<strong>Be aware of county holiday schedule</strong>

In observance of Christmas and the New Year, all Beaufort County Government Buildings will be closed Monday December 24, 2012, Tuesday December 25, 2012, and Tuesday January 1, 2013. These closings also include County library branches.

The County Convenience Centers will follow the below holiday schedule:

• Monday, Dec. 24, 2012, Christmas Eve: All Centers close at 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, Christmas Day: All Centers CLOSED

• Monday, December 31, 2012, New Year’s Eve: All Centers close at 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, January 1, 2013, New Year’s Day: All Centers CLOSED

• Wednesday, January 2, 2013: All centers re-open.

<strong>County helps answer tax bill questions</strong>

All Beaufort County residents should have already received their 2012 Tax Bill. Looking at the bill can be confusing, so the county has provided some helpful steps on it website, www.bcgov.net. By clicking on the icon on the homepage that reads “Got Questions About Your Tax Bill?”, a sample tax bill will appear.

On that sample tax bill you will notice several yellow boxes. When you run your curser on each of the boxes, an explanation will tell you what that part of the bill means. All 2012 Tax Bills are due January 15, 2013. You can pay online at www.bcgov.net, in person at any of the 3 Beaufort County Treasurer offices (Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island) or at any BB&amp;T Bank locations in Beaufort County.

<strong>Beaufort County buys land for preservation</strong>

Monday, Dec. 10, the Beaufort County Council unanimously voted to acquire Garvey Hall, an 88-acre tract of ecologically sensitive land on the head waters of the New River, through its Rural and Critical Land Preservation Program.

This project represents an expansion of the New River headwater conservation area, an area containing more than 500 acres that has been previously protected over the last six years, and the continued commitment of Beaufort County Council to protect and preserve the natural waterbodies. The land consists of undeveloped river front between Beaufort and Jasper counties. The property will be bought for $785,000 from the FDIC.

<strong>St. Helena man arrested</strong><strong> on</strong><strong> drug, weapon charges</strong>

A St. Helena man was arrested on multiple drug and weapon charges as the result of an ongoing investigation.

Yuhon Lephree Simmons, 34, was arrested by members of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Drug Investigations Section as a result of a two-month long investigation into alleged drug activities occurring at Simmon’s Kiwi Lane home.

During the course of the investigation, investigators were able to make controlled purchases of illegal drugs from Simmons at his residence.  A search warrant was subsequently obtained and was executed.

Contact was made with Simmons outside of his residence.  Simmons was found to have cocaine on his person, and a search of the residence yielded additional quantities of cocaine, marijuana, prescription pills and a handgun.