The Opinion Blog

Keeping Warm

Saturday's editorial describes Myrtle Beach's need to help the city's homeless population in the coming year.

Out of respect, perhaps, few of the sad circumstances surrounding the deaths of 18 men and women on the streets of Myrtle Beach this year were shared at vigil for them Thursday, but even the scant details mentioned as the mourning bell was rung and the memorial candles were lit were heart-wrenching.

Three apparent homicides, plus one man killed when his tent caught fire. Three heart attacks, two cancer deaths, one seizure and half a dozen who simply slipped away in their sleep.

Then there was Frank, "found frozen to death behind the old fish market."

Frozen to death. In March. In Myrtle Beach.

An Uphill Battle

Saturday’s editorial describes the obstacles local lawmakers face in their effort to preserve state tourism funding – some of which are their own making.

A panel of eight local lawmakers this week declared themselves dedicated to what looks likely to be a daunting task: protecting the flow of state money toward out-of-state tourism advertising.

The wrong list to top

Thursday’s editorial describes a recent report showing a dramatic plunge in job growth relative to other cities nationwide as an indictment of our economic development efforts.

It would be difficult to conjure a more direct illustration of Myrtle Beach's fragile economy than the sobering recent report that described our area as seeing the fourth-largest reversal in growth in the country.

Tethered to the Cost Curve

Thursday’s editorial contemplates the fact that, in a disheartening illustration of how Washington works, the “massive overhaul” of health care just isn’t going to have much effect on most Americans.

Democrats have made much hay this week over a report released Monday that says their health-reform legislation won't do much to increase health insurance premiums for the vast majority of Americans, contrary to the frightening claims made all year by Republicans.

But the report is not actually such great news. Why? Because the Democrats are right; the premiums won't change much for most workers: They're going to keep going up.

Raising the Flag Once More

Saturday’s editorial points out that the 2010 elections could respark the state’s perpetual debate over the placement of the Confederate flag.

Whenever a new voice calls attention to the Confederate battle flag flying prominently in front of the S.C. Statehouse, its defenders claim with victorious glee that the matter is settled, that it's in the past, that a deal was done and should be honored.

It can't be settled, because it just keeps coming up. And just because a deal is done doesn't make it right.

Narrow Margins

Sunday’s editorial encourages the Myrtle Beach City Council to recognize the obvious message sent by the election - that the city is deeply divided right down the middle on the major issues they’ve tackled, and their duty now is to attempt to govern for all the people.

For a year and a half, a question that could only be answered by an election hung over Myrtle Beach: How did residents really feel about their City Council's controversial decisions to end the major May motorcycle rallies and to charge city shoppers an extra 1 percent tax to pay for out-of-the-area advertising?

Treading Troubled Waters

Saturday’s editorial exhorts the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to strike a sensible balance between badly-overdue new fishing rules and the fragile state of the economy.

The proposal has a draconian ring: Close vast swaths of the Atlantic Ocean to bottom fishing, thus immediately halting the catch of red snapper and several grouper species.

Wan welcome for Wonderworks

Saturday’s editorial suggests that the Community Appearance Board’s rigid adherence to standards is good for Myrtle Beach, even as it ruffles feathers.

When the Myrtle Beach Community Appearance Board shockingly refused in August to allow WonderWorks to build an upside-down children's museum at Broadway at the Beach, the decision seemed to be yet another instance of the board's oft-complained-about totalitarian reign over the city. Board members' unanimous decision Thursday to allow construction of the building, however, shows that they were just doing their jobs all along.

Stimulus For State Longleaf

Sunday's editorial recognizes the restoration of local pines lost in April's wildfires through federal stimulus money.

Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve longleaf pine trees lost to the devastating April wildfire will be replaced with some of the money in a $1.74 million federal stimulus grant to the S.C. Forestry Commission.

New Jobs, Same Worries

Saturday's editorial takes an updated look at Gov. Sanford's hold on his office.

Amid the continuing spectacle of the post-Argentina Mark Sanford administration, a number of interpretations are possible of his role in marketing firm Red Ventures LLC's announcement this week that they will hop over the state line from Charlotte to relocate 1,000 employees in Lancaster County.