Briefly

Teen dies in crash near Stono River

An 18-year-old died in a single-vehicle crash early Friday near the Stono River bridge between James and Johns islands, authorities said.

The accident happened on Headquarters Plantation Drive when a sport utility vehicle hit a guard rail, throwing the unbelted driver in to the marsh, Charleston police public information officer Charles Francis said.

Forest Schaberg of Kiawah Island died at the scene from blunt-force trauma, Charleston County Deputy Coroner Kelly Myers said. Schaberg was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban.

Police officers discovered the accident around 3:40 a.m., shortly after it was thought to have occurred.

Turkey fryer sets home on fire

An unattended propane-powered turkey fryer set a Charleston Farms home on fire Thursday afternoon, displacing six people, the North Charleston Fire Department said.

Firefighters responded to the single-family home at 5412 Marie St. shortly before 1 p.m. to find heavy flames coming from the back of the house, Battalion Chief Greg Bulanow said. Crews brought the fire under control within about 15 minutes, though damage was heavy.

The Carolina Lowcountry Chapter of the American Red Cross was assisting two adults and four children who lived at the home, Bulanow said. Nobody was injured.

Air search continues for missing Fla. man

A search by land, air and water continued Friday for a Florida man last seen earlier this week at a construction site near the Beaufort-Colleton county line.

Eddie Hearns, 48, had been working with the Case Atlantic Co. of Clearwater, Fla., on a bridge over the Combahee River on U.S. Highway 17 South. Nobody has seen him since crews packed up around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities have said. His coat turned up in the water that night more than a mile from the bridge.

Airplanes, helicopters and boats searched for Hearns on Friday without luck, said Lt. Robert McCullough of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

MUSC professor commended

Nancy Duffy, an assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina's College of Nursing, has been named the Governor's 2007 Professor of the Year for four-year higher education institutions.

"Ms. Duffy is truly a role model for all of our faculty in that her teaching expresses both her love of nursing and her desire to share all that she knows in a way that energizes the next generation of nurses," said Gail Stuart, dean of the College of Nursing.