Second arrest follows Myrtle Beach shooting death

Myrtle Beach Police officers on Sunday arrested a second suspect in connection with Thursday's shooting death of a 21-year-old man.

Michael Quantrell Barr, 20, is charged with accessory after the fact to a felony. He was arrested at 1:25 a.m. Sunday on Mustang Street in Myrtle Beach, police records show.

According to a warrant, Barr gave police a false statement about Kendrix Corbitt's whereabouts when 21-year-old Damian Pickett was shot and killed. Barr also said Corbitt later asked him to hide a gun, the warrant indicates.

Bail was set at $10,000 for Barr during a Sunday morning hearing in Myrtle Beach Municipal Court.

Corbitt, 18, is charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent act in connection with Thursday night's shooting.

A judge set bail at $10,000 on the gun possession charge Sunday. Bail on the murder charge will be set at a later date by a judge in Horry County circuit court.

Barr and Corbitt were taken to J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Conway on Sunday morning, officials said.

Barr was sentenced to one year in jail last summer after pleading guilty to a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to Horry County records. The judge in the case sentenced Barr to 110 days in jail and he was released Aug. 12.

The fatal shooting was reported about 11 p.m. Thursday on Futrell Drive. Officers found Pickett's body shortly after midnight.

Pickett was shot "at least once," Horry County Deputy Coroner Darris Fowler said Friday. He would not say where Pickett was shot and did not provide any other details.

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For some Myrtle Beach area churches, social media saves

In the right hands, Facebook can save lives.

One Friday night in the spring, an underage student and member of a Grand Strand church posted on the social network that he was contemplating suicide. By Saturday morning, ministers and members of the First Presbyterian Church of Myrtle Beach were calling and messaging the student to make sure he was all right, said Chris Denny, an associate pastor at the church located at 1300 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.

"Some of the adults that were in his life were able to follow up via Facebook and also via phone to say, 'Hey, what's going on? Are there ways we can help?'" Denny said.

Businesses were quick to start using social media like Facebook and Twitter, but many churches are just beginning to tap into social media to interact with their members and communities, said Kevin Ring, a consultant who researches how churches use social networking

Ring's company, Michigan-based Unconventional Method, surveyed about 250 church ministers and members across the U.S. and found that churches face different challenges than businesses in using social media, he said.

"Really they are limited in terms of their resources, and particularly time and money, figuring out what they can spend using these tools," he said. "Secondly, what they are trying to accomplish is not as clear cut as a businesses goals might be."

Most churches have established a foothold in social media since 2009 by starting a page or a profile, but did not have a clear goal in mind of what they were trying accomplish, Ring said. That process is just beginning.

Denny has his own Facebook profile and the church also has pages for its youth and children's ministries that are testing the waters, he said. They plan to launch a young adult page soon, he said.

"We're looking at how can we expand that communication tool," Denny said. "Long term, I even imagine it may overtake the use of a printed newsletter but I don't think we're quite there yet."

First United Methodist Church of Myrtle Beach, 901 N. Kings Highway, has about 900 active members who attend services and about 275 people are fans of their page on Facebook, associate pastor Jonathan Tompkins said. Staff update the page daily with quotes from the Bible, suggested readings, event announcements and photos. Group members can "like" something the church has put up on the page.

Tompkins had used Facebook before he became a minister and decided he would stay on once he took up a position at a church, he said. He accepts all friend requests from members of his congregation, he said.

Being in such a public position means he has to be careful when using Facebook, Tompkins said. He usually will stay out of it if people post rants on politics or other controversial subjects, he said.

"When I went into the ministry I told myself I would have a presence on Facebook, and I would be open about things," he said. "But also I can't just express every single little thought that pops in my head."

First Presbyterian's youth ministry page has about 450 fans and is a much faster way of communicating than more conventional means, said Todd Harms, director of youth and mission and First Presbyterian.

"We do various odd jobs for our church membership, and I can spend my whole afternoon texting or I could just get on Facebook and send out a message," Harms said.

He has a Twitter account as well that's linked to Facebook so the same information goes to both pages, he said.

Harms and Ring said that while most people think youth are the first to adopt social media, there may be more opportunities to interact with adults online. The largest demographic of consistent Facebook users is middle-age women, Ring said.

Many users don't think to post about their churches, so ministers and church staff should tell them what they're trying to accomplish and encourage them to start conversations on the church's pages, he said.

As use of social media continues to grow, expect to see more churches integrating social media into their websites or even establishing their own private social networks for their members, Ring said.

"Some of the sensitive issues that churches deal with can be aired online," Ring said. "Churches have both an opportunity and the obligation to not just approach the web and the social media in the same way that they see businesses and popular websites doing."

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Third time no charm for bid on Surfside Beach pier

SURFSIDE BEACH -- Yet another round of bidding for the town's pier restaurant space has yielded no results for Surfside Beach.

The town-owned space was put out for bid a third time on Tuesday, and the town still has no tenant.

Now the town is waiting for an opinion from the South Carolina Attorney General's office to figure out its next step.

Surfside officials want to know if it is able, under state and local law, to hire a commercial real estate agent to help get the space rented. It sent a letter to that office on Nov. 23 seeking the answer to that question, said Mayor Allen Deaton earlier this week.

Deaton did not comment after the bidding on Tuesday.

A commercial broker could bring in more interest from outside the local market, said Tom Sponseller, president of the S.C. Hospitality Association.

He said they also could "give the city a better idea of what the true value of the space is.

"It's all supply and demand," Sponseller said, and judging by the lack of bids there is not a lot of demand for this space.

Sponseller said its hard for businesses to "make the numbers work" in publicly owned spaces because there's always a chance they could be out-bid when their lease expires.

The start-up costs for a restaurant are high but those costs are usually spread over the 20 to 30 years of operation.

Towns usually only offer five-year leases before they have to be put out for bid again, which is "not a very long period of time for anyone to open a business, especially a restaurant," Sponseller said.

Jack Cahill, owner of Nibils and the current lease holder of the pier eatery until Dec. 31, said he paid more than $70,000 a year in rent to the town, in addition to taxes.

And he said a new owner might have to do some expensive work on the space before it is operational.

Cahill said the space was previously grandfathered under earlier code standards, but the new owner of the building might have to bring it up to code with changes such as an attached bathroom, new grease traps and a new hood system.

"All that stuff's going to add up," he said. "Maybe that's why they can't lease it."

An answer is expected soon from the attorney general, but councilman Doug Samples said he thinks the town should have sought an opinion earlier in the process "before we chased the past tenants out."

He said he expects the letter to say that the town has met its obligation in terms of the competitive bid process and that it can now move forward with other options.

"The town is in a very, very difficult situation I believe of our own making," he said. "I hope that council learns from this experience."

Samples said he doesn't think a council meeting should be held to figure out the next steps until after New Year's.

"The next step in this process needs to be conducted openly and transparently to ensure that no funny business transpires," he said.

The next regular town council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

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Last big wave to ship floods Myrtle Beach area post offices

The lines at post offices around the Grand Strand grew steadily Friday and Saturday as last-minute letters, cards and gifts were shipped for Christmas.

Expect lines again today.

More than 800 million packages are expected to come through post offices nationwide today, making it the busiest day of the year for the United States Postal Service.

That's about 40 percent more than the average daily volume of 559 million pieces of mail processed and 140 million more than the average processed daily during the Christmas season, according to Postal Service figures.

"We project [today] will be our last hoorah of the Christmas season," said Gerry Mulligan, the manager of customer service at the Carolina Forest post office. "After Monday, we'll slow down."

Today is the recommended deadline for greeting cards and letters to arrive in time for Christmas, the Postal Service said.

Tuesday is the deadline for packages to be sent via priority mail, and Wednesday is the final deadline for Express Mail.

Plenty of last-minute shoppers are flooding post offices along the Grand Strand.

Todd Lee, postmaster for the Myrtle Beach post office, said daily revenue rises dramatically near Christmas.

That's because most customers are shipping larger packages instead of the daily regimen of cards and letters the office sees.

"We probably see a 200 percent increase from a typical week of the year," Lee said.

Lee and Mulligan said lines ranged from eight to 15 people at a time over the past few days. Though Lee couldn't provide specific figures, he said his office has seen an uptick in business from 2009. Mulligan said business "seemed about the same, maybe a little more than last year."

Harry Spratlin, communications coordinator for the Postal Service in South Carolina, said the agency is sensitive to long lines.

It has created a new service called "Click N Ship," which allows customers to use a major credit card, generate a postage-paid label online and notify a carrier for free pickup.

The postal service doesn't hire seasonal employees at its branches, but often employs more at the regional distribution plants, Spratlin said. Some employees log more overtime hours during this period, and Lee said employees who often aren't used for customer service work different tasks during the busy Christmas season.

"We've been pretty fortunate that we've been able to move lines pretty quickly," he said. "And that's something we want to continue."

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For Myrtle Beach area retailers, the most wonderful time of year

Sitting in the food court of Coastal Grand mall with a shopping cart full of bags, Cheryl and Karen Macguire could happily say they were done with their Christmas shopping.

"I'm glad we got it all done in one day," said Cheryl Macguire.

"I'm glad we got it all done before noon," countered her mother, Karen Macguire.

The pair were among the thousands of people who braved the elements in the Myrtle Beach area to get their holiday shopping finished.

Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, is the second or third busiest shopping day of the year, according to research firm ShopperTrak, vying with Black Friday and Dec. 23.

And that's why the Macguires got to the mall early.

Cheryl Macguire said she was expecting a Black Friday-esqe early morning rush.

"We were here at 8 a.m.," she said. "It was totally deserted."

But other shoppers said they had a different experience Saturday morning.

Gina Barnhill, her mother, Brenda Hardwick, and her brother's girlfriend, Allison McCracken, said they tried to get to a local Old Navy store to take advantage of its deals on scarves.

But Barnhill said when they got to the store a little after 8 a.m., "they were all gone."

Many national chain stores tried to entice shoppers to spend their last minute Christmas money there.

For example, Toys R Us was open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday selling keyboards for $99 ($100 off), according to The Associated Press.

Barnhill said those deals are the reason she planned on waiting until late to finish up her holiday shopping.

"I waited for the last minute deals," she said.

But Brenda Hardwick had already finished her shopping by Saturday.

"I'm just out picking up little things," she said.

Those "little" things included a pair of boots Hardwick and Barnhill had been looking for, for two weeks, Barnhill said.

"They're sort of a Christmas present from my dad," said Barnhill laughing.

She said she will probably come back out to the mall again to give other family members help with gift ideas.

"I'm sure I'll be back to tell him what to get you," she said to McCracken.

In addition to the shoppers, the mall was also filled with patient partners.

Several were dozing off in the sitting areas and one man even brought a book, saying he wasn't planning on leaving his seat until his family members were done shopping.

Ronnie McCracken of Marion said he was waiting for his wife to finish shopping.

When it comes to holiday shopping, he said, "she's through. She's just messing around."

But for those who did shop on Saturday, the work wasn't over.

"Now we have to go home and wrap everything," said Cheryl Macguire.

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Donors profit from Myrtle Beach sales tax

"Any time you're spending taxpayers' money, there should be some checks and balances," said state Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet.

Although public money makes up 70 percent of the chamber's revenue - a projected $18.7 million for 2011 - state law does not require the chamber to solicit competitive bids or follow any other procurement rules for projects that are paid with taxpayer dollars.

The chamber is required to submit regular reports to governing bodies and the public showing how much tourism grant, accommodations tax and sales tax money it spends and where it spends it, but those reports have no impact on the vendors chosen to do that work.

Chamber President Brad Dean did not return telephone calls last week.

Michael Sponhour, spokesman for the state's Budget and Control Board, said any regulation of how the chamber spends sales tax revenue would have to come from the city of Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach, which passes the sales tax money along to the chamber, does not require the chamber to follow any procurement rules, according to city spokesman Mark Kruea.

"The chamber is interested in getting the biggest bang for its buck, so I'm sure they are being responsible with that money," Kruea said.

FBI investigation

The chamber paid two direct mail marketers, Fort Mill-based Miller Direct Media and Jordan Investment Corp. of Conway, nearly $1 million from public funds including the sales tax during the first nine months of this year, according to quarterly spending reports issued by the chamber.

The payments to Miller Direct and Jordan Investment follow $36,000 in campaign donations those two companies made last year to politicians who approved the tax.

Those campaign donations and others funneled through Dean and other chamber officials in the wake of the tax increase now are the focus of investigations by the FBI and IRS.

Scott Brandon, chief executive of the Brandon Agency advertising firm, said FBI and IRS agents have questioned him about his company's business relationship with the chamber.

"It's clear to me they were looking at whether my contributions to any of the PACs had any influence in me getting more business from the chamber," Brandon said.

The Brandon Agency gave $3,500 to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC in 2008 and Brandon gave a combined $75 last year to three other PACs that supported the sales tax.

The Brandon Agency has received $669,982 in public money during the first nine months of this year for marketing projects such as purchasing advertisements in magazines, according to chamber reports.

Most of that money is passed through to magazines and other media where the ads appear, but Brandon said his company keeps 10 percent to 15 percent in commissions and fees.

Brandon said he has done work for the chamber for at least a decade and that the amount of money his company received this year is less than what he has received in some previous years.

"Some people believe that these guys [the chamber] were conspiring to influence the election by giving campaign money and, in return, promising business favors," Brandon said. "That's not true."

Some area residents and business owners have criticized the donations, calling them payback for a tax increase that directly benefits private companies that get the marketing jobs and tourism-related businesses - such as Myrtle Beach hotels and attractions - that no longer have to spend their own money to advertise.

Campaign cash

In several instances, the chamber is choosing to give its business to those companies that either made campaign donations or contributed money to a chamber-related political action committee called the Grand Strand Statewide PAC.

Miller Direct and its subsidiary, Visit Media, contributed a combined $21,500 to local and state politicians in the months after the tax increase was approved.

Miller Direct and Visit Media also contributed a combined $5,500 last year to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC. Miller Direct contributed another $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC this year.

Miller Direct has received $647,340 in public money from the chamber for work during the first nine months of this year, according to chamber reports.

It is not clear how much work Miller Direct or other companies did for the chamber prior to the sales tax because the chamber previously did not disclose how it spent marketing money.

However, the chamber's marketing budget has grown exponentially since the sales tax - Dean has pegged the year-over-year increase at $15 million - making more money available for companies such as Miller Direct.

Steve Miller, chief executive of Miller Direct, did not respond to a request for comments.

Jordan Investment Corp. gave $9,000 last year to the tax-raising politicians, according to S.C. Ethics Commission reports.

Since then, Jordan Investment has been paid $314,716 in public money by the chamber.

Stephen Jordan, owner of Jordan Investment, did not respond to a request for comments.

Another company - New York-based Corinthian Media, which purchases television ads for the chamber - has been paid more than $3.7 million in public money during the first nine months of this year. Like the Brandon Agency, Corinthian passes much of that along to media after taking a cut for commissions and fees.

Corinthian Media donated $3,500 to the Grand Strand Statewide PAC in 2008 and another $3,500 this year.

Larry Miller, the chief executive of Corinthian Media, did not respond to a request for comments.

In another case, the chamber has given $544,517 in public money to a start-up company called Visibility & Conversions LLC.

Visibility & Conversions was formed on Jan. 6, according to S.C. Secretary of State records. The company donated $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC on Jan. 29, according to the ethics commission.

The chamber's spending reports show the company started getting public money during the first quarter of this year.

Visibility & Conversions, an Internet advertising group, is owned by Bill Rosenthal. Another Rosenthal company - Beach Package Promotions - gave $3,500 to the chamber-related PAC in June.

Rosenthal did not respond to a request for comments.

The $5.9 million in public money given to companies that contributed to politicians or the PAC represents about one-third of the $18.1 million the chamber spent on marketing efforts during the first nine months of this year, according to the chamber's reports.

Calls for oversight

The amount of public money the chamber receives each year is comparable to the budget for a small municipality. For example, the chamber's projected public money stream for next year is more than twice the budget of Surfside Beach.

During the first nine months of this year, the chamber has received $17.2 million in public funds. Nearly three-fourths of that amount - $12.3 million - has come from the sales tax. The rest comes from accommodations tax revenue and state grants.

The lack of public oversight of how the chamber spends all that money has some legislators considering an amendment to the state law that created the tourism-related sales tax.

Cleary said he would like to study how other states handle similar local-option sales tax expenditures.

"We need to look at oversight in other states and do something that's workable," Cleary said, adding that an appointed oversight committee that reviews the chamber's spending could be a solution.

State Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Conway, said he is not aware of any problems with the way public money is being spent but would support measures to amend the law for more accountability.

"If there's some sense of unfairness or if somebody is trying to do business with the chamber but is being shut out, I would not be opposed to any improvements [to the law]," Rankin said. "You always want to get the biggest bang for the buck.

"But I wouldn't want to do anything that would create a bureaucratic, slow procurement process that would make them jump through hoops before making a decision," he said.

Cleary is among the state legislators who received campaign contributions from companies now doing business with the chamber. Rankin did not receive any contributions from those businesses.

Some legislators, however, say there is no need for more oversight because they trust the chamber to spend money properly.

State Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Beaufort County, said the Myrtle Beach chamber is doing "a fantastic job" of luring tourists away from competing destinations in Florida and other states.

Herbkersman said he trusts the chamber, but "if I had an issue with the chamber, I would want there to be more oversight," he said.

Herbkersman introduced a bill last year that would have amended the state law to allow Beaufort County to impose a 1 percent sales tax for tourism promotion, with the money likely going to the Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce. That bill was approved by the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate.

Herbkersman said he is not sure whether he will reintroduce the bill during the coming legislative session.

Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said the chamber's quarterly reports and regular updates to council provide enough accountability.

"It's all there - what they are spending and what they are spending it for," Rhodes said. "There are always going to be questions with anything that has to do with public money, but I think it's fine the way it is."

John Crangle, director of Columbia-based Common Cause of South Carolina, said giving public money to the chamber without oversight "is an open invitation to abuse."

Crangle, whose group advocates for open government, said he questions whether the sales tax legislation is constitutional because it designates a government function - spending tax dollars - to a private entity.

"I don't think that there's any question there needs to be more oversight of how that money is spent," Crangle said. "This is the kind of thing that cries out for reform."

Lobbyists and corporations

The Grand Strand Statewide PAC is operated by a political lobbying group called the Grand Strand Business Association.

The chamber contributes $3,500 per year to the PAC and gives the business association money to pay for state and federal lobbyists. Those lobbyists cost the chamber a combined $253,299 in 2009, according to the association's tax return.

The chamber also provided an office and administrative support for the business association until this year.

One of the lobbyists the chamber provides funding for is Mark Kelley, a Myrtle Beach business owner and former state legislator.

Kelley and Dean delivered some of the campaign donations to politicians in the months after the sales tax was approved.

There are strict rules that forbid lobbyists from facilitating campaign donations for statewide candidates; however, a spokeswoman for the S.C. Ethics Commission has said it does not appear any laws were violated in Kelley's case.

"Just being in the same room is not a violation, it happens all the time," Cathy Hazelwood, the commission's general counsel, told The Sun News. "He [Kelley] is not supposed to touch the envelope or hand over the envelope."

Myrtle Beach lawyer Shep Guyton was president of the business association until late last year when Mike Wooten, president of Myrtle Beach-based DDC Engineers Inc., took that role.

Guyton, a former chairman of the chamber's board of directors, now is vice-chairman of the business association.

Part of the FBI and IRS investigation focuses on $239,500 in post-sales-tax-increase political donations made by 14 corporations for which Guyton was a partner, the registered agent or both.

All of the Guyton-related donations were made with cashier's checks purchased on the same day and in sequential order at South Atlantic Bank, where Guyton was a board member.

Guyton resigned from the bank's board of directors earlier this year.

The Guyton-related donations have drawn scrutiny because some of his partners in the corporations have said the businesses did not have any money to give to politicians. Another corporation was dissolved nearly two years before it purportedly made the donations.

Also, at least four of the corporations have land that is in foreclosure, and chamber critics question why Guyton was giving money to politicians instead of paying corporate debts.

Those critics also question how Guyton got the money to purchase the cashier's checks.

Dean has said none of the money that passed through Guyton's corporations came from the chamber.

All told, the chamber acted as a clearinghouse for $324,500 in campaign donations after the sales tax was approved.

Those donations were given to four City Council incumbents, seven state legislators and gubernatorial candidate Gresham Barrett, who lost to governor-elect Nikki Haley in the Republic primary. Barrett was the only politician who did not play a role in the sales tax increase.

The sales tax was approved on May 26, 2009, and the Guyton-related corporations purchased their cashier's checks on June 8, 2009. The politicians who approved the sales tax increase received those checks and other donations over the next few months and the tax started on Aug. 1, 2009.

Most of the sales tax money - charged on retail sales within the Myrtle Beach city limits - goes to the chamber of commerce for advertising to out-of-state residents. The city gets about 20 percent of the funds for property tax breaks and tourism infrastructure projects.

The tax is expected to generate up to $18 million per year over the 10-year life of the legislation.

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Hospitals, EMTs settle plans for Myrtle Beach area ERs

Grand Strand Regional Medical Center's upgrade to a level two trauma center shouldn't have much of an impact on where emergency response workers send trauma victims, but Horry County emergency officials and area hospital leaders met Wednesday morning to discuss the system and air concerns.

On Nov. 1 Grand Strand Regional Medical Center began operating as a level two trauma center, starting a yearlong evaluation period as it seekscertification from both the American College of Surgeons and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Lewis Dickinson, the medical director of trauma for Grand Strand Regional Medical Center on Wednesday detailed some of the additional staff, capabilities and equipment that have been added to comply with the level two trauma requirements. The hospital has added about 45 staff members and now has a trauma surgeon, operating room team and other emergency staff at the hospital 24 hours a day to comply with the more stringent level two requirements.

The general rule for Horry County's emergency medical technicians is that if they don't directly pass another emergency room they should take trauma patients to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center. If another emergency room is closer, then the EMT should call the closest hospital and let a doctor make the call of whether the patient needs to go to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, said Matthew Smith, the chief of medical operations for Horry County Fire Rescue. While the guidelines will be followed, some decisions on where to send a patient will be made on a case by case basis as the situation demands, he said.

"It's a unique set of circumstances, unique challenges and demands," Smith said. " [That is] one of the reasons that we wanted to have this forum."

The guidelines about where a trauma victim should be taken are determined with guidelines set by the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the American College of Surgeons and as a level three trauma center Grand Strand was already seeing many of those patients, Smith said.

Both Conway Medical Center and Loris Community Hospital used to be level three trauma centers but both let the designation lapse due largely to cost concerns.

Officials from both of those hospitals had some concerns about when patients would bypass their emergency rooms but credited Grand Strand Regional Medical Center with stepping up to provide level two trauma services in the area.

"We're worried about people injured in our immediate area being taken to Grand Strand when we could adequately take care of them," said James Craigie, the vice president of medical affairs for the Loris Healthcare System.

He said his concern was with emergency workers in the field making the decision and the possibility that local patients would be sent away.

Smith said that Horry County Fire Rescue is aware of the relationships that hospitals create with members of their community and doesn't want to get in the way of that relationship.

"When you take a patient from one area to a different facility there are always questions about how you're going to make that decision," he said.

Smith said that when patients, who may have been born at Loris Community Hospital and have always gone there, are taken to Grand Strand in an emergency ask hard questions of the local hospital afterwards, those hospitals often first question whether the patient should have been taken there in the first place.

"What they want to be sure of is that we are not disrupting that relationship," he said. "We want people to know that we respect the people and the facilities that work for health care in this area."

Area hospitals raised questions when Grand Strand stepped up cardiac care and severe heart attack cases started going straight there, Smith said.

Edward King, the medical director of Conway Medical Center, said this situation parallels what happened with heart attack transports, which created some discussion but works well.

"It's pretty much protocol driven guidelines. It's hard to argue with it," he said.

King said once again Grand Strand has made the move to provide a service that is unique to the area, which he said would be a valuable asset to the community.

Conway Medical Center can and does treat trauma patients and that despite no longer being certified as a level three trauma center the hospital still has all the same capabilities, he said..

Smith said that Horry County Fire Rescue has no intention of diverting noncomplex trauma patients from the noncertified hospitals.

Ensuring an openness and understanding of how those decisions are made was one of the main purposes of the forum and Smith proposed a committee of various hospitals and Horry County Fire Rescue that will review and evaluate where trauma patients are sent.

If the result is that the wrong decision was made then it is a learning experience and if the right calls were made then hospitals can be confident that the system is working, Smith said.

"Either way we learn from it and as a health care system in this county we do better," he said.

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Myrtle Beach cuts millions from convention center hotel contract

Myrtle Beach has changed its contract with the company that runs the city-financed convention center hotel so it will stop paying the group based on revenue projections that were never reached and chipping in for bonuses for the hotel's top managers that weren't paid.

The city could save about $2 million during the next five years because of those changes in its contract with Interstate Hotels & Resorts, which operates the Sheraton at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, said Grant Kuhn, chairman of the Hotel Board Corp., which oversees the hotel for the city. The City Council approved the new contract Tuesday.

The original contract had to be structured in a way that protected the tax-exempt status on the city bonds that paid for the hotel's construction, city Budget Director Mike Shelton said. The Internal Revenue Service issued a private letter ruling in 2005 that loosened some of those restrictions, prompting the Hotel Board to renegotiate the contract to take into account the recent down economy that affected the hotel's performance, he said.

So has the city been overpaying Interstate?

"Yes," Mayor John Rhodes said after the council voted Tuesday to change the contract. "That's the way it was. It could have been a better contract, but the hotel was struggling at the time and the city's main concern was finding the right company to get us moving in the right direction."

Interstate took over management of the hotel in 2005, rebranding it a Sheraton. The city, which financed the hotel aiming to boost business at the convention center from groups that demanded on-site lodging, sought a new management company after the hotel struggled in its early years under the Radisson flag. The hotel opened in January 2003.

The annual fee the city paid, set when the original contract was approved, automatically increased by 3 percent every year - even amid a down economy like the one of the past few years and even if the hotel's revenues didn't increase. Now the fee will be adjusted annually based on benchmarks of several local hotels with similar meeting space and offerings - dubbed a "competitive set." That should save the city about $1.3 million for five years, Kuhn said.

"The only way of complying with the IRS guidelines was to negotiate a fixed-fee type contract," Shelton said. Officials couldn't have predicted the recession and how it would have negatively affected the hotel's revenues and that growth wouldn't be automatic, he said.

"Based on the information the city had at the time it was a reasonable deal," Shelton said, adding officials anticipated yearly growth. "We have all been forced to realize that things can go the other way."

The city also has paid Interstate money to cover potential bonuses for the hotel's top managers that weren't earned - another payment stipulation in the original contract with Radisson management needed to protect the tax-exempt status on the city bonds, Shelton said. The new contract reduces the "executive compensation fee" based on current salaries and eliminates bonuses as part of the fixed fee. Bonuses of up to 20 percent now will be paid out of the management fee. That change should save the city between $750,000 and $850,000 during the next five years, Kuhn said.

The money for bonuses was given to Interstate - as outlined in the contract - whether the bonuses were paid or not.

"All that is irrelevant," Shelton said. "The money we had to pay ... was not being used to pay bonuses. We paid under the terms on the contract we were able to negotiate at the time."

The new contract, which the Hotel Board has been negotiating for several months, is retroactive to the start of the hotel's budget year, March 1.

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Cold air takes its toll; Winter storms heading toward Myrtle Beach area

Bed mats are being rolled out at Street Reach Ministries in Myrtle Beach as the shelter is serving more people due to the bitter cold, according to shelter officials.

And weather watchers predict a possible wintry mix on Thursday morning.

Forecasters said near record low temperatures are possible this week in the Myrtle Beach area.

12-13-10/Monday-----Myrtle Beach homeless resident Shirl Thomas waits outside Street Reach Ministries for the emergency overnight services to open Monday afternoon in Myrtle Beach. Thomas has been homeless for six-weeks after losing her job as a server. "I thank god for this place cause I'd freeze tonight." She said. The shelter has upped the number of clients it will take for the service and lengthened the time overnight residents can stay due to the extreme cold weather in the area.Photo By Randall Hillrhill@thesunnews.com

• ?Cold Weather
  
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• Tuesday

  Record high 75 degree set in 2001

  Record low 24 degrees set in 1988

  Wednesday

  Record high 74 degrees set in 1995

  Record low 24 degrees set in 2004

  Thursday

  Record high 74 degrees set in 1990

  Record low 19 degrees set in 2004

  Records measured in North Myrtle Beach by the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

Since last week, an additional 61 people have come into Street Reach through its emergency overnight services, said director Joy Hanner.

Overnighters are typically out by 6 a.m. but the shelter has extended the time to about 7:15 a.m. until it warms up, Hanner said. Individuals can then go up the street to the Community Kitchen to get breakfast. The shelter currently has more than 120 residents.

With the first day of winter a week away, area residents will likely experience the coldest temperatures yet, according to forecasters with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

The same storm system that dumped 17 inches of snow in the Minneapolis area and caused the Minnesota Vikings' Metrodome to collapse is moving into the area, said Ron Steve, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"The same storm system that has caused all that havoc in the Midwest has broken off a chunk of the polar vortex, and that's what bringing all that cold air," Steve said.

Arctic air and gusty winds will push temperatures "well below normal," and wind chills are forecast to be as low as 5 to 10 degrees at times overnight.

Street Reach officials have been distributing blankets, sleeping bags, coats, gloves and socks to clients. Tables with those items are put out in front of the shelter every Tuesday and Thursday since the cold spell, Hanner said. In addition, Christ Community Church in Conway delivered 200 scarves Sunday night to the shelter for its residents. The shelter distributed 150 scarves, she said.

Chad Brogdon, 38, came into the shelter Sunday night after someone told him about Street Reach.

Brogdon, who has been in the area for about three months, was out on the streets.

"I can't deal with this," Brogdon said about the cold weather. "I'm too old to deal with the cold. I'm originally from the West Coast. This is all new to me."

Record lows will be threatened during the cold snap, even though the Myrtle Beach area has limited records on file, Steve said.

Today's record was 24 degrees set in 1988 in North Myrtle Beach, and Wednesday's record was also 24 degree set in 2004, Steve said.

"But we don't know how cold it got in 1960s and that is when Wilmington and Florence set their record lows on those days.

"We do not have data for those days in North Myrtle Beach," Steve said and noted Wilmington's record low for today and Wednesday were 16 and 17 degree respectively. "If our forecast is dead on they won't be broken, but it will be within a degree or two."

And don't expect a warm up to the normal temperatures of 58 degrees during the day and 37 degrees overnight, Steve said.

"We're going to be below normal every day. We won't be seeing either of those numbers any time soon."

A storm system is on the way for Thursday and depending on when the rain begins that morning there could be a chance for a few snowflakes or some sleet, Steve said.

"I would say stay tuned because it's a touchy forecast. We'll be watching that closely," Steve said. "Most of the day will be cold rain because it will warm up into the 40s."

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Real estate sales slide in Myrtle Beach area

Grand Strand real estate sales slid again in November, a possible cause for concern, but single-family home prices continued to rise, showing signs of stability, according to data released Friday.

Single family home sales fell 34 percent in November when compared to the same month last year, according to the Multiple Listing Service. Condo sales dropped 18 percent in November from the same month a year ago.

"It's starting to get to the point that you have to worry that sales are slowing down for a reason," said Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors.

When sales dropped last month, Realtors and experts said it was a result of several factors including a rush last year to buy before the home buyer tax credit expired, uncertainty surrounding the election and foreclosure problems. The continued drop might not be able to be explained away in the same way, Maeser said.

Some Realtors were not concerned about the drop in sales and didn't see it as an indication of more troubles ahead.

"I don't see concern in that it's off, that it's something drastic, that it's not going to come up next year," said Marvin Heyd, the owner of Prudential Myrtle Beach Real Estate.

Heyd said the market is typically slow in November and that last year's sales were boosted by the home buyer tax credit.

Drew Streett, a Realtor at Garden City Realty and the regional vice president for South Carolina Realtors, said the drop in sales is not uncommon in an election year when there is uncertainty about who will be elected and how the new government will work, he said.

"I don't think it's something to be concerned about. A lot of people in October and November were waiting to see how the election would play out, now they're waiting a little," he said. "I feel like the spring, the end of 2011 is going to pick right back up."

Penny Boling, the broker-in-charge of Century 21 Boling and Associates, said that last year at this time buyers were going after any property with a low price and this year they are being more selective, which may be part of the reason sales are down.

"I think last November was just heating up with foreclosures and the short sales and people were buying anything," she said. "We've cleaned the market up a little bit."

Maeser said that foreclosures have been driving sales - about a third of all properties sold are either foreclosures or short sales - and that delays as banks halted foreclosure sales could have contributed to the decline in sales. Sales could also be lower because the best deals were bought quickly, leaving fewer of the low-priced properties available, he said.

The number of single-family homes on the market was down to 5,861 from about 6,200 last year and the number of condos on the market dropped from 6,186 to 5,248 last month, according to the MLS.

The inventory has dropped because buyers have bought low-priced properties but also because some sellers, who don't have to sell now, have taken their homes off the market, Heyd said.

Single-family home prices went up 5 percent in November, when compared to the same month last year, continuing a trend of small gains. Condo prices continued to drop and were down 6 percent last month from November 2009, according to the MLS.

Foreclosures are more of a problem in the condo market than they are in the single-family home market, which is part of the reason home prices are stabilizing, Maeser said.

Boling said that certain neighborhoods and resorts have stabilized but the lack of financing on oceanfront financing continues to push prices on those properties down.

Those properties are largely being purchased by investors who are paying in cash, she said.

About 49 percent of buyers paid with cash in November, with 44 percent using traditional financing and the others using programs through the Federal Housing Administration or Veterans Affairs to pay for their purchases.

"There's a lot of buyers out there that still have a lot of cash. I don't think we've tapped that resource yet," Boling said.

Streett said he's not worried about the number of cash buyers, or that their money will dry up because they continue to go to his company looking to buy property.

"To carry us through the short-term, yes, I think it's very sustainable," he said.

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Myrtle Beach area plugs in to energy savings

Energy efficiency upgrades are gaining in popularity, in part because they save homeowners money but also because incentives, some of which are set to expire, have sweetened the deal.

The most common, and cost effective, upgrades are sealing air leakage and adding insulation, according to companies that regularly test and make energy efficiency upgrades. Many homeowners making those upgrades in the past couple of years have been eligible for federal tax credits that help with the costs.

The non-business energy property credit gives homeowners 30 percent, up to a maximum of $1,500, for certain energy-saving fixes, including some heating and air conditioning systems, water heaters, windows and some insulation. Theresidential energy efficient property credit gives homeowners 30 percent of what they spend on solar electric systems, solar hot water heaters, geothermal heat pumps and wind turbines. Both federal tax credits expire at the end of this month.

Earlier this week Eddie Paul, who lives in a 2,600-square-foot house in Conway, had Carolina Green Energy Systems come to his house and do an energy audit so he could find trouble spots and fix them as he renovates the house.

"[I want to] get the most bang for my buck. That's what it comes down to," Paul said. "I want to maximize my return."

He said he'll be happy if he saves 20 percent monthly in energy costs as a result of the upgrades, which will focus on sealing air leakage from the ducts in his heating and air conditioning system and improving some insulation.

Paul won't be applying for the federal tax credit for energy efficiency upgrades for these projects because he used them already to replace his roof.

"I spent a little more for the roof because of the tax credit," he said. "I went ahead and got an Energy Star roof."

The energy audits are key in determining the best upgrades a homeowner can make, said Bennie Marshall of Carolina Green Energy Systems. At the end of an audit, homeowners get a detailed report about what should be done and what the return on each investment would be, he said.

Sealing air leaks, like in Paul's house, and replacing insulation tend to be the easiest and cheapest fixes that can save homeowners the most money, Marshall said.

The company does about 1,000 energy audits a year, Marshall said, and only about 10 percent of customers have asked about the tax credit.

"It's a cost benefit [issue] whether you have the tax credit or not," he said.

But Rebecca Griggs, the public outreach coordinator for the S.C. Energy Department, said the recent state and federal incentive programs have helped consumers spend the extra money on energy efficient upgrades.

"This has given people a chance to look at that as an option. Before, people were turned off at the high prices, now it's given them a chance to look at it," she said.

The incentives have also educated residents so more homeowners now know about the possible savings. Once the rebates and credits run out, it is unclear if homeowners will be willing to make the investment given the still-rocky economy, Griggs said.

Evelyn Lyons, who will get the federal tax credit after adding insulation and a heat barrier in her attic, said that the savings even without the incentive would be worthwhile.

She immediately felt the difference in her house, and her electric bill dropped more than $20 last month.

"It cut the drafts ... from the day he did it to the next day," Lyons said.

The tax credit helped her decide to make the upgrades but the savings on her energy bills was the main factor, she said. With the money from the tax credit and big savings in the colder months, Lyons estimates she'll have the money she spent on the upgrades back in less than two years.

Reid Hilliard, the owner of Green Innovations of South Carolina Inc., who did the energy audit and improvements on Lyons' house, said most of his customers have been aware of the tax credit.

"That's definitely one of the things they want to take advantage of. They've known about it, and they've asked about it and they're going to take advantage of it," he said.

Hilliard said that often customers ask him about replacing windows, which are not the most cost effective or efficient fix. His first recommendation to homeowners is typically to add insulation in attics because it's fairly inexpensive and can really reduce the power bill, especially in older homes.

Most sealing and insulation projects on a typical 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot house can be finished in a day, and costs vary based on the types of materials needed. In most cases, several hundred dollars will cover the testing and project costs, he said.

Hilliard said even once the tax credits expire, there are other incentive programs that can help reduce homeowners' costs as they upgrade to more energy efficient systems. Some of those programs are coming from utility companies that are pushing customers to make the improvements.

"We are seeing a big interest among our customers," said Mollie Gore, spokeswoman for Santee Cooper.

Santee Cooper launched a group of energy efficiency initiatives called Reduce the Use South Carolina in September 2009, and in the first year customers had saved more than 49 million kilowatt-hours, about enough energy to power 37 houses for a year.

"With the focus of keeping energy costs low, to the extent that we can get customers to demand less electricity, that is less electricity that we have to generate and in the future less electricity that we have to build for," she said. "It saves money when [we're] collectively practicing energy efficiency."

Santee Cooper has some rebates but also a low interest loan program that allows homeowners to borrow money to pay for improvements and pay it back on their monthly utility bill.

The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, a group that represents the electric co-ops, has been working with South Carolina's congressional representatives to get a program passed that will provide federal money to utilities to make similar loans for energy efficiency upgrades. The bill that would approve the program is stuck in the Senate, said Van O'Cain, the director of member and public relations for the group.

Encouraging residents to install energy efficient equipment saves the residents - and the co-ops - in the long run, he said.

"Energy efficiency is the best available measure we have to help our members. It's one thing we can control," O'Cain said.

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DHEC holds up Surfside Beach deck

SURFSIDE BEACH -- The residents of Surfside Beach were supposed to be able to enjoy the town's entertainment deck at its July Fourth celebration. But five months later, the deck remains a wooden skeleton.

The town and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management are engaged in a discussion about the classification and regulation of the deck, and it could mean that the town will have to dismantle the skeleton and reconfigure the plans.

"The town had applied for, but did not receive, the necessary permit for the deck construction," when it began work this summer, said Dan Burger, DHEC spokesman.

He said the proposed deck is much larger than the 144 square feet allowed.

Surfside Mayor Allen Deaton said the town is now working with DHEC to figure out a way to build its approximately 1,000-square-foot entertainment deck. One of the ways under discussion, he said, would be to classify it as an "other structure," similar to the way the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk is classified.

Deaton said he does not know how much had been spent on the entertainment deck so far, noting that the project has been done and approved in pieces and that town officials originally thought the materials to build it were already in the town's possession.

According to the town's online financial records, it has paid $14,942 to A.P. Reale & Sons, which had a sign posted on the deck saying that it built it.

"We disagree on the type of structure that it is," Deaton said of DHEC. "They've pigeonholed into this section pertaining to decks."

Deaton said the town just wants "the same protection that the city of Myrtle Beach has."

"There is a section for other structures," he said. "And this could end up being part of a boardwalk eventually."

Deaton said town officials and DHEC are discussing an "expanded" project that could satisfy both entities.

He said that the expanded project will be presented to the Town Council soon for its consideration.

Deaton said the pier is "our gateway," he said. "We want it to say, 'You have arrived in Surfside Beach.'"

He said the town and DHEC met earlier this week and are close to an agreement.

"We're probably going to have this resolved in the next couple weeks," he said, noting that no fines have been levied against the town.

He said he has had face-to-face meetings with Earl Hunter, DHEC commissioner, to resolve the issues and has appealed for help from S.C. Rep. Nelson Hardwick, R-Surfside Beach. Hardwick is chairman of the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, which oversees DHEC.

But Burger said the town's permit for the construction of the deck has been put on hold until enforcement issues are resolved related to the town's early construction and oversize plans.

He said to resolve the enforcement problems the town will have to show that "the deck has either been removed or is in compliance with the regulation." Once that happens he said DHEC can restart the permit application review and "apply special conditions as necessary to ensure compliance with the regulations," or Surfside Beach can also withdraw its current permit application and resubmit it.

Deaton said DHEC previously suggested that the town move the proposed deck farther from the pier so it would not be subject to these regulations.

"But then it would be in the parking lot," he said, noting that the town has enough problems with parking in that area without taking away more of it.

He said the entertainment deck would actually protect the beach dunes from beachgoers.

"The dunes could flourish underneath that structure," he said. "We're good stewards of our beach ... and we feel that we have the right to develop that area."

DHEC regulations say that "Emergency Vehicle Access Ways, Small Wooden Decks, Gazebos and Other Structures which enhance beach access" are allowed in the beach area so long as they follow certain regulations.

One of the allowed uses that would fall under "other structures" are "non-water dependent structures." According to regulations, those structures, which include hotels, residences and parking facilities, have been allowed in the past but no new ones are allowed within the beach/dune area without a special permit.

Deaton said once the permitting is figured out, the deck construction as it is currently planned could be finished in about two weeks.

Deaton said the town has the proper permitting in place from DHEC for repairs to the pier itself, including replacing rotting pilings and deck boards, and Deaton said that part of the construction project should be under way soon.

He said because the entertainment deck is a new structure the regulations are different. He said he is hopeful that the issues will be resolved "sooner rather than later."

"It was supposed to be a quick project," he said.

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Jimmy Buffett eatery to land in Myrtle Beach

Jimmy Buffett's popular Margaritaville brand is bringing another restaurant concept to Myrtle Beach, with plans to build a Land Shark Bar & Grille on the oceanfront.

Land Shark, Margaritaville's brewing company that makes Land Shark Lager known for its blue and yellow fin-wave logo, plans to open in May as part of the SkyWheel attraction, a nearly 200-foot-high Ferris wheel that is under construction beside Plyler Park.

The 3,000-square-foot restaurant will have mostly outdoor seating, said David Busker, president of Koch Development Co., which will operate the SkyWheel and is developing it along with Pacific Development. Busker declined to talk about the restaurant's name and concept, but said Koch wanted to partner with anestablished operator to make the most of the restaurant's good location on the oceanfront.

Officials are staying tight-lipped about the restaurant. Al Mers, a partner in Pacific Development, said Wednesday that he couldn't comment about the restaurant until Dec. 15. The Myrtle Beach Community Appearance Board will likely consider the restaurant's plan for signs on and around the restaurant building on Dec. 16.

Officials representing Buffett and the Margaritaville brand could not be reached Wednesday.

There's a Land Shark Landing restaurant in Pensacola, Fla., beside the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, that serves items such as fish tacos, nachos and, of course, a Cheeseburger in Paradise fixed the way Buffett describes in the song by the same name. It's unclear whether the Land Shark Bar & Grille in Myrtle Beach will serve similar food.

The restaurant will be part of the $12 million to $15 million SkyWheel complex emerging on the oceanfront. Crews are installing the 106 pilings that will support the nearly 200-foot-high Ferris wheel, which will have 42 glass-enclosed, temperature-controlled gondolas that plan to operate year-round.

The Land Shark restaurant will be a different kind of venue for downtown Myrtle Beach that will lure Buffett's followers who are likely to check out downtown's other offerings after stopping by the new restaurant, said Dave Sebok, executive director of Myrtle Beach's Downtown Redevelopment Corp.

"It will offer something that is obviously new and has a different theme to it than what we have on the oceanfront now," he said. "It's a name that is nationally and internationally known so to me it's likely to be able to attract customers and business downtown."

Buffett's business ventures have fit well in Myrtle Beach. Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant at Broadway at the Beach opened six years ago. There's also a Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant on the north end of Myrtle Beach, which is owned by Paradise Restaurant Group with a license from Buffett.

The power of the Buffett brand - and its national publicity - will be a plus for downtown Myrtle Beach, Sebok said.

"I think it is a great addition to downtown," he said. "It will bring in a national company that will promote that location and the downtown."

The wheel and restaurant complex will be the second major addition to Myrtle Beach's oceanfront in two years. Earlier this year, the $6 million, 1.1-mile boardwalk debuted.

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Rare breed of turtles to leave Garden City Beach for Gulf of Mexico

Travel is nothing new to sea turtles, but they aren't usually accustomed to boat and car rides.

But three late-in-the-season nests found in Garden City Beach are getting special treatment right now because of the chill that has settled over the region. Experts moved some of the eggs from the Grand Strand to Charleston and this week, when the hatchlings are ready, they will travel to North Carolina for a boat ride to the warmer Gulf Stream waters that sweep closer to the N.C. shore.

Loggerheads are the area's most familiar sea turtles.

The tropical-water-loving Atlantic green turtles, which have a later nesting season than loggerheads, don't often lay clutches of eggs on these shores. Loggerheads can be found as far north as New England, but endangered green turtles mostly stay down in Florida and the Caribbean.

"This is rare for South Carolina, so I'm sure [DNR is]putting a prestige on these nests," said Eric Koepfler, professor of marine science at Coastal Carolina University, who also teaches a sea-turtle course every other year in Costa Rica.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is arranging the tiny turtles' boat trip because "they aren't going to make it" if they head straight for the cold water hitting our shores right now, said DuBose Griffin, DNR sea turtle coordinator.

The Sea Turtle Conservancy says green turtles live in tropical and temperate water, where temperatures are 65 or higher. This month, the Grand Strand's water temperatures are in the mid-50s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Karen Fuss, environmental educator for the Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetlands Studies at Coastal Carolina University, said the cold water can stun the turtles and stop them from swimming.

"They have to swim, swim, swim until they reach where they want to be," Fuss said.

Fuss said it takes a lot of careful work to move a nest because the eggs cannot be jiggled and bumped, and they must be gently excavated from the sand and placed in buckets for transport.

Griffin said some of the eggs are at the DNR facility at Fort Johnson in Charleston to finish hatching, and she was trying this week to find a North Carolina research vessel or another boat that can get them out to the Gulf Stream as soon as they are ready.

While still in the sandy nests, 2 to 21/2 feet below the surface, the babies, just a few inches long, break out of their shells but take a few days to finish absorbing their egg sacs before digging out and making for the sea. That yolk will give them the energy to "boil" to the surface as a group, dig out, trundle down the beach to the water and head out into the currents.

DNR is letting the babies rest in a temperature-controlled environment so they can conserve the energy they will need to survive, trying to keep them as stress-free as possible.

Because nests typically take 60 days to hatch, Koepfler said the Garden City Beach eggs were probably laid at the end of September, and nests set that late often don't develop.

"Probably 1 percent of our turtle nests are laid that late, but the cold usually just stops the embryos from developing inside the eggs," he said.

Even adult turtles can get cold-shock, he said. For loggerheads, temperatures below 40 degrees can cause problems quickly.

"Because they are cold blooded, they rely on the temperature of their environment to help regulate their body temperature," he said. "If it gets too cold too quickly, their bodily functions can just shut down."

Baby turtles are at even greater risk, he said.

The people who work with the turtles feel very parental toward them, Fuss said.

Although she isn't working with the Garden City Beach babies, she has been part of turtle releases before, including one in which everyone involved - including the crew of the Coast Guard cutter that was delivering hatchlings to the Gulf Stream - was bawling as they sent the babies off into the wide ocean.

"It's amazing to watch them just swim off," Fuss said. "Once they hit the water, they know exactly what to do."

The Garden City Beach hatchlings will be vulnerable to predators, although they will be placed in mats of sargassum, a free-floating seaweed, which should provide some camouflage, Griffin said.

Once they have gone to sea, that will likely be the last anyone sees of them.

Contrary to popular belief, babies don't return to the exact beaches where they hatched - just the region, and that region can be 200 or 300 miles long - Griffin said.

They will eat small fish and crabs and free-float around the Atlantic for a few years, becoming vegetarians once they reach adulthood, she said.

Much of what's known about sea turtles is learned from those that are stranded on beaches, which means they are sick or dead, or from the females who come ashore to nest every three to five years. Males never come ashore voluntarily, said Fuss, who holds the turtle-monitoring permit for Waties Island north of Cherry Grove.

DNR began monitoring sea turtles in the late 1970s, and has, through a variety of groups, including volunteers and people with Coastal Carolina University, watched the beaches daily for nests and stranded turtles.

"We are all just trying to give these animals on the endangered list the best chances they can have," Fuss said.

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Myrtle Beach trees honor local hotelier

The trees planted for today's Arbor Day celebration in Myrtle Beach aren't just for looks and the environment.

The 15 freshly planted oaks on the south end of Ocean Boulevard honor retired hotelier Woody Crosby, a longtime business leader and former city tree protection committee member who needs a liver transplant.

The trees are the start of what will become known as "Woody's Forest," a string of trees near the Crown Reef Resort, where Crosby worked as president and CEO of Jordan Properties until he retired during the summer.

About a dozen businesses and people paid $100 each for trees to get the project started, saying Crosby is an innovator - finding creative ways to raise money to promote Grand Strand tourism - and a longtime friend to tourism and the city.

"Every effort he made was in the best interest for the community," said Danny Isaac, an owner of A&I Fire Restoration, which bought one of the trees.

Crosby retired earlier than planned because of his fight with hepatitis C, a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver and has him on a waiting list for a second liver transplant.

Crosby had a transplant in 1999 and had been doing fine for a decade, but the virus eventually attacked the new liver. He's undergone treatments, but needs the transplant.

Officials plan to make information about transplants available during today's ceremony.

"We're pleased to help plant Woody's Forest, a fitting tribute to a longtime Myrtle Beach contributor who has done much to plant good will and create local jobs for many years," Brad Dean, president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, said in an e-mail.

A Gastonia, N.C., native, Crosby came to Myrtle Beach in 1975 to help solve some summer management problems for a real estate company he worked for, and eventually landed a job at Jordan Properties, where he rose through the ranks.

He served on boards such as the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association and Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, and helped form the Myrtle Beach Lodging Cooperative in 2006, a group of properties that raised money to advertise the Grand Strand and secured more marketing money from the state. He was the chamber's Citizen of the Year in 2009 and served on the city's tree protection ordinance committee in the mid-1990s.

"Woody has been a tremendous asset to the hotel industry, the tourism industry and our city," Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said.

"It is well deserved."

The new oaks, planted between Kings Highway and the Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum a couple of weeks ago so they could settle in by today's ceremony, extend a line of 2,500 trees along Farrow Parkway through The Market Common.

Myrtle Beach's event comes on the heels of other Arbor Day events Friday in North Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Charleston and other cities.

In 1934, the General Assembly set Arbor Day as the first Friday in December. Myrtle Beach celebrates the following Monday so state Forestry Commission representatives, who must attend the state event on Friday, can attend Myrtle Beach's ceremony, said Diane Moskow-McKenzie of the city's Planning Department.

Crosby could not be reached for comment last week.

"This is the way they liked to say 'thank you,' [to Crosby]" Moskow-McKenzie said. "He's very humbled. He's just very touched."

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Myrtle Beach sends off Seahawks

It's one thing to believe you have support; it's another to see it and feel it.

That's what the Myrtle Beach Seahawks football team got to do Friday before loading onto buses headed to Columbia for today's Class AAA state championship game.

The school band led the squad on the team's 20-minute Seahawk Walk through hundreds of community members and students from throughout the school system. The walk began in the school bus parking area, went around the tennis courts where Myrtle Beach Middle School children waited, continued behind the elementary, primary and intermediate schools through Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, and ended where players loaded onto two buses at 33rd Avenue North and Oak Street.

"It's real nice that they're diehard fans and they've got everybody's back, no matter what," said T.J. Jones, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound junior tackle who will be responsible for blocking South Pointe star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney today. "It shows how many fans we have and how much they love us."

Tawana Wilson, mother of junior defensive back Daquarius Wilson, was among the supporters.

"We definitely need to support them," she said. "The Seahawks have always had a big fan base. They've come a long way. They've played hard all year and this is a winning team. For them to be making it back for the third year in a row, we want to be out here to support them for all the hard work they've put in over the years. There's definitely a lot of pride there."

Austin Fowler, a student at the fourth- and fifth-grade Myrtle Beach Intermediate School, where students lined the final leg of the walk, created a sign that had Myrtle Beach beating South Pointe 64-10. The school had a period for the students to create signs for the walk.

"That's what I'm hoping," Fowler said of his predicted score.

Steve McElveen, father of junior special teams player and lineman Shay McElveen, took the morning off work from Tire Town to attend the parade, then bought 10 tickets to the game. "They're for his mom, me, my sister, her husband - anybody that wants to go I'll buy tickets for," McElveen said. "We're going to have a crowd. It's going to be great. Everybody is real excited."

Former Seahawks head coach Scott Earley began the team sendoff procedure prior to the 2008 state championship as a drive-through in buses, and Mickey Wilson made it a walk-through in his first season as head coach last year.

"I think Mickey has made it more personable for the players, the community and the [grade-school] kids - they get to see them, slap hands with them and cheer, and I think everybody feels a part of the program," said Myrtle Beach athletic director Doug Terry.

"I think it went as well as it could have gone. I think it just shows the overall community support and how closely knit this community is. In comparison to the last three years I think we had more community people out there than we've had in the past, which is a big plus."

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Live-works not working in Myrtle Beach area

Live-work properties may not be a great fit for the Grand Strand, and one developer is changing future building plans for more units in response to slow sales.

Myrtle Beach has two completed live-work townhome properties - at The Market Common and St. James Square off Robert Grissom Parkway - but vacancies in both have led the builder, Dock Street Communities, to change future plans.

Dock Street has asked the city of Myrtle Beach to approve changes to the master plan of The Market Common to allow it to build residential townhomes rather than live-work townhomes in future phases. The company has built 47 live-work townhomes out of the 80 originally planned.

A live-work townhome is a dual-use retail and residential space with a townhouse above a street-level store.

"You're asking someone to overcome two fears - to purchase a house and start a new business in one transaction, and that is not easy in today's economy," said David Wilkes, the executive vice president of Dock Street. "We just think it's more marketable for those to be residential than the live-works."

The company also asked for some changes in the plan to allow the retail space in the existing townhomes to be used by the residents as additional living space as a way to fill vacancies, he said.

About 40 percent of the stores on the first floor of the townhomes in both developments are not being used, Wilkes said.

The planning commission has approved the changes, and the Myrtle Beach City Council will review the proposal for the first time at its meeting on Dec. 14.

Wilkes said there are four live-work townhomes at The Market Common and six at St. James Square that are still available and that despite dropping prices the company hasn't sold one in close to a year. The properties at St. James Square cost about $250,000 and the townhomes at The Market Common cost just less than $300,000, though Wilkes said those prices are negotiable.

"We just had to adapt and meet the market as it says what it wants," he said, adding that the appetite for the live-work property appears to have dropped.

Eric Putthoff, the owner of Myrtle Beach Segway, rents the business space in a live-work townhome at The Market Common but does not live upstairs. He said the economic downturn has been tough on small businesses.

"We're lucky we made it through the recession," he said. "Others didn't. Some have come and gone."

But Putthoff said he doesn't blame the developers and he's happy to be there, though he would lobby for a few changes.

"Any new project whether it be something like this [or not] it takes time for something to develop," Putthoff said.

He would like to see more parking and attractions to bring more potential customers to the area. Additional help advertising or inclusion in efforts by The Market Common would also be a big help, Putthoff said.

Randall Ulrikson, who owns The Common Spot, a coffee and snacks shop at The Market Common, said advertising is one of the main challenges.

The farther away the shops are from the center of The Market Common, the harder it is to get business, he said.

Ulrikson doesn't live upstairs from his business, like many of the business owners, but he said it's a great place to do business. If he owned the townhome, he would be more invested in the live-work property type, Ulrikson said.

The most important thing for the business owners is to get more residents to the area, he said.

Tom Maeser, a real estate analyst for the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors, said that the live-work townhomes should succeed, but the business from residents in the area is not as strong as was planned because the economic downturn slowed development of new neighborhoods nearby.

"The housing infrastructure did not develop at the rate that it needed to for the shopping," he said. "When they get those communities built up, it will be fine."

Live-work properties typically work best as part of a town center that is mixed-use, compact and walkable, said Thomas Dolan, an architect and the founder of the Live/Work Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, Calif.

"[The thing about] live-work is that it's very flexible and when an economy hiccups, it's important to be able to be adaptable, to be able to change, to repurpose one's building or use of a building as is necessary," he said.

Dock Street's move to allow empty retail space to be used by residents is a good change, Dolan said.

"The more flexible they are, the more likely they are to succeed," he said.

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One giant ride, going up in Myrtle Beach

Before Myrtle Beach's massive, oceanfront Ferris wheel can go up, the pilings have to go down - way down.

Creating support strong enough for a nearly 200-foot-high wheel - a $12 million to $15 million project on track to open in May - is in its early stages on the oceanfront spot next to Plyler Park.

To support the SkyWheel, 106 pilings will be installed 30 feet in the ground, said Al Mers of St. Louis-based Pacific Development, which is building the attraction. Then put a 12-foot cap of solid concrete on top of that, which provides support not only for the wheel's height, but also for the beach winds that will batter the wheel daily.

Crews have started preparing the site on the property where the former Golden Villa hotel stood, with the pilings expected to go down in the next few weeks and the frame to hold the wheel going up in January, Mers said. The wheel itself will start to come together in March, he said.

The wheel and related building must be built on a deck that will sit 20-feet above sea level - 3 to 4 feet above the ground - because the property is in the hurricane surge zone.

Construction of a building that will house a restaurant, ticket booth and gift shop on the site also will start in mid-December, Mers said. Mers declined to name the restaurant, saying an announcement is coming in a few weeks.

"We are not allowed to talk about it," he said. "There's going to be a restaurant down there. People will be excited about it. It's different and new."

The wheel and restaurant will be the second major addition in downtown Myrtle Beach in two years. The project comes on the heels of the $6 million, 1.1-mile boardwalk that opened in the spring.

"It is going to be a great, new, family-friendly attraction," said Dave Sebok, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corp. "The Ferris wheel is going to be unique. It's an attraction that everybody can enjoy. We think it is a great fit."

Some passers-by on the boardwalk have peered at the site, where construction gear sits and surveyors work, and wondered what was in the works.

Nancy Foster of Lexington, who has visited Myrtle Beach regularly for more than 50 years, was excited to hear a Ferris wheel would open in 2011, remembering when she rode one in Chicago and could see for miles from the ride's peak.

"Oh, that will be wonderful," she said. "This will be a really good addition."

Israel Daniels, a Denmark resident who has become a regular visitor to the Grand Strand in the last few years, already plans to take his nine grandchildren on the SkyWheel.

"They would love it," Daniels said. "I think it's great."

The wheel will have 42 glass-enclosed, temperature-controlled gondolas and plans to operate year-round. A ride on the Ferris wheel will cost about $10 for an adult, Mers said.

"We are trying to keep it within reason," he said. "We want to make sure it is something anybody can do."

The Ferris wheel will help fill the void left when The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park closed in 2006, said Jim Korszeniewski of Murrells Inlet, who was biking along Ocean Boulevard recently and stopped to check out the rendering of the Ferris wheel that's plastered on the temporary wall surrounding the construction site.

"I think this is awesome," he said. "That's the start of something. It will be really nice."

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Nibils bids farewell to Surfside Beach, moving to Myrtle Beach

SURFSIDE BEACH -- A line of people waited for Nibils restaurant to open at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

Some waited an hour for a seat in the eatery at the Surfside Beach pier where diners could gaze at the ocean while enjoying meals.

But it was the beginning of a bittersweet day for Surfside Beach residents who have flocked to the restaurant since Jack Cahill, his wife, Margaret, and six children opened the business 23 years ago.

Nibils is moving to 3301 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.

Cahill decided to relocate the business after more than a year of struggle over getting a lease on the building from the town of Surfside Beach.

After leasing what formerly was a Pizza Hut between a gas station and a beachwear store 10 miles away in Myrtle Beach, Nibils will open for business there on Valentine's Day weekend, Cahill said.

And, after enjoying the food for more than two decades and becoming friends with the Cahill family and staff that served it up, many customers agree they'll follow Nibils. "We've been coming here for 20 years," said Roy Houston. He and his wife, Alice, live in Rochester, Mich., but also own a home two miles down the beach from Nibils.

"The folks there have become like members of our family," Houston said. "We watched Jack Cahill's children grow up and we've just had a great relationship with the family and everybody who works at the place."

Glenn Curtis was annoyed that Cahill's effort to renew his lease on the Nibils building became embroiled in a prolonged controversy when town officials voted to take bids from Cahill and others who might be interested in operating there.

Dissatisfied with the first round of offers, officials asked for additional bids from Cahill and others interested in renting the property. To avoid further stress and ensure that he had a firm location, Cahill decided to seek a new home.

"I've been coming here since they opened," said Curtis, a former Staten Island resident. "You just don't know how the people of Surfside feel about Nibils having to move. They're really upset."

Eula Mae Winningham and her husband, the Rev. Fulton Winningham, were among the 300 customers who came to enjoy the final meals the Cahills would serve in the wood-paneled dining room.

Now retired, she had worked as a dishwasher, cook and finally a member of the wait staff after the Cahills opened the business.

"Oh Lord, I am really, really upset. I worked here, my children worked here and my grandchildren worked here. It's so sad to see it close," she said.

But she's happy the business is only moving north to Myrtle Beach.

"Wherever Mr. Nibils goes, we'll also go," she said.

Cahill moved to Surfside in 1984 from the Bronx.

All six of his children went to "Nibils University," he said, helping out with the business. Two still work there. His daughter, Maureen Cahill-Butwin is manager, and his son John Cahill Jr., a community education teacher with the Horry County Schools, works Fridays and Sundays in the kitchen.

"I was 12 years old when I started working here. I learned more here from my parents than any Ivy-League college could have taught me," Maureen Cahill-Butwin said. The staff and customers became like close kin, she said.

They were supportive when she gave birth to her daughter, Helena, seven months ago, helped out when Jack Cahill had surgery after suffering a double pulmonary embolism two years ago, and rallied together and ran the restaurant for the Cahills when Maureen's sister Meghan suffered life-threatening injuries in a car accident several years ago.

"It's been very unique and humbling during the last year to see the impact that we've had on people's lives," John Cahill said. "It's all because of the open communication that has existed between dad and our customers. They feel like we're not just here to get their $5 for breakfast but to be their friends."

Jack Cahill said he will miss the location where he's spent so much time during the last 23 years, especially what he calls "the big pond" that spreads to the horizon before the windows that face ocean. But he has contracted with a muralist to paint a similar view in the new quarters.

The advice from his first chef when he launched his New York restaurant should continue to serve him well when he, his wife and children and the full staff will make the move to the new business home.

He said all worked hard to create a caring, family climate because that first chef told him that good service makes good food taste better and that bad service can make even good food taste bad.

"He also said that if you think you're going to get rich, don't go into the restaurant business," Cahill said. "But I couldn't ask for more. We've made a good living here. I have six children with college degrees, and a personal bond with lots of customers."

And, he added, one thing about the move pleases his wife. With college expenses behind them and a lower rent payment at the new location, the family and staff will only serve breakfast and lunch. The only dinner will be the traditional St. Patrick's Day event that has become a tradition.

"She says now we won't have to work so hard," Jack Cahill said.

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