Everybody should be able to enjoy the
wonderful world of reading, and some good folks in the area are working hard to
make sure that more can, as Thursday’s editorial explains:
Some of us will be lucky enough to
celebrate the American Library Association’s banned book week late this month,
savoring the literature often unfairly demonized for one reason or another. We’ll
reminisce about rafting down the river with Huck Finn, relive the Dresden bombing in “Slaughterhouse-Five”
and be moved once more as Atticus Finch masterfully defends Tom Robinson in “To
Kill a Mockingbird.”
But for a quarter or so of the folks
in Horry County, books such as these are always
banned. Not because the books aren’t available. But because 25 to 30 percent of
the Horry County population remains functionally
illiterate. They read at or below a fifth-grade level. As Pat Bush, director of
the Horry County Literacy Council, put it, these unfortunate folks “can’t do
basic things that we take for granted.”
It’s time for the many local agencies serving the homeless to work together better. At least, so says Friday’s editorial:
Fighting homelessness on the Grand Strand is not a glamorous job by any stretch of the imagination. A meeting at City Hall last week of the Myrtle Beach group leading the charge included fairly pedestrian discussions of whom to call, how to organize spreadsheets and what snacks to buy for future meetings.
The job won’t bring fame or fortune. Most involved are volunteers who aren’t interested in recognition.
The effort carries no guarantee of success. Leaders must face opposition not only from some homeless residents who don’t want to be helped, but also from some existing service agencies that don’t like others sticking their nose in.
HGTC’s new dental education facility is good news in multiple ways, as Thursday’s editorial explains:
Talking with The Sun News’ editorial board in February, HGTC President Neyle Wilson said the local college was having to be “really, really selective” in choosing which programs to pursue, particularly in health care, because of declining state and federal aid. With that in mind, the opening in June of the school’s Robert E. Speir Healthcare Education Center, and particularly the building’s dental center, is a wonderful example of targeted, smart choices by those in charge.
Literacy should be everyone’s concern, and a relatively new coalition, Literacy Alive, is reaching out for support in increasing awareness and engaging all segments of the community.
Sam Cook, director of programs for Waccamaw Community Foundation, says a meeting today in Myrtle Beach includes the goal of showing how Literacy Alive, a foundation initiative, can be part of the workplace. The meeting (1 p.m. at the art museum) is open to all and especially leaders in the business, professional and nonprofit segments. They will see how employees can become volunteers for one of the literacy providers, make other in-kind donations or adopt a school or children in a class or child-care center.
Sunday’s editorial wishes a group dedicated fighting violence in Myrtle Beach the best, but warns that plenty of hard work is yet to come.
The tales of mothers from the Booker T. Washington neighborhood are harrowing and heart-wrenching. The Sun News columnist Issac Bailey chronicled some of them in a series earlier this year that explored the violence that has touched the historic Myrtle Beach section.
Kendra Keel lost two of her sons to violence within 11 months. “Once the streets get your children,” she told the editorial board this week, “there’s no going back.”
Friday’s editorial takes a look at the controversy surrounding the voter ID law that passed this year:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition came to the state this week to protest the state’s new voter ID law, not up for review by the Justice Department. Calling it a “massive voter suppression scheme,” he pledged to work to have the rule overturned.
“Massive” is going a bit far, but in the short-term, Jackson may have a point.
Friday’s editorial takes to task the state’s outsize reaction to illegal immigration, seen in the bill signed this week by the governor.
Fly buzzing around your picnic this summer? Just pull out the nearest sledgehammer and give it a good whack or two.
That’s the type of measured response shown by the immigration law changes enacted by the legislature this year and signed by the governor on Monday. It’s not that we don’t have illegal immigration or need to address it, but the scope of the problem simply doesn’t justify a new $1.3 million immigration task force with custom uniforms and cars, or some of the other unsettling proposals and poorly thought out ideas in the act.
Bought that Father’s Day card yet? Here’s a friendly reminder for you, in the form of an editorial on an inspiring Father’s Day event going on in Conway this Saturday:
Helping dads connect or reconnect with their children is the goal of a special Father’s Day celebration on Saturday in Conway, one of about 200 such events sponsored by local housing authorities.
It’s a national event, suggested by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to Montele Burton, resident services director for the Housing Authority of Conway. In the United States, there are nearly 4,000 housing authorities. The Conway authority has residents in nearly 300 units in three locations and 20 houses on scattered sites. In an overwhelming majority of the units, the residents are mothers and children. HAC also helps financially through the Section 8 program close to 350 families who have homes in unincorporated Horry County.
Sunday’s editorial urges readers not to forget about the Booker T. Washington neighborhood now that Issac Bailey’s series on the area has come to an end:
The stories of the Booker T. Washington neighborhood brought to light this week by Issac Bailey have been heartbreaking. And encouraging. And frustrating. And inspiring.
For many of us, it was likely the first time we had the chance to learn the stories behind the names of murder victims who appear in the newspaper all too often.
Saturday’s editorial shares some thoughts on the redistricting meeting that was held Thursday night in Myrtle Beach:
Most people probably wouldn’t envy Rep. Alan Clemmons the job that stretches before him. On the one hand, chairing the House’s subcommittee on redistricting means the Myrtle Beach Republican will leave his mark on the politics of this state for the next decade. On the other hand, no matter how the marathon process ends, he will undoubtedly leave a fair number of people upset with the result.
Clemmons and the other members of the Election Laws Subcommittee stopped in Myrtle Beach on Thursday for the fifth of nine meetings across the state. There’s a long road ahead. The group will compile the public comments and craft an initial plan by August, after which it will have to be signed off on by the rest of the legislature, the governor and the U.S. Justice Department. It’s also quite a partisan road. Those in power – Republicans, in South Carolina’s case – will do their best to make sure new districts are drawn that ensure they stay in power.
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