Author: Dick Mangrum

Unless the full city council sees it differently, pay raises for Walhalla government workers in 2023-24 will be less than that which they received this year.  In a committee meeting this afternoon, Councilman Grant Keehn sought to bump up the cost of living raise from 3% to 5%.  His request failed in a vote of 1 to 2, with Councilman […]

This from Oconee Sheriff’s Office this afternoon: “A Walhalla man remains in jail today, on a combined $87,125.00 surety bond, after his arrest early this morning on charges that include First Degree Burglary. 37 year old William David Gunn was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center around 4:28am today after he was arrested at the scene of a burglary […]

This announcement today from Oconee Solid Waste: “The Transfer Station located at 15028 Wells Hwy, Seneca, SC  29678, will be closing early on Friday April 21st, 2023.  The Transfer Station will be closing down at 12:00pm, due to the power being turned off for construction.  We will be back to normal schedule on Monday April 24th, 2023.  This does NOT affect the landfill or […]

The Walhalla city finance committee is being called together for an afternoon meeting at city hall.  The committee could come out of this 4 o’clock meeting with a recommendation for a FY ’24 Unified Budget.

A guilty plea in the Oconee General Sessions Court produced a 10-year sentence for a defendant facing multiple charges in what a prosecutor called methamphetamine trafficking and a string of property crimes.  Deputy Solicitor Jason Alderman said the defendant, Clifford Jacob Ricketts, was ordered to serve 10 years in prison after guilty pleas to the charges of possession of a […]

Rare does a young person go into sudden cardiac arrest and die.  But it happens.  And that’s why a Seneca woman who lost a son to cardiac arrest is calling for early age screenings to detect the potential for future heart problems.  Javaris Benson died in 2017 while playing pickup basketball at a college campus.  Javaris’s mother, Lekesha Benson, says […]

If there’s final approval to the budget proposal unveiled last night, total dollars for a new year of public education in Oconee will reach an all-time high.  When you add up the local, state, and federal monies, the next Oconee school budget will reach $122 million.  The district’s chief financial officer, Jay Schickling, narrated the numbers that administrators believe are […]

During Earth Month, Clemson University calls attention to more than two dozen of the largest documented trees in South Carolina.  They are known as Champion Trees.  Species include oaks, cypress, ash, fir, mimosa, and pine.  And some are part of the canopy of the Botanical Garden or in the thick woods of the Clemson Experimental Forest.  In plain sight on […]