Featured

By Annie Rigby The Loris City Council and mayor met in executive session on Monday, July 20, at 6:16 p.m. to discuss personnel issues.When council returned to the special council meeting Mayor Todd Harrelson announced the decision made in executive session and offered the position of interim city administrator to Brandon Harrelson. Harrelson accepted the position on Tuesday, July 21. He said, “I think I can bring the same attitude and desire to push Loris in the right direction as I have tried to do since my employment in Loris.” He has been with the city for three years and …

By Ruben Lowman Coast RTA has partnered with North Myrtle Beach to bring a new public bus route into the city, one of the few remaining municipalities in Horry County without public transportation. The new route is expected to start October 1 and will connect North Myrtle Beach to Myrtle Beach by way of International Drive in the Carolina Forest area, according to Coast RTA spokesperson Lauren Morris. “We have not finalized the exact route, but the route will originate at the Ivory Wilson Transit Center, next to Myrtle Beach City Hall,” said Coast RTA’s CEO and GM Brian Piascik. …

By Ruben Lowman Horry County officials have announced major alterations to the county’s hurricane emergency management plans and protocol that have already been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Horry County Council discussed hurricane planning, mitigation and recovery logistics during a council meeting last Tuesday, July 14, amidst an increasing level of nervousness among county officials about the potential mix of COVID-19 and major storms as the hurricane season moves into its most active months. August, September and October have the highest frequencies of tropical storms and hurricanes along the east coast every year. Randy Webster, the county’s assistant administrator …

By Annie Rigby Loris Fire Department (LFD) Chief Jerry Hardee addressed the city council on Monday, July 20, in a special council meeting of the department’s need for the a new fire apparatus light rescue truck. Hardee said the vehicle that is used to respond to a fire call is 24 years old. He said, “If you have 20 years with a fire apparatus you’ve done good.” He continued, “We need something more dependable and reliable to respond to a call.” Questions were raised regarding the bidding process versus state approved agencies to purchase the light rescue truck. Hardee explained …

By Annie Rigby Amanda Causey was offered the position of clerk for the city of Loris after the Loris City Council met in executive session on Monday, July 20. Causey said, “It is an honor to work alongside the talented employees at the city of Loris.” She stated it is more than just a job, more than just a city; it is her home and hometown. She said there is much work to accomplish and as a team it will be done. Mayor Todd Harrelson said, “I think the city of Loris is blessed to have Amanda as the new …

By Ruben Lowman During a virtual board meeting held on Monday, June 13, Horry County Schools (HCS) officials announced they would be delaying the beginning of the upcoming school year by three weeks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020-21 school year will officially begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8. There will be 180 days on the calendar and the last day of school is scheduled to be June 16. HCS Chairman Ken Richardson had previously stated that he intended to push back the start date to give him and his reopening task force more time to evaluate and …

By Ruben Lowman North Myrtle Beach City Council extended the city’s state of emergency ordinance for two months during an emergency council meeting held last Wednesday, July 8. The ordinance, which the city had initially declared back in March when the earliest measures were set in place to counteract the spread of the coronavirus, is now set to expire on September 6, unless city officials deem it necessary to rescind it or extend it further. They previously passed an extension to the ordinance when it was due to expire in May. The state of emergency grants City Manager Mike Mahaney …

By Annie Rigby Janna-Reese is a bright young fourth grader who likes to keep busy, especially now when people are staying home. She has found a way to be creative and share her talent with others by painting rocks and hiding them throughout Loris. She said, “Because of the COVID it’s really boring cause you can’t go anywhere.” While cleaning she came upon a ladybug rock that she painted two years ago inspiring her to start painting and hiding rocks again. When someone finds a lion, tiger or bear, oh my, along with many other characters she creates and re-hide …

By Annie Rigby In response to the many areas surrounding Loris, including Horry County, that have mandated wearing face masks Mayor Todd Harrelson provided a proclamation for the residents and visitors of Loris. The proclamation for the City of Loris reads as follows. “Whereas, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease that can result in serious illness or death by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is a new strain of the coronavirus previously unidentified in humans and which can spread from person to person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned of the high public health …

By Ruben Lowman Hospitalizations have been climbing in the area due to a sharp increase in patients being admitted who are infected with COVID-19, local medical systems have confirmed recently. There have also been some issues with staffing at hospitals along the Grand Strand as positive cases continue to increase. As of press time the zip codes of North Myrtle Beach, Little River and Loris each have a little over 340 confirmed positive cases and around 2,100 estimated cases. This is a significant jump from last week, when the numbers were roughly 280 confirmed and 1,700 estimated for each jurisdiction. …