Friday, July 4, 2025
Several groups in Horry County are already making plans to oppose a Ride III referendum.
While specific reasons for opposition differ among the groups, they can all be gathered under the general umbrella of opposition to special interest projects.
One group opposes spending any money on the I-73 folly. Another opposes the SELL road on the south end of the county and a third opposes using Ride III money for the rerouting of U.S. 501 in Myrtle Beach.
The announcement that Myrtle Beach City Council approved city staff to move ahead with plans to reroute U.S. 501 brings a possible complete change to downtown closer.
With the widening project on Third Avenue South and the sidewalk project on South Kings Highway well along, rerouting U.S. 501 to essentially come straight up Seventh Avenue North would complete the trifecta of changes needed for the boundaries of the casino district.
I know the city and the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation like to call the area the South Mixed Use District, but I think casino district is more accurate.
A ruling has finally come from the court on the litigation and settlement funds associated with the Southern Holdings case that we have been following for years.
The ruling came in an interpleader action asking the court to rule on who has claim to the remaining Southern Holdings litigation and settlement funds and how much should go to each claimant.
The interpleader case was brought by attorney and Lexington Magistrate John Rakowsky who represented seven individual plaintiffs in the original Southern Holdings case. Rakowsky stated he didn’t know who had claims to the remaining litigation and settlement money he held.
Setting minimum standards for general aviation airports in Horry County requires more than Horry County government’s typical “Independent Republic” approach.
Too much is at stake for Horry County government and its Department of Airports to assume it can do whatever it wants to do with respect to the treatment afforded to businesses conducting general aviation aeronautical activities at the county’s airports.
Accepting FAA grant money (of which Horry County receives millions every year) and free land conveyance of former Air Force property brings with it certain requirements of and assurances from the county, most importantly that the airport and its facilities must be available for public use in a non-discriminatory manner.
An ordinance amending minimum standards at Horry County’s general aviation airports has been flying below the radar.
The ordinance is scheduled for second reading and public review at the January 6, 2015 regular meeting of Horry County Council.
It is interesting that this amended version to the county’s minimum standards for general aviation airports comes just six months after any type of standards were first approved by council.
One of the most ridiculous prefiled bills for this year’s General Assembly legislative session proposes to establish a Second Amendment Education Day in South Carolina schools.
Sponsored by House representatives Alan Clemmons, Richard Yow and Garry Smith, the bill (H3023), if passed, would establish December 15th of each year as Second Amendment Awareness Day.
It also would require three consecutive weeks of instruction on the Second Amendment each grading year from a curriculum developed or adopted by the National Rifle Association.
A reprint of the obituary of James Burrows Edwards
James Burrows Edwards, DMD, 87, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, died Friday, December 26, 2014.
At least in the use of campaign funds, there seems to be bi-partisan support among S.C. legislators for trips abroad.
According to a recent article in The State newspaper, 11 representatives (8 Republicans and 3 Democrats) and a lone Republican senator made use of their campaign funds to pay for a trip to Israel.
According to the article, the legislators who made the trip were: Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Georgetown and Reps. Alan Clemmons, R-Horry, Heather Crawford, R-Horry, Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, Garry Smith, R-Greenville, Raye Felder, R-York, Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, Mike Forrester, R-Spartanburg, Mike Gambrell, R-Anderson, David Weeks, D-Sumter, Todd Rutherford, D-Richland and MaryGail Douglas, D-Fairfield.
Clemmons said in the article that the legislators used their campaign funds to cover the cost of the trip.
As the holiday season highlights acts of kindness and opportunities to give back, a new federal study shows that 1 in 4 South Carolina residents volunteered through an organization and two-thirds helped their neighbors last year.
The annual Volunteering and Civic Life in America research, released on December 16 by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), shows that service to others continues to be a priority for hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians.
It looks like ethics reform during the upcoming session of the S.C. General Assembly will go down the same black hole as the last couple of years’ efforts.
The main reason being South Carolina legislators really don’t want to reform themselves.
During a meeting of the House Ethics and Freedom of Information Study Committee last week, the mentality of what seems to be the majority of legislators came to the fore.
What seemed a ‘no brainer’ provision of possible ethics reform, eliminating the use of campaign funds for legal defense funds against ethics complaints, appears to run counter to a majority of the committee’s wishes.
Speak Up…