Just when you thought it was safe to venture out on the charming, bohemian, one-of-a-kind Folly Beach, author Bill Noel uncovers another (fictional) mystery to make you think twice about who you can trust!

South Carolina’s Folly Beach is again prominently featured in the new novel GHOSTS, the sixth installment in the Folly Beach Mystery series. Folly, the debut novel in the series, was released in 2007; The Pier published 2008; Washout in 2009; The Edge in 2010, and, The Marsh released last year. Author Bill Noel weaves the charm and character of the small barrier island and nearby Charleston throughout the pages of his new mystery novel. There’s also a side trip or two to the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg.

Those of you who have read one or more of the first five books will be familiar with Chris Landrum and his merry band of misfits who stumble, bumble, and somehow manage to catch killers who appear almost as often on Folly Beach as sunburned tourists. Charles, Karen, Dude, Mad Mel, Heather, and William will be returning to help Chris solve the mystery.

“Folly Beach is a magical and mysterious place,” said Noel. “I’ve tried to capture the charm, character, and characters of the island in the Folly Beach Mystery series.”

The Folly Beach Mystery series has been described as the “perfect beach read.” The novels are light, humorous, and feature a group of characters who are nearly as quirky as the setting.

Noel lives in Louisville, Kentucky but feels at home on Folly. “I’m not privileged to live on Folly Beach, but have been positively welcomed by everyone I’ve had contact with there the last six years. Residents have offered me valuable insights, information, and more than a few potential plots. If I bumped off everyone Folly residents have suggested, the population would be drastically reduced!”

The Folly Beach Mystery Series is available in Bert’s Market, Piggly Wiggly, Michelle’s Salon and Spa, Mr. John’s Beach Store, and the Sugar Shack in the Tides Folly Beach. The books are also available for order through your local bookseller or on the Internet at www.billnoel.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

Noel will be on Folly Beach in March to sign and talk about GHOSTS as well as have copies of the first five books for sale. He will be at the following locations:

RELEASE PARTY Michelle’s Salon and Spa, Saturday, March 17, 3:00-6:00 p.m.

The Lost Dog Café, Tuesday, March 20, 7:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Bert’s Market, Tuesday, March 20, 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

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Evasive procedures

A Public Safety officer writing parking tickets in the 4th Street East beach access just before midnight on September 4 heard the driver of a fast-going car rev the engine. He jumped into his cruiser to pursue and clocked the car at 47 mph and climbing. The car had a lead of several blocks and the officer was afraid the driver would try to evade him if he activated his blue lights and siren. He saw the subject drive wildly through several groups of pedestrians walking in the road and nearly hit a man on a bicycle. When he got within two blocks of the speeder, the officer activated his lights and siren and the subject made a quick turn on 11th Street and rapidly accelerated in an apparent attempt to lose the cruiser. He turned left on East Ashley, but the officer was able to stay with him. The subject pulled over on East 10th Street and jumped out of the vehicle and appeared to contemplate running away. The officer shouted for him to get back in the car, which he did, but he was unable to produce the vehicle registration and handed the officer his passport instead. The driver was now visibly crying and sobbing his answers to the officer’s questions. When asked to perform a series of field sobriety tests, he could not follow any of the directions and kept crying and apologizing. He was placed under arrest for DUI and reckless driving and transported to the Charleston County jail, where he refused the BAC test.

I’m okay, he’s okay

While on foot patrol just after 2:00 a.m. on September 5, an officer saw a car parked in the middle of the road on West Ashley Avenue in front of the Holliday Inn. The subject, who was talking to another man, appeared grossly intoxicated and was leaning against his vehicle to keep from falling down. When the officer asked the subject why he was parked in the middle of the road, he said he was just leaving, and the guy he was talking to said he had asked the subject to pull over so they could talk, and they were both okay. The officer could see an open container of beer and a plastic bag of green leafy substance on the center console. The subject was arrested for public intoxication, open container and simple possession of marijuana that weighed in at 4.5 grams. The subject was taken to the Charleston County detention center, where he was so disorderly he was removed from the booking area and placed in lock-up.

I needed another hot dog

Just before 4:00 a.m. on September 5, public safety responded to a call from Bert’s Market regarding a disorderly customer. When officers arrived, they located the subject in the East 2nd Street beach access. He was with a woman who identified herself as his common-law wife and said she was trying to get him to go home. The subject was visibly and grossly intoxicated and unsteady on his feet and was crying and making statements about being a soldier and post traumatic stress. He appeared to calm down after talking with the police, who allowed his wife to lead him off but warned him that if he came back out on the street they would have no choice but to arrest him. About an hour later the clerk at Bert’s called to say the subject was back. When officers responded to the scene, they found the subject in the parking lot with a bouncer from a local bar separating the man from his wife. The wife stated her husband would not listen to her and was becoming violent. The subject continued making irrational statements and was completely out of control, trying to walk away from the officer and resisting arrest. Eventually the officers were able to handcuff the man and transport him to the Charleston County Jail, where he was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct.

Smoke signals

Officers on foot patrol were walking behind the Drop-In Deli about 5:30 p.m. on September 5 when they noticed a man with a small glass pipe in his mouth that was emitting white smoke. The odor coming from the smoke was the distinct odor of marijuana. Then they saw the man with the pipe pass it to another man, who also smoked from the pipe. A third subject was standing beside him waiting for the man to pass the pipe to him. The men did not see the officers until they walked up on them, at which time they all admitted to having been engaged in smoking marijuana. The subjects were cited and released for simple possession of marijuana.

Off to a bad start

A police cruiser parked alongside Folly Road monitoring traffic leaving the island about 10:30 p.m. on September 5 clocked a vehicle doing 51 in a 35 mph zone. As the vehicle passed the officer, he activated his lights and siren and performed a traffic stop. The vehicle pulled to the right and stopped but was still in the traffic lane and the officer had to get on his PA and ask the driver to pull forward and get out of the road. He pulled forward, but his left tires were still in the roadway. The officer approached on the passenger side to request documents and detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverages. He asked the driver to exit the vehicle and completely against instructions, the driver blindly opened the driver side door into on-coming traffic. Fortunately, the other drivers were able to avoid hitting the door. His eyes were red and glassy and his facial expressions were somewhat torpid, so he was given instructions on field sobriety tests. During the finger test he lost count between one and four and on the walk and turn he lost balance and thought the officer had instructed him to walk as far as he could instead of taking nine steps. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Charleston County Detention Center where he refused a BAC test and was charged with DUI and speeding and booked into the jail.

It’s a family affair

Around 3:30 p.m. on September 6, a public safety officer noticed a young man with a red Solo cup walking down 10th Street East toward East Ashley. He asked the subject if there was alcohol in the cup and he said “Yes, I’ll just pour it out.” He appeared to be under age for drinking and had no ID on him, but said he was “21 turning 22, I mean 22 turning 23.” The officer told the subject he was going to run his name and DOB to confirm his identity and the subject said “Just pour that beer out and let me go.” At that point the subject began looking left to right and front to back and was visibly shaking. The officer thought he might be looking for avenues of escape, so he asked the subject to sit in the backseat of the cruiser and asked for his name and date of birth. The date he gave would have made him older than previously indicated and when the officer challenged him on that, the subject gave him a different date. The officer wrote the name and birth date on the ticket but before he could run the information, the subject stated “Okay, that isn’t my real name, but can you just take me home?”

At that point the officer arrested and cuffed the subject while he was still in the back seat and drove to the City parking lot on West Erie to fill out the paperwork. Two different individuals approached the officers and asked them to let the suspect go. One of the men said the subject’s brother, father and lawyer were on their way to “handle this.” The brother arrived as the officer was attempting to pull out of the parking lot with the subject and walked up to the car and began yelling “F— this and f— that” at the officer. When the other officer told him he would receive a citation if he did not stop, the brother clenched his fists and tightened his jaw muscles and gave the officer a “thousand yard stare” and began to measure him up. The officer recognized the classic signs of an impending assault and grabbed the brother’s wrist and told him to calm down and show his identification. When he refused, the officer told him he was under arrest. He refused to put his hands behind his back and it took two officers to get the handcuffs on him. An additional unit was called to assist in putting him in the police vehicle. Using the minimum force necessary to safely affect the arrest, the officers attempted to place the brother in a patrol car, but he tried to kick the officer and made contact with his right leg just above the knee.

Before finishing the paperwork on the brother, the father, who smelled strongly of alcohol, arrived on the scene. He seemed cooperative at first but became disorderly and was asked to leave the scene several times before all units could clear the parking lot. The subject was charged with open container, minor in possession of alcohol, and giving false information to the police. The brother was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. No citations were issued to the father.

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City Council: August 24

Good Neighbor Award

Daniel Culpepper, James Dowdy, Sonny Miles, and Jack Thomas received the “Good Neighbor Award” for their prompt action in helping to put out a fire at the Sandbar Apartments.

Appointments

City Council reappointed John Kachmarsky as Municipal Court Judge, Been Peeples as City Attorney, and Mary Cunningham as Municipal Clerk. Mayor Tim Goodwin reappointed Marlene Estridge as City Clerk/Treasurer. An ordinance bringing the duties and terms of office into compliance with state law was also passed.

Mayor Pro Tem election

To no one’s surprise, Laura Beck was re-elected Mayor Pro Tempore. Every election cycle, which means every two years, Council selects one of its members to act as Mayor during an absence. In the event of a vacancy occurring, the Mayor Pro Tem would act as Mayor until an election could be held.

Red Bays revisited

After all the brouhaha at the last City Council meeting, Pennell Clamp’s ordinance revoking the previous Red Bay Laurel legislation was introduced and received unanimous approval. Now only those Red Bays that pose a threat to life or property will be removed. Not only will the City not pay to remove trees from private property, it will also fine owners who fail to remove hazardous trees. The price for failure to comply is steep – up to $500 and no less than $100. “There’s been lots of studies and work done that show it’s useless to try to fight this doggone little beetle that’s destroying these trees,” Clamp said. “I hate to admit defeat, but it’s fruitless to spend money where we’re not getting any return.”

Waiver of permit fees for lighthouse

Council then addressed the issue of building permit fees for work on the Morris Island Lighthouse that had been waived by then Mayor Carl Beckmann. City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks said Beckmann’s decision to waive permit fees for work on the Morris Island Lighthouse had never been blessed by City Council, which was necessary in order to make the waiver legal, and that the City lost approximately $16,000 in permit fees due to this waiver. But, “in an effort to show support for this national monument” Council voted to “together as one voice waive all fees” for the ongoing work on the light house that had already been permitted. The waiver of permit fees will not apply to future work on the light house.

In another maverick move, the former Mayor had appointed a bridge committee – which, in and of itself, was a good thing – but, again, he had neglected to get the required blessing of his council, so Council moved to make the committee official.

New equipment for Public Safety

Two new Council members double teamed Chief Boatwright while the third new member tried in vain to defend him. D.J. Rich and Pennell Clamp went straight for the jugular questioning the Chief’s request for radar and camera equipment for two squad cars that had not yet been purchased. “Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?” Rich asked. The Chief said the money for both the cars and the equipment had already been funded and he was just there to ask permission to swap out some of the equipment since he had determined that his actual needs were somewhat different from Council’s best guess when they itemized expenditures in the FY10-11 budget. The badgering continued to the point that a dismayed Chief Boatwright eventually responded “I have no idea how to answer that question.”

“The Chief is just asking you to take money that’s already been approved and shift it around so he can get the equipment he needs,” said Mayor Goodwin. Laura Beck reinforced the Mayor. “We told the Chief this was how much money he would get and this was what we thought he would need,” she said. “We’re just shifting things around to meet his needs. It’s not impacting the tax payers any more than what has already been allocated.”

Still the Chief was forced to defend his request for two in-car cameras and three radar units instead of the three cameras that had been allocated. “Some of our radars are dying on us, others can only pick up on-coming traffic,” he said. “Equipment that only works part of the time is no good. I asked for six radar units . I need six units. I’m here asking you for three units.” The harassment continued regarding the advisability of purchasing cameras and radar before the Chief had the three new squad cars Council allotted him. “I’m not here asking to buy the equipment today,” Boatwright said, “The money is there. Trust me to use the money as I see fit.”

Paul Hume finally brought some closure. “Everybody is right,” he said, “but this is a process, not an event. We shouldn’t hold up the process. He’s trying to make better use of the money we’ve already given him. He doesn’t want to be waiting for equipment after the cars come in. There are no smoke and mirrors here.”

After unanimous approval of the Chief’s request, Charlie McCarty told a story about two men talking about what they did for a living. “I buy pieces of submarines,” said one of the men. “Pieces of submarines?” said the other. “Why are you buying pieces of submarines?” “Because they’d never give me enough money to buy a whole submarine at one time.” So it goes.

Hobie Cat illegally removed from beach

With Boatwright finally off the hook, the little matter of the Hobie Cat that was damaged when it was removed from the beachfront on October 30, 2009 took center stage. The owner asked the City for $800 to repair the boat and $70 for the permit he had bought to store the boat on the beach since, apparently, that had been money down the drain. Council got all hot and bothered over whether the boat had a current registration since the picture of the boat showed a Michigan registration that expired in 2006 right next to the City of Folly Beach permit, which was issued on July 18, 2009. In the end, they voted unanimously to force the owner to provide proof of ownership and to give them an actual bill for the repairs, and went so far as to suggest that the owner find somebody who would repair the boat for less than $800.

According to records, Public Safety told the woman who complained about the Hobie Cat that the boat was properly permitted and could be stored on the beach, and she threatened to call the mayor. Later that day, Public Works employees were instructed to remove the boat. “Why was the boat removed?” asked Clamp. “There is no one here tonight who can answer that question,” responded Mayor Goodwin, and that was the end of discussion regarding the possible involvement of former mayor Carl Beckmann in the removal of the boat.

But it was Charlie McCarty’s question that really got to heart of the matter. “Do we really want to issue permits for unregistered boats to litter our beach?” Where else can someone park a boat for an entire year for $70? Hobie Cats stored on the beach have become airborne and damaged private property. The Cape Verde hurricanes are lining up like little soldiers ready to march across the Atlantic ocean. What would happen to the stored boats if one of those hurricanes hits Folly Beach?

Planning Commission: September 13

The Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, September 13 to give residents an opportunity to weigh in on the new regulations governing weekly vacation rentals. The Public Hearing will be at 7:00 p.m. in Council chambers.

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Folly Beach Pub Crawl - March 13, 2010

Photos from the Folly Beach Pub Crawl – March 13, 2010

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Parade rules

• Decorated floats, golf carts, marching and alternative transportation only. NO CARS OR TRUCKS UNLESS THEY ARE PULLING A FLOAT. You must be in Mardi Gras costume to participate. We welcome decorated pets!

• Must be at the Folly Beach Public Boat Landing by 1:30pm for lineup.

• Trophies will be given for: “Best Over All” “Best Float”, “Best Golf Cart” and “Best Costume”.

• There will also be a trophy presented to the restaurant with the “Best Food Fare”.

• Masks will be sold at City Hall, 2nd Floor, at cost, for all who are interested. Masks are $2 and are first come, first serve. Free beads given with each mask.

• The Art Guild will also be in the Park with their crafts and vendors.

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