If you want to be a big cheese in the game Monopoly, buy hotels. But the game’s rules limit one to buying a single hotel per property or street — and only after you’ve bought at least four houses.

At the outset, the rules of Monopoly prioritize the value of homes (community) over hotels (imported, temporary community). The rules also limit hotels to one per street. And even with these rules, people playing the game can get rich, live long and prosper.

Maybe the city of Charleston needs to take a cue from Monopoly: It’s time to stop allowing so many hotels. We don’t need any more hotel rooms. We have enough. In fact, we’ve got so many that even visitors spending money in restaurants and shops are feeling crowded. The streets are so clogged that it takes an ungodly amount of time to traverse the peninsula.

The number of hotels and other accommodations on the peninsula has skyrocketed. In the 20 years starting in 2002, the number of hotel rooms rose almost 40% to 4,656 rooms. Add the city’s peninsular allocation of 490 short-term rentals and there are well over 5,100 rooms for rent these days on the peninsula.

Maybe we’d need more if those we already have were full. But they’re not. Across the Charleston area, hotel occupancy ranged from 45% in January 2022 to a high of about 80% three months later. It hovered above 70% from March through October.

“Occupancy decreased to 54.18% after peaking during the summer months of 2022,” according to a January 2023 analysis by Colliers South Carolina.

Turn around the way you look at the occupancy rate: It also means at least 30% of rooms are empty for half the year. So explain again why we need more hotels?

Here’s what Colliers says: “Luxury travel continues to be strong. New construction and hotel development in Charleston are signs of a healthy growing market. Charleston hotels remain a popular investment asset class in the current inflationary environment.”

Translated, that means analysts believe more people will visit and that developing more properties is a good investment. Property owners don’t want to miss out on a big payday — even though they’ve had years to do so. And developers want to do what they do — make things that are bigger, grander and more expensive than now so they can make money, too.

Unfortunately, all of this development avarice is changing the character of Charleston. About the only time it feels like the old Charleston — a pleasant city to walk uncrowded streets and enjoy beautiful homes, gardens and shops — is very early in the morning when most people are wiping the crust from their eyes.

We implore city leaders to clamp down on more hotels and to get rampant commercial development under control. To do otherwise will cause Charleston to topple from the top of those tourist lists that city boosters prize. And then, there will be a lot more empty hotel rooms.

Let’s follow the economic law of scarcity — that if there’s a limited supply, the perception of value increases — not of the tenets of oversupply and greed.

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We’ve been troubled for weeks by the clash between Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano and County Council over how health care is provided to inmates inside the county jail, particularly with the sheriff’s objections to the choice of a new private contractor to handle that job.

Our concerns are only heightened after The Post and Courier’s Ema Rose Schumer’s recent report about how the two clashed quietly for at least a year before the tragic death of D’Angelo Dontrel Brown, 28, who suffered from untreated schizophrenia, who was found unconscious in a filthy isolation cell and whose death has been ruled a homicide from gross medical neglect.

Most of those housed inside the county jail are presumed innocent, and Mr. Brown’s death was only the most publicized of the many apparent problems. The sheriff’s office also reported that a jailed woman had to be rushed to a hospital for seizures after contractor Wellpath failed to give her prescribed medication; another female inmate was put on suicide watch after she was not given her prescribed mental health drugs; a male inmate was inadvertently given a blood thinner by a Wellpath nurse.

Enough.

It’s time for the sheriff and County Council to stop with all the finger-pointing and reexamine their respective roles in supervising the company that county taxpayers are paying to provide medical care at the jail. As Ms. Schumer reported, both the county administration and the sheriff’s office had been well-aware that Wellpath, the private company that formerly provided health care at the jail, had failed to give medications and proper medical attention to ill inmates. One of Wellpath’s medical directors had his clearance revoked after he gave injections of a drug used to treat opioid addiction to three inmates without their consent. Still, they waited many months, until after two inmates’ deaths, to hold the company to account by terminating its contract or even withholding payments.

While jail administrators raised alarms, there was no follow through. The ball was dropped certainly in part because of the independent yet interdependent relationship between the county administration and sheriff. The administration, overseen by nine elected council members, handles procurement and sets the budget for the sheriff’s office, but the sheriff is elected independently and operates autonomously. And the waters were muddied further by Wellpath’s claim that the jail’s shortage of guards endangered its health care workers and undermined their ability to provide care.

While County Council has voted to replace Wellpath with VitalCore Health Strategies, a Kansas-based health care company, simply changing the vendor might not solve the problem. Ms. Graziano has objected “due to the fact that we know what our needs are, and we do not believe that any of them (the companies bidding) are able to meet our requirements.”

The finger-pointing about the jail’s health care must stop, and as the sheriff and council members consider next steps, they should keep this in mind about privatizing government service.

There’s nothing inherently wrong about a government contracting with a private, for-profit company to do certain jobs, but it only works if the government is willing and able to be a smart consumer. Sometimes, hiring a company can improve the service, reduce the cost to taxpayers or both, but it’s vital that government keeps close track of how the company is performing. Another part of Charleston County government recently hired a private company to pick up curbside recycling, and while the move may be saving money, we are concerned about reports of missed or tardy collections.

Clearly, the sheriff’s office and county administration appeared to be at odds for years on making sure the county was a smart consumer of Wellpath’s services. Ms. Graziano and her staff began raising concerns about Wellpath within the first months of her taking office in 2021, but the county’s director of procurement and contracts told the sheriff’s office in May 2022 that the office had failed to properly document Wellpath’s problems, limiting what the county could do.

This sort of failure is by no means unique to Charleston County. As South Carolina’s first inspector general noted a few years back, privatization or outsourcing “seems to be viewed as automatically preferential to adding State employees,” when in fact it puts the state at “high risk” because of the difficulty of managing those contracts. “Agencies have a tendency to view their job as essentially complete upon approving a contract/grant,” he wrote, “when in fact outsourcing requires heightened skills in contract/grant monitoring and engaged risk-based oversight to ensure value received by the State.”

If County Council and the sheriff don’t work better together to agree on their mutual responsibilities for holding the jail’s private health care provider accountable for the care that is (or isn’t) being provided, then hiring another company might not help at all, other than making it look like the county is addressing the problem when it really is not.

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April 28, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) - Charleston Battery News Release

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Battery host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Sat., April 29, in an East vs. West showdown in the USL Championship. Kickoff at Patriots Point is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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While the history between Charleston and Colorado Springs is brief, last year's inaugural meeting was a memorable one. After a back-and-forth night with Switchbacks FC taking a 3-2 lead into stoppage time, AJ Paterson provided the late-game heroics and scored off a free-kick, off the crossbar, to earn the Battery a point at the death.

The Battery enter Saturday's match as the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 4W-0L-3D record (15 pts). Last league match, Charleston played Louisville City FC to a 0-0 draw at home in a duel between the top teams in the conference. The Battery were in action again on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup, defeating Charlotte Independence in extra time, 1-0. Nick Markanich scored the match-winning goal in the 113th minute.

Switchbacks FC sit third in the Western Conference standings with a 4W-2L-1D record (13 pts). The Colorado club defeated New Mexico United, 2-1, in their last round of action. After going down 0-1 in the first minute of the second half, Colorado Springs equalized via an own goal and scored the eventual match-winner shortly after, by Drew Skundrich.

The Black and Yellow will look to keep their strong start to the season going against another formidable Western Conference side. Charleston rank third in goals scored (12) and tied for fourth in fewest goals conceded (6).

Colorado Springs have conceded the second-most fouls in the league so far (114), only Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC have more (115).

Saturday will see the return of former Battery players Romario Williams and Joe Kuzminsky in Charleston. Both signed with Switchbacks FC ahead of the 2023 season.

Leland Archer is a player to watch for the Battery, he currently leads Charleston in clearances with 32, good for sixth-most in the league.

Maalique Foster is one to keep an eye on for Switchbacks FC, the Jamaican international leads the team in chances created with 12.

Augi Williams is unavailable for Saturday's contest due to a pair of yellow cards picked up in the Louisville game.

It will be Legacy Night at Patriots Point, presented by MUSC Health, on Saturday, commemorating club legends and team history as part of the Battery's 30th-anniversary celebration.

FROM THE TRAINING GROUND

Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Deklan Wynne previewed the upcoming match against Colorado Springs, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on his message to the team this week with the packed schedule...

I think the biggest thing we've continued to do for the first nine matches of the season is focus on improving. It was four games in 12 days, then we come back and we're in the middle of three games in a week. So, it's tough, physically and mentally. We want to make sure that we're progressing forward, and the boys have really bought in, they're working hard. Right now we're really focused on ourselves and making sure we're taking slight little improvements every day.

Coach Pirmann on what Colorado Springs bring to the table...

Colorado Springs went to the conference final last year and they're in third place right now. So, they're one of the top three or four teams in this league. They're very well coached, they have a very distinct system. They want to build the game from the back and they want to create the extra numbers in midfield to try to make their opponents suffer. So they've got strength, they've got quickness and then they've got the midfield play underneath, to be able to be creative and link it all together.

Coach Pirmann on what he sees Saturday's match coming down to...

I think it's going to be a 50-50 game, similar to Louisville, similar to pretty much every game in this league. For us, if we can make sure we're mentally focused on the little details, maybe that can tilt the game in our favor, but it's going to be a really tough match. We want to use the energy of the crowd, being at home. It is our third game in eight days, we played midweek, [Colorado Springs] were off, so they're going to be fresh, they're going to be focused.

Wynne on how the week has gone between the games and training...

It's been a busy week with the game on Tuesday. But, I think after winning that game, everyone is looking forward to the next one and working hard. We'll finish the week off strong and then hopefully put in a strong performance on Saturday.

Wynne on the team looking to keep the early momentum going...

We're taking every game one game at a time. Of course, we're looking to extend the unbeaten streak as long as we can, but we're just focusing on ourselves and doing the best we can. We've bonded well together and the mentality has been strong. You can see that by the way we play and never give up, by scoring a lot of last-minute goals and then on Tuesday scoring that late goal to win the game.

Wynne on the impact fans have on games at Patriots Point...

Every game they've had an impact, the fans have been quite good, so I've really enjoyed my time so far. Hopefully, as we continue to do well and as the season goes on more, more people will come out and support us. The more fans we get, it helps us on the field.

I encourage everyone to get out and help us along. It's one of those things you hear all the time, the 12th man. If we're defending and struggling at times, and the fans are behind us, then we have that extra support to push on and try to win for them.

MATCH INFO

Charleston Battery vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC

Saturday, April 29 - 7:30 p.m. ET Kickoff

Patriots Point

HOW TO WATCH:

Only a very limited number of tickets are still available for Saturday's match and can be purchased via SeatGeek.com, the Battery's exclusive digital ticketing provider.

All Battery matches will also stream on ESPN+ domestically and through the league's YouTube channel for free internationally.

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United Soccer League Championship message board...

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Dancers from Dance Dynamics competed in the Southern Council of Dance Masters Competition in Charleston, S.C., and had some big winners. The students competed against dancers from across North and South Carolina.

Winning the Highest Score of all 13-and-over Duos and Trios was the duet of Aleigha Blackwell and Bethany Smith. The tap duet, “My Mischievous Shadow,” received a High Platinum and the Most Entertaining Award.

The Diamond Tap Group, consisting of Fable Barker, Aleigha Blackwell, Zoey Conner, Jasmine Keele and Sadie Vanderford was the 2nd Highest Scoring Group of all 12-and-under groups. They performed “Step In Time,” and Josh Borges and Missy Fincher won the Choreography Award for this routine. Winning the 12-and-under LaBruce Heist Choreography Award is a big honor for teachers and choreographers. There are only two choreography awards bestowed out of more than 150 numbers and this award is named in memory of a great dance teacher and Dance Masters Member.

Fable Barker scored High Platinum with both of her solos and they both placed in the Top 10 out of 40-plus numbers. Her contemporary routine, “Running with the Wolves,” was the highest-scoring routine from the 11 and 12-year-olds of the day and was the 2nd-highest 12-and-under solo. Her jazz dance, “Last Dance” was the 6th highest 12-and-under solo.

Bethany Smith also had a big day, winning a High Platinum with her tap solo, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” She placed 6th overall with her tap routine in the 13-and-over division. Her lyrical solo, “This One’s for You,” received a Platinum and her hip-hop solo, “Juice,” also received a Platinum, and was chosen as Most Entertaining Solo out of all 13-and-over solos.

The duet of Zoey Conner and Leighanna Wofford received Platinum and 7th Overall for their jazz routine, “Zero to Hero.”

Platinum winners include Sadie Vanderford (lyrical), Leighanna Wofford (jazz), Aleigha Blackwell (tap and contemporary), Jasmine Keele (tap), and the Diamond Jazz Group.

High Gold winners include Zoey Conner (tap), Emilee Shehan (tap), Jasmine Keele (hip-hop) and Reese Owens (lyrical and hip-hop), the Platinum Tap Trio of Khloe Montgomery, Emilee Shehan and Leighanna Wofford, and the Platinum Jazz group of Khloe Montgomery, Reese Owens, Emilee Shehan and Leighanna Wofford.

It was a great weekend for the dancers and families who enjoyed their wins, along with the beaches and fun of Charleston. Dance Dynamics Owner Missy Fincher was very proud of all the students and especially proud of the teachers who have worked hard to make all the students be their best.

If you come to one South Carolina city hungry, you may be in luck.

That’s because Charleston just earned two nods from Food & Wine magazine. The tourist hot spot ranked No. 5 in the nation for local restaurants and No. 7 for its overall dining scene, according to results published April 19.

Within the city, The Bar at The Spectator Hotel also was named one of the nation’s best places to grab a drink.

To come up with the findings, the magazine said its editors created a survey that readers completed from October 2021 to December 2022. Each respondent was “asked to rate airlines, airports, cities, cruise ships, hotels, restaurants, and bars on a number of characteristics” based on trips over the previous three years. The magazine did not share how many readers participated in the survey.

The resulting readers’ choice awards — also called the Global Tastemakers — consisted of the “best culinary experiences from around the world.” In the United States, Charleston made its mark when it was named the No. 5 place for neighborhood restaurants, defined as “smaller, family-owned joints.”

In its report, Food & Wine said go-to places for travelers to find local food in the Charleston area lie on James Island, along King Street and in the NoMo, North Central and Cannonborough/Elliotborough neighborhoods.

Charleston also landed at No 7 for its dining scene, ranking among the U.S cities “that serve up the best food and drinks.”

“It’s easy to fixate on Charleston’s seafood — and you certainly should spend some time doing that — but there are also a lot of dining experiences that make the most of the city’s scenery,” including a highly-rated history and food tour, the magazine said.

Between the two food-related categories, Food & Wine praised the city having top-notch places that dish out Southern favorites, such as oysters and biscuits. A coffee shop, wine bar and Italian restaurants also were among the places recognized, according to the results.

Charleston, the only place in South Carolina to earn spots on the two lists, repeatedly has ranked among the nation’s top food destinations. Within the past year, Yelp and Tripadvisor have added it to lists of places that food lovers can’t miss, McClatchy News reported.

On the most recent list, New Orleans ranked as the best place in the country for local restaurants, while New York City ranked No. 1 for overall food and drink.