Mundy Price

For nearly four and a half years, the people of Ware Shoals have waited. They have waited for answers. They have waited for repairs. They have waited for the return of a river that has defined their community for generations. Now they are being asked to prepare for something else entirely.

Celebrating the nation’s 250th Independence Day in the Lakelands came and went with what every first responder hopes for: celebration without tragedy. While law enforcement officers still made a handful of DUI and BUI (boating under the influence) arrests, the holiday weekend thankfully passed without fatalities on our area highways or lakes. That is something worth celebrating. Holidays often bring together family, friends, fireworks and freedom.

South Carolina has long held a distinction no state should want: consistently having one of the nation’s highest rates of DUI-related fatalities per capita. Behind that grim statistic are lives lost and families forever changed, many right here in the Lakelands. If lawmakers are serious about reversing that trend, they cannot continue accepting the status quo.