Mobile Home Sales in Golivants Ferry, SC

COLUMBIA, S.C (WPDE) — The South Carolina Forestry Commission is issuing a statewide Red Flag Fire Alert, effective at 6 a.m. Monday, March 7.

The alert is being issued to discourage people from burning outdoors when weather conditions present an elevated risk of wildfire. In addition to weather forecasts for most of the state calling for higher-than-normal winds and wind gusts in the near term, the agency is already responding to a dramatic uptick in wildfire ignitions in the past 72 hours.

The agency has recorded 106 wildfires that have burned more than 1,500 acres between Thursday and Saturday, adding to a busy season that has already seen more wildfires in the first three months of 2022 than all of last fiscal year (July 2020-June 2021).

READ MORE: County-level burn bans span across SC as wildfire worries enter peak of season

“One of our major concerns in addition to the elevated fire danger itself is that fire activity may exceed our capacity to respond. These conditions could create a scenario where we have more fires than we have resources,” said SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones. “The increase in fires is something we expect and plan for at the start of spring every year, but strong winds can really push fire danger to its limit, and we’re seeing that now.”

The high winds and gusts, combined with the very dry fuels on the ground, are also leading to re-ignitions of previously contained fires. While March is historically one of the busiest months for the Forestry Commission, firefighters on the ground are reporting this week’s spate of more frequent and larger-than-average fires are taking longer – and more firefighting resources – to contain and ultimately control.

A Red Flag Fire Alert does not prohibit outdoor burning, provided that all other state and local regulations are followed, but the Forestry Commission uses the alert to strongly encourage citizens to voluntarily postpone any such burning until the alert is lifted.

Although a Red Flag Fire Alert does not ban outdoor burning, it does trigger certain county or local ordinances that restrict outdoor fires, so residents should contact their local fire departments to check whether such restrictions apply in their areas. SCFC officials expect to lift the alert later in the week as weather conditions improve.

Staff reports | The historic Galivants Ferry Stump will hold its first-ever political speaking gathering featuring Democratic presidential candidates in just over five weeks.

Former Vice President Joe Biden was first to confirm for the event, which will start at 5 p.m. Sept. 16 at Pee Dee Farms General Store, 125 West Highway 501, in Galivants Ferry, S.C. Other candidates are expected to confirm in the coming weeks, according to a press release.

In past South Carolina political lore, the “stump” meeting referred to a pre-microphone time when politicians promoted their platforms by “allegedly giving speeches while standing on tree stumps,” according to the South Carolina Encyclopedia. The Galivants Ferry Stump, a Democratic Party tradition for 143 years, has been put on by four generations of the Holliday family at its Galivants Ferry store.

The stump, usually held biennially in the spring of election years, has added this new event for present presidential hopefuls prior to the South Carolina Democratic Primary election in February 2020. As the “first in the South” primary, South Carolina attracts widespread national attention, and the Galivants Ferry Stump, which often draws crowds of more than 1,000 people, provides the ideal venue for candidates to meet with voters and discuss important issues.

The 2019 event will follow the traditional festival format with live bluegrass music, country cuisine and clogging starting at 5 p.m. Political speeches will begin at 6 p.m. Although past keynote speakers have included many national political figures, organizers said the 2019 stump will be the first time that presidential candidates will speak directly to South Carolina voters at the event.

The event is free and open to the public.

In other news:

PSC hires, then fires utility-tied consultant. South Carolina’s utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, hired Pegasus Global Holdings to consult on the price of solar generation — a key component of the Energy Freedom Act that could have a big impact on the state’s future energy generation. But the consultant had deep ties to big utilities, and the solar industry objected. So then, the PSC got rid of the firm. Read more.

McMaster brings on seasoned education adviser. S.C. Education Oversight Committee Director Melanie Barton will begin as Gov. Henry McMaster’s senior education adviser Sept. 3. Read more.

S.C. ranked near last for health care. In a new study comparing health care cost, access and outcomes, South Carolina ranked 48th out of 50. Read the study.

State lawmakers’ summit. Some S.C. lawmakers traveled this week to Nashville for the annual meeting for the National Conference of State Legislatures. The summit held meetings on redistricting, electric vehicles, and rural economies. One of the biggest crowds, according to the conference, was a talk on marijuana and state revenues. “The Straight Dope on Marijuana Revenues” reported that Washington state raked in $319 million in one year from marijuana sales. Read more.

State to spend $20M exploring sale of Santee Cooper. S.C. Department of Administration recently hired an investment bank, law firm and two energy consultants as it works to solicit, field and evaluate offers for Santee Cooper. The agency has $20 million to spend on the consultants, including $15 million from Santee Cooper itself. Read more.

2020 candidate calendar

Throughout the campaign season, we are working to keep South Carolina informed of candidate events in the state. Have an event you want us to know about? Email us at 2020news@statehousereport.com.

Longtime Horryite William “Billy” Holliday likes to say he changed the words to the song This Land is Your Land, thanks to the Pee Dee Land Trust.

“There is a refrain that goes, ‘This land belongs to you and me,’ and I changed it to ‘This land belongs to all that lives,’ “ he said. “I changed it because we can’t forget that land isn’t just for people. We have to remember that land is for all species and we need to protect it.”

Holliday’s idea for preserving land his family owns for future generations and all species took shape when he partnered with the Pee Dee Land Trust to protect and preserve Moore’s Mill Farm through a conservation agreement.

“This land was used for the Galivants Ferry Stump in 1908 and again in 1910,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we want to protect it? During my father’s time, there wasn’t a lot of land preservation going on, but we need to change that and do things differently.”

David Harper, executive director for Pee Dee Land Trust, said the organization started working in Horry County two years ago and hopes that more families like the Holliday family will inquire about protecting their land for future generations.

“We want to work one-on-one with landowners to find a way to keep the land in its natural condition and intact for years to come,” he said.

Pee Dee Land Trust works in the nine counties that touch the Great Pee Dee River in South Carolina including Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg.

Its mission is to protect and promote an appreciation of the natural, agricultural and historical resources of the Pee Dee Region through voluntary land conservation and educational programs.

Harper said trust officials are currently looking for more property owners to work with in the area.

“We want people to know we are here,” he said. “People need to know that if their children don’t want to farm the land or live on the land that there are other options for preserving it.”

Moore’s Mill Farm is 191 acres of farm and forestland near Galivants Ferry in northern Horry County.

It includes a mix of productive agricultural fields, bottomland hardwoods in Loosing Swamp, a tributary of the Little Pee Dee River, and pine forests.

“The only way to make sure that, at least for as far into the future as we can see, the land is protected, we have to preserve it and protect it,” Holliday said. “We want this land to be farmland and swampland forever.”

When Pee Dee Land Trust partners with a landowner, the land remains in private ownership. The Pee Dee Land Trust guards land not only along the rivers and streams that folks fish and swim in, but also farms and forests where crops are grown and people hike, hunt and fish.

Harper said without landowners like the Holliday family and many others they have worked with in other counties, there wouldn’t be any preserved land.

“If that land changes hands from the original family or property owner and that new owner sells it piece by piece or decides to build on it, we will lose that piece of history and that natural land,” he said.

Harper said preserving the land also helps children experience nature.

“Kids and adults need places to go, hike and explore the outdoors,” he said. “Kids don’t get outside anymore. They don’t connect with the air, water and animals. We want that connection to be strong now and in the future, and conserving the land does that.”

In just the two years Pee Dee Land Trust has worked in Horry County, Harper said it has already preserved more than 500 acres.

“Some of that land is near the Waccamaw River and some of it is farther inland,” he said. “We are excited to be in Horry County and we want to do more with landowners.”

In total, the Pee Dee Land Trust protects 15,000 acres of land.

All a landowner needs to do to partner with Pee Dee Land Trust is call, Harper said.

“We will work with the landowner to see if the piece of property fits in with the PDLT mission,” he said. “Not every property is suited for conservation, but we will work with the property owner on all questions.”

Horry County, SC (WPDE) — More than one thousand pills and about $26,000 were seized after a search warrant was served in Galivants Ferry Thursday morning.

The 15th Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) lead the operation, alongside the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Horry County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) diversion team and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

About 20 law enforcement officers participated in the operation.

32-year-old Amy Mishoe was arrested. She was out on bond for several drug related charges and now she is facing additional charges.

From Thursday's arrests, she is currently facing 8 counts of distribution 3rd and subsequent schedule I through III controlled substance, DEU agents said. More charges are expected to follow.

One of the growing trends and dangers is the rise in popularity of fentanyl.

“We’re seeing a lot more fentanyl. We are seeing it mixed with heroin, we are seeing it compressed into pill form," one DEU agent said.

Until the pills seized today are tested, it's unknown if any are laced with fentanyl, and that unknown is part of the danger for officers. That is why law enforcement agencies take extra precautions like carrying narcan.

“There have been incidents across the nation where officers are running into houses to make arrests, execute search warrants and they be exposed to some of that [fentanyl] powder. In situations the target may throw the powder to get rid of it, " one DEU agent said.

Combating the heroin epidemic, as well as getting drugs off the streets, is a priority for the DEU.

“Anytime you have people dying it becomes a priority for us," one DEU agent said.

WPDE

One of the frustrating things DEU agents face is seeing repeat offenders, which they say is common.

“When you have someone who has been in trouble, they get arrested, they get a bond, they promise the judge that they aren’t going to do it, that they’re going to abide by the rules of their bond and their release and they go right back to doing the same thing," one DEU agent said.

One agent said he would like to see harsher penalties to try to combat the drug problem in our area.

“Tougher penalties, legislation, putting these people in jail for longer periods of time," he said.

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DEU agents continue to work to get drugs off the streets and out of our community.

GALIVANTS FERRY, S.C. (WPDE) — South Carolina is just one vote away from becoming first in the Presidential Primary elections and if that happens Galivants Ferry Stump organizer Sally Howard said Horry County would be on a national stage.

The Galivants Ferry Stump is a Democratic campaign tradition that’s brought candidates face-to-face with rural voters in Horry County for nearly 150 years.

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Getting its name from the idea of candidates speaking to voters on top of a tree stump all those years ago, the tradition carries on, still held on the porch of the old General Store in Galivants Ferry, and still sponsored by the Holliday families as its always been.

While it's typically held in the Spring, if South Carolina moves up on the Presidential Primary calendar, Howard said they would move the Stump to the fall, for a ‘Presidential Stump,’ which has only happened once before in 2019.

“Three years ago we had a Stump for the ‘20 election, but we held it in the fall of ‘19, so we could have the presidential candidates actually attend. Which, President Joe Biden came back for the second time!” she said.

Certainly we were excited when we first heard the news that South Carolina would move up in the primary calendar for Presidential Primaries to be in first.

During the 2019 event, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, and Bill DeBlasio also spoke.

“The excitement would of course be bringing national figures to Horry County,” Howard said.

“It brings a major following with them from an economic point of view because you have the traveling press that travels with national candidates.”

She said that extends to the entire state as the nation would be getting its first glimpse of the upcoming Presidential election.

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“As much attention as we’ve gotten in being a quote ‘early state,’ the attention that we would get as the first state is nationwide!” she said.

All eyes would be on South Carolina.

She said it would also deliver messages to voters in the middle of the political spectrum.

“There’s a middle in there that both sides must compete for, and I think that the attention and positions of national candidates would put the people to listen to democratic candidates,” she said.

While the DNC will vote on the idea in February Howard said she expects South Carolina will stay in the early list of primaries.

“The whole point is South Carolina reflects the population of the whole United States far better than the first two we have now,” she said. “There’s little to none of any minority voters in those first two states, and the makeup in South Carolina is far more reflective of the United States."

She said she expects there to be some discussion no matter what, however.

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“I expect there to be some battles because Iowa and New Hampshire have been first, I think Iowa would probably drop by the side and not be in the first, but I think there will be a battle with New Hampshire,” Howard said.

“We’ll wait and see with what happens with the vote in February, but I would expect South Carolina to stay in the early list of primaries,” she said. “But it would be awesome to be first.”