Criminal Defense Attorney inMyrtle Beach, SC

On Thursday at 4:39 a.m. the NWS Columbia SC issued an updated flood watch in effect until 7 p.m. The watch is for Northwestern Orangeburg, Central Orangeburg and Southeastern Orangeburg as well as Burke, Aiken, Barnwell and Bamberg counties.

Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible for portions of east central Georgia, including the following area, Burke and central South Carolina, including the following areas, Aiken, Bamberg, Barnwell, Central Orangeburg, Northwestern Orangeburg and Southeastern Orangeburg through this evening.

"Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas," explains the NWS. "You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should Flash Flood Warnings be issued."

This watch is in effect until 7 p.m.

For either residents or campers of flood-prone, low-lying areas, take immediate action and seek higher ground. Follow evacuation instructions without delay. If time permits, lock your home upon departure and disconnect utilities and appliances. Avoid entering basements or rooms where electrical outlets or cords are submerged in water. If you see sparks or hear buzzing, crackling, snapping, or popping sounds, evacuate the area immediately. Refrain from entering water that may have electricity in it and avoid walking through floodwaters. Even 6 inches of moving water can pose a serious risk of knocking you off your feet. If you find yourself trapped by moving water, move to the highest possible point and contact emergency services, and dial 911.

During heavy rain, flooding is possible, especially in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Never drive through water on the road, even if it does not appear to be deep. It takes just 12 inches of rushing water to carry away most cars, according to the NWS.

What is hydroplaning?

Hydroplaning is the term for when a vehicle begins sliding uncontrollably on wet roads.

This happens when water in front of the tire builds up faster than the vehicle's weight can push water out of the way. The water pressure then causes the vehicle to rise and slide on a thin layer of water between the tires and the road, making the driver lose control. Hydroplaning is primarily caused by three factors:

In the event of your vehicle hydroplaning, here's what to know:

Source: The National Weather Service

This article was generated by the South Carolina Bot, software that analyzes structured information, such as data, and applies it to articles based on templates created by journalists in the newsroom. No human journalist was harmed in this experiment. You can report errors or bugs to [email protected].

This story was originally published November 6, 2024, 12:18 PM.

The weather may be unseasonably warm in the Grand Strand, but the holiday season is still coming. That means it’s time for the Dickens Christmas Show and Festivals, Myrtle Beach’s iconic holiday marketplace.

For its 43rd year, the Dickens Show will be open to the public from Thursday, Nov. 7 through Sunday, Nov. 10. Adults can grab tickets for $12, while kids’ entry is $5. Here’s what to expect from this year’s classic Christmas show.

Although Christmas is still a month and a half away, the Dickens Show lets visitors gather all the decorations they need for the holiday season and stock up on presents early.

“We’ll have everything you can think of, from junk to nice things to interesting things, signs, decorations,” said founder Myra Starnes.

With over 350 vendors offering gifts, jewelry, crafts, gourmet food, decor and more, the show offers something for all tastes.

Unlike other trade shows and holiday markets, the Dickens Christmas show has an unusual vendor dress code — sellers at each booth get decked out in Victorian attire fitting for the Dickensian event.

While some vendors get their old-fashioned costumes from more traditional outlets like thrift stores, others use decidedly more modern sources, like Amazon and AliExpress.

“Where do you get anything these days? Amazon,” said mystery author Carole O’Neill.

The writer and her husband Jim Eberwein, who authors children’s books, are Myrtle Beach locals who are dressing up to sell at the Dickens Christmas Show for the first time this year.

“I’m an old lady in the village. I have one of those hats and those big skirts that puff out with the white blouses,” O’neill said. “And he’s [dressed] like a news boy. He has a cap, he has a white shirt with a vest, and he has short pants, knee socks and buckles on his shoes.”

In addition to booths, visitors have the chance to bid on custom items like themed Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces, holiday stockings and more in the event’s festivals benefiting charities. All of the proceeds from the auctions go to local nonprofit organizations like the Family Justice Center, the Kiwanis Club and Waccamaw Animal Rescue Mission.

This year’s assortment of Christmas trees, which benefit performing arts scholarships for children through the Sarah Bethany Foundation at Silver Lining School of the Arts, were decorated by local businesses, families and individuals.

The assortment ranges from traditional to wacky. Some of the more creative offerings include a Christmas cactus with a Toy Story western theme, a fire fighting-focused tree that comes with a pool table and a sunset-colored SkyWheel tree.

The Dickens Christmas Show wouldn’t be complete without its Victorian theme. From a 15-foot inflatable snow globe, which was invented in the Victorian Era, to an exhibit on how Victorian women used fans to communicate, this year’s event has plenty of history.

In addition to Victorian antiques like bicycles, strollers, high chairs and more, this year’s show will have a recreation of a Victorian bathing machine, complete with people in-character dressed in old-fashioned swimwear.

“Women could not swim where men could swim,” Starnes said. “There was no place to change clothes, so they made these.”

The carriages were carted out into the ocean and used to maintain modesty. Users could change into swimwear away from the beach and enter the water directly.

When Victorian swimmers were ready to call it a day, they’d wave a flag and the bathing machine was brought back into the water so they could change again.

“Once men and women could be together and things changed a bit, then they took [the wheels] off and used the huts to change clothes in, and people would rent them to leave their stuff in,” said Starnes. “And that was the first beach service.”

New to the show this year is a barbershop quartet harmonizing around the convention center and musicians playing Victorian instruments.

Another holiday specialty at The Dickens Christmas Show will focus on global winter celebrations. Sponsoring not-for-profit organizations will offer specialty dishes from around the world and, like other nonprofits at the show, keep all of the funds raised.

Other attractions will include tea-leaf readers, puppet shows and shadow box displays.

No Christmas event would be complete without Santa Claus and this year’s Dickens Show will have plenty of old Saint Nick. Visitors will have the chance to meet and take pictures with Santa and his elves in the Santa Castle.

The show will also have a “Santa through the Ages” exhibit, featuring a display of life-sized Santas styled in different garb.

This story was originally published November 7, 2024, 6:00 AM.

Follow more of our reporting on Inside Look

Local

November 07, 2024 6:00 AM

National

See all stories

John-Paul Miller, the former pastor at Solid Rock Church in Market Common, has applied to start a new ministry in Myrtle Beach.

Amid controversy regarding the death of his wife, Mica Miller, John-Paul Miller applied for a business license to start Living Water Church at Market Common Inc. on Oct. 17. The business license for Solid Rock Ministries is still active as of Nov. 6, although the website is no longer active.

Mica Miller committed suicide in April and following her death, John-Paul Miller has been accused of being involved in her death and abusing his wife, as well as contributing to her mental health issues, which Mica Miller had talked about on her Facebook page. He has repeatedly denied abusing or being involved in her death.

Her death has gained national attention.

A group of protesters have gathered outside Solid Rock Church, 803 Howard Ave., every Sunday since May, demanding “justice for Mica” and for John-Paul Miller to be arrested.

On Nov. 5, movers were seen removing items from Solid Rock Church and placing them in moving trucks before driving away. The Solid Rock lettering was also taken off the sign in front of the building.

A business license for Solid Rock Ministries, LLC was first effective in 2006 and the church bought the former Air Force base chapel in 2013, according to land records and South Carolina Secretary of State documents.

When controversy around Mica Miller’s death began in May, the church temporarily took down its website, stopped answering phone calls, deleted John-Paul Miller’s sermons online and stopped allowing people to comment on Facebook posts.

Charles Randall, who oversees the church, did not comment when asked why the church was packing up on Tuesday. A call to Russell Long, John-Paul Miller’s lawyer, was not returned.

Solid Rock bought a piece of land nearby in 2023 with plans to build a larger church. Construction has not begun for the new building. For an address for Living Water Church, John-Paul Miller put down his Cold Water Circle home in the Market Common area.

The move out of Solid Rock comes less than a week after the FBI searched John-Paul Miller’s house. The FBI has not released information on why officers were searching the residential home. The Sun News requested the search warrant and incident report but have not received the documents.

This story was originally published November 6, 2024, 10:42 AM.

The only local ballot measure during this year’s general election in Horry County asked voters if they wanted to tax retail sales and use those funds to pay for roads.

On Nov. 5, 2024, Myrtle Beach area voters decided to pass the sales tax again, according to results from the South Carolina Election Commission. This is the fourth time Horry County voters have voted in favor of a small retail tax for roadwork.

According to previous reporting, Ride 4 will have an allowable collection period for up to 25 years or until they collect $6,350,000,000, whichever comes first. If passed by voters, the collection will begin on May 1, 2025, following the end of Ride 3 collections on April 30, 2025.

The day after the election, Fix Horry Roads, a nonprofit group that advocated and campaigned for the ballot measure, said in a press release that Ride 4 is expected to generate $6.6 billion from 2025 to 2050.

Previous reporting shows that less than half of the $592 million from the county’s previous penny tax measure for road construction, Ride 3, has been spent as of the beginning of Oct.

According to unofficial voting numbers for Horry County with 125 out of 125 precincts reporting at 12:47 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 57.11%, or 95,175 of voters voted “yes” for the measure, and 42.89%, or 71,490, voted no.

“We are pleased to see the voters of Horry County took action to approve this referendum, understanding that our livelihoods and the livelihoods of future generations count on having safe, accessible and reliable transportation options,” Steve Mays, Chairman of Fix Horry Roads said in a statement sent out on Wednesday. “Thanks to their support, we now have the resources —most of which come from our area’s out-of-town visitors — to enhance connectivity and improve quality of life across our communities.”

Preliminary data from the state’s election commission in the early hours of Wednesday morning showed that Horry County had a 67.03% voter turnout for this election.

In total, the results from the South Carolina Election Commission showed that 60,428 votes were cast during early voting in Horry County.

The first part of the Ride 4 measure included finishing Ride 3.

“Project (1) to commence in Years 1-5 the completion of any Ride III Projects, if any,” the question on this year’s general election ballot says.

If passed, Ride 4 funding will include finishing the unfinished Ride III construction projects for an estimated $150 million, and a list of 22 specific road construction projects, a clause saying they will enhance public transportation and pave unpaved dirt roads.

A full breakdown of how much each Ride 3 project has cost so far, according to numbers from Horry County, can be found here.

Prior to Election Day on Nov. 5, signs and mailers supporting the ballot were scattered across the county. The Sun News found out that these advertisements were paid for by a 501(c)(4) organization, Fix Horry Roads.

Other groups, including the Coastal Conservation League, have sent mailers about Ride 4, but in opposition of the ballot measure.

“As a registered 501(c)(4), the Fix Horry Roads initiative is a community-driven organization focused on educating the public about the upcoming election day referendum, improving transportation infrastructure across Horry County and showcasing the benefits of continuing the county’s RIDE initiative,” Fix Horry Road’s chairman, Steve Mays said in a statement to The Sun News before Election Day.

He said the group’s officers include Mays, Laura Crowther, Ryan Swaim, Shawn Godwin and Benjy Hardee, and that the ads were paid for by contributions from local residents and businesses that have a vested interest in the measure.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024, 7:00 AM.

The Sun News

828-237-1377

Elizabeth covers local government and politics in Myrtle Beach and holds truth to power as the accountability reporter. She’s lived in five states and holds a masters degree in Journalism.

On Wednesday at 1:04 p.m. an updated flood watch was issued by the NWS Charleston SC in effect until Thursday at 7 p.m. The watch is for Jenkins, Screven and Allendale counties.

Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible for portions of southeast Georgia, including Jenkins and Screven and southeast South Carolina, including Allendale county counties through Thursday evening.

"Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas," comments the NWS. "You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should Flash Flood Warnings be issued. Be prepared to protect life and property, especially in areas prone to flooding. If flooding develops, move to higher ground immediately. If driving, be prepared for flooded roadways and possible road closures."

This watch is in effect until Thursday at 7 p.m.

If you live in a flood-prone area or are camping in a low-lying area, get to higher ground immediately. If told to evacuate, do so immediately. Lock your home when you leave. If you have time, disconnect utilities and appliances. Don't go into a basement, or any room, if water covers the electrical outlets or if cords are submerged. If you see sparks or hear buzzing, crackling, snapping, or popping noises, get out. Stay out of water that may have electricity in it. Don't walk through flood waters. It only takes 6 inches of moving water to knock you off your feet. If you are trapped by moving water, move to the highest possible point and call 911 if possible.

When heavy rain occurs, there is a risk of flooding, particularly in low-lying and flood-prone regions. It is important to never attempt to drive through water on the road, regardless of how deep it appears. According to the NWS, as little as 12 inches of rushing water can sweep away most vehicles.

What is hydroplaning?

Hydroplaning is when a vehicle starts uncontrollably sliding on wet roads.

This happens when water in front of the tire builds up faster than the vehicle's weight can push water out of the way. The water pressure then causes the vehicle to rise and slide on a thin layer of water between the tires and the road, making the driver lose control. The three main causes of hydroplaning are:

In the event of your vehicle hydroplaning, here's what to know:

Source: The National Weather Service

This article was generated by the South Carolina Bot, software that analyzes structured information, such as data, and applies it to articles based on templates created by journalists in the newsroom. No human journalist was harmed in this experiment. You can report errors or bugs to [email protected].

This story was originally published November 6, 2024, 3:18 AM.