Check out what's happening in the NewQuestCity Forums for South Carolina .

Siri blows off some steam and curses at British boy
01/04/2012

We all knew she would lose her patience with us sooner or later.

Siri blows off some steam and curses at British boy is a post by Death and Taxes -

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Fuck the Iowa Caucus
01/04/2012

Iowa's shaping of the presidential candidate field through its pre-eminent position in the primary season is something to be detested, not admired.

Fuck the Iowa Caucus is a post by Death and Taxes -

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2 percent of American voters think Mitt Romney’s real first name is ‘Mittens’
01/04/2012

An additional 2 percent think his name is “Gromit.”

2 percent of American voters think Mitt Romney’s real first name is ‘Mittens’ is a post by Death and Taxes -

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Listen: Frankie Rose ‘Know Me’
01/04/2012

Frankie Rose drops the first single "Know Me" from her forthcoming album "Interstellar."

Listen: Frankie Rose ‘Know Me’ is a post by Death and Taxes -

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New medical office to open this year in Murrells Inlet
01/03/2012

Patients needing care from several different doctors, including specialists, will be able to see all of them under one roof when a new medical office building at Waccamaw Community Hospital opens this year.

The 90,000-square-foot, three-story Waccamaw Medical Park West will house a variety of specialists, including pain management, physical therapy, endoscopy and, for the first time at Waccamaw, neurosurgeons – specialists that come through a growing partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. A dermatologist who would work in Georgetown County also is in the works through that partnership.

The expansion is one of several at Grand Strand hospitals as they aim to keep up with the growing demand for health care services experts predict as baby boomers get older.

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I-73 work illegal, group says
01/03/2012

Environmentalists fighting a $2.4 billion freeway to Myrtle Beach are asking the state to stop construction of a small road project that would eventually tie into the proposed interstate.

The Southern Environmental Law Center says state and federal highway agencies are trying to jumpstart construction of Interstate 73 by moving forward illegally with upgrades along U.S. 501 and U.S. 301 near Latta.

Under state and federal law, the S.C. Department of Transportation shouldn’t proceed with the U.S. 501 work until the agency receives a federal wetlands permit for Interstate 73 and has developed a financial plan for the entire project, the law center said in a recent letter to DOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

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Police | Teen’s trial set to begin Tuesday
01/03/2012

POLICE

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SC roadway fatalities up for first time since 2007
01/03/2012

COLUMBIA – The number of people killed on South Carolina’s roadways has slightly gone up for the first time since 2007, due in part to marked increases in motorcycle and pedestrian deaths.

As of Dec. 27, 810 people had been killed on state roads and highways, according to the state Department of Public Safety. That’s compared to 2010, when 801 people died on South Carolina’s roads.

The last increase in traffic fatalities happened in 2007, when 1,052 were killed in South Carolina, compared to 1,024 the year before.

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Police: Myrtle Beach man tried to run over victim, child with vehicle after video game dispute
01/03/2012

A Myrtle Beach man is jailed and charged with two counts of attempted murder after police said he tried to run over a man and his child with a vehicle following a dispute about a video game system, according to a police report.

Bail was set at $50,000 for Robert Earnest Mobley, 25, who is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center outside of Conway.

Mobley told officers on Saturday afternoon that he was going to a home on 36th Avenue North because a man there was threatening him because of a video game system that Mobley sold him, the report shows.

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Couple lose custody battle, daughter
01/03/2012

A court battle over 2-year-old Veronica began when she was just 4 months old and ended on New Year’s Eve, with her in a car seat headed to Oklahoma and the adoptive parents who raised her walking away childless.

James Island residents Matt and Melanie Capobianco had tried in-vitro fertilization seven times unsuccessfully. They turned to an adoption attorney and finally found a birth mother in Oklahoma in 2009.

Matt works for Boeing and Melanie is a developmental psychologist, and Veronica’s biological mother liked them. She even let Matt cut the umbilical cord when the baby was born on Sept. 15, 2009, and they took her home.

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Leaders prepare to return to work
01/03/2012

— South Carolina lawmakers are about to embark on their 2012

session, but how much will their work in the next six months change the

lives of the men, women and children who call this state home?

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Cold snap bearing down on Myrtle Beach area
01/03/2012

After a December with several unseasonably warm days, the first week in January – the coldest month of the year in the Myrtle Beach area – will bring with it an attention-getting cold snap, according to the National Weather Service.

The expected cold period – with overnight temperatures falling into the 20s – will be short-lived, according to NWS Meteorologist Tim Armstrong. He said temperatures near 60 degrees should return by the weekend.

“In the heart of this the low could be 19 degrees in the Myrtle Beach area on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning,’’ Armstrong said.

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Paralyzed Carolina bride still hopes to walk again
01/03/2012

Raleigh, N.C. | A North Carolina woman who got married last summer after a poolside accident left her paralyzed isn't walking yet, but she hasn't given up on learning to move on her own again.

Rachelle Friedman Chapman is stronger after training for almost three weeks in October at Project Walk, a spinal cord injury recovery center in Carlsbad, Calif. And the 26-year-old from Knightdale, near Raleigh, hopes to return for more training that could help her walk for the first time since the accident just weeks before her original wedding date.

“You see people standing up out of their wheelchair, people who are relearning how to walk,” Chapman said in a recent phone interview.

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Police |Blaze burns home, one firefighter hurt
01/03/2012

POLICE

HORRY COUNTY

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Charleston tipples into books as 12th ‘drunkest city of 2011’
01/03/2012

Who likes to party?

People living in Charleston, apparently.

The Holy City is on a new list of the booziest cities in America.

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Health briefs for the Grand Strand
01/03/2012

GEORGETOWN

Many of these classes, events and meetings are sponsored by Georgetown Memorial Hospital, but some take place at different locations. Call the numbers listed for more information or log on to www.georgetownhospitalsystem.org.

Chronic kidney disease education | Varying schedule, varying locations in Horry and Georgetown counties. Free. (866) 647-9396 or ultracare-dialysis.com/TOPS

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Fire danger heats up as temperatures plummet in Myrtle Beach area
01/03/2012

Officials are concerned about a potential outbreak of fires this week with windy, dry and bitterly cold conditions forecast over the next two days for Horry and Georgetown counties.

With temperatures expected to dip below 20 degrees Tuesday night, the threat of house fires will increase as more residents turn on the heat – and space heaters in some cases – and keep it on for extended periods of time.

The threat of brush fires and wildfires also will significantly increase because of the lack of significant rainfall during the last several weeks combined with already dry fuels on the ground.

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Website opens door to public input on future of S.C. education
01/03/2012

The state’s superintendents have rolled out their vision for the future of education in South Carolina, along with a website that allows community stakeholders to join in the conversation.

OurEducationVision.com brings together every means of social media available, said Horry County Schools Superintendent Cindy Elsberry, so that people who are interested in education can add their input.

Visitors may view the entire vision – “a simple statement of commitment to our children and their future” – and post comments on topics under the umbrella of “What does education mean to you?” The site also provides links to other media and streams the conversations being held on Facebook and Twitter.

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Iowa results could presage S.C. victor
01/03/2012

Iowa hosts the nation’s first Republican presidential nominating contest tonight, goosing one presidential candidate into frontrunner status and sending him — or her — roaring into New Hampshire and then South Carolina.

Similarities between Iowa and South Carolina make tonight’s caucuses a must-watch event for those who will vote in the Palmetto State’s Jan. 21 GOP primary.

First up: Which candidate will evangelicals and social conservative voters support?

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N.C. unemployment falls to 10 percent
01/03/2012

The Jefferson Post

The number of unemployed across North Carolina fell to 10 percent in the month of November, according to information released by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

“The drop in the unemployment rate was significant,” said N.C. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll. “However, the focus must remain on growing jobs in our state. The private sector has experienced moderate growth over the past year. We are strongly committed to Gov. Perdue's mission on jobs for North Carolina.”

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With Iowa's voting, GOP likely to plot future path
01/03/2012

Republicans enter a new election year Tuesday debating more than just who should be their nominee for president against Barack Obama. They're engaged in a struggle over how radically they can or should change the country's course.

On one side is the tea party conservative, the kind of voter Richard Nixon once said belonged to a silent majority, who simmered as the party spent and piled up debt through the Bush years, then exploded with rage with the ascent of Democrat Obama and even more spending and debt.

On the other side is the pragmatic, establishment Republican, who also yearns to change course but argues the party first must win power. These Republicans fear that confrontational politics and policies could scare off moderate independents, making a win more difficult and governing impossible.

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The week ahead for the Myrtle Beach area
01/03/2012

THE WEEK AHEAD

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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Conway opens some activities at rec center to non-members
01/03/2012

CONWAY The city of Conway is starting the new year with a plan to open its new recreation center to more people who either can’t afford membership fees or don’t want to pay them.

The city will let non-members participate in individual activities at the center for a one-time payment based on the activity.

Walking along the 1/10-mile track that encircles the top of the gymnasium, for instance, will cost non-members $2 per trek. Or you can join a pick-up volleyball game at $4 per person. Open swimming in the indoor pool is going to cost $3 a person.

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Death sentence upheld for man convicted in Clemson student’s murder
12/29/2011

South Carolina’s highest court on Wednesday upheld the sentence of a man condemned to die for strangling a Clemson University student with her bikini top. The state Supreme Court affirmed the fate of Jerry Buck Inman. The 41-year-old sex offender confessed to killing 20-year-old Tiffany Souers in 2006. After his confession, a judge then heard evidence concerning whether [...]

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Agency requests additional $1.6 million to prosecute domestic violence
12/29/2011

The South Carolina Commission on Prosecution Coordination (SCCPC) is requesting an additional $1.6 million in funding from the state General Assembly next year to help pay for more prosecutors in domestic violence cases. The request is part of a larger $3.1 million increase the commission is seeking. SCCPC’s funding was nearly eliminated entirely by some senators last year in [...]

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