Myrtle Beach Sued Again Over Biker Rally Ordinances
Residents and motorcyclists are challenging another of Myrtle Beach's ordinances designed to quell the May motorcycle rallies.
[This] time, it's the noise ordinance.
Virginia-based attorney Tom McGrath filed suit in Horry County Circuit Court last week on behalf of local motel owner William o"Day, Horry County ABATE, and others who feel the noise regulation is unconstitutional.
The ordinance says motorcycles built after Dec. 31, 1982, must have unmodified exhaust mufflers bearing federal Environmental Protection Agency stickers or stamps, and those built before Dec. 31, 1982, must not be louder than 89 decibels when measured from 20 inches away. The rule makes broken, straight-pipe, hollow-core or off-road mufflers illegal inside city limits.
The state Supreme Court earlier this month ruled the city's helmet law invalid because, justices said, state law has already covered the issue of who must wear helmets. The court also said the city impliedly invalidated the law itself -- and four others -- when it rescinded an ordinance creating the administrative hearing process that was to deal with those infractions.
The city will consider changing those other four ordinances from infractions to misdemeanors at Tuesday's council meeting to keep them valid. They are the rules about hotel check-in requirements, drinking in parking lots, the juvenile curfew and convenience-store security.
McGrath said he didn't file this new suit with the state's High Court because he felt it would be best to give the county's court a chance to make the decision.
"Let's see if the judge will follow the Supreme Court's opinion," he said.
No hearing has been scheduled in the case.
The city does not typically comment on pending litigation. –Sun News
Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Hotel May Be In The Works For Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach may be getting a Margaritaville Beach Hotel - the latest in Jimmy Buffett�s brand endeavors, according to a company spokesman.
Margaritaville Management is considering Myrtle Beach as the site for a hotel, said Mike Stommel, a publicist for Margaritaville Management.
Jim Wiseman, Jimmy Buffett’s development partner, told the Pensacola News Journal that he is working on developing a Margaritaville hotel in Myrtle Beach. Wiseman could not be reached for comment. It is unclear where or when the hotel might open.
Buffett, the popular singer-songwriter, already has a successful Margaritaville restaurant in Myrtle Beach.
The restaurant is one of the most popular attractions at Broadway at the Beach and has a high level of brand recognition, said Lei Gainer, a spokeswoman for Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns Broadway at the Beach. –Sun News
Haley Wins SC Runoff For Governor
Nikki Haley, an Indian-American woman, won the Republican nomination for governor and Tim Scott, a black lawmaker, grabbed a commanding lead in his bid for the GOP nod for a House seat in South Carolina primary runoffs Tuesday, a measure of racial progress in the Deep South and the GOP.
With her victory, state Rep. Haley moved one step closer to becoming the first female governor in the conservative-leaning state. She brushed aside allegations of marital infidelity and an ethnic slur to come within a percentage point of winning the gubernatorial nod outright on June 8. And with 40 percent of the precincts reporting in the runoff, she led with 63 percent of the vote to Rep. Gresham Barrett's 37 percent.
Scott, also a state lawmaker, hoped to become South Carolina's first black GOP congressman in more than a century. Scott, who has the backing of several Republican leaders in Washington, led Paul Thurmond, the son of the late U.S. Sen. and former segregationist Strom Thurmond in the runoff. The GOP-leaning district stretches down the Carolina coast and includes Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
If elected to the House, Scott would be the GOP's first black lawmaker since Oklahoma's J.C. Watts retired in 2003. –Sun News
Illegal Worker Law Sees Results In South Carolina
South Carolina is combating illegal immigration with a less aggressive law than other states, with the second phase starting this week of a program that politicians and business owners say is working.
Arizona's tough immigration law passed earlier this year set off demonstrations and controversy, while South Carolina's regulation has quietly been putting illegal immigrants out of work, officials say. The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act, which created the new regulations, was debated intensely but ultimately passed two years ago.
In the first year, the rule - which requires employers to verify every new worker's immigration status and penalizes businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants - resulted in citations for about 10 percent of the businesses audited, including about a dozen in Horry and Georgetown counties, according to state records.
In the first year under the new rules, there has been nearly full compliance with the regulations, but as the pool of businesses grows Thursday, there will likely be more violators[.]
The law applies to new hires only, but if an employer finds out at any time that an employee is not legally allowed to work in this country, the employer must investigate and fire the employee if he or she is working illegally.
Eleven businesses in Horry and Georgetown counties were cited, including stores, hotels and a restaurant. (The Sun News was among those cited.) Fees for the citations ranged from $850 to $42,500, though most fees were waived when businesses fixed the problem. All of the businesses now verify the status of employees, according to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Through May, the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation found about 200 violations statewide, with penalties of about $550,000. All of those violations, except for one, were fixed within the first 72 hours and the fines erased.
The department collected $11,500 from a landscaping company in Charleston, the only company that did not comply. That company also had its operating license suspended for 10 days and will be on probation for a year because it was knowingly employing illegal immigrants.
About 23 investigators will audit businesses throughout the state, and because there are 110,000 businesses, not all will be examined.
"We will be going into places or businesses that statistics show employ large immigrant populations,"[.]
Hotels, landscaping companies, cleaning companies, golf courses, construction companies, some manufacturers and restaurants would likely be on the target list for audits, but all companies should be in compliance. –Sun News
Residents and motorcyclists are challenging another of Myrtle Beach's ordinances designed to quell the May motorcycle rallies.
[This] time, it's the noise ordinance.
Virginia-based attorney Tom McGrath filed suit in Horry County Circuit Court last week on behalf of local motel owner William o"Day, Horry County ABATE, and others who feel the noise regulation is unconstitutional.
The ordinance says motorcycles built after Dec. 31, 1982, must have unmodified exhaust mufflers bearing federal Environmental Protection Agency stickers or stamps, and those built before Dec. 31, 1982, must not be louder than 89 decibels when measured from 20 inches away. The rule makes broken, straight-pipe, hollow-core or off-road mufflers illegal inside city limits.
The state Supreme Court earlier this month ruled the city's helmet law invalid because, justices said, state law has already covered the issue of who must wear helmets. The court also said the city impliedly invalidated the law itself -- and four others -- when it rescinded an ordinance creating the administrative hearing process that was to deal with those infractions.
The city will consider changing those other four ordinances from infractions to misdemeanors at Tuesday's council meeting to keep them valid. They are the rules about hotel check-in requirements, drinking in parking lots, the juvenile curfew and convenience-store security.
McGrath said he didn't file this new suit with the state's High Court because he felt it would be best to give the county's court a chance to make the decision.
"Let's see if the judge will follow the Supreme Court's opinion," he said.
No hearing has been scheduled in the case.
The city does not typically comment on pending litigation. –Sun News
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Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Hotel May Be In The Works For Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach may be getting a Margaritaville Beach Hotel - the latest in Jimmy Buffett�s brand endeavors, according to a company spokesman.
Margaritaville Management is considering Myrtle Beach as the site for a hotel, said Mike Stommel, a publicist for Margaritaville Management.
Jim Wiseman, Jimmy Buffett’s development partner, told the Pensacola News Journal that he is working on developing a Margaritaville hotel in Myrtle Beach. Wiseman could not be reached for comment. It is unclear where or when the hotel might open.
Buffett, the popular singer-songwriter, already has a successful Margaritaville restaurant in Myrtle Beach.
The restaurant is one of the most popular attractions at Broadway at the Beach and has a high level of brand recognition, said Lei Gainer, a spokeswoman for Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns Broadway at the Beach. –Sun News
<><><>*<><><>
Haley Wins SC Runoff For Governor
Nikki Haley, an Indian-American woman, won the Republican nomination for governor and Tim Scott, a black lawmaker, grabbed a commanding lead in his bid for the GOP nod for a House seat in South Carolina primary runoffs Tuesday, a measure of racial progress in the Deep South and the GOP.
With her victory, state Rep. Haley moved one step closer to becoming the first female governor in the conservative-leaning state. She brushed aside allegations of marital infidelity and an ethnic slur to come within a percentage point of winning the gubernatorial nod outright on June 8. And with 40 percent of the precincts reporting in the runoff, she led with 63 percent of the vote to Rep. Gresham Barrett's 37 percent.
Scott, also a state lawmaker, hoped to become South Carolina's first black GOP congressman in more than a century. Scott, who has the backing of several Republican leaders in Washington, led Paul Thurmond, the son of the late U.S. Sen. and former segregationist Strom Thurmond in the runoff. The GOP-leaning district stretches down the Carolina coast and includes Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
If elected to the House, Scott would be the GOP's first black lawmaker since Oklahoma's J.C. Watts retired in 2003. –Sun News
<><><>*<><><>
Illegal Worker Law Sees Results In South Carolina
South Carolina is combating illegal immigration with a less aggressive law than other states, with the second phase starting this week of a program that politicians and business owners say is working.
Arizona's tough immigration law passed earlier this year set off demonstrations and controversy, while South Carolina's regulation has quietly been putting illegal immigrants out of work, officials say. The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act, which created the new regulations, was debated intensely but ultimately passed two years ago.
In the first year, the rule - which requires employers to verify every new worker's immigration status and penalizes businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants - resulted in citations for about 10 percent of the businesses audited, including about a dozen in Horry and Georgetown counties, according to state records.
In the first year under the new rules, there has been nearly full compliance with the regulations, but as the pool of businesses grows Thursday, there will likely be more violators[.]
The law applies to new hires only, but if an employer finds out at any time that an employee is not legally allowed to work in this country, the employer must investigate and fire the employee if he or she is working illegally.
Eleven businesses in Horry and Georgetown counties were cited, including stores, hotels and a restaurant. (The Sun News was among those cited.) Fees for the citations ranged from $850 to $42,500, though most fees were waived when businesses fixed the problem. All of the businesses now verify the status of employees, according to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Through May, the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation found about 200 violations statewide, with penalties of about $550,000. All of those violations, except for one, were fixed within the first 72 hours and the fines erased.
The department collected $11,500 from a landscaping company in Charleston, the only company that did not comply. That company also had its operating license suspended for 10 days and will be on probation for a year because it was knowingly employing illegal immigrants.
About 23 investigators will audit businesses throughout the state, and because there are 110,000 businesses, not all will be examined.
"We will be going into places or businesses that statistics show employ large immigrant populations,"[.]
Hotels, landscaping companies, cleaning companies, golf courses, construction companies, some manufacturers and restaurants would likely be on the target list for audits, but all companies should be in compliance. –Sun News
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