Author: Dick Mangrum

Great change is coming to an Oconee County un-incorporated community bisected by the I-85 highway. That’s the community of Fair Play.  Those who sat in a church sanctuary last night heard ambitious plans to develop two industrial park properties, acquire high-speed internet access, make a community master plan and, finally, after decades of talk, lay piped sewer in the ground.  […]

For his conviction on the charge of possession of methamphetamine third offense, Randy Lee Cantrell learned today he will serve the maximum prison sentence possible.  Cantrell was convicted last month, but the sentence was sealed because he was tried in absentia.  Since that time, the defendant was taken into custody, and today he was in court to hear his fate.  […]

As a result of the brutal murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, SLED’s initial priority was finding anyone responsible for their deaths. During the course of the double murder investigation, SLED agents have uncovered other potential crimes that warrant further investigation. “SLED agents continue to work diligently to bring justice to all victims in these cases. As […]

New cases of COVID-19 reported today by South Carolina DHEC for the state:  2,202.  (The previous day’s count was 1,599).  For Oconee, the new case number was 67 (it was 47 the previous 24-hour period).  Statewide, 39 new deaths recorded, two of them Oconee County residents.  Of 24,310 test results received, the positivity was 12.4%.  (These new numbers out this […]

An Oconee School District official has confirmed there was a school bus mishap this morning on US 123/the Sandifer Boulevard in the vicinity of the SC 11 interchange.  However, district administrator Steve Hanvey says, no one was hurt when the bus hit a roadside electric power device.    

A fire at mid afternoon yesterday near Salem is believed by fire fighters to have entered a house through the outside power connection and spread to the attic.  No one was hurt, as 101.7/WGOG NEWS learned, the empty  Stamp Creek Road house is in the process of being re-modeled. Fire fighters who answered the call around 3 pm needed 30 […]

A spokesman for the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office in Georgia, says a Toccoa, Georgia man has been arrested on multiple charges after a cache of drugs and firearms were found at his home on the DeFoor Road.  The spokesman, Trent Hillsman, said the man arrested is 26-year old Shaun Mayfield, who authorities believe is a known member of the […]

The drowning of a 19-month old child last weekend on the Georgia side of Lake Hartwell remains under investigation by authorities in Stephens County.  But the sheriff’s office has announced there was no foul play in the death of Charlotte Elizabeth Scott of Toccoa.

Four years in prison and sex offender registry are in front of a Long Creek woman.  Janice Allen, at the age of 36, was arrested last spring by the Oconee Sheriff’s Office and charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and disseminating harmful material to a minor.  She entered guilty pleas today in front of General […]

A 40-year old woman admitted in court admitted that she helped a co-defendant push a body to the side of the road, but denied she had any part in dumping the body down an embankment.  Samantha Denise Larson pleaded guilty this afternoon in the Oconee General Sessions Court to accessory after the fact of murder.  According to Deputy Solicitor Jason […]