Author: Dick Mangrum

An Oconee General Sessions trial defendant will take the lunch break to decide if he will testify in his defense.  At the noon hour today, the prosecution completed its case against Sonny Sloan Peay, and now it’s up to Peay as to whether he will take the stand.  According to what defense attorney Frank Jackson told Judge Scott Sprouse, his […]

Clemson University administrators told a state House Ways and Means subcommittee that they favor expanding water research capability so state agencies and municipalities have the information they need to make sound water-policy decisions. George Askew, vice president of Clemson Public Service and Agriculture, told the subcommittee that a complete understanding of the state’s water resources was the only way to […]

Oconee General Sessions Judge Scott Sprouse declared a mistrial this morning in the state’s case against Reginald Bernard Smith of Westminster.  A jury was drawn yesterday to hear the charges against him:  resisting arrest and posession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.  The trial was held up as Smith, with the jury out of the courtroom, tried to plead guilty.  […]

This month’s business forum of the Oconee Economic Alliance is bringing in a speaker from the U-S Army Corps of Engineers.  The public is invited to hear Sandy Campbell, who manages the boat dock permit and real estate programs.  Her talk will be 8 o’clock Thursday morning at Thrift Development on the Bountyland Road.  

A 31-year old Salem man pleaded guility yesterday in federal court at Greenville and, according to U-S Attorney Beth Drake, defendant Justin David Crenshaw now awaits sentencing on charges stemming from his possession and discharge of a firearm last fall at a residence in Oconee County. United States Magistrate Judge Kevin F. McDonald accepted the plea. Crenshaw will be sentenced […]

Oconee’s Fair-Oak Elementary School will show off its major additions and improvements during an open house event next week at the school which sits near the far southern end of the county.  The school is celebrating “Love for Literacy” and invites the public for tours of the building during the day Thursday, February 16 until 5 o’clock.  An $8 million […]

According to a court officer, there has been agreement to a confidential settlement of a lawsuit in the case of a dentist against the Oconee hospital and two of its officials.  The lawsuit was filed in 2015 for Dr. Robert Strum against Greenville Hospital System, as successor to Oconee Medical Center; Heather Goss; and Jeanne Ward.  Strum directed the hospital […]

Chief Mark Keel of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division keynoted the annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner sponsored last night by Seneca American Legion Post 120.  The legion’s Carlton Patterson credited State Senator Thomas Alexander with making arrangements for Keel to speak to a crowd of 125 people that included several high school law enforcement cadets.  Keel delivered an upbeat […]

Judge Scott Sprouse declared the Oconee General Sessions Court in recess after calling a halt to a proceeding in which a man attempting to plead guilty admitted that he was under the influence of crack cocaine.  The admission by Reginald Bernard Smith came under routine questioning after Smith told Sprouse he wanted to plead guilty to charges of resisting arrest […]

The Tenth Circuit’s incoming Public Defender got her first look yesterday at the Oconee County Courthouse.  Jennifer Johnson was escorted on her visit by Deputy Public Defender Danny Day.