Port Royal Officer saves woman during mental health crisis.

Beaufort County This Week

STORY 1

From the Island Packet

A Port Royal police officer, on the job less than a year, is being credited for going above and beyond the call of duty to save the life of a woman having a mental health crises at the town’s public beach Tuesday.

Karina Fraire-Galindo, a Port Royal police officer, was patrolling the popular Sands Beach Tuesday when she spotted a woman standing on the edge of the floating dock who appeared to be talking on the phone. She was crying. At about that same time, as Fraire-Galindo was parking her patrol vehicle, she received a dispatch about a woman threatening suicide.

Frairie-Galindo quickly made contact with the anguished woman and tried to get her away from the dock’s edge. But she resisted and then jumped into Battery Creek. Without hesitation, Port Royal police said, Fraire-Galindo removed her body armor and weapon and jumped into the water herself. Fraire-Galindo then grabbed the woman and swam to the shore line. Bystanders assisted the officer in getting the woman out of the water.

Story 2

From the Island Packet

How much teachers will earn has been locked into for the upcoming school year. State senators Wednesday passed a $13.8 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

As part of that plan, the Senate agreed with the House’s proposal to increase the starting salary for teachers in the state to $47,000 a year, up from $42,500. Gov. Henry McMaster has said he wants to bring the starting salary up to $50,000 by 2026. The minimum salary schedule, which pays teachers based off years of experience and level of education attained, would extend to 28 years from 23 years.

Districts have the option to pay teachers above the state’s minimum salary schedule. In South Carolina, 67 out of the state’s 73 traditional public school districts pay have a starting salary less than $47,000.

Story 3

From the Island Packet

Cast and crew of the hit Netflix show “Outer Banks” returned to Hunting Island State Park this week to film for the series’ upcoming fourth season. The two-day shoot took place near the park’s iconic lighthouse, a recurring setting for the action-packed teen drama.

Scenes filmed in the area on Monday and Tuesday included most of the main cast, including actors Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey. Production temporarily shut down the park’s north-beach parking lot and spaces around the Hunting Island Lighthouse, which has been closed to the public since early 2022.

This won’t be the first time the prized state park in northern Beaufort County has served as the show’s natural backdrop, said Matt Storm, film commissioner for the state of South Carolina. The pilot episode features a drunken brawl between characters at “The Boneyard,” filmed at the park’s similarly-nicknamed maritime forest. The Hunting Island Lighthouse is seen several times throughout the first season, used interchangeably with the interior of Folly Beach’s Morris Island Lighthouse to depict the series’ fictional Redfield Lighthouse.