Locally Speaking

Horry County Ranks Worst For Wages Fifth Quarter In A Row

Horry County ranked last for wages among the largest U.S. counties for the first quarter of 2010, continuing a more than yearlong streak at the bottom of the list, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this morning.

The average weekly wage in the county was $519. The next three lowest paying counties were all in Texas: Cameron County at $531, Hidalgo County at $540 and Webb County at $561. The report ranks only the largest 326 counties in the U.S.

Horry County has had the lowest weekly wage since first quarter 2009 with today's report ranking it last for the fifth consecutive quarter.

In South Carolina, Columbia-area jobs were the best paying with Richland County averaging $774 a week, followed by Spartanburg County at $748, Charleston County at $737, Greenville County at $732 and Lexington County at $624.

Horry County weekly wages decreased 1.5 percent in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year. –Sun News

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Myrtle Beach Snuffing Out Smoking Around City Buildings

Myrtle Beach is taking away the outdoor ash trays and putting up the “no smoking” signs.

Starting Nov. 1, tobacco products are off-limits outside city buildings and banned during work hours for the city’s 825 full-time employees. That means no smoking - even outside - at buildings such as City Hall, Chapin Memorial Library and the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center.

There’s some notable exceptions though. Smoking or tobacco use still is OK on the beach, outside the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, on the course at Whispering Pines Golf Course and in city parks. Those areas are in more open spaces where the smoke is less likely to collect and bother others, city spokesman Mark Kruea said.

The city banned the products aiming to improve the health of its employees and remove an annoyance for visitors to city buildings, he said.

“There’s no reason why a visitor to a city building should have to [go through] a gauntlet of second-hand smoke to get inside,” Kruea said.

Myrtle Beach becomes the latest in a wave of cities banning tobacco on its properties - even in what used to be the heart of the tobacco industry. The move comes just weeks after Smoke-Free Horry kicked off an 18-month campaign to limit tobacco use and urge area governments to ban the products.

Surfside Beach banned smoking several years ago, not only on town property but in public places throughout the town, and Conway considered it in 2007 but hasn’t revisited it since.

In Myrtle Beach, employees won’t be able to smoke while on duty, and the city has offered them classes to help them stop the habit. Employees who continue to smoke or use tobacco will have to pay about $40 more a month for health insurance starting Jan. 1, Kruea said. –Sun News