Congressional candidate Fulmer to speak at NOB Democratic Club meeting
The Northern Beaufort County Democratic Club (NOB Dems) will meet Thursday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m., at the Old Grace AME Chapel at 502 Charles Street in downtown Beaufort. The guest speaker will be Matt Fulmer, candidate for Congress for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
Guests and first-time attendees are welcome. Ample free parking is available.
The NOB Dems, along with several other groups, rally together every Monday at 4 p.m. in front of the Beaufort City Hall to exercise their 1st amendment rights to speak up for democracy and defend the Constitution. If you wish to add your voice in support, bring a sign (no vulgarity), stay behind the sidewalk, and off the median.
Mayer to speak at Jan. 17 meeting of Indivisible Beaufort
Emily Mayer, Senior Manager of The Ford and Ford Group, will be the featured speaker at the next Indivisible Beaufort meeting to be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 17 at the St. Helena Branch Library at 6355 Jonathon Francis Sr. Road on St. Helena Island.
The meeting topic will be “Book Banning and Censorship in South Carolina,” as South Carolina leads the nation in the number of state-mandated book bans.
Mayer, a former special education teacher, holds a master’s degree in educational policy and has long been a champion for equitable public education and inclusive community initiatives. She is now the Senior Manager at The Ford and Ford Group, where she leads efforts in legislative strategy, community outreach, and day-today operations.
Mayer has also been a leading voice and an active participant in the battle against book banning as a leader of FABB (Families Against Book Bans).
The event is free and open to the public.
Board of Elections hosting community forums
The Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County will be hosting several Community Forums in the months leading up to the June Primary Elections.
These meetings will be open to the public and are held at locations across Beaufort County.
Topics include:
- How to Register/Who Can Register to Vote
- Upcoming Elections
- What is on the Ballot
- What voters can expect at the polls
- Absentee Voting
- Early Voting
- Sample Ballots
- Poll Workers
- And More
Dates and Locations of Forums:
• Thursday, January 22, 6 p.m., Main Voter Registration Office, 15 John Galt Road Beaufort, S.C. 29906
• Thursday, February 19, 6 p.m., Bluffton Library, 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, S.C. 29910
• Thursday, March 19, 6 p.m., St. Helena Library; 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, St. Helena Island, S.C. 29920
• Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m., Hilton Head Island Library, 11 Beach City Road Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926
For more information, please contact Jean Felix at 843-255-6954 or via email at jean.felix@bcgov.net.
Friends of Fort Fremont meeting, lecture to be held Jan. 23
Col. Seanegan Sculley, Professor and Director of West Point’s Digital History Center, will give a talk titled “Creating the Interactive Digital History of Fort Fremont,” at 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23 at the St. Helena Branch Library. The event is free and open to the public.
Following a short business meeting, Col. Sculley will discuss the study’s progress following a cadet and faculty visit to Fort Fremont in July 2025 and subsequent research which focused on homeland coastal defense at Fort Fremont at the turn of the 20th century. The end product will apply state-of-the-art technology to bring history to life through digital animation.
Beaufort TEA Party meeting Jan. 26
South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick will be the guest speaker when the Beaufort TEA Party meets from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 26 at Bricks on Boundary at 1422 Boundary Street.
As we kick off the 2026 Election Season, McKissick will outline what to expect in the months ahead.
Candidates for office, and their representatives, have also been invited to attend with their promotional materials. The public is invited to join, mix and mingle as they meet these individuals and learn their platforms
Tax season opens Jan. 26
The SCDOR will begin accepting 2025 Individual Income Tax returns on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, consistent with the date announced by the IRS.
Returns are due April 15, 2026. For your South Carolina return, if you both file and pay electronically by May 1, 2026, you will not be subject to penalties or interest.
Questions about how South Carolina conforms with the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Refer to https://bit.ly/49yzdDJ.
The SCDOR will begin processing returns Feb. 2, 2026 to allow employers time to meet the Jan. 31 W-2 submission deadline.
CFL accepting nominations for Community Impact Award
Community Foundation of the Lowcountry (CFL) is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Joan and Wade Webster Community Impact Award. Established in 2022 by CFL, with the generous support of Joan and Wade Webster, this award recognizes an individual within CFL’s service territory that has made a recent, significant positive impact in the Lowcountry through volunteering with an organization, nonprofit, or for a cause.
The nominee must be a resident of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, or Jasper County. This award is not a lifetime achievement award — it is designed to recognize an individual who is currently volunteering with an organization, nonprofit, or for a cause. The award recipient will receive a $10,000 grant to bestow to a charitable organization or organizations based in CFL’s service territory. The following groups of people are ineligible to receive the award: current board and staff of CFL, individuals who are paid staff of a nonprofit, and elected officials.
The deadline to submit nominations is Jan. 21, 2026. The award will be presented at the CFL Annual Community Meeting on March 18, 2026 at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. To access the online nomination form, please visit cf-lowcountry.org or bit.ly/44a6VO5.
