Area News

Jeff Fowler took the oath of office as the new chief of the Tabor City Fire Department Wednesday morning, with Columbus County Clerk of Court Jess Hill officiating. Fowler was flanked by stepdaughter Elizabeth Strickland and his wife Tonya, holding the Bible. (Deuce Niven, TLT)

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Protests focusing on the still unsettled race for Columbus County Sheriff have also left the future of liquor by the drink in Tabor City in limbo, a North Carolina Board of Elections spokesman said Monday.      Certificates of Election have not been sent in the sheriff’s race, or for the mixed drink…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Former Tabor City Fire Department Chief Jerry Wayne Watts died Tuesday morning, Jan. 1, at McLeod Loris hospital, where he had been taken following a sudden illness. He was 84.      Watts served the TCFD for 48 years, just 18 when he joined the department his father and four other men had…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A Chadbourn area man appears to have been shot dead outside his home, prompting a homicide investigation by the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.      Deputies responded to the Williams Road home of Dennis Jerome Smith Jr. just after 8 p.m. Saturday. Smith, 29, was outside the home, dead of an apparent gunshot…

Update, 5 p.m.      Lewis Hatcher says he’s ready to serve again as Columbus County Sheriff, if called upon, as a State Board of Elections spokesman said he should not have been replaced early this month, at least not yet.      Hatcher, Thursday afternoon, said he’s keeping a close eye on a state elections investigation that began…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Expect an increased police presence across the Horry County School District today, a resonse made “out of an abundance of caution” to a social media post threatening five high schools, both the Horry County Police Department and the school district said in news releases late Wednesday.      Those schools include Loris, Green…

Numerous large granite countertop pieces tumbled from an 18-wheeler truck on the edge of U.S. 701 at NC 410 at East Tabor just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. It appeared that a strap may have given way, allowing the load to fall. Tabor City Fire Department members assisted the truck driver, here, sweeping some of the…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Cocaine, Oxycodone, marijuana and weapons were seized as Columbus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Vice-Narcotics Unit detectives and SWAT Team members executed a pair of search warrants east of Tabor City Friday morning and made three arrests.      “Numerous complaints concerning suspicious activity in the 5700 block of Swamp Fox Highway East” prompted…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Christmas on Main will remain in Tabor City today, though rain has forced some events inside.      This morning’s Jingle Jog has been cancelled, a victim of the incessant rain that began Friday, Bringing back Main spokeswoman Pam Byrd said.      Organizers are hoping the rain will let up in time for Santa’s…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE: Friday      A man and woman in custody following a law enforcement that began and ended in Columbus County Thursday, winding into Loris and through a portion of northern Horry County, have been identified.      Quentin Montray Vereen, 20, of Ten Mile Road, Tabor City and Marquita Donta Vereen, 31, of Ridgeland…