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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.

Storm said production crews tried to film a few “driving scenes” on Hunting Island beaches in June 2023, but the location “didn’t work out,” prompting a reshoot in North Carolina. The SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike began the next month and suspended filming operations in Charleston, where most of the series is filmed.

Despite its titular setting, very little of “Outer Banks” is filmed at the major tourist destination, a 200-mile string of barrier islands off the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia. Production was originally intended for Wilmington, N.C., but was moved to the Palmetto State due to North Carolina’s controversial anti-transgender bathroom bill that was enacted in 2016.

“Outer Banks” follows a group of teenagers living on Pleasure Island, a coastal town with wide social rifts between wealthy seasonal residents and working-class locals — known in the show’s universe as “Kooks” and “Pogues,” respectively. A search for one character’s missing father plunges the group into a high-stakes treasure hunt.

Like in the first season, the upcoming episodes of “Outer Banks” will likely feature a few Beaufort County residents as extras. A casting call for the Hunting Island shoot asked for six background actors aged 18 to 25 to play “beach Pogues.”

Showrunners paid a “small fee” to Hunting Island for use of the filming location, according to Storm. Park rangers were also paid to be temporarily folded into the crew as “site representatives,” using their knowledge of the location to make sure filming ran smoothly.

Production for the fourth season of “Outer Banks” is scheduled to wrap up in early August, according to IMDb. Netflix says the new episodes will release by the end of 2024.

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The vacant Applebee’s Restaurant along Boundary Street in Beaufort will soon have a new tenant. Culver’s Restaurant will be going into the spot sometime in 2024.

A call to Culver’s corporate offices on Tuesday verified that a franchise agreement has been signed for the location at 2338 Boundary Street.

Culver’s has been around since its inception in 1984. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, under the name “Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers.”

Fast forward to today, and it operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and has a total of 930 restaurants in 26 states as of October 2023, including 9 locations currently in South Carolina. Among these are Summerville, North Charleston and Ladson. Also, close to Beaufort, there are Culver’s Restaurant locations in Pooler and Savannah, Georgia.

Referring to itself as a “fast-casual restaurant”, Culver’s menu offers a variety of lunch and dinner items including its signature ButterBurgers, chicken sandwiches, seafood, salads and more.

It also offers sides incuding fries, onion rings, chili and its popular Wisconsin cheese curds that are provided exclusively to Culver’s by a dairy in Stanley, Wisconsin.

Its dessert menu is where it’s at, with shakes, sundaes, floats and malts offered using its own line of frozen custard.

According to a Culver’s corporate representative, there is no timeline for the location opening. The existing building must first be converted to corporate specs and we were told that “it could take some time for that,” but we can expect it to be completed and opened sometime in 2024.

After opening in 1994, the Beaufort Applebee’s location closed in 2017 during the Boundary Street construction project, with its owner citing a loss of revenue due to the project.

Since then, it was the very short-lived home of Los Gallos Mexican Restaurant, and still bears the Los Gallos signage today.

The news of Culver’s Restaurant in Beaufort comes on the heels of a new Cook Out restaurant also opening on Boundary Street, and also a new Asian Chicken & Boba spot going into Beaufort Town Center, which are both slated for early 2024 openings, as well as the enormous Beaufort Station shopping center project that is also expected to open in late 2024.

Some Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority customers in parts of Beaufort County received a letter about water quality that left them startled and questioning why it took so long for the utility to notify them.

For two quarters during 2023, water South of the Broad River violated a standard for safe drinking, but customers weren’t notified until this month.

The letter said tests showed a higher than acceptable level of haloacetic acid, also known as HAA5.

It says, “Some people who drink water containing haloacetic acids in excess of the [maximum contamination levels] over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.”

Haley Hughes, public education and engagement planner for BJWSA, gave The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette context for the term “many years.”

“We have searched and searched and searched to find a concrete definition of ‘many years,’” Hughes said. “And no one entity has accurately pinpointed what many years means. But in general, we believe we’re talking about 70 years.”

“One exposure, one week, one month of exposure is not what what regulators are concerned about,” said Jeff La Rue, spokesperson for BJWSA.

Posts about BJWSA’s letter drew hundreds of comments on Facebook, with people’s concerns mostly surrounding the cancer risk, the time it took them to be notified and, in some cases, wondering if the water was safe for their pets. No one The Island Packet reached out to was willing to comment on the record by publication time.

“We completely understand that not only are people concerned about themselves ingesting the water, but their pets too,” Hughes said.

HAA5s are five compounds that form when disinfectants react with natural organic material, such as tree branches, leaves or algae, in the water, BJWSA said in the letter.

The maximum contamination level for HAA5 is 0.060 mg per liter, as set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. During the third quarter of 2023, the average level of HAA5 in southern Beaufort County was recorded as 0.061; during the fourth quarter, it was 0.069.

The quarterly tests are averaged together and build upon each other throughout the year in a way similar to how schools average students’ grades over the course of a school year. Because the fourth quarter average was much higher than in previous quarters, BJWSA experts believe something that happened between October and December is the likely cause.

For context, the yearly average of HAA5s for 2023 was 0.044, and it was 0.059 in 2022.

La Rue, the BJWSA spokesperson, pointed to two factors for the increase at the end of 2023: an increased amount of chlorine to fight water discoloration, as detailed in the letter, and a chlorine generator malfunction.

The malfunction meant that BJWSA had to have chlorine trucked in and chlorine concentration levels were likely to fluctuate, La Rue said.

In early December, DHEC collected water samples for the fourth quarter.

After DHEC notified BJWSA that the levels exceeded the maximum contamination level, the utility had 30 days to inform their customers. The timeline and process for notification, including using the mail, was mandated by DHEC, La Rue said.

The letter sent to customers was dated and mailed on Dec. 29 and posted to the BJWSA website on Jan. 11, Hughes said.

“I really want to stress this,” La Rue said. “This is not an emergency. The the public notice is because customers have the right to know that this average went above the threshold of 0.060. Had it been an emergency, we would have notified people customers right away.”

He added: “One milligram per liter is equal to one penny in $10,000. It’s one word out of five Harry Potter books.”

BJWSA has since reduced the amount of chlorine added to the water and replaced the malfunctioning generator. HAA5 levels in the water are below 0.060, La Rue said.

This story was originally published January 24, 2024, 11:53 AM.

Here comes our Lowcountry Holiday season and the ‘trifecta’ of downtown Beaufort, SC events – plus a few more!

Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit like our fun-filled first weekend in December with the annual ‘Night on the Town’ celebration, followed by the ever-popular Light Up the Night Boat Parade and ending with the Beaufort Christmas parade. Here are several must-see local events, and links to all the info you’ll need to have the most enjoyable Lowcountry Holiday ever.

Friday, DECEMBER 1, 2023

A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, 6-9 PM with the Tree Lighting at 8 pm

The Annual A Night on the Town is the opening of the Christmas/holiday shopping season and takes place on Friday evening, December 1st, 2023, beginning at 6 pm. A long-standing tradition of the community, A Night on the Town is a mix of traditional and contemporary. An evening with a surprise around every corner and several things that will entertain, delight, and get you in the Holiday Spirit. Shops will stay open late to welcome regular and new customers with special treats and a preview of their large and unique selection of items for the Holidays to help get a head start on the holiday season.

The evening also includes the City of Beaufort’s tree lighting ceremony, entertainment by the Parris Island Marine Corps Band, choral performances, plenty of good cheer, and a rumored visit from Santa himself.

Saturday, DECEMBER 2, 2022

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2022, 11 AM – Gullah Taste of Christmas – Beaufort, SC Waterfront Park

Light up the Night Holiday Boat Parade, 5:30-8:30 p.m

The first boats will start arriving at the seawall at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park by 5 pm. Boats will make three passes by the seawall.

DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT, SC CHRISTMAS PARADE, 3 PM

The traditional Beaufort Christmas Parade will be on December 3rd, at 3:00 pm, through the streets of downtown Beaufort. Floats, bands, groups of walkers, and personal cars and trucks are expected to participate.

From light displays to community celebrations, Santa sightings, holiday concert performances, and everything in between, there’s tons of Lowcountry holiday fun for everyone happening in Beaufort, SC.

We look forward to seeing you all around town this December.

Happy Holidays Y’all!!!

Here comes our Lowcountry Holiday season and the ‘trifecta’ of downtown Beaufort, SC events – plus a few more!

Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit like our fun-filled first weekend in December with the annual ‘Night on the Town’ celebration, followed by the ever-popular Light Up the Night Boat Parade and ending with the Beaufort Christmas parade. Here are several must-see local events, and links to all the info you’ll need to have the most enjoyable Lowcountry Holiday ever.

Friday, DECEMBER 1, 2023

A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, 6-9 PM with the Tree Lighting at 8 pm

The Annual A Night on the Town is the opening of the Christmas/holiday shopping season and takes place on Friday evening, December 1st, 2023, beginning at 6 pm. A long-standing tradition of the community, A Night on the Town is a mix of traditional and contemporary. An evening with a surprise around every corner and several things that will entertain, delight, and get you in the Holiday Spirit. Shops will stay open late to welcome regular and new customers with special treats and a preview of their large and unique selection of items for the Holidays to help get a head start on the holiday season.

The evening also includes the City of Beaufort’s tree lighting ceremony, entertainment by the Parris Island Marine Corps Band, choral performances, plenty of good cheer, and a rumored visit from Santa himself.

Saturday, DECEMBER 2, 2022

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2022, 11 AM – Gullah Taste of Christmas – Beaufort, SC Waterfront Park

Light up the Night Holiday Boat Parade, 5:30-8:30 p.m

The first boats will start arriving at the seawall at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park by 5 pm. Boats will make three passes by the seawall.

DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT, SC CHRISTMAS PARADE, 3 PM

The traditional Beaufort Christmas Parade will be on December 3rd, at 3:00 pm, through the streets of downtown Beaufort. Floats, bands, groups of walkers, and personal cars and trucks are expected to participate.

From light displays to community celebrations, Santa sightings, holiday concert performances, and everything in between, there’s tons of Lowcountry holiday fun for everyone happening in Beaufort, SC.

We look forward to seeing you all around town this December.

Happy Holidays Y’all!!!