ALL OF US WHO’VE DRIVEN ON I-95 IN SOUTH CAROLINA MIGHT GUESS THAT IT CAN BE PRETTY DANGEROUS. NOW THERE ARE NUMBERS TO PROVE IT. A FLORIDA-BASED RESEARCH GROUP SAYS FATALITIES ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA STRETCH OF I-95 HAS THE THIRD HIGHEST FATALITY RATE PER MILE OF ANY HIGHWAY IN THE U-S AND ARE 6% AHEAD OF PROJECTIONS FOR THIS YEAR. AN INCREASE IN TRUCK TRAFFIC IS BLAMED FOR SOME OF THE INCREASE. THE STATE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT HAS 17 PROJECTS IN VARIOUS STAGES OF PLANNING, INCLUDING THE WIDENING PROJECT BETWEEN THE GEORGIA LINE AND EXIT 8, WHERE THE HIGHEST SHARE OF I-95 DEATHS OCCUR. SOUTH CAROLINA’S PORTION OF THE INTERSTATE HAS A FATALITY RATE DOUBLE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE FOR INTERSTATES. CURIOUSLY, TRAFFIC FATALITIES OFF THE INTERSTATE ARE DOWN BY DOUBLE-DIGIT PERCENTAGES.
FINISHED YOUR CHRISTMAS DECORATING? ANYBODY GET HURT? A PERSONAL INJURY LAW FIRM HAS DONE A NATIONAL SURVEY OF INJURIES SUSTAINED FROM DECORATING, EVEN THOUGH THERE’S NO ONE TO SUE OVER IT AND THE SURVEY SAYS THAT 41% OF US HAVE BEEN INJURED BY GLASS ORNAMENTS, COMPARED TO OVER HALF NATIONWIDE. THE SECOND MOST COMMON INJURIES COME FROM FALLING CHRISTMAS TREES, WHERE 32% OF US HAVE BEEN HURT, ABOUT THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. WE ARE A BIT MORE PRONE TO GET HURT HANGING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, ABOUT 20% COMPARED TO 13% ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
FIRST THERE WAS THE TRAGIC MASS SHOOTING AT WILLIE’S BAR IN ST. HELENA BACK IN OCTOBER. WEEKS LATER, A SUSPECT WAS ARRESTED. THEN WILLIE CLOSED THE BAR FOR GOOD. NOW COME THE LAWSUITS. 32-YEAR-OLD QUINETTA CLARK, WHO WAS INJURED IN THE HAIL OF GUNFIRE, HAS FILED A CIVIL CASE AGAINST BAR OPERATOR WILLIE TURRAL, THE OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY, AND ALLEGED SHOOTER ANFERNY FREEMAN. THE LAWSUIT ALSO IDENTIFIES TEN ‘JOHN DOES’ WHO ‘CONTRIBUTED’ TO THE EVENT. TURRAL IS ACCUSED OF FAILING TO PROPERLY TRAIN AND SUPERVISE HIS STAFF.
ONE LAST PRESENT YOU CAN GIVE YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY BEFORE, OR EVEN AFTER, THE HOLIDAY IS A FLU SHOT. WHILE THE MEASLES OUTBREAK IN THE UPSTATE IS GETTING A LOT OF HEADLINES, THE FLU IS SPREADING AT A HIGHER LEVEL IN SOUTH CAROLINA FASTER THAN IT IS IN OUR SURROUNDING STATES, ACCORDING TO THE C-D-C. SIX PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY DIED FROM IT IN THE PALMETTO STATE, FOUR OF THEM IN THE PEE DEE REGION, BUT ONE IN THE LOWCOUNTRY. OVER 350 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HOSPITALIZED STATEWIDE SINCE FLU SEASON BEGAN AND NERLY A HALF-MILLION NATIONWIDE. BOTH THE FLU AND MEASLES ARE EASILY TRANSMITTED IN GROUPS AND BOTH ARE VACCINE-PREVENTABLE.
THEY DON’T GET QUITE THE BUZZ OF THE THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY CELEBRATIONS, BUT AT LEAST TWO BEAUFORT RESTAURANTS ARE OFFERING UP FREE CHRISTMAS DINNERS TOMORROW FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT NOT HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY NEARBY. THE SEA EAGLE MARKET ON BOUNDARY STREET WILL SERVE A CHRISTMAS LUNCH FROM 11 UNTIL 1 AND HEMINGWAY’S BISTRO AND PANINI’S ON THE BEAUFORT WATERFRONT WILL CONTINUE THEIR DECADES-LONG TRADITION OF A FREE CHRISTMAS DINNER STARTING AT 2 AT THEIR BAY STREET LOCATIONS.