Author: Dick Mangrum

The director of Oconee Elections, Joy Brooks, predicts that as many as five thousand county voters will vote absentee in the General Election. Already, 12-hundred county voters have applied to vote absentee, but the actual absentee precinct won’t open until next week. Meantime, Saturday is the deadline for all South Carolinians of voting age to ensure that they meet the […]

A couple of office workers at West Union’s major manufacturer have made it a career with their employer. At the same time, Itron’s Sue Gray and Judy Raines see their work as being part of a family that extends from the workplace to the local community. As director of human resources, Sue Gray has become intimately familiar with the hundreds […]

Today is Senior Citizens Day at the Carolina Foothills Heritage Fair at Fair Play. And 96.3/WGOG went live yesterday afternoon with the ceremony that officially opened the five-day event. But the fair didn’t officially start until Tim Donald said, “Let the fair begin.” The fair has a picturesque setting: Oconee County’s Golden Corner Commerce Park.

Developers John Powell and Jim Carswell appear to be on their way to a final agreement with Oconee County, to allow them to convert the dilapidating former courthouse into a five-story, 55-room hotel and retail center. County Administrator Scott Moulder told a council committee yesterday that roof repairs and whether Short Street is made one-way are the two major issues […]

Oconee Medical Center, like other hospitals across the country, is feeling one of the first direct impacts this week of the two-year old national health care law. And one of OMC’s officials sees the Medicare change as well intentioned for both the well being of the patient and the well being of the government’s insurance program covering elderly care. With […]

The DOT is working on the Walhalla side of Coffee Road, and it’s going to mean some traffic changes for the first part of tomorrow. Look for a temporary detour onto Campbelltown Road while the DOT workers replace pipe. Mike Smith, resident maintenance engineer, says the work is preparatory to the expectation that funding next year will allow for the […]

An accident, apparently involving a truck and a Jeep, on Seneca’s 123 By-Pass, in front of the entrance to the movie theater, has resulted in heavy property damage and delays for motorists on one side of the four-lane highway. The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m.

Congressman Jeff Duncan says, “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the border patrol agent in Tucson who lost his life this morning while serving our country.” On a trail at 4:33 a-m EDT deputies found one agent dead and another wounded. The agents were assigned to the Brian Terry Station in Tucson where Duncan, S.C.’s 3rd […]

The deal that Walhalla and conservationists struck five years ago protected 440 acres on the mountain from development and left the city with more than one million dollars in the bank. That money has never been spent, as the mayor and city council in 2007 designated the money for a savings account restricted to the project of acquiring a new […]

At Seneca this morning, South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Glenn McConnell complimented Oconee’s Senior Solutions for its services to senior citizens. McConnell, a former state senator in his first year as lieutenant governor, gave the featured talk for a symbolic ribbon-cutting for a renovated wing of Senior Solutions. McConnell referred to a $300 thousand grant from his office, along with corporate […]