Thursday’s editorial, after having
some good discussion about it yesterday:
How long should a homeowner be able
to rent out his home and still count it as his main residence? Legislators are
confronting that question this year as they consider a bill pushed by Sen. Ray
Cleary of Murrells Inlet, who wants to let homeowners rent their homes out for
more than 14 weeks a year and still be taxed at a lower rate than other rental
properties.
Is this a good idea? Well, it seems
at least innocuous enough. Cleary’s point that the change would help homeowners
struggling with soaring insurance premiums, especially wind, is well taken. It’s
an issue that sorely needs to be addressed and which we are following with
interest in Columbia
this year.
Hopefully
you're never in the situation of needing the help of the Red Cross, but the
work they do is good and necessary and deserves our support, as Wednesday's
editorial says:
One of the
two families assisted by the Coastal S.C. Chapter of the American Red Cross
after fires on Valentine’s Day included seven children from ages 2 to 16.
Assistance with temporary lodging, food and clothing is a major area disaster
service of the chapter, which has helped 366 people since last July 1. Nanci
Conley, executive director of the chapter, says the number of people helped
after home fires is up significantly. At this time a year ago, the number of
fire victims was 208 in the chapter’s three-county (Georgetown, Horry,
Williamsburg) service area.
As a long-time children’s advocate,
Lorretta Keeling was deeply concerned by the number of homeless students in
Horry County Schools, especially teenage girls soon to be mothers. So Keeling
founded the Horry County Teens and Infants Shelter Home.
Thursday’s editorial gets in on the
holiday spirit:
Today, we as a nation set apart a
time specifically for giving thanks, a day for looking back upon the gifts of
the past year and reflecting on all the good that we have borne witness to.
Rooted in our country’s harsh Puritan heritage and made official in 1863 by
Abraham Lincoln in the midst of our worst trial as a nation, the holiday is
more than just a time to gather with family and friends and loosen our belts a
notch or two.
Friday’s editorial urges some local philanthropy
as we near the end of National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week:
The mercury is dropping, the nights
are getting longer and it’s that time of the year when many of us long to spend
the cold days curled up in a warm house with a good book and a mug of something
hot.
For many in our area, that’s simply
not an option.
We’re getting tired of waiting for
updated coastal policies. Especially as development picks up again after the
recession, it’s time to get moving, as Thursday’s editorial explains:
Few things in government move
particularly quickly. We’ve accepted the reailty that delays in public
initiatives are inevitable and progress is painfully slow. But South Carolina’s
plodding efforts to prepare new guidelines for managing the state’s shoreline
are trying our patience.
Five years after the state’s
Department of Health and Environmental Control began its Shoreline Change
Initiative to update coastal policy, the policies are still being developed,
discussed and haggled over. Meanwhile, the coast continues to require
expensive, regular renourishment, development rules are still fairly lax and
misunderstood, and instead of the state’s hoped for retreat from the coast, builders
have continued to erect or redevelop property seaward of the line drawn in the
sand 25 years ago.
Wednesday’s editorial highlights the
good work of the North Strand Housing Shelter, which is expanding amid need
that is greater than the beds they have available:
When North Strand Housing Shelter
director Dana Black picked up the mail the other day, she noticed an envelope
from an individual and wondered if she should stop at the bank. “These
envelopes usually have the much-needed funds to run the shelter – mortgage,
lights, water and transport.” In this envelope were “three crisp one-dollar
bills. What a sweet donation. Someone gave all they could. It was a pertinent
reminder of the widow’s mite and that God sees all that we do and no gift is
too large or too small. The shelter loves the donations that are from the heart
of the giver.”
Tuesday’s editorial celebrates the
historic accomplishment of Neil Armstrong, through some historic words of our
own:
With the passing of American legend
Neil Armstrong on Saturday, we were inspired to reach back into The Sun News
archives and pull out the newspaper’s editorial written after the astronauts’
historic moon landing 43 years ago. As luck would have it, the mission
coincided with a visit to our area by George Romney, then the U.S. Housing and
Urban Development Secretary, and whose son is now accepting the Republican
nomination for president down in Florida.
The editorial writer of the time was
perhaps even a bit prescient in lauding the profit motive behind the space
program, in light of our nation’s increasing reliance on private industry to
get us into space. Will such a historic moment ever occur once more? Who knows.
But for one night in July 1969, the world stopped and watched as a booted foot
touched the surface of that mysterious orb that hangs in the night sky. It’s a
feat that earned Armstrong a place in history and in the hearts of millions,
and we celebrate and honor his accomplishment, even 43 years after we first
published these words:
Today, we finish up our two-part editorial series on Gov. Haley’s budget vetoes by listing some with which we agree and that we hope our legislators will uphold:
Yesterday, we wrote about some of the recent budget vetoes by Gov. Nikki Haley that are reckless, rash and go too far in her crusade to shrink state government – specifically, her unilateral dissolutions of the S.C. Arts Commission and the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. Today, we write about a few of the governor’s vetoes that hit the mark, or at least get a bit closer, including one that directly affects the Grand Strand.
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.
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