Police

LITTLE RIVER

Fishing boat catches fire at sea

A charter fishing boat from Little River caught fire Thursday evening while at sea, but the flames had been extinguished by the time the U.S. Coast Guard arrived, according to an official.

Petty officer Starr Nickens said there were no major injuries and the deep-sea fishing vessel, the Westwind, was returning to Little River on its own as of 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

A representative from Hurricane Fleet, which owns the Westwind according to its website, declined to comment.

MYRTLE BEACH

Woman charged with biting child’s leg

Horry County police have charged a Myrtle Beach woman for biting a child over school work.

Miranda Ashley Kennedy, 25, was arrested for allegedly biting a 5-year-old on the thigh because the boy had not “learned his numbers,” according to the police report.

An officer responding to Burgess Elementary School, at the request of the S.C. Department of Social Services, had the child show him the injury, which he reported as consistent with a human bite.

Kennedy, whose relationship to the victim was unknown, was charged with unlawful neglect of a child and jailed in J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

The child was removed from her custody.

Local

MYRTLE BEACH

Myrtle Beach affordable housing coming

It will be another week or two before an 11-unit affordable housing complex in Myrtle Beach for needy women and their children is finished, city officials said.

MJW Apartments, off Mr. Joe White Avenue, will have four units with two bedrooms each and seven units with one bedroom each, was expected to be finished in July.

There are some last minute fixes that need to be done, said Cliff Rudd, Myrtle Beach’s community development administrator and executive director of Home Alliance Inc., which will own and operate the complex, said Wednesday.

Home Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to find housing to help homeless residents, opened a complex for men, Balsam Place, five years ago.

Initially 70 people signed up to become a tenant of MJW Apartments, but not all met the income and other qualifications, Rudd said.

Monthly rent will range from $500 to $600, though residents likely will get assistance to help pay the monthly rent, Rudd has said.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

High school pageant set for next week

The 2012 Miss North Myrtle Beach High will be crowned Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at the North Myrtle Beach High School auditorium, 3750 Sea Mountain Highway, Little River. The cost is $5 for students, $8 for adults, and doors will open at 6:15 p.m. Pre-ticket sales are being held in the school’s attendance office.

Twenty-two students will compete for the title, and the winner will be crowned by Sydney Runyans, the reigning Miss North Myrtle Beach High. Each student will be judged on a 3-minute talent performance, an interview and evening gown competition.

CONWAY

CCU president undergoes surgery

Coastal Carolina University President Dave DeCenzo had emergency surgery last week in Chicago for a hernia and was hospitalized until Thursday, Eddie Dyer, the university’s executive vice president, said.

Dyer said university officials communicated with DeCenzo by text message and email while he was hospitalized.

Dyer said he’s not sure when DeCenzo will be back in his office, but believed that he was on his way back from Chicago on Thursday.

From staff reports