A look back at the top stories of 2011 in the Myrtle Beach area

It was a controversial year along the Grand Strand

The staff at The Sun News and our online readers at www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com were in agreement this year that the most important and most talked-about stories of the year for 2011 were the debate over the use of public money by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the headline-making for Coastal Carolina University athletics.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce promised to be transparent about its use of public money when a 1 percent sales tax for tourism promotion was approved without a voter referendum in 2009. But when The Sun News pushed the organization for more specific information about its marketing expenditures, the chamber fought back. It eventually took an order from the City Council to force the chamber to show how it is spending millions of tax dollars each year.

The chamber initially touted its quarterly “accountability reports” -- published on the organization’s web site -- as a way that the public could keep track of its tax dollars. However, The Sun News learned that the chamber was mixing both public and private expenditures together on the reports, making it impossible to tell how public money was being spent.

The chamber ultimately allowed The Sun News to review some of the documents it had requested under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, and the newspaper uncovered mistakes on the accountability reports and misstatements Chamber President Brad Dean had made about how money for the Coastal Uncorked wine and food festival had been spent.

That ultimately led to the City Council’s order that the chamber produce reports that separate public and private expenditures and show specifically how the public’s tax dollars are being spent.

At Coastal Carolina, the indefinite suspension of leading scorer Desmond Holloway last February -- along with a scathing New York Times article -- brought to light an NCAA investigation of the Chanticleers’ men’s basketball program. The investigation stained one season as the depleted Chants fell short of the NCAA tournament last March and stretched into another as the NCAA finally ruled in November that only a secondary violation had occurred in Holloway’s recruitment.

The Chants’ football program, meanwhile, found its way into the national spotlight a couple times as coach David Bennett’s “cats and dogs” routine at a weekly news conference became fodder for ESPN and other national television programs. Bennett’s removal as head coach in December would then lead to further national discussion as the university eventually selected Joe Moglia -- the chairman and former CEO of TD Ameritrade -- as its next football coach in what will surely be the most unusual coaching hire in college football this year.

Following are an alphabetical list of the other top stories of the year in 2011 in Horry and Georgetown counties

Atlantic Beach: The town’s staff was fired and replaced after the state Supreme Court reversed an earlier decision that upheld the results from a disputed 2009 election clearing the way for Windy Price and Carolyn Cole to take seats on the council, and recently town officials were forced to hand voting machines over after Horry County Sheriff’s deputies came to the town with a court order.

Bahama Island: Sentencings of the Bahama Island fraudsters along with more than a dozen other mortgage fraud participants as the FBI steps up its investigations -- a focus on mortgage fraud along the Grand Strand led to prison sentences this spring for Jeff Shoup and Tommy Hix, would-be developers of the failed Bahama Island condominium project -- nearly six years after they took millions of dollars from investors in the deal.

Bike week crime: Myrtle Beach police received reports of five armed robberies, a stabbing, a shooting and an incident involving a shotgun being pointed at a security guard during a nearly eight-hour period in the city during the Memorial Day celebrations and the Atlantic Beach Bikefest.

Black Friday shooting: A 55-year-old Marston, N.C., woman who had just finished Black Friday shopping for Christmas presents with her sister and son at Wal-Mart in Myrtle Beach was shot in the foot during a robbery in a nearby parking lot.

Coastal Uncorked: Myrtle Beach area chamber says Coastal Uncorked money swap was for tax reasons -- After claiming that most of a $300,000 expenditure was used to promote the Coastal Uncorked festival in Southern Living magazine -- a claim disproven by The Sun News -- the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said the money was part of a six-figure money swap with the festival done for tax purposes.

Church fire: An accidental fire destroyed the Greater St. Stephen A.M.E. Church in Georgetown early in the morning on Oct. 23. Church leaders quickly took action to find a new meeting place, and through community generosity, have a new, temporary home at Duncan Memorial Church’s chapel. The two congregations are looking for ways to blend their worship services from time to time so they can get to know each other better.

Civil Air Patrol: The commander of the Horry County Civil Air Patrol threatened to stop the local service after he was arrested for taking a laser away from a 12-year-old boy who was shining it at cars.

Coach fired: Myrtle Beach fires wrestling coach after an unflattering facebook post concerning the principal that was in response to an email and facebook post from the trainer that got him suspended

Construction projects: The two big construction projects in Horry County - the back gate interchange and Myrtle Beach Airport’s terminal expansion - made great strides throughout 2011.

Dustin Johnson: His 2011 included a plea of reckless driving in his DUI case and public viewing on the web of his field sobriety test; a runner-up to Darren Clark in the British Open; win in playoff event The Barclays to give him a chance to win the FedEx Cup title -- he finished fourth; and sub-par performance for the winning US Presidents Cup team before having minor surgery on a bothersome knee late in the year

Facebook owner: David Hucks, owner of popular Myrtle Beach-related Facebook page, arrested for intimidation -- David Hucks, the owner of a popular Facebook page focusing on Myrtle Beach, was arrested for intimidation after he published a series of articles critical of some Beach Church leaders in a case focusing on the free speech rights of bloggers.

Freestyle rebirth: The mortgage holder of Freestyle Music Park took back the twice-failed theme park through a foreclosure auction in August and stepped up its search for a new operator to rebrand and reopen the park in Fantasy Harbour off U.S. 501 by summer 2012.

Georgetown sinkhole: A sinkhole opened up in the 200 block of North Fraser Street in Georgetown on Nov. 17, collapsing buildings in the Parrish Place retail complex, including the UPS Store, a Marines office, Floyd Brace Company, Nationwide Insurance and an office of the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments. The sinkhole was discovered just before 11 p.m., and officials shut down traffic on U.S. 17 for a day while they determined how to deal with the problem.

Golfing Goliath: The two largest golf course ownership/management course on the Grand Strand announce plans in August to merge, and the merger between Burroughs & Chapin Golf and Myrtle Beach National will give the combined company 24 courses in 2012

Helms plea: Former Socastee High School student Christian Helms admitted Aug. 10 he was wrong for taking a loaded gun and pipe bombs to the school last year in a plot to get back at people who he said had bullied him and was sentenced to serve six years in prison on an attempted murder charge in connection with a shot fired at Erik Karney, an Horry County police school resource officer.

Hornet Fire: A wildfire that started July 3 and named the Hornet Fire because a nest of hornets attacked firefighters battling it, burned 1,374 acres, including about 500 acres set by firefighters to control it, in the Carolina Forest area. No homes or structures were damaged.

New business: Several major, multi-million-dollar attractions greeted visitors to the Myrtle Beach area in 2011, including the SkyWheel and Jimmy Buffett’s LandShark Bar & Grill on the oceanfront, the WonderWorks science museum at Broadway at the Beach that looks like an upside-down building and Pirates Voyage, the first overhaul of Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede in nearly two decades. But the Pat Boone Family Theater, which had aimed to debut in 2011 after delays because of the economy, failed to open as planned in the former NASCAR Cafe at the corner of U.S. 17 Bypass and 21st Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

Ocean Lakes killing: Adam Taylor Dwiggins, 18, and his mother, Kathy Ledford Dwiggins, 51, both of Shelby, N.C., are facing charges related to the fatal Aug. 20 stabbing of 17-year-old Michael Dalton Fitch, who also is from Shelby, N.C., at Ocean Lakes Campground at 6001 S. Kings Highway after an altercation about a girl.

Pavilack’s assets: Myrtle Beach lawyer Pavilack’s assets to be sold -- with a trustee stating that Myrtle Beach lawyer Harry Pavilack will never be able to pay off his $72.5 million in mostly real estate-related debts, Pavilack’s bankruptcy is converted from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation.

Plane crash: A plane crashed Jan. 18 into Briarcliff RV Resort off U.S. 17 killing pilot, Kenneth Charles Thode, 62, and Eva Sullivan, 70, who was in a camper at the resort, at the time of the crash that was caused after a take-off maneuver Thoade was practicing went awry.

SLED audit: The Horry County Council requested SLED do an audit of the police department’s evidence room and procedures after an anonymous letter accused some police officers of stealing money and drugs from it.

Surfside Beach Pier: Officials say the future of the 1,800-square foot structure once occupied by Nibil’s Restaurant is unclear though Surfside Beach is moving ahead toward renovating the town’s pier as council members unanimously agreed last month to spend about $31,000 with a private firm to discern exactly what further improvements are needed and how much they will cost.

Waccamaw EOC: Two former WEOC board chairmen, implicated in approving construction of a new Head Start Center in Georgetown County and in numerous illegal closed door meetings, were removed from the agency’s board of directors after more than a year worth’s of stories by The Sun News that pointed out their transgressions.