TheSunNews.com: Breaking News

Stretching your dollars: Today's holiday shopping tip (Nov. 22)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:23 EST

Shop after 6 p.m. the evening before a sale is advertised to begin. Many retailers program the registers the night before, so the sale may already come up in the register even if the signs on the floor haven't been changed. Ask the associate in advance for any possible upcoming sales, especially on big-ticket items.

Source: National Retail Federation

Find more holiday shopping tips in the Shop Talk blog, and share your own money-saving tips on The Sun News' Facebook page.

Kids find body of missing S.C. teen on side of road

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:10 EST

A search for a missing South Carolina teenager has ended after children playing found her body dumped on the side of a road.

Authorities told multiple media outlets they are treating the death of 17-year-old A'sha Rucker as a homicide.

Investigators say the girl's body showed no sign of trauma, but a hood was pulled over her head.

Video: Crash at end of race at Myrtle Beach Speedway

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:10 EST

Stuart Ricks of Myrtle Beach wins Super Trucks race at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Ricks passed Coleman Pressley on the final turn to start a huge crash.

Coastal Carolina books trip to the NCAA tournament

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:52 EST

Longs man arrested, Atlantic Beach man sought in Horry County homicide

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:30 EST

Horry County police arrested a Longs man and are searching for an Atlantic Beach man in connection with the shooting death of a Little River man, according to Lt. Jamie DeBari.

Lamarcus DeCarlos Vereen, 25, is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center on a charge of murder, DeBari said.

Police are searching for 19-year-old Quintney Eugene Graham, also known as Gino or Esco, DeBari said. Graham, who is considered to be armed and dangerous, is being sought on a charge of murder.

Video: Defending champion on pole for Myrtle Beach 250

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:25 EST

Defending champion Jamey Caudill wins the pole for Sunday's Myrtle Beach 250 at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

Historic health care bill nears key Senate vote

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:18 EST

In a show of unity, Senate Democrats sealed a 60-vote majority needed to advance health care legislation Saturday ahead of an evening showdown with Republicans eager to doom the bill and inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama.

Two final holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced in speeches a few hours apart on the Senate floor they would vote to clear the way for what is expected to be a bruising, full-scale health care debate after Thanksgiving.

At a 10-year cost approaching $1 trillion, the measure is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny benefits, and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

Defending champion wins pole for race at Myrtle Beach

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:31 EST

Defending champion Jamey Caudill won the pole for tomorrow's Myrtle Beach 250 Late Model race at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

qualifying results 1) 50 - Jamey Caudill - 20.120

2) 98 - Alex Yontz - 20.236

2 held in random killing of man along S.C. road

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:29 EST

Authorities say two people have been charged with killing a random victim on the side of a South Carolina road after deciding they wanted to kill someone.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts told multiple media outlets that 22-year-old Phillip Jackson and 20-year-old D'Marqus Thomas were charged with murder Friday. They were already in jail on unrelated charges.

Metts says the men saw 20-year-old James Lybrand III walking along a road near West Columbia on Nov. 11 and shot him in the head after asking him to come up to their car.

S.C. animal control officer faces cruelty charges

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:05 EST

An Anderson County animal control officer and his wife face 92 animal cruelty counts after 177 dogs, a cat and a bird were seized from their South Carolina home.

Deputies told the Anderson Independent-Mail that 40-year-old Wade Patterson and 26-year-old Faith Patterson were charged Friday.

Investigators say they found several dog carcasses on the property near Liberty. They also found some dogs that were malnourished and others living in unhealthy conditions.

S.C. home day care operator gets 22 years in death

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:03 EST

A woman convicted of suffocating a baby in her home day care 11 years ago has been sentenced to 22 years in prison, and prosecutors are trying to decide if they will try her in two other infant deaths.

The State of Columbia reports Andrea Person didn't react Friday night as she was found guilty of homicide by child abuse in the 1998 death of 1-year-old Zachary Ulengchong.

The coroner originally decided the boy died from pneumonia, but investigators reviewed the case in 2007 after another baby Person was caring for in her Columbia home died under suspicious circumstances.

House panel beings Sanford hearings Tuesday

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:45 EST

A House panel will begin hearings Tuesday on whether to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford, including interviewing Sanford's staff about what they knew of the governor's secret five-day trip to Argentina in June.

House lawmakers introduced an impeachment resolution this week, arguing Sanford abandoned his post to visit his lover. In addition, the State Ethics Commission has reviewed Sanford's travel and use of campaign funds and charged him Wednesday with "several" as-yet-unreleased violations.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Richland, said Friday he will chair the special seven-member committee that includes four Republicans and three Democrats.

Myrtle Beach area weekend entertainment offerings

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:54 EST

SATURDAY

ACOUSTIC

Lee Layman, 6 p.m. ASPEN GRILLE, 5101 N. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach. No cover. 449-9191

Tom Watson, 5 p.m. HANNAH BANANA’S SUNSHINE CABANA, 1950 Wachesaw Rd., Murrells Inlet. No cover. 357-3655

Man assaulted outside Broadway at the Beach bar

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:40 EST

A 27-year-old Myrtle Beach man was charged with assaulting another man in the parking lot of Broadway at the Beach, according to a police report.

Taylor Chase Shytle of 430 La Costa Road, was charged with simple assault after police were called at 1:40 a.m. Thursday to the area of Stool Pigeons, police said.

A 21-year-old Myrtle Beach man told police he was walking to his vehicle when Shytle came up and started trash talking to him, according to the report. The man said Shytle tried to punch him, but he ducked and then Shytle grabbed him and put him in a head lock and dropped him to the ground.

Conway man charged with assaulting bus driver

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:23 EST

A Conway man was charged with assault after he hit a bus driver in the head during a dispute about charges, according to a police report.

James A. McCray, 58, of 2313 Leonard Ave., was charged with simple assault after police were called at 4:30 a.m. Thursday to 1418 Third Ave., for the incident, police said.

A witness told police McCray attacked the 64-year-old Georgetown man by hitting him in the head from behind, punching him in the face and then kicking him when he was on the ground, according to the report.

Bill would require DNA sample from N.C. suspects

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:10 EST

Crime lab computers whir as DNA from the murder scene is compared to millions of suspect samples. A mug shot flashes across the screen, and detectives have the killer in handcuffs before the closing credits.

The technology that turns television crime dramas could solve real-life murder mysteries if a bill requiring anyone charged with a violent felony to provide a DNA sample clears the General Assembly. House Bill 1403 would allow jailers to collect DNA with a saliva swab during arrestee booking and have it entered into a federal database.

"It's CSI: North Carolina," said Rep. Wil Neumann, the bill's author and a primary sponsor. "We're not talking about science fiction. We're talking about things that are happening that we can do right now."

Cooler temperatures move in for the weekend

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:07 EST

Myrtle Beach man charged with apartment murder

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:36 EDT

Police have issued an arrest warrant for a Myrtle Beach man in connection with a homicide last month.

Michael Anthony York, 36, is charged with the Sept. 24 murder of 58-year-old Perry Haze Ledford, according to Myrtle Beach police Capt. David Knipes.

Chamber attorneys file motion to compel in “Elmer Fudd” case

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:01 EDT

Attorneys for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce filed a motion Friday to compel The Sun News to turn over registration information about a Web site commenter known as “Elmer Fudd'' a day after a motion was filed protesting the release of that information.

“I expected him to object, to take some type of action because he or she doesn't want to be identified. This was not totally unexpected,'' said Cherie Blackburn, an attorney for the chamber. “We want to

Autopsy confirms soldier died of swine flu

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:39 EDT

MCT REGIONAL NEWS

The State, Columbia, S.C.