The Opinion Blog

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Thankfully, cooperation has improved over the past couple of decades between Myrtle Beach and Horry County, as Sunday’s editorial notes:

The Sun News editorial on March 28, 1993, three days before the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base’s closure:

There will be a finality to the Wednesday afternoon ceremony that no one wanted or expected, or was prepared to encounter. It happened, however, and we must deal with the future, even as we remember with fondness the past.

There is, of course, hope for the future amid the bickering of the civilians left to struggle with what happens next. The three competing plans for redevelopment have left the community without the voice of unity it desperately needs.

Cleared for Takeoff

Friday’s editorial weighs in on the county’s recent buyback of Grand Strand Regional Airport in North Myrtle Beach, which strangely has gone unreported in the news so far as far as I can tell:

When you weren’t looking, Horry County bought an airport.

Or, to be more accurate, the county took back management of one it already owned. In February, County Council signed off on a plan to buy back the last seven years of the lease on Grand Strand Regional Airport in North Myrtle Beach. It wasn’t clear exactly what the purchase price was (county staff were still looking that up for us at press time), but the number floated in previous meetings was $800,000. Good move? We won’t know for sure until a few years from now, but at least on paper it seems so.

Intriguing Changes for Coast RTA

Friday’s first editorial wishes Coast RTA the best as they try to get an airport shuttle service up and running:

Our hat’s off to Coast RTA General Manager Myers Rollins. Rather than focus on the loss of the regional bus service’s $629,000 contract with Coastal Carolina University as a problem, he looked upon it as an opportunity to try something new.

Good Step Forward on Lasers, Though Enforcement Questions Remain

Friday’s editorial praises the recent move by Horry County to limit laser pointer sales, but points out there are still some gaps when it comes to actually enforcing the new rules:

Horry County’s move Tuesday to limit laser sales in the county is a strong step toward ending the inane and dangerous fad we saw last year of shining the lights at incoming aircraft. Even better is the concurrent action by Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach to work toward adopting identical ordinances so that buyers need not simply drive into the city to make a purchase. But the proof will be in the pudding. Will the new rules actually make a dent in the profusion of laser strikes – more than 70 – that we saw last summer?

County Laser Ban a Good Move

Friday’s second editorial applauds Horry County for moving forward with its own ban on selling lasers to minors while we wait for the state to act:

Buy your lasers while you still can. Or, more preferably, don’t.

After hearing in mid-November from state legislators that it could be a year or more before the state acts on the problem of fools shining the lights at aircraft, Horry County Council restarted the process of putting its own ordinance in place to ban the sale of the pernicious devices to minors. County Councilman Marion Foxworth said Thursday he expects a final rule to be in place shortly after the new year.

Harrelson Complete at Last



Memo to Google: It’s time to update the map of Myrtle Beach. Thursday’s editorial displays our giddiness at the prospect of Harrelson Boulevard finally linking Kings Highway and the Bypass:

It could be easier to get to the airport by the year 2000 if City Council approves $3.2 million to extend Harrelson Boulevard as part of the 1998-99 budget.

– June 8, 1998, article in The Sun News

Well, it only took about 15 years, marked by a series of funding squabbles between the city and county and a brief hiccup involving the Community Appearance Board, but the Harrelson Boulevard extension is finally done. For drivers on the city’s south end, this is long-awaited and enormously welcome news.

Voters Spoke: Fund Coast RTA



Saturday’s editorial urges the county to live up to the request voters made in November, to provide a stable funding source for the Coast RTA.

If anyone doubted the benefit of having voters’ opinion on the record, he need only look to the funding for the Coast Regional Transportation Authority.

We’ve long supported the goal of better public transportation in our area, and so we were encouraged in November when a majority of Horry County voters agreed that the Coast RTA deserved about $1 million in property tax money, a provision that would ensure a much more stable funding source for that public service.

Green shoots of spring

Saturday’s editorial recaps some of the brighter economic news of the past week or so.

Amid the general pessimism over the state of the local and national economies, it’s worth noting a number of positive developments in recent weeks.

City of the Future

Thursday’s editorial uses some of the lesser-known points of Myrtle Beach’s comprehensive plan draft to encourage more public participation in the process.

What Myrtle Beach wants to look like in the future has been hotly debated for years - some worry that we’re striving to be too pretentious, while others see us as too tacky - but the entire vision for the next 10 years is presently being written in the city’s comprehensive plan.

Toronto Market Initiative

Tuesday’s lead editorial praises the work that drew a direct flight from Myrtle Beach to Toronto.

Myrtle and Leonard Klinck are back in Myrtle Beach for a month from their home in the Canadian province of Ontario, but this year they flew on Porter Airlines’ new Toronto-Myrtle Beach flight. The Klincks have been driving to Myrtle Beach for 20 years and were happy to be able to cut their travel time to just under two hours. This year their children are driving. Other passengers on the first flight also were pleased, and area tourism officials hope the Porter flights will help grow the number of Canadian visitors to the Grand Strand.