A new name for the Gamecocks rooster? + Seemingly useless oyster shells sell for top dollar

Chase Karacostas

Happy Friday! It’s Chase Karacostas.

Hilton Head dog owners can breathe a sigh of relief this week. After there was almost a ban against dog’s on their beloved beaches, a last-minute agreement between town officials and Beaufort County kept things as they are. The Island Packet’s Sebastian Lee wrote about why, and what Fido needs to know.

Here’s what else caught my eye this week around South Carolina.

1. Drama has taken Gamecock Sir Big Spur’s name. What will he be called next?

I never imagined it would be possible to see this much drama surrounding a college mascot’s name.

Yet in a remarkably dramatic chain of events, the University of South Carolina’s Sir Big Spur rooster got a new family in 2020, leading to him losing his name weeks before the 2022 football season, had everyone including Barstool Spots discussing new options and will soon have a new name chosen and announced by the school? Like in two weeks?

Sir Big Spur takes on the action between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Vanderbilt Commodores during their game at Founders Park Thursday, March 24, 2022.
Sir Big Spur takes on the action between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Vanderbilt Commodores during their game at Founders Park Thursday, March 24, 2022.

The drama behind how Sir Big Spur lost his name is enthralling. What’s more important here, though, is what will the gamecock’s new name be?

This week made me very thankful that the only thing required for my school’s mascot to be named “Bevo” is to simply *be* a Longhorn (cow).

2. The future of the Rock Hill region’s economy

Two counties that surround Rock Hill — York and Lancaster — have recently taken to thinking more about their future, what lies ahead for their economies and how to manage it.

The Herald’s John Marks wrote about the work those counties are with three others nearby in the I-77 Alliance, a coalition to spark economic investment and growth among them all.

  • A leader of the group, Mark Williams, recently laid out his vision for the future, from taking advantage of the Charlotte airport to bring in more industries and recruiting workers to staff them.

But all this growth needs to be managed to keep the community happy. They don’t want factories cropping up next to homes. So, York and Lancaster are updating their land use plans to accommodate the growth and the desires of the residents. Marks has the details on how you can give input.

3. Alligators, alligators everywhere

A large alligator made its way to the top of Paul and Marci Parrick’s front porch in the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2022, on Hilton Head Island in Port Royal Plantation.
A large alligator made its way to the top of Paul and Marci Parrick’s front porch in the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2022, on Hilton Head Island in Port Royal Plantation.

This week also made me thankful that I live on the third floor of my apartment.

First, this poor couple, Marci and Paul Parrick were startled awake in the middle of the night and saw that a 6-foot gator was calling their patio home, The Island Packet’s Sebastian Lee wrote.

The gator had to climb 10 steps to make it to the patio.

No. Just ... NO.

Also, The State’s Lyn Riddle wrote about how flooding brought all the alligators to the yard in Myrtle Beach — at a complex similar to mine! NO!

4. Oyster shells sell for top dollar as biologists scramble to protect shellfish beds

Volunteers use mesh bags of recycled shells to build an oyster reef to provide habitat for future generations of oysters in Murrells Inlet. Part of the SCDNR’s South Carolina Oyster Restoration Project (SCORE) Coastal Conservation Association volunteers placed almost 350 bags of oysters shells, and planted additional spartina grass in an effort to improve the marsh habitat on Thursday afternoon. June 8, 2017.

Oyster lovers have done it time and again, devoured their delightful appetizers and then thrown away the empty shells. What would you use those muddy husks for, anyway?

Yet, biologists are now scrambling to buy the shells, desperate to save the wild oyster beds that South Carolina cherishes.

  • The state-sponsored work is part of an effort to protect imperiled oyster populations by returning shells from restaurants, backyard oyster roasts and other sources to tidelands. Putting shells back in the mud rebuilds reefs, the refuges baby oysters need to grow and multiply.

  • But South Carolina and nearby states are having trouble finding the shells they need to put back in tidal areas to restore oyster populations.

The State’s Sammy Fretwell and the Island Packet’s Sarah Haselhorst wrote about the lengths scientists are going to get oyster shells, even paying $7 a bushel, double the cost in the past.

“The whole thing is crazy,’’ oyster specialist Ted Wilgis said. “It just became a bidding war.’’

What I’m Reading

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