North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years

The city of North Myrtle Beach welcomes over 300 collegiate sports teams from 35 states and the District of Columbia in March. The teams will participate in a series of spring training events held at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex and other city facilities. These sports tourism events will have a direct impact of $5.5 million on the local economy. Of the 300 teams, 101 are collegiate softball teams participating in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic event. Held here for the seventh consecutive year, teams from 25 different states representing NCAA – DII and DIII, NAIA, NJCAA …

At the Monday, March 2, North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting, Council members recognized the North Myrtle Beach 12-Under, 15-Under and 17-Under youth soccer teams for their excellent performance during the 2019 season. The 12-Under team emerged as District Champions and made it to the State tournament. The 15-Under team fought to become District Champions and went on to become State Champions. The 17-Under Team took District Champion and State Champion honors, feats they have repeated for at least five successive years.

During their March 2 meeting, North Myrtle Beach City Council members recognized the detectives who worked to solve the 1996 Shawn Marie Neal case. Neal was murdered on June 2, 1996 in North Myrtle Beach. Detectives and SLED  investigated, but with few leads, the case went cold. North Myrtle Beach detectives did not give up on the case and in 2017, relying on advances in DNA collection and cataloging, detectives reopened the Neal investigation, hoping to bring closure for the victim’s family members and to serve justice. Some murder scene items suspected of containing additional DNA material were sent to …

The following information was released by the city of North Myrtle Beach. The city of North Myrtle Beach received some phone calls and emails asking about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and how to avoid contracting it. Here is some basic information: SYMPTOMS – Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. The most common symptoms are fever, cough and shortness of breath. Reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death for confirmed COVID-19 cases. Existing underlying heart, respiratory or other medical conditions, coupled with older age, may play a significant role in cases where people have died …

Cleo and Dick STEELE officially moving back to Toledo, Ohio, in about six weeks…Sam STEVENS having the best neighbors ever…Mrs. Mary LIVINGSTON sounding and doing great these days at 92 years of age and Sylvia just her right hand daughter…Michele LoPINTO talking about how time is flying by???Lawrence LANE and Lynn BELLAMY getting 46 year old palm tree taken care of where it died from pressure washing building chemicals…TACO BELL holding grand opening on Wednesday, March 11… Stephen GREENE of North Myrtle Beach named to Rochester Institute of Technology Dean’s List for 2019 Fall semester…Lawrence WILLOUGHBY checking to be sure …

A new entrepreneur, Kenya Wright, opened the doors to her new shop, Cotton Pickin Cute Boutique & More, on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 10 a.m. She chose Leap Day for her grand opening. When the clock struck 10 a.m. the doors were open and the store was filled with customers looking for a unique item for a gift, décor for their home, summertime sandals and shirts and pants. The store is cozy, rustic and quaintly inviting that is filled with homemade dress racks to keep in style with the décor. Filled with homemade door hangers and signs for all occasions, …

Loris Middle School (LMS) invited women to come to the school for the 100 Women for Lunch program on Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 10:50 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades invited parents, grandparents or a strong woman they know who has encouraged them through the tough times as well as the easy times in life. Principal Shelley Todd welcomed parents and spoke with many at their tables as the parents and students sat down to eat chicken, green beans, yams, rice and a roll. Robin Stevens Baczkowski, who works in the middle school office, …

Loris High School hosted the third annual Lacy Hardee Memorial Pre-Season Baseball Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 29, beginning at 9 a.m. The tournament has been the opening scrimmage baseball games in honor of Lacy Hardee who passed away in May 2017. He left the world with one less baseball coach, fan, photographer and writer. On a cold windy morning the teams took to the dugouts preparing to warm up on the field.  Concessions were open selling hotdogs and hot coffee to keep spectators warm inside. Fred Gerardi is the announcer for the games for the Loris Lions baseball team for …

Daisy Elementary School students, teachers and staff attended their fundraiser at Bojangles in Loris on Thursday, Feb. 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. Bojangles and Daisy team up to raise funds for the school; they give the school ten percent of their total sales from 4 to 8 p.m. at the end of each quarter. Parents, students, teachers and staff joined in the fun at Bojangles fundraiser for Daisy Elementary School on Thursday evening. Principal Josh Todd and assistant principal Sandy Carland arrived at the restaurant early to set up the wheel of prizes which included Bojangles biscuits, bo-rounds, bookmarks …

Loris Middle School Archery Team placed 2nd as a team with a score of 1536, only six points from first place. Micah Strickland, 4th place middle school male, scored 263. Mackenzie won 3rd place overall for middle school females and 2nd place for 6th grade females with a score of 250. Darrell Graham is the archery team coach. Eighth grader Cayden McClure reached the top scorer of the team. He made 2nd place in 8th grade male, and middle school male, and 2nd place overall. Photos courtesy of Coach Darrell Graham