Area News

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Many property owners in Loris have received an unexpected and unwelcome surprise as annual tax notices have landed in their mail boxes in recent days.      Loris City Council members have also expressed surprise, saying they did not realize when they set the tax rate for the new fiscal year in June…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Don’t be a ’Tater Hater, with the North Carolina Yam Festival at Tabor City’s biggest day now just hours away.      Entertainment on two stages, a sweet potato pie eating contest, vendors for foods and crafts galore, and a re-imagined car show with “squatted vehicles” invited for display and the festivals Yam…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A “cyber disturbance” has taken down phone and Internet service for the Columbus County school system, isolating campuses across the county, a North Carolina Department of Public Instruction news release said.      School leaders discovered the problem Wednesday morning. A “potent virus has rendered the district’s network unusable at all school locations,”…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Cargo trailer with $30,000 worth of power tools and equipment was stolen from near Tabor City, and the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help in locating it.      Deputies responding to a home in the 1200 block of Vinegar Hill Road Tabor city just before 8 a.m.…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Loris man died in an officer involved shooting in Myrtle Beach early Saturday, the Horry County Coroner’s Office said.      Matthew Graham, 32, died following the 2 a.m. incident near 65th Avenue North and Timberline Street, Horry County Deputy Coroner Patty Bellamy said.      Neither of two Myrtle Beach Police Department officers…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Dr. Danny McPherson, whose career in education spanned more than four decades, was presented the Order of the Long Leaf Pine just minutes before continuing to teach, this time a Sunday School lesson, this weekend at Beaverdam Original Free Will Baptist Church in Chadbourn.      State Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Tabor City), made…

By JENN CAUSEY tribjenn@tabor-loris.com      City Clerk/Treasurer Kenya Wright was removed from her post during a lengthy and largely private meeting of Loris City Council Thursday, her duties handed off to Interim City Administrator Dennis Drozdak      Wright was on the job at City Hall Friday morning, though neither her job title nor duties were clear.      Council…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      State lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to Conner’s Law (House Bill 283) which enhances penalties for deadly assaults on law enforcement officers and increases the death benefit paid to the family of a fallen officer.      Named in honor of fallen state Trooper Kevin Conner, murdered last year during a routine traffic…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE      Darnell Troy Hunt, charged Tuesday in an early Monday burglary and assault that left him with serious stab wounds, is an employee of Tabor Correctional Institution, NC Department of Public Safety spokesman Jerry Higgins confirmed.      Hunt was hired Jan. 16, 2018 at TCI as a Correctional Officer II, Higgins said.…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A single-engine plane crash in the Longs area Tuesday morning resulted in no serious injury for the pilot, who declined an Horry County Fire Rescue invitation for transport to a hospital, the agency reported.      Crews were dispatched just before 11 a.m. to the crash in the 10000 block of South Hwy…