Across South Carolina

8-year reign ends for Myrtle Beach mayor

MYRTLE BEACH - Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride has been ousted after eight years.

Mr. McBride received 43 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election, losing to political newcomer John Rhodes.

Mr. McBride, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, has taken pride in starting controversy along the Grand Strand.

He once asked the National Guard to patrol a motorcycle event attended mostly by black vacationers and opposed a gay bar from opening in downtown Myrtle Beach.

Hurricane donations hurt other charities

FLORENCE - Officials say Florence's Manna House is in danger of closing because donations have almost dried up. Jean Mullinax, of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program for Spartanburg and Cherokee counties, sees the same problem.

Both Ms. Mullinax and Manna House Executive Director Daphine Tedder say people are giving money to hurricane relief efforts and there's little left over for their organizations.

Ms. Tedder says she has plenty of food for the city's elderly, poor and homeless, but not enough money to continue operating the organization's building.

Body is found in truck parked at airport's lot

GREER - A foul odor led a Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport employee to a body in a truck that had been parked there for nearly a month.

The employee peered into the truck Tuesday morning and saw the body slumped in the back seat of a Dodge pickup in the far corner of a long-term parking lot, airport Police Chief T.E. Watson said.

The truck was parked in the lot Oct. 19.

Doctor's disciplinary files must be released

COLUMBIA - Chief Administrative Law Judge Marvin Kittrell has ordered the release of a Hilton Head Island cardiologist's disciplinary records.

Judge Kittrell ruled Wednesday that the records of Dr. James D. Johnston must soon be made available to the public, court clerk Jana Shealy said.

Ms. Shealy said the ruling covers records from the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and from the court itself.