Monday headlines: Historic Black communities worried by annexation bill

A bill that would allow municipalities to annex properties without the consent of owners is scaring residents of historic Black communities who say settlement communities existed before towns surrounded them.

Leaders say they don’t want their rights taken away and can decide whether they want to go into towns and cities. The bill, proposed by GOP Rep. Joe Bustos, a former Mount Pleasant town council member, says unincorporated areas surrounded by towns have different rules and can cause conflicts.

Charleston County, however, voted against a similar proposal this month.

“I’m a private property rights person,” Charleston County Council Chairman Herb Sass of Mount Pleasant told a reporter. “I don’t think they should get annexed unless they want to be annexed.”

CP OPINION, Brack: What we should learn from the Murdaugh trial

“The trial exposed flaws of people’s perceptions of the justice system, weaknesses in investigations by law enforcement and inequities in society. It also offered lessons in how a court should work and how lies come back to haunt.”

In other headlines:

Fields, esteemed Charleston judge, dies at 103. Retired S.C. Circuit Court Judge Richard Fields died Friday at age 103. Residents remember Fields.

Judge sentences Murdaugh to life in prison. S.C. Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman on Friday sentenced convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh to two terms of life in prison, to be served consecutively. It was the toughest sentence he could hand down since prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. Rewatch closing arguments. Meanwhile, Murdaugh’s attorneys say they’ll appeal his conviction. On Friday, Murdaugh was booked into a Columbia prison. Over the weekend, Saturday Night Live had an opening joke about the case.

Haley greeted by chants of “Trump 2024” at gathering. The Kiawah Island resident and former S.C. governor faced jeers from Trump loyalists at a conservative gathering.

Charleston Wine + Food festival brings community together. A look at what happened this year in the popular festival that attracts people across the South. A photo essay of the festival.

Old Archer School in Charleston undergoing $42 million housing renovation. The old elementary school on Nassau Street, closed since 1980, is undergoing a big renovation for housing for low-income seniors.

Another hotel: Plans emerge for 175-room hotel in Charleston. The site, where the Alley operates as a bowling alley downtown, is up for its first review by the city of Charleston.

Folly Beach to get 90,000 dump truck loads of sand. The city will renourish the beach thanks to $97 million in federal funding for South Carolina beaches.