Jessica Wade

2 days ago | aikenstandard.com | Mitchell Black |Jessica Wade

OKATIE — The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating a former Beaufort County probate court employee for allegations of "unauthorized practice of law." Though details of the criminal inquiry haven’t been made public, the local sheriff and solicitor have expressed frustration with how the county handled the situation.

Jan 13, 2025 | aikenstandard.com | Jessica Wade

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — A team of archeologists dug into the soil laden with oyster shells on the island's northwest shore. As they sifted through dirt and shells beneath the Spanish moss covered trees on a cold, bright January afternoon, a tour group stopped by to observe their work. It was an unusual flurry of activity for the Green Shell Heritage Preserve, a historic site and park on the edge of a marsh beside Skull Creek.

Jan 2, 2025 | postandcourier.com | Jessica Wade

BEAUFORT - The new year brings a new chair and vice chair to lead the Beaufort County Council. Councilwoman Alice Howard of District 4 was elected as chair and Anna Maria Tabernik of District 6 as vice chair during an oath of office ceremony Jan. 2. With a vote of 6-5, Howard unseated former chair Joe Passiment. He had held the position since 2020. The previous year was a tumultuous one for the county.

Nov 8, 2024 | aikenstandard.com | Mitchell Black |Jessica Wade |Tony Kukulich

YEMASSEE — A quest for freedom staged by a troop of monkeys continues, as 43 juvenile female primates that escaped from their Lowcountry breeding facility remain at large for a third day. The rhesus macaque monkeys saw their opportunity at 1 p.m. Nov. 6, when a caretaker at Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center left two doors to an enclosure unsecured. While the employee cleaned, the monkeys fled, beginning a fugitive search that has captivated South Carolina and the world.

Sep 24, 2024 | postandcourier.com | Jessica Wade

Lowcountry shrimpers are in trouble.  It's a message local fishermen have spread with urgency in recent years: If not for intervention at the state and federal level, South Carolina's shrimping industry may soon be washed away in a storm of economic upheaval created in large part by the dumping of foreign shrimp into the U.S. market. Solutions to that problem have proved difficult to navigate. Several coastal communities thought they were on the right path late last year.