Thank you, Mike McCombs
I want to thank you for publishing information for veterans in The Island News. Articles by Larry Dandridge have proven to of great value to me.
A few years ago I had issues that were very difficult to resolve with the Veterans Administration. However, Mr. Dandridge’s articles have given me a clear path about which forms and departments are critical to communicate my needs with the VA.
The Beaufort area has a high proportion of the populous that are veterans. I’m sure your newspaper with this relevant material is of great value to them.
— Wes Schuster, St. Helena Island
Likely a labor shortage fix
The article by Scott Graber and Lolita Huckaby Watson, “Council, administration must regain voters’ faith” (Jan. 9, 2025) did a good job outlining the Hilton Head Island “road shortfall,” and the stumbles by the council and county administration. However, I don’t think that they are responsible for the impact of the pandemic and its lockdown. Specifically, “why more money is now needed to improve the roads.”
Materials and labor are more expensive because of industrial shortages, workforce shortage, and quantitative easing. Many “baby boomers” left the workforce, and there were over a million deaths in the country, which had a labor impact.
The CEO of Land O’Lakes, Beth Ford, has publicly stated that if people want to see a decrease in food costs, the government needs to improve the farm visa program. The Congress doesn’t seem to understand this problem, but industry understands there is a labor shortage. The solution is more work visas, not less.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce states that the U.S. workforce has lost 1.7 million people since 2020. The H-1B visa, and the H-2B visa programs cap visas at 85,000 and 99,000, respectively. Any reasonably intelligent person can understand that if we want to lower the cost of everything and have a strong economy, we need more labor. This is not “MAGA think”, but it’s true.
Perhaps the county could lobby the state to increase the accommodations tax allowed from 3% to 5%. An extra 2% could be applied to the roads. Or the added lanes could be toll roads, like the Cross Island Parkway. It is no longer a toll road because the bonds were satisfied in 2021.
— Gerald Blount, St. Helena Island
More on veterans content
My name is Roy Yenchesky. I am an advocate for veterans and veterans benefits.
I have recently been in contact with Larry Dandridge and I read and share Larry’s interesting and informative articles on Veteran’s benefits.
I am the Membership Chair for a National Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Virtual Chapter and also the Membership Chair for a chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association. His information is extremely valuable to many veterans, their families, and survivors in my sphere.
Thank you for this important resource.
— Roy Yenchesky
