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Federal Tort Claims Lawsuit Against Horry County Moves Forward

Federal Tort Claims Lawsuit Moves Forward

A federal tort claims lawsuit, with Horry County and former Horry County Police Department Chief Johnny Morgan included as defendants, is moving forward in Florence federal district court as discovery and depositions are scheduled later this month.

The suit stems from allegations of fraud on the court under color of law by HCPD officers, SLED agents and FBI agents, among others. The suit alleges personnel of these agencies conspired to withhold evidence, commit perjury and commit other unlawful acts in order to influence the outcome of a previous federal lawsuit, thereby violating the civil rights of the plaintiffs.

An extraction, by plaintiff James Spencer, from the initial notice of the federal tort claims suit reads:

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Phone Harassment Complaint Filed Against Horry County SWA Director Danny Knight

Complaint Filed Against Horry County SWA Director

A telephone prank got out of hand Wednesday resulting in telephone harassment charges being filed against Horry County Solid Waste Authority Executive Director Danny Knight.

According to complainant Chris Burroughs, who owns waste hauler EZ Dump, he received two telephone calls from Knight Wednesday morning referring to an incident during a SWA committee meeting two days before.

A special committee meeting was convened by the SWA Monday night during which Burroughs’ permit to recycle construction and demolition debris in the county was discussed.

Burroughs said there was an issue with the percentage of C&D material he recycled and with scale readings at his facility. The SWA had threatened to cancel the $5 per ton discount he receives as a C&D recycler and to charge him $18,000 for discounts already received.

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Stockholder Sues Horry County State Bank for Illegal Insider Trading

Stockholder Sues Horry County State Bank

Robert Shelley of Myrtle Beach, a shareholder in Horry County State Bank, recently filed a lawsuit against Horry County State Bank and its holding corporation HCSB Financial Corporation.

In the lawsuit, Shelley alleges he was contacted by employees of the bank in September 2009, a teller and later a bank officer, offering to sell him shares in the bank. Shelley further alleges that he was not provided a prospectus, as required by state law, and was not informed that the bank was in severe financial distress due to a large portfolio of defaulting real estate loans.

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Kiawah Island Hosts PGA Championship This Week

Kiawah Island Hosts PGA Championship

Pete Dye won’t forget the gushing praise he heard from just about everyone about his new creation, The Ocean Course, as the world’s best players got ready for the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island in weather that was perfect for golf.

Then the wind blew in from the Atlantic Ocean, and that changed everything.

“They had a heck of time,” Dye said with a chuckle. “The trouble they had on those par 3s was unbelievable.”

It has taken more than two decades of tweaks _ all overseen by Dye _ and the PGA of America’s resolve to again make the feared course a showcase for the strongest field in golf for the PGA Championship, the final major of the year.

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General Assembly Action Needed on Internet Sweepstakes Cafes

Federal lawsuits, state arrests, judges giving opposing rulings on the same law and the current head and former head of SLED on different sides of the issue, this is the world of internet sweepstakes cafes in South Carolina.

Sound confusing – absolutely – but it is really an example of the General Assembly fiddling while South Carolina burns.

While the General Assembly spent a large portion of this year’s session determining how to spend an additional approximately $1.2 billion in unexpected excess revenue, it virtually ignored several bills introduced to regulate or outlaw the internet sweepstakes café industry.

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Confusion Continues in Candidate Filings

It appears that confusion with the proper filing of a Statement of Economic Interests has found its way from the party nominating phase into the petition candidate phase of the current election cycle.

When several hundred candidates were forced from the primary election ballots due to filing their paperwork improperly, some chose to go the route of becoming petition candidates.

Horry County had the most candidates removed from the ballot for filing improperly and it also had the most petitions submitted by candidates.

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Why All the Secrecy

Several days ago, we ran a story about how South Carolina ranks dead last among the 50 states for freedom of information access to government information. Thursday night, we learned that Horry County is attempting to rank at the bottom of the state’s 46 counties for public disclosure of information about its actions.

Horry County Council voted 7-2 Thursday night to pass first reading of an ordinance that would allow the issuance of $8 million of general obligation debt while refusing to publicly state what the money will be used for. Council members Harold Worley and Marion Foxworth voted no on the ordinance while members Brent Schulz, Paul Price and Paul Prince were not present at the meeting.

This vote took place during the second specially called council meeting in three days, both dedicated to executive sessions on a Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation initiative called “Project Blue.”

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Bahama Island condo ‘financier’ Duwayne Woods arrested

When Will Somebody Arrest Ancil Garvin?

Sun News investigative reporter David Wren reported yesterday that Larry Duwayne Woods, the alleged mastermind behind the failed Bahama Island and Crystal Palace condominium projects financing scam, was arrested in San Diego, CA and will be returned to South Carolina to face charges.

Woods disappeared in 2007 when federal investigators began looking into the business dealings of local developers Jeff Shoup and Tommy Hix of T and J Development in North Myrtle Beach. Hix and Shoup are currently in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud in connection with the failed condominium projects.

Woods, through his alleged business Atlewa Trust, was supposed to finance the projects, but got away with approximately $5 million of escrow money paid by advance purchasers of the condominiums.

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Our Shadow Quasi-Governments

Government waste, sacred cows, special interests are all topics of almost constant conversation among the taxpaying public especially in difficult economic times as we have now.

Everybody has an opinion on where public money is wasted. Citizens can quickly point out how they, their neighborhood or their community needs are being ignored while someone else’s are being favored.

And everybody has a concept of what we call special interests working behind the scenes to get favorable treatment at the expense of the general public.

But what do we really know about what we suspect is happening?

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Preston Brittain Campaign Claims Runoff

Preston Brittain Campaign Claims Runoff

The Preston Brittain for Congress Campaign sent out an e-mail to volunteers and supporters Wednesday night saying there would be a runoff for the 7th Congressional District Democratic nomination.

The e-mail said, “I am proud to announce that we have won a spot in the runoff election.”

However, indications are that the final determination will be made by the S.C. Election Commission when it meets Friday June 15, 2012 to certify the results from the June 12th primary election.

At issue are the nearly 2,300 votes Ted Vick received in Tuesday’s voting, two weeks after Vick dropped out of the race. Vick’s name remained on the ballot. The S.C. Election Commission did not include Vick’s votes in its published results on scvotes.org.

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