FORMER BEAUFORT COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY BILLY SQUIRES AND NEIGHBOR BRIAN STAHLHEBER BOTH HEAD INTO THE NEW YEAR WITH CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST THEM FOR THAT INCIDENT IN THE SQUIRESGATE COMMUNITY ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND BACK IN SEPTEMBER. BOTH HAD THEIR LAWYERS TRY TO GET THE CASES DISMISSED LATE LAST WEEK BUT WERE TURNED DOWN BY MAGISTRATE JUDGE NANCY SADLER AND WILL NOW TO A GRAND JURY FOR POSSIBLE INDICTMENTS. SQUIRES FACES FOUR CHARGES OF POINTING AND PRESENTING A GUN ND ONE CHARGE OF AGGRAVATED BREACH OF THE PEACE AFTER THREATENING FOUR BOYS AT GUNPOINT, ALL CAUGHT ON VIDEO THAT WENT VIRAL. STAHLHEBER ALSO FACES A BREACH OF THE PEACE CHARGE AND A CHARGE OF PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, CHANGING HIS STORY ABOUT WHETHER ONE OF THE KIDS HAD A GUN.
STILL LOOKING FOR THAT LAST STOCKING STUFFER? HOW ABOUT THE CASH FROM A WINNING POWERBALL TICKET. THE LATEST BIG JACKPOT HAS GROWN TO 1.6-BILLION DOLLARS FOR TONIGHT’S DRAWING AFTER NOBODY WON THE SATURDAY NIGHT DRAWING FOR NEARLY A BILLION-4. THERE WERE EIGHT MILLION-DOLLAR WINNERS, NONE OF THEM FROM SOUTH CAROLINA OR GEORGIA, WHO HAD THE FIVE WHITE BALLS, 4, 5, 28, 52 AND 69, BUT NONE OF THOSE EIGHT HAD THE POWERBALL OF 20. THE LUMP SUM VALUE IN TONIGHT’S DRAWING IS EXPECTED TO BE NEARLY 750-MILLION DOLLARS AFTER TAXES.
THE MARINES ARE INVESTIGATING THE DEATH OF 26-YEAR-OLD SERGEANT CAMERON THACH OF ELMORE, ALABAMA AT PARRIS ISLAND THURSDAY, BUT ARE RELEASING VERY LITTLE OTHER INFORMATION. THACH ENTERED THE MARINESS IN JUNE OF 2017 AND WAS AN OPERATIONAL CONTRACT SUPPORT SPECIALIST, AWARDED THE NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL AND GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM MEDAL. HE LEAVES BEHIND A WIDOW BUT NO CHILDREN.
ALL OF THE LOWCOUNTRY STATE LEGISLATORS WE’VE TALKED TO IN THE LAST MONTH HAVE SAID THERE’S VERY LITTLE APPETITE FOR REDISTRICTING THE STATE’S 7 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS LIKE A FEW OTHER STATES HAVE DONE. AND NOW GOVERNOR MCMASTER’S HAS NOW CONFIRMED THAT HE MET WITH SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS JUST BEFORE THANKSGIVING AND TOLD THEM THE SAME THING. SOUTH CAROLINA DOES STILL HAVE A LARGE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY AND A 6-1 CONGRESSIONAL ADVANTAGE AND DOES NOT APPEAR TO WANT TO RE-DRAW THE LINES TO TRY TO CUT UP JIM CLYBURN’S DISTRICT AND PUT ANY OTHER SOLID RED DISTRICT IN JEOPARDY. THE LAST RE-DRAWING, AFTER THE 2020 CENSUS, SOLIDIFIED A REPUBLICAN ADVANTAGE IN THE LOWCOUNTRY’S FIRST DISTRICT AFTER DEMOCRAT JOE CUNNINGHAM WON IT IN 2018.
HERE’S A GREAT EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT- LOWER GAS PRICES AS YOU DRIVE FOR THE HOLIDAYS. LOWER CRUDE OIL PRICES FOR THE LAST MONTH OR SO ARE NOW SHOWING UP AT OUR GAS PUMPS. TRIPLE-A SAYS THE AVERAGE PRICE IN SOUTH CAROLINA IS JUST OVER 2-50 A GALLON, JUST OVER 2-60 A GALLON IN BEAUFORT COUNTY. THE EVEN-BETTER NEWS IS THAT THOSE PRICES ARE FORECAST TO STAY THAT LOW, OR FALL EVEN FURTHER, OVER THE HOLIDAYS. TRIPLE-A SAYS THE LOWEST PRICES IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AT NON-MEMBERSHIP SITES ARE AROUND 2.22 A GALLON, THE LOWEST LEVELS SINCE DECEMBER OF 2020.