Illegal immigration foes set 2nd meeting

The second meeting of the Horry County chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps will be at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11, at the Conway High School auditorium.

More than 100 people showed up for the first meeting, overflowing the meeting room at the Socastee library and prompting officials to rent the larger auditorium space. A crowd of 400 or 500 is expected, organizers say.

Speakers will include state Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, former Myrtle Beach mayor and Senate candidate Mark McBride, Clemson City Councilwoman Margaret Thompson, retired Horry County probation officer Tim Zachary and Roan Garcia-Quintana, a Cuban exile and director of Mauldin-based group Americans Have Had Enough.

A question-and-answer session will follow.

-Sun News

Ex-superintendent Postlewait wins state school board seat

Former Horry Schools Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait will represent Horry and Georgetown counties on the state Board of Education, besting college executive Eddie Dyer 8-5 in a vote by the legislative delegation Thursday.

Neither Postlewait nor Dyer was available for comment. Both are out of state and did not attend the meeting that was called to select someone to fill the unpaid slot on the board that sets statewide school policy.

Five other candidates filed for the post, but none received any votes or serious consideration from the delegation.

Postlewait brought attention to Horry County for progress in the schools during her 10-year tenure, which ended last year when she resigned.

She has been Superintendent of the Year for several organizations in the state as well as in West Virginia, where she formerly worked.

Postlewait is often a presenter at nationwide educational seminars and is a consultant to Beaufort County schools on revising their policies.

Her record in Horry County Schools made her the ideal candidate to some legislators, as well as some supporters who came to speak on her behalf.

Jeff Eggart said he has five children who attended mostly Horry schools, and he saw the changes in the system after Postlewait took over.

“She’s a great leader,” he said. “That can be frightening. If you send her to Columbia, she might actually do something.”

Jim Vaught said when Postlewait came, buildings and programs were in shambles, but she was able to bring both up to modern standards.

“I believe that students all across the state” will benefit if Postlewait is on the state board, Vaught said.

Johnny Calder, principal of Forestbrook Elementary, also wanted to speak on her behalf but Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, cut him off because he had limited support speeches to two.

Even other candidates praised Postlewait.

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11 apply for area DOT job in panel

Appointee can push priorities of local roadways

Eleven people filed to run for the 1st Congressional District seat on the state Department of Transportation Commission, including Horry County businessman Danny Isaac and incumbent Joe Young of Georgetown.

But the other candidates are from the Charleston area, complicating Horry County leaders’ attempts to get Isaac appointed to the board, and Young’s attempts to be re-elected.

Filing for the upcoming vacancy closed at noon Friday.

The commission is unpaid but highly attractive because members set priorities for construction on major projects and decide how state road money will be spent.

Young, who owns a trucking and logging company, was chosen in March to fill an unexpired term. The law at the time made it either Georgetown County’s or Berkeley County’s turn to have a seat on the commission, though Horry County legislators pushed to get Isaac appointed anyway.

Horry County would come after Georgetown or Berkeley County had a commissioner.

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