Is the area poised for a comeback?
Sunday’s editorial sure hopes so:
Spring is nearly here. Blooms are
starting to peek out and pollen will soon fill the air. It’s an optimistic time
of year as the world wakes from its wintry slumber, and this year we’ve got
even more reason for optimism: building signs are popping up around town, and
construction sites are buzzing once more.
The national jobless report released
Friday morning held good news for all of us concerned about the economy, but
particularly good news for our region, as many of our main industries were
among the top job creators. Construction businesses added 48,000 jobs. Leisure
and hospitality added 24,000. And retailers added 23,700. All three are major
drivers of our local employment situation, and after years of attempting to
claw our way out of the hole dug in the recession, it’s encouraging to see some
daylight at last.
Should federal
money collected for harbor maintenance be used to pay for harbor maintenance?
We sure think so:
As much as
pundits and politicians might like to say otherwise, there is almost nothing
clear-cut or straightforward about our nation’s spending problems. Managing a
nation of more than 300 million people with a federal budget now approaching $4
trillion a year is a monumental task of nuance, judgment calls and hard
decisions.
But sometimes
the intent of government budgeting seems so heart-breakingly simple that it’s
just all the more frustrating when that intent is ignored.
Friday’s second editorial urges S.C.
residents to remember that they owe taxes on Internet purchases, even though
nobody will come looking for it:
Like to think of yourself as
patriotic? A good, law-abiding citizen? Pay your taxes.
Internet retail giant Amazon sent out
notices this week to consumers who had any goods shipped to South Carolina, letting those purchasers
know how much they bought in 2012 and reminding them that they still owe taxes
on those purchases. It’s not just Amazon.
Sunday’s editorial urges lawmakers to
act sooner rather than later to address our state’s crumbling infrastructure:
South
Carolina’s roads are crumbling beneath us, and ignoring the problem
will not make it go away. Action is needed soon -- this year, this month --
because the cost to fix our roads rises with every day that passes. And it will
mean tough decisions that require substantially more funding, not just
leftovers and scraps that are found here and there.
Not convinced? Read through the report
on South Carolina’s road system put together for the state and issued in
December by a diverse group of transportation experts. It’s only 13 pages long,
but it sets out in stark detail the enormous challenges facing our state and
the almost total lack of solutions in the works to meet those challenges.
Kudos to Myrtle
Beach leaders for moving this week to bring the city’s ordinance
governing the sale of laser pointers in line with the rule that Horry County
is considering. Too many rules on the Grand Strand differ by municipality and
city boundaries, an issue that has gotten better in recent years but which
continues to vex residents, visitors and businesses.
Friday’s editorial, on this most consumerist
of days, urges shoppers to not forget the little guys in their frenzy to spend
that hard-earned cash:
So you’ve got your Black Friday all
mapped out, from the early morning wait at Best Buy to the mid-morning scramble
through Wal-Mart to the afternoon marathon at the mall. Before you wrap up the
weekend, however, save some time -- and money -- for Saturday.
Once again, smaller retailers across
the nation will be marking Small Business Saturday, a chance for shoppers to
support the local, smaller entities that drive our economy. It’s a worthy
cause, as many of these less gargantuan organizations can struggle to compete
this time of year with the marketing budgets of nationwide big box stores and
chains.
Two years ago, as Myrtle Beach was considering selling the
naming rights to local landmarks in a bid to raise money, we urged caution,
hoping that any efforts would be limited perhaps to only athletic facilities
and not as a wholesale tactic that would unduly cheapen our city. Our editorial
specifically picked out the boardwalk as an attraction that should be left out
of any such considerations.
“The boardwalk,” we wrote, “has been
such a success that it would seem wrong to cheapen it with corporate
sponsorship: It’s Myrtle Beach’s
boardwalk; this city built it, not any company; and there should be no
confusion about that.”
Yes, it’s that time already. Wednesday’s
editorial encourages people to start volunteering with The Salvation Army’s
annual holiday drives.
Folks at The Salvation Army of Horry
County are actively recruiting volunteers for the Christmas season and Major
Bret McElroy says there are “all kinds of ways to help,” including manning the
main Angel Tree at Coastal Grand mall.
“That’s my greatest need right now,”
says Brenda Ryan, executive director of the Salvation Army Boys & Girls
Club. She needs one to three volunteers for all mall hours from Nov. 17 through
Dec. 16. The mall is open 11 hours (10 a.m. to 9 p.m.) Monday-Saturday and six
hours on Sunday. As of Monday, only 75 hours are filled, meaning there are many
wonderful opportunities available to help the Salvation Army provide Christmas
gifts for the hundreds of children represented by the tags on the tree. Besides
the main Angel Tree at Coastal Grand, there typically are satellite trees in
two dozen locations around the county. And by the way, organizations wishing to
have a tree may contact Ryan.
Friday’s editorial takes a look again
at the woes afflicting our local fishing industry:
When the local black sea bass fishing
season was shut down earlier this month, recreational boat captains quickly
cried foul. Though the species is listed as overfished by the federal National
Marine Fisheries Service, local fishermen say they’re seeing plenty of the
fish, so much that the bass are eating other species and disrupting the
ecosystem. At least in the fight so far, the feds have the power. The season
has closed down earlier and earlier each year for the past three years. This
past year, the season lasted only 96 days.
The argument, as it has for the past
few years, comes down to a very basic disconnect. Local fishermen who are out
on the water every day say there are lots of fish. Federal regulators say there
aren’t.
Sunday’s editorial urges some more excitement
and interest on the state level when it comes to wind energy:
“We’re just watching the turbines go around.”
– North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Marc Jordan, on the latest
action in the region’s wind energy initiatives.
What happened to the state’s
excitement about wind energy? After what had been a strong, united effort a few
years ago to push into the forefront of the emerging industry, the state effort
has largely stagnated.
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