Area Upfront News

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      COVID-19 deaths have been under reported across South Carolina for several weeks, the result of “system glitches” in a new reporting system, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Thursday.      Those glitches have been fixed, revealing 254 confirmed and probable deaths not previously reported, including numerous in Horry County.…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      One man is believed responsible for break-ins at two Dollar General stores in Columbus County earlier this month, and the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help to identify him.      Break-ins were reported at the Dollar General on Dock Road in the Old Dock Community on Jan. 8, and at…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      COVID-19 vaccines will be available for all, eventually, and finding your place in the vaccine line can now be found online.      Meanwhile, some Horry County Schools students who have been splitting their time on campus should be back in the classroom full time on Feb. 8.      That comes against a backdrop…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com Afternoon update      Steven Best, identified Monday afternoon as the victim of a Friday night shooting that left him seriously injured, was “shot in the head area,” Columbus County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michele Tatum said.      Best, 49, was taken by a witness to McLeod Loris hospital following the shooting at his home…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Full-time distance learning for students in the Columbus County Schools, in place since they returned from the Christmas break, ends for many at the end of this week.      A hybrid learning model, with the students in PreK through fifth grade in on-campus classes full time, older grades split between on-campus and…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Columbus and Horry counties since Sunday, the bulk in Horry with five times the population as Columbus, with ten associated deaths following the same pattern.      This post will cover these topics and may be updated: More than 200 COVID cases in Columbus…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Concerns over spending public funds on private property prompted Columbus County Commissioners Tuesday to put off funding to end an infestation of Giant Salvinia on two Gapway area ponds.      First, the board said they want to hear from owners of land adjacent to the Richardson and Buffkin ponds, confirmed last summer…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      COVID’s death toll in Columbus County has passed a grim milestone as newly confirmed cases rise rapidly there and in neighboring Horry.      This post will cover these topics and may be updated: Columbus COVID deaths pass 100 with 13 reported      An exceptionally deadly streak for the COVID-19 pandemic in Columbus County…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Rising numbers of COVID-19 cases have prompted the Columbus County Schools to extend its current all-virtual format for two more weeks, while students in the Horry County Schools will begin returning to classrooms next Tuesday.      Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic continues, unabated, with significant new cases numbers in both counties reported Wednesday.…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A veteran Horry County Police Department Officer known for his “food and kindness” was killed when he was struck by a vehicle near North Myrtle Beach Tuesday afternoon.      Lance Cpl. Melton “Fox” Gore, 57, was “performing a task outside of his truck near the intersection of Hwy 22 and Hwy 31…