Recent Posts

More Atlantic Beach Bikefest Planning

A meeting of a Myrtle Beach south end citizen’s association last night discussed planning for the upcoming 2015 Atlantic Beach Bikefest.

Attended by Myrtle Beach police chief Warren Gall and several additional officers involved in planning for the event, the discussion was somewhat heartening for south end residents.

Gall discussed the goals and specific of the planned traffic loop and other areas that it is hoped will allow for less interference with south end neighborhoods and greater crowd control over Bikefest attendees during the 2015 event.

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Atlantic Beach Bikefest Planning

The Atlantic Beach Bikefest announced tentative agreement on a 23-mile traffic pattern yesterday achieving its number one goal.

The goal? Sealing off the north end neighborhoods of Myrtle Beach from bikefest traffic as much as possible.

Beyond that goal, there doesn’t seem to be much planning at this point.

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Bureaucracy to prevail at expense of the taxpayer

S.C. Education Lottery Expenditures

A story making its way around the state is that S.C. Education Lottery scholarships are costing taxpayers money from the state’s general fund budget.

This is one way of looking at expenditures on the LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships, but it’s too simplistic.

The LIFE scholarship pays up to $5,000 per year to qualifying students statewide while the Palmetto Scholars scholarship pays $6,700 for the freshman year and $7,500 for the sophomore through senior years of college matriculation to qualifying students.

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Rep. Greg Duckworth v. The Public?

A post earlier this week in The Nerve told of newly elected Rep. Greg Duckworth (SC House District 104) pursuing libel lawsuits against two supporters of outgoing Rep. Tracy Edge.

Duckworth’s libel claims concern letters to the editor by Charles Collins and Bren Gibson during the 2012 election season. Edge defeated Duckworth in the 2012 Republican primary but lost to him in 2014.

The first thing that comes to mind – “Is this guy serious?”

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Random Thoughts on Ferguson, Missouri

As riots go, even in this country, the one in Ferguson, Missouri is a pretty small deal.

But, it does demonstrate that this supposed nation of opportunity, at least equal opportunity, is still more myth than reality.

Riots generally result from frustration and at least perceived injustice and inequality whether it be Lexington and Concord in 1775, Paris in 1789, western Europe in 1848, Russia in 1917 or Ferguson today.

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Budgets - Cuts, Spending and You

S.C. General Assembly and New Taxes

The S.C. General Assembly will be hearing proposals for new taxes in January and they won’t be coming from Democrats.

It looks like Grover Norquist and his pledge will be forgotten when the S.C. General Assembly convenes in January looking for more money for the state’s crumbling roads and inadequate schools.

Need more funding for road maintenance and repair? Raise the gas tax.

Need more money for schools? Pass a new property tax.

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HCSWA Bid Process Flawed

The process for bidding for work at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) appears to have serious flaws with respect to how public dollars are spent.

The flaws became apparent during a workshop held Thursday November 20, 2014 to discuss why approval of a change order in the amount of $395,000 was justified for current work on the East Hill Fill Closure Project.

When an RFQ for a project at the HCSWA is publicized requesting bids, authority contract engineer Vance Moore told the board, the specifications in the RFQ for scope of work and material needed are only estimates.

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More Freedom of Information in South Carolina?

A S.C. House Ethics and Freedom of Information Act Study Committee will recommend legislation that could make government information more open to request.

The committee is proposing to put a time limit on the production of public documents of between 30-35 days after an FOIA request is agreed to.

However, like everything regarding public information in South Carolina, there is a hitch. After two free hours of work on producing the documents, a public agency would be able to charge the citizen requesting the documents up to $100 per hour for the time needed to fulfill the FOIA request.

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Searching for South Carolina Road Funding

The message seems to have finally gotten through to Columbia that South Carolina roads are in generally poor condition.

However, how to fix the problem, or more specifically how to fund the fix, elicits differing solutions but no consensus to date.

Gov. Nikki Haley has promised to unveil her “magic” road maintenance funding plan in January. So far, she has promised to not raise the gas tax and to veto any legislation doing so.

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Council Chairman Mark Lazarus Correct on I-73

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus was absolutely correct recently when he said the proposed I-73 should not be included with RIDE III projects.

Lazarus was responding to comments made by local state Rep. Alan Clemmons (R-107) who is trying to keep I-73 in the discussion about what road projects will be paid for with local sales tax.

Clemmons continues to push the myth that I-73 will be a huge job creator for the local area, a myth based on a “faulty” study commissioned by the Northeast Strategic Alliance (NESA) several years ago. The myth was debunked by several other independent studies.

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