Wedding & Event Venue near Hampton, SC

BRUNSON, S.C. —

Update 3 p.m.:

The Marine Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team from Parris Island responded to the scene along with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

"In coordination with our partners, these specialized units safely neutralized the device, eliminating any potential threat to public safety," the HCSO said as part of a news release.

Two people have been arrested in connection to the incident. Their identities have not yet been released and the charges have not been announced.

The area has been reopened to the public.

"Investigative teams, in collaboration with mutual aid partners, are working diligently to determine the origin and context of the device. Further updates, including information regarding the arrests, will be provided as new details become available," the HCSO said.

Initial report:

Crews are responding to an area in Hampton County after members of the sheriff's office discovered "what appears to be a live grenade."

According to the Hampton County Sheriff's Office, members of the Narcotics and Investigation Unit were executing a search warrant on Woodburry Lane in the Brunson area when they found the device.

Residents are asked to avoid the area and to keep a safe distance.

"We have contacted our mutual aid partners, and bomb technicians are en route to handle the situation safely," the HCSO posted on its Facebook page. "Please do not attempt to approach or investigate the area."

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

TRENDING STORIES

Bluffton Today

Varnville, S.C. – The Harrison Peeples Health Care Center, established in 1991, is transitioning into the Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services (BJHCHS) network as of March 31 and will become Varnville Medical Center.

Although it has a new name, the same friendly faces the community has known for years with Beaufort Memorial will continue to serve and care for patients in the area, say local health care providers.

The three board-certified providers, physician assistants Harold “Buck” Harvey and Rebecca Swofford, as well as pediatric nurse practitioner Pamela Moore, will continue scheduled patient appointments without interruption. The center will keep the same phone number and can be reached at (803) 943-5228.

Patients wishing to continue services with Beaufort Memorial can call (843) 770-0404 to schedule an appointment with another primary care provider or visit BeaufortMemorial.org/PCPNewPatients to find a provider accepting new patients.

“Providing access to high quality, comprehensive primary care is core to our mission.” said Faith Polkey, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of BJHCHS. “We have provided health care to the Hampton community since 1999 with locations in Hampton and Estill. We are excited to welcome the same providers and staff and to extend our services to the Varnville community.”

Harrison Peeples Health Care Center has been a constant in the Varnville community, serving the health care needs of residents for more than three decades. The center will continue to provide a full range of general adult and pediatric outpatient medical care, from diagnosis and treatment to case management and care coordination.

A Hampton native, Harold “Buck” Harvey, PA-C, has been a longtime leader in and advocate for rural primary care. Mr. Harvey was a founding board member of the South Carolina Rural Health Association and the Hampton County Rural Health Foundation. Along with his longtime Harrison Peeples colleague, Dr. Neal Shealy, he was awarded the prestigious 2017 Pioneer of the Year Award for significant contributions to the delivery of primary care in a rural environment by the South Carolina Office of Rural Health.

Rebecca Swofford, PA-C, returned to the county of her birth to join Beaufort Memorial Harrison Peeples Health Care Center in 2016 as a certified physician assistant. At the practice she specializes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illness.

Pamela Moore, CPNP, enjoys providing sick and well care to children of all ages, from infancy through adolescence, with a focus on preventive care. Before joining Beaufort Memorial Harrison Peeples Health Care Center in 2003, Mrs. Moore was a staff nurse and certified breastfeeding counselor in the Beaufort Memorial Collins Birthing Center.

“With complementary missions of improving health in the Lowcountry, Beaufort Memorial has been aligned with BJHCHS for decades and has many of their employed providers on our hospital medical staff,” said Russell Baxley, Beaufort Memorial President and CEO. “We look forward to a smooth transition for our patients, as well as all of the Harrison Peeples providers and staff.”

Call 803-943-5228 to make an appointment with any of the providers at Varnville Medical Center located at 1000 West Pine Street in Varnville.

About Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services (BJHCHS)

Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. (BJHCHS) has been a leader in providing high quality, cost effective health care since 1970. Initially established to provide health care to the underserved, BJHCHS has expanded its role, becoming one of the largest and most respected health centers in the state of South Carolina.

In remaining responsive to the ever-changing health care needs of the community, BJHCHS has expanded facilities, programs, and services while never losing sight of the mission – To provide quality, affordable, accessible, and comprehensive health care services to the South Carolina Lowcountry Community.

About Beaufort Memorial

Opened on May 1, 1944, and licensed for 201 beds (169 acute, 14 rehabilitation, and 18 mental health), BMH serves as an acute-care hospital, a regional referral center and the largest medical facility between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston. Fully accredited by The Joint Commission, Beaufort Memorial boasts a dedicated, high-quality medical staff of nearly 230 board-certified or board-eligible providers, covering dozens of specialties to meet the community’s diverse health needs.

With 1,900 employees, Beaufort Memorial is one of the largest employers in Beaufort County and has been recognized by the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Beaufort Economic Development Corporation for contributing directly and significantly to the economic security, prosperity and quality of life of the entire region. The high level of quality care provided by Beaufort Memorial has been recognized by the Leapfrog Group as a Top Hospital for patient safety, the American Heart Association’s Elite Stroke Plus designation for stroke care, and the Joint Commission’s advanced knee and hip replacement disease-specific designation for its Joint Replacement Center. For more information, services, locations and designations visit BeaufortMemorial.org.

Motorists traveling highway U.S. 601 South in Hampton County at any time over the recent months have likely noticed the massive construction project just a couple of miles outside the town of Hampton.

Hampton County is getting a new high school, which will be located at1682 Savannah Highway (near the former WBHC radio station) along 62 acres recently purchased by the Hampton County School District for the campus.

While progress isn't coming along as originally estimated — construction was originally projected for completion in the Spring of 2025 for an August 2025 start-up — builders have been making rapid headway and school officials have a new target start-up date in mind.

The soon-to-be Hampton County High School is currently slated to be complete as early as Spring 2026, and fully operational and opening to students no later than August of 2026, say school officials.

The new school campus will be roughly 222,000 square feet in size and is expected to house more than 700 students its first year, but will have the capability to house 900 at maximum capacity, add officials.

More about the new Hampton County High School

LS3P, an architectural firm from Columbia, created the design and floorplans of the new high school and H.G. Reynolds of Aiken is overseeing the construction. This is the same contractor who completed an expansion of North District Middle School in Varnville several years ago.

"We are exited to see the new high school become a reality," former HCSC Superintendent Dr. Ronald Wilcox, who was instrumental in making the project a reality, said during an interview last May. "It is going to be a school the whole community can be proud of."

The new high school will be based on a West Ridge High School prototype in Blountville, Tennessee. During early planning stages, HCSD officials visited the Sullivan County, Tenn., campus for a tour.

The campus has been described as a "comprehensive" new high school. The campus will include facilities for Career and Technology Education (CATE) classes such as building instruction, welding, HVAC heating and air, culinary arts, barbering and cosmetology, pharmacy, culinary arts and a variety of computer-related courses, among others.

Wilcox and school board officials have said that the new school will bring many career, curriculum and athletic opportunities to the students and long-term community and economic development benefits.

The H.C. School District new website, https://www.hcsdsc.org/, includes a page with photos and floor plans of what the new high school will look like.

Background on new Hampton County High School: How did we get here?

On Jan. 18, 2024, Hampton County School District board members were joined by scores of local, regional and state officials, including Scott Price, executive director of the S.C. School Boards Association, and Ellen Weaver, S.C. State Superintendent of Education, for a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony for the new high school.

The new school will house all the public school students that formerly attended the former Wade Hampton High School and former Estill High School, now consolidated at the temporary Hampton County High School site in Varnville (formerly Wade Hampton High).

"Our goal today is not just to turn the soil, but to sow the seeds of the future," said Hannah Priester, HCSD board member and lifelong educator and administrator at the ceremony, who added that the momentous occasion was not about bricks and mortar, but a commitment to transforming lives and creating a space where dreams can come true for all who pass through its doors in generations to come.

"This is not just about the construction of a building, but a consolidation of minds," added Senator Margie Bright Matthews at the event, who worked with fellow H.C. Legislative Delegation members Sen. Brad Hutto and former Rep. Shedron Williams to help procure the initial funding for this project. "The State of South Carolina is heavily investing in our children."

Hampton County's school districts, along with other small, rural districts, were recently consolidated by the State Department of Education to improve cost efficiencies as well as better share and utilize resources among all students.

In August of 2022, the Hampton County district was notified that the S.C. Department of Education and the Hampton County Legislative Delegation had earned approval from the S.C. General Assembly to allocate $52 million, from various funding sources, to build a state-of-the-art new high school in Hampton County as part of ongoing consolidation efforts.

The new high school is projected to cost around $88 million. In November of 2022 local officials were successful in getting voters to approve a $25 million bond referendum to augment the state funding and help fund the total cost.

A former Hampton banker and previously convicted Alex Murdaugh fraud accomplice will get another day in court.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court vacated former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Lucius Laffitte's 2022 conviction.

A Fourth Circuit federal appellate tribunal composed of U.S. Circuit Court Judges G. Steven Agee, Stephanie Thacker, and Toby J. Heytens rendered the Nov. 14 order that vacated the conviction from the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, and the sentence imposed by federal Judge Richard Gergel.

The appellate panel ruled that Judge Gergel violated Laffitte's Fifth Amendment right to be present when he questioned a juror, identified only as Juror 88, without Laffitte or his counsel present; and violated Laffitte's Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury when he later dismissed that juror during deliberations, adding that the juror's dismissal was linked to her pending view of the verdict.

According to the 37-page unanimous order, Juror 88 was dismissed in the absence of Laffitte's counsel after she told the judge she was feeling anxiety "due to some of the reactions to my decision" from other jurors. After Juror 88 was dismissed, Laffitte was then found guilty on all counts.

In April 2023, Judge Gergel denied Laffitte's motion for a new trial, which prompted the appeal to the higher court.

Laffittee, a member of a hundred-year-old banking dynasty in Hampton County, was convicted on Nov. 22, 2022, of bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and three counts of misapplication of bank funds in connection with the internationally publicized Alex Murdaugh financial fraud cases.

Laffittee was charged in both state and federal jurisdictions for allegedly using his role as Palmetto State Bank CEO to help now-disbarred Hampton attorney Murdaugh steal millions from multiple clients and lawyers.

Laffittee was sentenced to seven years in federal prison at the Federal Correctional Institution Coleman in Florida, where he is residing as of this order.

Laffitte's case will now be remanded back to the U.S. District Court in South Carolina's Beaufort district for a new trial, most likely before a new federal judge.

Will Laffitte be released from federal prison until retrial?

What will happen to Laffitte now? That remains to be seen.

Laffitte was indicted on multiple fraud and conspiracy charges by the S.C. State Grand Jury in 2022. He has yet to stand trial or be sentenced for those charges.

At the time of his November 2022 federal conviction, Laffitte was on house arrest after posting bond in both federal and state jurisdictions and at one point, was wearing both a state and a federal ankle monitor.

With his sentence vacated, Laffitte will likely be released soon from FCI Coleman under similar bond conditions in one or both jurisdictions.

"His state charges are still pending, for which he was on bond prior to his federal indictment, trial, and conviction," said Robert Kittle, a spokesperson for the S.C. Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the state charges. "The federal courts will likely address pretrial bond for their retrial if they elect to do so, but if not, he will return on state bond until we can schedule a trial, which we would look for a date certain for trial after session in 2025 due to his lawyer Todd Rutherford’s legislative duties, which preclude him from being called to court during that time."