Richland County, Columbia, SC and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks go ALL IN on the Masks!
Real estate…what’s the phrase? Location, location, location? The Upstate of South Carolina is the most conservative and Republican part of the state of South Carolina. But one would be mistaken if they just assumed that all of South Carolina was inhabited by neanderthal conservatives like you might find in the Greenville, Anderson, Pickens, Laurens, Spartanburg area. Quite the contrary. Exhibit A – Columbia, SC.
Columbia, SC sits in the center geographically of South Carolina and is home of our South Carolina State Capitol. The city is within Richland County. I’m not going to go in to all the nonsense about the City of Columbia and their constant push for mask mandates but the latest coming out of the midlands area is that Richand County just voted in a mask mandate for the next 60 days effective today. It’s a $25 fine if you’re not wearing one….I don’t know if that is $25 per day or per incident that you get caught without wearing one. On top of that, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks also now require a mask mandate for their football games if you can believe that. (The funny thing is they note in that news article that I just linked that the City of Columbia is responsible for enforcing the mandate…will the City deputize many at the stadium to issue citations?) BTW, the fines apparently are different. It’s $100 in the City of Columbia and only $25 in Richland County. At the UofSC football game, they note that the City of Columbia is in charge so it might cost you $100. Note the mask mandate is for the next 30 days for football and I’m sure it will be renewed as they all were every 30-60 days in 2020 across much of the country. Will the people comply? Will they continue to put up with this? Imagine the joy of sitting outside in the hot sun for 3-4 hours watching a football game outside with a mask on. Dumb.
If you’ve been watching any college football this season, you’ve seen images of packed stadiums with 70-80,000 people sitting right next to one another having a great time! You would expect based upon media hysteria 24×7 that there would be massive Covid-19 / Delta outbreaks, thousands and thousands would be seriously ill with many in the hospital on their death beds…and by now, surely many would be dead as a result of their obession with college football. However, we have yet to hear any stories regarding this college football related Covid outbreak. Hmm.
If you’re finding my blog and you are offended about my attitude about the mask and these outrageous mask mandates, please just move on. Anyone implementing a mask mandate today in 2021 neither belongs in elected office nor should they hold their current job/position at their companies or schools that are implementing this ridiculous overreach.
No more mask mandates!
Well I know this is 3+ hours away from Greenville, but I can’t help but publish some information about the goings on in South Carolina in general especially when it comes to the corona virus situation.
South Carolina has supposedly become one of the real hot spots in the country with Covid-19 / Delta Variant cases popping up all over. If you follow social media, you’ll see the screams from people pleading for folks to wear masks. And while I have seen a noticeable uptick in mask wearing the past few days, it seems most are content to take the risk and go barefaced.
So I thought it was interesting when I checked my e-mail today with news that Hilton Head Island has declared another emergency due to the Covid outbreak. Now mind you, no one can really point to a giant increase in deaths…just positive cases – whatever that is worth…not much. The aspect I found most interesting is that they are NOT hitting people with a mask mandate. They are only recommending people wear them. They aren’t even going as far as saying that masks need to be worn in city buildings or indoors anywhere. Not the town council could decide to do a mask mandate like they did for much of 2020. Let’s hope not.
I know that many of my readers are people from out of town trying to figure out where to move to as they escape the oppressive governments running nearly all the blue states in the U.S. So, if that’s you, and if you haven’t been to Hilton Head Island, it’s a fabulous place to vacation. The beaches are phenomenal and there are plenty of golf course to take in. Be sure to do the short 25 minute drive out to Bluffton, SC. Make sure you visit the old downtown as well as drive along many of the gorgeous roads with overhanging oak trees covered in Spanish moss.
Lastly, a unique thing about the beach on Hilton Head Island is that you can experience both the sunrise as well as the sunset given the position of the island.
This week, both the City of Greenville as well as Spartanburg extended their mask mandates another two months. This means they will expire mid-December just in time for the final 10 days or so of Christmas shopping. Don’t hold your breath that they are going to drop their mask demands.
The City of Greenville took the mask mandate a step further. Whereas the previous mandate required masking in grocery stores and pharmacies, the new dictate is for ALL retail establishments across the city. The mask mandate carries with it a $25 fine if charged. This is for retail establishments just within the city limits. This does not pertain to the rest of Greenville County. The citizens seem to have mixed feelings about the latest mask ordinance based upon comments on the City of Greenville’s Official Facebook Page.
South Carolina State Parks just issued a mask mandate requiring visitors over the age of two to wear masks while visiting the parks.
According to the South Carolina State Parks Facebook Page:
“Effective immediately, visitors over the age of two years old are required to wear a mask in any state park facility staffed by employees or where the general public may congregate. This includes park offices, visitor centers, stores, nature centers, restrooms or while touring any indoor facility being considered for rent. In the event that visitors do not have a mask, they will be asked to remain outside of the facility and park employees will assist them and accommodate their needs, if possible.
Any park rental facility to include cabins, campsites, picnic shelters, group facilities, etc, are considered as having restricted use and will be the responsibility of the party renting that facility. It is recommended that they follow all CDC and SCDHEC guidelines regarding social distancing and mask wearing, but park staff will not be responsible for reinforcing those guidelines.
We thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we work to stop the spread and protect our visitors and employees.”