Area News

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Killing a Loris teen who had been a standout athlete will send a Longs man to prison for 35 years, a judge and jury in Conway ruled Thursday.      Devonta Edward Williams, 21, was convicted of murder and two counts of attempted murder in a Nov. 12, 2016 altercation that claimed Levi…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Uncertainty over just when Tabor City’s landmark eatery Dale’s Seafood would re-open, eight months after fire gutted the U.S. 701 Bypass business last summer, ends today.      Dale’s will re-open at 4 p.m. today, co-owner Sue Gore Tyson said, with early plans for a more organized re-opening schedule scuttled by uncertainty on…

By JENN CAUSEY tribjenn@tabor-loris.com      Loris Administrator Damon Kempski’s signature “appears to be” on an invoice and service agreement related to the shredding of more than a ton of City of Loris documents in the fall of 2016, though he says he’s never seen it.      Former City Clerk/Treasurer Bridgett Fowler provided the document this week, and…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A decision on who should be sheriff in Columbus County won’t be made by a Pender County jury, with what had been expected to be a distant jury trial now scheduled for a bench trial in Whiteville next week.      Columbus County Clerk of Court Jess Hill said Tuesday that Superior Court…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com Final update      A CenturyLink fiber line that was cut caused the 911 service outage that impacted a large part of southeastern North Carolina, including Columbus County, the NC Department of Information Technology reports.      CenturyLink replaced that line Tuesday afternoon, providing “full-service restoration” to the impacted 911 services. Tuesday afternoon…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Columbus County Sheriff’s Office deputy is getting praise form Sheriff Jody Greene for fending off an attack during an encounter in Green Acres near Tabor City Monday afternoon.      During the struggle Alton Maurice Graham, 36, of Graham Lane, Tabor City “struck the deputy numerous times in the face and head…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A weekend traffic checkpoint east of Tabor City manned by Columbus County Sheriff’s Office deputies netted arrests of a local man and another from Longs on a long list of narcotics and other charges.      Bonds for the men exceeded $1 million, for one it was twice that, a news release Monday…

A curve on US 701 just across the state line in South Carolina has claimed numerous big rigs over the years, this log truck Monday morning the latest to apparently make the attempt a bit too fast. Two people were in the truck, Tabor City Fire Chief Jeff Fowler said, neither the woman who was…

A live burn training exercise on Miller Road Saturday, hosted by the Tabor City Fire Department, also involved firefighters from Roseland, Williams Township, Fair Bluff, Nakina and Evergreen fire departments and Columbus County’s Air Truck. Hose spray created a rainbow as firefighters worked late in the training. Some young firefighters had their first experience inside…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE: Feb. 1      A body recovered near Tabor City less than a week ago has been identified as a missing Horry County man last seen in mid-December.      Jeremiah Grissett was identified as the body recovered off of Ten Mile      Road on the evening of Jan. 26, Columbus County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman…