Little River

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 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 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. …

By Ruben Lowman The primary elections for Horry County Council District 9 and Horry County Auditor were close enough last week to necessitate a runoff between the top two candidates in each race. Mark Causey and Terry Fowler will compete for the District 9 council seat, while R.A. Johnson and Beth Calhoun will vie to be the next county auditor. Both individuals who currently hold these seats are retiring after long and illustrious careers serving the public from these positions. Paul Prince is retiring after nearly two decades as the district’s councilman and hoped to pass the baton to his …

By Ruben Lowman After being under various states of quarantine and lockdown throughout the spring, the summer season truly kicked into swing with the return of the farmers market to North Myrtle Beach and Little River. For city resident Tara Gurry it was a chance to get back out and purchase fruits and vegetables that have been grown locally from smiling faces, both familiar and new. She said that the farmers market is a unique place, a gathering spot of individuals who all share a passion for clean, healthy eating. Locals like Tara Gurry were ecstatic to see the return …

Limits to help protect two popular South Carolina fish species were recently added to South Carolina’s fish and game laws. Legislators passed catch and minimum size limits for both Atlantic spadefish and Atlantic tripletail, two coastal fish that previously lacked some protections. Under the new laws, anglers may keep 10 spadefish per person per day (or 30 per boat) and may only keep fish at least 14 inches in total length. The creel limit for spadefish was previously 20 fish per person per day, with no minimum size limit. Anglers may keep three tripletail per person per day (or nine …

Jan and Fleet JONES so very appreciative of everything and we love you…Diane BELLAMY sending greetings to friend…Janice and Joe CREED so proud of their grandchildren and very pleased they spent several days with them recently…DRIFTWOOD GARDEN CLUB President Sharon Robinson and members designing a nice exhibit at the North Myrtle Beach Main Post Office observing Garden Week…Nice hello card to Callie WISE promoting “real deal with a local feel”…Many thanks for all the excellent “protest” photos Matt MATTHEWS…New North Myrtle Beach City Clerk Alison GALBREATH such a lovely lady who is enjoying her job and our great city…Randall GRAHAM …

By Ruben Lowman Gov. Henry McMaster continued his loosening of COVID-19 restrictions by announcing last week that attractions will be allowed to reopen. The governor has spent the past month gradually permitting certain sectors of the economy to be reopened with more relaxed social distancing guidelines in place. The guidelines were created by McMaster’s AccelerateSC task force, which has been charged with devising the safest ways to rejuvenate South Carolina’s economy. The businesses deemed “attraction facilities” that are permitted to reopen include museums, aquariums, putt-putt golf courses, zoos, planetariums, water parks, amusement parks, historic sites and bingo halls. They will …