Author: Dick Mangrum

  Around 60 members of the public joined law enforcement officers from four counties last night in Westminster for the memorial service for the K-9 who died this summer after being hit by a car.  Westminster Sgt. Isaac Moore owned the dog and served as its handler. Guest speaker Anderson deputy Brandon Surratt had lost his own dog, Hyco, when […]

An application to a division within the U-S Health and Human Services Administration could mean federal funds for Oconee’s only free medical clinic.  Vickie Thompson, executive director of the Rosa Clark clinic in Seneca, says a federally qualified designation from “HRSA”—Health Resources and Service Administration—could mean $850 thousand dollars to a clinic which has relied on pharmaceutical donations and volunteer […]

Jeff Duncan, the Third District congressman, doesn’t accept President Obama’s explanation that a payment of $400 million dollars to Iran was a settlement of  a dispute over a failed military equipment deal that dates back prior to the Islamic revolution in that mideast country.  Republican Duncan issued a statement that reads in part, “I want to know who in Congress […]

Many back-to-school items are available at your favorite stores as South Carolina stages its annual sales tax holiday weekend.  Thru Sunday, specific items are exempt from the South Carolina sales tax and applicable local sales taxes.  Some of those items are paper, notebooks, pens and pencils, book bags, computers, clothing, shoes, bed linen and bath towels.

South Carolina “DHEC” was called to Jocassee Outdoor Center, the outfitter and marine center, to investigate an incident in which, according to Oconee Emergency Services, a boat owner pumped 31 gallons of gasoline onto the grounds of the gas station.  Charlie King, county fire chief, says the spill moved from the parking to a small creek adjoining the property.  Salem […]

The community turned out in a large way for a dinner meeting last night that recognized an Oconee benevolent organization that helps those in need.  The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the United Way of Oconee County.  Evidenced by a couple of strong rounds of applause, there was the sense last night that the United Way staff, under new […]

A circuit judge today will set bond for an 18-year old Seneca man arrested as part of a May 9 burglary investigation on Southgate Drive. Arrest warrants last month accuse John Melvin Miller, Jr. of first degree burglary, grand larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Two guns were stolen from the home. And investigators believe Miller had […]

An inspection that was completed June 30 at Oconee Nuclear identified three findings of what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission called “very low safety significance.”  But an additional finding by the inspectors led the NRC to document a Severity Level IV violation. NRC spokesman Joey Ledbetter says no fine is being proposed, but it was a violation the government watchdog takes […]

A car is reported to have hit a guardrail this morning near West Union.  The driver was sent to the hospital.  Damaged in the impact, the guardrail did its job, preventing the car from dropping down an embankment off the Torrington Road.  According to Walhalla Fire Department, last evening a female driver received a medical airlift after her car wrecked […]

Traffic stops are considered by the Oconee Sheriff’s Office as out of the ordinary, but sometimes needed for public safety.  The Sheriff’s Office released numbers today to indicate that, on the average, its officers have stopped fewer than five vehicles a day over the last three years. The basic definition of a traffic stop, according to the South Carolina Criminal […]