Recent Posts

Coast RTA Shelter Project: Whose Shelters are They Anyway?

An intensive study of documents provided by Coast RTA, SCDOT and the City of Myrtle Beach have brought to light discrepancies between the agencies about what exactly happened with the shelter project and associated funds.

It is obvious from studying the documents why Horry County Council chairman Mark Lazarus established an ad hoc Select Committee on Coast RTA to take an in-depth look at the project.

Presentations made before the Select Committee, at its April 7, 2014 meeting, by both SCDOT and Coast RTA indicate that 73 shelters were purchased by Coast RTA. Of these, 15 shelters were installed by Coast RTA for its use. After nine years, SCDOT cancelled the project and the remaining 58 shelters were inventoried and auctioned by GovDeals.com.

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Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce Names New Leader

The Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce Jeff Smith of Greenwood is the new President and CEO for the organization. He will take the helm on March 31.

“After two months of reviewing resumés and meeting with a number of candidates, we are very excited to welcome Jeff aboard,” said Jenna Jordan with Strovis, who currently chairs the Board of Directors and the CEO Search Committee. “

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A Brief Shining Moment for Southern Holdings Plaintiffs

Sunshine broke through into a S.C. Circuit Courtroom yesterday highlighting at least one brief shining moment for the plaintiffs of the original Southern Holdings lawsuit.

Judge Doyet A. Early, III showed his courtroom follows the law, which, especially for the original Southern Holdings plaintiffs through the years, has been all too rare. He held forth as a judge who is not interested in the corrupt backroom deals that often smear the S.C. legal system, but, rather, in the truth.

As a result of Judge Early’s decisions yesterday, attorneys John Rakowsky and Adrian Falgione will have to answer questions, both will be deposed and discovery will move forward in the Rakowsky v. Falgione et al interpleader action.

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S.C. Legal System on Trial at High Noon

A noon hearing in a Columbia court room could go a long way to proving how much legitimacy should be attached to what passes for a legal system in South Carolina.

The issues aren’t big on their surface – a simple motions hearing on several motions associated with an interpleader action.

An interpleader action originates when a party holds property on behalf of another but does not know to whom the property should be transferred. It asks the court to make the decision.

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Lone Survivor

This past weekend I went and saw the movie “Lone Survivor,” and I have to admit, yes, I cried.

In case you are not familiar with the movie, it depicts the days in late June 2005, and a mission dubbed “Operation Red Wings,” in which four members of SEAL Team 10 were tasked with the mission to kill or capture Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd.

The mission failed when three Navy SEALs were ambushed and killed and a reaction force helicopter was shot down killing all on board.

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John R Rakowsky ESQ

Southern Holdings Settlement Check Saga – Corrected

A settlement check issued by the state of South Carolina for the Southern Holdings case plaintiffs wound up nine months later in the account of an attorney not connected to the case.

After six years in litigation where the state Insurance Reserve Fund spent several million dollars on lawyers defending the case, a rushed “settlement” was allegedly arranged between lawyers for the plaintiff and lawyers for the defendants.

The alleged settlement took place behind closed doors with the federal trial judge, after jury selection was complete.

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Fiscally Responsible Alternative to I-73

Fiscally Responsible Alternative to I-73

The I-73 project is back in the news as our local group of politicians is hoping to get a permit for the project from the federal government.

In these economically difficult times, fiscal responsibility, less spending, smaller government and lower taxes, is the refrain being sung by “conservative” politicians. If this is such a good idea, is it too much to ask our local politicians to practice what they preach, especially when it applies to big government projects like I-73?

Since the mid-1990’s, local politicians and business leaders have been saying the Grand Strand needs an interstate highway connection in order to sustain and build tourism. If you don’t believe it, just watch the advertisements, paid for by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, on local television stations telling us just that. If they say it, it must be so.

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Committee Recommends Flow Control Amendment

The Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee voted unanimously Thursday to remove construction and demolition waste from regulation under the county’s solid waste flow control ordinance.

The amended ordinance will now go to full council with a recommendation for approval. It will take three readings from council to make the amendment law.

The committee vote is a victory for small business and a reigning in of large, monopolistic government regulation of private business.

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“Big Talk” Show Expands With Lunch Club

The “Big Talk” television political talk show is expanding its offerings after just two months on the air with the addition of the Big Talk Lunch Club.

Produced by Lucky Dog Television Productions, “Big Talk” features no holds barred discussions on local, state and national political topics of the day.

“Big Talk” is taped at noon each Monday at the Soho Restaurant located at 1300 Hwy 544, Conway. The show features discussion by Jon Bonsignor, Jack Murphy and Paul Gable.

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Horry County Council Scrutiny and Racism Charges

When Horry County Council convened its fall budget retreat last week, charges of racism were the last thing I expected to hear emerge from the deliberations.

But emerge they did, exposing what appear to be systemic problems in Horry County government that go well beyond the simple balancing of revenues and expenditures.

The controversy started with a 6 a.m. Thursday morning (the day of the budget retreat) email requesting further information about the annual compensation package of Coast RTA CEO Myers Rollins. This started a two day email exchange viewed by Coast RTA board members, Horry County Council members and Horry County government staff as well as a phone call to Columbia attorney Jay Bender, an expert on the S.C. Freedom of Information law.

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