Image by NavyImage by 20090612-laffey.jpg The Laffey back in her glory days.

After a brief visit, S.C. Treasurer Converse Chellis moved to secure a $9.2 million loan for repairs to the ailing gunship, the USS Laffey.

Read more stories on this subject in our Patriots Point topic page.But Patriots Point officials are hoping for $20 million in funding from the federal government -- a sum that would allow them to repay the state and put them well on their way to some $64 million in needed repairs.

And that price tag has raised some controversial proposals on what to do with the ailing maritime museum.

I generally prefer the write-up about the news at The Charleston Regional Business Journal, but The Post and Courier has some added depth.