The Opinion Blog

At Last, Some Good Trash Talk



Friday’s editorial urges Horry County and state leaders to work on their relationship, which has fractured noticeably during the recent debate about where to send our local trash:

“Why would they introduce a bill that goes against the people of Horry County?”

– Horry County Councilman Harold Worley, speaking of local legislators

“It’s not free enterprise, it’s not open market; it’s government monopoly.”

– S.C. House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, sponsor of H. 4721

When it comes to determining what to do with our trash, most residents probably don’t care that much. Pick it up from the curb, truck it away and it’s quickly forgotten. But what to do with all that trash once it’s in the truck has quickly become the focus of quite a fight among local leaders.

AB's Step in the Right Direction



Friday’s editorial gives a well-deserved kudos to Atlantic Beach’s recent smoking ban:

We were happy to watch last week as the Atlantic Beach Town Council generated some positive news for the town, passing a smoking ban that covers all workplaces and the beach, beginning July 2.

Atlantic Beach joins Surfside Beach and North Carolina in outlawing smoking in most public places. Florence and Spartanburg also passed bans this month. According to the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative, an anti-smoking group, 34 percent of the state’s residents now live in areas covered by workplace smoking bans.

Thanks, but No Thanks



Do we need the state to take over marketing of our region? We don’t think so, despite what Gov. Haley may say:

Excuse us if we were left feeling a little patronized by Gov. Nikki Haley this past week.

The governor breezed into town last Saturday as part of a statewide tour to tell supporters in person about how well she’s done during her first 100 days in office. While here in Myrtle Beach, she helpfully told us that we could stop worrying our pretty little heads about that whole tourism marketing issue and leave it to her to expand and improve our region’s largest industry.

A Silver Lining for Georgetown



Thursday’s editorial takes a look at Sen. Jim DeMint’s legislation to reform the Army Corps of Engineers and how it might affect the port in Georgetown:

Sen. Jim DeMint introduced a pair of well considered, common sense proposals this week to reform the politicized process that the Army Corps of Engineers uses to determine the order of projects undertaken at the nation’s ports and waterways.

Whether either idea will help the port in Georgetown, however, is still unclear, and it looks as though the future of the port’s silted harbor will largely still rely on the efforts of the port’s supporters to make their voices heard in Washington and Columbia.

Beaches Without Borders



Saturday’s editorials:

It is encouraging to see a good basic concept of public policy – uniform rules – being so steadily adopted by our local governments.

This is not to say we favor one specific policy about tent placement or pier safety over another. What we do favor is the creation of a single set of rules to govern all the beaches in Horry County, and more than that, the spirit of goodwill and cooperation that seems to be driving the discussion.

Positive Noises

Friday’s editorials cover bikers and gambling, so it’s a fun day around here:

It’s been about two years since Myrtle Beach announced on the front page of one of its city-sponsored websites, “Effective 2009, Myrtle Beach, S.C. will no longer host motorcycle rallies.”

The May rallies held since showed an event struggling to find a new balance and place in the area. Bikers continued to come, but in smaller numbers and outside the city. And the city softened some of its stances – partly because of court cases, and partly we imagine because city leaders saw they had gone a bit too far in discouraging these visitors.

Under the Radar



Friday’s editorial looks at the merits of a few local but less visible bills moving through the General Assembly these days:

As the legislature swings back into action, the news coming from Columbia follows thick and fast. This week saw the passage in the House of the Higher Education Transparency Act, which would require public colleges to post their spending online. And the state’s budget work and restructuring continues to make headlines.

But beyond the larger items that dominate the news lie a number of smaller items, bills and resolutions that have received little attention and may go nowhere at all. Whether they eventually become law or not, we believe it’s important for citizens to know what their elected representatives are doing with their time, and to that end, we like to keep an eye on some of the less visible movements afoot at the Statehouse:

Quiet Passion | David Brittain, 1956-2011



Wednesday’s editorial eulogizes David Brittain, who worked hard for the well-being of Myrtle Beach with quiet civility:

Last April, three men sat down at a conference table in the publisher’s office of The Sun News for a meeting with the editorial board. Two, a former Myrtle Beach city manager and former city planner, were there to argue vociferously against the new digital billboards under consideration by the current City Council.

The third, David Brittain, said far less than the men he came with, though he in fact had more at stake. Brittain’s family businesses – resorts, golf courses and the Sea Captain’s House restaurant – could easily afford the most expensive digital signs on Ocean Boulevard, but that’s not what Brittain wanted. His personal preference was for the city to retain its quiet, static signage ordinance enacted years before to clean up the Grand Strand’s visual clutter.

Put down your guns

Thursday’s lead editorial suggests that Georgetown schools have too many challenges already to be distracted by the concealed-weapons issue.

Aside from law enforcement officers, does anyone really have a valid reason to carry a gun onto a school campus?

Yes, the S.C. General Assembly has apparently decided, based on a law enacted in June. People who have concealed weapons permits – in other words, people older than 21 who pass a safety course and a criminal background check – should not be penalized by having to leave those guns at home. Permit holders are said to pose no threat to students, so when they lock their guns in a car's glove compartment or trunk, the new law says they can bring them onto school property without fear of prosecution.

City Tries for Early Rollback

Friday's editorial encourages the Myrtle Beach council to press for an earlier property-tax rollback for city homeowners, while expressing our continued distaste for the new sales tax itself.

Home rule goes only as far as the S.C. General Assembly desires. Members of the Myrtle Beach City Council are up against that often unpleasant fact of municipal governance in wanting to give homeowners an early rollback on property taxes.