The Opinion Blog

Still seeking answers

Sunday's editorial criticizes the continued lack of cooperation - two months after the fire - between state and local authorities in determinng how it could have been prevented from getting out of control.

At a little-noticed meeting before a panel of state lawmakers last week, state Forestry Commission and Department of Natural Resources officials repeated the now-familiar story of the state's most destructive fire on record: $40 million in Horry County property destroyed, 76 homes burned down and 97 damaged.

Time ripe for health reform

Saturday's editorial considers some of the health-care reforms gaining the most traction in Congress.

In contrast to the adversarial atmosphere that dominated the health care debate of the 1990s, a new consensus is emerging that systematic reform is necessary, because rising costs now appear to threaten the country's long-term financial stability. Doing nothing, it seems, is no longer affordable.

WEEKEND OPEN FORUM

After a week full of relatively painful news, here's an open forum for the weekend for anyone who needs to blow off some steam. Be civil and enjoy.

Engendering controversy

Friday's editorial criticizes Liz Gilland for making a comment that, instead of promoting gender equality in Horry County government, likely will serve to hinder it.

The Sun News has long encouraged local leaders to follow the established good-governance practice of conducting a search outside the county's borders for high level vacancies.

In that light, we applauded Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland's decision to support such a search to find the next county administrator - especially given her own previous statements that highly qualified candidates for the job are already at work in Horry County government.

Our applause, however, came to an abrupt end with her shocking comment that "As far as I'm concerned I would not vote for a woman. From experience, I've seen the difficulty a woman has with a council of all men and how difficult it is to chair a council of all men."

THURSDAY OPEN FORUM

As the fallout of Gov. Sanford's revelations continues today, there will certainly be plenty more to discuss. Here's an open forum: be civil and enjoy.

The Argentinian affair

Thursday's editorial considers Gov. Sanford's future ability to lead our state.

Of interest to far more South Carolinians than the personal and moral ramifactions of Mark Sanford's affair is the more difficult question, shouted at the end of Wednesday's confessional news conference but ignored, of whether he should continue on as governor.

Does a transcontinental tryst - continued over more than a year, known to his family for five months and finally revealed to the state Wednesday after he was caught at the airport returning from a clandestine trip to Argentina - disqualify Sanford from office?

WEDNESDAY OPEN FORUM

Here's an open forum for Wednesday. In case you haven't seen it, Gov. Mark Sanford has returned to South Carolina - from Argentina. Also generating a lot of discussion is Horry County Chairwoman Liz Gilland's assertion that women need not apply for the county administrator's job, as far as her vote is concerned.

Picking up the slack for charity

Wednesday's editorial takes another look at the social-service organizations that need increased help from the public in a difficult funding year.

St. Delight Community Outreach in Little River, which operates a food pantry and provides other services, is among the more than 30 organizations that no longer will receive financial help from Horry County.

Facing a revenue shortfall of $10 million, the Horry County Council approved a $131 million budget that preserves core services but reduces spending, including $500,000 to the private organizations. These include a half dozen rescue squads, Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach, the Rape Crisis Center, American Red Cross, Salvation Army and the Little River program.

TUESDAY OPEN FORUM

Here's a new open forum for Tuesday. Have fun and be civil.

Enduring transit frustration

Tuesday's editorial questions why The Coast RTA would move to cut bus service immediately after Horry County allocated $500,000 for it.

In what looked like a ninth-inning save last week, the Horry County Council managed to redirect half a million dollars in unanticipated property-tax collections to The Coast RTA during one of its most difficult budget years in recent memory. The Grand Strand's beleaguered public-transportation agency had been slated for a $700,000 reduction from the county, and was considering cutting service by 25 percent by slashing routes that would almost certainly cost some residents their jobs.

General Manager Myers Rollins Jr. had asked the county for a minimum of $550,000, so the last-minute allocation of all but $50,000 seemed like a reasonable patch - especially considering that many area social services were cut out of Horry County's budget altogether. So the surprise - and backlash - was near universal late last week after the bus system sent out an e-mail stating its intention to cut routes anyway.