TheSunNews.com: Breaking News

Beryl to bring rain to the Myrtle Beach area starting Tuesday

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:52 EDT

The storm that dampened Memorial Day beach vacations in Florida and Georgia will start affecting Horry County on Tuesday and could have lingering effects through Friday.

What was Tropical Storm Beryl is now reduced to a tropical depression that is expected to bring 30 mph winds and rain to Myrtle Beach as early as Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Beryl was still hovering over Georgia and was slowly moving towards Myrtle Beach. The first bands of the storm were expected to move into the area overnight Monday with slim chances of rainfall and isolated thunderstorms from Florence to Myrtle Beach. Beryl could drop 2.5 inches of rain in the area starting Tuesday afternoon with the heaviest rain falling later in the night, according to the NWS. More rain is likely through Friday, with the storm expected to mix with a cold front late Wednesday.

Chants headed to Columbia for NCAA regional play along with South Carolina and Clemson

Mon, 28 May 2012 23:49 EDT

The assembled crowd of Coastal Carolina baseball players, coaches and supporters inside Handley’s Pub and Grub in Carolina Forest on Monday let out a loud response when it was flashed on the ESPNU broadcast that the Chanticleers would be sent to Columbia for NCAA regional play. And then another boisterous reaction followed as it was revealed that the Chants would open that regional against Clemson.

Yes, the state’s three preeminent baseball programs will all be battling for one spot in the super regionals as they open NCAA tournament play Friday at Carolina Stadium.

Coastal (41-17), which is making its 11th NCAA regionals appearance in the last 12 years, is the No. 3 seed in the four-team double-elimination regional and takes on No. 2 Clemson (33-26) at noon Friday. Host South Carolina (40-17), the two-time defending national champion, opens with No. 4 Manhattan (33-25) at 4 p.m.

Myrtle Beach Notebook | Organic community garden will help the hungry

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:00 EDT

While many people attended Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday morning, there was a ceremony of another kind going on at the Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Myrtle Beach.

The Rev. Creighton Jones and about a dozen others gathered at the back of the church to bless a community garden that’s growing there.

Jones sprinkled holy water and, with fellow church leaders’ help, asked God to help the garden so it can help others.

Myrtle Beach woman reports attempted rape

Mon, 28 May 2012 21:58 EDT

Police are looking for a man who reportedly tried to rape a woman in Myrtle Beach Monday afternoon.

The woman, whose age was redacted in the police report, said she left her apartment and started to talk to her neighbor and his friend introduced as Jack. She was headed to the Alliance Inn and he offered to walk with her saying he was meeting friends on Dunbar Street, the report said.

When they reached the area of 8th Avenue North and Cedar Street the man started telling the woman how pretty and sexy she was and said “I’m going to take that, I get what I want,” according to the report.

Poll of the Day | What was your favorite Strand event over the last two weeks?

Mon, 28 May 2012 20:01 EDT

Crimes up during holiday weekend in Myrtle Beach

Mon, 28 May 2012 19:54 EDT

Extra traffic in town for Memorial Day in Myrtle Beach had police working overtime.

Capt. David Knipes, spokesman for Myrtle Beach police, said it’s something the agency plans for every year. Extra officers are brought in to handle the volume of calls that skyrockets with the influx of tourists.

“Obviously it’s a three-day weekend,” Knipes said. “It’s a combination of the long weekend, Military Appreciation Days and [Atlantic Beach] Bikefest all rolled into one.”

Attempted rape suspect wanted on drug possession charge in Myrtle Beach

Mon, 28 May 2012 19:53 EDT

Police arrested a man on unrelated, existing warrants Monday when a housekeeper reported an attempted rape in Myrtle Beach.

The woman said she was cleaning a room at the Fountain Blue Motel when a man came in, grabbed her and tried to sexually assault her, police said. The man pushed her to the floor, started to kiss her and grabbed her breasts, according to a police report.

She kicked him between his legs and he fled. The woman’s age was restricted.

Two armed suspects shoot at vehicle during attempted robbery at Myrtle Beach ATM

Mon, 28 May 2012 18:37 EDT

Myrtle Beach police are searching for two men suspected of trying to rob a woman at an ATM and shooting at a car as the driver tried to leave the parking lot, according to a police report.

Officers were called at 10:15 p.m. Sunday to 2501 N. Oak St., for an attempted armed robbery and gunshots fired, police said.

When officers arrived they spoke to a 49-year-old woman, who said she was with two men that drove her to the Automated Teller Machine to get cash, according to the report. The woman said as she walked up to the ATM from the parking lot, a man, who had a bandanna covering his face, stepped out from behind the ATM and yelled for no one to move.

Questions surround shooting of naked man eating another man’s face

Mon, 28 May 2012 18:12 EDT

Only the police tape, the bloodstain on the ground and a grotesque mystery remained after the brutal attack on the MacArthur Causeway in which one naked man was shot dead by police after he attacked another naked man and began eating his face.

Drivers coming back from Miami Beach on the causeway took their feet off the gas, bike riders slowed down and dog walkers stopped to look at the scene of Saturday afternoon’s macabre assault, which generated international headlines.

They didn’t see much. The scene had been cleaned up

Projected path of Tropical Depression Beryl (5 p.m. update)

Mon, 28 May 2012 16:36 EDT

Below is the projected path of Tropical Depression Beryl, according to the National Weather Service. Click on the map for a larger view.

Blog: Naked man eating face of his victim possibly suffered from 'cocaine psychosis'

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:39 EDT

Stay away from U.S. 501 towards Conway; it is like 'a parking lot'

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:01 EDT

Our cops reporter, Tonya Root, just sent out a simple message via Twitter: "Avoid 501 to Conway. It is a parking lot." Dare I say it would be wise to heed her warning right now, and maybe for the rest of the afternoon until all of the Memorial Day weekend traffic clears out.

Blog: Does Socastee church's sign about homosexuality cross line into political speech?

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:26 EDT

A church in Socastee on S.C. 707, Socastee Original Free Will Baptist, I believe, has up a message on its road-side sign that says something like: "If you support Obama, you support homosexuality. If you support Jesus, you support heterosexuality."

Put aside the theological debate about homosexual activity, for a second. Does a sign like that cross the supposed line between church and state? Where does a church cross the line into political speech and should no longer be exempt from taxes? I've been in churches that have flat out stated you must either vote for Democrats or Republicans, so I get that those things are across the line. Has the message in Socastee crossed it?

Chicago reverend challenges clergy on marriage equality From that piece: The institution of marriage is not under attack as a result of the President’s words. Marriage was under attack years ago by men who viewed women as property and children as trophies of sexual prowess. Marriage is under attack by low wages, high incarceration, unfair tax policy, unemployment, and lack of education. Marriage is under attack by clergy who proclaim monogamy yet think nothing of stepping outside the bonds of marriage to have multiple affairs with “preaching groupies.” Same-gender couples did not cause the high divorce rate, but our adolescent views of relationships and our inability as a community to come to grips with the ethic of love and commitment did. We still confuse sex with love and romance with commitment. ... November is fast approaching, and the spirits of Ella Baker, Septima Clarke, Fannie Lou Hammer, Rosa Parks, A. Phillip Randolph, James Orange, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther, King Jr. stand in the balcony of heaven raising the question, “Will you do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with our God?” Emmitt Till and the four little girls who were assassinated in Alabama during worship did not die for a Sunday sermonic sound bite to show disdain for one group of God’s people. They were killed by an evil act enacted by men who believed in doctrine over love. We serve in ministry this day because of a man who believed in love over doctrine and died on a hill called Calvary in a dusty Palestinian community 2,000 years ago. Do not let the rhetoric of this debate keep you from the polls, my friend.

Blog: Maybe the dumbest judge's decision ever

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:42 EDT

A 17-year-old student was thrown in jail for a night to um, learn her a lesson about rules and laws, because a judge decided that if he went soft on her, then he'd have to go soft on all students. That's his, frankly, idiotic rationale. The girl in question is an honor student and works a part-time job ... and a full-time job to support two siblings since her parents divorced. Truancy laws make sense in general because they are designed to make sure kids have access to the education they need. We want kids in school. It is good for them and ultimately for society. But when a student is actually getting her work - even under these circumstances - it makes absolutely no sense to treat her this way. Because she went above and beyond the call of duty - more so than most teenagers, or adults, for that matter - she broke the law. That's right. Sometimes you break the law because you are doing the right thing. I thought what I faced in high school was tough because I did top-level academic work, played multiple sports and held down a part-time job at McDonald's. I had plenty of late nights and early morning study sessions. But that young lady puts me to shame. I hope every college in America takes a long look at her, even if the judge doesn't do the right thing and remove this arrest from her record. I'd recommend her for Davidson College, the great institution that provided me four great years of education.

Brunswick County man hit by car, girlfriend charged

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:34 EDT

A Brunswick County man died after his girlfriend hit him with a car Sunday night, police said.

Del Routh, spokesman for the Brunswick County sheriff, said Michael Antony Pate, 52, of Supply, N.C. was found dead underneath a car around 9:45 p.m. Sunday night.

Julie Ann English, 48, struck Pate with the car in the driveway of a home on Oxpen Road in Supply, Routh said. She has been charged with voluntary manslaughter and is being held on $100,000 bond.

Blog: Commentator asks: Are all fallen soldiers 'heroes'?

Mon, 28 May 2012 10:41 EDT

Commentator asks: Are all fallen soldiers heroes? Is it wrong to ask that question? In our noble attempts to acknowledge the clear sacrifices made by a relative few in this country, have we gone too far and possibly, unintentionally glorified war and defied the war dead?

Blog: A Christian doctor explains why he performs later-term abortions

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:08 EDT

A Christian doctor explains why he performs later-term abortions From the piece: "Willie J. Parker, an obstetrician based in Washington, D.C., didn’t always perform abortions. He’s a Christian from Birmingham, Ala., who initially refused to even consider the procedure. But about halfway into his 20-year career, he changed his mind. Now, he’s one of those rare doctors who is willing to push the limits and provide abortions at 24 weeks of pregnancy. That places him among only about 11 percent of all abortion providers who will do the procedure that late in the second trimester."

And ... "Q. Why did you change your outlook on abortion? A. I wrestled with the morality of it. I grew up in the South and in fundamentalist Protestantism, I was taught that abortion is wrong. Yet as I pursued my career as an OB/GYN, I saw the dilemmas that women found themselves in. And I could no longer weigh the life of a pre-viable or lethally flawed fetus equally with the life of the woman sitting before me. In listening to a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, I came to a deeper understanding of my spirituality, which places a higher value on compassion. King said what made the good Samaritan “good” is that instead of focusing on would happen to him by stopping to help the traveler, he was more concerned about what would happen to the traveler if he didn’t stop to help. I became more concerned about what would happen to these women if I, as an obstetrician, did not help them."

And ...

Myrtle Beach police investigate kidnapping attempt from Broadway At the Beach

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:56 EDT

Myrtle Beach police are investigating a report of an attempted kidnapping of a woman from Broadway At the Beach early Sunday, according to a police report.

A 19-year-old woman told police that about 2:15 a.m. Sunday she was put into the back of a black Chevrolet Tahoe by a large man, who was with four other men, according to the report.

The victim told police the vehicle drove away from Broadway At the Beach, but she began to fight the men and they took her back to where they got her and left her unharmed in the parking lot, according to the report.

Blog: Remember the 'Real 1 percent' this Memorial Day

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:51 EDT

From the piece: "To bring that point further home, I remember, too, putting together an email list of friends and family, to keep them updated on what was happening in our son's life while he was overseas. We were getting regular casualty reports, and I was mourning each and every one of them and then sending the information along. I got a message from a family member that all the messages about death were a bit much, a little bit of a downer, and they preferred only to have news which was specific to our son. I actually understood that on some level, but couldn't help but think that deaths in the battalion were, indeed, specific to our son. He lived them, experienced them, absorbed them, dealt with them. Still, I halted the updates. I didn’t stop experiencing them myself, though I could have. It seemed, honestly, the least I could do, to mourn a little with the families who actually experienced having the team of two uniforms at their door, to put together words of comfort with our little battalion group so those families felt supported."

Man stopped robbery attempt in Myrtle Beach, surprised suspects with his gun

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:36 EDT

A 46-year-old man told Myrtle Beach police he surprised two would-be robbers with his gun and forced the suspect to drop his gun, according to authorities.

Police were called about 2 a.m. Monday to a room at 505 28th Ave. N., for men with guns.

Officers learned the 46-year-old man was inside his room with the door open when he saw some men enter the property and come up the stairs, according to the report. The victim told police he put his handgun in his pocket because “it didn’t look right.”