Bouquet: The face of Port Royal is about to change -- well, not overnight but in a few months. The S.C. State Ports Authority has published a request for proposals for the 50-plus acres of land commonly called the Port of Port Royal.
Proposals that are received by the March 30 deadline should complete a four-year wrestling match between the Ports Authority and the town over the future look of the waterfront.
The face of the Lowcountry is changing, and Port Royal is extending its tentacles to the south, trying to rival Bluffton in size, but it also is at a historical crossroads.
Under a development agreement reached by the town and the Ports Authority, sections of the port property can be used for commercial, residential and park space. Reports indicate that the development likely will include a marina that could have 225 slips. The property is divided into three areas: the 18-acre Bluff Neighborhood tract, the 2.4-acre Marina Village tract, and the 30-acre Port Village tract.
The town is moving beyond the old barroom-brawl image offered when the Last Chance Saloon operated just outside the gates of the port on Battery Creek to a more genteel community. Port Royal has a chance to become an attraction for not only tourists but for families from Beaufort, Grays Hill and Yemassee. Let's not blow it.
State is Googling for suspects
Barb: If a fellow government agency won't offer aid during a crisis, seek an alternative. Consequently the State Department -- after being rebuffed by the nontalkative, super-secret CIA -- went to Google for information on Iranians who might be connected to a nuclear weapons program.
According to The Washington Post, the CIA maintained that it was protecting sources by not cooperating with State to release the names of Iranians. A State Department super- junior Foreign Service officer, employed for only a few months, plugged in "Iran" and "nuclear" into Google. Voila -- about 100 names popped up.
State submitted the list to the CIA for vetting, but the request was denied. Finally, the Langley gang relented research a few names. That was magnanimous, but no one would want to overwork the 140 people The Post reports working in the "Iranian Department" by asking them to verify important national security information. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might want to twist a few arms for all the information. Surely, having to search Google is not way to protect the nation.
Smoking ban gains support
Bouquet: A circuit judge has ruled that the first smoking ban approved in an S.C. municipality is legal, leaving the way open for more cities and counties to regulate the activity.
Beaufort County is the first county in the state to pass a workplace smoking ban. On Tuesday Hilton Head Island's proposed smoking ban moved forward, but the town might carve out an exemption for establishments that sell primarily alcohol. Town officials will discuss its anti-smoking ordinance Jan. 16.
The county's ordinance probably will become a model for the city of Beaufort's regulation, according to City Councilwoman Donnie Beer.
The county's ban forbids smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, but does not apply to the municipalities. That ban and a similar one that the Bluffton Town Council passed Tuesday are set to begin Jan. 10.
In an e-mail Friday, outgoing County Councilman Mark Generales said government has a right to regulate such activities. "That right has been recognized since the Industrial Revolution. That is why OSHA exists. It is why countless EPA regulations exist. From manufacturing to chemical plants -- rules exist and are legally enforced to protect workers ... in bars and restaurants, not patrons. Employees deserve the same right to an injury free workplace as any employee in a chemical or manufacturing plant."
Communities have stepped up to perform the tough work that the state legislature should be doing -- regulating smoking.
