In this file photo, Joe Maffo, from left, owner of Critter Management and Mark Carinus sit on the 13-foot alligator they removed from the lake at Jarvis Creek Park on Hilton Head Island as Donnie Murphy wraps tape to keep the alligator's mouth closed.
Photo by Holly Pratt

First-time paddleboarder Ashley Ryan, of Marietta, Ga., works her way up Braddock's Cove toward South Beach Marina while on an excursion with Island Watersports on Tuesday morning. She said she found paddleboarding fairly easy, though her legs were tired from standing.
Jay Karr

This house on Duke Street has been identified as a significant property to preserve.
File, The Beaufort Gazette

A bicyclist pedals past Harold's Diner on Tuesday. The diner, along with Grant's Exxon station and mini-market next door, may be sacrificed to create the town's planned linear park running from Shelter Cove to the Chaplin Park.
Jay Karr

Jillian Kaufman and her daughter Kaylani are pictured at their home on Lady's Island. Five-year-old Kaylani suffers from large granular lymphocytic leukemia.
Jonathan Dyer/The Beaufort Gazette

Spectators watch as Joe Maffo of Critter Management looks for a 13-foot alligator in the lake at Jarvis Creek Park on Hilton Head Island. Maffo was trying to hook the gator with a fishing rod, but it was too far away.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette

A 13-foot gator stares as Critter Management's Ryan Claxton, using a shovel as a paddle, approaches it Monday in Jarvis Creek Park on Hilton Head Island. Claxton was trying to hook and capture the gator, which had made off with a soccer ball over the weekend. Every time Claxton got within casting distance of the gator, it disappeared beneath the surface.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette

Steve Vaughn of the Carolina Skydiving Team lands on the golf course at Hampton Hall, trailing a 1,200-square-foot American flag during the opening ceremony Monday of the second annual Wounded Warriors Golf Classic.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette

Beaufort's Suzette Fields, left, and Felecia Higginbottom walk up the J.E. McTeer Bridge on May 17 on Lady's Island.
Sarah Welliver/The Beaufort Gazette

The inaugural Supper Society event, a secretive pop-up dinner that raised money for the Historic Beaufort Foundation and Main Street Beaufort, USA, was held Thursday. Organizers announced the dinner weeks ago, but kept the location and menu secret until two days before, when details were emailed to attendees.
Eric Smith, Captured Moments Photography

Marine Master Sgt. Kathryn Denham is heading to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Marine Corps' prestigious Congressional Fellowship Program.
Special to the Packet and Gazette

Classmates turned out in the hallway to cheer members of the Hilton Head Island High School girls and boys soccer teams as they made a pep rally-style "Parade of Champions" march around the school on Friday morning before the teams departed for their state championship games in Columbia. The girls team played Eastside on Friday evening, while the boys will battle Fort Mill at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Hardeeville City Manager Bob Nanni and Mayor Bronco Bostick answer questions during a press conference City Hall Friday morning. The city leaders were on hand to discuss the status of Gateway Crossings, a $150 million mixed-use community unveiled in October.
Jonathan Dyer

An egret takes off after feeding in a marsh near Folly Field Beach on Hilton Head Island Friday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

Frank Ventre tries on his birthday hat just before the celebration for his 103rd birthday at the SHARE Center on Hilton Head Island Friday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

Kim Corcoran asks a question during a meeting with a member of the Beaufort County School District on Thursday evening at Beaufort High School. Corcoran's daughter, a sophmore at the school, was affected by the decision not to give student teaching assistants a credit.
Sarah Welliver

A jogger makes his way along the waterfront at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort Thursday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

Law enforcement stand outside the East Bryan Street entrance to the Old Pink House in Savannah's Historic District on Thursday morning after a suspect with a gun sought refuge inside. A spokesperson for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department later issued a statement that the suspect had been detained without injuries.
Photo by Allison Bonner

Bluffton High School head football coach Ken Cribb stands with the school's mascot in his classroom on Friday. The big Bobcat statue had recently gone missing from its place of honor in the school's football stadium, and was found on Friday morning sitting on the 50-yard line of rival Hilton Head Island High School's field.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

A Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department officer investigates the scene of a shooting at the corner of Broughton and Bull Streets in Savannah on Thursday morning.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department officers gather at Reynolds Square outside the Olde Pink House restaurant in Savannah following a three-hour standoff with a suspect barricaded inside the restaurant.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

In this screen capture, a masked individual is shown threatening the Bluffton High School mascot with the accompanying caption "IT DIES!"
Holly Bounds Jackson, Special to the Packet

The Beaufort Farmers Market opened at its new location on West Street near downtown Beaufort on Wednesday afternoon. The market is open from 3 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday through Oct. 31 and offers locally grown produce and food from area restaurants. Organizers hope to add craft offerings as the season continues.
Jonathan Dyer, The Island Packet

Bluffton resident Brooke Fisher leaves the palatial pen of her 250-pound pot-bellied pigs Homer and Hamlet Wednesday morning. Fisher is contesting the town of Bluffton's decision to deny her a permit to keep the family pets and fears if the decision stands she will have to euthanize her children's pets because of their size.
Drew Martin, The Island Packet

Five-year old pot-bellied pigs Hamlet, left and Homer wait for a carrot from their owner, Bluffton resident Brooke Fisher. Fisher fears the two family pets, each weighing 250 pounds, will have to be euthanized if the town of Bluffton doesn't reconsider issuing the family a permit.
Drew Martin, The Island Packet

Pictured from left to right are Ray and Linda Moloney of Beach Properties of Hilton Head, Inc., and Chip Collins of Collins Group Realty, two winners of the Chamber's Small Business of Year Award.
Courtesy of Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce

Ken Scott, pointing, a master naturalist with the Fripp Island Audubon Club, leads a group on a tour of the Town of Port Royal's Cypress Wetlands on Tuesday following the dedication ceremony for the half-mile-long walking trail through the wetlands on Tuesday. In the wetlands park, boardwalks and pathways circle the wetlands, which feature an egret rookery in the spring and numerous other species wading birds and ducks, as well as a bald cypress and tupelo swamp.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Pictured is one of two F-35B aircraft that left from a naval base in Fort Worth, Texas on May 5 for the 90-minute flight to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The jets will eventually be based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort when the Florida-based unit relocates to the air station in 2014.
Photo provided by Lockheed Martin

On Tuesday morning hundreds attended a rally in support of Gabino Sanchez, a Ridgeland resident who is in the U.S. illegally. Sanchez, 27, a husband and father of two U.S. born-children was due in the Executive Center Drive immigration court at 1 p.m.
Diedra Laird

Venus Betancourt, 4, stands with her mother Marbella Betancourt at Tuesday's immigration court rally. Hundreds attended a rally in support of Gabino Sanchez, a South Carolina man who is in the U.S. illegally. Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez attended the hearing of Sanchez, of Ridgeland, father of two U.S. citizen children.
Diedra Laird, The Charlotte Obse

Charles Snowden, front, and Norman Tanner, of The Greenery, work on the concrete outline of a street map of old town Bluffton in a plaza under construction on Tuesday at the corner of Bluffton and May River Roads. Snowden said the 20- by 40-foot map will be filled in with bricks and pavers to make it complete. The brick plaza at Bluffton's busy four-way stop is one of a host of projects aimed at improving the look of old town Bluffton that are either underway or expected to begin in the coming months.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Gabino Sanchez is hugged by Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D who came to speak on Sanchez's behalf at Tuesday's immigration court rally. Hundreds attended a rally in support of Sanchez, 27, a resident of Ridgeland who is in the U.S. illegally.
Diedra Laird

Bluffton resident Charles Nelson waits patiently for a bite at the Calhoun St. public dock in Bluffton Tuesday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

A flock of sanderlings looks for a place to alight on the tidal flats of Port Royal Sound at Hilton Head Island's Mitchelville Beach Park.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Hilton Head Islander Barry Ginn shows how far he can lift his left arm after he fell victim to a rare bacterial infection that attacks soft tissue and destroys muscle. Necrotizing fasciitis often leads to amputation and in some cases death. Ginn had severe pain and a fever in his shoulder in February. He went to his doctor thinking he had torn his rotator cuff. Eventually, he learned that bacteria was eating him alive. To save him, three doctors removed much of his upper shoulder and arm as he underwent nine surgeries in just four days.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce kicked off its Small Business Week with a barbecue, at which it will help businesses learn to maximize the benefits of membership.
By GRANT MARTIN

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce kicked off its Small Business Week with a barbecue, at which it will help businesses learn to maximize the benefits of membership.
By GRANT MARTIN

The Beaufort History Museum at City Hall.
Jonathan Dyer

Roger Steele hangs an American flag at the Beaufort History Museum inside City Hall Thursday afternoon. A crew of volunteers were on hand putting the finishing touches on the museum.
Jonathan Dyer

Beaufort's Laurie Woods is presented with a bouquet of roses and a certificate by instructor Cora Newcomb, left, after giving the student address Friday evening during the graduation ceremony for the Technical College of the Lowcountry's class of 2012 held at the All Weather Training Facility on Parris Island.
Sarah Welliver

A group of paddleboarders work their way around the Shelter Cove Marina on Hilton Head Island Friday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

Keegan Christiana had the early lead but his friend Lisa Schultz ended up winning as the two 5-year-olds raced on their scooters during a play date at Hilton Head's Jarvis Creek Park on Friday afternoon.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

Photo by David Scott Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)
Photo by David Scott

John Robinson, training and education officer for the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department, and his mother, Frances, pose at her home in Beaufort.
Jonathan Dyer/The Beaufort Gazette

Brian Knapp proposed to Sandra Kazlauskaite -- and she accepted -- while he was in the middle of running the Boston Marathon on April 16. Here, the happy couple pose at Bluffton's Palmetto Running Company with the medal he received for completing the race.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet

A pair of custom-made shoes created by Enzo Consentino are shown on display at his shop.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet

Shoemaker Enzo Cosentino of Enzo's Custom Made Shoes shows customer Diana Hunt-Johnson a pair of high-heeled shoes he created for her at his Hilton Head Island shop.
Jay Karr/The Island Packet

Debbi Thompson of WSAV talks with Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Leadership program participant Robin Chamberlain while looking at one of the new information kiosks Thursday morning after the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the site of the Mitchelville Preservation Project at Fish Haul Creek on Hilton Head Island.
Sarah Welliver

Island visitor Charlie Kennedy, 5, of Ontario, Canada, leans in to read along with the man in the "Out to Lunch" sculpture -- which depicts a man reading a book and munching on a sandwich -- at Harbour Town on Thursday.
Jay Karr The Island Packet

An egret stalks its prey during low tide in a marsh near downtown Beaufort Tuesday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer, The Island Packet

Law enforcement with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office line up along Seaside Road Thursday day afternoon during a manhunt for a suspect on St. Helena Island.
Sarah Welliver

Pete Zeleznik as Juan Peron, left, and Daniel Cort as Che, act out a scene from the May River Theatre's upcoming production of "Evita."
Jay Karr/Lowcountry Current

From left: Daniel Cort as Che, Livie Schwerdt as Eva Peron and Pete Zeleznik as Juan Peron pose to promote the May River Theatre's upcoming production of "Evita."
Jay Karr/Lowcountry Current

Livie Schwerdt plays Eva Peron in the May River Theatre's upcoming production of "Evita."
Jay Karr/Lowcountry Current

Bonita Wreyden works on her mandolin skills near downtown Beaufort Tuesday afternoon. Wreyden is a piano teacher and had some time between lessons to work on playing her newest musical instrument.
Jonathan Dyer

Coastal Carolina Hospital nurse Jeff Lewis receives a boutonniere from patient Gabrielle Padgett, 11, after Lewis was presented with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Care during a ceremony at the hospital on Tuesday. Established by The DAISY Foundation, the award is part of the foundation's program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day. The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J.Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patients' families.
Jay Karr

Some damage can be seen on the side of the shrimp boat Brown-Eyed Girl, which hit the Harbor River Bridge on Monday night. The boat was photographed on Tuesday docked at the Gay Seafood Company on St. Helena Island. Damage to the bridge was minimal.
Jay Karr

Carmela Countz shops May 4 at the Hilton Head Island Farmers Market. Countz is one of 10 females from across the country to advance to the finals in PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door Contest.
Jonathan Dyer/The Island Packet

Volunteer Linda McDonald watches as guests of the eighth annual Hospice Care of the Lowcountry's Yacht Hop look over the silent-auction table Sunday afternoon at the Harbor Town Yacht Basin. All proceeds from the evening benefited the organization's patient-care programs.
Sarah Welliver

Lilly Friday, 5, and Hope Dobbelaere, 8, watch as a few remaining monarch butterlies awaken Sunday after a butterfly release during the Children's Memorial Garden Annual Ceremony at Hilton Head Hospital. The ceremony is held in honor of children whose names are memorialized on personalized bricks in the garden.
Sarah Welliver

Shrimp boats were lined up and ready to head out for Monday's start of the commercial shrimping season at the Gay Fish Company Friday afternoon.
Jonathan Dyer

Allison Fargione, owner of Al Harry Furniture Design is shown here Thursday afternoon inside her business on Calhoun Street in old town Bluffton.
Sarah Welliver

In this file photo, Michael Hahn, co-owner of the Graves House in old town Bluffton, inspects some of the damage to a door frame as he makes his way through the home. Hahn wants to sell the property and the 104-year-old house to Bluffton United Methodist Church, which wants to tear down the house and build a replica in its place.
Jonathan Dyer

The three-masted gaff topsail Alliance, left, and the square topsail schooner Lynx are tied up in the Savannah River in front of the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center on Hutchinson Island in Savannah Thursday morning. The ships, as well as 12 other tall ships, are here for the 2012 Savannah Tall Ships Challenge, an event organized by Tall Ships America that will offer tours and excursions through Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.savannahtallshipschallenge.com or at numerous ticket booths on River Street or at the convention center on the island.
Drew Martin

Bluffton Middle School student Kymber Wojcik listens to the heartbeat of "patient" Maria Borden as Krissy Johnson looks on during a mock medical examination on Thursday at the school. The seventh-graders were participating in a simulated clinic with students playing patients, describing their symptoms to other students acting as doctors, who tried to determine what their classmates were suffering from.
Jay Karr

The rock groin was built to protect the recently restored beach of Port Royal Plantation from further erosion.
Jay Karr

A broad expanse of sand now protects the homes along the shore of Port Royal Plantation from the ocean, following last winter's beach restoration project. Nearby, a rock groin was constructed to help prevent the severe erosion that necessitated the emergency nourishment.
Jay Karr

A photo of Craig Washington that was printed in the 1971 Beaufort High School yearbook, the year Washington graduated and the schools fully integrated.

Craig Washington's senior photo in the 1971 Beaufort High School Yearbook.

Beaufort resident Jim Herring stands on the stage at ARTworks on May 1, where set construction for a reading of his musical, "80th Reunion," is under way.
Jay Karr/Lowcountry Current

The six homes in old town that make up Bluffton's Wharf Street Redevelopment Project are nearly completed.
Sarah Welliver

A pack of female bikers race during last year's annual Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic in downtown Beaufort. The race starts today at 5 p.m. with a children's race with the first professional race starting at 6 p.m.
File, The Beaufort Gazette

Don Wheeler, center, hits paddles with Richard Scott, left, and Wheeler's wife, Mary, after playing against them in a game of pickleball Tuesday morning at the Island Rec Center on Hilton Head Island.
Sarah Welliver/The Island Packet

Don Wheeler, local ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association hits a return while playing with a group at the Island Rec Center Tuesday afternoon on Hilton Head Island.
Sarah Welliver/The Island Packet

Jan Fraunfelder and Judy Johnson of Toledo, Ohio, play pickleball Tuesday morning at the Island Rec Center on Hilton Head Island.
Sarah Welliver/The Island Packet

Pictured are the homes on Wharf Street that are part of the Town of Bluffton's redevelopment project.
File, The Island Packet

Pictured is the former Koth's grocery stores on North and Bladen streets that is being converted into a restaurant, according to the property owner.
File, The Beaufort Gazette

Children work on their homework after arriving at the Beaufort Boys and Girls Club Thursday afternoon. The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Beaufort Area is starting a fundraising push to raise $200,000 by Sept. 30. The club says it has had five years of decreased donations and grants as well as higher operating costs.
Jonathan Dyer

Construction work continues down a closed Bladen Street shown here from the corner of King Street Wednesday afternoon in downtown Beaufort.
Sarah Welliver

The walkway curves past a group of Bald Cypress trees Tuesday afternoon inside the Cypress Conservancy of Hilton Head Plantation
Sarah Welliver

Bluffton's Kendra Natter repositions her camera before taking a shot Tuesday afternoon on one of the trails inside the Whooping Crane Pond Conservancy on Hilton Head Plantation.
Sarah Welliver

A Bluffton Elementary School student reads to Asia during a Tail Waggin' Tutors session at the school April 23.
Jonathan Dyer/The Bluffton Packet

Abby Bird, with the Alphadog Training Academy, gets her dog Asia settled in at the start of the reading session April 23 at Bluffton Elementary School. Bird uses her dogs to help kids learn how to read through the Tail Waggin' Tutors program.
Jonathan Dyer/The Bluffton Packet

A Bluffton Elementary School student reads to Asia, a Newfoundland, during the Tail Waggin' Tutors program at the school April 23.
Jonathan Dyer/The Bluffton Packet

At Monday's vigil, friends gathered by candlelight around the Beaufort High School flag pole to leave flowers to remember Kayleeana Hudson-Banks and Chelsie Teddie Nicole Pitruzzella.
Jonathan Dyer, The Beaufort Gazette

At Monday's vigil, friends gathered by candlelight around the Beaufort High School flag pole to leave flowers to remember Kayleeana Hudson-Banks and Chelsie Teddie Nicole Pitruzzella.
Jonathan Dyer, The Beaufort Gazette