The Opinion Blog

Flashing Yellow? We'll Pass

Tuesday’s editorial hopes we’re one of the last to get the new traffic signal the state DOT is rolling out:

Imagine the following:

You pull up to the traffic light, ready to turn left across the highway. The light is red, so you wait patiently. At last, the cross traffic stops and the lights change. But instead of a familiar green arrow, red arrow or solid green light, you’re presented with a flashing yellow arrow. What to do? This wasn’t in driver’s ed, was it? Oncoming traffic is still coming. But there’s also a line of impatient drivers building behind you. Should you turn? Wait for another signal? Just push your way through traffic?

Slow Down, Hang Up and Drive

Tourists are here, and it’s time to be a bit more careful on the roads:

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the spring and summer visitors our area relies upon are here once more. That means, among other things, it’s time to be a bit more patient behind the wheel.

Year-round residents of the Grand Strand have long known that the rules change slightly in peak tourism times. Eateries that are normally easy to find a table at suddenly have hour-long waits. Beaches that were peaceful and serene not too long ago are full of families and sunbathers. Stores, restaurants and attractions that went into hibernation for the winter rub the sleep from their eyes and turn the lights back on. And the traffic gets ugly, especially around peak hotel check-in and checkout times (Friday afternoon and Sunday morning).

Bright Spots Persist for Road to Strand

Tuesday’s editorial is on that most perennial of subjects, a new highway to the area:

It’s easy to become cynical about the prospects for any new highway to the Grand Strand. After all, we’ve been promised one since the 1980s and have yet to see it materialize. But while proponents of Interstate 73 – or any new road to our area – may seem locked in limbo, there are a few bright spots on the horizon.

WWII Vets Sought for Honor Fligh

Know any WWII vets who are up for a free flight to D.C.? The Honor Flight folks would like to talk to you, as Wednesday's editorial explains:

Honor Flight volunteers are finding it’s more difficult locating able-bodied veterans of World War II for the nonprofit’s fifth trip to visit the WWII Memorial and other places in the nation’s capital.

The fifth Honor Flight Grand Strand-Myrtle Beach is set for Oct. 24, and more than 35 seats for WWII veterans are available. If you are a WWII veteran, physically able to make the trip, or if you know a veteran eligible for the no-charge charter flight – perhaps an uncle or cousin or a member of your church – contact Honor Flight.

Putting the 'Spit' in 'Hospitality'

If Myrtle Beach wants to make a good first impression on visitors, we need to clean up that ugly U.S. 501 corridor into town, and there may finally be a good proposal for that on the table, as Sunday’s editorial explains:

“Myrtle Beach Welcomes You!” the city’s new signs proclaim to drivers headed into Myrtle Beach. Installed in mid-August, they’re part of the ongoing effort by local leaders to put the Strand’s best foot forward in the hope of giving visitors a good first impression and leaving them with a good feeling about our area. It’s just one of multiple recent initiatives to spruce up our image. Tourists can also now enjoy a beautified Ocean Boulevard, explore a downtown area that’s becoming more attractive, and by the spring they will have a brand new airport terminal to fly into.

Unfortunately for tourism boosters, the folks who visit don’t pop straight into the resort-like and generally well-kept Ocean Boulevard area. Instead, most drive into town on U.S. 501. And you can put as much whipped cream as you want on a mud pie; it’ll still leave a bad taste in your mouth. The rundown, dilapidated entry to Myrtle Beach, the sight that greets most visitors, is simply ugly.

Remembering that Historic Night in 1969

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:

Storms Coming; Don't Drop Your Guard



As hurricane season opens, Friday’s editorial urges us all not to give in to thoughts that we’re safe.

The hurricane experts at NOAA, who spend all year studying the dangerous storms, are forecasting “near-normal” activity this year in the Atlantic, with nine to 15 named storms, four to eight of which will be hurricanes. Kind of nice to know. Useful perhaps for somebody starting an office pool to guess how many storms there will be. But that’s about the extent of that prediction’s utility.

After all, the forecasters are the first to admit that their models are only probabilities. Reality could be wildly different. And they don’t even bother trying to guess how many of those storms might make landfall or where. Nobody knows until one forms and we can see where it’s headed. So if you’re one of the 37.3 million Americans living on the Atlantic coast and you’re trying to plan your summer around the storms, there’s not much to go on. What we can know for sure is something that has never changed: Whether the season produces 25 storms or five, it only takes one to ruin our summer.

Looking Forward to Sun Fun 2013



Tuesday’s first editorial:

No Sun Fun Festival? It’s hard to imagine summer at the beach without it. After six decades of the annual festival, the decision by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to cancel the 2012 celebration was unexpected and disappointing. That being said, the festival has always been a product of the chamber. If the group’s leaders want to cancel it, it’s certainly their prerogative. And their stated plans for reviving the summer tradition next year offer hope for the future.

Spending Your Money: Now With Real Transparency



Sunday’s editorial applauds the recent move to give residents more information about how the chamber of commerce is spending the tax dollars they receive, but bemoans the fact that it took so long to achieve such a simple goal:

The new and improved public spending reports unveiled last week by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce are an important and welcome step toward improving the influential group’s efforts at public accountability. At the same time, it’s depressing that it took more than two years of prodding, poking and pressure from this newspaper and others for the change to occur.

Trip No. 4 Coming in May for WWII Vets



Wednesday’s editorial supports the ongoing efforts of the good folks at Myrtle Beach Honor Flight:

After her dad, a World War II veteran and prisoner of war in Germany, took an Honor Flight trip to Washington, Kris Southard signed up as a guardian on the first Grand Strand Honor Flight. “I was transformed. The minute we got back, I knew this was my passion.” Southard is among the many Honor Flight volunteers working on the fourth Grand Strand trip, scheduled on May 23.