MyrtleBeachOnline.com: Local

Pets lose in downturn

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:16 EST

Officials from several local animal shelters say the economy's strain on area residents also is affecting their four-legged friends.

Shelters have seen a rise in the number of animals taken in, even while donations have slipped, and adoptions are off because people cannot afford pets.

"People are trying to get rid of their animals because they are losing their homes, losing their jobs, etc.," said Elizabeth Owen, founder of the nonprofit Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary in Myrtle Beach. "They fell on hard times. But our place is full. We can't take more and adequately care for the ones we have."

Investigators seek answers in fatal auto wreck

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Flowers lined a deep ditch Monday afternoon, marking the spot where three Horry County teens crashed Friday, resulting in one death.

Cassady Jones-French, 17, of Myrtle Beach, died Sunday as a result of injuries she received in the crash. She was one of two teens killed after separate crashes during the weekend.

Jeremy Rogers, the driver of the car Jones-French was in, and Eric Martin, another passenger, were not seriously injured, according to family members.

Military resists AVX lawsuit

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:21 EST

The Air Force wants a federal judge to deny a request that the military be added as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed against Myrtle Beach-based AVX Corp., saying there is no evidence the Air Force contributed to toxic groundwater contamination at and near the manufacturer's headquarters.

The military, in court documents filed last week, said AVX's attempt to bring the Air Force into the lawsuit is an unmerited delay tactic meant to extend the case by at least a year.

The military's court documents also include a declaration by Carol Minsk, a hydrogeologist with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, who said there is no reason to believe the Air Force played any role in groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, also known as TCE.

Horry wants commerce park

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:26 EST

Horry County will ask for $1 million this week to start building an aviation commerce park on land that was supposed to be home to a new airport terminal.

The county will ask the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday to contribute $1 million toward a $1.75 million project to build a road and fix up the water and sewer systems on roughly 300 acres on the former air base.

At the authority's meeting Wednesday, it will also hear a funding request from Horry-Georgetown Technical College and another one from the county. The authority was created in 1994 to oversee the military base's transition back to civilian use after it closed in 1993.

Bidders snap up property in Horry

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Ron Teague had just finished verbally sparring Monday with new and veteran investors vying for property on the cheap from Horry County's delinquent tax rolls when he began to wonder about the accuracy of headlines on the economy.

"Well, there's definitely not a lack of money," said Teague at the afternoon break. Teague travels to area auctions and said, "This is the biggest sale I've ever seen in Horry County. ... For me, it's an obsession."

Teague was joined by more than 100 people in a second-floor conference room of the Horry County courthouse, while roughly 75 others got caught out in the hallway, during the county's annual delinquent tax sale. Properties with tax bills as low as a few hundred dollars were sold - some for nearly $200,000.

Low demand shuts steel mill for month

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:26 EST

A slump in orders has closed the steel mill in Georgetown through January, leaving at least 300 employees laid off for at least a month, officials at ArcelorMittal Steel said.

The shutdown, which comes on the heels of other production slowdowns in the steel industry, will have a drastic effect on Georgetown County during the holiday season, with businesses and restaurants feeling the pain, said Wayne Gregory, director of Georgetown County Economic Development.

The plant will close Friday and will reopen Jan. 12, said Katie Patterson, spokeswoman for ArcelorMittal.

MB airport panel puts authority on back burner

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

A state-sponsored panel charged with investigating whether to create an authority to run Horry County's four airports decided Monday the idea has merit but the details should be hammered out at a later date.

The panel, led by state Rep. Alan Clemmons and state Sen. Luke Rankin, recommended at its last meeting in October not to create an authority until after an expansion to the passenger terminal at Myrtle Beach International Airport is finished, which would push any authority to at least 2012.

Horry County runs the airport, which is within the city of Myrtle Beach, as a county department. Some have suggested that an airport authority, composed of unelected appointees, could run the airport more efficiently.

2 plead guilty to bank robbery while on bail

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:23 EST

POLICE

MYRTLE BEACH

2 plead guilty to bank robbery while on bail

Mayor candidates lay out positions before Conway

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Four candidates vying to be Conway's next mayor fielded questions Monday night about a mayoral salary increase, dividing the city into districts, and bridging its communities.

A special election is set for Dec. 9 to fill the term of 51-year-old Mayor Greg Martin, who died Sept. 14 of natural causes. Martin, a Conway native, had served as Conway's mayor since 1995 and was the first to die while in office.

Russ Calhoun, Vivian Chestnut, Alys Lawson and Leslie McIver have filed as candidates for the term, which ends Dec. 31, 2011.

School board votes to buy Coke facility

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

The Horry County School Board voted to purchase the old Coca-Cola plant on U.S. 501 to move district departments currently housed at the Aynor Conway Career Center so the center can be upgraded to serve as the new district office.

The board approved the purchase of the 6-acre Coca-Cola property, at 1160 U.S. 501, for $2.7 million - $575,000 below the asking price.

The board also approved awarding the construction contract for the construction and upgrades at the new district office to Hay Construction Co. for almost $14.6 million.

Puppy missing after home blaze

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:16 EST

Firefighters were unable to locate a family dog after a Loris home was destroyed by fire Monday morning.

The fire at 4559 Woodyard Bay Road was reported around 8 a.m.; by 8:45 a.m. firefighters from Horry County Rescue and Loris Fire were dousing hotspots around the hollowed-out silhouette of the house.

The homeowner and her two children were not at home when the fire started, according to firefighters. No one was injured.

Brunswick's leaders chuck N.C.'s long-ranging roads plan

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Brunswick County commissioners treated a proposed comprehensive transportation plan even more dismissively Monday night than they did the last two times they considered it.

This time, they just threw the item off the agenda.

The first time, they angrily rejected the 30-year road plan developed jointly by the N.C. Department of Transportation and a committee of residents, calling it unrealistic.

Panel works on making students good neighbors

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

It did not take long for the Coastal Carolina University students who live across the street from Kathryn Childers in the Quail Creek area to continue throwing late-night parties despite her requests they tone down the reveling.

"They were very nice, they told me everything I wanted to hear, and the very next night partied all night long - doors slamming until 4:30 in the morning," Childers, 58, said Monday.

Childers spoke to a county committee charged with finding a solution to resident complaints regarding rowdy behavior by students near CCU. The committee recently sparked student opposition when it considered making it illegal for more than two unrelated adults to live in the same house in neighborhoods around CCU.

House to ponder 3 powerful positions

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Three influential leadership posts are in the balance as the state House of Representatives meets this week to assign committees and elect chairmen.

Retirements and election results mean the Labor, Commerce and Industry; Education and Public Works; and Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs panels all need new leaders.

The House also will choose new Republican leadership, with West Columbia Rep. Kenny Bingham running uncontested to become majority leader.

State report: Clemson and USC led state travel spending in 2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

S.C. university officers and researchers top the state's 2008 travel spending list, with the University of South Carolina's provost racking up more than $45,000 in expenses alone, according to an annual report by the state's comptroller.

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's report shows which agencies and workers spent more than $80 million on travel. Clemson University spent $12.4 million and the University of South Carolina $9.3 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

An analysis of the Comptroller General's annual accounting of state travel spending shows University of South Carolina Provost Mark Becker led the list of more than 2,400 state employees by spending $45,693, with nearly all of that on out-of-state trips.

The Carolinas news

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA

Comptroller: State needs to make cuts ASAP

On this date in history

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

In 1927, Ford Motor Co. formally unveiled its Model A automobile, the successor to its Model T.

In 1942, an artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time, at the University of Chicago.

Christmas events

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Tree lightings and parades

Thursday | Conway Christmas tree lighting, 6:30 p.m.; City Hall, Conway. 248-1760.

Thursday | Surfside Beach Christmas tree lighting, 7 p.m., Surfside Beach Town Hall. 913-6111 or www.surfsidebeach.org.

Dear Abby

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

Dear Abby: I am a foreign exchange student studying in the U.S. Other exchange students and I have been debating two questions.

The first: Is it OK to buy a movie ticket and watch two or three movies? Some say "yes" because theaters tolerate it in the hope that customers will buy snacks and drinks in the process. Others say it goes against the honor system.

The second is: Is it wrong to return merchandise you never intended to buy in the first place? Example: to buy a novel and return it after reading it. My friends say bookstores expect a certain number of returns and build it into the cost of the books. As long as the book is kept in good condition, it's OK. Other friends stress, however, that this, again, is taking advantage of the honor system. What is your opinion?

Horoscopes

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:24 EST

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Like a fine wine, this day will improve with age. A hard day's work may leave you fatigued, but in the evening romantic fires may burn brightly.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Stick to your guns. Don't waver if unexpected circumstances in your professional life throw you for a loop.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Be wary of shifting loyalties. In an effort to find your own independence, you may inadvertently sever a once-valuable relationship.