      5 old Fort Drive, Hilton Head, S.C. 29926
      Home: 681-8968
    • Bob Arundell (District 2)
      198 Woodlake Villas, Hilton Head, S.C. 29926
      Home: 681-8502; work: 7855-8040; fax: 785-3056;
    • Reid Eikner (District 3)
      2532 Gleneagle Green, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29938
      Home: 671-5383; cell: 422-2006
    • Laura Bush (District 4)
      P.O. Box 172, Bluffton, S.C. 29910
      Home: 757-2638; fax: 757-2638
    • George Wilson (District 10)
      20 Osprey Circle, Callawassie Island, S.C. 29909
      Home: 987-1234; cell: 812-9870
Town of Hilton Head Island
  • Town Hall: One Town Center Court, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928; 341-4600
  • Town Council
    • Mayor Thomas D. Peeples
      4 Hartford Place, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928-3922
      Home: 686-4138; office: 681-2600; fax: 689-3229
    • Bill Ferguson (Ward 1), 634 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
      Home: 686-2863
    • Bill Mottel (Ward 2)
      30 Glenmoor Place, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
      Home: 689-2787; fax: 681-6302
    • Drew A. Laughlin (Ward 3), 5 McIntosh Road, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
      Home: 689-5723; work 689-5700; fax 689-9300
    • John Safay (Ward 4)
      19 Starboard Tack, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
      Home: 785-4489; work: 785-4696; fax: 785-4696
    • George Williams (Ward 5), 8 Braddock Cove, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
      Home: 363-6601; fax: 363-6604
    • Ken S. Heitzke (Ward 6), 3 Audubon Place, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
      Home: 681-8182; fax: 681-9864
Town of Bluffton
  • P.O. Box 386, Bluffton, SC 29910
    Office: 706-4500; fax: 757-6720
  • Town Council
  • Mayor Hank Johnston, P.O. Box 1875, Bluffton, SC 29910
    Home: 757-9039; fax: 757-9040
  • Fred Hamilton Jr., 52 Goethe Road, Bluffton, SC 29910
    Home: 815-5511
  • Lisa Sulka, P.O. Box 2750, Bluffton, SC 29910
    Home: 757-7660
  • Thomas Heyward
    P.O. Box 353, Bluffton, SC 29910
    Home and fax: 757-3354
  • Charlie Wetmore P.O. Box 468 Bluffton, SC 29910
    Home: 304-4061
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