Author: Dick Mangrum

Charles and Jennifer Miller are leaving Westminster Fire Department for which they have devoted years of service.  In a sense, their decisions to no longer fight fires are a result of the city’s budget squabble.  City Councilman Charles Miller spent 32 years as a volunteer fire fighter; his wife, Jennifer, has chosen to step down after 10 years as a paid fire […]

Tri-County Technical College will join Oconee County leaders from government, education and economic development to break ground on the Oconee Campus>  It’s to be the first building to be at the future Oconee Workforce Development Center.  The public is invited to attend the ceremony 10 am Friday, July 14. The Oconee Industry andTechnology Park, located on Highway 11, will co-locate an Oconee Campus of Tri-County Technical College, […]

The first visible sign of the end of the landmark Clemson House comes this morning around 9 o’clock when the neon sign at the historic structure will be removed.  For much of the 20th century the Clemson House served as a hotel, a dining hall, student housing and, at times, for a number of commercial outlets.  But it’s a casualty of the current campus building […]

Exactly why a Piper airplane carrying four Notre Dame fans to Clemson crashed and killed all on board remains a mystery to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.  The NTSB has released its final report on the October 2, 2015 crash near Lake Hartwell between Westminster, South Carolina and Toccoa,Georgia.  Under probable cause and findings, the NTSB “determines the probable cause(s) of the accident to be:  The pilot’s loss of […]

Late yesterday afternoon’s storm packed high winds and toppled trees in the Walhalla and West Union areas.  One tree fell against the West Union Presbyterian Church. Duke Energy customers in the Walhalla, West Union, Keowee and New Hope communities experience power failures.  Repair crews and trucks apparently remained on scene through out the night. 

The date to try the civil lawsuit to decide all issues in the squabble over Pioneer Rural Water building a treatment plant has been made official by the Oconee Court of Common Pleas.  The court has assigned the week of August 28 for the case of City of Seneca and others against Pioneer Rural Water District of Oconee and Anderson counties.  If needed, five days have […]

A Douglasville, Georgia man went to jail after a Friday night traffic stop at Fair Play.  According to the Oconee Sheriff’s Office, the traffic stop occurred at SC 59 and Cleveland Creek Roadand resulted after a deputy saw a vehicle moving at fast speed.  Jose Alberto Flores-Del Angel was first issued a ticket for no South Carolina driver’s license and later charged with trafficking cocaine.  A hold has […]

The Spartanburg County man found dead Sunday off the Chattooga River Trail has been identified as Vincent Scott Keefauver.  Coroner Karl Addis says the 39-year old Keefauver died of a broken neck.  According to the coroner’s investigation, Keefauver appeared to have been walking toward Burrell’s Ford Sunday night when he fell an estimated 15 feet, straight down from a ledge. There had been rain in […]

Westminster Councilman Charles Miller who sided with three other colleagues in rejecting the chance to balance the city budget by disbanding the fire department and relying instead on Oconee Emergency Services for protection inside the corporate limits has given reasons for the opposition.  As it is, however, Miller and a majority of the rest of his colleagues have enacted a balanced […]

The Foothills YMCA has received preliminary government approval for a long-term loan to build a recreation and aquatic center on the grounds of Oconee Memorial Hospital.  According to Christle Ross, the CEO of the YMCA, the USDA asked for additional information which the Y has submitted and now awaits further word.  The anticipation is that when the Y gets final approval for the $7.5 million […]