Author: Dick Mangrum

For a second day, Forest Service crews plan a controlled burn at or in the vicinity of Long Creek. A spokesman says today’s burn of 160 acres is to take place on the South Carolina side of the Chattooga River and is to be conducted by crews from the Andrew Pickens District of the Sumter National Forest. He said yesterday’s […]

Only months into her first term, Oconee District One Councilwoman Edda Cammick has been thinking about the wording in the county mission statement, and last night she was able to do something about it. At her urging, the council amended the language. In Cammick’s view, the offending language was the last line “….managing growth and change thru smart, inclusive planning.” […]

Sampling the public’s opinion, Oconee’s elected leaders heard some words of caution against a noise ordinance so strict that it could cost the county jobs. Bountyland resident Don Leslie, telling the council that he is pro-business, said while he also believes there should be “teeth” in a noise ordinance, but not enough that it would drive industry away. Keowee Key […]

Criminal charges against a Greenville man top the docket for next week’s term of Pickens County General Sessions Court. Those charges allege that Brent Christopher McLaurin committed grand larceny and entering a bank with the intent of robbery. The arrest affidavits naming McLaurin allege the crimes took place January 14, 2014 at the Sun Trust Bank in Pickens. During court […]

If a certain industry comes calling, will Oconee make exception if what that manufacturer does runs afoul of the county’s noise rules? The answer at last night’s County Council meeting appeared to be yes. Four of the five council members approved an ordinance adding exemptions to the noise code that are conducive to business. Voting no was the council’s newest […]

Smoke from the U-S Forest Service controlled burn at Long Creek has made for a cloud cover this afternoon in large parts of Oconee County–including Seneca and Walhalla.  And it has the people talking, asking questions. The Forest Service early today make known its plans for the controlled burn to consumer about 155 acres off the Damascus Church Road.

A decision by the state Board of Education last week will make for a new method to evaluate the effectiveness of the state’s public school teachers. And the personnel director for the Oconee School District says the change is going to be more palatable to the teachers who prepare for their profession by earning college degrees and who enhance their […]

Oconee public schools are anticipating a workforce of teachers, staff, and administrators at 888 for the 2015-16 year that begins in August. Earnestine Williams, personnel director, says at its meeting last night the county board of trustees approved contracts to be issued by the district by the middle of next month, to be signed and returned by April 25. And […]

  Oconee school officials have been given pictures of what the new Walhalla High looks like from above, and they like what they see. The high-definition pictures are courtesy of someone’s robotic drone. Down on the ground work has progressed enough to allow the district to begin to move certain items to the new campus. Steve Hanvey, assistant superintendent for […]

In the first month of 2015 more people were working in Oconee County, but more people were receiving state benefits for unemployment. On the surface, the Oconee County figures in the state’s job report amount to a non-sequitur. In January 32,426 members of the Oconee job force were gainfully employed. The 2,240 Oconeeans considered unemployed translated to 6.5% of the […]