News and Announcements

Conway, South Carolina – The Horry County Sheriff’s Office, along with AARP South Carolina and Shred Alert, is hosting a shred event on Friday, May 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. To help fight back against identity theft, the public is encouraged to bring up to three bags or boxes of your old personal information to a mobile shredding truck that will be located at the Horry County Government & Justice Center, 1301 2nd Avenue in Conway. The goal this year is to shred 12,000 lbs. of paper!

Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. Identity theft has become one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States.

One of the biggest ways to protect you against identity theft is to shred personal information. You can also adopt a “need to know” approach to your personal data. For example, the more information you put on your checks like social security number and home phone number, the more chances that information could land in the hands of a criminal.

If you are traveling, have your mail held at your local post office or ask a trusting neighbor to collect your mail while you are away. Also, check your financial information regularly, and look for what should be there and what shouldn’t.

For more information about identity theft and how to protect yourself, go to the United States Department of Justice website at http://www. justice.gov/criminal. For more information on the upcoming shred event, contact AARP South Carolina at 866.389.5655.

Conway, South Carolina - Horry County Government has created an open bracket for non-county employees to participate in its annual Relay for Life “Swinging for a Cure” County Employee Softball Tournament.

This is the fourth year for this tournament where Horry County Government has held a softball tournament to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Historically, the tournament was open to teams consisting of Horry County employees and their immediate family members. This year, the committee is opening a second bracket consisting of any softball team that wishes to enter. The only requirement is that the players must be at least 18 years of age.

Horry County is looking for six teams to participate in this open bracket. The tournament will be held on Saturday, April 20, 2013, at the Horry County baseball fields on International Drive in the Carolina Forest area. It is a double elimination tournament and will be an all day event. The entry fee for the tournament is $250 and all proceeds will go towards the American Cancer Society’s Conway/Aynor Relay for Life.

For more information or to secure a spot, please contact Sgt. Robert Kegler of the Horry County Police Department at 915-8085. The deadline to sign-up is Wednesday, April 17.

Conway, South Carolina – Recommendations will be made to County Administrator Chris Eldridge by the Evaluation Committee regarding Request for Proposals (RFP) 2012-13-054 to create a custom hand painted mural for the new Horry County Museum. The recommendation will be made on Monday, April 15, at 10 a.m. in the Administrator’s Conference Room at the Horry County Government and Justice Center, 1301 Second Avenue in Conway.

Conway, South Carolina –Horry County Registration and Elections would like to remind registered voters that the election date for the 2013 County Council Chair General Election is Tuesday, April 30, 2013.

Polls will open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and registered voters waiting in line at 7 p.m. will still be allowed to vote. Registered voters will be required to show any one of five forms of identification in order to vote: South Carolina driver’s license, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles identification card, voter’s registration card with picture, Federal military identification with picture or a United States passport.

The last day to vote absentee in the Horry County Registration and Elections Office is Monday, April 29, 2013. The Horry County Registration and Elections Office is located at 1515 4th Avenue in Conway. (Absentee voting requirements are below.) Keep in mind that there is no EARLY voting in South Carolina.

Curbside voting will also available for any voter, because of a physical handicap or aged 65 or older who cannot enter the polling place may vote outside of the polling place in their car.

Unofficial results from the election will be posted on Horry County’s website at www.horrycounty.org immediately after the results are tallied. The results will be on the county’s homepage and will be updated every five minutes. In order to receive the latest information, users will need to hit their “Refresh” or “Reload” button. The polls will close at 7 p.m. and the results will then be tallied. Keep in mind that the polls close at 7 p.m.

Persons qualified to vote by absentee ballot:
• Persons who will be on vacation outside their county of residence on Election Day
• Members of the Uniformed Services or Merchant Marine, and their spouses and dependents residing with them
• Persons who, for reasons of employment, will not be able to vote on Election Day
• Physically disabled persons
• Persons sixty-five (65) years of age or older
• Persons serving as a juror in state or federal court on Election Day
• Persons admitted to the hospital as emergency patients on day of election or within a four-day period before the election
• Persons with a death or funeral in the family within three days before the election
• Persons confined to a jail or pre-trial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial
• Persons attending to sick or physically disabled persons

• Certified poll watchers, poll managers, and county election officials working on Election Day

Procedures for voting by absentee ballot:

Qualified voters may vote absentee in person or by mail.

In Person - Visit your county voter registration office , complete an application, and cast your ballot. You may vote absentee in person up until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 29, 2013. (Horry County Registrations and Elections Office is located at 1515 4th Avenue in Conway.)

By Mail - Step 1: Contact your county voter registration office to request an absentee ballot application. You may make the request in person or by phone, mail, email, or fax. (Horry County Registration and Elections Office (843) 915-5440, fax (843) 915-6440)

Online – Step 1: Voters can also request an absentee ballot application online at http://www.horrycounty.org/depts/gengov/registration.asp. Once your print and fill out the application, you can submit it by mail, fax (843) 915-6440, or email it to skipperl@horrycounty.org. Then skip to Step 4.
Step 2: You will be mailed an application.
Step 3: Return the completed application to your county voter registration office by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 26, 2013. You may return the application in person or by mail, email, or fax.
Step 4: You will be mailed an absentee ballot.

Step 5: Vote the ballot following ballot instructions and return it to your county voter registration office by 7:00 p.m. on the day of the election. You may return the ballot in person or by mail.

Candidates for County Council Chairman

Mark Lazarus – 4705A Oleander Dr., Myrtle Beach SC 29577
©446-5890 (H) 449-9706 (W) 449-0441
Mlaza67695@aol.com (Republican)

Conway, South Carolina – With the ever increasing popularity of e-readers, the Horry County Memorial Library System has implemented the 3M Cloud Library ™. The 3M Cloud Library ™ is a flexible, easy to use lending system that functions across multiple devices with books from more than 40 publishers including Random House, Harper Collins, Harlequin, Wiley, Baker, and National Geographic. The 3M Cloud Library ™ is user friendly with no long installation procedures or complicated sign-ins and can be accessed on everything from a standard Windows® PC or Mac® to an iPad ®, iPhone®, Kindle Fire™ and other smart phones/tablets.

The Horry County Memorial Library System currently has 340 titles and will be adding more titles on a regular basis. Patrons may check out two e-books at a time with a circulation period of 7 days with early return available. Books cannot be renewed but can be checked out again if no one else is waiting for it. Patrons may set up a 3M Cloud Library ™ account with a library card.

Horry County Memorial Library director, Clifton Boyer said, “I am excited about offering this new service to the community. E-books have been one of the most requested services and we wanted to go with a vendor that had access to major publishers and had a product that worked across multiple platforms. The library recognizes that more and more publishers are moving to produce titles that are only available in e-pub format and we are excited that we can now offer these books to our patrons along with other high quality selections.”

The library has developed easy to follow instructions and links at http://horry.lib.sc.us/ebookhelp.

For further information, contact Horry County Memorial Library at 843-248-1544.