North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years

James E. Ference, 82, of Longs died on Saturday, June 27, 2020, at home with his loving wife and family members at his side.Born on May 18, 1937, in Sharon, Pa., he was the son of the late Joseph Ference and Agnes Kaelin Ference.He worked as a metallurgist for the Sharon Steel Company. Once he retired, James loved gardening, landscaping, camping and remodeling. He was always eager to help family and friends with projects. James was a member of the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Described as a “worker bee”, Jim was …

Edward Charles DellaCroce, 77, died on Thursay, July 2, 2020, at his home in North Myrtle Beach. He passed away at the happiest high point of his life.Born on Aug. 4, 1942, in Allentown, Pa., he was the son of the late Genero C. and Rose Toth DellaCroce. He was a store keeper in the United States Navy and was a little league football coach and a member of the VFW, The Italian Club and The American Legion.Eddie was a champion horseshoe player who loved to horseback ride, shooting and collecting coins. He loved to cook and do crossword puzzles. …

Betty Hewitt Floyd Munce, 76, of Loris passed away on Saturday, July 4, 2020, at Loris Rehab and Nursing Center. Born on Oct 14, 1943, in Loris, she was the daughter of the late William Oscar Hewitt and the late Dollie Taylor Hewitt. Mrs. Munce worked as a scheduler with the Talon Division of Textron in Loris, until her retirement. After retirement, she worked for many years in management at the Jones Stores, Inc. She was a longtime member of Loris First United Methodist Church, but will be most remembered as a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister and friend.Survivors …

Linda Kinsey Sessions, 79, of North Myrtle Beach passed away on Sunday, July 5, 2020, exactly where she wanted to be – her home.She is survived by son Ray (Karen) and grandson Hunter of North Myrtle Beach, son Joe (Lisa) and granddaughters Kinsey and Mary Nowland of Franklin, Tenn., brother Joe Kinsey of Houston, Texas, sister-in-law Frances Kinsey of Eastover and many loving nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her husband of 56, years Raymond (Tank) Sessions, and brother, Bill Kinsey.She was born in Columbia and was a graduate of Eau Claire High School. Linda moved to North …

Joyce McClaran Orbesen, 87, previously of North Myrtle Beach, recently residing in Cataula, Ga., and Chittenango, N.Y., passed away on Monday, June 29, 2020, peacefully at her daughter’s home in Georgia. Joyce was born on Dec. 4, 1932, in Newark, Ohio, into a large, loving, musical family. She graduated from Libby High School in Toledo, attended Duke University and graduated from Baldwin Wallace College. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, Bradley Orbesen, the couple spent a short time with the Navy in Japan, then settled in the Syracuse, New York, area where Joyce concentrated on raising her family, a daughter and …

By Ruben Lowman The Town of Atlantic Beach made the decision on Monday, June 6, to cancel its annual motorcycle rally and pass an ordinance requiring the use of face masks in public places. The event, officially named “The Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival” but commonly referred to as “Black Bike Week”, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Grand Strand every Memorial Day, when it has been held since 1980. Town officials previously rescheduled the bike festival for Labor Day, as a result of the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on the area. Mayor Jake …

By Ruben Lowman During an emergency meeting last Tuesday North Myrtle Beach City Council approved an ordinance mandating the wearing of face masks in public places to prevent the spread of COVID-19. North Myrtle Beach was the first municipality in the county to pass facial covering legislation, which took effect last Thursday, July 2, at noon, followed closely by the councils of Myrtle Beach, Horry and Georgetown Counties and Atlantic Beach. This comes amid an alarming acceleration in positive confirmed coronavirus cases along the Grand Strand since the Memorial Day weekend. Previously, the numbers for new positive tests in Horry …

By RUBEN LOWMAN North Myrtle Beach City Council unanimously approved second and final reading on this fiscal year’s $89 million amended budget, as well as a 7.9 mils property tax increase within city limits, during a council meeting held last week. City officials have been left reeling financially by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic since March and as a result, have been forced to cut around $30 million from the projected budget that emerged from their annual retreat in Pinopolis in February. When passing the ordinances last Monday, June 29, Mayor Marilyn Hatley acknowledged the challenging choices those officials, …

By Annie Rigby Early morning on Tuesday, June 30, a task force of more than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers participated in the investigation and the arrests of 24 individuals for their roles in a drug trafficking organization operated out of the Cedar Branch area; four additional defendants remain at large. The United States Attorney District of South Carolina, Peter M. McCoy, Jr, said the 24 subjects have been taken into custody and are charged in federal court for their roles in trafficking heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs. Authorities seized more than a dozen …

By Annie Rigby The Loris City Council met on Monday, July 6, at 5:30 p.m. to discuss issues with the budget and met again at 6 p.m. for the Regular City Council Meeting for July. Council members present at both meetings were Joan Gause, Lewis Hardee, Carroll D. Padgett Jr., Mike Suggs and Jan Vescovi, with Mayor Todd Harrelson presiding over the meeting. Department heads present were Loris Police Chief Gary Buley, Loris Fire Chief Jerry Hardee, Brandon Harrelson, director of facilities, Kenneth Moss, city attorney and operations, and Amanda Causey, acting clerk. Present via Zoom social media program was …