Area Upfront News

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE Murder warrants have been served on a Loris man in the shooting deaths of a mother and her adult son, online records at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center near Conway show. Antonio Long, 44, is charged with two counts of murder, kidnapping, and criminal sexual conduct, jail record show.…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      For some families in Columbus and Horry counties the 2020 holidays have been heartbreaking, with six recent COVID-19 associated deaths reported by state agencies Saturday.      There has been no pause in newly confirmed coronavirus cases for either county, the most recent posts show.      North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A third adult, the last of four suspects in a Dec. 9 shooting near Tabor City that critically injured a Whiteville woman, is in custody.      Jaquan Malik McCray, 23, of Woodrow Street was arrested by Lt. Gary Lewis of the Tabor City Police Department at about 12:45 p.m. Christmas Day, booked…

By DEUCE NIVEN, & JENN CAUSEY      A Main Street merchant who is a convicted sex offender was charged by Loris Police Wednesday with criminal solicitation of a minor.      Leslie Bryan Smith, who lives at the rear Smitty’s Things, was taken into custody on the sidewalk in front of the business, arrested at 4:42 p.m. as…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Measures of COVID-19’s impact on North Carolina are trending badly, but are slightly improved for Columbus County as daily case and death numbers for Horry County seem headed in opposite directions.      This post will cover these topics and may be updated: Columbus moves out of the COVID red zone Horry new…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      “I don’t know where it came from,” Bri’s Caring Heart Child Care owner Melody Spivey said of the coronavirus infection that prompted her to close three Tabor City facilities into the new year.      Spivey said her decision to shut down was not required by the Columbus County Health Department, but was…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      A third suspect, the second adult, has been charged in a Dec. 9 shooting in Tabor City that left Whiteville resident Tabitha Reaves, 21, critically injured, a news release from Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene Monday afternoon said.      Stephon Lee Miller, 23, was arrested at his home on Hinson Park Drive,…

    By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      Coronavirus trends that followed Thanksgiving have prompted the Horry County Schools to plan for all distance-learning during the first two weeks of the new year.      Meanwhile, COVID-19 deaths continue to climb in the region, the Columbus County Health Department reporting two more on Monday, as a trend of…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com UPDATE 3 p.m. Dec. 21      A third arrest has been made in a Dec. 9 Tabor City area shooting that critically injured one woman, leaving a man hit by a stray bullet with a less serious injury, Columbus County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Tatum said.      That arrest, of an adult suspect,…

By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com      New COVID-19 cases and “potential exposures” will force closing of the Horry County Auditor’s Conway office next week.      That office, at the Government and Justice Center, will be closed Monday through Friday, though some closings due to Christmas holidays were already scheduled, an Horry County government news release said.      Offices in…